Getting into
Astronomy Graduate School

High School

If you're in high school and already thinking about grad school, you're way ahead of the game. That being said, you can still do a few things. In particular, keep taking math and science courses. I suppose if you can finish calculus in high school, it'll help. But also read science articles in the newspaper. And if you're really interested in astronomy, try to get your hands on a telescope. I suppose if there is a planetarium nearby, you could go there at least once.

In addition, I will admit that there are some universities that are better to go to if you want to get into astronomy graduate school. A general rule of thumb is that if they have a good graduate school, they are a good place to go for your undergraduate education. Check out Princeton, Caltech, Berkeley, Harvard, and others. When I was applying for college I had no idea Harvard was good at science. I thought it was just good for humanities and medical school. But don't worry if you don't get into these schools, there is still plenty you can do if you go to a liberal arts school or a public university (like I did).

First Year

It's still early in the game. At this point in my career, I didn't know what I wanted to do, and that's okay. But if you have an interest in astronomy, take math and physics classes. I suppose you could take an astronomy course your first year just to see if it's your bag.

If you're really hard-core, you could think about doing some research. As you'll see (if you read on... or want to get into grad school), research is one of the main focuses of getting into grad school. If you have a lot of spare time (by spare time, I mean watching television, not hanging out with friends... even scientists have friends), you might want to try your hat at research. The problem is that for a lot of research you really need the expertise that your classes will teach you. But if you're advanced in your classes, go for it. Research is also a pretty good way to spend a summer.

Second Year

Keep taking those math and physics courses. I suppose you want to know what classes to take... Well I have a good list. Now is actually a great time to start research. I didn't do any real research until the summer after my second year, and that was in mathematics. But I always envied my friends that did start early when we were applying for grad school.

If you're at a small school, or just want a change of venue, check out the NSF's Research Experience for Undergraduates (REUs). You can go to cool places like Arecibo in Puerto Rico.

Third Year

You're in the home stretch. Time to start thinking about things seriously. Of course I didn't decide astronomy was the thing for me until the end of my third year (thank god I did... math grad school would be crappy). If you haven't started research, do it immediately. Choose to work with someone that is doing things you're interested in. If you don't really know what interests you, choose someone you've taken a class from and like or someone you've been able to talk to.

I did my research with my class advisor. Although that was okay, I wish I had made a better relationship with another faculty member. Astronomy is a small field, and everyone knows everyone. The more people you have on your side, the more likely one of them went to grad school or collaborated with someone on the admissions board of that school you want to get into.

If you haven't yet, start going to your department's weekly colloquia (or at least the interesting ones). This way you get a taste of cutting edge research and you get to meet people (both faculty at your school and others). If you're extreme, start reading astro-ph. The key is that you want to know what you're talking about when you write in your admissions essay that you want to conduct an IR search for brown dwarfs.

I'll also suggest tutoring intro physics. If you can, tutor mechanics one semester and electromagnetism the other. This is the best way to prepare you for the dreaded Physics GRE. There are (currently) three times a year you can take the Physics GRE, April, November, and December. If you're really ready, you might want to take it in April. If you do well, you can laugh at... I mean help out... your friends who are juggling applications, GRE studying, classes, research, and any life they have left.

At the very least, start studying for the GRE over the summer. During the school year, there is so much that can take you off your study schedule. And since this is quite possibly the most important standardized test you'll ever take (not that it's dreadfully important, but rather since the others just didn't matter as much), you should be serious about it. I have a 13 week schedule for studying for the Physics GRE. As my friend Soo points out, you'll want to do some amount of studying for "modern" physics. There is a good amount of it on the exam.

Also start thinking seriously about where you want to go to graduate school. That way if you're in Boston, and you're interested in Harvard, you can visit. I did a little circuit right before my fourth year. It was very helpful in eliminating schools. After only a few minutes you can really get an idea for how you will fit into a school. But keep in mind that if you're accepted to a school, you will almost always get a paid visit to the school. Don't go out of your way to visit a school unless you've got extra time/money or are very undecided.

Fourth Year

Crap, you're graduating in a few months! Where are you going to go to school? Well, luckily, I have compiled the following table of graduate schools.
Tier School Focus Comments
1st Tier Princeton Theory Very small department. Everyone there is good. The program is really short (average four years), which can be good and bad. Basically, you don't learn as much as at other schools, but the people who go there are smart enough to deal.
Caltech Observing Half of all Keck time, how can you beat that? Pasadena is supposed to be crappy to live in.
Berkeley Well-Rounded Berkeley has good access to all sorts of telescopes. It also has really good theorists. Not to mention it's located in the best spot in the country.
Harvard Well-Rounded The CfA has all sorts of PhDs to work with. The problem is that it's very unorganized. The joke is that after completing your degree, you still might not know the guy in the office next to you.
2nd Tier UC Santa Cruz Mostly Observing The professors have a great deal with Lick Observatory where they only have to teach one class a year. This allows them a lot of time to do research. The town is absolutely beautiful, but a bit isolated and sleepy for me.
Virginia Numerical Modeling, Radio Virginia is right next to the NRAO headquarters. They're supposedly ramping up their optical observation.
Arizona Observing I don't know enough about Arizona. It's one of the larger departments.
Chicago Cosmology They have an NSF funded center for cosmology. Chicago is a cool city, but too cold for me. I almost applied there; then I found out that they wanted an essay twice as long as anyone else.
3rd Tier Columbia Galaxies / High Energy Completely disorganized. A good physics program. Subsidized housing makes living in New York affordable.
Other UC Schools, Hawaii Observing These schools have access to Keck, so they get some good observers.
Ohio State Cosmology David Weinberg. I think that's why most people go there.
Michigan Galaxies, High Energy They have part of Magellan.

I think the strategy I took as far as which grad schools I applied to is a reasonable one. I applied to all of the top tier schools. I also applied to a couple of second tier schools. I applied to a third tier school and one physics program. My thinking goes as this. Since the number of students accepted by a top tier school are so small (Princeton accepts around 5, Berkeley accepts 12), even if you're the best student around, small number statistics may kick you out of your number one choice. Since I really didn't know what kind of astronomy I wanted to do, I figured I'd enjoy going to any of them. I then also applied to second tier schools that my advisor had connections to. He went to Santa Cruz for grad school and used to work at NRAO (his top collaborator is also currently at Virginia). My third tier choice was Columbia. My thinking about that was interesting. I figured that if I had to go to a third tier school I might as well live somewhere cool. Plus if I got in, I'd get a free trip to New York. I found out after getting in there that my advisor was also a post-doc there. But ask around. Everybody is going to have different interests and wants.

Now for the difficult thing: the GRE. First, let me say that the normal GRE is not tough. There is a computerized practice test on the GRE website. After taking that, I felt prepared. And I can say that the GRE was easily my strongest part of my application (numbers-wise). As for the Physics GRE, on the other hand, it is tough and was easily my weakest part of my application.

There's no point in saying why I didn't do amazing on the Physics GRE. Instead, I'll say what I would do now. I would have started tutoring students my Junior year. I tutored calculus for all four years of college. I knew my calculus incredibly well. And it was all do to tutoring. I still have a thought of taking the math GRE just to see how well I would do. Of course I can barely remember the difference between a group and a ring, so I think I would suck up the higher stuff. Anywho, I really think tutoring is valuable.

The other main thing I could say is to start studying early. I wish I had started earlier. Besides being able to go over things in more detail, this takes the pressure off of studying. You don't feel like you're cramming.

I also think that studying with others helps. The main thing it does is keep you on a schedule. All of your pre-med friends who spend thousands of dollars on Kaplan courses are really just paying to make sure they study. If you have a vested interest in studying (you paid a thousand dollars; you don't want to let your friends down), you will study. Friends will also be able to explain things to you that you don't understand. And it was also nice to have a couple other people with me when I was up at 9 on a Saturday taking a practice Physics GRE.

Don't worry too much about the GRE. I'm proof that you can do mediocre on it and end up somewhere good. There are also different philosophies when it comes to GRE scores. Some professors think they're really important, others don't. I think the division isn't based on any hard statistics. Instead, I think it's based on if the professor did well on the GRE. That one person statistic is enough for these scientists.

As for actually taking the GRE, I can suggest these things. Bring your passport to the test (long story short, they didn't like my driver's license). Also schedule to take the first Physics GRE in the fall. That way if you feel like you did horrible, you can cancel your scores and take the next one. But here's the catch: you can't see your scores until after the second test and you can only do a late sign-up by the time of the first test. I have no idea why it's set up like this. Why don't they have an exam at the end of August?

Then for the actual applications. The idea is to make yourself look good. But don't hide the bad things about yourself; emphasize the good. I was a math major and I knew that I probably had taken more math than anyone else in the applicant pool. So I emphasized my math background in my essay (it was obviously on my transcript). Find that thing that's unique about you and push it to the front. I think that admissions committees know that applicants are excited about astronomy. Although I think it's important to mention something about how much you like astronomy, don't go on about it. You only have so many words to sell yourself. And do some research on the schools. Find out what is unique about their programs. You want to say why you and the school fit each other.

I'll also suggest sending in your application a little early. The admissions committees don't look at the applications until weeks after the deadline, but by turning it in a little early, you don't have to worry about missing any sort of deadline. And if it turns out that your transcript was lost in the mail, you have some time to send another one.

After you have your applications in, sit back and relax. There's nothing you can do now. But when you get that first email / phone call, it's one of the best feelings. I'll give you a little account of that first acceptance. My friend Geoff and I both applied to Virginia (him in Physics). One day he got a call on his cell phone from someone with a Virginia area code. He wasn't around to answer his phone, but he knew the number. The guy also left a message for him. It wasn't a congratulations, but wanted him to call him back. That coupled with the fact that a professor with ties to Virginia asked Geoff about getting in that same day, we all pretty much knew that he was in. It was the first inkling of a response for any of us who had applied.

The next day, I received an email from a Virginia professor congratulating me. As soon as I read the email, I told Geoff. He was a little pissed that I got confirmation before he did. So he called the professor back. It was after 5, so he called the number from his caller ID instead of his office number. After talking to the professor at his home (he was a little surprised that Geoff had the number), he found out that he also was in. There was only one thing to do after that: go to the bar. At that point school didn't matter anymore. Even with homework due the next day, we were already in. Nothing to worry about.