Applying to Graduate School Master Degree and PhD

After transitioning to machine learning, I had to learn it the hard way that it is now very competitive and difficult to get into graduate school. Engineering departments are crammed. Here are some difficult lessons I have learned. I am not admissions, I don't know what's the best, but I know what didn't work.

• Not having strong recommendations letters
• Without strong recommendation letters, nothing works. It's important to build that network out in the long strong: peers and supervisors in a work or academic setting is especially important
• Not having a strong personal statement
• I made the mistake of focusing on my technical skills. There are always people who are better than me. I should have had a narrative, a bigger picture. Higher performance.
• Even writing papers they require you to write about why the research project matters to me personally.