…for PhD programs in biology, specifically in ecology and evolution. Vanderbilt, University of Virginia, and Georgia Tech are already on my list of schools to apply to. I want to go as good a school as I can, but I’d like to build up a list of schools of various levels of prestige to look into and apply to. Ideally, I think my perfect school (I.e. One I might actually stand a chance of getting into, yet one that is still fairly honorable) would be something along the lines of a good state university like University of Virginia, or perhaps one of the UC schools.
Also, I’m still not sure how graduate admissions work. I’ve been told that it’s about talking to specific professors. How should I go about doing this? How does one build relationships with these people? How does one make themselves stand out and convince professors to take you as a PhD candidate? Should I look up all these professors at the various schools and email them? Call them?? What???
I know I’ve asked these questions here before, but I’m always unsatisfied with the answers, so I keep coming back and picking for more info. People are usually very vague and sparing with details. I’m really ignorant, so please go into detail.
Also, one more thing. Where can I find admission statistics for graduate programs for various universities? So far, Duke is the only one I’ve found them for.
Thanks!
In graduate admissions, the type of university (a “good state university”) doesn’t really matter too much. You want a PhD and you want to go to the best program for you, where there are researchers doing the kind of work you want to do and who can help you get the kind of job you want to get. That may end up being at a private Northeastern school or something.
One way you can do this is by looking at recent (within the last 3-5 years) papers in your area of research and seeing who wrote them, then looking to see where those faculty members work. If you already have research experience, you can also ask your PI(s) for great programs in your field.
Incidentally, I know that Columbia has a great E3B program. You can see a full ranking of ecology and evolutionary biology PhD programs here (http://www.chronicle.com/article/NRC-Rankings-Overview-Ecology/124723/); it’s a little outdated but these things don’t change a whole lot from year-to-year. (Might want to read up on the methodology the NRC uses; it’s different, but really good.)
The way you reach out to professors is you identify 2 or 3 that match your research interests in each department and send them a personalized email explaining your interests and asking if they are planning to take students for 2017-2018. It’s early, so they may not know yet. Don’t call them.
That’s because no one really can give you a deep level of detail unless they’re on the admissions committees for these programs. Every program does things a little differently. And even if they are in the committee, they’d have to see your application to make an evaluation - and they’re just going to tell you to apply.
Most graduate departments actually don’t publish this information - for a variety of reasons, but most of all because it’s kind of useless to you. Graduate admissions are so holistic that someone else with your same “stats” but different research interests or writing skills - or even who just applied in a different year - might get rejected while you get accepted.