your personal statement sucks

This video contains some brief advice on writing personal statements (but this is just like, my opinion man.) Why am I posting this in February? If you are applying to things in 8 months---NOW IS THE TIME TO WRITE THESE THINGS UP. That way you have time to bring all your documents to people and have them read and critique things. Good luck out there!
Before starting a career in academia you may want to watch my postdoc exodus video.

[@Viola_Glubok]

Very Funny to see this video's title in March when acceptances and rejection are already coming out. My initial response was "No, I got in, it was a good statement believe me!" It makes sense though, both cause it's in response to a tweet from a professor reading them and also for students who want to apply next year.

[@acollierastro]

Pinning this comment so people read the description and realize they need to work on these applications early. Congrats on your acceptance, I hope you enjoy grad school!

[@cygfreas6934]

really enjoyed paleontology referred to as "dinosaur school" like maybe u are a dinosaur who is applying for dinosaur graduate school

[@lakecityransom]

"Despite my shortcomings, I have a great interest in writing about this field." - Tyrannosauru S. Rex

[@beryllium1932]

NCSU has a model farm with a sign, "Chicken Educational Unit" 😂 bok, bok, bah-ok...

[@katiekawaii]

😂

[@antonnurwald5700]

I was thinking the same thing. And how sad it was that the dinosaur graduate spent their formative years in a museum.

[@roippi3985]

Professor, upon reading the dinosaur’s personal statement: “Clever girl.”

[@culwin]

"Ever since I was a kid, I've hated space" -there, that's a freebie for anyone applying. Guaranteed to make you stand out!

[@SmileyxKyley]

“I’m applying to this astrophysics program to hopefully destroy space from the inside out”

[@GSBarlev]

Wait, isn't that the backstory of the main antagonists from _Life, the Universe and Everything?_

[@sharkeysribjoint]

its insane how true this is

[@violetsweet1660]

I learned fluid dynamics so I would have total mastery over my lifelong nemesis: fluid.

[@clawsoon]

As someone who has never thought seriously about going to grad school, I have to say that the name "personal statement" is a dumb name given what you've described. You're basically saying, "Never put anything personal [in the normal meaning of that word] in your personal statement." For first-generation students, this is 100% a "gotcha, bitch!" name.

[@seanbeadles7421]

Yea it reeks of a classist shibboleth

[@scotty15002]

@@seanbeadles7421 Completely agree, this pretty much filters in those "in the know" at the exclusion of everyone else. It's a great way to lose potential qualified applicants and just end up with the children of academics.

[@inevespace]

Agree, as a foreigner when I see requirement of personal statement I think like "WTF do you want? Everything important for the commission is in research statement already". And what is interesting, you can't find reliable information what it should be and "good" examples online. It's like University/employer ask you "Please, BS for us a little bit"

[@gaerekxenos]

​@@scotty15002It sucks, but on the other hand... it ironically makes sense. People who are children of academics will typically "know the rules" and would generally need a little less guidance on certain things because they would have already known those tidbits beforehand. An example I have on hand is... if you work in Tech, you *DO NOT* bring a camera into work, and you most certainly *DO NOT* pull out your phone and take pictures of your workplace to share on social media. People who grew up with someone who works in Tech would probably hear about these issues beforehand; people who don't are far less likely to hear about it. It is a *big deal*, as data leaks and the like can happen with the photography issue, and could lead to dismissal if it is seems like you could end up being a security risk that way I... don't like the personal statement thing either due to the veiled discrimination thing going on either. It's not even that veiled if you actually are aware of what's up =/

[@ALEXGIBSONCMG]

Fellow star trek enjoyer i see. TNG?

[@zigoo]

I propose that instead of $100 everybody needs to enclose a 100mL bottle of blood with their application. All applicants should have a roughly equal amount of blood, and it shows an appropriate level of earnestness. Reviewers will open and confirm blood authenticity prior to dumping it into a big bucket and accepting the application for consideration.

[@APSejuani]

And then the accepted students get all the blood to use in their research! (sadly not particularly useful if you're going for a PhD in like, linguistics or something)

[@milesmartig5603]

@@APSejuani Donate it to a frat. They wouldn’t have to spend as much on goat blood.

[@zornslemon]

How do you know it’s the grad student’s own blood? You have to send it for DNA testing. So then they also need to send you $1000 for the DNA test.

[@adashofbitter]

Acollierastro: "And I hope not to make a habit of making videos about tweets... because that's so pathetic" Little Joel: "Am I a joke to you?"

[@rubensmuse]

something tells me Little Joel would agree at his own expense

[@bettievw]

This intersection of academic nerds and little Joel watchers is so funny to me. Are we all just the same person?

[@joanabug4479]

@@bettievw huh when did I write this comment? I could've sworn I had no account by that name. Ah, good reminder to go check on Little Joel as well

[@bkbland1626]

​@@bettievwwe ARE all the same person. Cool, huh?

[@crimsontaints]

It's hard to understate how bad my Masters application was. I had been self employed for my whole working life. I did my bachelors 12 years ago and i couldnt contact any of my old Prof's and it was an unrelated subject. I had no references at all. My personal statement was basically "Trust me bro, i got this". They let me in though.

[@mystomachhurt9312]

Good vibe, man

[@KrazyKrzysztof]

money talks

[@hamc9477]

Australia?

[@crimsontaints]

@@hamc9477 england

[@matthartley6537]

I applied for a summer research program at a fairly good university my Junior year, and due to their application process being terrible I accidentally got accepted to their PhD program, but didn't receive any funding. I always thought it was a scam, but also that it was hilarious that a school like that would let somebody without a Bachelor's degree into their PhD program.

[@gentlebob2869]

Man I put off applying to graduate school specifically because of the application fees and the personal statement. First-generation means having none of the resources to be able to do either of those well and everybody around me had the same "well I dunno write about why you're interested in XXXXX" shrug. Thankfully I was able to find a master's program that had no app fee, no tuition, and no personal statement and decisions were based on grades in relevant coursework and CV. Most transparent and simplified application I've had and I love my program. Now that I'm looking at PhD programs, you have no idea how helpful this is to me. I'll probably come back to it when I apply but honestly, thank you for this. This video was the realest insight into grad school application committees I've gotten and first-gen students really need someone who knows what they're doing to tell them what's going on. We sure as hell don't. This is such important knowledge for us. Thank you!

[@acollierastro]

This is really nice! The most important advice is to ask people in your field though. I'm sure you have some good mentors in your masters program. Good luck with your apps!

[@ukaszzbrozek6470]

Listening to you makes me grateful that I am a college dropout.

[@tobiverrum]

same

[@memer2694]

Same. I had a bad GPA in college but a successful career. I'm Thinking about grad school. This video definitely encouraged me to not waste my time and money. Such needless gatekeeping. To think you could do everything right, just to have your application thrown out because you never established a strong relationship with a professor.

[@Paralititan]

The 100 dollars is absolutely wild in my opinion. Promotes inequity.

[@mallninja9805]

They want to make sure you understand the game is pay-to-win, so they make you ante up

[@CaptTerrific]

ROFL as a former pastry chef, the number of "I love learning to bake pies with my grandma" we got on applications was unbelievable... But we loved it!

[@thromboid]

Haha...I guess it's better than "I love eating pies". :)

[@thromboid]

(I think a lot of gamers think wishfully that game development means getting paid to play games.)

[@MrDerp72]

Damn, I just applied to a master's program two days ago and I literally did exactly that with my motivation letter. Now I'm even more sure they probably won't accept me :(

[@amentrison2794]

Hopefully it goes well anyways. I'm sending you positive vibes

[@acollierastro]

It’s such a common mistake, if your application is otherwise great im sure your personal statement won’t negatively effect you. Good luck!

[@BramHeerebout]

Dear Mr Derp, I am watching this video 5 months late. Could you please give us an update? Did you get in? I hope you did! Best wishes!

[@MrDerp72]

@@BramHeerebout Oh my god, just now I saw the notification of your reply. Sorry! But I DID get accepted!! Thank you so much for your wishes!!

[@BramHeerebout]

@MrDerp72 Hey thank you for the update! That is positive news. Good luck with your adventure. Italy is wonderful!

[@music_YT2023]

I didn't apply to graduate school until I was in my 30s so I had no recent/current professors to ask. I'm lucky that my PI and my business office contacts were lovely enough to write glowing letters of recommendation because seriously, what other option is there? Still, I think my personal statement for my current graduate position boiled down to: 'I've published x amount of papers on these topics, and I absolutely love what I do, but there's more for me to learn and I am excited to explore '... even that felt too Disney hopeful for a statement, but 🤷🏽‍♀️.

[@WhatTheFriedRice]

I think hopeful earnestness takes a lot more courage than bland cynicism

[@123370]

As a non-academic whose partner is a professor, i appreciate all these glimpses into that world.

[@meridian5536]

I love how you called this niche but you presented it all super interestingly for people like me who have no personal investment in higher education. I didn't even know what a personal statement was before this video but I watched the whole thing.

[@4thace]

I felt a little PTSD watching this not because of my own experience so much, which was a long time ago and ended up working out fine for me in the end, but for the part at the end with the adjunct/assistant professor thing. For me it's like a creepypasta story but in academia, and your delivery does not disappoint.

[@heijd]

"it was 2019, so it was *before*"

[@perfidy1103]

Even when I was writing my personal statement for applying to do my undergraduate degree I knew the whole "I have loved X since I was a child..." thing was bad. The issue is, this just lead me to be paralysed with how I should start instead. I think in the end I went with "I have loved X since I was a child..." anyway, because it was that or spent weeks not knowing how to start it. When we had our subject Christmas party, the senior tutor explained that they basically didn't care about personal statements: it was all about exam results and the technical interview. I tend to agree with #abolishpersonalstatements. Also I didn't have to write a research statement for my PhD programme. Not sure if it's the case for other subjects in the UK, but for maths you essentially don't know enough pre-PhD to formulate anything useful, so a research statement would basically be a bunch of buzz words at best: elliptic curves this, Iwasawa Theory that...

[@none_of_your_business]

This is why I'll always prefer the industry over academia. In the industry you can literally come off the street, apply to a job, you get tested, and if you're a good fit you get the big bucks and if you're selective enough about which jobs you apply for, you'll have fun tackling problems that are just as interesting. Not to mention a lot of companies have a hard time finding people, so competition is rarely tough.

[@nicklockard]

You also learn a lot more in industry.

[@GSBarlev]

It _really_ depends on the industry. Oh so many places still have education requirements, and while the movement for abolishing them is gaining strength, there's a really practical reason for not: H1B visas-if a position doesn't require higher education in a niche field, you won't be able to recruit and hire international talent. And if you _absolish_ education requirements, you're putting at risk the immigration status of the people you brought in on those visas. *tl;dr-America's garbage immigration system ruins everything*

[@mewho8057]

which field are you in? In mine it seems so often that academia is where the open-ended questions are, and industry mostly wants to improve the tech they sell.

[@amcentaggart574]

Hi, I applied to physics grad school last fall and had a couple of thoughts on points made in this video: 1. Most if not all top-tier programs just require a "personal statement" where you're expected to describe both your physics experience and your research interests at that program (i.e., no separate "personal statement" and "research statement"). 2. In general, I think the chronological story structure is safe and effective for personal essays, and many successful statements (including mine) follow it. So it's totally fine to kick off a personal statement describing how you became passionate about a field, including what interested you as a child. 3. Personal/family issues are absolutely relevant to a grad program application - in fact, many programs explicitly include a section outside of the personal statement where applicants may describe how an issue has affected them during college. In particular, if it led to a bad semester or a bad test score or something, it's important to contextualize that and most programs do consider it.

[@robertvarner9519]

Angela! You are a first rate story teller. I'm not in the process of applying to graduate school but found this video interesting and entertaining. You gave people applying to graduate school great advice on how to go through the process. BTW, I only went as far as a masters degree in molecular biology. That was enough school for me.

[@kang4394]

This comment is to encourage the youtube algorithm to promote this video; the upvote is for the diss of Ohio relative to Kentucky.

[@merthsoft]

The "Research Statement" section resonates a lot as someone who's done a lot of software engineering interviews. I always ask about projects someone's done--things they've actually built. Often it'll be a group project, and it will sometimes become clear that someone(s) else did the bulk of the work. As you drill into the details of the project, they'll give you things that make NO sense, and be unable to explain what they mean. Only once has it been my inability to understand the domain, but they were able to answer my beginner-level questions about the domain to get me up to speed.

[@cubedable]

You're really great at talking about things in a captivating way. I'm an undergrad and have no use for this information imho but it was interesting!

[@cadosian078]

I’m a high schooler who wants to be an astrophysicist and this channel is a goldmine of horror stories and advice

[@hamc9477]

How it going a year later into your undergrad studies? Is it relevant now?

[@andresp.4583]

I really enjoy your stream or consciousness videos, it took about 25 minutes, but I think you might have answered your own question. That student from Sri Lanka who plans to go back to teach, well that’s what the statement is for. Most students won’t fall into the inspirational hardship category here, so they’ll default to a “I loved the stars when I was young” answer. And that’s ok. But not everyone will. And that’s why your idea of a lottery would miss out on this final level of decision making. Super analysis as usual :)

[@stevenklinden]

Now I'm trying to remember what the process was like when I applied to physics grad schools in 2005. I don't _think_ I remember writing a personal statement, just a research statement, so I'm wondering if these have become standard for grad school applications since then. But it's also quite possible I just blocked it out. I had done no research in undergrad, which was obviously stupid, but managed to get into a good program based on good grades and a good GRE. Also, I had never heard of grad students being asked to host prospective new students in their homes before, and now that I've heard about it I'm angry. That's totally insane. If someone had asked me to do that, I would have assumed they were joking and laughed in their face.

[@26Sundrops]

This isn't what the people want to hear probably, but it's what they need to hear! Honestly putting all of this out in the open and saying what it's like without any extra idealism is more likely to help candidates get through more successfully. It makes a lot of sense; you're making a business pitch. You're making a persuasive argument.

[@Igorooooleynikov]

Damn, it is actually good that im stupid so I dont have to be scientist and participate in hell you describe.

[@cookiequeen5430]

Exactly what I'm thinking lmao

[@scribbitb.4519]

I'm not applying I just want my personal statement dissed retroactively

[@naytivlostlastname7632]

7:49 - you have no idea how much i appreciate that you put these reminders in. A very arrogant younger version of myself truly believed that I could "outsmart" the internet and "filter out the accurate" parts of whatever I was watching or reading. Led to a lot of very warped perceptions of what most of the real world is like outside of my medium-small sized town. I'm not sure it would be "fair" as like, a new expectation, but it would be nice, to see more creators and science communicators consider this "perspective conscientious" approach as they increase in influence. (also, im math and compsci so, your pluto video was the first time i ever really gave a shit about anything in space, and now i have some books on the way and im fascinated by it so the style obviously works as well)

[@antoniomonteiro3698]

how about: "In high school I never read Michio Kaku because I knew even back then that he is a hack?"

[@lunam7249]

❤❤❤😂🎉

[@keithklassen5320]

It's so damn refreshing to see an intelligent person getting views on YT, and not only passively not being mean, but making deliberate efforts to not be mean! Really excited to watch your stuff, and also to see how this impacts my algo tbh, lol.

"I don't want to be a mean person." Famous last words.

[@MattRemendaEnsemble]

You post so many videos that are, basically, the conversations that I have with my fellow (early career, young, and impoverished) academics... many of us understand... but I feel like the world of grad school (and academia) is (are) extremely foreign to out-groups (and those in grad school or academia who come from some level of "means"). Consequently, I like sharing your videos to give insight to non-academics (and academics of previous generations or those who are well off). So THANK YOU for making these! All the best, and PLEASE keep making these "niche" videos.

[@dvuemedia]

I did not even know what "personal statement" is, but I watched the whole video, you are a great story teller. I'm not even thinking to go to grad school.

[@thejackhammer1060]

Not on Twitter, and unlikely to ever apply to anything that requires a personal statement. 10/10, would watch again.

[@donald-parker]

All good advice. A bit heavy on the "don't do this" vs the "do this" but both are useful. And it is all very much applicable to any job application. It's not about clarifying what you want or what you like. It's about clarifying how you have a record of accomplishment of being able to deliver value in areas you know your employer needs. Quantifying your contribution and impact on results is way more powerful than relating responsibilities and experience. One other aspect that is always relevant to hiring in high tech (and I hope is relevant to academia, but I am (sadly) not so sure) - if you are approaching an area where things change fast, explain how much you love to learn new things, and how you have a track record of demonstrating the ability to tackle new things. The old joke comes into play - do you have 10 years of experience or 1 year of experience 10 times.

[@mamauu975]

I am really happy that I am doing my PhD in Germany right now. The process is so different. There is no "programme". There are mostly positions/projects where a professor hires one person for it. And the hiring process is more personal. The most important part of your application (apart from personal connections of course) is a 20-minute presentation of your previous research and then you are asked some questions.

[@magicmelody851]

Love the attention to detail and disclaimers, that said to me this feels like valid advice bc it asks ppl to consider context and complexity and not blindly do or not do something; also love the way you speak you're entertaining and fun ty, wouldn't mind another tweet response video

[@nowhereman8374]

I was a returning student when I applied to graduate school. I had an employment history as a research engineer in the semiconductor industry, and I had the privilege of designing hundreds of experiments. In my research statement, I described the experiments I learned the most from, and the some where my bias caused the results to be hard to interpret. In my personal statement, I talked about my desire to learn how to write grant proposal. Returning students should definitely leverage their employment history if it is relevant.

[@pauforcadellcampos4452]

Omg I love your videos so much! I have just discovered you and I thought you'd have many more subs. I love the way you approach your content, I like a break from highly produced vids.

[@Hopethedragon]

this was very refreshing to hear. especially the idea of thinking ahead and 'dressing up' for the level ahead of you. i always feel once ive completed a more or less distinct part of my life i reflect on how i should of been more aware and not so lost and easy going in the current role. finished my BA with waning motivation during covid and limited university resources and couldnt find it in me to make contacts and take time to TA and build lasting relationships within my faculty. your framing of the issue will definitely help me reconsider my role and expectations now and in the future, thanks!

[@andrewbennett7478]

I'm honestly pretty happy I've found your channel, I'll be going into grad school this coming fall and wish I had discovered your channel back when I was originally applying back in October. Thankfully I got into my top pick school with the help of a mentor I have from it, def would have loved to have heard all these tips and other pieces of knowledge I hadn't known from the start (and didn't even know till now)!

[@falkinable]

I really appreciate the description of a personal statement because even the examples that I read when I was applying to a PhD (I dropped out eventually) had stories about how the subject shaped their childhood.

[@savannahhance2710]

I’ve been working on my applications for grad school and got to the point to start drafting personal statements, and this video was so helpful. Just giving the perspective of what a committee goes through really clarified the process. Best channel imo.

[@meekrab9027]

I got into a Master's program a while back (yes probably different from PhD but they required all the same docs) and my personal statement basically focused on what I had done in my work, why that related to the degree, what I would choose to study (degree had a few branches) and what I would do with that degree after I earned it. Which I'm now doing ^_^ I don't think I wrote a single sentence about my life before I turned 21.

[@timedebtor]

It's kind of interesting where personal statement falls in this process. In The industry research positions that I currently work at, we have decided that cover letter is the first thing read. We don't even really look at a resume until the cover letter has been approved. We want to measure two things, are they able to communicate clearly in written English and do they understand what they are applying to. This strategy seems to have very much helped us with DEI and also given us faster feedback on our quality of writing job listings

[@Decapod]

Just saw this series a year later but find your candid inputs extremely helpful. Keep up the good work.

[@marinecobra]

Love the channel! This talk finally clicked for me at the end when you broke down the perspective of a phd candidate (employee) vs professional masters (my perspective. I'm so floored by your experience interviewing for the associate professor role. Sounds like humanity is doing what it can to ruin scientific progress. You were so insulted and the whole system appears degrading. At least in the Army they attempted to reassemble us into something useful after dismantling us.

[@taddaniel849]

This stuff is fascinating, I can definitely confirm that getting into grad school is way harder these days I don’t remember doing anything like the many steps you mentioned, I got in in 99 for chemistry and was accepted to multiple schools I got the impression that my experience was fairly common and not the exception. It sounds like that is far from true now.

[@hc6157]

Time to send this to all my undergrad friends! Tis the season! I saw this video after I got accepted to grad school but i totally agree with it and definitely had the same ethos going about it. Loving grad school!

[@tetricz]

Great video! Another piece of advice I think is applicable that I didn't hear. Contact the research advisors, or even better have a professor that might know them introduce you. Ask them about their research(read their recent publications first and ask targeted questions). Wait a week or two if you don't hear anything and send one more email. A bit of context; I recently got accepted into a graduate program. I'm excited. I contacted my new advisor and started an email chain with him because I was looking to apply for the Spring and I wanted to know more about the research he was working on. Turns out he liked me and he pushed my application through the system even though applications closed 4 months before I applied.... Another thing Personal Statements in my personal opinion should be left to a single page (schools should enforce this) and always have someone with experience review your statement.

[@qwerty4324ify]

LOL! Liked the end cuz people don't talk enough about funding or how student count and funding affect tenure. When I applied I got into a department, but due to congress not passing a budget there was some huge shortfall in actual $$ and so after acceptance we all had to apply for funding from each professor with openings. I knew I had a pretty good chance, but when I applied through the portal (and found that I had gotten funding from someone I knew) I also found a public comment on my application... by a Prof basically saying "zero bias electron tunneling isn't a thing", which if I didn't already know the person who gave me an RA ride (and did BEEM) could have killed my chances. Obviously, decades later I am still pissed. So at the end of my stint as a grad turkey I get this request from my advisor to help another prof write a grant proposal to look at very short scale gravitational effects, for which I was preferred (and had opinions about how it might work or not)... and guess which prof it was? I'm like, "I don't think I can be impartial about this, you should find someone else". I went into corporate research, but both sides can burn bridges, or sit on NSF committees.

[@diglyd]

This video and advice also applies to any high level job interview or career especially in any creative or highly competitive fields. The same criteria are used just in a bit different formats. At a job interview for example, when at the end they ask, "tell us something about yourself", that's the personal statement and the same do's and don't would apply here as well. Great advice all around for both getting into school and for getting past some panel interview for a highly competitive dream job. The general rule is also to talk about what "value" you can bring to the "organization" vs just listing your accomplishments without that context, without attaching them to how you can be a valuable asset and bring value or what you can do for them. The last thing any panel wants to hear is your personal bs you are dealing with, or feeling like they should owe you something because you think you are a star. Therefore it's wise to focus on what you can do for them and what value they can extract from you being there.

[@0biwan77]

Excellent, Angela. Your exposition of the issues surrounding hopefully aggrandizing personal statements reminds me of Randall Jarrell’s sincere defense of “bad poetry,” wherein he points out that its inspiration and impulse are identical to that which spawns the very finest work. That may sound like a stretch, but his argument suffices to convince and silences scoffers, scoffing being in general an apoetical attitude, one not contributing to the heartfeltness at which it is assumed poetry takes aim. Your monologues are fresh, enjoyable, and funny most of all.

[@Rubbly]

Even with this not being my niche or applicable to me, your storytelling is great and this is good stuff!

[@allanwarsing]

Applying to a grad program needs PhD qualifications nowadays. Getting into a PhD program, you need to more like a successful corporate manager. It's madness.

[@acollierastro]

Bonkers to expect new grad students to be fully functional researchers! If they already have the qualifications why should they sign up for six more years of training??!

[@judychurley6623]

@@communist754 Depends how you spend your time in grad school and what you expected it to be. (It is not necessarily vocational school. Maybe you just found out that you are not an academic; no shame in that.)

[@matthiascoppens2062]

Wait, I don't really understand American university lingo, so I thought that graduate school meant being a doctorate student. Am I wrong?

[@PeteQuad]

​@@matthiascoppens2062yes. Typically you would only be getting a doctorate after having completed a Master's degree. A graduate student just means anyone who completed the basic 4 year undergraduate degree.

[@allanwarsing]

We have Associates (2yrs), Bachelors (2 more yrs), Masters [this is graduate school](3 more yrs), and PhD (2+more years). So, to go from high school to PhD is at least 8-10 years, then there is post-doc stuff.@@matthiascoppens2062

[@hellraserfleshlight]

I'm not applying for grad school or even smart enough to do so, I just enjoy hearing smart people rant about random niche stuff. That said, your captions here have left me with Roxette stuck in my head, so thanks for that.

[@GeekPhilosopher]

Thank you for clarifying. This is very useful information. I have written my share of personal statements, but it was never clear to me what was expected of them. Btw, I have watched several of your videos, and you make academia sound like hell. Makes me glad I didn't go that route, although I'm not sure I would have had the right stuff in any case.

[@asoto1516]

Man, your end stories were wild. I appreciate this video, interesting to hear what graduate applications sound like. I snuck a coterminal Masters of (Electrical) Engineering out of my college (RPI) and always felt like a false graduate student. The application, finance, and graduation requirements were vary different from the Masters of Science research stuff. So much agree with your position on the personal statement. It's so hard to understand who you are at that age for some of us anyways, feels so strange to try and present some cohesive sparkle to unknown entities.

[@guardrailbiter]

Nah. There are no "false" graduate students in Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Masters of Science vs Masters of Engineering simply reflect different applications of the foundational Electrical Engineering. Depending on your overall career goals, one makes sense and the other does not (for the most part). P.S. Do you miss Troy, NY?

[@upfulsoul826]

Nice breakdown. Lot of jobs outside of academia require personal statements too. So this vid will be helpful to many people.

[@naytivlostlastname7632]

23:07 - this is exactly what has worked for me. i had drug, mental, family, blahblah problems in an earlier attempt at uni. I had to put in a little effort for it but was able to get a zoom meeting with a member of the committee(?) and explain the oddities on my transcript and why they would never be a problem again. In writing I never called any of it anything other than "personal problems", and eventually they wanted to set up a more personal interaction. That's when I think it would be best to explain more details, completely agree with not mentioning specifics on personal statements (and potentially subsequent emails, unless they specifically ask for that)

[@St_M_]

My takeaway here is that US academia is weirdly particular, and also particularly weird. Not like academia in Germany isn't weird to be sure, but yours is just off the charts. Seriously. My most heartfelt (and non-sarcastic, I swear) commendations though for moving away from the "all the noise, none of the signal" cesspool that is Twitler. And also really dig the contents of your bookshelf.

[@Sephirot4678]

I 100% needed to see this video because I am getting ready to apply to a master's in computational linguistics and I have been in serious need of good advice on how to write an effective personal statement. I found it interesting that a research statement is required for some programs and I'm slightly envious it isn't for the programs I'm applying to because I spent a lot of my time in undergrad working on research.

[@MrInsdor]

yeah the process is different for everybody, but I'm surprised you didn't mention these statements of inclusion maybe it's very field specific, but a friend who recently applied to 5 linguistics grad schools in the US had to do some form of declaring what his hire would do for inclusion at the university some also had forms asking for way too personal information like sexuality, but you could leave them blank but leaving a field blank where you would've had minority status would then lower your degree of inclusion bonus I guess?! this was definitely the most surprising thing to us non-Americans to hear about

[@acollierastro]

I don’t like the trend of graduate schools requiring DEI statements from incoming students. Instead it should be the schools proving that they actually allow a diverse group to thrive in their program.

[@MrInsdor]

@@acollierastro maybe that's what they were there for and the data gets anonymized? at least for the ones which used forms

[@eliana993]

This always felt like your students doing the work for you. However, I think trying to focus on boosting diversity in your programs by offering some special funding or extra help in the application process would not be a bad thing. I think there are a few nsf funded fellowships and such focused on mentoring for that purpose. First gen students and people without access to mentors who can get them into competitive programs (professors are usually not good at helping you do this, personally I felt a lot of them were very out of touch). I think trying to get students to write about their commitment to inclusion efforts is fake posturing but putting money into programs that help get into these programs is absolutely the right way to go about it. Universities snd governments should be spending the money to do this.

[@sinfinite7516]

Love this channel. Getting all the knowledge.

[@ruffshots]

Once again, I love the books in your background (I mean, great video also, but...). I'm just finishing up Cixin Liu's Death's End at the moment, and I'd love to get your take on, especially the latter two books in the trilogy. Because I have some really mixed feelings myself, after thinking the Three Body Problem was one of the best modern sci-fi books written. I'm especially ambivalent about The Dark Forest, which not only becomes super speculative about the science, especially compared to TBP, but basically ends in a fairly predictable prisoner's dilemma conflict.

[@ypey1]

I like your style of ranting. Its lowkey funny and comforting to me 😅😅

[@lafanfarlo4872]

I had to read my personal statement that I wrote like 2 or 3 years ago. It holds up pretty well, at least I didn't mention anything about enjoying books as a child (librarian degree). I just wrote about my professional experiences that relate to the field and what I'd like to do in five years with my degree. And yes, it helps talking to other people who went through the same process and were accepted, it gives you a good indication of what your desired faculty generally wants. As for the reference letters, I just picked up teachers I liked, gave no fuck about their notoriety in the lib field. I think that was a nice bet. One reference letter, though, was talking about the librarian field as if it was an IT thing, which was weird but not far off. I have to say I didn't apply for post-graduate research, just a post-grad degree, so not as rigorous and not that many boots to lick too.

[@wilecoyote5757]

I had a friend who applied to NASA to become an Astronaut. He now has his framed Astronaut rejection letter proudly displayed on his living room wall.

[@davidhalseyhiller4955]

You have a great book collection. It seems to shift around, I remember seeing in another video the Three Body Problem, which you have behind you here, just on another shelf I imagine.

[@kj_H65f]

Ha my yt avatar is relevant for the editing on this one! The topic is a bit less relevant for me... but I find this video absolutely entertaining somehow. I never knew how this graduate school acceptance worked. I only have a 2 yr associates and never had the ability (in mental capacity or financial support) to get a bachelors, let alone anything beyond. I always appreciate your rants and the way you choose to cover the information. Very fair, kind, and sincere. Also one note on the preemptive "calm down I know this isn't universal" statement shouldn't be necessary, but i will say that many people DO speak as if their opinion is a statement on factual, universal reality. Good science communicators like yourself never do this but unfortunately many of your audience wateches other creators who do. But thank you for the disclaimer anyway :D

[@jorgerangel2390]

loving your book collection, the dark forest was a good one that left me thinking a lot, sorry for not commenting about your video

[@TheRedKnight101]

The personal statement has always been the hardest part for me, I love talking about what I study but hate talking about myself. Unless I got poisoned or hurt by the things I study.

[@stephanieparker1250]

I’m not applying to graduate school but I have run across this when applying for typical jobs so this is helpful!

[@noelgarber4534]

I'm defending my biochem PhD this year, and I can confirm that this problem exists in biomedical research too. Most personal statements are vague with a lot of fluff. If you're reading this and you're applying to grad school, research the department, reach out to professors, chat with them, mention those conversations in the letter, and talk about why your background and interests are a great fit for the program. Be novel, be honest, and write in an impactful way.

[@SapientPearwood]

Great video! I'm really glad I stumbled on this channel. I think your recommendations for a good PS are great, but I'm not sure I agree with the "abolish the PS" idea in favor of a lottery. For context, I've spent a few years as a topic area lead for a NASA fellowship. So I've read many PS's, and made some hard decisions based in large part on the PS. (btw, all of this is just my personal opinion and is definitely not an official NASA position, etc., etc.). Anyways, for me the PS is a really important part of the application. It feels like the only time I get to see what the applicant thinks is important, and hear how they think about research. Maybe this is where fellowship applications and PhD grad school applications differ? I don't really remember my PhD application that well, so I'm not sure. But for the fellowship I support, the Project Narrative is basically a technical proposal much like a grant application. It kind of needs to be pretty dry. The PS is pretty much the only place I get to assess things like research and academic performance/experience, scientific curiosity, and demonstrated commitment to space science/tech. Also, while some PS's are truly bad, and most are pretty meh, there have definitely been a few that were truly exceptional. Tbf, saying PS's have a broad range of quality is not the same as saying they are good or useful. But I will say that for those few that were exceptional, I came away extremely impressed, and inspired, and I was really rooting for them to get the fellowship. Idk if that is evidence that the system works, or demonstrates a critical bias/flaw... but either way it feels like an important observation. Watching through your video, I've been thinking that maybe we need to be clearer on what we are looking for in a PS. But at least for the fellowship I support, we don't get to interview the top applicants, so I would really hate to lose the only opportunity that lets me at least pretend I have some idea about who this person is, and how they think about things.

[@BrastenSager]

This is a great video; but also, I'm geeking out over your book collection and if you could just take a couple steps to the left momentarily so I can see the rest ... that'd be amazing. :-)

[@emilyroberts4150]

As a Michigander, love the Ohio digs throughout. Also, thanks for the advice. I hear a lot about what not to write but not nearly as much about what to write.

[@dapha1623]

I'm not applying to grad school, hell I just graduated High School. But I applied to a scholarship which needs a personal statement (ish), and when I looked for references, every video on KZbin told me to show "how passionate you are about this subject" (which isn't really the format question for the personal statement). Like how your childhood connected to the undergrad major I chose, your experiences on the field in a high school level, and I didn't have any of those story/experience. And because the personal statement is so short, I decided to just fill it with my vision and goals when I get to pursue this major. Although at first it made me kinda insecure because the committee maybe would see me as not that interested in the field w/o any experience, but with time, I'm kinda content with it. (I don't know the result until 15th June so who knows if I made the right choice)

[@watchdominion7356]

That’s insane that they tried to hire you as an adjunct for $900 after rejecting you

[@markolson4660]

Very good advice! I'm retired, so I was in grad school long enough ago that the entrance process was quite different, but I spent the last thirty years of my career hiring technical people and it is *exactly* the same process. Hundreds of resumes, no time to read them all, and dire consequences if you hire the wrong person. (A project for which you have responsibility is late. This is *your* personal failure.) Hiring matters a lot and it's hard. You describe beautifully the rigorous filter that has to be the start of it all. But if anything, I think you're being a bit too nice. Telling people to follow their hearts is, if heeded, much more likely to harm them than to help. *Focus* on getting through the filter. Then, and only then, focus on being selected. Remember that if the people doing the selection/hiring are good people trying to do their job, they will be desperate for information which might be a clue to the best people. But they *must* throw out 90% of the applications before they can concentrate on the heap that are left.

[@algorithmgeneratedanimegir1286]

And saying that GPA doesn't matter past the standard is bad advice.

[@Hirogen24]

Great video. I advise people just to keep it simple in those statements. Discuss their skills and background and demonstrate how they are a safe pair of hands, and leave it at that. Wild stories make recruiting committees laugh, but do not yield offers.

[@pandorastrife4327]

About mentionning accomodations after getting the job: a good way to end up trapped with no accomodations. The mention of disability often equals getting tossed. And we actually dodge a bullet because that means we would have had to fight (and most of the time we lose that fight) for the accomodations we are legally entilted to.

[@swanronson173]

The fact that the topic is completly irrelevant to me didn't prevent me from finding it utterly compelling from beginning to end. That is testament to your talents as a presenter, teacher and storyteller. Bravo! 👏

[@Dominis.]

Doesn't it suck that you have to be the best of the best to study? We should strive to provide high education to anyone who wants it even if they underperform. That's what makes it interesting. Sharing it with others.

[@GSBarlev]

I used to work in HR supporting recruiting and made this exact point-why should the focus be on recruiting the best (who will demand the best salaries and be at the highest risk of poaching) rather than on recruiting talent that's "good enough" while also bringing in valuable and diverse perspectives? I actually quantified this concept into a metric that could be optimized. I was shut down _extremely_ harshly.

[@Zilchmasta]

I’m happy my Computer Science masters program only required 3 letters of recommendation and a statement of purpose. This sounds rough. Not surprising considering the level of commitment required for a PhD versus a masters degree.

[@user-zd7id9rx3f]

The letter of recommendation for John Nash from his professor at Carnegie basically just says “He is a mathematical genius.”.

[@simonwillover4175]

I love these video essays and presentations and speeches on KZbin.

[@veldin25]

My field is semiconductor physics and infrared optics, I'm having a difficult time imagining the childhood formative experience haha

[@lunam7249]

sandcastles on the beach...thats silicon

[@beryllium1932]

I'm in awe of your bookshelves.

[@Ristakaen]

I hope you have a good self esteem cuz you're awesome. Thanks for the grad school advice

[@Broockle]

This was still interesting to me, not to mention hilarious 😂 I think lots of people need to hear this actually, the personal statement mystifies most people I have asked 😅

[@FullMoon272]

I'm applying for internships and I specifically looked for this exact video so thank you 😊

[@oddlyspecificmath]

So...a little off topic; I've been poking at your videos to form a first impression and (yes, listening too) the contents of those shelves made me say: Yeahh, I think I'm going to give this a go. (No news yet if I'll be able to contribute or just listen though) 😊

[@robertphillips9017]

A friend of mine from post-doc days had his application rejected because one of his glowing letters was from Halliday of “Halliday and Resnick”. The committee assumed it was forged. His boss then pointed out the papers that they had co-authored. He got in.

[@jimberk4651]

Good advice, esp your pay advice---right on. Like your videos.

[@webernprophecies]

I don't expect this comment to be...yeah, I don't have faith in commenting on youtube videos, but, whatever: thank you, Angela, for being a voice of reason in a maddeningly insane world. I started watching to learn about physics, and still do, but I mostly watch now just for the therapy of knowing there is at least one person out there who is not...yeah. Thank you. ...or whatever a bot says to get a comment through the algorithm, blah, endtimes, etc.

[@LouigiVerona]

In my case, working in IT, it's a similar situation with cover letters. Some people focus a lot on cover letters, but actually nowadays many recruiters even straight out say that nobody cares for cover letters. I stopped writing cover letters when applying to a job like 5-6 years ago, if not even earlier.