Covered Content:
💡 General examples are in grey boxes.
⚖️ Information specific to Law applicants are in blue boxes
💊 Information specific to Med School applicants are in red boxes
📖 All personal examples/stories will be in yellow boxes. Feel free to ignore but they definitely spice things up 😂
The biggest difference between a regular master's and a research based one is having a project and supervisor. Having a project means you will be conducting your own research, making you eligible for funding and publishing. If you are pursuing a research based master's and you already have a supervisor lined up who wants you, then the grad school application tends to be more of a formality.
For research based master's applications, you will either be required to find your own supervisor or in rare cases, assigned one by the school. Most schools will usually give preference to those who already have supervisors.
Undergraduate Thesis/Project or Coursework
A lot of supervisors scout for students from their existing pool of students doing projects in their lab or students excelling in their courses. This means that you are limiting yourself to a supervisor from your undergraduate university, but it gives you the best opportunity to see what it is like to work with this professor and other graduate students in this particular lab. If you do a great job with your project or in the course, most professors are guaranteed to say yes and give you a spot since they won't need to invest as much time bringing you up to speed on their expectations. They might even ask to become your supervisor before you even think of applying! You could even make your master's thesis an extension of your undergraduate project or a particular assignment in the course.
Interning/Lab Volunteer
If you are hoping to complete a Master's at a different institution than the one where you completed your undergrad, it's probably a good idea to intern or volunteer with a supervisor from that institution during your summers. Again, supervisors like choosing students they already know and most supervisors are bound to say yes or at least give you a glowing recommendation for another lab in the same institution.
Cold Emailing/Networking
Surprisingly enough, lots of students still rely on cold emails and networking to find their supervisors. This is particularly relevant if the school you are applying to is outside of your geographic region. But even if you don't have a solid personal connection, there are still ways to make the cold emailing process smoother to guarantee you find a good supervisor.