25/~700 = ~3.5% of applicants 💀. I know the actual acceptance rate is gonna be higher than matriculation but damn. Sometimes it just hits me again how cooked this is

Im not referring to the academic statement when you talk about your research, but rather when schools give you an extra short essay to talk about basically whatever you want. Like, you can seemingly use it as an addendum, as a personality essay, as a "time I failed/disagreed with someone/other common prompt" essay, etc. Is there something specifically that programs are looking for with this? Also, does anyone have any examples of this they could link to?

I’ve been accumulating a huge google-doc of the advice I find myself giving to prospective applicants every year so I decided to start a blog to organize it in one place, but I also wanted to share it here since this subreddit helped me a lot when I was applying. I remember how stressful this process was– happy to try to answer any questions and help if I can! 

Here are the things that in my opinion you should avoid when writing a personal statement. This is all just my opinion and based on my own experience as a PhD student; there are exceptions to everything.

“Ever since I was a child, I was fascinated by the world around me and wanted to learn more about the biological principles that govern life.” 

This is an exaggeration but everyone on the committee has probably read a million essays that begin like this and they’re probably going to roll their eyes a little bit. Unless you have a super compelling anecdote I’d start by getting straight to the point: what kind of science do you want to do, and why?

Describing your research experience primarily with the methods you used. 

This one is surprisingly common even though it seems somewhat obvious: talking about the methods you used in a given research experience without connecting it to the broader context of the field. What drove the research question? How did the methods you used begin to answer that question? What did you find as a result, and what does it mean for your field? What questions are next? I understand that undergrads are often running the same assay over and over, and mentors don’t always take the time to explain the research questions in detail. This means the onus is on you to ask questions and figure out how to explain the research coherently in your own words. 

Not tailoring your statement to an expert outside of your own field.

You have deep knowledge about your specific research project, and it’s easy to assume that the professors reading your application will instantly understand what you are talking about when you use jargon or dive right into nuanced concepts.That’s a risky assumption, and if they don’t actually understand the concepts you are explaining, they won’t be able to evaluate your scientific reasoning skills. Instead, provide context for your project, and distill it into vocabulary that will be easily understandable to a scientist that isn’t in your lab. In my experience, this often requires simplifying concepts far more than you think is appropriate.

Being able to communicate research effectively is a skill that a lot of people lack, so showing your ability to do this will work in your favor (and it will be good practice for the future). 

Failing to connect your own research to the research strengths of the program you are applying to. 

This is one of the most important parts of your application; it’s the argument for why they should admit you, and not some other equally experienced candidate. Even if you are hoping to pivot fields, you should still try to find some kind of cohesive through-line between what you’ve done and what you wish to do in grad school. This shows that you’re prepared for the kind of work you’re proposing, and that you’ve thought deeply about what you want to do. 

Emphasizing too many non-science interests

Unlike undergrad or med schools, most of these PhD programs are not really looking for a holistic applicant. They’re looking for someone who is very devoted to scientific research, and unfortunately there is sometimes even a bias among PIs against those who spend significant time on other hobbies because they believe you should be in the lab 24/7. Unless they solicit it specifically, your essays don’t usually leave space for much discussion of hobbies or outside interests. 

Writing the essay from start to finish

I can often tell when someone has simply written the essay top down rather than brainstorming to generate a lot of content, and then paring it way down to only the best, densest content. I would recommend starting with a massive brain-dump where you write everything that comes to mind around your experience doing research, what made you want to pursue science, and what type of scientist you want to become in the future. Then take some time away, come back to it, and pick out the parts that are the most meaningful. Maybe you will only use two sentences; it will still be a worthwhile use of your time. 

Not reading successful essays or talking to successful applicants

There is sort of an unspoken conventional format that these SOPs take on, and it’s important to look at what other successful applicants have done to make sure you aren’t way off base. It can be useful to see what successful applicants emphasize, and to see firsthand the tone and level of formality they take on. Don’t copy, but do try to understand what elements of the essay make it successful. 

Similarly, talking to successful applicants helps you understand all the other things that go into a successful application; their thought process, how they might have communicated with faculty, what they left out of their essays deliberately, and so much more. They can also provide mentorship and advice as you navigate this process.

Not getting multiple eyes on your essay

Use your network— ask older students to read it, ask your PIs and former PIs; everyone will look at it from a different perspective and have valuable information for you, and people have varying amounts of time to provide feedback. It may be that you will only get high-level feedback from your network and you have to do the line-editing, but by asking lots of people you’ll get more insights. 

Excessive superlatives

This might be more of a personal opinion but I see a lot of unnecessarily superlatives. “My great interest in…”, “I participated in fantastic research at…”. Take out all these extra words and convey your excitement with the actual information you are presenting. 

Writing disingenuously

You are trying to present yourself in the most positive light possible but you want to avoid letting this instinct compel you to write about things that you don’t really think or feel. This is an opportunity to really reflect on why you love science and what kind of path you want to embark on, and that has benefits beyond creating a good essay. 

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Ultimately, you are writing for a very specific audience. On one hand, the approach that comes naturally to you may not result in the kind of product that will be looked upon favorably by admissions committees, but on the other hand you want the essay to be truthful and genuine. A boiled down version of my recommended approach: determine what the program is looking for in an applicant, generate a ton of content that describes your scientific journey and interests, and use it as the building blocks of an argument for why this program should accept you. 

I have way too much brain-dump content like this in a google-doc and I’ll be gradually posting it on my blog (for free of course). You should be able to access it without making an account or anything but please let me know if this is not the case. If people find this helpful though I'll keep posting here too! I just don't want to flood this subreddit with unsolicited advice.

If you have anything to add or if I got anything super wrong please comment! Also happy to try to answer any questions about the process since I know it’s stressful. 

I just earned a master’s in a funded program that I adored, and I’m currently in a second masters program that doesn’t align with my career goals at the advice of a former advisor who didn’t like me at all. I’ll say in advance that this is probably not something most people can relate to, but if it’s helpful, I’m happy to share.

I never would have painted myself as someone susceptible to academic bullying or belittling from someone in a position of power over me, but this is the situation I’ve found myself in.

I went into my second year of my master’s last year certain I would be applying for a PhD, but after my first advisor was entirely absent (0 responses to my emails since April of 2025 - later I found out they got a new job at a diff uni so no wonder), I switched to a new advisor in September for my thesis project. They were very distant with my project: I’d get vague, nonspecific ChatGPT advice (including the random bolded words, the big black bullet points, the font…and they eventually admitted it), they’d ghost or forget our meetings, and they slowly grew more and more cruel towards me and my work. I won’t get into specifics so as not to dox myself, but aside from the whole ‘AI feedback / ignoring me’ issues, they would make petty, high-school ish comments about other faculty in the department to discredit my other committee member’s advice, and then eventually they turned those comments on to me. This, if anyone is curious, led to me switching a second time very close to my thesis defense.

As this was ramping up, I was preparing to apply to PhD programs in an adjacent field, but they were pretty negative about the idea and encouraged me instead to pursue a second master’s degree. He was so negative about me going to any other programs at all, in fact, that I had to scramble to replace him as a letter-writer AFTER the master’s deadlines had passed. I was in pretty poor mental health as a result of what was going on, so I listened.

I’m in that adjacent field’s masters program right now in a program that is partially, but not fully funded (6k a sem in tuition loans; living expenses are covered) that doesn’t provide me any of the opportunities I wanted (teaching, independent research, ability to do conferences, individual mentorship…even just…community between cohort members), and I am incredibly unhappy.

So, I decided to try for PhDs this fall, but I met with a prospective faculty member at this institution, and was told that I’m actually in a worse spot than I was prior to joining the masters because everyone reading my application will be questioning why I don’t just go ahead and finish the second masters, and why I didn’t do the PhD outright (perhaps, I assume, because they’re thinking that I only did the masters to get into the PhD ’easier’). I can’t exactly write ‘because I was belittled into the masters program and I can’t afford more loans’ onto my application essay, and I just feel…stuck.

I’m sure that this is such a niche situation that it’s not relatable to many, but I wanted to post it just to see how other people feel and to let it out.

If you read this far, thank you.

Hi,

I know everyone is posting this, but I am very uncertain what PhD chances I do have, given my profile, because I see so many people talking about insane profiles requires for a PhD.

My goal is to apply for PhDs in representation learning and multi modal learning this cycle.

Profile:

\- Bachelors CS 2.0 Germany (3.0 US?)

\- Masters CS ongoing 1.1 (3.9 US?) but I hopefully finish with 4.0

\- 1 year student assistant at a major research institution (similar to Frauenhofer) but no papers there

\- 1 1/2 year student assistant at a little smaller research institution. Also no paper, maybe very luckily we will submit something by November, but I don't bet on that

Publications:

\- Joint first in A/Tier 2 Conference for CV (sadly got rejected from CVPR) with 3 citations in the first 3 months

\- Solo Author Submission at Tier 1 Speech Conference (but core ranking is only A) -> I won't get acceptance results by application deadline, but by interview stage if I get invited. Results seem quite good.

References solid:

\- one from my solo author paper, one from my CV publication and one my supervisor at my current research institution

Further Info:

\- Master thesis strongly aligned with my PhD topic, hopefully we can meet CVPR 2027 with it, but it's uncertain, and admission results will also come only during interview stage)

\- Will intern at a Vision lab in England during my semester abroad prior PhD

I am very uncertain what universities are in my reach, since most people say you need at least 2-4 A\* publications, but by application time I will only have a single accepted A publication.

I wanted to apply up to Top 50 Universities around the world. Fokus on Korea (SNU, KAIST), Europe (Oxbridge, ETH, EPFL), and USA (Berkley, Austin, Princeton, NYU, Stanford, UMD).

Should I even try at the upper one Top 20? And do I even have a chance?

I am working on a research proposal for a UK-based PhD program in the humanities (I'm in the US). The potential supervisor I've identified asks that prospective candidates reach out with an "outline of a research proposal" when asking for a meeting. Realistically, what does that outline look like? I've got a 10 page research proposal (that is mostly lit review right now) and I'm guessing I need to cut it down before reaching out.

I worked as an official Research Assistant (RA) on a research project from May to December. During the same period, I also independently worked with a professor on an ML-related research project.

In my CV, I’m listing both separately in research experience section. Could the overlapping dates between the official RA position and the independent research project will be an issue in PhD admissions? I’m just wondering whether admissions committees might question how I could have done both simultaneously, or whether this is a normal thing to have on a CV.

Hi everyone,

I’m applying to the Imperial AI for Healthcare CDT for 2026 entry and am currently awaiting the outcome.

I made it through the initial stages and was shortlisted for project selection. After that, there was some back-and-forth with admissions about an outstanding reference and a few documents, but that has all been sorted now.

I then received an update saying:

“Following your interview, the supervisory team has proposed a project match to the CDT panel—congratulations. Your application is now under review for a UKRI AI CDT studentship allocation and a place on the AI for Healthcare CDT programme.”

I’ve been waiting for the outcome for a while now, and I’m starting to overthink it a bit, so I wanted to see if anyone else has been in a similar position.

Please share any insight or any experience that could help.

I have been writing emails to professors to inquire about assistantship for graduate study since July and I finally got a reply. The professor told me that my CV wasn't "strong" enough and that I would waste application fee money. I don't know whether to give up or continue emailing other professors.

Hi everyone,

I'm planning to pursue a Master's in AI/ML for the 2027 intake and would really appreciate some advice from people who have gone through a similar transition.

My undergraduate background is in Aerospace Engineering from India, but over the course of my degree I've developed a strong interest in Python, AI/ML, data science and software/AI applications, and I'm looking to transition into this field for my Master's.

And I'm not having a plan to come back home after completing the degree.

I have just graduated from IIIT- D with a CGPA of 8.09 and Honors degree in CS and Applied Math

Have 2 research publications in core
mathematics
1) CANT 2026- 24th Workshop of combinative and additive number
theory, New York ,CUNY graduate center

2) IRCTM- 2nd International conference in trends of Mathematics held at Hansraj College, Delhi University (Workshop conf again)

I have 2 major Stat projects apart from this as part of research internships
1 from CMI and 1 from IIT Delhi

My lors will probably come from assitant/ associate profs at IIITD and one can be from IITD

I have good volunteering and teaching experiences as part of the Goldmans Sachs Possibilities Summit, GHC and HPAIR acceptances… I have also TAed for 3 courses during my UG

Given my background majorly in mathematics, I am a bit skeptical
about my chances to get admitted to a DS program.
Just gave the GRE and got 314(164Q and 150V)
Any tips? Any suggestions or comments?

hi, I am an Indian student studying at a top of college of Uni of Delhi, with a highest sgpa of 8.82. I have relevant research experience from 3-4 institutes where I worked as a research intern but they are not very big, and I want to apply to MPhil Modern South Asian Studies for 2027 intake. I need help from seniors on what I can do better. I also have an undergrad dissertation on which I am currently working. Do I even have a chance on getting in? I study literature and politics. Please help!

I’m graduating this December with a B.S. in Chemistry from a smaller public university, and my cumulative GPA should finish around 3.60. I’m applying to PhD programs in materials science/engineering and chemical engineering, with schools like Stanford MSE, UT Austin MSE, and Georgia Tech ChemE in mind. My math grades are Calc I A−, Calc II B+, Calc III B, Linear Algebra B, and Differential Equations D. I know those programs are reaches regardless, but I’m trying to figure out whether this one D makes them essentially pointless to apply to.

The ODE course was an independent/self-paced online course through another university. There were four 100-point exams, each with only 7 major questions and limited partial credit, so one or two mistakes had a huge impact. My exam scores were 60, 86, 36, 61, and I finished with 343/500 = 68.6%, just 7 points short of the C cutoff. I’m not saying I didn’t earn the grade, but the format was unusually unforgiving and that context obviously won’t show up on a transcript.

A big part of the situation is that over the last couple of years I’ve fallen in love with research, and it has gradually pulled more of my attention away from optimizing coursework. During much of ODE I was also taking Linear Algebra and doing a full-time 10-week engineering REU. I became much more motivated by experiments, troubleshooting, reading literature, process development, and manuscript work than by maximizing every exam grade. I don’t mean that as an excuse; if anything, I probably let the balance shift too far and underestimated how hard it would be to manage everything at once.

Research is by far the strongest part of my application. My experience spans nanofabrication, polymer processing, electrochemistry, nanostructured materials, membrane-protein/biochemical systems, and industrial formulation chemistry. I’ve worked on photopatternable sacrificial polymers for micro/nanofabrication, nanostructured carbon solid-contact ion-selective electrodes, metallic nanostructured materials, and membrane-protein interactions. I have two first-author manuscripts submitted/in review, another manuscript with a major authorship role, formal nanofabrication/materials-characterization training, and I am intending to use extremely strong letters from research faculty who directly supervised me.

I’m also graduating in December this year, so retaking the entire ODE course may not be realistic without disrupting my senior coursework, research, applications, and graduation timeline. I’ve already contacted the instructor about reviewing the final exam and a possible university mechanism for raising a D, but for this post I’m assuming the D stays.

So I’m looking for realistic opinions: How much does one D in Differential Equations hurt when the rest of the math record is A−/B+/B/B, the GPA is around 3.60, and the research record is strong? Would you still apply to Stanford MSE, UT Austin MSE, and Georgia Tech ChemE? And if the D stays, would you briefly explain the self-paced format/research workload in an additional-information section, or just let the rest of the application speak for itself?

How to get a PhD Interview with a professor who only has 1.5 years of work experience in risk management in Insurance (Nepal) with MBA. Is it difficult to crack an interview with a management background? I dont have any publication and I find it hard to get even one response.

Have anyone had such issues as me?

IELTS Writing 6.0 — will this hurt my CS/AI PhD applications?
Hi everyone! I recently got my IELTS results: Overall 7.0 (L: 8, R: 7, S: 7, W: 6), and I’m honestly pretty disappointed about the Writing score.
I’m planning to apply for PhD programs in Computer Science/AI/ML for Fall 2027, including some Ivy League and other top world universities. My main concern is whether a 6.0 in Writing could significantly hurt my chances or even prevent my application from being considered.
I’m currently doing my Master’s in Software Engineering entirely in English, including my coursework, research and thesis. I’m wondering if this could qualify me for an English-proficiency waiver at some universities.
I know research experience, publications, research fit, SOP and recommendations matter a lot for PhD admissions, so I’m unsure whether I should retake IELTS or spend that time strengthening my research profile and applications instead.
If you’ve applied for CS/AI PhD programs as an international student, especially with a similar IELTS score, I’d really appreciate hearing about your experience and any advice on preparing a strong application. Thanks!