Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) About Graduate School
Disclaimer: Programs vary widely within and between schools, and so do graduate students’ experiences. We have done our best to provide you with answers to these questions, but they will inevitably be limited by our knowledge and experience, so be sure to find out specifics for the programs you are interested in and reach out to multiple people to find answers to your questions (programs differ and people will have different experiences even within the same program!).
Nuts & Bolts of Graduate School
Masters vs. PhD |
At what point in my PhD can I master out? What requirements do I have to complete before doing so?
First, not all programs allow you to master out, so be sure it’s an option for your program. If it is, at the very least you’ll have to complete a sufficient amount of required coursework to master out. At the most, you’ll have to finish coursework and submit some type of abbreviated thesis to earn a Master's degree. How do course requirements differ between a Masters and a PhD program? This will vary a lot depending on the program. For both, expect to take at least one academic year’s worth of coursework. It is likely that additional specialized courses will be required for a PhD program to help you prepare to conduct your research, but not always the case. See here for a side-by-side comparison of a Masters vs a PhD in the Ecology Graduate Group at UC Davis. How did you decide not to do a masters? In general, folks may decide not to pursue a masters degree because it takes additional time and money to do so, because fewer masters degrees are fully funded, or because a PhD rather than a masters is the degree required for their career of choice. On the other hand, folks may choose to get a masters if they aren’t sure they want a PhD, if they want to explore a new field or career, or if they want additional research experience or to see what graduate school is like before pursuing a PhD. “After I earned my bachelor's degree, I worked as a lab technician for two different labs to figure out exactly which types of research questions I was interested in answering in a graduate program. By that point, I felt that I had enough experience and knew what I wanted to do well enough that I didn’t need a masters degree to provide me with additional time or experience to decide if I wanted to do a PhD. I was also considering being a Professor as a career path, and I knew that I would need a PhD for that.” - Elena “I think there are a lot of good reasons to do a Masters degree--not knowing what exactly you want to study, feeling like you want more research experience and time to gain more skills/become more competitive for PhDs, or not knowing if you want/need a PhD (or not wanting a PhD at all!). I was very lucky to find the field I wanted to be in pretty early on, about halfway through my 5 years as an undergraduate, and so by the time I was close to finishing my bachelor’s none of those applied to me. Between that and the fact that most Masters programs are not funded, it made more sense to me to go directly into a PhD program. Because I didn’t take a gap year and work as a research technician, I didn’t have any time to build up a financial safety net to live on during a Masters program.” -Katherine What are the differences between professional and thesis-based masters programs? A professional or non-thesis masters program requires only coursework and therefore typically takes less time to complete than masters programs that require a thesis. The courses may be structured more like undergraduate classes and focus on less primary literature than in a thesis-based program. If you want to develop more of a specialty in your field or learn more about a particular topic, then a professional masters is best for you, whereas if you are interested in publishing research findings, obtaining a PhD, or obtaining better research and writing skills, a thesis-based PhD might be a better choice. For more information, see this useful article comparing thesis vs non-thesis based programs. Do you PhDs have a committee like a masters, where you have to get them to sign your thesis? Yes, you have several committees during your time in a PhD program. Generally, you’ll have a qualifying exam committee of three to five people that helps you prepare your dissertation proposal and asks you questions during the QE. After your QE, you will have a dissertation committee of at least three people including your advisor who guide you during your dissertation, check in with you on your progress, and sign off on your thesis when it comes time to submit. |
Taking a gap year
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How did you decide whether to take time between undergrad and grad school? Was it hard to start grad school after taking a break?
There are several factors to consider when deciding whether to enter grad school right after undergrad or taking a break in between undergrad and grad school. First, if you are unsure about pursuing a graduate program, taking time off may help you make your decision by giving you extra time to try out different things or do more research about whether grad school is right for you. It could also allow you to develop additional skills, save money, or gain more research experience before grad school. On the other hand, delaying schooling ultimately delays your career, earning potential, and whatever life goals you have, and it is commonly said that the more time you take off, the harder it is to to back to school (but many people do so very successfully, so this shouldn’t discourage you if it’s what you want!). "At the end of my undergrad experience, I asked several of my professors and other mentors whether they thought I would benefit from taking time off and they all said yes, so I did! I don’t regret it - I traveled, worked full time as a technician, and was able to take more time to think about exactly what I wanted for my research and my career. I was also very burnt out at the end of undergrad and think that taking time off benefited me hugely because of that. It wasn’t too difficult to transition from being a technician to being a graduate student, but taking a huge pay cut and having a lot more pressure to work all the time was challenging to cope with at first." - Elena |
Grad school courses |
Can you take classes after your qualifying exam (QE)?
Typically by the time of your qualifying exam you have completed all of your required coursework and your focus shifts from classwork to research. However, many students will often continue to take some courses after their qualifying exam if the courses are especially relevant and/or interesting, and their schedule and advisor permits it. How do courses differ from the ones that you take in undergrad? Graduate school courses differ in several ways from undergrad courses. Graduate school courses are usually more specialized, and are often focused on bringing students up-to-date with the current research in a given field, rather than building basic foundations. Consequently, they are more likely to be structured around reading scientific papers than introductory textbooks. Graduate courses often rely less on busy work (i.e. little to no homework), and rely more on independent study. They are also usually smaller (e.g., 5-20 students) and are unlikely to have any teaching assistants (TAs). Graduate courses are often run as seminars, where there may be no exams and the grading is based more on participation and/or projects, and is often somewhat perfunctory. Can credit for masters coursework transfer to a PhD? Master’s coursework often doesn't count towards PhD course requirements, unless a student is continuing on at the same institution. Aside from the standard PhD course requirements that apply to every student in a given program, many programs also require graduate students to take remedial courses to fill any gaps in their background identified by their guidance committee. Successfully completing courses during undergrad or master's degree can eliminate the need to take these remedial courses while pursuing a PhD. Programs vary widely so it’s best to ask potential advisor(s) or the program coordinator wherever you are planning to apply about the course requirements and policies. |
Variation
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How much does coursework vary across graduate programs?
Coursework can vary tremendously across graduate programs. Some programs have a “core” set of classes that are required for all students, while other programs rely more on individual committee recommendations. In some programs, the coursework is extensive and a major focus of the program, while in other programs the coursework may be minimal and designed solely around addressing academic deficiencies or helping students develop their chosen area of research. Most programs require students to complete some kind of quantitative course (e.g. statistics, modeling). You can find out more about the course requirements for individual programs by looking at their website or chatting with potential advisors and/or current students in the program. What are some possible red flags for a PhD program? There is no single “red flag” that is universal to everyone – what counts as a red flag to you depends on your values, needs, and goals. Some potential red flags to consider when choosing a PhD program are listed below. You may also identify your own red flags based on your values and needs related to a program.
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Managing your time |
What does a good work-life balance look like in grad school?
There are as many different types of good work-life balance as there are individual graduate students! The key is determining your personal boundaries and finding what a healthy balance of activities looks like for you. If graduate school is your highest priority and you enjoy doing research, that may mean working on some weekends and evenings. If you have a disability, an additional job, childcare or other family responsibilities, etc., working fewer hours will be necessary to give yourself adequate time for rest and maintaining your mental and physical wellbeing. It is not uncommon for graduate students to overwork, especially if they are in a toxic lab environment, but overworking is not healthy and leads to burnout. One example that seems representative in ecology and evolution graduate programs is to work about 50 hours a week, or as one advisor put it, to treat graduate school like “a demanding full time job.” Make sure you have a conversation with potential advisors about expectations surrounding work hours before committing to a program or lab. How do you structure your time in grad school? This will vary a lot from person to person. I know many people who spend 90% or more of their time on research and do little else, and just as many people who either balance research and other activities continuously or prioritize outreach, teaching, or service in at least some parts of the year over their research. Some folks are interested in a teaching career or a government position, and may do internships or fellowships for months at a time that allow them to gain experience for their career of choice but require them to put a hold on research activities during that time. However, to remain in a PhD program, you must make sufficient progress on your research activities that your advisor and committee members find acceptable, or you risk being put on probation or dismissal from the program. “Personally, the majority of my time is spent on research, but the exact number of hours I spend on research varies depending on the time of year. I do work on plant ecology, evolution, and genetics, so I structure my year around timing experiments that have to be done in the summer or spring to work with plants in the field or greenhouse. When I have experiments or field work running, usually 50-100% of my time is spent maintaining the experiments and collecting data. When I’m not doing field or experiment work, if I have a deadline for a presentation, grant proposal, or paper, I will spend a lot more time leading up to those deadlines working on specific tasks like finishing an analysis or doing literature review. During the academic year, if I’m a teaching assistant, that will take up about half of my work hours. On average, I spend 20 hours per week on research, and the rest of my time (~30 hours per week) is taken up with outreach, administrative, professional development, service, and fun activities.” - Elena “Over my PhD, I’ve found that my mental health relies on a stable routine and regular breaks. I work 40 hours a week, and take evenings and weekends off. Because of that time spent intentionally away from work, when I sit down to get my work done, I’m more motivated and more excited, rather than forcing myself to work until I’m exhausted every day. And consequently I’m more productive! :) In terms of my research time vs teaching time vs service commitments, I tend to work best in long, uninterrupted blocks of time, and fortunately, the courses that I work in as a teaching assistant (TA) tend to support that. What that looks like in practice is that I have about two to three quarters per year that I have a lot of time to do my research (which is a mix of lab work with live fishes and computational work, as well as writing), and then one quarter each year I TA for a very intensive class and get relatively little research progress in.” -Katherine |
Exams |
What programs automatically fail the bottom portion of their students?
This policy is extremely rare (we are not aware of any programs in the fields of ecology and evolution that do this). However, programs do vary in how stressful the examination process is for graduate students, so it’s a good idea to talk to current students and potential advisors about the examination process. Are all UCs no-defense? No, there are some programs such as the Ph.D. Program in Ecology and Evolution at UC Santa Cruz that still require a defense. What happens if you fail the preliminary/comprehensive exam? In most programs, if you fail this exam once, you are allowed a second chance to pass the exam and advance to candidacy. You may be suggested or required to take certain courses or to do certain work to fill in any deficiencies noted in the exam. Usually a second failure will result in the student being dismissed from the program. Are the tests timed? Preliminary/comprehensive exams, where you are tested on the breadth of your knowledge, are usually timed, although there is a lot of variation between programs in exam format (e.g. written vs. oral, open note vs. closed book, take-home vs. in-person). Qualifying exams, where you orally explain and defend a research proposal, usually have a suggested time, but the length often varies depending on the program, the length of your presentation and how many questions you receive. If you have a disability and would benefit from additional time on your exams, make sure to check with your campus disability center about possible accommodations. |
Jargon |
What is the difference between basic and applied science?
Basic science is aimed at understanding fundamental questions. The goal of basic science is to expand or explore knowledge in a particular field; it is not concerned with the application or uses of that knowledge. Applied science is aimed at the using and applying the knowledge gained through basic science to solve real world, practical problems. For example, a basic science project might involve investigating what drives the dynamics of algal populations, whereas an applied science project might try to use that knowledge of those dynamics to prevent algal blooms in a local pond. Many projects in ecology and evolution are not entirely basic or applied, but instead fall somewhere in the middle. Labs, programs, and schools can differ dramatically in how they emphasize and value the different ends of this continuum. What is the difference between a thesis defense and exit seminar? What does it mean if most defenses are like exit seminars? When graduate students are nearing the completion of their degree, they are usually required to present a public talk that provides a summary or highlights of the major findings from the research they accomplished for their thesis/dissertation. This talk is called an “exit” seminar because it happens right before a student graduates and leaves the program. In some programs, this public seminar is followed by a formal defense, which is a more private meeting with just the student and the faculty members serving on their thesis/dissertation committee. During this meeting, the student “defends” their thesis/dissertation by answering questions from the faculty members about their work. After the questioning, the faculty will usually ask the student to leave the room, and then discuss amongst themselves whether or not the student “passed”. In these programs, students must pass their defense to be awarded their intended graduate degree. In other programs, there is no formal defense and committee members simply read a student’s thesis/dissertation and decide whether to sign/approve it or not. In these programs, the exit seminar is more informal and depending on the program, students may have their thesis/dissertation already approved prior to the seminar. |
Defining dissertation projects |
How do you avoid getting a project you don’t like?
Start a dialogue with your advisor and communicate early and often about your individual expectations and interests for your research project. Think carefully about what type of work you’d like to be doing and what is intellectually stimulating for you, and be sure to be honest with your advisor about these things. If you are applying for a lab specifically to work on a particular project, do your research and make sure you’re really excited about it before committing. However, even if you do all of the above, things can always change throughout your degree and you may lose interest in one topic or become much more excited about taking your research in a different direction, so there is always inherent risk in committing yourself to a specific project for the entirety of your degree. How do you decide on a project: is it given to you, do you come up with it? The answer to this will be program and lab-dependent. Much of the time, when you enter a graduate program you’ll be expected to develop your own research questions and projects, and your PI will consider that to be an important component of your training and intellectual development. Sometimes, the Principal Investigator (PI) may advertise graduate positions that are specifically funded by a certain grant. However, even in these cases, the amount of intellectual freedom you’ll have will vary - sometimes the PI may hand a project to you and tell you exactly what to do, and other times they’ll work with you to come up with something that is entirely your own, as long as it falls under the general goals of the grant. Is it easier to do interdisciplinary work/collaborate/change labs in interdisciplinary groups? Every lab and interdisciplinary group has its own culture, so the answer is really "it depends." In interdisciplinary working groups, it's easier to develop relationships with other members of the group and therefore it is likely easier to strike up collaborations with those members or change labs to another PI in the group. However, if each party in the group is more interested in their own work, fails to communicate with other members of the group, or protects their self-interests more than those of the whole, that sort of negative/toxic culture is likely to make it more difficult (or undesirable) to work together. "In my experience, yes to all of the above. I’ve worked in both very specialized, insular labs and very collaborative and interdisciplinary groups, and I’ve observed that in groups that are interested in collaboration and working across disciplines, it is easier to feel that you are part of a larger whole than when you are working in a lab that does highly specialized research on a very specific topic and/or does not show interest in collaborating with others within or across disciplines." - Elena |
Questions specific to UC Davis |
How have you enjoyed your experience at Davis in a PhD?
My experience has been largely positive. I think that it is difficult to do a graduate degree anywhere, and I have certainly faced challenges, but I feel that UC Davis and my graduate group in particular have many faculty who are advocates for graduate students and interested in working to make our experience better both at UC Davis and in graduate school generally. However, my experience has inevitably been shaped by my privileges as a cishet, white, upper middle class individual with parents who both got advanced degrees, and I know that others have had a more difficult and negative graduate experience in my program and my school (which is unfortunately the case in most if not all places). What is the difference between the grad groups (specifically pop bio, ecology, plant biology)? Graduate groups vary in size, course requirements, culture, career emphasis, and many other things that will impact your daily experience. To use the Ecology and Population Biology programs at UC Davis as an example:
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How to Apply & Timeline
General application questions
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Do the applications across graduate programs differ?
Yes, most programs typically have their own requirements for their specific program application, though most graduate programs in EEB have similar requirements. Application costs, GRE requirements, and essay topics can vary and be program specific. Make sure to closely read through the application requirements of each program you are wishing to apply, and start writing essays and gathering necessary materials and documents early. How does the PhD and master’s admissions process differ? The most notable difference between Master’s and PhD admissions processes is that the vast majority of PhD admissions involve interviews as a second round in the selection process. Interviews are much less common at the Master’s level, though some do have them, particularly if a graduate program admits both Master’s and PhD students. The admissions committees of some thesis-based Master’s programs may have lower expectations for the amount of prior research experience an applicant has, compared to PhD admissions. Indeed, Master’s programs can be a good stepping stone to gain more research experience for people who want to get a PhD but haven’t been involved in much independent or in-depth research. Other than interviews and qualifications, PhD and Master’s usually differ in the same ways applications across graduate programs differ (see above question). |
Identifying potential advisors
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Where do I find professors that are taking graduate students?
This material was covered in our session which can be found here. There are many job boards where programs and professors post that they are recruiting students, a few of which can be found in our external resources. Our resources also contain links to search for actively funded grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and National Institute of Health (NIH). Professors that have recently received grant funding will likely have funding for a graduate student through the grant. Another place to look for potential advisors is on Twitter. Many professors who are on twitter will use their Twitter pages as a place to connect with other members of the science community, and will post an advertisement when they are recruiting students and postdocs. Keep in mind that all of the avenues we’ve listed here will not cover all professors that are interested in and have the financial means to take on graduate students. If you’re interested in joining the lab of a certain professor but haven’t seen one of their grants or job postings, you should still send them an email to find out if they’re interested in taking graduate students in the upcoming application cycle! Is there a website with different advisors listed? Yes! Any graduate program you apply to should have a page on their website with the faculty within that program. When we say “advisor,” we are referring to the person whose lab you are applying to. We also call them PIs (principle investigator). However, they may not list which PIs are currently accepting students. You can ask PIs this via email. However, though the program website should list all the faculty, that may not be the most efficient way to find a potential advisor. I’d recommend also using papers, your current research mentor, other faculty, and/or peers or grad students/postdocs you know, and possibly twitter to find potential advisors who have good reputations as mentors and overlap with your research interests. Can you only apply to labs if they work in the exact system or are already asking the same questions that you’re interested in? You definitely want to be looking at labs with similar interests as your own, however you do not necessarily need to be asking the same questions on the same system as they are. You do want to choose an advisor who has some experience and expertise in a particular subject you are interested in. For example, a student who wants to study feeding behavior in parrotfish may join a lab that studies fish behavior in other systems and other behaviors. That said, advisors do differ in how much latitude they provide their students. This mostly depends on your funding situation; see the next question for more details. When identifying what kind of funding an advisor already has, does that limit the kind of research you are able to do with that advisor? In what way? Yes, but the amount of constraint does vary. Most of the time, advisors are granted funding for specific research topics. So if you want to be funded by your advisor from a grant, your research needs to fall within the purview of their original question. Sometimes the proposed project is broad enough for you to have high flexibility in designing your own research projects, while other times you are more constrained in your choice of research questions or systems. Remember that grant money can be used for your salary and/or to fund your projects, depending on the amount an advisor has available to spend. It helps to ask a potential advisor how much latitude you would have in choosing your research question and system (while still getting paid by them) and to ask their current and past graduate students how much flexibility they had from their advisors in choosing research projects that their advisors funded. When is the best time to reach out to faculty? It is a good idea to reach out the fall before you plan on applying, which is about August-November. You want to leave enough time to follow up if they don’t respond, as well as schedule a phone or video call before your application is reviewed, so it’s best to contact an advisor by mid-October to be safe. I'm worried about the apparently high level of harassment in academia. Is there any advice on identifying safe advisors? This is a good question, and something that should be taken seriously. To be the most sure that you are choosing a safe advisor, you should reach out to past members of their lab (people who were either their graduate students, postdocs, or research assistants), particularly those you think you identify with more (e.g. by gender, race, religion). It will not look suspicious if you do this; it is very common for prospective students to reach out to past members of a lab they’re considering. Of course, if the potential advisor advises against talking to past lab members, that is a red flag in and of itself. If you can, you should especially talk to people who have been out of the lab for more than three years, as they are less likely to be under the power of the potential advisor and so do not fear as much retaliation for warning you to stay away from the advisor (e.g. they no longer rely on the advisor for writing letters of recommendation or collaboration on a project). You also want to reach out to more than one person, if possible, to increase the chances you get the information you need. Most importantly, when we say “reach out,” we mean sending an email to someone saying that you’re interested in joining the potential advisor’s lab and that you want to learn more about what it’s like to be a part of that lab, and asking if they’re available for a phone or video call. We recommend a phone or video call because that is a space where someone can speak off the record. On the call, ease in by asking about the advisor’s mentorship style and their experience with the advisor. If they don’t bring anything up, ask what other people’s experiences with the advisor were like and if there is anything you should know as you decide whether to join that lab. If you feel comfortable, you can explicitly ask if the potential advisor has a history of harassment, whether reported or suggested. |
Strategies for choosing how many labs or programs to apply to
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How many programs should I apply to? Should I apply broadly or to just a few programs with advisors I’ve connected with?
Applying and reaching out to advisors are two different steps in the application process. First, you want to reach out to as many labs/professors as you think you would enjoy working with. This is when you want to cast a wide net. When you submit applications, however, you may want to stick with the professors that you have been in contact with. This is because the application costs money, and you are very unlikely to be accepted into a program when you have not been in contact with the professor that you are wanting to work with. How many potential advisors should I be considering? How many emails should I send to people to ensure I get some replies? Let’s start by providing an overview of the selection process to help you strategize. People who submit applications to a program only get invited to interview or get accepted (if interviews are not a part of the process) if a professor shows interest in them. Luckily, applicants can gauge this interest ahead of time when they send emails to potential advisors. Specifically, you’ll know a potential advisor is interested in you if they have encouraged you to submit an application and/or if they’ve made the time for email or phone/video correspondence. For those applying to programs that have interviews as part of the selection process, most applicants interview to join around 2-4 programs. Most programs accept about half or more of their interviewees, so you can expect to get into about half of the programs you interview for. However, there are often many variables that affect this, for example an advisor really wants you to join their lab but they don’t have the funding to support you financially. Therefore, to be safe, you want to make strong connections with advisors that you know have the financial means to take you on before submitting your application. You can figure this out by asking them about how their students acquire funding for their salary and research in your initial phone or video call with them. If you think your application materials are strong, aim to apply to work with about 4 potential advisors that you’ve connected with and that you have some confidence they can provide you financial support. If you’re worried that your application materials aren’t as strong, aim to submit a few more applications, around 6-8. To figure out who your potential advisors will be, start by sending emails to the people you are most excited to work with. As you gauge their enthusiasm and ability to support you, you can choose to contact more people so that you get to your target number of potential advisors that show interest in you applying. “When I was applying for graduate school, I first started collecting names, emails, website links, and key words describing the Professor’s research. My list was originally ~20 PI’s long. I emailed all of them and got responses from about half after the first week, and from a few others a few weeks later. A few of the people who emailed me back told me that they weren’t accepting students that application cycle. I interviewed and applied with 7 labs (though I only had skype and phone calls with 4 of them.) If I were to do it over again, I would not have applied to those 3 programs who I did not speak with the PI’s over the phone or video call, since all of my offers came from the pool of advisors with whom I had spoken.” - Danielle |
The GRE
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Can you only send free GRE scores right after you take the test? Do you send the scores before actually knowing what you got?
Yes, you can only send five free scores right after you take the test and are at the testing center. Once you leave the testing room, you will not be able to use those five free chances to send scores. You will see your raw score on the day of, but many programs use quantiles rather than raw scores for the application review. What does it mean if a program says the GRE is optional? How should I clarify what this means? This means that if you include your GRE scores in the application, they will look at the scores and take them into consideration during the application process. This can be an ambiguous process at times, and it may differ even from person to person on each admissions committee. Check to see if the program application website has any description of how the optional GRE impacts an application. Some universities say the lack of GRE scores on an application is not viewed negatively, however if you feel that GRE scores may improve your application, they suggest submitting it. |
Letters of recommendation
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If I have been out of school for a while and haven’t been doing research since, who should I ask for a letter of recommendation?
Even though it may feel awkward, we recommend that you reach out to at least one person who has experience advising you on a research project. When you reach out, remind them of what you worked on together and then provide an update about what you’ve been doing since and your motivation for pursuing graduate school. It helps to provide your curriculum vitae in this email and offer to have a phone or video call with them to give them a chance to get to know you better. For the remaining letters of recommendation, it is best to ask people who were in positions of authority and are familiar with your work ethic. This could be from a paid or volunteer position. Am I burdening the people I am asking to write a letter of recommendation? Definitely not! Most likely, the people you are asking to write your letters of recommendation have experience doing so and thus can write them efficiently and effectively. Furthermore, this is a part of their job! Especially for faculty, letter writing may count towards their required departmental “service.” They’re also incentivized to make your application look better, because the more successful their students are in their career endeavors, the better their lab or their department looks. |
Interviewing
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What are ways to keep the interview going smoothly if talking about science/interviews are nerve wracking?
First of all, remember that you are not alone! Interviewing can be very stressful and it’s hard to show your best self in a high pressure situation. Before you meet for an interview, it helps to prepare talking points ahead of time so you don’t have to do as much mental work on the spot. This includes questions you’d ask the person you’re talking to, your elevator pitch (a short synopsis of what you do and what you’re interested in), and a more detailed description of your academic history, relevant work history, and research questions. Oftentimes the first thing someone will say to you in an interview is “tell me about yourself” – this is when you’d provide the more detailed description of yourself. After that, you can keep a conversation going by asking lots of questions about their research questions, study system, the program, or the local community. How do you interview well with a potential advisor? How do you interview well with other professors affiliated with a program? A potential advisor wants to know that you are serious about joining their lab and that you are motivated to contribute to their research program. Therefore you want to show that you’ve spent time learning about their research program by asking them questions about it. You should also be prepared to speak to how your experiences make you a good candidate for their lab. Think about some of the challenges members of that lab might face: do they include teaching oneself how to use software with little documentation, identifying species in a natural field setting, working long or unusual hours at a lab bench? When you meet with the potential advisor, find ways to show that you have the skills, experience, or self-discipline required by their type of research. The remainder of professors expect you to have a general familiarity with their research area, which you could learn by reading descriptions of their research on their website and skimming their publications list. They want to see that you’re interested in pursuing research and interested in the program that you’re applying to. You can show that you’re interested in research by being able to describe why certain research areas or questions interest you and asking others questions about their research projects. You can show interest in a program by knowing why you want to join and asking questions about the program, from research culture to available resources to where alumni of a program end up. Should you watch lectures professors have given before interview weekend? You certainly could, however this is not necessary. Recorded lectures may give you a good idea of some of the questions the potential advisor is interested in and provide an overview of some of the ongoing or recently completed projects in their lab. However, the content they present is usually also on their websites. Is the in-person interview more formal, or more casual? This can vary by program, but it’s usually a more casual experience. As Sivan said in our session, the dress is usually more casual (e.g., "business casual"), but most importantly you should wear something that makes you feel confident and comfortable during the actual interviews. The graduate students (and typically the professors) you meet will also likely be dressed comfortably. |
The CV
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Do you need to make a different curriculum vitae (CV) for each school? Should you include your courses or GRE scores on there (especially if GRE is optional/not required)?
No, you do not need to make a different CV for every school. There is usually no requirement for what should be on your CV, so use it to your advantage. This means you can choose whether or not you want your GRE scores on your CV. You should put relevant coursework on your CV as well, this may give the potential advisors an idea of what your coursework background looks like. List if any of these courses had any hands-on or lab portions as well, as that may highlight some training you have in relevant skills (such as fieldwork or laboratory work). How do I construct a CV? Check out our resources from Session 2 here and slides with additional information on this PDF: curriculum_vitae__cv__section_details.pdf |
Funding & Grant Writing
Graduate student positions, stipends, and benefits
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Do you have to work as a Teaching Assistant (TA)?
In a typical program, you are required to work as a TA for at least 1-2 quarters or semesters in order to gain teaching experience. Beyond that, the need to TA varies based on whether you have other funding opportunities (e.g., fellowship, graduate student research position/research assistant (GSR/RA), etc.). What are your responsibilities as a TA? Are you in charge of entire classes or act as a support to a main professor? This will depend somewhat on the class. Higher level courses may demand more time outside of class (~20 hours a week) while introductory level courses usually demand less time (~5-10 hours a week). Most classes have a main instructor (sometimes called the instructor of record). This is often a professor or a postdoctoral researcher. Sometimes, graduate students can serve as the instructor of record, but this is not as common due to the higher workload and experience required. If you are a TA for a large lecture class, a lot of your time will probably go into grading and being available for students during office hours. Typically, TAs will lead discussion sections for these larger lecture classes as well, which will require you to make slides/presentations. Some courses also have lab sections, where you actually walk students through simple laboratory experiments. How do I determine the limits to the amount of TAing I can do per quarter or year? You can ask the program administrator about these limits as they are often set by the university. For example, at UC Davis you can TA up to 30 hours per week any quarter (considered 75% of your time employed) and up to 15 quarters (not including summers) which is equivalent to 5 years. How do I find out the limits to amount of TA’ing I can do per quarter or year and how many people get TAships in the program I’m applying for? Some programs make guarantees about getting their students TA positions. For example, in Population Biology at UC Davis, students are guaranteed TA positions in an introductory evolution and ecology course during the school year and are supposed to be funded by their advisors during the summer so that they can focus on research. Other programs don’t make any guarantees - in such cases it’s important to talk with current students to find out how easy it is to get TA positions and whether anyone has ever been unable to get one when they needed to. How many people get TAships in the program I’m applying for? Some programs make guarantees about getting their students TA positions. Other programs don’t make any guarantees. In such cases, it’s important to talk with current students about how easy it is to get TA positions, whether anyone has ever been unable to get one when they needed to, and how they were able to get funded during that time. Is the PhD funding stable over time? In other words, can I expect to make the same amount of money during my tenure in graduate school? PhD stipends can change depending on how you are being funded. For example, if you are being funded as a teaching assistant one quarter and as a research assistant the next you might be paid different amounts of money. Additionally, as you gain more experience, your stipend may increase. That being said, you want to be making enough money to be financially secure when you combine all the given sources in a year. You may be guaranteed a minimum amount of funding for a certain number of years when you receive your offer letter. Is your pay as a TA sufficient to fund your PhD or you had (or are allowed?) to complement in another way? Do you have the chance to save some money for future plans? I am not sure if UC Davis or other schools tend to have restrictions about additional employment, but I don’t think most people take jobs outside of TA positions (though there are exceptions). It’s also important to note that TA positions are not the only way people are funded during grad school. Some other sources of funding include fellowships, Graduate Student Researcher positions (often paid by the advisor off of a specific grant), and internships. Some funding sources (like fellowships) may have rules about secondary employment. When students do have other sources of income, it is often things like running a small business or selling things (bicycle repairs, selling house plants, music lessons, etc). Some students also take on consulting work. Finances and the ability to save during grad school varies a lot from person to person. Most graduate students choose to live with roommates to save on housing costs. The cost of living in the area where you attend school can have a big influence on how far your salary/stipend goes. I recommend watching the funding video on the website to get more information about this as well! Does my funding cover summer pay? Some programs guarantee summer pay from your primary advisor. However, this isn’t universal. It’s valuable to be in a program or lab that provides summer funding because summers can be a very productive time if you are able to focus solely on your research. There may be opportunities to find a summer TAship, research assistantship positions, internships, or external fellowships for the summer as well. Do programs typically offer health insurance? Most programs do (and should!) offer health insurance. However, whether or not that includes dental and vision insurance varies. At UCs, dental and visual are included in your health insurance, and most programs that do not offer those often have reduced rate dental programs for example, so you can save a lot of money. |
Research funding
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What work requires research funding?
All students require research funding, but the amount needed can vary based on the materials you need to complete your project and if your lab already has these supplies/instruments. Some examples of research funding uses include travel, equipment/materials, specimens, space, rentals, and hiring undergraduate assistants. Every discipline has different financial costs associated with doing research. For example, genomic sequencing is very expensive, but collecting insects on a nearby reserve is much less costly. Or, computational research may have fewer supplies to purchase, as they do not have to buy wet lab supplies, but a big financial item for computational researchers is computer time! However, it is typical for labs that do computational work to provide those resources in some form to their students. For example, at UC Davis many labs have access to computer clusters run by colleges within the university. Am I expected to raise my own funds for research? This varies on a case by case basis. If your dissertation research is closely related to a grant your advisor has, you may not have to raise any funds for your research. However, if your research is very different from your advisor’s to be funded from one of their grants, or if they don’t have enough funding to cover your research, then you may need to apply for research funding. This is something you can discuss with potential advisors before choosing a lab. You should also ask potential labmates about their experiences with securing research funds vs being given funding from the advisor. |
Fellowships
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If I have an external fellowship, am I still required to teach?
This depends on the external fellowship. Some fellowships require that your graduate program waive your requirement to teach so that you can focus on research, but this isn’t always the case. It’s best to check on the policy of each fellowship you’re applying to and to talk with your program coordinator to determine if your program will allow you to adhere to these requirements. How can I apply for a fellowship if I don't know that I have been accepted into a program? Some external fellowships, like the NSF GRFP, support the student no matter where they end up going to grad school. This is because generally, if you apply for a fellowship that is not based at a university while applying to grad school, the fellowship funds YOU as a scientist rather than a particular program. For the GRFP, if you haven’t already gotten into a program, it is typical to pick the advisor you’re most excited to work with and ask them if they’d be willing to work on the fellowship proposal with you. Then, you write the proposal like you will be going to that lab. This is also a chance for the professor to get to know you. We recommend reaching out to professors by early September about this. You can often apply to program-specific fellowships while applying to the graduate programs. These often require you to submit a small extra application or apply by a certain deadline - you should talk to the PI or graduate program coordinator about any opportunities to do this! Should I use my one chance to apply to the NSF GRFP this year when they are emphasizing Artificial Intelligence, Quantum Information Science, and Computationally Intensive Research (i.e, not traditional biology or basic science)? The new “topics of emphasis” in the NSF GRF are definitely confusing and unclear. But, here are a couple links to help clarify the situation including a blog post and a tweet by NSF. As noted in these links, much research in Evolution and Ecology can be related to these priority areas and NSF is continuing to fund GRFPs that don’t fit into these areas. If I’m applying to graduate programs and the NSF fellowship at the same time, do I make a general application and mention the schools I am considering? Or does each fellowship application require me to state my intention to attend one specific school? In other words, if I’m applying to more than one school, do I have to apply for each external fellowship multiple times indicating each school I intend to apply to? Even if you are applying to multiple graduate programs, you can only apply for the NSF GRFP once before applying to graduate school and once as a graduate student. You typically write your application as if you know which program you would attend and who your advisor would be. However, if you get the NSF fellowship, you are completely free to go somewhere else and work with a different advisor! For other external fellowships it is also frequently the case that if you are awarded the fellowship you can then attend a school other than the one you proposed attending. However, we don’t know that this is the case for every fellowship out there, so it’s worth finding out the details for any fellowship you’re considering applying for. I have a master’s so I’m ineligible for the NSF GRFP. Are there other big grants/fellowships that I can apply for? Yes! As a start, the Ford Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship, the NOAA Nancy Foster Scholarship, and Department of Energy Computational Science Graduate Fellowship are open to students with master’s degrees (with certain exceptions). Check out some scientific society or graduate program websites for a longer list! For example, the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology members have access to a pretty exhaustive list of graduate student grants and fellowships on their website (link here). Can you apply for the same fellowships offered to PhD students to do a Masters project? Only if master’s students are also eligible for that fellowship. For example, the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program is open to master’s students as well as PhD students, but the Ford Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship is only open to PhD students. |
Talking with potential graduate advisors
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What would be a good response to look for when asking a potential advisor about funding?
There are many examples of good answers from professors. Generally, open and honest answers are a good sign. You want assurance that they are willing to work with and for you to figure out how to support you throughout your entire PhD. Sometimes professors just don’t know the answers to your questions, but they should know who can answer it for you and hopefully would be invested enough in your success to give you that person’s information. But with that said, they should have some idea of how to fund students and can give you concrete information so you don’t have to deal with any financial unknowns. Overall, they should be aware of TA opportunities and be up front with if they have money for research assistantships for you and roughly what that would look like. In some cases professors can be very specific, e.g. ‘I expect my grad students to TA once a year unless they have a fellowship. I have a grant related to X, and if you work on something related to that topic, I can fund your other quarters on a GSR.’ In other cases, faculty may not be as certain about their own funding, but the funding could still be pretty good because the program has a good safety net, e.g. ‘I can fund your summers with a GSR and I have funding for your first 2 years, but I am not sure yet about the others because I’m still applying for new grants. However, students in our program typically get 1 quarter a year funded by internal fellowship and you get a guaranteed TA spot if needed.’ Note that some faculty are conservative about what they promise, but their students can tell you what is typical for the lab. Can you negotiate your funding? What questions should you ask about your funding and how should you compare your funding packages? In addition to the amount of your stipend, it’s also worth considering how stable funding is, how much it will require you to teach, the healthcare and other benefits that are included, and how the stipend compares to the cost of living where a particular school is located. In some cases, you can negotiate funding with prospective advisors, but it is unlikely that you can negotiate funding with the program itself. As is the case when applying to jobs, it is generally easier to negotiate for funding if you have multiple offers (for example, from two different programs with two different stipends). |
Living, location, and financial planning
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Am I allowed to commute from home?
You can definitely commute from home! However, if you have to do lots of lab work, that will be easier to do if you live near the university where you’re doing your work. But nobody is keeping an eye on where you live. Especially now post-covid, it’s not uncommon to be remote! The one issue is that at state universities, it may be preferred for you to be living in the state as in-state tuition is substantially less expensive than out-of-state tuition. Some programs offer subsidized housing (e.g. in the bay area where it’s very expensive) or housing that is only available to grad students. But most of the time you are expected to find your own housing. If I go to UC Davis, do I have to live in Davis? Can I live in Petaluma and commute to Davis? Yes! A number of UC Davis grad students live in Petaluma. They work out at the marine lab in Bodega Bay and like it so that they can commute to both Bodega and Davis. Traffic on I-80 can be a bit annoying, but it is doable! Did you experience or know of people that had a partner and/or children? Are grad students allowed to travel and live with their family? Do UC Davis help them in any way? Does that context affect in any way an application? Many people have partners or spouses, but I personally know fewer people who have children or had them in grad school. UC Davis does not currently offer additional financial support to students with dependents, but some universities do have funds for this–Stanford is an example. Either way, relationship status or status as a parent/caregiver should not impact your application. Specific expectations regarding remote work, travel, and time away should be discussed with potential advisors. Some research areas and some advisors will allow for more remote work. However, most programs have residency requirements. University of California schools for example expect students to establish residency (become a legal resident of California) within their first year. How do I plan for the future (savings, retirement, home ownership) with the funding resources I have? That really depends on the cost of living where you attend school and the stipend that school offers. There are a small but increasing number of resources on budgeting and financial planning for graduate students. For example, UC Davis had a financial advisor lead a seminar on PhD finances, which helped students navigate taxes and thinking about saving for the future (here is the speaker’s website: http://pfforphds.com/). Most graduate programs do not have a retirement plan built into their payment system. |
Finding a Good Fit
PhD experience
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What is your favorite part of your research?
Everyone’s experience is different, and everyone loves something different about their research! “For me, I love two things equally: the people that I do my research with, and the sheer fun of learning new things about fish evolution. The community in my lab and my scientific field is unparalleled, and my labmates have become some of my closest friends. Secondly, it is simply incredible to get paid to ask my heart’s deepest questions about how fish evolution works.” -Katherine “I absolutely agree with everything that Katherine said! One thing that I love about graduate school in general is the flexibility that I have to participate in a variety of activities on campus.” - Alexus How do you overcome setbacks, failures, and imposter syndrome?? This is definitely a tough one! Setbacks are inevitable in a PhD. The key is to remember that a PhD is a marathon, not a sprint. You will have many opportunities for successes alongside failures, but don’t give up hope. Remember that you’re not alone--everyone is dealing with these feelings and these experiences. A PhD is not about how many times you are set back, it is about how many times you get back up and persevere. Also please feel free to check out these slides on navigating imposter syndrome from our 2022 program: imposter_syndrome.pdf “When I’m feeling particularly struck by impostor syndrome, I do a few things. When it’s really rough, I talk to my mentors--my advisor is great at the pep talks after a big setback! I also have a folder in my email account where I put emails that make my heart warm (compliments from students, emails about successes, etc.) and I refer back to those emails when I’m feeling really down about my work. Last but definitely not least, I try to remember that to think I am unworthy is disrespectful to the mentors who have encouraged me. I trust and value their opinions, and so to think that they are wrong about me is to do them a disservice.” - Katherine “Feelings of impostor syndrome are very normal and it takes practice to learn how to combat those feelings. These feelings often come up for me when I have just received an award of some kind. At first, I am excited and honored and then I begin to wonder whether I am being recognized based on merit or because the group needed to check their diversity box. One thing that I always do to recenter myself is remind myself that I am in one of the best evolution and ecology grad programs in the country and I work with one of the leading researchers in my field. I did not end up here by mistake, I was chosen by my advisor and by the admissions committee because they believed that I have what it takes. This is not at all to say that you should put your value in what others think of you, but it does all those people that believe in you a grave disservice when you decide that they are either lying or don’t know what they are talking about. If they have their stuff together, then they knew what they were doing when they chose you! Trust and believe that!” -Alexus |
Assessing fit while applying
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How did you get letters of recommendation coming from a very large undergrad institution? Getting letters of recommendation can be intimidating, but people understand that this is a critical part of a students graduate school or job application. No matter the size of the institution you are graduating from, it is important to get LoRs from people who know you and can speak to your strengths! Have you had an on campus job, volunteered or worked in a research lab, spent ample time with a professor in office hours, or have you been an TA? Any professor or manager who you have worked for or studied under are great examples of people who you can ask to write you a LoR. When do I start talking to graduate students to assess happiness/fit? You should start talking to students as soon as you can! One great way to learn about a lab (even in the fall while you are writing applications) is to reach out and have a zoom/skype meeting with the students in the lab, or meet up with them at a conference. What do you do if you are interested in joining a PI’s lab following the initial zoom conversation? How do you reach out - should you ask if they will take you as a student? I would recommend emailing them after the meeting and telling them that you really enjoyed the meeting and will be applying to their lab. Whether they can take you as a student is not just up to the PI--generally, you will also have to be accepted by the program and that is often out of the advisor’s control. I have some research experience but don’t feel like I know a lot about any specific topic, do I have a chance to get into graduate school? You definitely have a chance! As long as you know what you want to study, you are in great shape. If you knew everything about a specific topic, you wouldn’t have to do a PhD! Not knowing everything is normal. How much do you think soft skills affect an application? For example, although I can transmit my curiosity and interest in research, I need to improve a lot in my communication skills in English. What are the expectations of universities in that regard? Soft skills are extremely valuable! Much of your performance in graduate school will come down to your ability to plan and manage projects, think critically, communicate your research ideas effectively, etc. However, most universities will require a student to obtain a certain minimum score on one of two standardized tests in order to be admitted to graduate studies. The two most commonly accepted tests are the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), or International English Language Testing Service (IELTS). Additionally, the tests often need to be taken within a certain amount of time before applying to graduate programs in order for the scores to be considered valid (at Davis, scores are no longer valid after two years). However, communication is just one of the many things that will shape your success in grad school, and it’s important to remember that grad school is a time to grow your skills—no one comes in being amazing at everything! Should I ask faculty about campus DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) and outreach efforts? Absolutely! These issues are crucial to the growth and well-being of a program and institution, and you deserve to know what the program is doing to increase equity and inclusion in their community. How the faculty respond will tell you a lot about the culture of the community. What should you do if you love everything about the advisor/lab/program/etc., but you absolutely hate the place? If this is the case, you should think seriously and carefully about what is important to you. Your experience with your advisor and your lab are two of the most meaningful pieces of the PhD that will affect many things in your day to day life, but where you live also affects your quality of life in many ways! I would recommend weighing the different factors and thinking hard about what you want the next 5-7 years of your life to be like. Remember--it’s a whole 5-7 years, but it’s also only 5-7 years and you may have some options to work remotely for some period of time depending on your research and your lab. What if I don't get in? If this happens, I think the best thing to do is to use this as a learning experience. Reach out to the advisors you applied to and ask if they have any advice on how you can be a better applicant the next cycle. Work on refining your research interests and gain valuable skills as a Lab Manager, Lab Technician or other research-focused position. Also note that not getting into a program is sometimes out of your control, such as a PI not get enough funding to support a graduate student on a project. Also check out our resources tab where we have a few links from Astrobites and the American Psychological Association on steps forward. |
After the PhD
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Why wouldn't you go find a job after getting your PhD? Do you have to stay on as a postdoc or something?
A postdoc is a job! Postdocs do get paid more than PhD students, although still typically less than other jobs a PhD holder might have. They are also temporary positions. People frequently do postdocs in order to broaden their research experience. You can learn additional skills that you can use in your future career. So a postdoc might make sense if there are additional things you want to gain experience in that you plan to use in your career, but if after your PhD you are prepared for the job you want then you wouldn’t necessarily have to do one. Doing a postdoc can also make you more competitive for faculty positions because you will have time to publish more papers. |