Over the years I’ve written posts about how to apply for postdocs, how to strategize for your postdoc, how to apply for the K99, how to apply for faculty jobs, and more. One thing that’s missing is a post on how to apply for PhD programs, which I never wrote because I felt like there are tons of resources out there already.

But now that I’ve served on a PhD admissions committee for 3 years, I have some advice that I wanted to throw out there. In this post I’ve written about the things that I think are super important when preparing PhD applications. It’s informed by my own experience at Emory, but keep in mind that things can definitely vary between programs.*

*This advice is targeted toward to biology-related programs that admit students based on an admissions committee rather than “direct-admit” programs.

1) Understand what PhD programs are looking for

The core of a PhD is doing an independent research project for ~5 years, with some coursework mixed in. Admission committees are looking for students who are ready for this. You MUST have previous research experience, but the amount and type can vary. Here are some thoughts on that:

• More research experience is better than less, but the quality (how many hours/week you worked and how invested you were in the project) is more important than the quantity. It’s better to have worked in the same lab for 2 years on a serious independent project than in 3 different labs where you just helped out with different things. Committees want to see research experiences where you worked independently and provided intellectual input into the project.
• Having post-baccalaureate research experience is a plus, but it’s not necessary if you have serious undergraduate research experience.
• Committees like to see that you’ve done the kinds of research-related activities that you’ll need to do as a PhD student – like presenting posters and talks, applying for funding, writing up your results (e.g., in a research report or thesis), or defending an honors thesis.
• Committees love to see applicants who are co-authors on publications, but publications aren’t necessary to be competitive. I personally think publications are given far too much weight – to me, having your name on a paper is way less important than the quality of research you did, and it’s usually outside of your control. (I have mentored over a dozen undergrads/post-bacs so far and there is zero correlation between how good they were and who ended up on a paper by the time they left.) But other faculty aren’t me, so in your application you should emphasize any papers you have, including future papers that your advisor anticipates publishing, and make sure to describe your specific contribution.

If you’re reading this as you’re getting ready to apply for PhD programs, I realize that you can’t go back in time and change what kind of research experiences you’ve had. But you should still know what PhD programs are looking for, and the points above may give you things to think about now in case you want to strengthen your application for next year.

What you CAN control is what you write in your application: make sure to emphasize the specific traits that PhD programs are looking for. Most PhD programs are looking for students who are:

• smart and knowledgeable
• academically prepared for graduate-level coursework in this field
• motivated and hard-working; someone who goes above and beyond expectations
• capable of generating new scientific ideas
• capable of working independently in a lab
• able to take initiative and solve problems
• scientifically curious – e.g., the type of person who reads papers for fun and talks to everyone in the lab about their projects
• looking to challenge themselves – e.g., taking graduate-level coursework as an undergrad
• the kind of person who lifts others up and would contribute positively to a lab or graduate program

Keep these criteria in mind as you prepare your materials, and start brainstorming specific examples that demonstrate these traits.

2) Write a kick-ass statement

The most important component of your application is usually called a statement of purpose, personal statement, research statement, or something similar, but it’s essentially a statement of why you want to get a PhD and why you are qualified for admission.

Unless this statement is broken up into multiple statements with more specific requirements, it should cover the following areas:

• how or why you got interested in your field (this can be brief)
• a description of your previous research experiences, including the question/hypothesis, methods, results/conclusions, your specific role in the research, and any research-related products or awards (this bullet point should represent the bulk of the statement)
• why you want to get a PhD
• what areas of the field you’re interested in
• why you are applying to THIS specific program
• which faculty in the program you might want to work with and why
• optional: you can mention challenges or struggles that you overcame to get where you are or that contextualize some of your accomplishments

The way that many applicants go wrong is to treat this like a med school statement and focus on personal stories. It’s ok to briefly mention a personal story that shaped your career path, but the bulk of the statement should sound professional and focus on your scientific interests and research experiences. You should know that it is extremely cliché to start with a story about how you got interested in the field because of a family member’s disease. This is a perfectly valid reason to get interested in a field, but reviewers may find your story to be cliché and uninformative.

On that note, another way in which PhD applications are unlike med school applications is because you shouldn’t worry too much about making your application unique or different. Just focus on why you are qualified for grad school and excited about doing research for the next 5 years. Don’t make your opening paragraph some dramatic story from your past, like med school applicants often do. Honestly, the best opening paragraph I read in the last 3 years started something like this: “I’ve written a dozen versions of this paragraph, trying to make it sound exciting, but the reason I want to go to grad school is simple: I love neuroscience and I want to spend the rest of my life doing neuroscience research.”

As mentioned above, the description of previous research is the most important part of the statement. Beyond talking about the research methods and results, your statement should demonstrate qualities that committees are looking for. Here are some things to emphasize, if they apply to you:

• techniques that you learned
• conceptual skills that you gained (e.g., the ability to design experiments, interpret data, read and synthesize primary literature)
• how independently you worked
• ways in which you had intellectual input into the project
• examples of how you overcame obstacles or challenges
• ways in which you took initiative or went above and beyond the expectations for your position
• ways in which you communicated your science (e.g., posters, talks, lab meeting presentations)
• publications, awards, or funding related to your research
• examples demonstrating your scientific curiosity and passion (e.g., reading papers just for fun, attending research seminars, spending hours talking to labmates about their projects)

For all of the items above, make sure to provide specifics! It means nothing to just say things like “I took initiative in this project” – you need to provide examples. These examples should also be described in the recommendation letter from your supervisor (see below).

3) Get strong letters of recommendation

Recommendation letters are heavily weighted by PhD admissions committees, so you need to do everything you can to make sure they are strong. You may be thinking, “But I can’t control what my recommenders say.” Well, that’s not actually true!

First of all, well before the application season begins, you should be cultivating relationships with faculty that could write you a letter. For undergraduate students, being highly engaged in class and attending office hours are obvious ways to get to know a professor. For post-bac researchers, you can ask your advisor to help you get to know related faculty in the department or seek out those connections yourself – for example, at multi-lab group meetings or department social events.

Ask your letter writers early (ideally a couple months in advance, but at least 1 month). To avoid getting weak letters, make sure to give potential letter-writers an “out” when you initially ask them. Don’t just ask if they can provide a letter; ask if they will be able to provide a strong letter and say that you understand if they are not available to do so. If a faculty member hesitates (e.g., by saying “I can do it but I think you may want to choose someone else”), choose someone else whenever possible. They are telling you that they can’t write a strong letter.

Finally, give your letter writers lots of information to help them write the strongest letters possible. This obviously includes drafts of your CV and application materials, but you can also provide examples of specific things that they might want to talk about – examples that demonstrate the qualities that committees are looking for, as described above. For example, you could give your research advisor examples of how you’ve intellectually engaged with the project or taken initiative to improve a protocol. For professors who taught you in class, you could remind them of insightful contributions you made to class discussions or describe how the skills you gained from their class will help you in your PhD. Letter-writers will not see this as presumptuous as long as you phrase these as suggestions – on the contrary, they will be happy to have your help in coming up with material for the letter!

4) Write a thoughtful diversity statement

Diversity statements (also called other things, like statements of diversity, equity, and inclusion) are becoming more common. Even if it is optional, you should definitely submit this statement. I saw that other guides (e.g., this one) say that diversity statements don’t factor into admissions decisions, and that is 100% false (at least for the committee I’m on).

In reviewing diversity statements over the past 3 years, I feel that the vast majority of applicants are doing it wrong (especially applicants who choose not to submit one!). This statement is your opportunity to describe how you will contribute to creating a diverse, inclusive, and equitable environment in the graduate program. Failing to provide a statement implies (to me) that you have nothing to contribute. There are two major ways that you can contribute to these values:

First, you may make a contribution by simply being there and providing a unique perspective based on your personal background and the challenges you have overcome. For example, you may want to write about overcoming challenges related to your race, gender, socio-economic status, or being a first-generation student. Admissions committees highly value students who have shown resilience and perseverance by overcoming personal challenges, and knowing this helps to contextualize the rest of your application. That said, it’s also ok to NOT talk about any struggles or aspects of your background that you don’t feel comfortable sharing.

Second, you may contribute to diversity, equity, and inclusion by actively working to help others. This could include volunteer work or student groups, or you can focus on how you want to contribute in the future. You can mention specific programs at the university you’re applying to and talk about why you want to get involved with them.

One way that these statements often go wrong is when applicants spend the whole statement only discussing their own background. Even if you have a lot of personal experiences to discuss, make sure to also describe how you are now motivated to help lift others up. Another way that these statements go wrong is when applicants hyper-focus on their own minority group. For example, a student who identifies as Asian might spend the entire statement discussing anti-Asian discrimination, which may be a real problem but (in my opinion) doesn’t show awareness that there are other types of diversity to consider as well.

In my view, aside from any discussion of personal challenges, the best statements are those that show awareness of the major types of systemic inequities in STEM and discuss ways that individuals can help address those inequities. It’s better if you have a track record of participating in these activities, but even if you don’t, writing a good statement that shows a commitment to promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion will tell us that you are a mature and thoughtful candidate.

5) Address any weaknesses

Here are some weaknesses that an applicant may have:

• low grades
• undergraduate studies were in a different field
• research experience was in a different field
• less research experience than ideal
• lack of posters, talks, publications

Here are some ideas about how to address these factors.

Low grades: Mention any mitigating factors that might have contributed (e.g., Covid disruptions, medical leave, needing to work outside of school to support yourself) and ask your recommenders to do the same. If there aren’t any specific mitigating factors, you should still tell your recommenders to address this weakness and they can write about how your grades don’t reflect the potential you’ve demonstrated in other ways.

Studying or working in a different field: Mention the generalizable skills you gained (e.g., experimental design, interpreting data) and the reasons you are prepared for PhD work in your chosen field. Ask your recommenders to do the same.

Less research experience: Emphasize the quality of the research experience, how much you learned in a short time, and how you are currently engaging in further research (hopefully) so that you will have more experience by the time you start grad school. Ask your research advisors to do the same in their letter.

Lack of posters, talks, publications: I’m not sure I would address this directly, but you should try to overcome this through actual actions – e.g., ask your advisor if you can present at lab meeting or maybe attend a local conference. Also ask them if they think your data will ever be included in a paper, and if so you can mention this in the application (and they should mention it in their letter).

Summary

There’s a lot more I could say, but I think this covers the major things I wanted to convey. My final advice is to make sure to have lots of people (ideally PhD-holders and faculty members) look over your application, and leave time to go through lots and lots of revisions. And if you don’t get in this year, there’s always next year – don’t give up on pursuing your passion. Good luck!!!