Applying to graduate or professional schools is very different from applying to undergraduate programs, and understanding these differences early on can provide a competitive advantage. Counselor Nisha Sardella works with students applying to a wide range of institutions and fellowships, and she has years of experience in admission counseling, academic advising, and educational consulting.
Her customized, research-driven approach not only helps her students achieve their graduate admission goals, but is also part of a larger process of guiding students to balance their commitments and ambitions to find best-fit educational opportunities.
What attracted you to the field of graduate admissions? What is most rewarding about it?
I came to this field excited to work closely with individuals and families as they plan their futures, just as I did when I practiced law. I have always been passionate about learning and education.
Graduate school candidates pursuing an advanced degree have reached a fundamental and transformative inflection point in their lives. I love helping my clients clarify and define the kind of work, career and, ultimately, life they are seeking.
What is one key difference between graduate and undergraduate admissions that people could benefit from understanding?
Some of the basics of graduate schools’ admissions are different from college. For example, in the undergraduate admissions process, we discuss the benefit of early admissions (whether Early Action – which is non-binding – or Early Decision – which is binding). There is usually a specific time frame for each, and the goal is to complete the application by the deadline (or, if you are working with my wonderful colleagues – two weeks ahead of deadline!).
Many graduate schools (including medical and law schools) have rolling admissions, which basically function as reverse deadlines. Once the application season opens, you want to submit all materials as soon as possible. While most business schools have several admission rounds, the goal is still to submit in the earliest possible round.
What can students do early in their college careers to prepare for possible graduate admissions?
Graduate recommendations are more challenging than those submitted in the typical college admission process. Ideally, you should “bank” academic recommendations while still in college, so that when you’re ready to apply to graduate school a draft of strong letters already exist, but many students aren’t planning that far ahead.
I work with students to remind professors of key points so they can rebuild those recommendations. Together, we craft e-mails to former favorite professors, highlighting what the student learned from the class and the projects or papers in which the student felt most successful and challenged. This helps professors write their letters, and they are always very grateful!
Professional recommendations present their own challenges. Logistically, trying to get bosses to write a recommendation can be a scary prospect (“Please, will you help me leave this job?”). To enlist the best professional support, students need both tact and careful planning.
What is one way students can set themselves apart in graduate admissions?
Interviews can be a game-changer in graduate school admissions. I have a unique perspective on this, since as an alumna I volunteer for Harvard’s School and Scholarships Committee, interviewing prospective Harvard undergraduate applicants for college.
Whereas most undergraduate interviews are “get-to-know-you” conversations, with interviewers focusing on a candidate’s personal qualities, passions, and maturity, graduate school interviews typically push the applicant, testing knowledge, reasoning ability, composure under pressure, and asking pointed and probing questions about an applicant’s résumé and experience.
It’s April. Aside from preparing to finish the semester with a strong performance, what should college students be thinking about?
I start working with my most motivated students in May! Students should plan to have applications ready a full year before the start of graduate school.
For medical school, the advice would actually be sooner (aiming for June of the year BEFORE you want to start), but for most other degrees you should plan to be done with the testing, application, and essays by early autumn of the year before.
Nisha Sardella joined Marks Education in November 2009, and leads our graduate school admissions counseling. She works with candidates for law school, business school, medical school, and post-baccalaureate pre-medical programs, as well as with applicants for graduate academic degrees and fellowships. A graduate of the National Cathedral School, Nisha has a B.A. magna cum laude in Social Studies from Harvard University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School, where she served as an editor of the Journal of Law and Public Policy and the Harvard Negotiation Law Review. Nisha currently serves on her local Special Education Parent Advisory Council (SEPAC) Board, advocating for students with special needs and the programs and policies that affect them, and she also serves on Harvard’s Schools and Scholarships Committee, interviewing candidates for undergraduate admission.
Nisha is a kind and understanding counselor who appreciates the anxiety and stress that the admissions process can evoke. A trained family-law and tax attorney and mediator, she also builds upon her experience counseling and educating individuals who must navigate complex issues and decisions.