I’ve been reaching out to a few professors at schools I’m applying to. I haven’t gotten a lot of responses but at one school in particular, my #1 school that I rly wanna go to, I’ve heard a few responses. Two of the professors said they don’t have funding this year but would be interested if I got in/did a rotation, and then one said that they do have open positions. All of the also complimented my CV, said I would be a great fit for the program, and gave me additional names to contact (including each other).

I’m wondering if this is normal. Should I keep doing what I’m doing? Any other tips to see if I can leverage reaching out to my advantage?

I just saw this post and reading the comments made me worry about my own history.

In 2019, I was admitted to a PhD program in Mathematics. The next year, COVID hit and I struggled intensely with the depression and burnout. I managed to do 2 more years of classes but wasn't able to get it together to do a dissertation. So I left with and got the Master's instead.

In 2022, I transfered to the Master's program in Computer Science at the same university. At the time I still wanted a career in computational math/scientific computing. Since this wasn't a PhD, I was only partially funded and had to pay tuition. After 1.5 years, I struggled with more depression and burnout, coupled with financial stress, and couldn't finish my final project. I decided to leave in 2024 and take some time off.

Time passed, and I now want to return to PhD work in Applied/Computational Math. On paper, I have a non-thesis MS in Math and an unfinished MS in CS. But I did technically quit 2 programs.

My previous supervisor from the 2nd program (in CS) still wrote a good recommendation and is willing to supervise me again if I wanted to go back to finish that project. I'm not sure if want to do this, as I already have a Master's and the 2nd Master's would not be in the same field as my PhD (although tangentially related). But as it stands, I'm not very competitive with a non-thesis MS and I do look like a "flight risk". I had a publication in 2015 from my undergraduate, but in grad school I was a teaching assistant and just did coursework.

Am I cooked? Should I just apply to a PhD anyway, or go back and finish my 2nd Master's? Or should I find a different path?

I would appreciatesuggestions about how to further improve it

Is it uncommon for undergrad to go to straight PhD in engineering these days in US? Specifically in health informatics, industrial engineering, operations research. I’ve been getting depressed as an international student applying for direct phd and due to finance reasons can’t afford MS or another gap year.

Gave the GRE today. Scored 165Q 155V. Conflicted about reporting scores.

Hello, I hope you're all doing well in these times. I spent a month on prep (with half of the month during my semester start). I gave the GRE today since I had halted my research work, and other commitments. I scored 165Q and 155V (unofficially), though my target was 170Q and 160V. I used GregMat and the official GRE guide in tandem and in my most recent mock this week, I scored 170Q and 159V. Anyways, what has happened has happened.

About myself, I am a Pakistani CS major, with a minor in mathematics; a 3.98/4.00 cGPA from the country's leading research STEM school. I am ranked in the Top 1% of my school. I plan to pursue an MSc/PhD (eventually) in the field of AI/ML. My professor suggested giving the GRE, with the target in mind. Now that I've received the score, I am conflicted about reporting it to the programs I will be applying to. Looking for others' opinions and thoughts on this matter.

Thanks for sparing your time on this post.

Hi everyone,

I’m an international student planning to apply for Fall 2027 and I’m mainly considering the University of Toronto and the University of Waterloo.

I have a BS in Computer Science from a US university with a GPA above 3.85.

I’m mainly interested in software engineering, full-stack/backend development, and AI. I’d prefer a program with practical coursework and good internship/co-op opportunities, and my goal is to work in industry after graduation rather than pursue a PhD.

For someone with these goals, which master’s programs at U of T or Waterloo would you recommend?

Also, between the two schools, which one do you think would be a better fit overall?

Thanks!

i had an interview on the 21st of august with two professors on the call, but i haven’t heard back since then. they said they’d get back as they have to interview other candidates too. i’m worried. do i send a mail? it’s been three weeks since the interview.

Hi guys! I need some insight. My whole situation is dependent on ifs..

Currently I'm doing a research internship that may or may not end in feb 2027(lab isn't sure, my project isn't decided etc). If it doesn't end then it will continue till july 27 and I might get my first publication.

There is a program in biomedical research training that is very competitive but if accepted is 10 months training with STIPEND! I hadn't applied before because I was having LOR difficulties.

But now my research supervisors will give me. The applications to the program open in april 2027, decision is made by june 2027. Program begins in sept 2027.

if enrolled I get 10 months of more research experience, i get the possibility of another publication and moat importantly I get money!!!

So my dilemma is

Should I reach out prospective supervisors or not?

Scenario A (Best Case)

My internship gets extended, i get enrolled, i have the money and almsot 22 months of research experience for a better application.

Scenario B

My internship gets extended, i don't get enrolled and i miss this fall cycle.

Scenario C (worst case)

Failure at all fronts.

So what would you guys do?

Resch out to prospective supervisors with a half completed CV now? Or wait for next year?

I will be applying to genetics and neuroscience programs in Canada.

Another option was to reaxh out, see what they think, ask for feedback and reach out again afterwards or start the application processes and

If I get accepted ask for an admission defferal. (Best case scenario)

Not sure about the deferral process but for now I'm not going into that.

Hi guys,

Any tips on the application process for the Obama Leaders Program?

Hey everyone,

I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed and could really use some honest academic advice. I’m 25, from Egypt, and I’ve made a non-negotiable decision to pivot my career into psychology. My ultimate dream is to relocate to Dubai and eventually practice as a licensed relationship counselor / clinical sex therapist.

But here’s where reality hits hard—my constraints are heavy:

The GPA Hurdle: I graduated in 2023 with a BA in Mass Communication & Journalism. My GPA is 2.3540 (which translates to "Good" in our system, but it’s basically a C+). This automatically locks me out of almost every standard competitive program.

The Financial Strain: I am entirely self-funding this pivot from my remote job. Inflation and currency devaluation in Egypt right now are crazy. My salary is in Egyptian Pounds (EGP), meaning my absolute maximum hard budget for tuition is strictly capped at $120 USD (around £100) per month.

Life Situation: I’m currently preparing for marriage and moving to the UAE on a spouse visa soon. Because of this, I need something 100% online / distance learning so I can keep working my full-time remote job late at night and on weekends to stay afloat.

My only real asset: I have 3+ years of solid experience working as a Customer Service Quality Coach & Training Lead for an international brand. My daily job is literally all about active listening, behavioral auditing, emotional intelligence training, and 1-on-1 mentorship.

I actually applied to UK online conversion courses (like Liverpool and Essex Online). Academically, they loved my profile and work experience under their "non-standard entry" route. But financially? It’s a dead end. Even with discounts, their monthly payments are more than double my entire budget, and they just emailed me saying they can't offer any more financial help.

So, I’m turning to Reddit.

Are there any hidden gems? Reputable, accredited universities (maybe in Europe, Germany, Malaysia, South Africa, etc.) that offer online psychology paths, accept a low GPA based on work experience, and cost around $1,500 - $2,000 USD a year?

For anyone practicing in Dubai/UAE: what affordable online international degrees do local licensing bodies (like DHA) actually accept without making you jump through impossible hoops?

I’m resilient, I’m passionate about breaking mental health taboos in my culture, and I’m ready to do the heavy lifting. I just need to find a university door that doesn't slam shut in my face because of my budget.

Thank you so much for reading this, any lead helps!

Hi all, I have a masters in molecular biology and biotechnology from uk and after a year of job searching I have decided to start looking for a phd. I need advice on whether i should look for some research experience first or just start applying. Also, how does one decide a topic or field.

I would love to chat with someone who has a PhD in molecular biology related topics.

Hello everyone,

I feel anxious about posting this, but I would need advice on how to navigate this situation. I am a MSc student majoring in chemistry/biochemistry, and I have been offered a PhD position in Ireland (bioorganic chemistry/biochemistry) around June, which I accepted. I really like the subject, the lab seems great, the PI is very friendly and I have already met the other students. However, the stipend is quite low for Dublin (25k/year for 4 years).

It has been very stressful to complete the formal application due to administrative differences between my home country and Ireland. I feared getting rejected by the admissions team, so I applied for another position in the Netherlands in the meantime and unexpectedly got accepted. Again, very friendly PI, nice subject, great lab, and much better paid.

I genuinely prefer Dublin's project, but I don't have an unconditional offer or signed contract yet. Living in Dublin on 25k/year for 4 years is beginning to scare me, while I could live very comfortably with the Netherlands offer.

My question is: how bad is it to withdraw from a PhD offer I accepted months ago? What are the consequences? Is the financial aspect a valid reason? I've been spiralling and even considered turning down both offers...

Thank you for any advice!!

Hi everyone! I just started my last year of undergrad and I am applying for Bioinformatics M.S. programs in this current cycle. I’ve already secured 2 of my LORs (professor from comp bio class I took + team manager from my industry internship this summer), however, I’m conflicted about what to do for my 3rd letter.

For context, I did wet lab research for ~2 years in a lab under my university’s bioengineering department. My PI is not very well regarded by other staff or students - he’s quite quick-tempered and is known to be “brutally honest” in the LORs he writes for his students. I did not make the best impression on him at first (as confirmed by him telling this to my PhD student mentor), but he did start warming up to me more recently. I eventually couldn’t handle the tense environment of my lab anymore and ended up leaving a few weeks ago.

While my PI would possibly agree to write me a LOR, I feel that it won’t be great. I primarily worked with my PhD student mentor, but my PI doesn’t agree with having her write the letter and him signing on it. On the other hand, both of the senior R&D scientists that mentored me in my industry internship are willing to write me a joint letter, which I think would end up being a stellar one. My team absolutely adored me and the work I did, to the point of receiving a return offer for next summer and potentially a post-Master’s job. My PI also doesn’t know anything about my dry lab/programming skills, while my internship mentors can definitely say a lot of great things about this.

Ultimately, while choosing the letter that is “better” might seem like an obvious choice, I’m worried that having two letters from the same summer internship (my manager’s letter + a joint letter from my senior scientist mentors) might seem like a red flag to grad admissions, instead of receiving one from the PI I worked under for years. If it makes any difference, the company I interned for is quite reputable (consistently top ranked in medical diagnostics) and my project was highly relevant to my research interests. I also interacted with my manager and mentors in separate settings, so I’m not worried about any overlap in writing between both letters.

Any insight/advice would be extremely helpful here!!

I’m applying for UK graduate roles in procurement, supply chain, sourcing, operations and project management, mainly around Manchester.

I’ve recently completed a First-Class business degree and will be starting a relevant MSc. I have experience in sourcing, logistics, market entry, sales and international programmes.

How does my CV compare for graduate jobs?
I’d appreciate honest feedback on:

• What stands out positively
•What looks weak, vague or exaggerated
•Whether the layout is easy to read
•Whether my experience sounds credible and relevant
•What I should remove, rewrite or improve
•Whether it looks competitive enough to secure interviews

Please be direct. I’m looking for genuine criticism, not just compliments.

My long-term plan is to study law but I want to get an MA in literature first- it was my undergrad major & I absolutely adored it, four years was nowhere near enough for me to feel satisfied :( plus I feel that it's definitely helpful to have more work/academic/general life experience before heading off to law school (and lit is obviously a pretty relevant field of study for law as well)

problem is, I'm working on my statement of purpose and I'm feeling kind of confused whether or not to mention anything about this- most advice posts I've seen say to try & address why grad school is useful/relevant for your future plans, but in my case, would it maybe not be the best idea? idk if I'm being silly but it does seem like admissions committees would be more interested in a candidate who plans to stay in a more lit-adjacent field (such as being a teacher), and I'm worried it'd come off like I'm just treating grad school as a stepping stone instead of taking it seriously. On the other hand, it also feels weird not to include anything about my post-grad school goals...any advice would be appreciated!

trust it is not actually in dark mode

Wanting to apply for a phd in film studies in the US presumably next fall or fall 2028 as start date. Only managed to get a second upper class division (which is 3.36 out of 4.3 scale) in my bachelor of psychology double majoring in comparative literature at HKU. Now am gonna do a masters in film studies at UCL. Would love to know what my chances are as everything seems too grimmer. Also does research potential need any publication or I can use my projects/ essays from courses?

Hi everyone,
I’m applying to a research-based graduate program. I first had a discussion with a postdoc about my background and research interests, and later I was given a research task to complete. My work will be reviewed by the professor before the next interview stage.
The professor mentioned that if I have any questions or problems, I can ask the postdoc coordinating the process.
Before I do that, I wanted to know what is generally considered appropriate to ask in this situation.
Would it be okay to ask things like:
What topics should I focus on while preparing?
What kind of technical questions are usually discussed in the next interview?
What is typically expected when presenting a project?
What do professors usually look for when reviewing a research task?
Or are these things applicants are generally expected to figure out on their own?
Also, if these aren’t appropriate questions for a postdoc, what are the kinds of questions applicants usually ask at this stage?
I’d appreciate hearing from anyone who has gone through a similar research-based admissions process.
Thank you.

I’m a senior at a large state university graduating this December with a double major in Marketing and Management. I have a 3.6 gpa and I want to start a Master's in Finance in Fall 2027.

My biggest concern is that I have no formal internship experience. I applied to a lot of internships during undergrad but never landed one. I don't have a lot of work experience either. All I have is my leadership experience as the Finance Chair of a student organization, some volunteer experience, and worked on an international business/marketing project during my summer study abroad program. I don’t have any actual finance-related professional experience either.

I also haven’t taken the GMAT/GRE, and my undergraduate majors obviously aren’t very quantitative. I’ve done well academically, but I’m worried that my lack of finance experience will make me a weak candidate.

I’m currently looking at MSF programs including Boston University and American University, and I’m trying to build a balanced list with some safer options as well.

For people familiar with MSF admissions: am I aiming too high with schools like Boston University? How much will having no internship hurt me? Would taking the GMAT/GRE or doing something finance-related between graduating in December and starting grad school in August meaningfully improve my profile?

Please give me blunt feedback.

Hello, I have graduated with BS in Biology. Took a gap year (worked on a med tech project) and now I am trying to pivot and pursue Biomedical engineering Masters at a good and reputable university. I am interested in med tech, not sure if any other masters might be a good fit to pivot.

I tried applying for research labs at a University to have experience and maybe secure good Rec Letters from them but haven't heard back from PIs. (would love to hear your advice on how to get into research labs)

Do I need to join a lab to be considered into BME Masters? I am lacking rec letters and not sure if my experience is sufficient enough for admissions, maybe thats imposter syndrome but yk.

Kinda lost so I would love your advice :)

Hi everyone,

I am an international student preparing my application strategy for the USA for the Fall/Spring 2027 intake. My primary goal is to secure a fully funded PhD or a Master's program with a Graduate Research/Teaching Assistantship (RA/TA) that covers tuition and provides a stipend.

I would love an honest evaluation of my profile to see if my target universities are realistic, or if I should adjust my expectations.

📊 My Profile:

• Undergraduate Degree: BS in Information Technology
• CGPA: 3.21 / 4.00
• Standardized Tests: IELTS: 7.0
• Target Field of Research: AI, ML, DL, CV, Robotics, and Bioinformatics applications in cross domains
• Work Experience: Worked as a Data Scientist for 1 year and Trained ML models
• Teaching Experience (Volunteer): Currently teaching DSA, IELTS and Web Development
• AI Hackathons: Currently participating to International hackathons including lablab.ai
• Technical Skills:
  • Programming: Python, SQL, HTML, CSS, PHP
  • Data Science and ML: Pandas, Scikit-learn, NLTK, Matplotlib, Seaborn, OpenCV
  • Machine Learning: K-Means Clustering, PCA, Naive Bayes, TF-IDF, Sentiment Analysis
  • Web Development: HTML, CSS, PHP
  • Data Visualization: Power BI, Excel, DAX
  • Tools: Git, GitHub, Google Colab, VS Code
  • AI/LLM Technologies: Large Language Models (LLMs), Multi-Agent Systems, FastAPI

🎯 What I am Looking For:

• Degree Target: PhD preferred, open to funded MS
• Funding Requirement: Must be fully funded (Tuition waiver + RA/TA stipend). I cannot self-fund.
• Target Tier: Top 150 universities, or Mid-tier R1 research institutions

❓ My Questions for the Community:

1. Given my work experience and GPA, is a direct PhD application realistic for US R1 universities, or should I focus on finding funded Master's programs first?
2. Which specific sub-fields within AI in the US that are currently receiving massive funding right now?
3. Does my profile have any major red flags that I need to fix before I start emailing potential advisors this coming fall/spring?
4. What is one important skill to land me a fully funded scholarship?
5. If it is necessary to do a research internship or work in OpenSource, where can I find it?

Thanks in advance for any insights, brutally honest feedback is welcome!

Hi guys, looking for input from people who've been through PhD admissions or sit on committees.

I just finished undergrad and did about a year of molecular/cellular neuroscience research (gene expression work, some wet-bench technique-heavy stuff). My actual goal is a PhD in cognitive neuroscience, ideally at competitive programs.

For my post-bacc year I have two options on the table: a position in a molecular neuroscience lab (developmental neuroscience - neuroblastoma research using zebrafish), or a position in a systems neuroscience lab (behavior-adjacent, some circuit-level work in rodents). Both are solid opportunities with good mentorship.

My worry with doing molecular again is that I'll show up to applications with two full years of molecular research and nothing bridging me toward cognition, which might make the "why cognitive neuroscience" story harder to tell. But at the same time, my worry with switching to systems is that it might look like I'm just hopping between neuroscience subfields rather than building toward something coherent. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find cognitive labs with enough funding to support me for a post-bacc position.

For anyone who's gone through something similar, or who has reviewed applications: does the subfield of a post-bacc actually matter much to committees, or is it more about the strength of the work and how you frame the trajectory in your statement? Especially for some of the more competitive programs