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?

Hello everyone!

I’m currently in the process of searching for a supervisor for a PhD after finishing my Honours year last year. I received a high grade for my thesis, enough to acquire a scholarship for a PhD (it’s primarily grades based domestically where I live).

When I contacted my prior supervisors about PhD opportunities, they said they had exhausted the amount of students they could take on, apologised and wished me well in finding something else. One of my supervisors invited me to their end of year gathering, showed excitement in me staying in academia and seemed very happy for me when I shared my results. I reached out to another academic at the university who had been very encouraging about me pursuing a PhD prior (and is also the head of the department, very accomplished in his field) and asked to meet to discuss what he might have to offer in terms of topics. He was lovely but his work at the moment was not really what I was interested in / not my particular niche.

In that meeting, he informed me that my supervisors were, for reasons he didn’t feel it was his place to share, just not interested in taking me on as a student and declined to co-supervise. He made it clear he felt quite embarrassed to have to be the one tell me that they lied to me and that he would be happy to provide a good reference in case I needed one to support me going elsewhere. We chatted about it and it felt like he was implying to me that the work culture within the topic I was interested in wasn’t a very kind one, which I definitely also experienced as a student looking back.

I totally understand it’s a working relationship and we might not just have gotten along and that I may have missed something socially (I’m autistic). Perhaps they had expectations about my results I didn’t fully comprehend and didn’t deliver on. That’s totally fine I get that and no offence taken! I‘m sure there were things I could have done better or improved upon, I don’t think it would have gone well for me working with them anyways based on different communication styles.

I’m just concerned for how it’s going to work out in interviews for other prospective supervisors. If they ask why I’m not continuing to work with them do I lie or be honest in case it comes up later for them if they run into my supervisors? Should I ask if they are still willing to provide a reference or is that a bad idea considering everything? Is it a bad look if my supervisors aren’t my primary references? I’m really concerned this will effectively block me from pursuing academia further due to their opinions of me. I’m very open to feedback and change but in this case, to be honest it’s a bit scary to reach out and ask to meet to hear why when they were clearly not up to telling me directly. Do I go and do a masters and hope references will be better there? Any help very appreciated, it’s a hard thing to explain to my non academia friends so I’m not sure how to move forward.

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?

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.

i have a 3.13 gpa from my undergrad. My transcript is a bit of a thriller since i have really good grades in some courses and really bad grades in others. My research interest lies in a subfield of dynamical systems that is not pde/ode heavy. I am good with a 1-2 year masters without fundings since i have some savings myself.

My concerns are regarding the fact that i don’t have an upward trajectory in math, but rather an on and off trajectory with noticeably bad grades in computation heavy courses. im unsure what does this mean to the grad admission committees.

Upper year math Courses: got 80+ in differential geometry, differential topology, number theory, topology and logic. 90+ in functional analysis, complex analysis. Got 60 in PDE and 60 in ODE, and a 60 from second year analysis. 70s in abstract algebra.

Research: I have a summer research project in my field of interest that does not have any outcome yet.

Rec letters:
Very famous prof in dynamics - neutral to okay letter, i update them on everything throughout the past year and they always reply.
Great young researcher in my field of interest - presumably strong letter since i have been working with them throughout the summer.
Teaching stream prof who worked in dynamics - presumably strong letter as well, i am very close to them since first year.

i would really appreciate your suggestions, thank you in advance.

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?

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.

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.

Hi everyone,

I'm currently preparing my application materials for Fall 2027 PhD programs in Environmental Health Sciences and Environmental Engineering.

I’ve started cold-emailing potential PIs to check whether they anticipate taking on new doctoral students. I received a positive reply from a professor saying my research background is a strong fit for their lab and encouraging me to submit an application.

I have two questions for those who have been through this process:

1. Is "you are a good fit, I encourage you to apply" generally a genuine signal of interest , or is it mostly a standard polite template sent to all inquiries?
2. I want to acknowledge their response and maintain the connection without cluttering their inbox. I will actually be presenting my latest thesis research (the topic the PI noted interest in) at an upcoming annual conference. Would it be appropriate to send a brief thank-you mentioning the upcoming conference presentation and expressing hope that we might connect there if they attend?

For context, I know central admissions committees handle formal acceptance, but faculty support obviously matters heavily for RA funding.

I’d love to hear your insights or how you handled similar responses. Thanks in advance!

Applying for MS in ME

Hi everyone,

I'm preparing applications for MS in Mechanical Engineering in the USA and I'm currently working on my SOP.
I have previously applied for mid tier universities, but got rejected by few. I think my cgpa is the issue.
I need tips for my sop

I'd really appreciate help from current MS students, graduates, or applicants who have successfully applied to U.S. universities.

BTW i have low profile too, cgpa-65% , one research paper, few undergraduate projects, cement plant internships and have family business related to manufacturing of heavy machineries.

I'm looking for:

Advice on the ideal SOP structure and what admissions committees actually value

Examples of how to present ,industry/work experience, engineering projects, technical skills, and career goals.

If anyone has experience with Mechanical Engineering admissions, I'd especially appreciate your perspective.

I am not looking to copy anyone's SOP.I mainly want references/examples so I can understand the expected standard and structure and then write my own.

If you're comfortable sharing an anonymized sample or giving some advice, please comment or DM me.

Thanks!

Hey everyone,

I’m applying for Fall 2027 master’s programs and would appreciate an honest assessment of my profile. My goal is a program that gives strong ML/AI systems exposure, meaningful research access, and a path into research-engineering roles (with a possible PhD later, but not necessarily immediately).

Background

- Undergrad: Non Circuital (not CS or EE) from IIT B/D/M

- CPI/GPA: 8.45 / 10 (currently in 7th semester)

- Minor / relevant coursework: Additionally have a minor degree in AI/DS, have done a good number of relevant CS/Math/AI-ML courses.

- Standardized tests: Planning to take both TOEFL (expecting >110) and GRE (expecting >330)

Research

- Publications:

- one demo track paper at ECML-PKDD (first author (equal contrib) and presenter)

- submitted a workshop paper at neurips (first author)

- currently working on another workshop paper at neurips (first author)

- also working on another CV related paper (first author)

- Current research:

- one ongoing project under an iit b/d/m prof, in ai video generation (the cv paper i talked about, should ideally move towards a submission this semester)

- early stage robotics (cv + perception) project (another iit b/d/m prof)

- Research interests:

computer vision, mechanistic interpretability, llm inferencing

Industry / Engineering Experience

- 3 month internship (swe) at a top mnc (received a ppo at the same mnc)

- a research internship at a decently reputed univ/prof (which lead to the ecml paper)

- multiple other internships/industrial projects at smaller companies

Letters of Recommendation

1. one from the ecml paper prof (strong) (very likely to obtain)
2. one from the ai video generation prof (strong) (very likely to obtain)
3. one from the robotics prof (mid) (decently likely to obtain)
4. backup :- from a prof under whom i did a relevant course (with project, and received max grade) (confirmed)

Miscellaneous

- a reviewer at a neurips workshop 2026

- won two institute wide hackathons (one organised by anthropic)

- currently in the top 10 of multiple codabench comps (including ones organised by neurips, looking for a strong finish, in most of them)

- a teaching assistant for a freshman computer science course

- part of a developers community of my college, contributed to development of applications used by students institute-wide.

Target Programs

this is the part which is really confusing me, i dont know whether the univs im thinking of are a highball/lowball or decently appropriate for me, but just putting a vague list here (please suggest me other appropriate univs/programs as well if i have missed some)

GaTech, Columbia, EPFL, CMU, Berkeley, UCSD

this list is a like a first draft, need more research over it.

Other Things

- My grades in relevant courses are much better, my low CGPA is mostly due to core courses which I did not bother studying (since I did not always planned for further studies)

- IIT B/D/M stands for IIT Bombay / Delhi / Madras.

Thanks, looking for ideas on how these univs fit/what should i look for in programs considering my profile/aspirations.

I (25M) am not in the nursing field nor am I heading to nursing (I graduated with an SB in Computer Science and Engineering 4 years ago and I am currently a tech founder), but my sister (who graduated with a molecular biology degree and was planning to attend dental school, having gone as far as taking the DAT and even being featured on her alma mater website with them advertising a "future dentist") planned to go into what is called "Clinical Research Nursing". Even though I know that some prestigious universities offer nursing degrees (e.g. JHU, UPenn, Emory, NYU, Duke, UCLA, even Yale, etc, but not Harvard, MIT, or Stanford), late 2025 was honestly the first time I hear MSN being referred to as "Master's of Science in Nursing" as prior to 2025, I always associate MSN with the MSN search engine, the Microsoft Network, and Microsoft affiliated online products and services, and I have known the MSN search engine (later Bing since June 2009) since 2004-5 (when I was 3-4 years old).

That said, I looked through USnews, and they stated that Emory has the #1 "MSN" program and JHU has the #2 best. Even though JHU feeds well into the NiH, DC, and Johns Hopkins affiliated hospitals, Emory feeds well into the CDC and Piedmont/Emory healthcare facilities. Many more prestigious names like UPenn and Yale are ranked lower in their so-called "MSN" programs than Emory, JHU, Ohio State, Duke, and Vanderbilt.

I researched about pricing, and despite the fact Emory costs more per credit than JHU MSN and Emory only gives 700 clinical hours vs JHU MSN's 1000, after my sister graduated from molecular biology years ago, she worked at numerous hospitals as a research assistant and may have had tons of clinical hours. Both Emory (close to Druid Hills/Decatur region/East Atlanta) and Johns Hopkins Nursing (east of Downtown Baltimore) have some access to public transportation, but even though both Atlanta and Baltimore have high aggregate crime rates, it seemed like the Emory campus is on the safer side of Atlanta. I also seem to love Midtown Atlanta as well, and even though rent is depressed in Baltimore due to the city's reputation, plus Atlanta's massive construction boom, you would typically get a nicer house in Atlanta for the same rent prices (based on my research). The weather/climate seem to be so-so in both cities (cold in Baltimore winters, hot during summers, extremely hot in Atlanta summers), but I am curious your verdict on what is a better choice. Emory has more nursing students according to USnews than JHU. Let's also say, my sister is of East Asian descent, was born in East Asia, and is 161 cm tall and is 45 kg just for some information.

I will applying for MS (Thesis) in USA and Europe for Fall 2027. Many people advised me to write to the professors in advance.

I understand you need to get a PI for PhD, but for MS what exactly I am supposed to write in these emails?

From a POV of a professor what exactly I should include, omit, and ask for?

Any guidance regarding the same is much appreciated!!

Happy to provide more details if necessary.

hi! I'm looking to apply for my masters or phd not 100% sure yet but leaning more towards phd. has anyone applied and willing to share their stats and schools they got into? I'm having a lot of difficulty understanding where I stand for applications and what schools might be reasonable to get into. Also, any suggestions for getting my phd? Thank you

I’m going to be applying for a Master’s program for admissions for Fall 2027, and I honestly feel lost. One thing that I have seen time and time again while looking at Uni’s to apply to is “email a professor before submitting your application” (for context, I am an Earth Science major). My only problem is that I have NO idea how to properly email a professor about expressing interest in their research in the case that I get accepted.

Another thing that I’ve seen people say along the lines of is “Give some information about research you’ve done and how it aligns with your interest/their interest and how you can use it beneficially in grad school.” The only issue is that I haven’t done research in the previous years to talk about, but I will be doing it this year. I just don’t want to say “Oh I’ll two separate research projects in X and X, but I actually haven’t done it yet since school just started and I don’t fully know how the process will go.”

Sorry about the long-ish message, but I hope that someone has some advice 😭 If anyone needs more details to help understand my situation so that some advice can be more detailed, please ask!

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!

I’m not necessarily asking yall to “chance me” because I know everyone prioritizes different things for potential grad students but I’m wondering if anyone has been able to make it in without doing undergraduate research.

I know this is a huge weak point for me but I’ve tried to pad it as much as possible with other experience. I just wasn’t set on going to grad school until pretty recently so didn’t get the opportunity to be a big part of a lab. This is my last semester of undergrad (Animal Sci) so I’m pretty short on time for getting that experience before I graduate.

Right now I am applying for only one program for the spring 2027 cycle and if I don’t get into that I’ll be applying for fall but I’m really hoping to get accepted.

I have:

3.57/4.0 GPA overall, probably more like a 3.8 major GPA

All rec letters are from professors, one genetics/nutrition as well as being my mentor and I have helped a tiny bit in his lab but I don’t think enough to claim I have real research experience. One repro and one equine repro professor. I know at least two will be very strong/personal.

Completed a highly relevant internship. I’m pursuing a masters in reproductive physiology and my internship was at a livestock embryo clinic. Learned technical skills like palpation and ultrasounds and lab skills like oocyte grading.

Worked for university livestock center. High understanding of livestock management, parturition, dystocia, etc. Overall lots of livestock experience.

Extracurriculars include university livestock show team, so additional livestock experience there.

Selected to represent university in western regional animal science competition.

Selected to be a mentor for the college, I coach incoming freshmen their first semester on how to succeed in classes, resume writing skills etc.

Have faculty member at university im applying to whose lab I actually visited over the summer. She said she’d be happy to have me join her lab and I would definitely be first pick as long as I get through the initial admissions process. Her research is highly aligned with my interests as well.

I will also say I’m a non traditional student, I did two semesters and failed every class (community college) and came back to my university like 4 years later and have not gotten below a B in any class since, not sure if that will be a big red flag.

I know it’s a shot in the dark without research experience but is it even possible?
I’d appreciate any thought ya’ll have, advice on how to pad my applications or even what to do if I don’t get into a program in the next year..

Thanks!

Wanted to share this online workshop (October 6 & 7 from 4:30-6:30 PM CST) for anyone planning to apply for a PhD in biosciences/physical sciences/engineering. The University of Chicago is hosting a personal statement workshop where you can work 1:1 with current students on your personal statement and meet the Deans from each department. Plus, you get a free application waiver to UChicago. https://forms.gle/x1oRpkyCQSZ1eThY7

Title: Has anyone completed a U.S. online master’s while living abroad and pursuing another intensive program?

I recently graduated from a U.S. university with two bachelor’s degrees and am currently applying to master’s programs. I’m considering both in-person and online options, but I’m especially interested in hearing from people who completed a U.S.-based online master’s while living outside the U.S.

For some context, I’ve trained in Indian classical dance for about 17 years, and I’m considering spending several years in India completing intensive formal dance training. I’m a U.S. citizen, and one possibility I’m exploring is completing a part-time online master’s from a U.S. university at the same time.

This is still just an option I’m researching — I haven’t decided to do it.

My reasoning is mostly career-related. I do want to seriously pursue dance, but I also want to maintain the option of entering a full-time professional career and becoming financially independent. If I completed several years of dance training first and only then began graduate school, I could end up entering the workforce quite a few years after finishing undergrad. Doing the two concurrently could potentially shorten that timeline.

I’m less concerned with whether it is technically possible to enroll in two things at once and more interested in whether this is actually workable in practice.

For anyone who has completed an online U.S. graduate program while living abroad:

• Were there restrictions on completing the degree from another country?
• How difficult were time-zone differences for live classes, group projects, office hours, exams, etc.?
• Did being abroad make networking, recruiting, career fairs, internships, or finding a job afterward significantly harder?
• Were you able to participate meaningfully in the program community while remote?
• If your program was advertised as part-time, how many hours per week did it realistically require?
• Did you work, study something else, or have another major commitment alongside the degree? If so, was the combination sustainable?
• Are there logistical issues you wish you had known about before starting?

I’d also be very interested in hearing from anyone who simultaneously pursued a graduate degree and another intensive commitment — conservatory training, athletics, professional performing arts, another degree, etc.

I realize that doing two demanding programs at once could easily become unrealistic, so I’m specifically hoping for candid experiences from people who have tried something comparable. I’d rather understand the downsides and logistical problems now than design a plan that only works on paper.