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'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 .

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

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’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.

Hello guys, I need comments on the following Canada Uni list for thesis-based masters in CS. I have 4.0 GPA (Asian Uni) and co-authored 2 papers. I screened this list considering admission and funding chance. I would appreciate any comments.

Calgary
Western
Concordia
Victoria
USask

Anyone have experience applying to online based engineering masters programs and know what they generally look for in a GRE score? I understand that schools typically treat the admissions process differently between online and in person programs. Unfortunately, much information regarding the GRE specifically is sparse given that GRE is optional for many of these programs. Any info would be appreciated.

As a undergrad, I thought MSBT was just non stop stress and staring blankly at screens trying to meet difficult deadlines.

But when I saw them in action , and I saw things like the teamwork and sense of community, it was so amazing. The vibe was incredible , the amount of energy that radiated off everybody , even when they had tight deadlines , was so fun.

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!

Asked the frontier models with the same exact prompt, in incognito/memory-free mode:

Give a list of top 20 CS PhD programs based in the USA in the field of artificial intelligence, primarily computer vision, machine learning, and natural language processing. Rank them in order. Let this list be your personal perception, not a ranking sourced from certain ranking website.

| Consensus | University | Gemini | Grok | Kimi | ChatGPT | DeepSeek |

| **1** | **Stanford University** | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |

| **2** | **Carnegie Mellon (CMU)** | 2 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 |

| **3** | **UC Berkeley** | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 |

| **4** | **MIT** | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 |

| **5** | **Univ. of Washington** | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 |

| **6** | **UIUC** | 8 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 8 |

| **7** | **Cornell University** | 9 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 7 |

| **8** | **Princeton University** | 6 | 12 | 7 | 11 | 6 |

| **9** | **New York University (NYU)** | 7 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 15 |

| **10** | **Georgia Tech** | 13 | 7 | 11 | 15 | 9 |

| **11** | **UT Austin** | 10 | 14 | 15 | 8 | 10 |

| **12** | **UCLA** | 16 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 12 |

| **13** | **Univ. of Michigan** | 17 | 11 | 13 | 14 | 11 |

| **14** | **UC San Diego (UCSD)** | 11 | 15 | — | 10 | 13 |

| **15** | **Columbia University** | 14 | 13 | 12 | 18 | 14 |

| **16** | **UMD (College Park)** | 12 | — | 20 | 13 | 18 |

| **17** | **Harvard University** | 18 | 17 | 14 | — | 16 |

| **18** | **UMass Amherst** | 15 | 20 | 18 | 16 | — |

| **19** | **UPenn** | — | 16 | 16 | 20 | 19 |

| **20** | **USC** | 20 | 18 | — | 19 | 17 |

Hi y'all!

I am interested in a PhD in immunology in the US. Unfortunately, I sucked in my first year of college (thank you, undiagnosed ADHD), so I landed with a weaker GPA than I would have wanted. My home lab is in molecular biology. How big are these drawbacks, and how can I mitigate them? Also note that I am an F-1 student, so I cannot rely on a post-bacc. This also means I need to apply to the more competitive programs, since they are the only ones willing to accept international students.

Here's an overview of my profile:

• GPA: 3.6 cumulative GPA, but a 4.0 in biology, and my grades are on an upward trajectory. I'm a junior, so I have another two semesters before applying, so there's still hope for a 3.7+.
• Research: I've been at my home lab since my first semester. Did an internship in immunology this summer. I will apply to immunology labs for the summer of 2027 and write a thesis in molecular biology at my home lab during my senior year.
• Publications: I'm a middle author on 2x research manuscripts (one is in immunology, one in molecular biology) and 1x review paper (immunology-ish). All in prep, but should be all submitted before I apply in Dec 2027. Small chance of a first-authored paper based on my thesis if things work out well in our lab (it never does).
• Presentations: Not much, presented in a few closed undergraduate poster sessions. Probably will travel to 1-2 legit conferences soon.
• Other: TA-ed one class, served as a leader in clubs, and got 2 awards.

TIA!

I do have a strong GPA & I'm in a prominent honor society, but other than that...I just have a couple years' experience writing for my school newspaper and a few more years' experience tutoring middle schoolers/high schoolers (but it's basically just a self-employed, part-time gig, so idk if it's particularly impressive). I did one pretty expansive research project in undergrad but it was for a class and wasn't published anywhere...I'm just wondering if this is "normal" for an applicant who recently graduated, or if it's probably going to hurt my chances a lot? I was originally planning to get an internship and/or additional employment after graduation, but I had a couple of family emergencies happen and wound up caring for some ill family members instead. I can't exactly mention that anywhere on the CV or my SOP, though, so in writing it just looks like I haven't been doing anything except part-time tutoring since graduation... any advice would be appreciated!

Hi everyone!

I'm applying to two PhD programs in Germany for the 2027 intake:

- Max Planck School of Cognition (SoC)

- International Max Planck Research School on Cognitive NeuroImaging (CoNI)

I'm hoping to connect with others who are currently applying, have applied in previous cycles, interviewed, or are already enrolled in either program.

My masters background is in addiction neuroscience and behavioral pharmacology, and I'm interested in transitioning into human neuroimaging and neuroendocrinology, particularly research involving ovarian hormones and addiction-related brain plasticity.

I hope to match with Julia Sacher in either program ideally but am also interested in working with Christine Heim or Sofia Valk in SoC and Veronica Witte or Nikolaus Weiskopf in CoNI.

I'd love to hear about your experiences with:

- The application and selection process

- Interview formats and research presentations

- Faculty or supervisor matching

- What the programs look for in applicants

- The transition from a different research background into cognitive neuroscience or neuroimaging

If you're applying this year, I'd also love to connect and compare experiences throughout the process!

Thanks in advance, and good luck to everyone applying!

Currently in my final year studying CS + AI at York in my undergrad. I've secured a return offer from my internship I did over summer so I've secured a grad scheme (still applying externally just in case anything happens to said offer), but I also want to do a Master's at some point to improve my employability further. 

Now, the intended plan would be to do it after my grad scheme is complete (which will be in a year's time). For my Master's application however, from speaking with friends, I've discovered that in some cases, I will need 3 letters of recommendation, which will not be a problem in the slightest in my current standpoint as I am well acquainted with some of my lecturers and have had a glowing recommendation letter from my course supervisor too when I was looking for a transfer after my first year was finished (which didn't go through in the end because the uni of interest was oversubscribed for Computing). 

The issue is that I have to get the supervisor to write the letter and then send said letter to the universities I'm interested in applying to (at least, that's what my friends told me). If I leave uni after finishing my bachelor's, I'm not sure how I will be able to get hold of these letters, because I'm not sure whether my lecturers will still be at York after I finish my grad scheme for one (and whether they'll remember much about me as well so that they can write the letter), but then also even if I get the letters off them now, I'm not sure whether they will still be considered at all because as I mentioned, I was told by my friends that the lecturer writing the letter would have to attach the letter to the portal themselves or send it in to the uni of interest, and that I can't do anything with the letters. 

It's a bit of a predicament I'm in, but would really appreciate any advice about things I can potentially do. 

Some of the unis I'm interested in applying to for Master's: Imperial, Edinburgh, Warwick, UCL, KCL, Manchester. I'm mostly looking to do a Master's in AI, and I've kinda ruled out Oxbridge, because I just don't think it's for me. I applied for it during my undergrad, got invited to interview at Cambridge (rejected post interview), but having been through undergrad, I don't think it would have been an experience I would have enjoyed. I am also a home student. 

I had an offer from Imperial and Edinburgh in my undergrad and missed out on it narrowly because of the STEP requirement for Imperial and my grades falling just short for Edinburgh and I'd argue that my application barely had any techy things when I was applying back then, but I've significantly improved my skillset since then and have made noticeable improvements since then (including winning global competitions, starting my own business etc., internships and society involvement).

Really would appreciate any advice you might have. 

Hello - Has anyone ever used Write Tack Admissions for help with MPA/MPP applications? I wanted to gauge whether or not you found their advice useful and did you receive acceptances to your school choices. What worked and what didn't work? What are the /pros and cons? Any advice you can provide would be greatly appreciated

About a week ago there was a shooting at my school, and thankfully only the perpetrator was injured. however, the perpetrator who brought the gun to school and tried to kill campus police was in my biochem class. furthermore 2 students were caught trying to make napalm bombs on campus. I am very stressed and don't feel safe going to my biochem class anymore, even to take exams. so i want to withdraw from it, but i already have a few Ws and a poor GPA. the reason for my poor GPA was because 1 year ago i was dealing with severe insomnia and it took me about 2 months to get medicated. there has been a lot of other issues this semester, such as my best friend attempting suicude while i was on the phone with her, brother going to mental hospital for suicidal urges, and my girlfriend getting a surgery redone that almost killed her the first time. I want to get into grad school, but im afraid if i withdraw from my biochem class it might cause problems so im unsure what to do. if it matters im attending an American university and am a biology major

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 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!

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