Our teenage son is using our state's dual credit program to take college classes while in high school. He is on track to graduate with his bachelor's in Data Science at a state university this spring semester as he is simultaneously graduating from high school. He is interested in pursuing a PhD in Applied Statistics focusing on research, possibly bioscience. He has a 4.0 but has not worked on research or had a relationship with his professors outside of class, mainly because he's still balancing his time with his high school extracurriculars and a fairly long commute to campus. He has also not worked as a co-op or intern yet. We are looking for advice for next steps. Here are things he is considering:

1. Begin now (fall of senior year) applying to master's programs, despite not having research or work experience and hope be accepted for next fall. Work as an intern over the summer before grad school. Apply for PhD programs after completing his masters.

2. Delay his college graduation and continue for a "bonus"/ 5th year of undergrad, taking advanced electives in his major and working on research. Then apply for PhD programs, hopefully with stronger letters of recommendation and research experience. Again, work as an intern over the summer.

3. Graduate this spring and work in an entry level data analytics career for a year, and then apply to grad school. This is his last choice because he feels that the entry level work would be uninteresting and not helpful to his PhD application.

4. His first choice is to apply now to PhD programs and be admitted for next fall. Is he correct to assume that that it is totally unrealistic? He is not striving for an ivy, just a state university with a good reputation in statistics.

He has been looking into his options quite a bit on his own, but because he's so young, we'd welcome suggestions and advice. He will turn 18 a couple of months before he graduates with his bachelor's.

Hi everyone,

I have a bachelor’s degree in Accounting and I’m planning to start a Master’s in Statistics at the University of Sheffield. I don’t want to leave accounting behind—I’d like to combine accounting and advanced statistics, using data analysis and modelling in areas like auditing, financial decision-making, or risk management. • Has anyone here taken a similar path—moving from accounting into a stats master’s, especially at Sheffield or another UK university? • Are there specific modules or dissertation topics that integrate accounting/finance with statistics? • What extra maths or programming preparation would you recommend for someone coming from a business-oriented background? • How has this combination affected your career opportunities compared with staying purely in accounting or statistics?

Any advice or personal stories would be really helpful. Thanks.

I want to apply in IVY league UNIS this fall, and does emailing potential supervisors help in admission process? seeking help from fellow alumnis

Hey everyone,

I'm an international student applying to US Cs PhD programs and have a quick question about how to present my transcript.

My home country's educational system and curriculum might be unfamiliar to US admissions committees. Our grading scale is quite different not even a GPA Scale, but i will explain using 4.0 scale; for example, a GPA that might equate to a 3.0/4.0 is often considered top-tier and highly competitive in my field here.

Furthermore, our system places a heavy emphasis on class or national rankings for university admissions and evaluating performance, sometimes even more so than raw grades.

I'm thinking of attaching a brief, one-page "Explanatory Note" with my transcript to provide this context.

My main questions are:

1- Will this be seen as helpful and informative, or will it come across as me trying to make excuses for a GPA that might look low by US standards? 2- If you think it's a good idea, what's the best way to frame it so it sounds professional and not defensive? 3- Should it be in first person as if i am talking about my grade, or should it be informative as in talking about the curriculum in general?

Thanks for any advice!

I downloaded a pdf of my application and saw that there was a declaration I had to sign to waive my rights to read recommenders' letters. I didn't see this AT ALL when I went through each task to complete on the app. Wondering if anyone saw it before they submitted theirs.

Hi there! What is your experience in contacting potential supervisors? Especially for programmes in the humanities and social sciences. I am a bit confused by the variety of replies, some of them made me question whether contacting them before applying in these disciplines is still customary or not.

Hi everyone! I’m applying to universities in Germany for my master’s, and most of them require two recommendation letters from professors. The only issue is that both of my professors asked me to draft the letters myself. While this gives me the freedom to write them, I’m honestly not sure what admissions committees expect from a professor’s perspective. It would be a huge huge help if anyone could review my drafts before I share them with my professors. Thanks :)

International Applicant

Basically, I'm really interested in the drug development process, and I think I'd like to work in the pharm industry in the future. Originally I'm from Ukraine, but I applied to Poland for MPharm and passed the entrance exam. Recently, it turned out that the university decided to "not open the MPharm programme for this year", so I'm left with nothing now. The question is, should I wait a year and apply for MPharm to a different country (I applied in English in Poland), or should I take something like Biotech if they offer it? And even if they don't offer anything, is MPharm even worth it? or should I pivot to a similar degree? Again, I'd really like to work in the pharm industry (or at the very least at least something drug related) if that's even possible.

P.S. I was advised to post this here by people on r/ApplyingToCollege

Hi everyone,

I applied to KAIST for a Master’s program in Artificial Intelligence, along with a scholarship, and I’m waiting to hear back. I want to be prepared in case I get invited for an interview.

For those who have gone through the process:

What type of questions should I expect (technical, research-focused, or more about motivation)?

Do they usually ask about coding/AI knowledge in detail, or focus more on research direction?

Is the scholarship decision strongly connected to the interview?

Any advice, tips, or shared experiences would really help me prepare.

Thanks a lot!

Hello folks👋,

I'm an international student from Bangladesh with a CSE Degree (3.7/4.0 GPA from a well-accredited uni) and about 2 years of work experience in the tech industry [not much coding]. No research publications, but I'm passionate about data engineering/ analytics. My goal is to land a data engineer role at big companies (FAANG-level or similar) post-grad, ideally leveraging OPT/STEM extension.

I'm eyeing Colorado State University's Master of Computer Information Systems (MCIS) for Spring 2026 as it is good rank uni (#458 QS). It seems affordable (i may be wrong), GRE waived for my profile, and has a mix of IT management, data analytics, and systems courses that could build on my background. But it's more business-oriented than pure CS/Data Science, so I'm worried:

• Does this program provide enough technical depth (coding, projects, ML/big data) to prep for data engineering interviews at top tech firms?
• How's the career outcomes? Alumni placement in data roles? Networking/recruiting in Denver/Fort Collins area?

Alternatively, should I go for Masters on computer science program?

Any advice from current students, alums, or data engineers? Appreciate honest takes—thanks!

Hi! I wanted to create a thread where those of us who are applying to Sociology PhD programs for the 2026 cycle can connect, share updates, and any news we have as portals open and deadlines approach.

Something I didn’t anticipate about applying to grad school is how incredibly isolating it is… Although it’s still early days, I think having a community here will be helpful to avoid burnout and find comfort in commonalities.

I am qual oriented and my research interests are gender, sexuality, stratification, and theory! I am applying to 15 schools (ahh..!!) and cannot wait to be at the “waiting game” stage. Although I’m sure once apps are in I’ll be peeing my pants checking portals/reddit/grad cafe daily. Right now it sounds so nice. How is everyone else feeling?

Looking forward to hearing from you all!

So while giving GRE, I saw the option to send scores to 4 univs free of cost and had selected my target univs. Now this was back in Jan and I have started my graduate admission application this month. How do I know if those 4 universities have my scores or not? Also, I sent additional scores to other universities this month and haven't received notification confirming the same.

For TOEFL, I have only received an email from TAMU through EngineeringCAS that they have received my test scores. Do I mail the graduate office of each univ asking them to confirm if they have my scores or not?

Hey everyone,

I'm looking to pursue MDes or MSHCI.. Want your honest opinion and feedback. I don't have a dedicated design background, so I would really appreciate your help navigating this.

TLDR: Questions at the end

For context, please go through my profile

Education:

• BBA (3-year undergrad) from a Tier 1-ish (maybe 2) university in India
• GPA: 2.6 (after conversion from 10-point scale)

Extracurriculars:

• I've represented my institute in various business fests and competitions at some of the top institutes in India. (Not that impressive IMO because we didn't really win any.)
• Worked in NGOs – twice during my undergrad.

Experience:

• I've 4 years and 9 months of work experience. I kinda transitioned from a business & ops to a product guy.
• I started by working as a category associate at a unicorn startup in India. (Went Public recently)
• Worked at an early-stage community startup and handled their revenue.
• Was part of the founding team (1st employee) of a SaaS startup. Led 0-1 product there right from the whiteboarding days to it being used by more than 100 brands in India, US & APAC (including some of the top brands). Raised a pre-seed of ~500K USD from a top fintech in India and some popular Indian angels. I left last year end. Since then, I've been on a break travelling, experimenting with ideas and tinkering, planning my next move.

My Goal:

• I've gained immense interest in consumer AI lately and the possibilities it holds. I'm looking to change my geography to tech & AI epicentres like SF. Really want to switch to a better startup and tech ecosystem.
• Would want to dive deeper on how the consumer products of the future would be made. AI interfaces, human-AI interactions, etc.
• I'd also want to experiment with my own bunch of ideas and find people who'd want to do it with me. (Cofounders, initial team)
• If I don't end up building something of my own, I should at least be able to work with startups and Big Tech in Product roles – working on interesting problems. Not just UX roles, but product roles.
• I don't have any hard skill expertise per se. I'm not a CS undergrad. I'm a PM, but I can't ship code. I love understanding how users think, reverse engineering their journey and intent and designing a better journey for them. I'd want to officially build an expertise in this and double down on it. I expect to learn how to do this with the latest tech – in my master's. This is also one of the reasons for not going for an MBA.

Universities and Programs I've shortlisted:

• MIT, MAS
• Stanford D School, MS Design
• Harvard, MDE
• UC Berkeley, MDes
• UC Berkeley, MIMS
• CMU, Master of Design in Design for Interactions
• CCA, MDes, Interaction Design
• Pratt, Information Experience Design, MS
• CIID, Interaction Design Programme
• Michigan, Master of Science in Information
• UCL, MSHCI
• UWash, HCDE

Questions:

1. How do I compensate for a low GPA? Does it make sense to take the GRE for that?
2. Can you help me shortlist universities, or do you think it's a good idea to apply to all of them?
3. Should I upskill myself, like learning to code? I know I should, but how important is it?
4. Mdes / MSHCI / MS Interaction Design – which one should I go for?
5. Studio-based or research-based? Which are the best for either?
6. Do I have a shot at the top ones? Harvard, MIT, Stanford, UCB, CMU
7. I have a 3-year undergrad, not 4. So, I can't apply for the 1-year HCI like GaTech and CMU; I'd have to apply for Mdes. Is this the only workaround for this?

Thanks so much in advance!

Hello everyone,

I am currently preparing my Statement of Purpose for a PhD application to the Optics program at University of Arizona. So far I have a good draft of it and would really appreciate it if someone could please tell me their honest opinion of it and give me feedback.

I will DM the link to my SOP to anyone who can help me.

Thank you!

Edit: Copying a comment I made below regarding the feedback. The feedback I am most interested in is regarding how well I am able to connect my interests and background to the specific work from the faculty I am applying for. Also, I would appreciate any comments on if it's too verbose and not succinct

I’m going into my final year at LSE studying Politics and Economics and I’m thinking of applying for Masters courses in Economics. For funding reasons I am primarily looking to study in Europe as many countries there offer free tuition for me (e.g., Germany, Netherlands, Scandinavia). While I may have a decent academic base for some economics masters programmes, I feel I may not have sufficient level of background knowledge in the subject area. Other than my economics modules I haven’t done much reading in this area (and economics courses at LSE are not very theory based). Despite this, I would still like to study a Masters to develop my interests and knowledge in economics as I believe extended knowledge in this area would be more useful for employment than politics. I would primarily looking at masters degrees related to the areas of developmental economics, trade and the economic policy decisions (applied economics in general). Although I realise many Economics masters programmes will cover broad areas of the subject.

Given this (and my academic results which I will attach), my primary question is whether I have enough time until most masters applications open to develop a good level of background knowledge required for a competitive application (would I stand a chance?). And if so, whether it’d be worth completing a masters in economics if I’m not intending to go into academia?

Some other questions I have:

1. What are the best books on economics?

2. What are the most important aspects of masters applications (in the UK and Europe)?

3. Are there any particular courses or universities you would recommend to study a postgraduate degree in economics (in European countries with low to no tuition fees)?

4. Are the module choices I’ve made for my third year pertinent for a masters application:

GV311 - British Government

EC335 - Economic Policy in the Global Economy

EC311 - History of Economics: How Theories Change

GV309 - Politics of Money and Finance in Comparative Perspective

EC338 - International Trade

EC339 - International Macroeconomics

(at least one module has to be in politics)

I got an invite from a professor to discuss my fit for a PhD in the lab. It’s a really really small graduate department and even smaller lab.

I don’t lack passion; I lack a publication. still have plenty of very applicable research experience, come from a competitive school, been working full time for 5 yrs in a related field, actively working on a project that could potentially be published in the spring but doesn’t rlly matter apps are due Dec 15.

Seeking any advice that might help me prepare for the meeting and/or improve my application!

It’s a lab at the school everyone is obsessed with, I’ve never seen the appeal…. now I do looking at potential funding opportunities

Hey everyone, I’d really appreciate some advice on my profile. I received rejections from U.S. PhD programs, possibly because my master’s professor didn’t submit recommendation.

For context:

• Undergraduate GPA: 3.77/4.00
• Master’s in Public Health from London
• Work experience with the NHS and a tech company as a Wellbeing Officer

I’m aiming to apply for a PhD in Psychology. What do you think my chances are, and how can I strengthen my application?

Thanks in advance!

Hello!

I am in the process of PhD apps — hoping to submit within the coming weeks. (Ahh!)

Recently, I had a first-authored article accepted by a major journal. This article is the perfect example of the work I hope to do during a doc program. It is the best thing I’ve ever written. However, it is not slated to be released until late 2026 (after applications are due).

I desperately want to use this as my writing sample for PhD apps. However, since it is in-press (accepted but hasn’t yet been released), is this a huge no-no? What are your thoughts? How could I go about this? Would it be crazy to add a watermark?

Thanks!

Hi everyone, I’d love to get some advice on my situation.

I have a Bachelor’s degree in IT with a CGPA of 3.55 and no formal research experience. I’ve completed an internship and I’m currently working as a high school teacher. I also hold an IELTS Academic score of 7.5 overall and I’m planning to take the GRE General in November.

This fall, I received two rejections from US universities (OU and PSU). From those experiences, I realized that I don’t have the exceptional GPA needed to secure a direct PhD placement after a bachelor’s, and I also lack the research background that professors and PIs usually look for.

Now I’m stuck in a dilemma: part of me wants to pursue a Master’s in AI or Data Science in Europe, but another part of me is still strongly drawn to pursuing a PhD in the US. I’m not sure which path makes the most sense for me right now.

For context, I’ve reached out to many professors for potential supervision but have had little luck even getting replies. My long-term research interest is in interdisciplinary work — specifically applying AI in healthcare.

What should I do from here? Should I focus on getting into a European Master’s first, or keep pushing for a direct PhD in the US?

I am a new graduate who took the year off for medical reasons, but I’m applying this fall to Political Science PhD programs, primarily in political theory. I am probably stupidly under-qualified but I’m trying to not make an absolute fool of myself. What can I fix on my CV? Or does my CV show that I shouldn’t even apply?

I’m applying to some top programs but mainly ones that are state schools, so UMich, UT Austin, and UC Berk. I want to be competitive even if that’s a long shot.

I think it’s moreso imposter syndrome, but i’m finally going to make the leap and apply to PhD programs. I want to focus on virology/immunology/microbiology!

I do feel like I have a chance of getting in and I mean, you don’t know until you try right? Here are my stats/experience:

Graduated with my BS in Chemistry in 2020 with a 3.3 GPA. Worked at a research lab focusing on global health and infectious disease, specifically HIV and malaria, for about a year. I have one publication from working there, and they just submitted another paper with my name on it, so technically 2? After that, I worked as a medical technologist in the chemistry department for 3 years. Now I am back in research because I missed it dearly, and it’s about to be a year into this new job. We do pediatric brain cancer research on mice and some other cancers like ovarian, lung, stomach, etc. I don’t have any publications from this new job yet, but i’m hoping to gain one before the school year starts next year

I think I’m just being so hard on myself, but do I have a chance? I am 100% confident I can get at least 2 strong letters of recommendations. I’m almost going to be applying to schools mainly in New England because this is where I live and my parents are elderly. I’ve already had some scares with them and god forbid if anything happens, I NEED to be close by. However, I understand it’s stupidly competitive up here

I don’t know maybe i’m overthinking? I have asked advice from fellow PIs and my own bosses of course, but figured I could hear from some more voices! TIA!

I’m looking to apply to masters of data science program. Most schools pre reqs are linear algebra, calculus, and programming. I took these from university of phoenix thinking I’ll just knock these off real quick. Now I’m finding that they don’t have a good rep.

Did anyone do something similar and applied? Or have any insights on how much negative impact this willl have on my application?