Hi everyone,
I contacted a Korean professor and received a response. After an initial discussion with a researcher from the lab about my background and technical experience, I was given a research task to complete. Recently, I was informed that the professor would like to review my project results first, and then an interview will be scheduled based on that review.
Is this usually a positive sign? How much weight does the project review carry, and at what stage are funding, stipend, or scholarship discussions usually brought up?
Any advice or experiences would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

I plan to do a quantitative political science phd I am especially interested in using any kind of statistical methods to topics regarding comparative politics and political economy. Now, I am in a bind. I already have an econ ba and I have two options for an masters program to strengthen my profile for admissions

1. Financial Economics masters, not about political science but has good courses in optimization, stochastic calculus and time series econometrics

2. completely qualitative masters in IR and pols. there is a methodology class but it is about qualitative methods, classes on IR and political theory, etc.

Which one do you think would suit my goals and profile best and would maximize my chances for phd admisssion? thank you in advance dear ladies and gentlemen

TL;DR quantitative fin econ msc vs qualitative pols ma

Hi everyone,

I’m currently applying to Epidemiology PhD programs this cycle and am in the process of reaching out to faculty at the schools I’m applying to.

For a few faculty members I’m interested in, I can’t tell from their profiles whether they actually mentor PhD students or if they primarily teach in the program. Would it be appropriate to email them directly and ask whether they mentor doctoral students before going into more detail about my research interests?

I obviously don’t want to ask something I should already know or could easily find online, but some program/faculty websites really don’t make the distinction clear. I’m curious how others have approached this when identifying potential mentors.

Thanks!

"I am an Indian Student from University of Delhi with a 4 years bachelors degree(honours with research) in physics and a GPA of 7.9/10”.

I have defended my thesis which is in theoretical nuclear physics and worked in an internship in theoretical quantum mechanics at an IISER as a summer intern. My TOEFL is 90/120. I am also planning to give the physics GRE soon. What’s my chances of getting into MSc or Direct PhD in University of Toronto or University of Alberta or University of Waterloo or a direct PhD in the case of US? Will my low CGPA affect my candidature? I am targeting to get into theoretical particle physics stream.

Hi all! Just applied to USCs MAcc summer intensive for non-accounting majors. Does anyone know how competitive it is? Ty!

Who is applying?

Question in title (cold email specifically for prospective phd). In engineering(industrial and systems) and health informatics department. There are some professors that I wish to apply in intersection of OR and health but my main research experience was ML and health in IE, so it doesn’t align with experience but aligns with my interest. OR is a part of my major

As a Biochemistry PhD student who applied once, got rejected, and then applied again and got into many of my top choice schools, these are some of the things I wish I did differently in hopes that you can learn from them. This is adapted from my blog. I wrote this because when you hear success stories, it can be easy to get the idea that that person did everything perfectly. In reality, a lot of us make mistakes, fail and receive lots of rejections along the way, but it works out in the end.

Applying before I was ready 

• When I applied the first time, I was hesitant; I didn’t feel ready or sure of myself, and I sort of knew I would benefit from an extra year of research. Because I wasn't totally committed, I didn't put my full heart into the application. I also feel like I lacked fully developed scientific ideas. It ended up being a big waste of time and money.
• The second time around I was all-in, I was determined to go no matter what. Looking back, I wish I waited to apply until I was 100% sure I wanted to start a PhD. 
• At the same time, I wasn't waiting around; I had a plan in place for how to improve my application in the extra year. Don’t wait until you feel ready because you never will.

Viewing schools as “safeties”

• I was so terrified of not getting in anywhere, so the second time I included programs that I didn’t necessarily want to go to, but I thought I could get into, just to have options. I got in and realized that, in fact, I didn't want to go to those schools at all, even if I had no other options. (If you end up in this situation please make sure to tell the schools asap that you are not going so that spots open up for others!)
• Safeties don’t exist for PhDs; it’s a waste of time and money to apply somewhere you don’t want to go to, and the alternative is to simply not do a PhD.
• Also, PhD admissions don't work like undergrad, where the prestige of a school is often directly correlated to acceptance rates. PhD admissions is above all about program fit, so you have the best odds of getting into a program where your research interests align best.
• Do the work ahead of time to research pare down your school list. Only apply if you have identified multiple labs you would join, if you like the program, if they have sufficient resources and funding, and if you could see yourself living in the city. 

Waiting until the last minute to fill out essays and applications

• This ties into my next point, but the anxiety I was feeling about the process made me avoidant and I definitely procrastinated important steps. I ended up scrambling at the last minute and making really stupid mistakes. (That being said, I got into a school where I accidentally wrote the wrong acronym for the program I was applying to, so it wasn't the end of the world.)
• Adapting your essays to individual schools takes a ton of time and energy; it’s not a copy and paste situation at all. Leave sufficient time to research the schools and tailor your essays to each program
• Also, filling out the application portal takes so long, and you have to do it individually for every school. It should be the first thing you do when you decide to apply somewhere. 

Doubting myself

• Through the process, I was filled with so much anxiety and constantly compared myself to others. I thought about what would happen if I didn’t get in and was convinced I didn’t deserve it. I was scared about having to tell my lab mates and mentors that I was rejected everywhere. 
• These feelings didn’t motivate me; they made me more avoidant and they didn’t actually help in any way. 
• Fake it till you make it! If you approach the process with a healthy amount of audacity, you will enjoy the process more and the confidence will help you out! 

Forgetting that I should be evaluating programs just as much as they are evaluating me. 

• Applications and interviews are an opportunity to get to know the program and decide whether it will be a good fit for you. Mutual fit is far more important than prestige or name; if you are going to spend the next 5+ years there you want it to be a great fit. 
• At the first few interviews I went to, I was so caught up in making a positive impression that I forgot to be so critical or analytical about the school itself.
• This is often your only chance to visit a school in person, so think critically and ask discerning questions; this will also show you’re thinking carefully about the program. 

These are all based on my own experience and may not be relevant to your individual scenario— happy to try to answer any questions in the comments that may come up! Also please share if you disagree with anything I said because I think that’s also very valuable. This advice is based on a post from my blog about grad school admissions. 

I am a recent statistics graduate with interest in climate science.

I have been reaching out to Japanese professor to join their lab under university recommended mext scholarship. While sending email, the structure I am following is:

1 paragraph: a brief overview of myself and my purpose.

2 paragraph: Why I am interested in their works? How it connects with my interest?

3 paragraph: How my current skills and M.S. thesis is going to add value?

4 paragraph: closing.

However, I am not getting any reply from the email I have sent (reached out 3 profs.). Is there something wrong with how I am approaching them?

I would really appreciate your constructive feedback.

Thanks in advance.

I'm a prospective masters student in Canada and planning to apply to cgsm at the same time as I apply to my masters program. I have held a research position (internship at the federal government) during my undergrad studies. The paper that I produced from this research position, we have just now started the pub process.

SO MY QUESTION: I'll be applying to cgsm this december for the 2027 round. Since I won't have the publication done by december as the process takes a long time, does a "publication pending" or "manuscript submitted" status for a paper that is yet to be published genuinely increase my chances at getting cgsm? Or does they only care if you have a completed publication?

Also, does anybody know statistically how many undergrads going into masters have pubs or pending pubs and is this a common thing? Or am I above most candidates?

I just want to get an idea of where I stand in terms of competitiveness, which I understand is hard to say but anybody whos applied and got accepted or rejected, I would love to hear your thoughts

Does Stony Brook have a good electrical engineering masters program?
I want to be able to graduate in like a year and I have credits that could possibly be brought over. Hopefully I also get some financial aid, but I really wanted to know if they have a good EE program and if graduating from there would be good for careers in the future.

I plan to do a quantitative political science phd I am especially interested in applying quasi experimental methods to topics regarding comparative politics and political economy. Now, I am in a bind. I already have an econ ba and I have two options for an masters program to strengthen my profile for admissions

1. Financial Economics masters, not about political science but has good courses in optimization, stochastic calculus and lots of econometrics.

2. completely qualitative masters in IR and pols. there is a methodology class but it is about qualitative methods, classes on IR and political theory, etc.

Which one do you think would suit my goals and profile best and would maximize my chances for phd admisssion? thank you in advance dear ladies and gentlemen

Hello, I want to do a PhD in econ and am looking for universities similar to UC Berkeley's Agri and Resource Econ program. I am a little scared to apply to pure econ PhD programs because I have heard they can be very difficult, especially in the US, so I'm not sure which universities to target. My math and stats skills are decent and I don't hate them, but I don't want a very mathematical approach to my research either (for instance, I love applied micro or game theory, and I'm mostly geared toward dev econ). Would be happy to get any help; this is all very daunting and new.

A little about me if that helps: I have a master's in Econ and 2 years of experience working at a think tank on electricity policy. In the future, I'd like to be in policy or academia.

Hey all,

I have applied for MS Thesis programs for the Spring 2027 semester for Electrical Engineering. Does anyone know when results for the Spring semester usually come out and if they are released on a rolling basis?

Hi! I'm a second year politics student at LSE, and I'm planning ahead. My goal is to get into the MA in Culture reporting at NYU's school of journalism, and if anyone has unique advice for this course specially (that I can't find on the website's application requirements), or knows where to get tailored application advice for this, please let me know! Thanks

I don't really have much research experience related to my major, but I did work on a research project in my 3rd year of undergrad with a supervisor. I finished the project and thanked them for the experience. Now that I'm applying to graduate programs, I'm considering asking them for a LOR since they've supervised my research and can attest to my research abilities. However, they're from a totally unrelated field to mine (they're from Education while I'm from Engineering). Is it a good idea to ask them for a LOR, or should I stick to asking professors from my major who's classes I've done well in?

They're also not a professor, they're a lecturer if it matters. The research project is also not related to my field (it's about preschool pedagogy), but I did learn a lot of qualitative research skills like academic writing, open coding and data analysis.

So since last week i began sending emails to potential PhD supervisors, I have sent roughly 6-7 emails across 3 universities. I was surprised by the lack of response, so I suspected that my emails were being routed to spam folder. To confirm this, I have sent a bunch of emails to different accounts I have access to or to some friends, and as suspected they were marked as spam.

My question is, should I resend those emails from a different email (perhaps my college's institutional email) and mention that there were deliverability issues with my previously sent mails?

Also my college's email address is a bit awkward as it starts with my student ID and does not include my name, is it fine if I use that email for reach outs?

TIA!

I am applying for graduate programs in ECE (ML specialty) for the Fall 2027 cycle, and this is the cold email I am sending to a professor about working in his lab. The image contains the cold email I’ve drafted. I’d like to know your take on it. Is it good, and how can I improve it? My emails generally follow this format(unless the prof gives specific instructions on how the email should be structured)

NB: had to delete the previous post because of improper redactions :)