发布时间: 2024年12月24日 08:33
●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 asindicatorsof 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 thevery fewfolders 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。●ALLfolders 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 scoresGRE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 higherGRE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。● Istronglyrecommend 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)。
Pitfallsto avoid应避免的问题
● Sappy personal statement个人陈述繁琐累赘。● Any typos or grammatical mistakesanywherein 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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