How to apply for a PhD | The secrets no-one else has told you! PhD Admissions

In this video I go through all of the tips and tricks for applying for a PhD. I share with you some of the secrets that no one else has told you!
My newsletter: andrewstapleton.com.au/newsle...
0:00 - introduction
0:53 - do not spam
2:56 - apply for an existing research position
5:27 - develop a research proposal with an academic
9:51 - create a funnel
14:31 - summary

[@LazerEyez_Lenin]

Emailing can be an intimidating process. You don't want to ruin your chances of admission before applying by sounding generic or ignorant. And the no response thing can be demoralizing, but don't give up. I was very fortunate to receive responses from so many professors from the past couple months and have started email chains with a few of them. It's not a guarantee that I'll be admitted, but it's a start. I attribute this to me being specific with what my aim is with regards to research. I didn't necessarily have a research proposal, but didn't leave room for them to guess what my interests are. Take it from myself, someone from some a smaller state university where the department I'm part of doesn't even have a PhD program itself, getting responses and starting email chains from professors from more "prestigious" institutions in my field. Wish me luck this fall 🤙

[@Philgob]

Any news???

[@stket6859]

Hey, what do you talk to them about in these emails?

[@davidmilner5442]

I found that one of the main reasons I had a leg up on other PhD applicants was because I had contacted PIs before admissions season began. Maybe I was more specific or something, but I really think it's a good move to get in contact early and often with professors you want to work with.

[@janswanton3631]

Fantastic advice, as ever! You have been so helpful to me. I have recommended your videos/newsletter to a good friend who is looking to apply to do a PhD soon. A template would be very useful, but I know here in England, universities often have a template of their own for proposals. But using a template from you, tweaking proposals to suit will be a lot easier.

[@shinra2755]

Getting INTO the PhD is as hard as doing the thing!!

[@pooriaaminazad2282]

Thank you so much for making this video!!

[@janematanaicake-lumon1747]

Thank you for this video. Very informative and now I can be guided with on what I need to do next. Thank you

[@rony2120]

Many many thanks, Andy! Helpful video, as always! I think there's a third way for applying for a PhD: is to apply for a PhD program of a given university. It is neither necessarily part of a project nor a research proposal with an academic (though some applications for PhD programs require a research proposal). So a given university offers *annually* a certain amount of scholarships for almost (if not all) every department of the university. Although most of the PhD applications in Europe (for instance) fits in the 1st type you've spoken about in the video, I've seen some applications as I mentioned above, especially in Italy. I'd love to know your opinion about this type of PhD application.

[@slaozcelik3751]

I was feeling very intimated and hopeless. I had 2 rejections already, I know it is very normal but still it gets to me. After watching your videos and seeing all the comments I feel a lot better. Thank you :)

[@LEARNWITHPANDA]

Useful tips. Many thanks Dr. Andy

[@DrAndyStapleton]

My pleasure

[@aymena6029]

Very helpful videos 👍🏼👍🏼

[@reijiriho]

I got my offer the same time this vid was up 🤣 very useful information nonetheless. Also, I just want to thank you for your vids, so helpful and informative. I don't think I would be able to nail the interview without the info you've shared... very excited for this new journey but at the same time, my anxiety is up the roof lol... never actually felt imposter syndrome this intense before 😩

[@DrAndyStapleton]

Congratulations! I'll be talking about the imposter syndrome very soon!

[@shinra2755]

We’re all just people. Academia is overhyped! You belong just as much as the next person. Good luck!

[@slurperslurpslurp2670]

Amon gus

[@peteranesu8870]

I Hope I will be saying the same thing soon!

[@MizanurRahmanITA]

A1! , Insightful

[@massimoneri7737]

Hi! Keep up the great work!!! I was wondering if you had a video explaining how the citation system works in academia? How are they updated on google scholar? I would find that super revealing!

[@anamkhan9304]

Thanks a lot

[@mahmudaislam5428]

I really like the way you talk. It looks like your hands and eyes are talking too. You are genuinely trying to be helpful 😊👍

[@janematanaicake-lumon1747]

Yes the template would be really useful.

[@davidh2815]

Hello Dr. Andrew.... we appreciate your efforts, the information you share are very insightful. I would love to get the template. Thank you

[@nisalaprabhath6271]

Honestly thank you..

[@snkhan1719]

Kindly make one video upon how to write phd research proposal.

[@joeboxter3635]

Why don't YOU start a research by publication institution? You get grants. Get students. Help them publish 3 or 5 papers. Grant done and multiple students walk away with PhD title and experience.

[@momentsma6870]

Appreciate if we can have the template from Andy

[@nurkleblurker2482]

Is this specific to the UK and Aus? As far as I know PhD students in the US do not write a proposal to begin a PhD.

[@TrolleningIshraq]

How can I subscribe to the newsletter? I do not see my subscribe button in the newsletter website

[@ayashasiddika]

Yes, give us the template please.

[@bobonaqa]

should you only mail professors or also postdocs or even phd students?

[@DD-xg4fe]

I’d really lovely if you could sketch a template😊 thank you in advance

[@lolaperez6350]

Hi Andrew, Thank you for the tips! My deadline to apply for my PhD is in four days. I'm in the process to contact my supervisor, however, you think it will be better to delay my application so I can wait to hear from some potential supervisors? Any advice will be much appreciated. Thank you 😊!

[@stket6859]

Hi there, I have a question for you! Unfortunately, I was a very inattentive student and didn’t do the best that I could have done during my BSc and MSc. I got a 2.1 at BSc and a Merit (61%) from my MSc degree. I have little to no experience in the fields I would like to apply to, and it’s not even possible to do voluntary work for researchers to get some experience nowadays. Do you have a realistic advice for this? You can also be very honest and let me know if you think it might not be very realistic in my situation to get a PhD … Thank you very much for your time if you read either way

[@danils98]

I'm in a very similiar situation. I don't know how my grades translate to your system but I have like a 7/10 in my BSc. I've been applying to PhD programs for months and I've gotten rejected or ignored multiple times. I feel really lost and hopeless.

[@angelamary843]

Hi Andy, do you think you will be able to make a video on how to finish a phd when you're supervisor expects you to replicate experiments and methods from a scientific paper? I have no lab experience, I'm not sure how to go about it...I'm really freaked out by this

[@robertolender2491]

Hi Angela, what methods in particular?

[@angelamary843]

@@robertolender2491 I'm working on making colloidal quantum dots leds..any inputs would be really helpful

[@tayyabgondal1730]

Hy can you help me about this

[@harikumarv4658]

I'm watching this just after writing an elaborate email to a prospective PhD supervisor lmao. Seems like I spammed.

[@ammaralmiaza384]

hhhhhhaaaa i love your research ....

[@jhamdan2012]

Research proposal is not required for all US and Canadian universities, unlike in the UK as it replaces the GRE which is not required in the UK except for top 3 universities in the country. Second, your application methods are unrealistic such as researching the topic of interest and find which professors get funded for, and when those funds would be allocated and must be synchronized with the time frame of applications,read all researches done by those professors.....and then repeat the same process for 7 other universities since you can't rely on one application for PhD. Another arrogant point you made about the style applicants reach out for professors, applicants depend on the information displayed on the uni website which is not updated most of the time. For instance, I felt one associate professor's work matches exactly my research interests and she works for that same department and same specialty, it turned out that she's not teaching PhD students and she's now the director of MBA program although she's got the largest funding for the next five years. Either she was telling the truth or protecting her massive findings from additional students assigned to her. Either way, I contacted her based on the position she held from the info on the website. Another professor claimed he has lots of students from his uni and other global universities, although the website placed him as the primary professor in the field for this uni. The bottom line, professors don't say the truth about their availability for equivocal reasons. That's why there is a committee reviews all applications to ensure equity and no funky business has been practiced by professors.

[@constructionsite8407]

I have applied 10 times for a phd and rejected. 1:x 2:x 3:x 4:x 5:x 6:x 7:x 8:x 9:x 10:x

[@anamkhan9304]

Thanks a lot