I’ve been getting questions on PhD applications lately, so I decided to share my journey here. The following workflow worked well for me because I knew what I wanted to study at an early age. When I tell people this, they always ask “How did you know what you want to study so early in life?” Well…I consider myself a very lucky person (having received support and guidance from many generous seniors in my life). Check out this post to read about where my interests in protein topology stemmed from.

After identifying my academic interests in 10th grade, here are the steps I took:

1. Seize all opportunities to talk to people in my field(s) of interest. For example, high school STEM teachers, science competition judges, professors, grad students, alums in industry, relatives, etc. Don’t feel bogged down if some of them don’t get back to you. If you keep trying, you will be surprised by how many supportive people there are in the world.
2. Read papers and books in these fields. Not only the recent papers, but also the FIRST papers. Getting to know the history of your field is important.
3. Identify and note down the names and institutions of the authors for the papers and books. If they are no longer alive, check out their students.
4. See if these people work at an institution in a country that you will be willing to live in for a few years. If not, check out other people they’ve published with since those contacts may be located in a country that you could go to.
5. Check out the PhD programs at these institutions. Pay attention to policies on funding, restrictions on getting multiple degrees, eligibility, etc.
6. Write to the authors (could be grad students or professors) directly and ask if their labs are taking new grad students.
7. If you can do an internship with this lab, excellent!
8. No worries if not! You may still want to reach out. Attach your CV and a list of relevant courses. Request for an in-person or online chat if appropriate.

This workflow might not be for everyone. It is different from the traditional workflow:

1. Find a list of schools and programs you are interested in.
2. Check out their faculty’s research.
3. Reach out to some faculty.
4. Apply.

Whether you go from identifying academic interests to matching with a faculty or the other way around, I wish you best of luck!

Happy grad school 🙂