I am sure this question has been posted somewhere in SE forums before. If not here is my contribution, otherwise please show me the pointers to similar well-voted questions.  Here is the actual question: In case someone is interested to apply for a Phd degree, what would be the parameters that head of the research group (i.e. professor) will consider when comparing different candidates?  Some of the factors that come to my mind are the following:  Grades, Reference letters, Publications, Closeness of previous studies to the actual research taking place in that research group, Quality of final thesis (Master/Bachelor), Thesis adviser etc.  How would a professor prioritize these factors. I am sure here in the forums we have some experienced members who might have participated in acceptance committees, which can provide useful insights.  Thanks.
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As I've already saw, many people here are related to admission process. And I want to ask their opinion on what is priority of all stuff from application: what is the most important (letters of recommendation or personal statement, GPA or maybe test scores), what is less important for admission and what is the least important? Would admission committee prefer applicant with good scores, high GPA, but with not outstanding personal statement and without letters from famous or well-known professors (for example, my scientific advisor in undergraduate school get his PhD only a couple years ago), or student with less GPA, test scores, but with letter from university's prof?  Some graduate schools require General GRE (Graduate Record Examinations). Would it better to send GRE scores (general or subject or both) even if it's not required (in case of relatively good result), or them wouldn't be considered at all?
45149
from reading previous posts it seems customary to directly contact a potential supervisor. Nevertheless, the school I'm applying seems to have a central admission comittee. Still, the professor in question encourages PhD candidates to contact him. Do i have less of a chance if i do not write him prior to the application and does he potentially expect some content other than explained . Also, isnt it rude to directly address a professor with their first name at first contact?
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Whenever somebody asks me "why are you interested in joining my research group", I find myself helpless. What are the usual points or aspects I should talk about in reply of this question?
718
When applying to a PhD program in the US, how does the admissions process work? If an applicant is weak in a particular area, is it possible to offset that by being strong in a different area?  Note that this question originated from this . Please feel free to edit the question to improve it.
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I was browsing PhD position offers in Europe on different websites and I was quite surprised to find that several offers contained sentences such as     University of X value equality and diversity. We strongly encourage women and BAME applicants for this position.    where BAME stands for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnicities; or     The research group aims to increase the number of women in scientific positions. Female candidates are therefore encouraged to apply.   Is it considered normal in the academic environment to discriminate between  candidates according to their race and/or gender for "egalitarian" reasons?   How is the choice of a candidate based on their gender and/or race considered "egalitarian"?
44539
For PhD applications, I have mentioned that I am interested in some research areas. Besides, I am thinking about mentioning some professors' names, so that it shows I have read their websites and I am not just sending out generic statements applicable to many schools.  But is it good to mention some professors' names in the statement of purpose, if I don't know them personally? In what cases is it good, and in what cases it isn't?  For example, is it good to only mention    those whose research directions are aligned with my research interests, or/and those whose books or notes I have heard of, or better, might have read some parts of, or/and those who are already established and famous (such as having certain titles), or/and those that are directing the PhD graduate programs, or/and those that are heads of the departments?    What will other professors who are not mentioned think? How will you do, if it were you?
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My background:   Final year computer science undergraduate in the UK. Spent one year working in a scientific facility developing software for scientists. My colleagues had previous academic experience (PhDs in math or physics). Researched for 3 months under professor N within my university. My dissertation begins in February, so cannot use my supervisor from that.   I want to pursue a PhD, and am at the stage of applying for programmes. However, each programme requires "two academic references", and am unable to come up with a second one (professor N being the first) that would provide the best application.  Giving many of you read references, and recruit PhD students, which of the following references would you prefer receiving:   A senior software developer where I previously worked (he has a PhD in physics), but I feel this is not "academic". My personal tutor (a professor who helps with any personal or professional problems), whom I have not seen in a few months, but have used for references before (to get the aforementioned job). Professor B who has taught me over the past three months, but whom I am not close with (on a personal or professional level).   I know my question is a bit specific, so perhaps to generalise:  Q. Is it acceptable to have industrial references when applying for PhD positions, or should I instead use university professors as reference? Even if they may result in a generic reference letter.  Q. How can I speak with professor B to avoid him writing a generic reference letter about me?
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Here is my case, before I studied my master´s degree I managed to write a research paper jointly with a Professor (not from my university) on databases. After that I pursue my master´s degree in CS, but on neural networks rather than databases. The thing is that I would like to do my PhD in databases with the professor I wrote the research paper with. Do you think that I can have problems with the admission committee? I would not like to go to study a PhD without any financial support at all.
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I will be a second year math under-grad in September, and currently doing an internship at applied math research institute. Most probably, I will come up with a research paper at the end of the internship.  However, my interest after my bachelors is to do PhD in pure math from a top math school.My question is this:     Would the admission committee consider my current research since it is in applied math?    In addition, if anyone can suggest me some ideas on how can I bridge the gap between my paper in applied math and my interest in analysis, I would be extremely grateful.  P.S.:  is a related but different question also of mine.
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When I apply to a PhD program, may I ask a postdoc who closely supervised me to write a recommendation letter? My supervisor also has written one for me, but I believe the postdoc can comment on my research skills in a more detailed and precise way. Does a postdoc have enough authority to convince admission committee?
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I'm thinking about pursue my studies and doing a PhD in information technology.  My problem is that I would like to create something new (== write code), and focus my thesis on how this new technology works (each component and global interactions), what it can do, and how it can evolves / be improved. I'm not against doing research, reading books and work on theory - but I want to be more practical than theoretical.  I'm starting to think that a PhD is not a valid option if my goal is to develop something new instead of conducting pure research. Am I wrong ?  About my cursus: I will receive my master degree soon (~= 3 months). I come from a highly technical background, with 5 years of programming and project management.    Edit &amp; more information My university doesn't offers PhD courses, thus my supervisor don't care about   my choices. Another consequence is that I have no other choices than to go to another university.
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I have chosen to work under a associate professor as my PhD advisor. He has a small research group -a group of 3 graduate students and some Undergraduates. I see colleagues of my advisor have groups of 10-12 students with 3 postdocs.   Am I missing something- research wise ??
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Is it possible for someone to get into a Ph.D. without a thesis at Masters-level?  If someone doesn't have a thesis at his Masters-level, what other criteria can he fill in order to approach a potential supervisor?
10891
I have accepted a PhD offer from a very good university to do a project very close to my interests. I have told the project supervisor I accept it. In the meanwhile I have managed to secure a PhD offer from another 2 universities much better in world rankings and with better research groups and better faculty. Additionally these 2 universities do research exactly on what I want to devote my PhD research.  My only commitment to the first university is a mail confirming I accept. Nothing else. I understand declining the offer after already having accepted it is quite dishonest but it is a huge decision that will affect my future in a very significant level.   I would like your opinion and I would also like to ask for possible consequences of such an action. As far a postdocs concerned, in the first university there is no chance I ever get a postdoc since they do not actually do research on my area (except for the prospective supervisor and even he not as much).  UPDATE I have decided to do as I was afraid to. I have decided to choose a different university than the first one that I have already accepted the offer. My offer acceptance included:    An online "I accept" statement. An e-mail I sent stating "I accept the scholarship and this University is my first option"   I do not have any legal commitments since I have not signed anything. The supervisor of the first university though is really nice to me and continuously was sending me mails. How do I very nicely tell her I will not be joining in the end? Additionally the place I will go in the end will be for research in Mathematics and not Physics. Can I use this as a part of a sensical excuse?  WHAT I HAVE CHOSEN AND WHAT THE CONSEQUENCES WERE  I think that I should let people, especially other beginning grad students know what happened with my case. I have chosen to nicely tell the first university I got accepted that I will not be attending and will not be pursuing a PhD there since I decided I have different research interests (which is true). I had applied there in the first place since I was not sure what I wanted to do and because it was a nice program. Despite that, I got an offer from a World top university to work on 100% my research interests. I explained this to them, the first uni, and they happily let me go and wished me good luck, especially the supervisor who faught a lot secure me funding. I was lucky.
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I am applying for PhD programs in the USA, one of the schools requested a PhD research interest. The problem is I do not know how to write it, and I didn't done any research in my masters degree, are there any solution?
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I've looked at the resumes of the type of candidates that get into computer science PhD programs at the top few universities (e.g. Stanford, MIT etc.) and a lot of them seem to have multiple publications (2-4) done during their undergraduate years. Is this representative of the entire pool? Or is this just a self-selected group that puts their resumes online.  I currently have one first-author workshop paper (5 pages), and I wonder how this might affect my chances at entry into these top universities.
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Are students with masters degree allowed to enter a masters program in the same area at a good university?  Is second masters a good option for a better research experience and improving your CV before applying to a PhD in top programs? I am specifically interested in US universities and computer science.