So, you are thinking you might want to pursue a PhD. That’s great! However, it can sometimes be difficult to decide whether to actually go for it. Maybe you are weighing the time commitment required or the prospect of leaving a job you love. Or maybe you are wondering whether you are prepared for such an undertaking or whether you’d even have a shot at getting in. When considering such an important move, it’s good to adopt a methodical approach to the decision-making process. 

This article is designed to help you think through some key factors involved in making important decisions about graduate school. You might ask yourself the following questions:

Let’s consider these questions one at a time. 

Question 1: Why do I want to get a PhD?

A PhD is an academic degree that prepares you to conduct original research, perform advanced statistical analyses, interpret empirical results, and evaluate competing theories. You will be trained to become an academic – that is, a university professor who directs a research lab (if you are in the social sciences or other sciences) and/or teaches students the nuances of a specific field. You will have the skills to research, write, and publish books and articles, and you will possess the authority to be taken seriously by publishers, colleagues, and fellow experts in the field. The skills you acquire during your doctoral training can be applied to industrial, governmental, and nonprofit settings as well. The thought of studying for many years, conducting original research in a university setting, and teaching students should ideally make you excited to get started. Thus, the best reasons to pursue a PhD are intrinsic. 

After all, a PhD is a Doctor of Philosophy. You get a PhD because you are passionately drawn to the philosophy of your chosen field. You can’t help but think about it in your everyday life because you see it everywhere. It is a lens through which life makes sense. Discovering its guiding principles, subject matter, and potential applications allows you to identify patterns in the world around you – and sometimes within yourself as well. So, why should you pursue a PhD? Because you can’t not.

It is important to acknowledge the many reasons not to get a PhD as well. Earning a PhD takes years and removes you from the salaried workforce. Depending on your field, the culture of your department, and your living situation, you might be spending a great deal of time studying in solitude – a blessing for some but a dreaded reality for others. Depending on the field you pursue, you may or may not have a promising academic job offer at the end of your studies, as the academic job market is notoriously difficult. If you do get a job, statistically speaking, it is likely to be a low-paying, non-tenure-track, and possibly adjunct position (if you don’t know about “adjuncting,” do some research). You will want to have an “alt-ac” or “alternative academic” vision should a professorship or a plum research/industry position evade you upon graduation. 

It’s important to know all of this going in and to decide with this knowledge in hand that pursuing a doctorate is still right for you.

Question 2: How do I get in?

Once you’ve determined that you want to apply to a PhD program, the focus shifts to whether you’ll be accepted. Is the lengthy application process for an exclusive program at a top school with very few open spots worth all the effort?

Getting into a PhD program is largely a matter of fit. The faculty members who evaluate your application want to know what insights you can offer to their current and future research studies, how your interpersonal style will contribute to their lab or research hub dynamics, and whether you are committed to extending their research in a meaningful way after you obtain your doctorate. Therefore, it’s difficult to overstate the importance of your statement of purpose. 

You might have an exceptional CV, but if your statement of purpose is lackluster and fails to convey to your prospective faculty advisor that you are the right fit, you are unlikely to be accepted. Conversely, you might have a modest CV or even a weakness, such as a low GPA, but nevertheless be accepted if you convey in your statement that (1) you have taken (and will continue to take) concrete steps to become more prepared for PhD training and (2) you possess unique skills and knowledge that are highly relevant to your prospective advisor’s research area but that might not be reflected in traditional metrics of achievement (e.g., your CV or GPA). This means, among other things, that you must think of this statement of purpose not as intended for a faceless admissions committee (i.e., the college model) but for a tailored group of scholars in a given department who will be handpicking PhD students each fall (i.e., the PhD model).

To write a compelling statement of purpose, you need to articulate everything relevant to Question 1: Why do you want to get a PhD? How have your personal, academic, and professional experiences aligned such that you know that you are ready to apply? And more crucially for the professors reading your application, why are you the most prepared, most knowledgeable, or most experienced scholar-in-training? The goal is not to be arrogant but to show and tell: to show the readers why you are the perfect fit for the program. 

Question 3: When should I apply?

The right time to apply to graduate school is when your personal, academic, and professional experiences have aligned such that you know for certain you want to further your knowledge and skills in a specific field. Usually, the simplest circumstances for applying are when one has the fewest other responsibilities and dependents. That might mean one is straight out of college or a master’s program, unmarried or without children, without needing to support any family members financially or otherwise. In this scenario, one is mobile and flexible and can relocate for a PhD program, travel for conferences, and live on a tight budget. If this fits your profile, applying for a PhD at this time could be a wise decision.

However, life does not always line up this way, and the above description is not a prescription: it is not advice on how to live. Perhaps you are bound to your location due to a partner’s job, extended family, or a religious community to which you belong. Perhaps you are blessed with children and you cannot live on a PhD stipend (should your program offer one). These are real and common considerations. Sometimes these ultimately make the timing impossible for applying to a PhD, and other times they simply pose certain boundaries or challenges.

Should you apply and be admitted to a PhD program, you will encounter fellow graduate students living out all of these various scenarios: some are unattached and have inherited wealth; others have multiple children and few funds; some have no children but a high-earning partner; and others are struggling tremendously to balance their academic work with familial or financial obligations. Consider how adding a PhD program into your life for the next four to nine years will look and feel both for you and for those with whom you live.

Question 4: Where should I apply?

To identify the right program(s) to apply to, it is crucial to look beyond a school’s ranking or reputation. The U.S. News & World Report Best National Universities Rankings should not be your primary source for one simple reason: PhD programs are very idiosyncratic. Even if you have chosen a field of study (ideally, the field in which you received your undergraduate and/or master’s degree), there are likely many research areas within that field and even more specific topics within each area. The right research area for you will depend on your previous research experience as well as on the specific topic(s) you want to investigate.

For example, the field of psychology encompasses many areas including clinical psychology, cognitive psychology, developmental psychology, health psychology, evolutionary psychology, personality psychology, and social psychology. Then, within, say, social psychology, there’s a vast array of specific topics, such as attitudes, aggression, decision-making, emotion, prejudice, and prosocial behavior, to name a few. As you can imagine, these topics are not mutually exclusive. In fact, combining topics can generate unique findings. Therefore, when thinking about where to apply, you might prioritize programs where the faculty are studying combinations of topics you find particularly interesting.

Another factor to consider is that programs differ as a function of the research methods they employ. Thus, when thinking about where to apply, in addition to identifying programs where the faculty are researching the specific topics you are most interested in, it’s necessary to consider whether those faculty members are using methods that you would like to apply in your future career. For example, do you want to master advanced statistical techniques? Do you want to work with state-of-the-art technologies? Do you want to observe phenomena in the “real world” or in experimental settings? It’s not only about what you’re researching; it’s also about how you’re researching it.

Once you’ve identified programs based on those considerations, it’s time to identify prospective faculty advisors within your chosen programs. After all, you’re not just applying to PhD programs; you’re applying to work with specific faculty members, and they are the ones who will be reviewing your application and deciding whether to accept you. Based on the faculty members’ professional biographies (which you can usually find on the program’s website), you’ll probably be able to identify the professors whose interests are most like your own.

But it is not enough to be confident that you want to work with a given faculty member. Next, you’ll want to familiarize yourself with that professor’s recent work by reading research papers or books they’ve published in the past couple of years. As you’re reading, ask yourself whether this faculty member writes and thinks clearly and presents arguments and evidence in a compelling manner. You will be mentored by this person for five years (or more!), so it’s crucial that you find someone you admire and are motivated to learn from. In addition, consider this unspoken rule: in many programs, it is a smart move to write to potential advisers personally before applying in order to express interest in their work, set up an exploratory phone call about the program, and simply make yourself a known entity prior to application season.

In sum, the steps in deciding where to apply for PhD study are as follows:

1. Choose your field of study.
2. Identify your preferred area(s) within that field.
3. Discover the specific topics you find most fascinating.
4. Consider what methods you want to employ.
5. Evaluate the merits of prospective faculty advisors.

Conclusion

Deciding whether to apply to a PhD program is a serious undertaking. If you decide it’s not the right path for you at the present time, that is okay! Many rewarding careers and life paths exist that will excite you and challenge your mind. 

If, however, you feel now is indeed the right time to earn your PhD, don’t feel you need to do everything on your own. Accepted can help. From school selection guidance to writing samples, and from resume and CV editing to interview prep, we are here to help. And the most valuable service we offer is essay consulting. We can teach you how to craft a narrative about your journey that is coherent, authentic, and distinctive. During each consultation, we will challenge you to think more deeply and clearly than you ever have about where you’ve been and where you’re going. You will learn how to identify and effectively convey the reasons your prospective advisor should accept you.

Reach out and let us support you to reach your goals today!