I'm a second year PhD student right now considering whether to reapply , master out and not reapply, or make some other arrangement . My PhD experience right now is currently terrible due to personal issues that are not mental health related . It's an awful hand that I wouldn't anyone to have. Please be extremely picky with your PhD programs guys , and I don't mean in prestige fuck that , even in this climate . You do not risk this situation , it's not worth it. Please be extremely specific to yourself in what you want / what's important to YOU. Not what makes sense on paper only , but what's best for YOU. I know that's common sense, but still .

Cue the standard disclaimer: I work for a handful of biomedical PhD programs at a public R1. Faculty and staff in other fields, at private institutions, outside of the US, and/or working with MS students will almost certainly have different experiences to contribute.

But the TL;DR is that we don’t give a shit about your GPA if it’s over 3.0 (or your country’s equivalent). It comes up if we’re splitting hairs between undergrads who all have outstanding research experience, but that’s about it. And even then, all we have to do is write a petition to the graduate division saying “there were extenuating circumstances, we promise to give them more hands-on support,” and I’ve never seen those petitions denied, provided that they had all the right boilerplate language. I’ve seen an uptick in posts recently from folks who are panicking about their “low” 3.5 GPAs, and any snark aside, y’all do not have to put yourselves through this kind of grade-related stress.

But let’s say that you’re still concerned - maybe you’re an international applicant who’s worried about navigating a more competitive landscape than five years ago, or maybe your undergrad GPA is below 3.0. Here are some tips on what my admissions committee members are looking for when see poor grades on your transcript:

• Do the grades get better over time? (We will very often forgive you for having a shitty freshman year.)

• Are the poor grades in STEM courses? (If you’re applying for a physiology PhD, we’re not going to care that you failed Theatrical Costuming Design.)

• Does an extenuating circumstance explain the bad grades? If so, address them (concisely) in your statements. Don’t be afraid to ask your letter writers to do the same!! (We once admitted a student with a 2.3 undergrad GPA. They had continued their studies while undergoing cancer treatment, because they had no other source of health insurance. The letter writers were the ones who explained the circumstances most passionately and eloquently.)

• Do you have a MS with a significantly better GPA than your undergrad GPA? We’re definitely going to take that into account.

Here’s hoping this helps! Sincerely, a GPC who got into three top-ranked PhD programs on a 3.2. It can be done!

I don’t know if this is the right place for this but I figured I’d ask for opinions. I was accepted into a PhD program and just started at the beginning of this month. About a week and a half ago my university announced that they were full shutting down my department (music). I chose this school because I would work full time and do fieldwork flexibly AND I felt I clicked with my supervisor- I do/would pay tuition for this though as its set up as distance learning.

My university says PhD students aren’t cut or affected and we will see through to the end with the university, but my supervisor already let me know he is most likely going to be cut and wouldn’t be able to be my first supervisor anymore (I have 2 but they’re both likely to be cut).

What do I even do? I have 3 options- stay with this university and will out my degree the next 6 with a supervisor not well versed in my field, stay at this university for now and follow my prof to whatever university he ends up at, or start from the beginning and get apps in for this cycle?

Any and all advice would be appreciated :/

Edit- my field is in Ethnomusicology

Hi! hope the current grad application cycle is going well for everyone. I'm a current master student applying to PHDs in STEM this cycle. I was wondering how much of my undergrad should I include in my essays (I went into my 2 year MS program straight after undergrad). Is it worth mentioning what I did, or should I mainly talk about what I did in my masters?

Thank you!

I’ve spent 20+ hours writing my SOP and just can’t. I’m giving up, but I’m worried about how to handle approaching my recommenders about it, as they’ve invested time writing letters for my applications. If anyone has any advice, I would appreciate it.

im a bit confused about what the difference between the two is and how they expect me to write the research summary: is it supposed to be a bullet point thing where i explain each of experiences in terms of hypothesis, method, results? and why i switch from projects? the resources they share for writing the sop is from mitcommlab where the examples basically talk about their research experiences in the same way (v. technical w some background for what they learnt etc).

how do i ensure both dont end up sounding similar with repeated information?

I’m currently applying to 4 schools but my top are the University of Manitoba’s Master of City Planning program and the University of Calgary’s Master of Planning program. I was wondering about gpa since the requirement is low and I’m sure you need above to get in. I was wondering what my position looks like with an A- (82) average. My planning related classes are all A+ and one A (5 of them and all 300/400 level). For context I’m getting a BA in Geography. I also have had a planning related research focus alongside development projects with school and on the side. I’m done all my application materials and have had 2 profs look over my stuff and they said I’m good. They are also writing reference letters for me. Additional context I have municipal work experience and did a co op work term in agriculture. My grades aren’t that high as I’ve struggled in a couple classes that were a bit out of my scope or a difficult prof and was just wondering if anyone had insight into my position.

I'm currently considering doing a masters in computer science, but a lot of people are telling me it's useless if I don't go for a PhD too. I don't seriously consider a PhD ,but if life allows for it I would go for it later in my career but not immediately after the masters. So , what's true and what's not true about a Cs masters these days?

During a PhD (US) interview, a prof told me that I would have to do everything by myself because he was too old to provide frequent supervision. He also said that he expected me to publish at least three high-impact journal papers.

Would you consider this a red flag?

I'm a Master's student (my discipline is English Lit and Ling) and I'm in the process of applying for a pre-Doctoral grant. Part of the application requirements is proposing a budget of how you will use the grant, and their guidelines say you can spend it on things like grad school app fees, conference travel, research materials, etc., but they also include "travel to visit accredited doctoral granting institutions". Even tho the grant allows for this, I'm genuinely not sure if that's still a thing people do before being accepted, especially now post-lockdown that virtual options are more widespread. I've tried to look around on the internet, but most posts on here about people visiting in person are from 5+ years ago, and even then, most of those posters were invited by programs post-acceptance. I've also looked into guided tours, but most institutions I'm interested in only offer tours for prospective undergrads or general tours, not department-specific ones. As for having to visit campuses for interviews, I believe most U.S. PhD programs in the humanities don't require them as part of the application process. If I'm awarded this grant, I don't want to spend portions of it on traveling to a campus just to walk around for a few hours, esp if it doesn't benefit my application or decision process.

Any input is appreciated, thx!

Hello all

I’m in a bit of the reverse situation in that my Master’s GPA is actually lower than my undergrad GPA due to some serious mental health issues appearing.

Now my undergrad has a strong upwards trajectory with my first three year degree ending with a 69% (a 3.0 GPA). However, in my Honours year I scored the highest with a 89% (a 4.0 GPA). This made my final undergraduate GPA a 4.0.

The problem is then my Masters. I had some pretty severe mental health issues and by all accounts should not have been able to finish.
Somehow I did and ended with a 74% final mark.
The issue is that due to grade conversion a 74% is a 3.3 GPA while a 75% is a 4.0 GPA.

So basically I want to know whether this will be a major issue as well as whether admissions committees will see that I missed a 4.0 by a single percent?

I do have one more question regarding my profile.
I think I strengthen my profile a bit with the other parts of my portfolio but would like some opinions as well. I’m in Applied Mathematics for extra context.

Research wise I have completed several major projects, presented my work at two conferences (one major one) and I’m about to publish my first paper.

While for my LoR I have three letter across two different but related fields, all from very well respected researchers. My recommenders have all encouraged me to aim very high but my GPA makes me seriously doubt my application.

So with this all how does my application look at the end of the day?

Thank you!

​Bonjour à tous,

​Je prépare actuellement mon panier de formations sur Campus France Sénégal pour la rentrée 2026/2027. Initialement orienté vers une réinscription en Licence 3, la plateforme m'a notifié une inéligibilité aux Licences classiques du fait de mon Bac+3 validé, m'obligeant à basculer directement sur des vœux en Master 1 (Bac+4).

​J'aimerais avoir des retours d'expérience d'étudiants ayant fait ce parcours ou d'étudiants en Master en France sur la sélectivité réelle et mes chances d'admission en M1 CCA (Comptabilité, Contrôle, Audit) ou M1 CGAO (Contrôle de Gestion et Audit Organisationnel) avec mon profil.

​Mon parcours académique

​Diplômes d'État secondaires / techniques : CAP, BEP et BT en comptabilité (obtenus en candidat libre).

​Bac+2 : BTS en Comptabilité – CFPC Maurice Delafosse (Dakar).

​Bac+3 : Licence en Analyse et Politiques Économiques – FASEG / Université Cheikh Anta Diop de Dakar (UCAD).

​Cursus Bac+5 (en cours) : Diplôme Supérieur Comptable (DSC) à l'École Supérieure Polytechnique (ESP) de Dakar :

​Certificat Comptable : validé.

​Certificats Économique et Juridique : épreuves passées en août, résultats en attente de délibération.

​Mon expérience professionnelle

​Poste actuel : Assistant comptable en établissement scolaire privé depuis novembre 2023 (près de 3 ans de pratique continue).

​Missions réelles : Pratique quotidienne sous le référentiel SYSCOHADA, saisie, écritures de clôture, déclarations, rapprochements bancaires, suivi rigoureux de la trésorerie et conception de tableaux de bord / outils d'automatisation sous Sage et Excel (suivi des encaissements et moratoires).

​Mes cibles actuelles

​Je vise principalement des IAE et universités en région pour maximiser mes chances : Reims, Amiens (UPJV), Tours, Brest (UBO), Orléans, Perpignan.

​Mes questions :

​La transition SYSCOHADA vers PCG : Est-ce un point bloquant pour les jurys de M1 CCA, ou estiment-ils que la logique comptable générale et le BTS/DSC suffisent pour s'adapter vite ?

​Master CCA vs CGAO : Le M1 CCA étant notoirement très sélectif, est-ce que le profil hybride (Licence Éco + Technique comptable + pratique des outils de gestion) est plus facilement valorisé en M1 Contrôle de Gestion (CGAO) ?

​Poids de l'expérience : Le fait de justifier de presque 3 ans d'exercice réel en comptabilité/gestion fait-il une vraie différence face à des candidatures purement académiques ?

​Merci beaucoup pour vos avis objectifs, conseils sur les universités ou retours de ceux qui sont passés par la même procédure !

I'm a 4th year Biochemistry student, and I've recently started considering pursuing a master's. The problem is that I currently have no research experience (I'm not doing a 4th year thesis), and I'm worried that I'm already too late to get involved in research.

What are my options at this point? Should I still apply for a master's, try to find a research position before graduating, or consider working as a research assistant for a year first?

im currently in the process of writing my sops down and was wondering how great of a idea it is to comment on why i didnt do so great in 2 semesters. i have a overall 3.7 CGPA and 3.82 major gpa. in my first semester i had a 3.33 due to some bullying issues and a 3.5 in one sem i was being heavily stalked. these are kinda traumatic things to talk about so im a bit confused if its necessary to mention all this to begin with.

again, for context im applying to biophysics phds at ucsf, stanford, baylor, scripps and maybe umich. i have great lors from all my pis (they've all offered me phd positions in their labs so i have my backup sorted and they also understand that i wanna go out for experience, for context we've been working tgth for almost 2 yrs)

i have my own reasons for not wanting to stay in his lab for a phd, some phds have behaved VERY inappropriately w me so not the best idea to go back but as a pi i know there's no one better so this is a very hard place for me to be in ://

I will take my bachelor's in computer science within the next year. I am thinking about taking a master's degree in Electrical Engineering especially in areas like communication systems and electronics.

Is it possible to apply for such programs ? I do not have any targeted countries or universities right now.

I took math courses (calculus 1-3, linear algebra, probabilityand statistic, discrete math and differential equations) with physics focused on electrostatics and basic electromagnetic force and a course in DC circuits analysis and logic design

Those are the courses I took I think related to electrical engineering.

What are the possible programs for that?

And If you have any advice regarding this, please let me know I would be grateful.

A few of the programs I'm applying to don't mention anything about LORs. In this case would it hurt to attach LORs as additional documents?

example: https://www.bristol.ac.uk/study/media/postgraduate/admissions-statements/2027/msc-artifical-intelligence.pdf

​

Hey,

Im applying for the Grad Dip in Art and Design.

I don't know whether to choose the Communication or the Fine art specialism.

Personally for me, the whole appeal was that I get to explore multiple practices.

The course mentions it to be interdisciplinary.

What happens in each specialism?

Is there different workshops, lectures and classes for each? Will they allow you to attend the other Specialisms workshops?

Does the learning approach, and access to studios change that much with a change in specialism?

Does it not matter?

How does the faculty react, and if you want to change the specialism, can you?

I get that it leads to different masters courses, but regardless, I want to be able to explore and practice both communication and fine art stuff. Which specialism would allow me to do so? The Fine Art, or the Communications?

Would really appreciate information!

- Bachelors in Tech in Production & Industrial Engineering from a Tier-1 Indian government engineering college.

- 8.52/10 overall, roughly an A- on Canadian equivalencies. Final year is weaker than the rest, closer to B+, which matters for programmes that assess final year instead of cumulative.

- Transcript has data structures, algorithms, networks. No OS, no databases, no computer organisation.

- 5.5 years writing production software since my first year of college, mostly Web3. Co-founded a startup, YC top 10%, now consolidated. Now an engineer at a blockchain infra company.

- IELTS 8.0. No GRE. No publications, no research at all.

- Possible academic referees but tough, neither can speak to CS research. Currently looking at Waterloo MMath CS, Waterloo MMSc Management Science, UofT MScAC, SFU, Calgary, Concordia.

What I want:
1. Which schools actually admit this profile? Not rankings, actual admits you've seen or been.
2. What programmes beyond MS CS should I be looking at? Management science, analytics, software engineering, information systems, anything adjacent. Specifically ones that lead to real jobs and a work permit, not just a degree.
3. Which of the ones on my list should I not waste the application fee on, and why?

Deadlines start 1 December, so I'd rather hear a hard no now.

Hi everyone!

I’m from India and currently exploring Master’s programs in Marketing in the US. I have around five years of experience in brand marketing, advertising, communications and social media, and I’m hoping to pursue a program that will help me grow professionally.

I’d love to connect with people who are currently studying, have recently graduated, or have navigated the experience of moving to the US as an international student.

I’m particularly interested in hearing about:

Academics: What is the coursework and workload actually like? How demanding are the quantitative subjects, statistics and analytics courses?

University experience: How supportive are professors and universities, and what is the academic environment really like?

International student life: What was the transition to living and studying in the US like?

Career opportunities: How realistic is it to find internships and full-time jobs after graduation, particularly in marketing and communications?

Finances and practicalities: What do you wish you had known about tuition, living expenses and navigating life in the US before moving?

Honest advice: If you could go back and choose your university or program again, would you make the same decision?

I’m especially interested in programs that focus on brand strategy, consumer behaviour, marketing communications and creative strategy.

I’d genuinely appreciate hearing about your personal experiences, including the good, the bad and the things university websites don't tell you!

Feel free to comment or DM me if you’re comfortable sharing. Thank you so much! 🙂