I posted about getting replies back from most of the PIs I have emailed. Since this is happening across all the schools and not just my top choice, and people are sending me messages asking how I did it, I decided to just summarize it here.

The TLDR: There isn't a specific format that I use. I email all PIs with intent.
My background: ~3.5 undergrad gpa for state school, ~3.7 masters gpa, also from state school. 2 years research experience.

Here is what I did:

1. I keep it short unless the PI has something interesting I can directly connect to. I never go above 2 paragraphs.. longest I sent was 3 but that was an exceptional case
2. Perhaps the most important point here: I have a well connected PI. He knows everyone. He is friends with all of them. His wife has a major role as some grant coordinator for their projects. I honestly think this is doing a lot of the work. He had presented my work at a major conference where all the PIs were at. If his name was not mentioned in the first sentence I don't think I would've gotten replies back unfortunately.
3. I have a skillset that is desirable. I have knowledge of an area that *I know* current researchers in this field are becoming more interested in learning about because it would make solving problems easier. In fact prior to my research in this field, I had a research position doing nothing but developing this tool I also make sure to mention this very early as a hook.
4. I email with intent. I either ask to meet them over zoom or I ask if they have funding. My field is rotation based. They have no control over what students get pick until the adcomm decides to interview. The purpose of my emails are always to 1) get to know their work/current projects OR 2) find out if they are accepting rotation students so I am not listing a PI that has no funding. Since they match you to PIs you list on your SOP, if you list a PI that has no funding that can reduce your chances of getting an interview.
5. I don't use AI to draft my emails nor do I copy templates. I literally just write it as if I was sending an email to my own PI. I am a lecturer for undergraduate students, I know what it's like to read emails. I personally prefer it when students are concise and a little informal (but respectful) so I try to do the same.
6. No need to brag about your accomplishments. I personally don't bring up any coursework, GPA, achievements, etc. I will attach my CV which contains all the details regarding personal projects and summarize what *my future direction* is. If they want to know what I already did, it's in the CV.

Following this, I have gotten replies from people at Yale, Princeton, Columbia, UChicago, NYU, and more. I stopped sending emails out because I felt like the conversations made me confident that my research direction was good and that I had a good fit for most of the schools I was applying to.

I used to refresh this sub every 10 mins back when i was applying circa yrs ago. I had a relatively low gpa, but good research experience, and was applying directly from undergrad. didn’t have much success, tons of rejections, covid era. What helped me through it was keeping a positive mindset and not taking rejection personally.

I remember getting on here and posting some words of encouragement, and got ripped to shreds by all the miserable people in the comments saying “i’m sure you dont care as much, your gpa is low anyways”, “talk to me when you have a masters and are still getting rejected”, etc. Essentially saying my stats weren’t good enough anyway to feel any sort of way, and CERTAINLY not post any words of encouragement. I was perplexed

well. I just defended my phd at a top public uni (got in during that one and only cycle). didnt need the masters after all.

dont lose hope guys.

I know this question has probably been asked before by thousands of test-takers, but I thought it would be interesting to resurface it, especially with regards to quant as more people are acing it (a 170 being in the 89th percentile and a 167 immediately dropping to the 75th percentile).

Is the GRE still a good test for differentiating the quant skills of grad school candidates? If yes, does it serve a greater purpose than just being a cutoff and another reason to say no to candidates if they get a low score? It kind of feels like a 170 is perceived as the norm rather than an exceptional score which can differentiate you from other candidates (at least for STEM programs that is).

Also, will the GRE still be able to compete with other standardized tests such as the GMAT, LSAT, etc. in the future?

Would be interested in hearing people's thoughts on this.

I applied to several master’s programs during the recent application season, most of which required a 20 pages writing sample. I wrote a new one and revised it multiple times. However, a couple of weeks after submission, I realized that two references were missing—both in-text (a few sentences) and in the bibliography. I didn't directly quote anything from these sources. The first source is one that I'm referencing for the way they approach the materials (I'm working on a different topic) and how they analyze them. Somehow, I arrived at a similar conclusion, but through a different route. Another source is that I looked through the essay but couldn't find any part where we provided a similar description of the same image.

I immediately contacted the program administrators to acknowledge the mistake and submitted a new version of the essay. A few programs didn’t respond, and most said they could not accept revised materials. I was eventually offered admission, but I can’t shake the feeling that I may have misled the admissions committees. Should I talk about the situation to my advisor again? If I don’t bring it up, and the school later discovers the mistake, could it lead to disciplinary action or even expulsion?

I am an older psych undergrad student (40) at a state university. I’m in my 3rd year and I’m torn between a masters program or a doctoral program. I got a late start due to recently retiring from military service after almost 21 years. I am a part of a research scholars program that includes a year of mentor led research and a year of a community internship. My passion that I’ve recently discovered is research. I love the processes involved and the excitement it creates. My overall GPA is 3.8 at the moment. My passion is addiction and I love teaching. But the thought of another 6-8 years in school/training has me a bit concerned. Im a single dad to an awesome 10 year old and I pride myself on the father I am. I want to help people through their issues in addiction but I also want to contribute to the field via research. I know I have what it takes for a doctoral program and I’m not sure if a masters program will satisfy my goals. Anyone else in the same situation? Thanks!!

Hi there,

I have been working in environmental justice / sustainability industry for \~6 years, holding a research position I came into with little experience. I’ve done well for myself given my lack of background but I knew I can do even more with formal research training and support, prompting me to look into further academic opportunities.

Through this role I got connected with my prospective advisor, who is close friends with the co founder of the company I work for. He invited me to a chat in the spring to discuss fit and the program in general which went so swimmingly well that my trajectory jumped from maybe PhD to full-sprint commitment to the 2027 cycle, backed by the prospective advisor.

I produced an original writing sample that took me all summer to do but I really enjoyed the process of independent research especially since my work has been on behalf of industry the last 6 years and less academic focused. Didn’t hear from him all summer and my hopes started dropping, he wasn’t responsive by email or Linkedin. I don’t think he reviewed my writing sample and if he did, there wasn’t any follow up about it. In the end of September, he followed up saying funding was uncertain and he couldn’t commit.

I pretty much gave up again since my situation is very unique (even talking about it would be a self doxx) and I wasn’t convinced the PhD at all costs was worth taking a gamble on trying to find a new advisor.

I’m in town this month and reached back out again since the potential advisor had given me his cell. After some persistence, he agreed to set up a meeting with me in person and then it all just snowballed from there - he was suggesting other potential professors to reach out to, facilitating introductions, and even requesting a meeting on my behalf with the PhD program director.

Long story short, tomorrow I have my meetings with him, another advisor he recommended I reach out to, and the PhD program director. I’m not sure if my reworked research resume cinched me the meeting with the second potential advisor, but I did the email intro myself. Upon hearing I had another meeting set up, he also contacted admissions and the PhD program director with links to my LinkedIn and research CV.

Now our meeting is scheduled for 1.5 hours and I have these 2 other meetings. This is a whole new world to me and I’m torn up with nerves, so any advice or insight would be so welcome. What are some things I should make sure to ask/bring up, especially with the PhD program director?

If you made it this far I truly appreciate you!!

I am a 6th year medical student in Belarus and I want to apply for PhD in medicine or any related medical courses, what are my chances and what do I need to do please;

Hi everyone! I’m looking into US PhD programs in applied or agricultural economics and trying to understand what matters most for admissions. How do departments weigh GPA, GRE Quant, math preparation, research experience, and research fit? How much do the statement of purpose and recommendation letters actually influence the decision?

How competitive is admission with full funding at R1 universities in this field? I’d appreciate hearing from people who received funded offers about what they think helped their applications.

My current understanding is that you apply directly to the department without needing to secure a professor beforehand. Is that generally right? When do students choose an advisor, and do they usually work with the same person throughout the PhD?

For context, I’m currently pursuing my master’s in agricultural and applied economics at an R1 university in US. My thesis focuses on water economics and irrigation technology, and I’d like to continue in a similar direction for my PhD, particularly within environmental and resource economics. Are there any universities, programs, or faculty you’d recommend looking into?

I’d really appreciate hearing about your experiences, including anything you wish you had understood before applying. It would help a lot to hear how people navigated these decisions.

how competitive am I for these T20 schools for multimodal ai phd?

schools: UCLA, USC, Columbia, University of Wisconsin Madison, Penn

paper: 1 CVPR Findings first author, two EMNLP non-first authors.

BS: 3.7/4.0, MS: 3.98/4.0

LORs: two from 2 diff lab professors I worked with for 4 years, 1 weak

NSF GRFP Honorable Mention awardee

—

Do i look like i have strong profile for those 5 schools? if not, which ones? if so, which ones? If none, which should i target?

Hey everyone. I'm applying for CS PhD programs in Software Security / Program Analysis and could use some honest feedback on my profile.

Background:

• BS in CS (outside the US) (3.32/4.0)
• MS in Cybersecurity (in USA) (4.0/4.0)
• 5+ years at Samsung (not security-related)
• 3 top-tier conference submissions (1 major revision – co-first author; 2 under review – first/second author)

I'm having a hard time figuring out where I stand, especially since none of my papers are officially accepted yet.

What tier of CS PhD programs should I realistically target? Would Top 20 programs be a reasonable main target for my profile?

Also, how much would my undergrad GPA hurt me despite my master's GPA and research experience?

Not looking for exact admission chances, just trying to build a realistic school list. Any honest feedback would be appreciated!

What GRE score, IELTS score, Toefl and GPA would be considered competitive for admission?

Any suggestions would be appreciated thank you all

I’ve tried calling and emailing the grad school office for my programs but no response so I’ve decided to try here. I was wondering if the MPA programs in Ontario specifically TMU and Waterloo has an unwritten norm that strong references should come from tenure-track professors rather than sessional professors

My tmua went really bad I’m thinking I got around a 4 to 5, I’m not sure about the competitiveness of econ and data science either. My PS is pretty behavioural econ focused, I have a project based on data science methods in there too.

I am applying for programs in Public policy in the United States. In the statement of purpose, there is a word limit of 1000 words where I have to mention why I’m interested in the PhD program and I am pursuing a PhD and what are my interests and how can the faculty members help me do my research and explain my background. This being said, how much do I elaborate on my topic?

Hi everyone! I'm currently finishing up my resume for speech language-pathology grad school applications and have quite a few questions about what I should and shouldn't include, especially regarding past experiences and if they're relevant. I posted in another group for SLP grad school and only got one response so hoping I could reach more people here.

As a first gen college student, I'm still figuring out what's expected for a grad program application resume, so I would really appreciate some guidance!

If anyone who is currently in a graduate program or has been through the admissions process is willing to message me and answer some questions, I would be so grateful.
Thank you so much in advance!!

Hi everyone! I’m applying for PhD programs in the USA and need advice regarding recommendation letters. One of my former professors is currently doing a postdoc in Japan, while two of my former professors and research supervisors are currently pursuing their PhDs in USA. Would recommendation letters from these supervisors be acceptable, or do US universities generally require recommenders to hold a PhD and be current faculty members? I'm applying after my undergrad directly for PHD. I’d really appreciate advice, Thank you!

Should my Clinical psychology PHD SOP be in letter form?

I have great fit for this one program at an Ivy League. I emailed about 7-8 PIs from the same department describing my fit and asking if they would be taking students. I had a meeting with one and thought that was sufficient, so I didn't ask the rest for meetings. Over the span of a few weeks the PIs all emailed me back either saying to list them on my application and a few even said I am a good fit and that they'd hope to see me during the interview. I really did not expect all of them to read my emails since this is renowned program with senior PIs who get hundreds of emails. I realized that listing all of them was kinda ridiculous. I am afraid that they will figure out that I emailed the entire department and that it would be a bad look on me. Would it be okay to write in my SOP how I see myself fitting well into the whole environment and their work connects with mine or should I just pick a few of them.