● Think hard about why you might want to do a Ph.D.
想清楚为什么要读博士。
● Can be a lot of fun, and open many doors.
读博士趣味多并且能为您广开门路。
● Do exciting research
可以做激动人心的研究。
● Learn new things
学习新知识。
● But, it is not for everyone:
但并非所有人都适合读博士：
● Very unstructured
没有严格的课程设置
● Can be quite long (5+ years typical)
耗时长（通常要读5年以上）
● Work is often boring: Running experiments, publishing papers, taking classes
工作通常很乏味：做实验，发表论文，上课。
● Lots of competition
竞争激烈。
● Disconnected from reality
缺乏与现实社会的联系。
● Low pay
薪水低。
● Ph.D does not guarantee a better job or salary
读博士不能确保好的工作或高薪。
Overview of the process
录取程序综述
● Most grad school applications due in December/January
大多数研究生院申请截止于十二月份和来年一月份。
● Admissions committees meet in the early spring (March)
录取委员会成员早春时候（三月）开会讨论。
● Decisions mailed out late March-early April
通知书将于三月底四月初邮寄出去。
● Note: Different schools have different dates – no news is good news
注意：不同的学校有不同的时间安排，没有消息就是好消息。
Expectations
期望
● What are admissions committees looking for?
录取委员会想录取什么样的人？
● One thing only: Talented students that will be able to do research.
只有一点：有才干，能做好研究的学生。
● In the end, nothing else (really) matters.
除此之外，其他的（真的）不重要。
● It does not matter if you have a 4.0 GPA, 99th percentile on all GREs, etc.
就算你GPA达到4.0，GRE几近满分等等也无所谓。
● GPA, GREs, etc. only used as indicators of potential – nothing more.
GPA和GRE等等的成绩仅作为评估你潜力的指标，仅此而已。
The Prof's Point of View
教授的观点
● Every member of the admissions committee is given a huge stack of folders to read. (Dozens to hundreds)
每位录取委员要审阅大堆的资料。（数十到数百份）
● Goal is to find the very few folders that stand out, and should be looked at more carefully.
目的是从中选极少数优秀的资料以更加认真审阅。
● This number will be quite small
这些优秀的资料非常少。
● These folders are then pushed to the next level
接下来，这些优秀申请材料会进入下一环节的审阅。
● Usually a committee meeting
审阅形式通常是委员开会讨论。
● ALL folders must pass quality check in the final committee meeting.
所有申请资料都要通过录取委员会最终会议的质检方可视为合格。
The application
关于申请
● Application to grad school consists of several parts, which come from different places.
研究生申请书由以下几部分构成，
● 1) General information about yourself: application form
个人基本信息（申请表/网申表）
● 2) Transcript and grade point average (GPA)
成绩单及平均分（GPA）
● 3) GRE scores
GRE分数
● 4) Letters of recommendation (usually three required)
推荐信（通常需要三份）
● 5) Personal statement
个人陈述
● 6) Anything else you mail in as part of your app
其他任何你作为申请材料的一部分邮寄过来的文件。
（万极咨询注：这一篇的作者于2006年退出录取委员会，所以这一信息已经过时了。现在包括哈佛在内的很多美国一流大学已经实现了100%的网申，即所有申请材料在网申系统里提交。学校不再接受任何邮寄的材料。）
● We'll talk about this later
这个我们后面再详细讨论。
Basic evaluation process
评估的基本过程
● Ideally, we want to see research experience.
理论上，我们希望看到您的科研经历。
● But, not many undergrads have research experience.
但很多本科生不具有科研经历。
How to evaluate?
怎么评估呢？
● Grades and GRE scores only a (weak) indication of potential
成绩单和GRE成绩仅是一个（较弱的）潜力评价指标。
● Grades: Like to see 3.5 GPA or higher (87.5%)
平均分最好达到3.5甚至更高。
● GRE: Like to see 90th percentile or higher
GRE成绩最好达到90分（百分制）以上，越高越好。
● Many, many applicants have 3.8+ GPA and 95th+ GREs
很多学生的平均分都能达到3.8以上且GRE达到95分（百分制）以上。
● These are not hard cutoffs!
这些都不是硬性的分数线。
● Letters count a lot – probably most important thing
推荐信才是重要的，也可以说是最重要的。
（万极咨询注：此观点仅为此作者个人观点。也有其他录取委员会并不看重推荐信）
Establishing relationships
建立关系
● Grad schools want students who can do research.
研究生院需要能做研究的学生。
The best way to demonstrate this is ... well, do some research.
证明自己的研究能力的最好方法就是——亲身去做一些研究。
● Need to get started early: research takes a while to get rolling
要做研究得早开始：研究通常需要很长的时间启动。
● Goal is to get a good recommendation letter when you graduate!
做研究的目的就是当你毕业的时候能拿到一封很好的推荐信。
● It is a lot less important whether your research is a “success”
你的研究是否有成果并不重要。
● You do not need to publish a paper as an undergrad.
作为一个本科生，你并不一定需要发表论文。
● Publishing a paper can help ... but only if it is a good paper!
发表论文当然有帮助，但必须是好的论文。
Priming your letter writers
准备你的推荐人
● To write a good letter, a prof needs to know a lot about you
要写一封好的推荐信，你的教授需要深入了解你。
● I strongly recommend meeting with your letter writers before asking them to write a letter.
我强烈建议在要求推荐人为你写推荐信之前和他们当面讨论。
● If they are on your team, they will do a better job when they actually write it.
如果你的推荐人跟你是同一研究组，他们会写出更好的推荐信。
● You also need to get a read on your chances of a good letter.
你也需要评估你获得好的推荐信的可能性。
● Need to ask directly, “Can you write a strong letter for me?”
可以直接问推荐人：“你能为我写一封有力的推荐信吗？
● Keep in mind that most profs are overloaded with letters to write.
记住，大多数教授都有非常多的推荐信要去写。
● Give them a packet with everything they need. Don't ask them to hunt it down.
把他们所需要的资料放在一个文件包里给他们，别让他们自己去找各种信息。
The personal statement
个人陈述
● I tend to ignore these.
就个人而言，我通常忽视这一项。
● But, some people read these carefully! So need to do a decent job.
但也有评审委员会认真审阅个人陈述！所以要好好准备。
● Non-goals of the personal statement:
目标模糊的个人陈述
● NOT to tell your life story
不要写你的人生故事。
● NOT to explain why you want to be a Ph.D student
不要解释为什么你想读博士。
（万极咨询注：此观点仅为此作者个人观点。很多学校都会要求申请人必须写为什么读博士）
● NOT to kiss up to the faculty at the school you are applying to
不要拍你所申请学校的老师的马屁。
● NOT to explain how you are going to solve the world's problems
不要解释你打算怎么解决世界问题。
● Better set of goals:
更明确的目标
● Outline a single research problem that interests you
列出你所感兴趣的科研问题。
● Give background: show you know the area
展示你的相关背景，证实你确实对这一领域很了解。
● Talk about how you would approach solving the problem.
谈谈你打算如何解决你所感兴趣的科研问题。
● Think of this as a “mini project proposal”
把这个问题当成一个“小的研究项目开题报告”。
● You will not be held to this project, of course.
当然，你不会真的去做这个研究。
Other materials
其他材料
● Generally speaking, anything you send in as part of your application will get added to the folder, somehow.
总的来说，任何你作为申请的一部分邮寄来的资料都会放到文件夹中。
● Although not requested, I usually like to see in a folder:
虽然不是必须的，我通常希望在文件夹中看到关于以下的内容：
● A resume
个人简历。
● Any papers that the student has written or published
曾写过或发表的论文。
● Don't abuse this. Send additional materials only if you have them.
别乱邮寄资料，如果没有就不要邮寄。
● Don't send a photograph (unless requested by the school)
别邮寄照片(除非学校要求)。
Pitfalls to avoid
应避免的问题
● Sappy personal statement
个人陈述繁琐累赘。
● Any typos or grammatical mistakes anywhere in the application
申请中任何地方的打印和语法错误。
● Weak recommendation letters
说服力差的推荐信。
● An unexplained black mark on your record.
对档案中的不良记录不做解释。
● Spamming professors
向教授发垃圾邮件。
● (We all get way too many emails.)
(我们都收到过多的邮件）
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