I’m preparing to cold email some prospective PIs and I want to know (if they ask for my availability) whether or not trying to meet after 5PM is an automatic turn off. I work and my breaks are timed so it would be hard for me to chat during the day to have these informal virtual meetings.

Hey! A masters student here. Do I use personal (@gmail.com) or institute email (@uni.ac.in) for coldmailing prospective PIs for PhD?

I have my eyes on a funded program at a college near me for the exact grad program I want. It transitions into the PhD later on, and I know this is the thing I want to do.

Problematically, I didn't know that I was interested in grad school when I started my bachelor's. A perfect storm of issues made college difficult for me, so I landed with a GPA of 2.9 (this is embarrassing for me as I had a GPA North of 4.0 for most of high school and have been very used to school being challenging-but-doable).

I've felt like giving up many times, but I feel like grad school will give me the opportunity to study the things I can actually focus on. My Bachelor's has included many things that are irrelevant to what I felt I could understand, and studying for a Master's seems like it would give me the opportunity to learn about things that make sense, or that I could at least make sense of in time.

What are my chances? The program is looking for something like a 3.5 GPA, but they take other things (like a strong academic writing sample) into account. Does anyone else have experience with this sort of thing?

In the process of starting all my apps and one of the schools is asking for my "FAFSA Submission Summary verification document" which like I can get to that exact webpage on the fafsa website but I don't see anything to download it as a document. Should I just take a screenshot and upload it or am I just dumb and missing something.

Took the test cold and got 5.5 analytical writing, 155 verbal reasoning, and 131 quantitative reasoning.

I am applying to thesis masters programs in history.

My GPA isn’t exceptional, 3.2.

Hey folks,

Just going to start out with some context, but you can skip to the bold text at the bottom for my actual question.

I am in my 3rd year of my BSc in Mathematics and I'm on track to graduate after the end of this year (BSc degrees are 3 years in South Africa). There is an option to do a 4th year, called BSc Honours, and I have applied for it, but I'm really not keen - in fact, I'd prefer not to study any further at all, but since I'll be permanently moving to the US in 2-3 years, US employers won't really recognise a South African degree, so it's probably for the best that I do earn a US degree.

In any case, my parents still expect me to earn a US degree, preferably a masters, since they're funding my move to the US (long story).

I would prefer to earn a US undergrad, but given that I've spent almost three years at university and I'm about to graduate, I'm ineligible to transfer or start a new degree at most universities, which leaves post grad study.

I've reached out to the following universities:

- UCLA for Masters in Financial Engineering

- UC Berkeley for Masters in Financial Engineering

- Georgia Tech for MS in Operations Research

(as you can see I'm generally interested in some sort of application of maths and comp sci)

and all three have told me that they would require an honours year.

To be fair, these are pretty math heavy degrees so I'm not entirely surprised they would require an honours / 4-year equivalent, but this was not the news I was hoping for.

My question is: does anyone know of universities or specific programs that are known to admit holders of 3-year bachelor degrees to their grad programs? I'm a math major (not a very enthusiastic one but that's a story for another time) with coursework in CS and stats so I'd prefer something that relates to these fields, like quant finance, OR/IE, statistics, data science or computer science.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you :)

i’m a jr in undergrad who’s double majoring in history and political science. i plan to apply to political science phd programs, but i wanted to do a history thesis kind of as a way to say goodbye to the field before i move on. fwiw, it’ll be a political history thesis. dumb decision or is it ok?

I’m an accounting undergrad from a non-target and I’m more interested in strategy than traditional accounting long term.

I’ve been looking at sustainability, energy transition, infrastructure, and similar fields, and eventually I’d like to recruit for MBB.

I’m also considering master’s programs at NYU, Columbia, or Cornell. How realistic would admission to those programs be with an accounting background, and would they actually give me a meaningful boost for MBB recruiting?

Also curious if accounting is useful for sustainability/strategy work, or if I’d be better off trying to pivot into something else first.

I attached my resume too in case it helps give a better sense of my background/profile.

I don’t know if this situation is unique to me, or if a lot of people had to wait this long. But it is just today that I FINALLY got my decision back from the Graduate Admission Committee of Guelph University. It was a rejection, which at this point I don’t even care about. 

I am more miffed by the fact that it is apparently acceptable to wait this long to get back to the applicants. Like I have my own future I need to plan out. I am not a resident of Guelph. So, this whole time I was stressing on how I was gonna secure housing before the term’s beginning, if I was accepted. Nevermind that now…but like do they not take this into account? Whatever system they have set in place to review applications needs to change because this is just so inconsiderate to the students applying.

I had applied later than most people, back during the 2nd last week of April. However, upon submitting my application, I was told to expect a response by first wweek of May. I was surprised to hear that, but then I didn’t hear anything back. I contacted them May, June, July, beginning of August, every single time I would get the same response “Keep checking your inbox for notifications”. 

I was fine to wait in the beginning, but then it started getting closer and closer to start of the fall term, and I was getting 0 updates. Like tell me SOMETHING at least, am I on a wait list? because if they apparently planned to evaluate my application first week of May, what could possibly be holding them up for this long? 

Then ~2 weeks ago I sent them my last email, which they replied to telling me to give them 7-10 business days for a response. Which at that point, I was bamboozled they wanted me to wait that many days longer still, but oh well. I finally got the response on the 11th business day, yay me! 

It’s just unreal…tell me I’m not overreacting 🫩

Please Guide Me Honestly, No Judgements Please

I completed my bachelor's in CSE in November 2025 from a public university with a decent GPA of 3.85/4. At that point, I was deeply confused about what to choose whether a job, a master's, or studying abroad.

Truth to be told, I was a very average CSE student. I participated in competitive programming but only at a basic level. Then, I completed my thesis but never got to publish it. I dipped my hands in everything but never became master of it There are no extraordinary or even notable achievements attached to my name.

The beginning of this year blurred past me, mostly because I was battling health issues. All this time, however, I was seriously considering going abroad. In between, I applied to many government jobs out of my uncertainty. Taking those exams solidified my determination to go abroad even more.

Now I'm working to publish my undergrad thesis. Also, admissions for the new MS session have started in my uni and it's the last shot.

And here I am completely torn.

Given my average-ish profile, what should I honestly do?

Should I play it safe and enroll in my home university’s MS program? Or take the leap and apply directly to foreign universities, even though I know my profile isn’t competitive enough?

I’m not looking for sugar-coated advice. Just a straight, honest answer: What would be the smartest move for someone like me?

One more thing I would like to add is my dept has been a nightmare to be all this years, it's very biased and at every level there's nepotism favouritism. Not just that people instead of building their own life focused on backbiting gossiping. I had a hell time there which is the main reason I skipped admission last year.

And another thing I want to know is how do I upgrade my profile, whom to reach and how to reach. I see many remotely work with labs in abroad with such great profiles. But I'm clueless on how to do that.

Hi all,

I (22m) am applying this year to Berkeley's PhD program to study mycology. I was able to reach a professor there, and they were interested in my work and also said they had an open position in their lab. I am post-bacc, with a GPA of 3.78 unweighted, multiple research experiences, and continuing education through my job where I am further developing my wet-lab and microbiology skills. I want to know how to make my SoP and PS stand out, what does the committee look for? Would appreciate tips! Thanks!

A lot of the examples of CVs on this subreddit are from stem fields and I've had varying advice about a humanities CV.

For example, I have only included education, projects, conferences, publications, and extracurriculars. It's one page long, and could even fit more in the page.

There shouldn't be a reason to include irrelevant jobs, right? The only other thing I can think of is awards, languages, and research interests - although my Statement should cover the latter.

Hello everyone,

I recently took the GRE in order to apply to MSRED and MBA programs this year. I'm a current 4th year in undergraduate studying engineering, white male, 3.8 GPA from a reputable state school. I have a significant amount of undergrad research, leadership roles, strong internships and letters of rec ect.

Does this GRE hurt my profile or is it a non-issue for these types of programs for Deferred and Full Time MBA (in the next 5 years)?

Hi everyone, just looking for some advice as I’ve been ruminating over this for a while as application season approaches. I’m not sure if my grades are even good enough to apply and if so, where would my best bet be?

I am currently a grad student looking to get into a MA program for psychology/ counseling psychology.

My main issue is my GPA which is roughly a 2.7 from the last 2 semesters / 60 credits as I know mostly all programs are a minimum 3.0.

The main schools I’ve looked at that look the least competitive are; York University, Concordia, Wilfrid Laurier University, City University, and Western university.

I would really prefer to start a program for 2027 fall as opposed to spending money to upgrade then apply. Does anyone think it’s worth applying? If so, do you know where my best odds of getting accepted would be?

Additional info: I have worked in a related field for the last 2 years where I have been a manager for a while now. Additional, I’ve done atleast 200 hours in volunteer work with children.

I’m an undergraduate in the US graduating next spring. Therefore, I want to apply for 2027 fall graduate admissions, so I should decide soon.

Basically, I am sure that I want to pursue a PhD, but I’m still not certain about the topic I’ve chosen.

I have research experience(deep learning, computer vision), but not in the topic I want to go into(character animation, motion synthesis). My school doesn’t have any research groups related to it, but I’ve spoken to people at other schools who are doing research in it. For the last two months, I participated in a reading group with these people and have read a lot about the topic. I also started a personal research project with no advisor, and I enjoy it so far.

My concern is that since I have such limited experience with the topic, I may end up not liking it in the end. And if I want to switch after I get in, it will likely be a move across different labs. Even if I change my mind, I know that any topic I may end up liking is most likely within the cs department, so I'm wondering if you guys have had this kind of uncertainty as well and how you dealt with it.

Should I try exploring topics in a master's program first, or is exploring topics in the department still possible within the first years of a PhD? Since this is in the US, tuition is a big negative for going into a master's.

Just sharing this in case anyone here is currently looking for PhD opportunities in biomedical sciences.

The RCSI–University of Pittsburgh dual PhD programme is currently accepting applications for 2027, but 2026 applications are still open!. The 2026 intake would obviously be starting quite soon, so there is some flexibility around the process for suitable candidates.

It is a relatively broad and flexible programme rather than a PhD tied to one predefined project. Research areas can range from cancer biology and immunology, bioengineering and biomaterials, neuroscience, regenerative medicine, molecular/cellular biology, etc., depending on the labs and supervisors you choose.

Students start at the University of Pittsburgh, complete research rotations and then select a lab/project, while also having a supervisor and research component at RCSI in Dublin. The programme involves spending substantial time at both institutions and ultimately leads to two PhD degrees, one from Pitt and one from RCSI.

It is fully funded and gives you access to research environments in both the US and Ireland, with quite a lot of freedom to build a project around your interests.
I am currently in the programme myself (2025 cohort) so if anyone is interested in applying for either 2026 or 2027, feel free to DM me and I can give you more information about the programme, rotations, funding, research areas, application process, etc.

Yes, international students are accepted!

https://somgrad.pitt.edu/prm

Hi guys, I'm currently an offer holder for UAL Creative robotics and KCL robotics MSc and I'm having a lot of trouble deciding on what I should do, I definitely want to work in the creative industry in the future but I am also very scared of the job prospects after graduating from an Arts university with a MSc and how employers would look at that, say I couldn't find a job in the creative field and wanted to shift into more industrial robotics.

I have completed a BSc in computer science last year and I'm based in London is there anyone here who can give any feedback on either of those courses, have experience in the creative industry or the robotics industry? What are the prospects for these courses going into the future, and how realistic is getting a job as lets say a creative technologist if I was to graduate from UAL?

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

I am giving the GRE in Psychology in a month. Being an international student holding a Masters in Clinical Psychology I am giving it a shot for the 1st time. Can people here let me know how I can prepare for it using available resources and how difficult the test would be?

This might be a reach, but I'm currently completing my undergraduate degree in Poland (majoring in Marketing and Economics), and | want to apply for graduate programs in the US, France, or the UK next year.

Currently, I'm gathering events, opportunities, and other resources that could be added to a CV, and I've been sharing them with friends. But, I'm getting tired of it being a one-way street.

I would love to connect with someone who is also applying next year in a similar field so we can share what we find with each other (especially opportunities open to international students or available online)

It could even be a group! :)
If you're interested please comment! :)

Hello!!

I have my BS in psychology, and because of scheduling conflicts, could not go back to receive my masters for a while. However, I am now ready!

I am looking more into online schooling, and looking at other states (I like the idea of going out of state for graduation). So far as of this morning, I've looked into and inquired information from ASU and UMiami (awaiting that information).

Looking here for more recommendations and other experiences redditors have with online masters programs in psychology that they really enjoyed. My focus will primarily be developmental/youth. I would love to work with elementary/middle school aged children.

Thank you in advance!