Hi, I'm Casey.
I'm a professor and I've been running PhD admissions from my department for a long time.
This is yet another in my series of videos on applying for Phd programs.
Last week I got on TikTok.
This is funny in part because I think that it's like a particular stage of quarantine
to get onto TikTok and also apparently the older generation of TikTok are people who
were born in the late 90s.
So you know I'm like the cryptkeeper.
But the reason that I got on TikTok actually if you are watching this I love you and appreciate
you and I really really hope that I have been of great help in preparing your PhD applications.
Statistically according to YouTube analytics you're also probably male.
Which is totally fine but I was a little perplexed by this.
And when I asked some people, hey if I maybe wanted more women also to see my advice about
applying to PhD programs how would I reach them and someone suggested TikTok.
I was very skeptical but uh I posted a couple of videos with advice for PhD applications
set to trending TikTok music.
[music plays]
50,000 views in one night!
I do not understand what the TikTok algorithm is but it got the right people.
So also this weekend I posted on TikTok and offered to answer questions.
And I got a lot.
A lot more questions than I've gotten here actually, at least in the comments.
And so it actually gave me a really good sense of the kinds of, basically, frequently asked
questions.
Actually the way that i framed it was tell me your anxieties and I'll try to make you
feel better.
[music plays]
Hello hello hello hello.
So another way to look at this is frequent anxieties about applying to grad school.
Now as always my experience is much more with PhD programs than master' programs and more
in STEM and other lab-based disciplines than humanities.
However some of this is broadly applicable so I will let you take from it what is useful.
A lot of the things I'm going to talk about here I probably have also covered a little
bit in other places, like in the PhD application tips video or the statement of purpose video.
I'm gonna try not to repeat things that I've talked about in detail in other places and
cover some things that were a little bit more new.
First some form of how much does x matter, where x was usually GRE scores, GPA,
internships, etc.
I will give you the general answer to this, which is that weaknesses in one area can always
be made up for by strengths in another area.
So for example if your program requires test scores and your test scores are low but you
have really good research experience or really strong letters of recommendation etc, it absolutely
can make up for that I'll be honest, my GRE scores were meh.
I mean they were fine but they weren't stellar.
And also on the topic of GRE, make sure that the programs you're applying to actually require
it.
I personally think that uh standardized tests are kind of garbage.
For me personally in reviewing PhD applications I basically didn't look at them.
I also helped convince our department to not require them anymore though they are optional
such that if you think that they help you you can submit them.
I am seeing this increasingly commonly.
But even if your program does require GRE scores it's not the only thing that matters.
Everything is considered ideally holistically which means that again strengths can outweigh
weaknesses.
Emphasize your strengths and if you're interested in how to do that in one particular context,
my video about academic CVs talks about structuring your CV to emphasize your strengths.
But let's talk specifically about grades.
A lot of people are really really worried about grades.
I understand this it's such a tangible number, kind of like test scores.
And it really feels like if it doesn't meet some bar that you're just totally out of luck.
So another thing that I want to point out with grades specifically is that there are
patterns in grades that an admissions committee might look for.
One example is an upward trajectory.
If you just totally blew your freshman year of college but have gotten straight A's for
the last two years that says something it matters and of course if you have very good
grades through most of college and a single bad semester that pulls down your GPA that's
something that people notice too.
Oh like they were doing really good this whole time and then, what was happening this semester?
Probably something, right?
You don't have to disclose that.
Sometimes it's just clear that something was going on with you and that your performance
over one particular semester is not indicative of your general work ethic, ability etc.
Which brings me to another frequently asked question that honestly made me a little sad
because I hadn't thought about how much this would be worrying people.
Which is, my grades were really good and then there was a pandemic.
A lot of people asked whether their recent performance in terms of grades or research
productivity or whatever would kill their chances for getting into a grad program.
My answer to this is, god I hope not.
I mean I truly think that most people will understand or even expect that there's gonna
be some negative glitches in someone's performance because of COVID.
And honestly if they don't have even that much compassion then like do you really want
to go to that program anyway?
And finally on grades, in particular you might consider if there really is something that
is so significant that it requires some explanation, you can talk about something in your statement
of purpose, personal statement, etc, but try to spin it as a positive.
Even though blah blah blah, even though xyz, I persevered and managed to do this and I'm
really excited to start my graduate training etc.
So that's some advice on that and here is another frequently asked question, how do
I ask faculty, for letters of recommendation this had some different variations; some the
issue was what if I've been out of school for a long time and they don't remember me
or I don't think that I really got to know my professors that well or even, I'm nervous
to ask them, I don't want to bother them etc.
I think my advice for all of these is, to be frank, faculty sometimes easily flattered.
Also you need to jog their memory.
Potentially I suggest reaching out for the first time with something that explains how
your experience with this faculty member influenced your decision to want to go to graduate school.
I really got so much out of your class, I learned about this, it made me want to explore
this area more, I learned so much from our class discussions, the paper that I wrote
for your class on XYZ made me realize that I can work in the space, whatever it is.
It's going to help them remember who you are, it's going to help them remember the nice
things they should say about you, and it's nice to say something nice.
Another question I got was, some people also were anxious about the fact that faculty members
hadn't submitted their letters yet.
My response was usually well, when is it due?
Just as a general principle professors often do things at the last minute.
I would recommend as a general timeline, though of course this may vary depending on your
personal circumstances, ask them to do it at least a month in advance if you can.
If they haven't submitted it by then remind them a week before the deadline, and that
time ask for a response.
Another question I saw a lot was about people switching areas, like I have a degree in X
but I want to go to graduate school for Y, is that okay?
Sure especially if there's a connection between the two.
My suggestion is in your statement of purpose to articulate very well what the connection
between these two things are, how you made your way from A to B, and why you have a passion
for B. And I also wouldn't be concerned for example about, oh I've only done research
in A. Like honestly for applying to graduate school, having any research experience at
all is great, it doesn't have to be like in the exact same subarea that you are going
to graduate school in.
Which brings me to another frequently asked question, I don't have any publications, can
I possibly get into a PhD program and the answer is yes.
I mean I'm not gonna try to tell you that it's not compelling when someone has publications.
It is possible that someone's application will look stronger than yours because of that
but people who do not have publications already get into graduate school everyday.
Even into PhD programs I have admitted students to be my PhD advisees who do not have publications,
in fact probably most of them.
I do not think that it should be some kind of prerequisite that somehow as an undergrad
or even a masters student you have first authored a paper in science or whatever you are starting
a phd program you are going to learn to write papers the important thing even if you don't
have as much research experience as some other people is to really articulate that passion
and also research fit for that program.
If you haven't seen it yet definitely go look at my video about statements of purpose.
And this issue of experience particularly brings me to another line of frequently asked
questions, the first one being, do I have to have a masters degree to apply to a PhD
program.
The answer is no.
I don't know where this is coming from and maybe this is a disciplinary thing, but definitely
a ton of people who think it is literally impossible to be accepted into a PhD program
unless you already have a masters degree.
Again I don't know what it's like in other disciplines but in computer science, information
science, and related fields that I am familiar with that's definitely not the case.
Now you might have a better chance because you have a masters degree but not by virtue
of having a masters degree, it's because if you've spent another two years doing stuff
it's more likely that you have more research experience etc.
But I don't care if a student has a masters degree or not, I care about all those other
things that are on paper and sometimes people coming straight out of undergrad have more
research experience for example than someone with a masters degree.
Right now the students in the PhD program in our department about 25% of them came straight
out of undergrad.
Which then brings me to the next question which is I've been out of school for a long
time, do I have a shot at getting into a PhD program and my answer also yes.
Also our PhD program has a significant number of students who started their phd when they
were over 30.
Some of which have been in the workforce for 10 years or more and in that case I think
the really important thing is to articulate why you want to make this career shift, why
do you want to get a PhD, how is this going to help you meet your goals, are you dedicated
to becoming a researcher etc etc.
But this question, am I too young to get a PhD or am I too old to get a PhD, the answer
is no, you absolutely are not.
All of these other things are what matters.
I literally do not look at someone's age on their application, I do not care but I really
think that what I saw in these questions and anxieties was a lot of imposter syndrome.
This isn't surprising and unfortunately it's not going to stop.
You have imposter syndrome now because you think you can't get into graduate school.
Once you're in graduate school you will have imposter syndrome because you think you're
an imposter and shouldn't be there.
You're going to have it when you submit your first publication.
You're going to have it when you're on the job market.
You're going to have it when you are a faculty member and you're going to have it after you
have tenure.
Even the academics that I know that I feel like are exceptionally confident still feel
this.
sometimes.
I have four degrees, a tenure track faculty job, a good number of publications and grants
and all the stuff that matters.
I have a marginally successful youtube channel and I still feel like I'm totally faking all
of it.
[music plays] I don't mean to say this to be discouraging.
I mean to say it as everyone feels this way and so it's okay you feel it.
And then you push forward anyway.
Don't listen to the little voice in your head.
I believe in you.
So did i miss any questions that you have?
Feel free to leave them in the comments below.
I mean I answered probably 200 TikTokkers so like I can answer you.
And I know we're getting closer to application deadlines which is why I'm trying to push
out videos about this now.
You get to hear about other stuff later, but I really hope that things are coming together
for you and I guess if you want my quicker hottakes on everything in between youtube
videos you should go follow me on TikTok.
So once again, and even if this is not the right year for you for many reasons that might
be outside of your control - make sure you check out the reasons applicants are rejected
video because this is really important - if this is what you really want you want, to
be a researcher, you want to get a PhD, if you strike out this year try again next year.
And that's it for this edition of Casey answers questions from TikTok.
Thanks for watching.
[voiceover] Girl don't do, it it's not worth it.
I'm not gonna do it girl, I was just thinking about it, I'm not gonna do it.
I did it.