Hi! Welcome to my PhD Application Guide. I hope you find something useful here. If you have suggestions for improvements or sections that should be added, feel free to email me at phd.unknown7@gmail.com
While I'd prefer to try to keep myself anonymous, I do want to at least give you some information about who you might be taking advice from on such an important process.
I was a first-generation undergrad from a very small, rural area of Central Appalachia. I graduated from The Ohio State University in 2019 with majors in Behavioral Neuroscience and Psychology. During undergrad I worked in a psychology lab as a research assistant for two and a half years. I also completed and successfully defended an undergradute research thesis. I was really fortunate to publish this work as a first-author in a journal. I completely fell in love with research as a result of these experiences. After graduating, I took a position as a research assistant in a neuroscience lab an R1 University in another state. There, I worked on studies related to Alzheimer's, sleep, and movement disorders. I published as a part of this lab as well. After two years in that role, I began working in the clinical trials industry in a supervisory role. I stayed in this position for 2 years before resigning in May 2023 to take time off before starting my PhD program. I'll be starting my Psychological Science PhD this fall at a school in the University of California system.
I faced significant challanges in my PhD journey as a first-generation student. You'll find more information about what these were and how I addressed them as you read through these sections. I am also the first person in my entire extended family to ever pursue a PhD. I created this guide in the hopes that people could find useful information that might help them struggle a bit less than I did.
Advanced planning and preparation are key to avoiding last-minute scrambling to get your materials finished and submitted on time. The following is a sample timeline that will help ensure you're on track for late November/early December PhD application deadlines.
The Spring before your deadline is the time to start dipping your toe into the application process by doing the following:
A simple google search will give you plenty of statement of purpose (SOP) and personal statements to start skimming through. At this stage, start taking note of what you like and dislike about the statements you read. Pay attention to the structure of the statements and start thinking about creating a general outline for your own.
One of your goals over the next few months is going to be narrowing your research focus so that you have a clear and specific idea of what you want to study in your PhD program. This will be a central point in your statement of purpose and is incredibly useful in identifying potential faculty and programs you can consider applying to. If you have a broad research idea (i.e. interest in the impact of exercise on mental health) start there and cast a wide net for your initial search. The important thing to keep in mind is that you want to work toward taking your interest from a general topic to a specific, testable question.
This goes hand-in-hand with the point above. PhD programs are all about research fit with faculty (assuming you are applying to a direct entry program). Programs want to see in your SOP that you have identified 2-3 faculty there that match your interests. For a detailed description of how to choose where to apply, there's a section below.
This is when you start digging in. Your goal for early summer is to put together a picture of what you want your PhD experience to look like.
Writing the SOP and personal statement is one of the most daunting aspects of the application process. These are, arguably, the most important pieces of your application packet and take time to get right. If summer seems too early to start these, I highly suggest doing it anyway. As you continue digging into research articles, your interests will evolve and so will your statements. By now you should have a general idea of how statements are structured and it's time to begin your own.
Having a clear, specific line of research you intend to pursue in your PhD program is crucial to making sure you find the right faculty to work with and making your SOP shine. As a caveat, this may not be as important to programs that are rotational rather than direct entry.
Now that you have a better understanding of what you want to study, head back to your faculty list and revisit whether those people would be a good fit for your interests. Start narrowing down the list depending on the factors that are most important to you. Is it crucial that your potential advisor uses a specific technique? Is it a must that they work with a certain population? Do you only want an advisor who works on a particular model? Questions like these are important to start considering at this stage.
If you still have a lengthy list, don't worry. You will want the extra wiggle room when it comes time to check which of these folks are accepting students.
There are a few things that almost every PhD application will require other than the SOP and personal statements:
If you aren't sure what a CV is supposed to look like or what it should include, a good place to start is looking at the CVs of faculty you've identified. There are also free templates on Word and Google Docs you can utilize. The most common sections included in CVs are: education, publications, research/work experience, presentations, technical/lab skills, and honors/awards.
Pay special attention to whether a program accepts unofficial transcripts or if they require official transcripts. Programs most commonly accept unofficial transcripts, but be sure to double check. This should be stated on the page of the program website that talks about required application materials.
Request your transcripts in early summer. I know this seems premature, but it's the best way to make sure you have them in time for your application deadlines. There are way too many horror stories out there of people not receiving their transcripts in time despite multiple requests.
Start thinking about who you might ask for a letter of recommendation. If you have time, look through example LORs online to see what these look like.
More and more programs are doing away with the GRE requirement. Start looking at what the required materials are for programs you've identified to see if they require the GRE.
Now you are really heating up on your application journey. By the end of summer, your goal is to know what your PhD focus will be, how you'll get there, and why it's right for you.
I put this first for a reason. Your research question(s) are central to determining where you will apply and writing your statements. If you're still stuck on this, try branching out to things you may not have originally included in your brainstorming earlier in the summer.
Determining what professors are accepting students for your cycle can be annoyingly difficult. Start by checking the following places:
Some faculty have websites for their lab which may include a statement about whether they are accepting students.
Make sure you check these places and anywhere else you can think of thoroughly before reaching out to a potential advisor. The last thing you want is to email them asking if they are accepting students only to discover it's been clearly stated on the program home page.
This is where having some extra faculty/programs on your list can come in handy. The overwhelming odds are that not every potential advisor you identified will be accepting students.
It isn't a must that you have your absolutely finalized list of programs yet, but it is important that you have at least one. This will help you immensely in completing a first draft of your statements, especially your SOP. Once you have a program and 2-3 faculty in that program identified, you can start answering the big questions in your SOP:
Let's face it. If you're anything like me, your first drafts are going to be.....rough. You want to leave yourself plenty of time to edit these, and even be able to take a break from working on them if it's getting overwhelming. These statements are often frustrating and draining to write. If you have a full first draft by the end of summer, you're in great shape to take a week or two away from them.
Using the one program you know you'll apply to in your first draft will give you a template to work off of for all your other programs. Personally, I did my first draft SOP using my top choice program. This allowed me to make sure it was the program I put the most effort toward in my application.
If you are planning to ask faculty (the ideal scenario) for a letter of recommendation, I highly encourage you to reach out to them by the end of September. Professors are incredibly busy folks, so leaving them plenty of time to write you an LOR will benefit you. This will also leave you enough time to work on a back-up plan in the event someone you ask declines to write a letter for you.
You've done all the work to lay a solid foundation for your applications. Now your goal is to begin customizing.
Ideally you will have your programs and 2-3 faculty members of choice at each identified by mid October. This will give you time to start doing a deeper dive on the research these professors are doing and to take a closer look at the programs.
Good statements will make it clear that they have been created for a specific program, especially the SOP. It's completely okay to use the same framework for all of your statements, just make sure it's evident to an admissions committee that you have researched their program. You want to find things about the program/University as a whole that appeal to you.
Looking at the program webpage is an easy place to start. Things you can look for in programs that you can mention in your statements:
Beyond mentioning things about the program/University, you will of course want to include what faculty you are interested in working with and why.
The allotted word count or length you are given for statements will also vary from program to program. Make sure you are extra careful to take note of the word or page limit for each program.
When I was applying, I found it incredibly useful to create a table containing, among other things, a list of all the required materials for each program. This was much easier than constantly going back to a program's website to double check what was needed.
Make sure you have received your transcripts and GRE scores (if applicable) and have a draft or finalized CV.
It's frighteningly (though not surprisingly) common for LOR writers to either forget they have agreed to do this or put completing an LOR off until the last minute. Don't panic! Many programs anticipate that applicants will have letters of recommendation submitted after the deadline and allow a grace period for this. Here is my suggested timeline for attempting to prevent a letter being submitted late (assuming you secured an agreement from a writer in late summer):
Send a short, friendly reminder email. At this point most LOR writers haven't even started working on it, but you want to keep it on their radar.
This one is optional. If you're confident your letter writer will come through for you, I think it's safe to skip. Otherwise, another short, friendly reminder email is fine to send.
If you skipped the two-week email, go ahead and send a reminder. If you sent the two-week email but did not get a response, go ahead and send a reminder. In this case, it is also not the worst idea to prepare to ask someone to be a back-up writer if you are concerned by a lack of response. If you sent the two-week reminder and got a response, it's probably safe to skip.
The (hopefully) final reminder to anyone that has not yet submitted their LOR.
PhD applications require more than you attaching your materials and clicking submit. There are questions about your education, background, etc. that also need to be completed. Go ahead and set up your account and start your application so you can get everything filled out ahead of time.
This is also useful to start in advance because some applications will have extra text boxes where you can include supplemental information about yourself. A few of my applications included unexpected prompts such as "Is there anything not covered in the required materials that you would like the admissions committee to know?" along with a 150-250 word limit text box. This is gold if there's something you needed to address in your statements but did not have room for or couldn't find a way to weave in. Knowing if prompts like these exist in advance will give you time to think of what you may be able to include.
Congratulations, you're in the home stretch! Now your goal is to polish and submit.
Editing is the name of the game in the last few weeks before application deadlines. Make your finishing touches like rewording, moving sentences around, etc.
Review your statements for the kinds of mistakes that sound silly, but happen quite frequently and make people panic after submission:
Did you make sure you did not accidentally use the name of different University or program anywhere in the statement?
Did you make sure you did not accidentally include the name of a professor from a different University anywhere in the statement?
If you followed by suggested timeline above, hopefully you will see all of your letters have bee marked as received in your application portal. If you're concerned someone will not meet the deadline, find a back-up writer and email the program coordinator at each University to inquire about what their grace period for receiving LORs is.
I suggest doing this at least a week before the application deadline, especially your transcripts. Personally, I had an issue uploading my transcripts for several of my applications and had to reach out to the program for assistance. Luckily, this was about 2 weeks out from the deadline, so there was plenty of time for resolution.
Breathe a sigh of relief, you did it!
The most common question I see from people going through the application process is "What's the difference between a statement of purpose (SOP) and personal statement?". I asked this myself when I was starting my applications! It's difficult to differentiate the two when you are getting started, so I hope something I have here can help you if you're struggling with this.
There are some key similarities and differences between the SOP and personal statement that you should be aware of before you start writing your own. You will find that there are a few crucial questions you are answering in both of your statements, however, how you answer these questions in each will be very different.
You should be answering this by talking about what research or academic experiences made you interested in studying this.
You should be answering this by talking about what personal experiences led to your interest in the topic.
You should be answering this by talking about what professional, techinical, or academic experiences you have that show an admissions committee you can handle a PhD as well as how these experiences shaped yout interest in doing a PhD.
You shoould be answering this by talking about what personal attributes you gained from your research/acadmic experiences that show you can handle a PhD and how these experiences helped you grow as a person and researcher.
You should be answering this by talking about what faculty you want to work with and why. You can also mention any academic/research resources the program has that attract you.
You should be answering this by talking about what goals this program will help you achieve or values they might have that align with yours.
The table above should give you a bit of an idea of what should be included in your statement. A resource I highly recommend is the Write Ivy SOP starter kit by Jordan Dotson. This gives a great outline for getting started on your statement.
Personally, I deviated just a bit from Jordan's outline for my finalized SOP. Below is the outline I used along with excerpts from my own SOP.
Note: My area of research is quite niche, so in an effort to not reveal my identity, some of the specifics in my statement excerpts have been redacted. I sincerely apologize if this makes anything hard to follow!
Consider starting your SOP by stating exactly what you intend to study (your research question). No muss, no fuss, no "hook". It's okay to be direct and straight to the point.
"As a prospective doctoral student, I intend to explore how factors such as autonomic nervous system arousal, sleep, and cognition interact to culminate in the maintenance of chronic psychological conditions and poor health outcomes. I am especially interested in examining how affect and types of perseverative cognitions, such as rumination and worry, may impact sleep and the role of the autonomic nervous system in attenuating or exacerbating these relationships. I also seek to explore how beliefs about emotional regulation and stress may contribute to the development of deleterious conditions such as cardiovascular disease through influence of the autonomic nervous system."
Immediately after stating your intended research focus, use a few sentences to state why the program as a whole is a good fit for you and something that draws you to that program specifically.
"The ______ program at the University of ______ would allow me to gain the experience and skills necessary to develop empirical methods for testing the bidirectional relationship between physical health and experiences of psychopathology. I am drawn to the University of ______ because of the interdisciplinary nature of the program. It is this spirit of collaboration, combined with the outstanding faculty at the University of ______ which leads me to be confident that the _______ program offers the ideal environment to pursue a PhD."
The next few paragraphs should include the faculty you intend to work with and why. I think it's important here to state not only what you know about the research of these faculty and why it interests you, but to propose future directions for research. Connect their work to your research question(s). This shows that not only do you understand the work they are doing, but also that you can think critically about where their lab may be heading and how you can contribute.
"My intended area of research strongly aligns with work being conducted by multiple faculty members at the University of _____ . Professor _______ long standing and diverse research regarding _______ is of particular interest to me. The _______, pioneered by Dr. _______, has been pivotal to our understanding of why _______. I seek to explore how components of this model can be used to elucidate the connection between the autonomic nervous system, sleep, and psychopathology such as anxiety disorders. One focused line of inquiry related to this overall aim is investigating whether differences in ________ may explain the mixed findings regarding the association between sleep quality and trait anxiety. I am also interested in working with Dr. _______ to examine how _______ and the controlling neural structures change across the human lifespan. In this aim, I plan to investigate the ability of older adults to maintain positive affect despite age-related declines in _______ and prefrontal cortex activity."
In this section, describe your past research experiences, what your direct contributions were in these labs, and how they shaped your interest in your proposed line of PhD research.
"My focus on exploring how our thoughts are related to physical health developed during my undergraduate studies. In my second year, I began assisting a graduate project exploring the effect of _______. Excited by this field of inquiry, I developed my own questions drawn from heterogeneity in results I identified through conducting literature reviews. Over the last two years of my undergraduate studies I coordinated my own research project investigating the relationship between _________ under the guidance of Dr. _______. In my fourth year, I wrote and successfully defended a thesis based on this work. The findings from this project suggest that _______. Ultimately, I published this project as a first-authored journal article. From proposal to publication, this was a process that gave me my first intimate look at what graduate life entails."
To tie off this section, state how these research experiences prepared you for a PhD and how these make you a good fit to work with the faculty mentioned above.
"These research experiences have equipped me with the ability to identify gaps in our understanding, develop questions and hypotheses, design experiments to address these, and articulate the subsequent findings. My background studying _______ has provided me with a diverse skill set to contribute to the labs of Drs. ___________. From my undergraduate research, I gained a solid foundation in observational methods to examine links between how our thoughts may interact with our bodies to produce adverse psychological outcomes. From my postgraduate research, I developed working knowledge of interventional protocols to address deleterious health outcomes. Together, these have informed my interest in examining psychophysiology and how it can be influenced in research."
For the last section, briefly restate what you intend to study, why this work is important, and what you intend to do with the PhD.
"In the _______ program at the University of ______, I intend to elucidate the relationships between homeostatic processes such as sleep and autonomic arousal, perceptions of emotional regulation and stress, and health outcomes. My work investigating these complex interactions will allow me to contribute to the development of interventions to help affected individuals lead healthier lives. My career path upon completion of the PhD program includes a lifelong commitment to academia. As a researcher, academic, and future professor, I aim to develop new ways of thinking, interdisciplinary approaches to research, and a breadth of knowledge that I can pass to the next generation."
It's important to note that this SOP outline may not be a "one size fits all" formula. Some programs ask for very specific information to be included in an SOP. Make sure you are following the prompt given for the Statement of Purpose and including all of the information the program requested.
As mentioned above, you will be answering a lot of the same questions in the personal statement as you did in the SOP. However, how you answer these questions will be significantly different in a personal statement.
The personal statement is often referred to as your "science story". It should describe what led you to applying to a PhD program and why you know it's the right path for you. It's a delicate balance between letting an admissions committee know more about who you are without being overly personal.
Below is the general outline I followed, along with excerpts from my own personal statement.
Note: Just like excerpts from my SOP, I have redacted some information here. I also had significant challenges I faced on my path to being accepted to my dream PhD program that I included in my statement. For more information on addressing challenges you've faced or "red flags" in your statement, see the section below.
You can start a personal statement by telling an admissions committee a bit about your background, relevant geographical or familial information, or a short story of how you came to be interested in your research question(s). In my opinion, an excellent way to start is to introduce an overall theme that you will tie into the subsequent sections of the statement. For my personal statement, I used the theme of facing failure. You will see a lot of resources out there that encourage you to use a "hook" to start the statement with. If this doesn't feel natural or genuine to your story, don't feel pressured to start the statement this way. Trying to think of a catchy opening can be time consuming, and your efforts are likely best spent elsewhere.
Similar to the SOP, you want to describe your research/academic experiences in the personal statement. Unlike the SOP, the focus here should be what you learned and how you grew as a researcher or person from these experiences.
"Following my graduation from college, I took a position as a research assistant in a neuroscience lab at the University of _______. It was in this role that I discovered my drive to break down the barriers in place that make research largely inaccessible and how my personal background could be used to benefit participants. Having been raised in an area of central Appalachia with limited educational resources and in a family where I was a first-generation college student, I discovered I was able to provide a unique perspective to improve health literacy for patients. Pulling from my own experiences, I quickly learned how to translate the heavy scientific jargon found in the research forms into content participants could easily understand. I found that patients were much more comfortable and enthusiastic about participating in research when they were able to grasp the science behind these protocols. Helping to educate participants sparked a passion for making research more attainable for individuals outside of academia that could benefit most from our discoveries."
This section of the personal statement is also a great place to include any community outreach, volunteer, or mentoring experiences you have had that are relevant and what you learned from these.
"Further pursuing this passion for research accessibility, I helped to initiate an employee-led Diversity and Inclusion Committee which was primarily concerned with advocating for engagement of minority populations in research. Through hosting community events to provide information about research, our goal was to establish rapport between physicians and underserved populations. Additionally, I helped to create a Diversity and Inclusion book club to bolster the work of this committee and widen the perspectives of our members. I also joined a University initiative to provide neuroscience presentations and experiments to low-income school districts in the area. Participating in this program solidified my interest in pursuing a career as a professor, and I hope to continue growing my teaching skills at the University of _________. Among my goals as a doctoral student and future professor is to continue addressing the hurdles that make research inaccessible and advance equity in higher education."
Unlike the SOP, you don't have to include specific faculty names here. Instead, consider adding details about unique or attractive features about the University/program as a whole. (See section below for examples of what features to include)
I put two options for this section because I think these are interchangeable or can be combined. Here, you can include attributes you have, skills you've acquired, and any details that show an admissions committee you know what a PhD entails and that you're up for the challenge. Personally, I used option 2 for my personal statement because I had so many specific details about the programs I was applying to in my SOP.
"After spending the last five years heavily involved in research as either a student or professional, I have learned to appreciate how both my personal history and geographical background can improve research and connect me to the participating community. I have also taken away an appreciation for both the triumphs and struggles of research. Obtaining novel findings is no easy feat, and I quickly realized that missteps in the research process are the norm rather than the exception. Now, I am able to reflect on and value how much is learned with every roadblock encountered. It is this ability to find confidence in starting over that has enabled me to succeed academically, professionally, and personally. Inevitable failures included, I am fully enamored with the process of designing and carrying-out methods to uncover answers to the questions I have about the relationships between our psychology and physiology."
If you have a theme for your personal statement, now is the time to drive that home and wrap things up. You can also use this section to reiterate what this PhD program will help you achieve, your career goals, and or what your research question(s) is.
"I am applying to the University of ____________ PhD program with a solid foundation in psychology and neuroscience coursework as well as research. Perhaps more important than my scientific knowledge, I am applying as an individual with a deep understanding of how to persist when faced with challenges; a quality imperative to success as a doctoral student. This mindset has fostered my ability to adapt to the ever changing world of research rather than becoming discouraged. It is my intention as a future professor to one day train the next generation of researchers and help to instill them with the same sense of confidence in the face of obstacles and deviations from what has been planned."
Hopefully it's clear from the outlines above that there are many ways to make the SOP and personal statement unique for each program you are applying to. It's perfectly okay to use the same structure for your statements and adopt a "plug and play" approach where you can keep much of the same information and change out specific pieces.
The goal with tailoring your statements for each program is to make it clear you have done your research on the University/program and know exactly why it is a good fit for you. Below, I have listed some things you can consider adding to your statements to show an admissions committee you have thoroughly looked into the program and are sure it's the place for you.
Does the department/program offer a lot of supportive resources/programs for their students (e.g. grant writing courses/resources, teaching programs, professional seminars)?
Is there special equipment found in the department or within a lab that other Universities may not have?
Does the program/University have particularly strong diversity, equity, and inclusion resources you'd like to help support or that could benefit you?
Does the program/University have specific values you align with that might be found in a mission statement or listed departmental goal?
Are there opportunities like mentoring undergraduates or community outreach offered by the program/University that you'd like to participate in?
Does the program/University offer resources that will help you achieve your career goal (e.g. teaching certification, internships, programs to connect with alumni)?
Some programs will only request a Statement of Purpose or a Personal Statement. Make sure you are paying attention to this and thoroughly reading the prompt that's given.
In most cases where only one of the statements are requested, the emphasis will be on including information that is traditionally found in a Statement of Purpose. While letting an admissions committee know more about who you are is important, showing them you know what you want to research and who you want to do it with is higher on the priority list.
If only one statement is requested, I highly recommend following the outline above given for the SOP with the following tweaks if you have the space:
When explaining why that program is a good fit, consider trying to add a few details you'd be mentioning in a personal statement (e.g. your motivations for obtaining a PhD or how that program will help you achieve a specific goal).
When describing your research/academic experiences, try to weave in the things you'd be mentioning in a personal statement (e.g. what you gained from these, how they helped you grow, or important lessons you learned). If you have space, including especially relevant volunteer, outreach, or mentoring experiences can also be useful here.
Finding the right PhD programs to apply to is half the battle when it comes to admissions. You could have the most impressive application packet in the world and it wouldn't matter if you applied to all the wrong places. So, let's talk about how to navigate this process and find the programs that will give you the best shot at being accepted.
If you read my application timeline section, you'll know that I recommend starting your list of potential schools sometime in the Spring. If this seems like it's way too far in advance...keep reading to figure out why I put this so early on the timeline.
It's a common trap that applicants fall into: treating the PhD process like undergrad admissions. They start by writing down the names of schools they consider to be well-known or prestigious. Let's be clear. You are looking for 2-3 faculty members you would like to work with. You are looking for a research fit with faculty, not an infatuation with a University reputation. Will some of the faculty you find be associated with well-known schools? Sure! That doesn't mean you should start by looking at schools first.
A great place to start is by taking note of who the faculty authors are on articles you find that are related to your research question(s)/interest.
Look into their Google Scholar page and see if they have other papers related to the topic and what University they are associated with. Check places like ResearchGate to see who these faculty often collaborate with to expand your list. Visit their faculty page on the University website and see if they have a lab website with more information about their ongoing projects. Jot down the names of faculty and their institutions if you think they could be a good fit.
If this sounds incredibly tedious that's because.....well, it is. There's no denying that this is a time-consuming process, but one that is absolutely worthwhile. In my opinion, this is the best way to ensure that you are keeping your focus on finding the programs and potential advisors that will be the best fit for you. If your list of faculty is starting to look a little too long for your liking, that's okay. Many of these folks will end up not making the final cut for various reasons (they work in a different department than what you are ultimately interested in, they are not accepting students this cycle, etc.)
The exception to this is if you are limited geographically. Maybe your heart is set on finding a program in a specific state or area.
In this case, your best bet is to actually work backward from what is stated above. Start by looking at Universities in your region of interest and browsing the faculty in the program you want to apply to, then look at their recently published works.
I stated above that you should care less about the school than who is working there, and it's true. While research fit should be your absolute top priority when deciding where to apply, it doesn't mean that it should be the only factor.
Let's be realistic, 5-7 years is a long time to spend somewhere. If you found a program with potential advisors but know you'd be completely miserable living in that area, don't ignore that.
Associated with location, consider the cost of living in the area of each program. The unfortunate fact is, PhD students don't make much money. Many programs in high cost of living areas will have higher than average stipends, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's enough to be comfortable.
At each program, you need to identify a minimum of 2 potential advisors. If you're only seeing one professor you have a strong potential match with, it may not be the best program for you.
If you look a little closer at a University and can't seem to find any mention of professional development, mentorship, mental health, diversity and inclusion, or any other services offered to graduate students....yikes. Even if you are somehow lucky enough to find the most supportive, involved PhD advisor in the world, you're still going to need extra resources at times.
If you notice a program has a troublingly low percentage of students that pass their qualifying exams or a high percentage of students leave the program before getting the degree....run. If you see that most students that graduate from the program do not continue in academia, and that is what you are interested in doing, that's another sign that it may not be the best fit.
I'll keep this short - no. Safety schools do not exist when it comes to PhD admissions. There are countless stories of applicants being accepted to some of the best programs in their field and being rejected at "lower ranked" institutions. Personally, I experienced this in my cycle as well. While there really aren't "rankings" in my field, I accepted an offer to work with one of the most well-known and acclaimed researchers in my field at my dream school. The flip side of that coin was the rejection I received from a small, R2 University. Admissions are a game of research fit and a whole lot of luck.
Once again referencing my application timeline section, I recommend starting to narrow your list of potential faculty/programs throughout the summer.
Take a look at your program list and run through the important factors I listed above, plus any other considerations that are important to you.
If you absolutely hate the location, don't have enough faculty identified, or see any major red flags, consider scrapping the program from your list.
You should be reaching out to potential advisors over the summer. If it turns out your primary advisor(s) of interest won't be accepting a student, you can take it off your list.
You should also be working on sharpening your research area of interest into a specific research question(s) over the summer. Even if your research question(s) isn't completely finalized yet, you should have a better idea of what direction you're heading than you did when you made your list initially. You might find that while a professor's work interested you when you had only a broad idea of what you want to study, it's no longer the best fit now that your intended research topic has become more specific.
I highly recommend having a finalized list of your programs by mid-October. If you can get this done sooner, even better!
By the end of summer you should have your finalized research question(s). Run back through your list of faculty and their work one last time to make sure they would be a good fit for exactly what you intend to research.
This one is flexible. It's not always possible to get confirmation from a professor that they will be accepting someone. If you've reached out to a professor, asked a program coordinator, and checked the program website but didn't receive a response from anyone or see a posted list of faculty accepting applications, it's a personal judgement call on whether you want to apply.
Make sure things like cost of living, location, etc. wouldn't be a deal breaker for you with the programs you have left.
At this point you've done your research on the advisors and the details of the program. If you were accepted, is this the kind of institution you'd be ecstatic to spend the next 5-7 years at? If your answer is no, why are you applying there?
If you saw the application timeline section, you'll know that I recommend beginning to reach out to potential faculty advisors by late summer, and above I gave you information on how to identify these faculty. Now you might be thinking, "Great, I have my list! So...how do I reach out to them?" in which case, you've found the right post.
The key with your initial outreach to faculty is to let them know you are interested in working with them and give them a bit of background about yourself without making this too lengthy. Faculty are busy people! You don't want to send a multi-paragraph email that's going to be laborious for them to read. Keep it short and to the point.
Rather than explaining everything about your background, I strongly advise you to attach your CV to the email. If you think there is something especially strong about your research experience, you can consider adding no more than 1-2 sentences explaining this and refer them to your CV for more details.
As far as what to put in the subject line of the email, I recommend "Prospective _____ program PhD Applicant Introduction"
"Hello Dr. ______,
My name is ______ and I am a prospective applicant to the ______ PhD program for this upcoming cycle. I have read your work on ______ and I believe this aligns strongly with my interest in researching ______. I am extremely interested in the chance to work with you, and I am wondering if you will be accepting a PhD student to your lab this cycle? I have attached my CV to this email for your reference. I greatly appreciate your consideration, and I look forward to hearing back from you."
"Hello Dr. _____,
My name is ______ and I am a prospective applicant to the ______ PhD program for this upcoming cycle. I have read your work on _______ and I believe this aligns strongly with my interest in researching _______. I noted that you are considering accepting a PhD student this cycle, and I am extremely interested in the chance to work in your lab. I have attached my CV to this email for your reference. I greatly appreciate your consideration, and I hope to have my application reviewed by you this fall."
I often see applicants posting questions about whether it is appropriate to reach out to multiple faculty in the same department, and the answer is....absolutely! In fact, it is encouraged! You will be expected to list 2-3 faculty you are interested in working with in your Statement of Purpose/Personal Statement. In order to do this, you need to make sure the folks you mention are accepting students and or let them know about your interest.
The most common mistakes I see applicants make when emailing multiple faculty in the same department are accidentally addressing the wrong professor in the email and not tailoring each email to specific faculty.
Here are some tips for reaching out to faculty in the same department:
Just because professors know you will likely be reaching out to other faculty in the department does not mean you should go ahead and email them all together!
Before sending your email, make sure the professor you have mentioned in the opening and body of the email matches the email address you have in the "send to" line.
Even though the professors you are reaching out to may have very similar research and may even often collaborate together, there should be some obvious ways their research diverges. Be sure to mention something specific about their work that has caught your eye and aligns with your research question(s). This shows you have done your homework and are sure you would be a good fit for their lab.
After reaching out, you may get a response from the potential advisor asking if you would be interested in having a quick chat with them. This is a great sign! This shows that they have reviewed your CV and are interested in learning more about you.
While nothing is guaranteed in the PhD application process, and this by no means is a sign that you will absolutely be accepted, it is a fantastic chance to make yourself memorable to them when it comes time for applications to be reviewed. It is also a great opportunity to get more information about their research that you can use in your Statement of Purpose/Personal Statement!
Here are some tips to make the most of these chats:
Assuming it is mid to late summer (when I recommend reaching out to potential advisors) you likely have a good idea of what this professor studies, but may not yet have done a deep dive on their work. Before meeting with them, take some time to do this. Read a few more of their recently published papers and take a closer look at their lab website if they have one.
These chats are a great time to learn more about a potential advisor, but also to make sure they get to know more about you! Take some time to think of how your past and or current work aligns with theirs so you are able to make a good pitch on why you would be a good fit for their lab. Read through your CV and think of some specific points you can elaborate on that they wouldn't know just from reading it.
In a lot of cases, these meetings will only be 15-30 minutes. This may seem like sufficient time, but it can really fly by! You want to make sure you are gaining information that will be useful to include in your SOP/Personal Statement. The following are a few good questions to ask to help you with this:
Are there any specific lab skills you are looking for an incoming student to have that could help on your ongoing/future projects?
Based on my CV, are there any concerns you have about my potential fit for your lab that I can address?
An unfortunate amount of the PhD application process is simply luck. You may have found a great potential advisor at a University you love, in a program that seems fantastic, then come to find out that this happens to be a cycle they are not accepting a student.
If this is the case, there are a few things you need to consider:
If the answer to this question is no, I would recommend scrapping this program from your list and not applying there. In my opinion, it is not worth the time, money, and effort to apply to a program that does not have at least 2 strong potential faculty matches.
Maybe you really feel this potential advisor is the absolute perfect fit and they have indicated they will be taking a student in the next cycle, or maybe several faculty members you have reached out to are not taking students this cycle. It's important to ask yourself which matters more to you: applying right now or waiting for the right fit.
Creating your list of faculty is difficult and often time consuming. Even if you have put substantial effort into finding potential advisors, it is entirely possible that there are folks who might be a good fit that you have missed.
If this faculty member seems open to discussion, consider responding to ask if they know of anyone in the department or any colleagues in a similar field who may be accepting a student this cycle.
Note: Please only do this if you find your list of potential advisors is dwindling significantly and you have already put as much effort as possible into finding faculty to apply to. I've said it over and over in this blog; faculty are busy people. You do not want to give the impression that you are asking a professor to do the hard work of finding an advisor for you. You can mention in your response that you are dedicated to pursuing your research this cycle, but have had the unfortunate experience of many faculty you've contacted not accepting students.
Here it is again....faculty are very busy! It is not at all uncommon to not receive a response from a professor you have reached out to. Imagine you are a professor juggling courses, your lab, grant proposals, your personal life, and a flood of emails from applicants who want to work with you! Doesn't sound easy, right? Remember to cut them some slack.
If you don't get a response to your initial outreach, you can consider doing the following:
Remember to be as courteous as possible. Under absolutely no circumstances should you accuse a faculty member of ignoring you or send an email that makes it seem you are bitter or annoyed. I hate that I have to say this, but I have seen posts out there from applicants that feel entitled to a professor's time and reply. Trust me, I know it is frustrating when you are trying to figure out where you will be applying and you aren't getting a response. That doesn't give anyone permission to be rude to faculty.
Often times, program coordinators will be aware of which faculty are and are not accepting students each cycle. They may be able to tell you whether your potential advisor(s) are among those accepting a student. Program coordinators also often know whether final decisions have been made about which faculty will be accepting students and can let you know if this hasn't been determined yet.
It is common for programs to post a list of which faculty will be considering accepting students or for faculty to update their departmental page/lab website to include whether they are accepting students. Be sure to check these sites regularly to help determine where you want to apply if you haven't received a response from or about your potential advisors.
If you're someone who considers there to be "red flags" or weak spots in your application materials like I was, addressing these can be nerve wracking. Here, I want to share some things you might find helpful in figuring out how to talk about these and shifting your thinking.
Note: This post is in no way intended to make anyone self-conscious or worried about an aspect of their application they may not be concerned about or consider a weakness! My only intention is to discuss common concerns I have seen from applicants in a constructive manner.
Chances are that you are already aware of anything in your application materials that might raise an alarm to an admissions committee. I wanted to mention a few examples in this post to give you some concrete ideas of how you can address things like these.
I firmly believe that these concerns, and any others, can be overlooked by an admissions committee if you have a good research fit and address these the right way in your application.
The best place to address potential concerns is in the personal statement. If you are not asked to provide a personal statement, these can be discussed in the statement of purpose instead. Using a small portion of your statement to confront these points directly is a much better option than shying away from them and hoping an admissions committee doesn't notice!
Alternatively, log into your application portal and take a look to see if there are any additional places where things like these can be addressed. Some applications, but not all, will include a text box under a prompt such as "Is there any additional information relevant to your application you wish to include?"
If your statement has a very limited word count or you just can't figure out how to discuss potential concerns in a way that flows within the statement, text boxes like these can be utilized instead.
First, I want to discuss some general advice for addressing perceived weak spots. Next, I'll give some ideas about how you can explain and spin the red flags mentioned above.
You want the focus of your statement to be your achievements, not the things that scare you about your application!
I don't intend for this to sound callous or dismissive at all. You might have faced significant hardships that led to these weak spots arising. My point here is that you don't want to drag out your explanation by going on and on about how nothing was your fault and the admissions committee should feel sorry for you. Take responsibility and give a brief rationale, then move on.
Giving a list of what your weak spots are with nothing else isn't going to do you any good. You want to show an admissions committee that because of these things, you learned or grew in some way.
If you're concerned that your GPA is below the norm for admitted students or you had a particularly bad semester you want to address, consider if any of these points might apply to you or give you any ideas for spin.
You had to work throughout undergrad and found it difficult to balance this with coursework, but from this you learned valuable time management skills and perseverance.
You started undergrad with a different major that wasn't right for you, and once you switched majors you saw improvement in your engagement and grades.
You were dealing with personal or family issues for a period of time, but this allowed you to become resilient and confident in your ability to persist in your academic endeavors.
If you're concerned that you have less research experience than other applicants, consider if any of these points might apply to you or give you ideas for spin.
COVID-19 restrictions impacted your ability to join a research lab, but you completed research papers or research projects for classes that you received great scores for.
You had to work throughout undergrad and could not take an unpaid research position, but you completed research papers or research projects for classes that you received great scores for.
You attended a small University that had extremely limited undergraduate research positions, but you were in close contact with faculty and took part in other research related activities.
If you're concerned that you had to pause your undergraduate education and resume it later or that you have taken an abnormally long time after undergrad to apply for a PhD, consider if any of these points might apply to you or give you ideas for spin.
You were dealing with personal or family issues for a period of time, but this allowed you to become resilient and confident in your ability to persist in your academic endeavors.
You took many years after undergrad to work before applying to a program, and during this time you learned valuable professional skills and confidence that a PhD is what you truly want.
You were facing financial difficulty that led to a forced break during undergrad, and this demonstrates your commitment to your education.
Personally, I dealt with the weak spot of having a below average GPA due to difficulties I faced during my first year and a half of college. One of my biggest fears at the beginning of this process was that my application would be thrown in the trash based on my GPA before anyone even looked at the rest of my packet.
Please trust that applications are reviewed more holistically than you might think! I've had the chance to connect with faculty and graduate students who have helped with the admissions process, and I've found that any worthwhile program will not toss out your application based on one red flag they caught a glimpse of. If you've provided all of the required application materials, you will be evaluated fairly.
Keep your focus on the ways you've learned and grown from the challenges you've faced. Know and believe that struggling at times does not mean you are unprepared or unworthy of being accepted to a PhD program.
I talk a lot about the importance of having a specific idea of what you want to study in your PhD program. Knowing what your research question(s) is will help you tremendously in narrowing down your list of potential advisors and making your SOP stand out. Sounds good, right? Let's talk about how to do it!
Take a second to imagine you are on a PhD admissions committee. Right now, you are evaluating two application packets.
In the first application, you have a candidate whose SOP states they are extremely interested in machine learning. They want to work with Professors X and Y studying computer vision.
In the second application, you have another candidate whose SOP states they are extremely interested in machine learning. They want to work with Professors X and Y studying how object detection computer vision can utilize a specific method to improve identification of tumors on MRI scans.
Who do you think has a better idea of what they want to study? Who do you think is more prepared to begin a PhD? Who would you accept?
(P.S. to all my computer science/machine learning people out there....I tried my best, okay? I'm sorry if that actually made no sense...I am just a humble psychology student.)
Formulating your research question(s) can look different depending on how specific of an idea you already have on what you intend to study. If you're finding you're still stuck on a very broad idea, Jordan Dotson from WriteIvy has an effective formula to help you out! I highly encourage you to check out his site and get his PhD SOP Starter Kit, which goes into much more detail and provides an example.
If you already have experience in a specific line of research that you intend to continue pursuing in your PhD program, that's excellent! This is the boat I was fortunate enough to be in when I started working on my applications. If you're looking to get very specific in your SOP about what you'd like to study like I was, take a look below on some questions to ask yourself.
What specific variables and or techniques did you examine/use in your past research that interest you and relate to your "big idea"?
Are there any gaps in the literature you've been able to identify that studying these variables or using these techniques could help fill?
Are there any models/theories you've come across that you think could be extended to fill a gap in the literature?
How to use those questions above might seem a bit abstract, so let's put all of this together in an example! Let's say you have research experience or an interest in studying how physical and mental health are related to one another.
In this case, our "big idea" is how physical and mental health are related to one another.
In this example, let's say you are really excited about investigating the relationship between poor diet and depression.
Maybe from your past research experience or information you’ve gathered on the topic, you’ve found that this relationship might be especially prevalent in urban communities where access to fresh food is limited (aka “food deserts”).
Are there any gaps in the literature? Are there any models about these relationships that could be extended?
You’ve started reading the literature on the relationships between poor diet and depression in the populations you’ve identified. You notice that in all the papers you’ve come across, none seem to be talking about the role that lack of access to health education resources might be playing a role in these relationships.
How does access to health education resources impact the relationship between diet and depression in communities with limited access to high-quality, nutritious food options?
Note: Obviously, the field you are applying to is going to shape how you formulate your research question(s).
If you're interested in the relationships between diet and depression but are applying to biology PhD programs, the research question clearly isn't going to work for you. Let your intended program guide you in identifying specific variables of interest.
Having a clear research question(s) will help guide you in finding the best fit advisors and in narrowing down your list of potential programs. Once you have a specific idea of what you want to study, the search becomes much more manageable.
If you read the section about choosing where to apply, you'll know that I talk about using your research question(s) to narrow and finalize your list of potential advisors. While having a broad research interest is fine to create your initial list, your research question(s) will undoubtedly help you figure out who will make the final cut.
Look at the recent (last 5 years) publications of the faculty on your list. You should be able to get a sense of whether your research question(s) fits with the work they do. If you find that some of the professors on your initial list don't quite fit with your now refined research interest, that's okay! Keep diving into the literature and take note of published faculty who might be a better fit.
Personally, I started my application process with a specific research question already in mind. The more I read on the topic, however, I found that there were other related but distinct questions I was interested in answering as well. If a professor's work doesn't exactly match what you have in mind to study right now, but you find yourself really intrigued by their interest, don't write them off. Keep digging into their work and see if it leads you to another research question.
I found it incredibly useful in making my program/faculty lists to create a Google Docs chart. I had columns including: Faculty name, their university/department, a brief description of their research, links to their papers I found most interesting, and a brief rationale as to why their work related to my research questions.
You did all the hard work of figuring out exactly what you want to study, now you need to show that to an admissions committee. The best way to do that is through your statement of purpose.
If you read the section about SOPs, you'll know I recommend starting your SOP by jumping straight into your research question(s) and, in the second section, connecting the work of the faculty you're applying to work with to your research question(s).
As a rudimentary outline, think about it like this:
"Professor X studies _____. Their work is impactful because ______. My research question is ______ and connects to their work because _______. Together, we could study ________."
Obviously, you'll want to significantly polish this up, but it's a good starting point to get you thinking about why this professor's work matters, why they would be a good fit to advise you, and what you could contribute to their lab.
Using the outline above, when I started on my SOP I had something like this (keep in mind I've made this a bit vague because this work is very niche):
Professor X studies the relationship between physiology and psychopathology. Their work is impactful because it demonstrates how our cognition and physical health can influence one another. My research aim is to understand how the nervous system and health behaviors interact in conditions like anxiety. Together, we could study how the nervous system and sleep influence one another and contribute to the maintenance of anxiety.
After I polished the outine above, I worked this into my SOP like this:
"My intended area of research strongly aligns with work being conducted by multiple faculty members at the University of _____. Dr. _____ long standing and diverse research regarding _______ is of particular interest to me. The ______ model, pioneered by Dr. ______, has been pivotal to our understanding of _______. I seek to explore how components of this model can be used to elucidate the connection between the autonomic nervous system, sleep, and psychopathology such as anxiety disorders. One focused line of inquiry related to this overall aim is investigating whether differences in _______ may explain the mixed findings regarding the association between sleep quality and trait anxiety. I am also interested in working with Dr. _______ to examine how _______ and the controlling neural structures change across the human lifespan. In this aim, I plan to investigate the ability of older adults to maintain positive affect despite age-related declines in ________ and prefrontal cortex activity."
As someone who was raised in a low-income and extremely rural area, the first person in their family to obtain an undergraduate degree, and the first in their entire extended family to pursue a PhD, there were a lot of struggles I faced during undergrad and the PhD application process. A huge part of my application journey was figuring out the best way to address these struggles and turn them into something positive. I firmly believe that first-generation applicants have so much to offer PhD programs and academia as a whole. I hope something in this post can help my fellow first-gens feel the same way!
Note: I feel it's important for me to clearly state that I am in no way saying that applicants who have a parent(s) with undergraduate or advanced degrees have not also faced challenges and do not also offer great things to programs. What I am saying, however, is that whether you are conscious of it or not, having a parent(s) who has completed higher education often offers advantages and opportunities that some people did not have.
As I stated above, I believe first-generation applicants have a ton to offer PhD programs and academia in general. The number of PhD students with neither parent having obtained an undergraduate degree continues to fall, with the most recent statistics I can find estimating less than 20% of doctoral students are first-generation (source: NSF). This might seem intimidating, but I think it presents a great opportunity for first-generation students to highlight the unique perspectives and attributes they can bring to a PhD program.
In this section, I want to give you examples of these perspectives and attributes that I identified in myself related to being first-gen and some tips for identifying your own! In the next section, I'll show you how I used these in my application statements with excerpts.
My high school was very underfunded, so things like AP courses did not exist. To make sure I was staying challenged in my high school education, I found a way to take courses at the nearest community college. During college, I also found a way to conduct and defend my own undergraduate thesis.
I struggled academically in the beginning of undergrad due to the lack of educational resources in my hometown and an incident toward the end of my final year of high school that left me with executive functioning impairment. Despite this, I didn't give up on my education. I kept pushing until I found what worked for me and finally started flourishing in my studies.
When I started working in research, I found it really bothered me that so much about academia and clinical trials caters to densely populated, predominantly white, middle-class populations. It brought up a lot of residual frustrations I had from growing up in an area without quality healthcare and education.
To challenge this, I helped create a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Research Committee at a large University that connected physicians with underserved populations to foster trust, disseminate health information, and promote inclusion in research.
Having grown up in a family where no one had an undergraduate degree or was really interested in science, I had to figure out ways to simplify the things I was studying so I could talk in ways the people I loved could understand what I was doing and what I cared about.
I found this really came in handy when I started working on neuroscience clinical trials and had to explain research forms to participants. People were so intrigued by the science and happier to participate when someone finally spoke to them about it in ways that made sense!
How did you overcome these? What qualities helped you in overcoming these? What did you learn from these experiences? What qualities did you gain or strengthen? How have these things helped prepare you for handling graduate school? Keep a list of all these things that you can add to when examples come to mind.
Sometimes it can be difficult to identify your own amazing qualities. Talk to the people close to you and ask them what they think has helped you succeed in your academic/research career.
This one may seem a bit silly, but it actually helped me significantly in identifying the barriers I overcame and how I did it. If you're like me, you might not be able to reflect on your background mentally and think "Hey, that was a unique challenge I faced!" because, well, that was just the reality of life. It never seemed like anything other people may not have had to deal with. I found it really useful to free-write information about my hometown, how I grew up, what my college experience was like, and life post-graduation. Reading this back to myself later helped me pick up on things I would have missed otherwise! This can also help you when writing your personal statement! Having a rough narrative already created can be useful when it comes time to create something more polished.
The best place to talk about being a first-generation student is in your Personal or Diversity Statement. If a program you're applying to only asks for a Statement of Purpose, you can still weave this in! In this section, I'll show how I incorporated the unique perspectives/attributes I identified in myself (listed above) into my Personal Statement and tips to help you do the same.
"Despite this deviation from my life plan, I managed to finish high school at the age of sixteen by taking classes at the local community college and become the first person in my family to attend University."
"In this lab, I was fascinated by the experience of participating in a much more refined process of testing hypotheses than my own maladroit methods for finding a suitable studying approach had been. It did not take long until I began developing questions of my own, and my relentless curiosity led to conducting my own undergraduate thesis."
"Upon beginning my undergraduate classes, I was struck by the realization that my background initially put me at a disadvantage compared to many of my peers. I found that my post-trauma brain no longer retained knowledge as it did before, and that many of my classmates had already learned much of the initial course material in AP classes that I did not have access to at my rural high school. I struggled academically my first year as a result. Rather than succumb to the initial feelings of defeat, I became dedicated to exploring and testing different approaches to help me store the information I needed."
"I have also taken away an appreciation for both the triumphs and struggles of research. Obtaining novel findings is no easy feat, and I quickly realized that missteps in the research process are the norm rather than the exception. Now, I am able to reflect on and value how much is learned with every roadblock encountered. It is this ability to find confidence in starting over that has enabled me to succeed academically, professionally, and personally."
"Perhaps more important than my scientific knowledge, I am applying as an individual with a deep understanding of how to persist when faced with challenges; a quality imperative to success as a doctoral student. This mindset has fostered my ability to adapt to the ever changing world of research rather than becoming discouraged."
"Further pursuing this passion for research accessibility, I helped to initiate an employee-led Diversity and Inclusion Committee which was primarily concerned with advocating for engagement of minority populations in research. Through hosting community events to provide information about research, our goal was to establish rapport between physicians and underserved populations. Additionally, I helped to create a Diversity and Inclusion book club to bolster the work of this committee and widen the perspectives of our members."
"Among my goals as a doctoral student and future professor is to continue addressing the hurdles that make research inaccessible and advance equity in higher education."
"Having been raised in an area of central Appalachia with limited educational resources and in a family where I was a first-generation college student, I discovered I was able to provide a unique perspective to improve health literacy for patients. Pulling from my own experiences, I quickly learned how to translate the heavy scientific jargon found in the research forms into content participants could easily understand. I found that patients were much more comfortable and enthusiastic about participating in research when they were able to grasp the science behind these protocols."
The biggest piece of advice I have for this it to be prepared to write, then re-write, and re-write, and re-write it again.
Your first few drafts are likely going to be rough, and potentially a little more personal than you will ultimately want them to be. That's okay!
What you do not want to do in your statement is list your attributes with no context or without including examples to back them up. Think of your attributes as needing citations, include your proof!
Every challenge you include should give an admissions committee a reason to believe you will succeed in graduate school.
Talking about the hardships you've faced as a first-generation student is encouraged, however, the point of talking about them isn't to make an admissions committee feel sorry for you. The point of including these is to show them that no matter what you've faced, you have overcome and grown in some way that has prepared you for the PhD journey.
The body paragraphs are the best place to give detail about the challenges you've overcome and what you learned.
In your closing paragraph, summarize what you've taken away from your struggles and how these have only made you a stronger PhD applicant.
If you’re having a difficult time thinking of challenges you might have had to deal with as a first-gen student, maybe some of these examples will help spark ideas for you.
This isn’t always the case, but many first-generation students come from a low-income household and find themselves having to hold a job while in college. This might have negatively impacted your grades or availability to volunteer in a research lab. Explaining this can help an admissions committee understand your circumstances. On the other hand, maybe you were able to work, keep your grades up, and do research. This is incredibly impressive, and an admissions committee should know it!
Being first-gen can sometimes create a disconnect between you and your family. It’s difficult for a lot of students who are excited about their courses or research and want to talk about it, but have family who aren’t interested in academia or have a hard time understanding. Find ways that this helped you grow or think innovatively, the same way this situation helped me learn how to effectively communicate science to people regardless of their educational background. If you’re like me and found that this made early college difficult for you, think about what you gained from this experience. Did you find you’re able to adapt easily, independent, or persistent.
I had no idea until I had already gone to college that many high schools host college fairs, have guidance counselors who help students with college/scholarship applications, and hold information sessions about college. It took a lot of work for me to navigate financial aid, scheduling classes, and all the little nuances of college that no one around me knew about.
One of the many challenges the PhD application process brings to first-generation students is the feeling of loneliness or isolation. If you’re like me, the first in your entire extended family to pursue a PhD, this is especially true. It can be scary and difficult to have no one in your personal life who understands what you’re trying to do, and in some cases why you even want to do it. These are some things that helped me cope with feeling alone in this process. I hope some of them can help you, too.
As absolutely silly and ridiculous as this sounds, Reddit helped me tremendously in feeling more connected to people. Actually, odds are Reddit is how you found this blog in the first place. So, maybe it’s not that silly? If Reddit isn’t how you found this blog, check out r/gradadmissions to connect with thousands of people who are going through the same struggles as you.
There are almost limitless ways to connect with people and find support if you look. Heck, some days even watching Youtube videos about PhD students and applicants helped me feel less alone.
In case no one has told you lately, I’m so proud of you for embarking on this journey! I hope you’re proud of yourself, too. When things get difficult, remember to take a deep breath and remind yourself that you’re a trailblazer. Doing what no one else in your family has done before is amazing. You survived undergrad, and you will survive this too!
It can be easy to get so consumed by the application process that you completely forget why you’re doing this. Do you ultimately want to be a professor, work in a national lab, go into industry? When I found myself getting down and questioning why I got myself into this, I’d close my eyes and imagine myself getting a tenure track position. I thought about how it would feel to finally have my dream job, and suddenly all the struggles and insecurity would seem worth it.
Unfortunately, PhD applications are expensive. They often range from $70 to $130 a piece. If you're applying to approximately 10 schools, which is the typical suggestion, these fees can add up quickly. With that being said, let's talk about how to mitigate the burden of these fees.
With acceptance rates being intimidatingly low, it is tempting to want to apply to as many programs as possible to try to increase your chances of getting in somewhere. Beyond all the other reasons this would be a bad idea, it would be incredibly expensive as well. Consider some of these points to help you apply to programs selectively and keep the cost of applying down.
Let's dispel the myth of "safety schools" again. There is no such thing as a safety school when it comes to PhD programs. If you're thinking about applying to a program you aren't excited about just because you think it's a "safe" option, I strongly recommend you don't apply there. Let's be realistic, 5-7 years is a LONG time to spend at a school and with an advisor. If you wouldn't be ecstatic about spending this time at a program, why apply?
You'll see a lot of resources out there that encourage you to apply to a minimum of 10 programs, which I mentioned in the intro to this post. If there aren't 10 programs out there that you'd be thrilled to attend, don't stretch yourself to meet an arbitrary number. While it's probably not the best idea to only apply to 1 program, it isn't strictly necessary to apply to 10.
I've mentioned this in other posts, and it's essential. If there's only 1 professor you'd want as your advisor, I strongly advise against applying to that program.
Nearly every PhD program I've come across offers application fee waivers, however, they can sometimes be difficult to find. If you plan to request an application fee waiver, I've listed a few ways to locate them and some very important things to keep in mind here.
Most Universities will have a webpage dedicated to discussing how to access and submit application fee waivers and who is eligible to receive them. It should be one of the first search results you get.
The Big Ten Academic Alliance (which includes Indiana University Bloomington, Michigan State University, Northwestern University, Ohio State University, Penn State University, Purdue University, Rutgers University-New Brunswick, University of Chicago, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, University of Iowa, University of Maryland, University of Michigan, University of Minnesota, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and University of Wisconsin-Madison) also allows eligible applicants to request fee waivers through the centralized FreeApp form.
If your Google search fails, try reaching out to the graduate program coordinator instead. They can give you additional information about waiver eligibility and access.
Many programs host information sessions for prospective applicants during the summer. It's almost guaranteed that at some point in the session application fee waivers will be discussed. Check the program website regularly to look out for scheduled information sessions.
This likely varies a depending on the program, so your safest bet is to get as much information as you can from one of the resources I mentioned above. In general, however, many programs allow you to submit an application fee waiver request within the graduate application portal. For other programs, the waiver request may need to be submitted to a specific email address.
Make sure you are checking in on the application fee waiver process for your programs at least a month in advance.
To get an application fee waiver, you will need to submit some type of supporting documentation to verify that you apply. Gathering this documentation might take time, so you want to make sure you know in advance what you'll need.
Many programs will require you submit your entire, finalized application at least 5 days ahead of the official deadline to be considered for an application fee waiver.
Again, this will depend on the program, but many will ask you to attach your fee waiver supporting documentation in the application portal and submit your application several days ahead of the posted program deadline. This means all of your application information, transcripts, and statements need to be finalized and uploaded to the application portal too.
Once again, this will vary depending on the program. In general, there are 3 main groups of people who will most likely qualify:
Most Universities will offer application fee waivers to people who participated in one or more select diversity programs. The list of eligible programs can differ from school to school, so you'll want to check on this for every University you apply to.
If you received a general or honorable discharge from the armed forces, many Universities will grant you an application fee waiver.
What constitutes as a "financial need" will differ from program to program. Usually, this is based on either your annual income or your Estimated Family Contribution from your Student Aid Report, which is based on your FAFSA information. If your income or Estimated Family Contribution is below a certain cutoff determined by the program, you may be eligible to receive a fee waiver.
The documentation you will be required to submit to verify you qualify for a fee waiver will, surprise surprise, potentially vary from program to program. In general, the documents below are required.
You will most likely need to submit a letter from the director of that program verifying that you did participate.
In most cases, you will need to submit a DD214.
You will most likely be required to submit one of the following:
1. A letter from the financial aid office at your current University which states somewhere that your Estimated Family Contribution is below a certain amount (determined by the University you are applying to).
2. Your Student Aid Report, derived from your FAFSA, which shows that your Estimated Family Contribution is below a certain amount (determined by the University you are applying to).
3. Your most recent Federal Income Tax Return. If you're an independent, this will be your 1040. If you're a dependent, you'll need your caregiver's return. These will need to show an income that is below a certain threshold (determined by the University you are applying to).
Some of the most frequent questions I see pop up from applicants are about letters of recommendation (LORs). This post will address some of these questions and will hopefully give you a better idea of who, how, and when to ask.
Who to ask for an LOR can vary depending on your level of research experience, level of interaction with faculty, how long you have been out of college, and your field. I wanted to provide examples of people you can consider asking for an LOR regardless of your situation.
Faculty you have worked with in a lab or on a research project are far and away the best people to ask to write you a letter of recommendation. These faculty can speak to your research capabilities, skills, and dedication based on first-hand experience.
If you did not do research at all or did not do research with enough faculty to cover the required number of LORs, consider asking a faculty member you took a course with and received a high grade from or a course you are currently taking and doing well in.
Faculty who taught a course you did more than just show up for class in should get extra consideration. If this was a course where you often went to office hours, had a required research paper or component, or became a TA for, definitely consider asking the professor for an LOR. Even if you graduated quite some time ago or did not have a lot of interaction with a professor, it does not hurt to ask!
If you have worked in a research setting or lab, you can consider asking people such as a lab manager to write you an LOR. Even if this person does not have a PhD, they can give a solid, first-hand description of how you operate in a lab and speak to your attributes.
If you do not have enough faculty or folks in research roles to cover the required number of LORs, you can consider asking a supervisor from your current or former job that you have a good relationship with. If you go this route, make sure to give them a good description of things to include in an LOR for a PhD program as they may not have ever written an LOR for this purpose.
Assuming you have an application deadline of early December, you should reach out to request a letter of recommendation no later than the end of September. You want to make sure you are giving your letter writers plenty of time to complete these and submit. A minimum two month window will also give you time to reach out to back-ups in the event your request for an LOR is denied by someone or extenuating circumstances arise and one of your writers is no longer able to complete this.
How to ask for an LOR can also vary depending on your relationship to the person you are requesting it from. These requests can look a bit different if you are asking your current Principal Investigator (PI) vs a professor from 4 years ago, for example.
These are the easiest requests to make! If you are currently working in a research setting, your PI or supervisor likely already has information about your research/academic background and an idea of what you want to study in a PhD program. If you regularly see these folks in-person, your best bet is to ask them face-to-face. If you work remotely or are, for whatever reason, against asking these folks in person, you can ask via email. Below is a template for asking for an LOR from a current PI or research supervisor.
"Hello _____,
This year I intend to apply to _____ PhD programs to study ______. As someone who has worked closely with me, I am wondering if you would be willing and able to write me a good letter of recommendation for these programs? I am happy to provide you with a comprehensive list of the programs I will be applying to along with the deadlines for these along with any additional materials you may need to write a letter of recommendation."
If this is a faculty member you often see for office hours, consider asking them face-to-face! If you do not have a lot of interaction with this professor, or would prefer to ask them via email, below is a template you can consider using.
"Hello ______,
I have greatly enjoyed taking ______ with you this semester. This year, I intend to apply to ______ PhD programs to study _______. Taking your course has greatly benefitted my knowledge in this field, and I am wondering if you would be willing and able to write me a good letter of recommendation for my PhD applications? I am happy to meet with you during office hours or to set up a meeting to discuss my interests further and give you more information about my background. I can also provide any additional written materials you may need to write a letter of recommendation."
If this was a course you took recently, consider using something similar to the template above and changing the details to be in the past tense. If this was a course you took some time ago and are unsure if the professor will remember you, consider using the template below.
Note: It can be intimidating to reach out to someone you may not have had a lot of contact with or have not seen for a long time, but it does not hurt to ask!
"Hello _____,
My name is ______ and I took your _____ course in _____. I greatly enjoyed your course, and was thrilled to have received a _____ in such a challenging and important course for my field. This year, I intend to apply to ______ PhD programs to study ______ and I am wondering if you would be willing and able to write me a good letter of recommendation for my PhD applications? The following is a bit about my educational and research background to aid you in making your decision (brief description of your major, GPA, research experience, relevant coursework). I have also attached my CV here for your reference. I would be happy to set up a meeting to further discuss my interests any background if needed and provide you with any additional written materials you may need."
If you plan to ask someone outside of academia to write you a letter of recommendation, be sure to speak with them about what an LOR for PhD programs should include as they may have never written a letter for this purpose. Again, I recommend asking for this face-to-face if this is a supervisor in your current role. If you need an email template, consider using one like I have below.
"Hello _____,
I hope you are doing well! This year I intend to apply to _____ PhD programs, and I am wondering if you would be willing and able to write me a good letter of recommendation for my applications? As someone who has worked with me closely in a professional setting, I am hoping you might be able to speak about my (attributes you'd like to highlight) in a letter of recommendation for these programs. I would be happy to set up a meeting to talk more about my educational background and research interests as well as things you could consider including in this letter. I can also provide you with any additional materials you may need to assist you with this."
At the end of the day, it is up to the people writing your letters to choose what they will include in them. Overall, a good letter of recommendation should include information that gives an admissions committee a solid perspective on your research abilities/contributions, drive, interpersonal skills, intellectual curiosity, and attributes that make you prepared for graduate school. The following are suggestions you can make if you are asked by your letter writer what specific things you'd like to be highlighted.
Depending on your relationship with the people writing your letters and their level of comfortability writing your letter, you may be asked to provide different things. The following are examples of some things you might want to consider having prepared to give your LOR writers.
It is unfortunately quite common, especially with faculty, that applicants are asked to write a draft of their own LOR for the writer. If this happens, don't panic. The first thing you want to do is offer to provide the person who asked this of you with additional materials, such as those listed above, that may assist them in writing the letter.
If your letter writer doubles down on this request and insists you provide them with a draft of the letter, you still have options.
If you are adamantly against writing a draft of your LOR, consider reaching out to someone else who may be willing to be a recommender. If you are able to find a replacement, reach out to the original LOR writer to kindly inform them that while you appreciate their willingness to submit an LOR for you, you have decided to ask someone else.
If you are willing to write a draft of your LOR but find it is uncomfortable for you to "brag" about yourself like this, consider asking a close friend or colleague who is familiar with your academic or research background to assist you. You can ask them to list what skills, attributes, or examples of your successes should be included in an LOR. Ask if they would be okay helping you draft or edit the LOR.
At the end of the day, your letter writer will still see your draft and have the ultimate say in what should or should not be included. It can be incredibly uncomfortable to be in the position of writing your own LOR, but remember that the final version is in the hands of your recommender. They will have the chance to revise and polish your LOR to make sure it is the best it can be.
It is unfortunate, but you may end up in a position where you have asked someone to write you an LOR and they have declined to do so. Remember that this is not a reflection of your skills or abilities! Most often when someone declines to write an LOR, it is because they feel they do not know enough to speak strongly about your experience and attributes. It is much better to have someone kindly decline to write you a letter of recommendation than for someone to accept and write an incredibly vague and generic letter.
If your request for an LOR is declined, don't be discouraged! This should not convince you to abandon applying or feel pessimistic about your chances. It's easier said than done, but try to view this as getting one step closer to finding the right LOR writer for you. Continue reaching out to other folks and offer to provide them with as much material about you as you possibly can to increase your chances of them agreeing to write for you.
For a timeline on asking for LORs that will help you avoid any being sent late, see the application timeline section. The unfortunate truth is, however, there is only so much you can do to avoid having a letter be submitted after the deadline. The good news is, the vast majority of schools have a grace period for submitting LORs! Programs understand that, especially with faculty, people get busy and can forget about deadlines. The following are some steps you can take if you feel one of your letters may be submitted late.
As stated above, most programs allow a window of around 5 days after the deadline for recommenders to submit letters. Reach out to the program coordinator a few days prior to the deadline to ask for the final date letters of recommendation can be submitted.
If you haven't received a response about your LOR from someone who previously agreed to write for you, it is good to have a potential back-up in place. Try to have this person identified and secure their agreement to submit an LOR for you if needed around 2 weeks prior to the deadline.
On the day of the application deadline, email the graduate program coordinator to notify them that a letter will be submitted late.
If the deadline date has arrived and you're still missing a letter, give the program a heads-up that your letter is on its way. There is no need to give a lengthy explanation or send a panicked, frantic email. Simply let them know that there has been a delay, and that the LOR will be submitted as soon as possible.
Let's not deny it, interviews can be intimidating! Whether your interviews are in-person or remote, I hope something in this post can help you feel a little more prepared and confident!
A lot of applicants are unsure about what to wear to interviews, especially when factors like cold weather might be at play. Here, I want to talk about what is typically appropriate to wear to interviews. I'll also discuss some resources for folks who may not already own this type of attire and are concerned about the cost of purchasing clothing.
In general, business casual is typically appropriate to wear to an interview. If you are wondering....yes, even if your interview is remote you should still dress business casual.
Consider dressing in layers. You will likely be walking outside at some point and will require a coat or thick sweater, but you will also be spending a great deal of time inside where it might be significantly warmer. Consider sturdier footwear like ankle boots. It's perfectly acceptable to sacrifice a bit of fashion for shoes that will help ensure you don't slip or suffer from freezing feet all day!
Examples of business casual clothing for folks identifying as a woman can include:
Tops - blouse, sweater, dress, or button down which can be optionally paired with a blazer
Bottoms - dress pants, long skirt, or jeans. Note for jeans: No holes and preferably dark wash. Typically only appropriate if you are leaning more formal with your choice of top (like a blouse and blazer) and shoes.
Shoes - flats, small heels, or booties
Examples of business casual clothing for folks identifying as a man can include:
Tops - Button down, sweater, or polo which can optionally be paired with a sport or suit jacket
Bottoms - dress pants, khakis, or jeans. Note for jeans: No holes and preferably dark wash. Typically only appropriate if you are leaning more formal with your choice of top (like a button down and blazer) and shoes.
Shoes - dress shoes or sneakers. Note for sneakers: Only wear these if they have a dress shoe adjacent look.
Feel free to mix and match any of the clothing items mentioned above to build an outfit that is most comfortable and authentic for you! It's easier said than done, but don't feel pressured to conform to wearing an outfit that others might expect based on their perceived idea of your identity. Any program that doesn't accept the authentic version of you is not the program you belong in!
If you do not already own business casual attire and are concerned about the cost of purchasing an interview appropriate outfit, consider some of these options:
It is not uncommon for cities or even larger towns to have organizations that provide low to no cost professional attire for students and job seekers. Try a quick google search to see if any of these organizations exist near you!
I've found that some thrift stores have a pleasantly surprising assortment of professional attire. This is especially true for stores like Deja Blue, which is owned by Goodwill and carries slightly more upscale pieces.
If you have a friend or family member with a similar clothing size and fashion sense, ask if they have clothing you can borrow.
Traveling for interviews can be exciting! Getting to meet faculty and graduate students face to face and seeing the campus firsthand can help you get a better feel for a program than remote interviews. Here are some things to keep in mind about traveling for interviews and potential costs.
Either way, always try to arrive in the afternoon/early evening the day before your interview.
This isn't always possible due to cost or location, but if it is you'll reduce the risk of a flight delay or cancellation that might cause you to be behind schedule.
Depending on the program, you'll be staying in a hotel (most likely sharing a room with a other interviewee) or staying with a current graduate student(s).
Regardless, remember to be courteous! You never know what might get back to graduate students or faculty, so keep in mind that even in the privacy of a hotel or graduate student's place you need to be respectful.
Any worthwhile program will completely cover the cost of your flight and lodging for interviews.
If a program informs you that you are responsible for covering all of the travel costs yourself, I would strongly consider rejecting the invitation to interview.
This is just my opinion, and other folks might feel differently. As someone from a low income background, I find it extremely inconsiderate and elitist for a program to expect anyone to fully cover their own travel costs.
Programs that do pay for your travel may do so by (1) covering the cost up front or (2) reimbursing you
If the program covers the cost of your travel up front, that's great! Your only concern will be paying for meals you eat outside of your interview events.
If the program reimburses you for the cost of travel and you are worried about having the funds to cover this, even temporarily, consider doing the following:
Reach out to the program coordinator or person who invited you to the interview and let them know that you have a concern about the cost.
Ask if it is at all possible for the program to cover your travel costs up front rather than reimbursing you.
It's important to note that you should only request this if you are absolutely certain you will attend the interview if your request is accepted. You don't want to ask this of a program then change your mind about going for some reason.
If this request is rejected, I would consider rejecting the invitation to interview. This is especially true if a program waits until after interviews are over to reimburse you. Again, this is just my opinion, but I find this extremely inconsiderate to low-income applicants.
Remote interviews have their perks, like getting to go through the process in a familiar setting and knowing you have everything you need within reach. One drawback is the potential for technical issues, which happen more often than we want them to. Here are some of my tips for doing your part to ensure your remote interview goes smoothly!
You want to reduce the possibility of unwanted background noise or anyone walking in on you as much as possible.
Set up your computer wherever you plan to do the interview and open your camera. Make sure that there is nothing embarrassing or inappropriate in the frame.
If you do want to use this, make sure you have one picked out and that you know how to turn it on prior to the start of your interview. Make sure you are choosing a background that isn't distracting. You want the focus to be on you, not whatever is behind you.
Unfortunately, things do happen. Programs hosting remote interviews know that sometimes things go wrong, even if you made sure everything was in working order beforehand.
They may provide you with a link to a separate chat students can use to notify them of problems. Alternatively, they might give you an email address of who to contact if you have any problems. If you don't see anything mentioned about this in the materials you're given prior to the interview, don't be afraid to reach out and ask who to contact if you encounter an issue!
Ensuring you have everything you need available to you for interviews can help reduce at least a little of the stress they bring. Here's a checklist of things you can consider taking with you or having readily available!
2 business casual outfits if you have them, to be on the safe side. 1 outfit for dinner/mixer. Comfortable travel/lesire attire.
Making a good impression on faculty is, obviously, important. Something to keep in mind is that it's equally important to make a good impression on the current graduate students in the program! These are folks you will potentially be working alongside for years, and they do give feedback to faculty about how you conduct yourself.
Ask every faculty member you interview with questions about their work, even if they are not your potential advisor.
The last thing you want to do in an interview is have a faculty member ask "Do you have any questions for me?" only to have you answer "Nope." You will receive a list of the faculty you are interviewing with prior to interview day(s). Do a quick Google Scholar search on them and take notes on some of the topics they are currently working on. There's no need to go in depth, you just want to have a general idea of what they study. This will at least show them that you care enough to do a bit of research on who you are speaking with!
Ask every faculty member questions about the program, even if you are repeating questions you have already asked other faculty.
There's no need to have a gigantic list of questions about the program because you do not want to repeat any. In fact, I made a conscious effort to ask a few of the same questions to several faculty in my interviews to compare their answers and see if they were consistent.
You have probably already done a pretty extensive amount of research on these faculty since you wrote about them in your SOP. Once you have landed an interview with them, it's time to go even further. You want to be able to talk in detail about work they have done recently or are currently doing and exactly how this aligns with your interest. These interviews are also a great time to talk about the ideas you have for projects you'd like to start in their lab and how it fits with what they are doing or have done. Personally, I read many of the papers all my potential advisors had published within the last 5-7 years and took extensive notes on ones that aligned with my interests so I could ask questions about them.
It can be incredibly intimidating to talk 1:1 with people who are so accomplished and experts in their fields. At the end of the day, though, every single one of these folks were in your shoes once! Take time to center yourself before your interviews and remind yourself that they are human, and that you have already impressed them enough to land an interview.
Whether it's 1:1 during an interview, in a graduate student panel, or at a dinner/mixer, you will be given the opportunity to interact with current students. While these interactions tend to be a bit more relaxed than those with faculty, remember you are being evaluated at all times. Do not ask graduate students overly personal questions or disclose anything to them that you would not want a faulty member to know.
Depending on how the program runs their interviews, you may be interviewing 1:1 with graduate students.
This is a great opportunity to ask what their experience in the program has been like! It's perfectly okay to ask graduate students how they feel about the location of the University, if they find the program stipend to be comfortable, if they feel supported in the program, etc.
While it's true that you are being heavily evaluated during interviews, you are also evaluating the program! You want to make sure that the program is the right fit for you, which means looking out for potential red flags or things that might make you skeptical.
In my opinion, the best way to tell if a program has a healthy and supportive environment is to pay attention to the demeanor of the graduate students.
Things to look out for that show students may not be happy in a program:
While it's not necessarily a red flag if faculty who aren't your potential advisor aren't showing a strong interest in you, it's still good to note if faculty seem especially detached in your interactions.
Things to look out for that show faculty may not be supportive or engaged:
In a remote interview, you notice they are often looking at a different screen and it is apparent this isn't to look at your CV/application packet.
It is clear in an interview they know absolutely nothing about you. Faculty are busy, and likely do not have time to extensively review the application of every interviewee. However, they should at least have a broad idea about your background.
While this might not seem like a huge deal, it is still important to consider if a program seems to have a good handle on the administrative aspects.
Things to look out for that show a program may be unorganized:
There are consistent issues with interviewees being able to access their remote interviews due to incorrect links/passwords being provided.
There is an obvious lack of effort put into the interview materials. Whether your interview is remote or in person, you should be provided with quality materials about the program in general, graduate student resources, and housing at the minimum.
As I stated above, you do not want to be in a situation with faculty where you say you do not have any questions for them. This shows a lack of care and curiosity on your part. The following are questions you can consider asking faculty who may not be your potential advisor about the program.
Are students provided with funding to attend conferences by the department or is this provided by individual labs?
In addition to asking questions about your potential advisor's research, you should also be trying to get a sense of what they expect from their students and what it is like to work in their lab. Asking some of the following can help you do just that!
Are students in your lab able to create their own projects, or are they typically assigned to ongoing projects?
Are your students expected to be working in the lab, or is working from home/elsewhere on campus acceptable?
As I stated above, I believe one of the best indicators of whether a program is supportive is how the current graduate students answer your questions. Asking some of the following can help you get a better sense of how students feel about the program.
Is there enough flexibility in choosing courses to tailor your classes to fit your specific interests?
Questions you'll be asked during interviews will, of course, vary depending on your field and how technical or in-depth your interviewer wants to be. The following are some general questions you might be asked.
Is your research interdisciplinary? Who in the department do you see yourself collaborating with if so?
There's no denying it, rejections can be hurtful. It's not a great feeling when you have put so much time, effort, and care into your application just for the end result to be a "no thank you" from a program. It's something that almost every single applicant will have to deal with, so I wanted to talk a bit about how to bounce back from rejections.
You'll notice in this post that I always say your application was rejected, not that you were rejected. That's because it's true. Although rejections can feel incredibly personal, the fact is there is so much about you that cannot possibly fit into an application packet. You are a whole, worthy, valued person beyond what an admissions committee can see on a few pieces of paper. There are a myriad of reasons why your application may have been rejected, and many of them have absolutely nothing to do with your qualifications or statements. If you are facing rejections, keep your head up!
An admissions committee cannot possibly know enough about you to reject you as a person.
You are not alone in how you're feeling. Thousands of other people, including me, have had the same experience.
Maybe the faculty you applied to work with are planning to take their research in an entirely different direction, and your interest wouldn't fit in their lab anymore.
An admissions committee cannot determine that you absolutely do not have what it takes to do research from an application packet.
I've said it before and I'll say it again, PhD admissions often have a lot to do with luck. Many times rejections have nothing to do with how qualified an applicant is, it just turned out to be an unlucky cycle. Below are some common reasons an application is rejected.
This isn't always the case, but at many Universities faculty will be "ranked" in order of priority for getting to choose a student. This means that even though a faculty member says that they will be considering accepting a student this cycle, if they are low on the priority list and the faculty ranked above them all want to choose a student, there may not be enough slots for this faculty member to end up admitting someone. This means as much as they may have liked your application, they had no choice but to reject it.
Sometimes faculty are told that they will receive enough funding to admit a student, but this funding ends up falling through. Anecdotally, this is what happened to me with a program. I interviewed for a program and received a call from my potential advisor about a week later. She told me that I got outstanding remarks from my interviews and I would be a perfect fit for her lab, however, the department pulled some of her funding at the last minute and therefore she could not admit me. I'll be honest, this was devastating to me at first. I was so frustrated that I had done everything right and it still ended in a rejection. However, this experience really helped put PhD admissions into perspective for me. It wasn't until this happened that I truly realized that rejections can have absolutely nothing to do with the applicant.
No matter how hard you might have tried to make sure your research interest aligned with faculty, it is very difficult to know what they might be planning in the future. The papers you read that they've published in the last 5 years may not be reflective of the work they plan to do in the next 5 years. It's also entirely possible that they already have a graduate student doing the type of work you proposed, and they are looking for someone who plans to take a different approach.
If you proposed a very broad research area of interest in your statement, it may not have been enough to convince a faculty member that you know exactly what you want to study in a PhD program.
An admissions committee wants to see proof that you can do research, and the best way to show that is by having research experience already. If you didn't do much research in undergrad, consider gaining more experience in by working in roles like a research assistant, research coordinator, or lab manager.
Unfortunately, it's not all that uncommon for faculty to have a good idea of who they will accept before your application has even been reviewed. They might have a current research assistant, lab manager, or student that has let them know they plan to apply to work with them on a PhD. Faculty can be risk-averse, which makes sense when you consider they are committing to training someone for the next 5-7 years. They may prefer to admit someone they worked with or currently work with over an applicant they don't know.
In my opinion, this is truly the only way a rejection can be considered the fault of an applicant. Every statement you write should be unique to that program and should show you've done your homework about the program and faculty.
If you find yourself in the position of having received only rejections from programs, it can be difficult to figure out where to go from there. Below, I want to talk about next steps.
Odds are that you've spent a significant amount of time over the last several months fully immersed in your applications. For the sake of your mental health, take at least a few weeks to do things you enjoy and do your best not to think about your applications.
Once you feel ready to dive back in, start by reading your statements to see if any obvious mistakes or ways to improve jump out at you. You can also ask your letter of recommendation writers, professors, or someone else to read your statements and give you feedback.
If you think a lack of research experience could have been a major factor in your application being rejected, look into ways you can address this. Jobs like research assistants, research coordinators, and lab managers are excellent ways to get further research experience. If you can't pursue a job like those listed above for whatever reason, consider looking into part-time volunteer research positions.
If you think your proposed line of research may have been the weak spot in your application, you have plenty of time to alter it before the next cycle! Maybe your research question(s) wasn't specific enough, or maybe it was overly specific and came off as inflexible. Either way, there's no shame in going back to the drawing board and coming up with some new ideas.
A lot of applicants wonder if it would be worthwhile to reach out and ask a program for feedback as to why their application was rejected. While it's not necessarily inappropriate to do this, there are some things to consider before you do it.
The fact is, programs receive far too many applications to give a reason for each one they rejected. If they make an exception for one student, it sets a precedent that could end up costing them a ton of time.
If you did not speak with anyone in the program prior to your application being rejected, it's probably not worthwhile to ask for feedback. This is especially true if you wanted to email a professor specifically to ask for rationale on the rejection. Please don't do this unless you were in touch with that professor during the application process. Even then, be prepared to not get feedback.
In my personal opinion, asking for feedback about your rejected application is really only worthwhile if you interviewed for a program.
At that point, you can be confident that a professor or program director actually knows who you are, has reviewed your application, and may give a meaningful response.
There are tons of example statements you can find online, but I wanted to include a few here as well. Here, I have attached my own redacted statements as well as the statements from a friend who was kind enough to share theirs. As a note, these are the statements we both submitted to the programs we ultimately accepted offers to attend, and they are among the top programs in our respective fields.
There are also a lot of template CVs out there, and I highly recommend looking at the CVs of faculty you are interested in working with. In case you need it, though, I'm including my own CV and the CV of the same friend who shared their statements.
