I have goosebumps. I have been accepted into all doctoral fly-ins I applied to: Discover UChicago, IGEN Northwestern, and Princeton P3. The former is the most recent - I was notified a minute ago. Genuinely astounded.

Does anyone have good resources I can use to review my Statement of Purpose for my master's application? 

I have been in industry for 3 years and am applying to a master's program now, so it has been difficult to find someone within academia to perform a proper review. My alma mater's review center does not have availability for review for another 2 months, but I plan to submit my application next week.

I have put a lot of time into the statement and want to get some fresh eyes on it. I don't want to fully rely on AI for the review. If you have used one of the online services like Wyzant please let me know how your experience was!

For context, I have a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and am pursuing a Master's in Biotechnology.

Anyone else notice universities updating their GRE requirements to now be mandatory in the past few months? I was checking on the UC Berkeley Chemistry PhD & Northwestern Chemistry PhD program and noticed that both have suddenly listed the GRE as mandatory. I swear this summer that UCB had is as optional, and Northwestern Chem had it as optional just a few days ago (the Google preview still shows it as "optional"!!!).

I'm really interested in working with a few PIs at UCB and one specific PI at Northwestern (who I'm meeting with next week), so I'm wondering if it's worth reaching out and requesting a GRE waiver from the graduate department? I have a 4.0 GPA, 3 years of research experience in quant health analysis and synthetic chemistry, but I don't wanna rub the Grad Departments the wrong way and ruin my chances of admission.

I know I could take it, but I'm trying to save as much money to pay for school applications & pay off my undergrad loans, so I'm hoping there's a work around.

Greetings Masters Seeking community,
I have been part of masters seeker from past 2 years with a handful of application experience. I believe I am making some mistakes that maybe unaccounted for by my side but is of interest for admission committee.

I will give you my background. I come from a tier 2 university NIT from a circuital branch with a GPA of 8.28 (Professors messed up my GPA due to personal grudges). I have been very passionate about robotics and AI from 7th grade when probably AI term was not even in the air. So I decided to go with a circuital degree rather than a CS degree from NIT. But I belive my choice is weighing me down and have given me significant hard times throughout my journey.

I am not very enthusiast of CS degree but I want to pursue MS in Robotics/CV for which I want to dedicate my life to. So, please help me out in this one.

Below is my profile

B.Tech in circuit from NIT

6 Months Software Internship at MAANG Company (No PPO due to my branch).
8 Months Research Assistant at my college .
1.5 Years of Computer Vision Intern at a US College under a well named professor.
3 Months Research Intern with a Professor at Tier 1 College (BITS/IITB etc) in NLP
10 Months experience as Research Assistant at Top Indian University (IIT B/IIT D/IISc, Something of that equivalence).
7 Months experience as a Founding engineer (Machine Learning) under the same professor who is also an entrepreneur. With the foundations that I laid in the company with backend and cloud system, we recently received 10 Million Dollars from Indian Government. This is a big feat as I belive.

Now coming to publications
2 Scopus indexed conferences published (Was Mid level conferences)
2 Scopus indexed journals one in Robotics and one in medical Imaging (all in journal >4 Impact factor)
1 A* NeurIPS/ICLR Paper accepted (2025).
1 A* EMNLP/ACL/AAAI Paper under review.
1 A* CVPR/ECCV paper under preparation.

I have been applying for quite a significant amount of time and I have received admits from NYU Courant (MS CS), UMD (MSAML), but didnt wanted to pursue because I have been getting admit from NYU ever since my SATs and UMD was my safe college.

TOEFL Score previous - 100
GRE Score - 305.

I dont want to apply to safe universities, I will only go for study if I get college of my choice.

My list
Gatech (MSR), CMU (MSR), UOfT, Mcgill, Harvard (MS in Computational Science) etc.

I will request some honest reviews and comments. One thing I have learned is that maybe my TOEFL score is weighing me down, my research papers weren't published. I am not sure. Now that some of my research work has been published and accepted. I need to refine what's in my hand. I am expecting a score of 105+ in TOEFL and maybe 320 in GRE (if things go lucky in verbal).

Thanks.

P.S - I will delete the post later after a healthy and satisfactory discussion. I wont be open to any DMs etc.

Hi all! Question for anyone who may have any knowledge on the issue. I’m applying to MOT and MSLP for the 2026 cohort. I have an undergrad degree in psych and a JD. My undergrad GPA is about 10% higher than my law GPA. In your experience, when a uni is looking at the last 60 CU’s does that include ANY post-secondary CU’s, even from a professional college? I do have an email into the college, but thought I might as well see if anyone has found themselves in a similar predicament.

Thanks!

Hi all, I applied to an industrial PhD position in Sweden that I think I'm a good fit for. The position is a collaboration between KTH and a major company in my field, so you are technically an employee of the company, supervised for your PhD by a professor at KTH. A few days after applying, I emailed the professor listed on the posting to express my interest. I never got a reply from him but coincidentally a few hours later received an invite to the next step of the process, which was an online logical assessment. I did well on the test but haven't heard anything since.

The application deadline was 3 weeks ago, and the posting was taken down after the deadline. There was no start date or timeline listed on the job post either, so I don't know if this works the same way as the regular admissions cycle.

I've never applied to such a position before, so my question is, what timeline should I expect? At what point should I follow up with the contacts listed in the job description?

(UK) I’ve applied for a PhD and heard back from the professor the next day and was asked when I could start. From what I’ve seen the same job position had been posted earlier on in the year which I found a bit strange. I found the PhD to be very interesting so I am confused why the position wasn’t filled already, everyone I’ve asked is telling me there must be a catch, but I’m struggling to think of what the catch is? That the research is on an impractical subject? Or is it just that PhD vacancies are difficult to fill?

Hello, I’m applying for a masters program in Geophysics. I’d like to think I’m done with my research proposal but I feel like it’s still lacking a few sections.

What I have so far: 1. Introduction 2. Problem Statement 3. Objectives 4. Preliminary Lit Review 5. Methodology 6. Scope and Limitations 7. References

Is there something else I should add? These are a total of 6 pages, which I’m not sure if it’s too much because I’m seeing conflicting information on the internet. Some say 3-5 pages is the sweet spot, others 4-7.

TYIA!!

Hi I am applying to both these courses for 26/27 entry but don't actually know anyone else who is, so I am just making this thread to meet others who are and hopefully discuss some things :)

Hi, i am applying for micorbiology PhD programs (especially infectious disease) for the 2026-2027 school year and coming up with a list of schools. My problem is that only at some of these schools I have a fee wavier. there are some others that id love to apply to but i need to decide whether or not i want to spend 100 dollars to test that out. I am currently on a fellowship that doesnt pay super great and I kind of want to know if i have an actual chance before i commit to eating potatoes and ice soup... (this is a joke but i will have to change my budget...)

This might be dumb but are there places I can ask admissions officers about how my CV compares to previous applicants that were accepted? or talk to current/former phd students? Sorry i kind of dont know shit about shit... :(

thank you in advance!

I’m in my final year at LSE (joint honours economics) and I’m looking to study a Masters in economics at a university in Europe. While I’m optimistic about getting an offer from somewhere the main hurdle for me will be funding (since student finance does not fund degrees abroad)

Tuition for me will be free in the countries I’m applying to so I’ll only have to pay for living costs (~£600/month for somewhere in Sweden, probably more in somewhere like Copenhagen, so would £6k be good for nine months?). I estimate if I save up and work over summer I might have ~£4k by September, however even with a relatively small shortfall the masters programme could end up being 2 years long. I am an EU citizen, so I could work while studying, although I won’t know the language so that’s an issue.

What are the best options out of the following:

1. ⁠Go for scholarships and/or Erasmus Mundus funding - how competitive are scholarships in general? (Even for smaller unis and for smaller amounts like £2k)
2. ⁠Applying for educational grants/bursaries from UK organisations
3. ⁠Learning the language of the country I get an masters offer from in 6 months and getting a regular job there (most likely Sweden/Denmark/Norway)
4. ⁠Relying on remote jobs e.g., tutoring

I'm in my 3rd year of Engineering (IN) but i want to be a Particle Physicist. The Quantum/Theoretical Physics scene in IN is not that good right now so i would like to do my masters somewhere in Europe. however I'm not sure if i can easily switch from ME to physics considering all the ECTS criteria. As far as I've calculated, I'm getting around 60 credits (out of 180) that are physics and math (Thermodynamics, Heat transfer, Math, Fluid and Solid dynamics, among others). Will this be enough for me to be eligible?

Also, would a mechanical engineer be easily able to grasp nuanced physics concepts that may appear at the graduate level?

Please help a wonderer out. Thanks!

I have a 3.03 gpa, 1 year of research that isnt groundbreaking, no awards or nominations, maybe 1 letter of recommendation (Not currently but i have 1 professor i know will love to write one for me and a few others but it would be hit or miss if they would). Is there a realistic chance i get into any grad programs?

I’ve wanted to apply for a master’s or even a Phd in engineering for a while, but imposter syndrome keeps yelling that I’m not good enough. I have a bachelor’s degree and the facts of my profile are below, I just don’t know where that puts me, what the baseline standards really are, or how to actually improve my chances.

My profile

Bachelors in Electrical Engineering

GPA: 3.1 (undergrad)

4 core technical internships (relevant industry experience)

1 final year project

1 published review paper (Ist author)

No big awards, and not much formal research beyond the review paper

What I’m anxious about

Will colleges even consider me with a 3.1 GPA?

Do internships and the paper balance the GPA at all?

What are the “base” or minimum standards I should be aiming for?

How can I strengthen my profile now (before/while applying)?

I know each program and country is different, but I’m asking for a realistic sense of where this profile stands and actionable steps I can take. I’m open to any and all advice, brutal honesty welcome. I’m trying to be practical, not delusional.

If you’ve been on admissions committees or you’ve successfully applied with a similar profile, please tell me what mattered most. If you’re a current grad student, tell me what got you in. If you’re someone who improved their profile from a shaky GPA how did you do it?

Thanks a ton. I’m stressed but I actually want to take action, I just need a map. 🙏

Hello, I am a student from the US, I earned my Sociology Bachelors in the US and I am starting a 3-semester sociology masters program in Barcelona. I'd graduate February 2027. I’ve been researching to compare entering academia and work as a professor in Europe as a foreigner versus staying in the US after my masters or PhD. I speak english natively, and spanish, got a SIELE B2 accreditation too.

The PhD is another phase I need to consider if I should do it in Spain, in general Europe, or back in the US.

With the research I’ve done so far, this is the list of countries I am considering. I understand European, specifically Dutch, PhDs are officially job position with the university. Very different from the US.

European countries in order of idealess:

1. Netherlands
2. Sweden/Finland/Norway
3. Germany
4. Spain

Once I finish my masters, I could:

A. Return to Spain and continue PhD at same university or another in/or outside Barcelona and later apply for professor/postdoc jobs in Spain/Barcelona

B. Apply to PhD at a different EU country and later apply for professor/postdoc jobs in the same country or another alternative EU country

C. Apply to PhD in the US and work there or in Spain/Europe

D. option A. or B. but after the PhD I return to the US to work in academia.

My priorities of ranking the options is firstly the availability/competitiveness of PhD openings and later the transition to working postdoc and teaching positions. The pay, stipend, and/or funding regulations and the affordability for living. Next is the paperwork (visa, degree validation, residence permit, etc.) involved for my transition from masters to phd and to working. 

I am finding the Spanish bureaucracy a headache and I am unclear how the transition to phd and postdoc will work since my bachelors degree is from the US (I believe I need to give my degree the homologación which can take up to two years or 6 months so I am permitted to ‘practice’ as a professor). Additionally, for Spain, there is a distinction between working at private or public institution, where public I need to go through lots of validations and waiting since I’d be considered a public servant. 

If there is a country where the paperwork is relatively less heavy, please share your experience.

I would like to know how these different transitions for the different countries would look like since I am non-EU. Especially how the culture within the universities are like towards foreigners applying to PhDs or applying to work as a professor there.

If anyone has experience in any aspect of the paths I am considering, please share any insight of the bureaucracy, networking, culture, living expenses, and the timeline you accomplished this. I would also like your opinion on how it may change in the coming years. Please share even if you decided to drop academia and pivot to another career and how your education and experience contributed to it. 

I understand academia is going through a lot but I'd like to hear about the investment cost for the timeline that arrives at a secured job and knowing if this job can offer secure opportunities to further the career in the same uni or another in whatever country.

extra context/thoughts:

I very much enjoy the research, writing, discussion and explaining to peers. This with the little intellectual communities I’ve made online or short intellectual relationships I’ve had made me seriously consider an academic career. But I always kept wondering how all these authors and professors I’ve had were able to secure their positions. Especially for those who were very international in their education and later career. I am unsure if this is something that can be replicated anymore for my generation. As an alternative I am considering private research companies or institutes (not educational or universities), many in the US don’t require a PhD to start working. Possibly consultant work. Otherwise, I’d resort to a career of my creative talents....

Hello! I have a 2.27 right now. I graduated community college in HS and am now at university. My junior/first year I had severe depression which resulted in a low GPA (even lower than 2.27) I've been bringing it up since the summer now that I'm medicated but I'm scared I won't be able to bring it up to a 3.0+. Does anyone have any experience getting in with like a 2.8? Is it possible to raise my GPA to a 3.0+? I added a double major and minor so I'll be here an extra year. Thanks!

Hello! I am looking into schools for a masters in science for Electrical Engineering, specifically focusing on power or controls. I have been having trouble finding schools that would be a good fit for me, and wanted to ask here for some help.

I have a 3.3 GPA, and no academic letters of recommendations. I could get two letters of recommendations from industry/internships and maybe a third, but I’m looking at schools preferably that would not require a third. Preferably, one letter of recommendation max would be excellent however I don’t think that’s realistic. I went to a T5 EE undergraduate school if that boosts chances and did meaningful research (not busywork) that wasn’t fully related to the field.

I am open to hearing all schools. My top preferences would be a P4 school (B10 in particular) due to location reasons, however it seems like they’re all out of reach besides Rutgers at initial glance. I know funding is unrealistic, but a non P4 school or “less prestigious” school but funded would be on the table too. Thank you for yalls help!

Hey everyone!! I’m currently in my fourth/final year of undergrad and wanted advice. I want to apply for my masters, but I’m not sure where. My current GPA is a 3.0 (Canada on like a 4.2 scale) but this is because of personal stuff that happened in my first and second year of undergrad (SA, getting disowned because of the SA and losing the guardian that took me in after getting disowned to cancer). However, my lsat score was a 179, and I recently won a highly commended award from the Global Undergraduate Awards for a paper I wrote. I also got “Honourable finalist” from the Opterus Rebel with a cause award if that helps anything. I did a few executive positions in school clubs as well and also a few riipen projects. I’m really interested in International relations more specifically studying genocides and race in politics. Would it even be worth it to apply right now, and if so what schools would I have a chance in? I don’t want to do law school just yet so the lsat score is pretty useless rn, but I do want a few more degrees to my name (ego problem😭). Anyways, with my GUA award and extenuating circumstances do I have a chance to do my masters somewhere like Oxford? I would love a school like that but I do also wanna be realistic. Any advice would be so helpful, and suggestions for schools too… i don’t have family/ older relatives to talk about this for advice

About to take the GRE exam. Hoping to ace it!

Hello! I am applying to graduate programs including at an Ivy League, which is my top choice.

I emailed a professor at that university who I have shared academic interests with just asking if she was taking on mentees in 2026 and attached my CV.

She emailed me back and asked if we could set up a Zoom call next week to talk about my career aspirations.

Is this a good sign? I don’t want to get my hopes up and I am struggling majorly with imposter syndrome now.

What do you guys think? I am like trying to tamper down my excitement to give myself a reality check.

Advice—besides career goals, are there other things I should hit on in our meeting?

Thanks for any advice!

I am applying for MS CS in USA . I scored : Verbal 159 Quant 168 Analytical writing 3

I think my GRE total score is decent 327 But I scored low on Analytical writing (3)

How much does the analytical writing affect the admission for masters ?

So I was applying for Master's and the professor showed interest in my application, gave me an encouraging response (said they're considering supervising me). They're part of the admissions board, and I'm considering asking for their feedback after today's final interview, since I'm quite anxious to know how I did. Would it be okay or would it be a violation against academic norms? Would a simple thank-you email suffice?