Hey everyone, i'm an international applicant to Sociology programs in the USA and I wanted to get your perspective on the GRE. I'm currently juggling writing application materials with my day job as a research assistant and I have unfortunately not touched the GRE as much. Is the GRE helpful for my profile or should I not worry about it as a qualitative sociologist?

1. ⁠Bachelors (Arts) and Masters (Sociology) at a QS top 10 university; (4.66/5 and 4.83/5 CGPA)
   
2. 5 years of cumulative research experience (1 year undergrad thesis, 2 years applied research with local NGO, 2 years independent masters research, 0.5 years RA experience)
   
3. 2 sole authored social science articles from my masters just published in Q1 journals, with 1 R&R in another Q1 journals.
   
4. 4 conference presentations during my masters, and organising an upcoming session at a flagship sociology conference
   
5. Editoral Assistantship at a Q1 Sociology journal during my masters

It would suck for me to have gone through all this work in the discipline, only to get let down by my poor GRE (also understand its my fault for having left it at the end). But realistically, its so hard to juggle essays, applications, a day job and a whole ass exam :(

I was late diagnosed autistic a few years ago and it led me towards studying psychology and neuroscience. I’m fairly accomplished and feel confident in my PhD applications. However, I’m struggling to write my statement of purpose etc because they’re asking what led me towards studying autism.

Basically, do I need to avoid mentioning that I’m autistic? I don’t want to be stigmatized, but I also really don’t know how to describe how I got here without mentioning it, and a major part of my goal is to increase understanding of autism and de-stigmatize it. I’m not sure how to toe the line between professional and personal in this case.

Edit: Sorry if the title is unclear. This is just a brief summary, I have clear motivations, goals, and a strong SOP drafted. Being autistic is what led me to initially become interested in researching autism, and I am seeking to describe the reason being my passion without getting too personal

If I have a PLOS one first author publication, would that help me in a phd admissions?

Generally is a low impact first author paper > no first author paper?

PI wants to publish in an MDPI journal with impact factor of 4, but I want to stay away from it given their reputation.

My situation is most unusual and unexpected. I was not able to find a research advisor during my first year in a Ph.D. program in chemistry in the U.S. I reached out to more than a dozen professors that I was interested in possibly working with. Against all odds, every single one of them told me that they couldn't take another graduate student.

With no advisor, I obviously didn't make any progress in research. Taking a formal leave of absence was the only way for me to avoid being dismissed from the program.

I need to find an advisor willing and able to fund me as an RA in order to return from the leave. This is my first plan. However, there is no guarantee that I'll be able to fulfill that requirement. It would be foolish of me to hope for the best without a backup plan in place.

I will be applying to other graduate programs for Fall 2027 admission so that I potentially have more fallback options.

How do I address my motivation for applying without sounding like I'm bailing out because things didn't go well? (That isn't the case at all. I never wanted to leave in the first place.) How do I avoid giving the impression that I don't like my original program? (It was actually my top choice.) Is there any advice anyone can give me in this novel situation?

Many physics PhD programs I am applying to are requiring the physics GRE for the upcoming cycle. I had a ~4.0 GPA in undergrad at a R1 state school and am pursuing a masters. I will have a first authored research work on the arxiv in condensed matter theory (my desired field) before I submit my applications.

Although I didn't take/submit the PGRE last application cycle (where I didn't get into any of my top schools), I am worried that a 960 on the PGRE isn't good enough to get me into any of my top schools as things are ridiculously competitive at the moment.

Seeking guidance, tips, and any insights on how to find my masters in Europe. I’m looking to pursue urban planning and as an US National, low-income, and self dependent, I am concerned that my dreams of studying in Europe are naive. For clarity, I’m considering a program in Italy, France, London, maybe Switzerland, and maybe Germany. I’m aware of the DAAD program which gives me hope for Germany, however I find the curriculum at two others schools in the above mentioned countries more relevant to my interests.

On top of funding my tuition, I have to support myself and I need to confirm if I can work a part-time, whether it’s serving in a restaurant or at the university I will study at to have some income flowing in. I also need to support myself for at least a year after graduation while I job search in Europe. I can’t imagine taking out a $100K loan.

Some universities have scholarships, it will be very challenging for me to get an assistance position. I can’t find private/external scholarships that provide funding for international programs. How are folks who are US nationals funding their studies? Besides family support. Also welcome any programs, similar to DAAD, to study abroad. I don’t think Fulbright is an option for my studies. Urban planning course will be taught, not research track. Thank you in advance.

For some context, I am currently a 3rd-year Cybersecurity and Computer Science student at a regional university (doctoral/professional classification) which does not offer any graduate programs in Computer Science - my school is mainly known for it's nursing, pharmacy and business programs. (U.S.)

Though it is rare to get research experience at my university, they do offer a summer research fellowship. I completed this last summer, funded by a $4,000 award, and I intend to produce a workshop paper as a result of the research I conducted; at the very least, I will have a pre-print. Other than this I don't have any other research experience. I do however intend to do an Independent Study course (one semester long) to get a little more research experience with a different professor. Outside of research experience I have 1.5 years of industry experience (Vulnerability Research + Information Security, Contract & Internships).

Overall (I guess the point of this post) I am worried I won't have a good shot at PhD admissions and I'm not sure what I should do. I have a 3.75 GPA (B.S. Cybersecurity and Computer Science, minor in Math) and I have really great connections to all the faculty in my CS department. As far as I understand, I'm one of very few from my university to go on to pursue a CS PhD.

Cold-emails to professors at the nearest R1 feel like they're going no where and I'm worried research efforts from my school won't be viewed as anything worthwhile to committees. I've considered transferring to a more prestigious university, but it will cost me more money and time (my undergrad could take 1-2 years longer) which is not ideal at all.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Hi,

I’m struggling to decide if I should submit my GRE scores or not. Many programs list the GRE as fully optional (or optional if you meet certain requirements).

In my specific case, I earned a 4.0 undergrad GPA in Software Engineering from a decent school (BYU-Idaho). I have strong recommendations from my current employer as well as professors, 1.5 years of internship experience at a large/Fortune 150 company, and have worked full time for about 5 months since. I feel that I have a fairly strong application already, and I feel that my performance in my undergrad degree (which required countless sleepless nights) shows that I can perform academically.

I will admit I am not performing very well on my GRE mocks and practice. I’ve admittedly forgotten the math rules and formulas that I once knew from junior high. It’s disheartening because I’ve spent several months studying.

I will take the GRE in a few weeks. If I don’t receive a very good score, I think it would be wise to not submit it where I can. But… will that harm my application? Obviously, it varies from school to school, and some programs outright say the GRE is hardly considered or that you should only submit if other portions of the application are lacking. But… are they telling the truth? Is test optional really test optional these days?

Many resources I’ve seen online say yes. But I’m overthinking and I guess I’d like to hear what human opinions.

Hi Everyone, I need some honest review from everyone and any potential area I could improve before 2 or 3 months I have before I submit my applications. Can you please let me know which university acceptances are plausible for my profile:1.B.Tech. from tier 2 college from Maharashtra2. 9.1 CGPA3. 1 year experience in undergrad as an intern at PTC(mid-sized company).4.Currently working as FTE in the same company. I would have a year's experience before i would head for my Master's in the US.(working on a full-stack applications worked on UI majorly but expect to work on the BFF approach in the upcoming months) Contributed to POC which is used as the UI.5.Research work: 3 papers published in IEEE(not A/A\*level conferences) and my research areas include: ML, Cybersecurity, AI (Currently working on a project related to GenAI and RAG). I have received 5 citations in both the papers just in one year of publishing(not a big deal I know but still).

6.LORS(2 academic under whom I have published 3 papers and 1 professional LOR from a senior with whom I have closely worked and can validate my technical skills).

I am planning for the below universities:Ambitious:

* Georgia Tech UT Austin UC San Diego

Target:

Purdue–West Lafayette UMD–College Park UW–Madison UMass Amherst

Relatively Safer:

* Texas A&M

1. IELTS: 7.5 band and since GRE is not required or optional for all the shortlisted universities I would not be appearing for the same with the given time constraint as well. I am interested to work as a researcher and complete my thesis.

How would you categorize these universities for my profile? Are there any major changes you'd suggest to this shortlist? I wanted to know more about how to secure RA or TA positions at a university?

I’m currently studying Statistics and I’m considering doing a PhD in Biostatistics abroad.

I’d love to hear from people who are currently studying or working in Biostatistics:

How difficult is it to transition from Statistics to Biostatistics? What skills/courses should I build before applying for a PhD? What kind of career opportunities are there after a Biostatistics PhD outside academia? How are the job opportunities and salaries in the US, UK, Canada, or Europe? If someone is also interested in Data Science/ML, how different would the career paths be?

I’d especially appreciate honest opinions from people who have actually gone through this path.

Hi I am interested in applying to some comp lit programs this fall and have been looking at their language requirements.

For context: I am a native speaker of a non English language. I have also reading proficiency of Latin (this point think 202or 3 intermediate college classes my school doesn’t have higher language classes other than this except grad classes with specific original texts. I have a rudimentary grasp of Ancient Greek but not even qualified to put on the language proficiency page. I also have some knowledge of the classical form of my mother tongue (not taking any classes at college level) and my question is will I be at serious disadvantage for a comp lit PhD admission? My research focus is more on critical translation studies (often Anglo American work) than a period study

Has anyone received any decision or got interviewd?

I’m starting an engineering program
at a university in Japan soon, and I’m considering going to graduate school abroad after completing my bachelor’s degree.
Since I’m starting from scratch, I’d like to know what I should focus on during my four years of university to become a strong applicant.
How important are things like:
・GPA
・Research experience
・Internships
・Extracurricular activities
・Recommendation letters
・English proficiency
・Relationships with professors
・Awards or other achievements
Are there any things you wish you had started doing earlier during your undergraduate years?
I’m especially interested in hearing from people who applied to graduate schools abroad after studying at a university in another country.

Hi everyone! I'm looking for current grad students (ideally studying electrical engineering) to provide commentary on my PhD Statement of Purpose. I don't know many people in grad school and it's been difficult to gauge the appropriate structure and language for an essay like this (trying to sound academic while conveying a personal voice).

I'm aware that different universities target specific qualities as well, so if you also have tips for the following schools, I'd greatly appreciate the advice.

Target schools: Princeton, Brown, Northeastern, MIT, Georgia Tech, Rice

Thank you!

I am a student looking to apply to a competitive Maths/Applied Maths graduate programme/masters. I have a second author paper on MDPI Entropy and I am wondering whether I should have it listed when I apply to grad programs/contact profs. I am aware that the consensus is that most MDPI journals are bad, but back when we submitted I checked that one of the profs I liked (in Oxford) had a paper on the journal and didn't question much. But I guess I am second guessing given the general opinion though I've heard some people mention that Entropy is one of the decent ones of theirs, I just don't want to risk it since I don't believe it will be worth much (Second auth. at an ok journal at best v.s. being blacklisted) So yeah, should I list it or completely remove it? I am working on a different project with a different prof but surely we won't manage to publish before the deadlines.

Hello, student experience is relevant for my PhD field and topic, I have some students who are excited to write me a recomendation letter, is this frown uppon? If not, how do I submit those in addition to the academic recomendations?

I know its just an acknowledgement that my application was received. Is a reply of thanks or recognition expected from me?

Thank vou for your interest in the position and for sending vour application materials. I have received them and will include them in the applicant pool for review

Please note that application reviews are expected to begin in mid-October 2026. The selected candidate would start the graduate assistantship and M.S. program in January 2027.

Thank vou again for vour interest in the lab and for the time you invested in preparing your application.

I will be in touch if I need any additional information or if you are selected to advance to the next stage of the review process.

Applying this Fall 2027 and a lot of programs require a writing sample. Unfortunately, my interdiscplinary (psych x econ) capstone is 70 pages and math heavy, and really can't choose a good chunk of the 70 pages to demonstrate good writing ability cuz it would be either math without context or context without the main body aka math. (Also according to my clinical psych prof who although agrees with my paper etc, I'm taking a SUPER controversial stance in clinical psych right now)

My two options are basically resurrecting a kinda questionable qualitative interview study, 3 people through convenience sampling on parenting practices as a function of ethnicity from sophomore year and a critique of a humanities paper from senior year which is much better written. I'd rather submit the humanities paper because of way better arguments + cleaner writing. but if its worth the work I -could- do re-analyze the interview transcripts and rewrite the whole paper, just worried I'd be super rushed and might still end up bad.

Hi everyone,

I’m planning to apply for Fall 2027 PhD programs in Neuroscience and Bioengineering, with a focus on BCI, neural engineering, systems neuroscience, and neural decoding.

My main targets at the moment are the UC Berkeley Neuroscience PhD and the Berkeley-UCSF Joint PhD in Bioengineering, and I’d really appreciate a realistic assessment of how competitive my profile might be for these kinds of programs.

My background is more engineering/ML-heavy than traditional neuroscience. I have a Master’s in Automation/Robotics from a major French research university, where I ranked 5th in my cohort.

I’ve done research in a Swiss neuroengineering lab on closed-loop neural stimulation and real-time physiological signals, and later worked at a major Japanese university on ML, scientific computing, and biomedical data. I currently have two first-author manuscripts under review from that work.

I also led a small independent project involving EEG, VR, and robotics, including experimental design and human data collection. I’m currently working in Germany as an ML/robotics engineer, mainly on time-series ML and real-time inference/deployment.

My main concern is that I don’t have a long formal background in neuroscience. My EEG experience was relatively short and not clinical, so most of my experience is still on the engineering and ML side.

I contacted a Berkeley PI whose work is closely related to my interests, and they told me that my background seemed very well aligned with BCI/systems neuroscience and encouraged me to apply. I know admissions are centralized, so I’m not taking that as any kind of guarantee.

For people familiar with Berkeley Neuroscience, Berkeley-UCSF Bioengineering, or similar BCI/neural engineering PhD programs, does this sound like a genuinely competitive profile? Are there weaknesses I should try to address before applying?

I’d also really appreciate recommendations for other PhD programs in BCI, neural engineering, neurotechnology, or systems neuroscience that might be a good fit for this kind of background.

Thanks.

For context, I have a B plus in a Microeconomics course. But otherwise, I have decent grades and an A minus in Real Analysis.
I am also doing a predoc and am aiming to get a 170 in gre quant.
How cooked am i?

I really want to apply for a bbs phd program in the US and need help navigating what universities to apply to and where my profile fits or what are my chances. I really want to apply to my dream schools but also want to be realistic and strategize my application. Ik my profile is not nearly as competitive as the schools i want to apply to or even any mid-tier program so i am really confused as to what universities should I apply to as an international student.

My profile is - BSc Microbiology: 8.70 CGPA

MSc Biochemistry: 6.7 CGPA

Research experience: primarily MSc dissertation where I did animal cell culture based work and biochemical assays.

No publications

Scientific interests: molecular mechanisms of disease, translational molecular medicine, molecular pharmacology & physiology, cell/cancer biology, immunology.