Grad School Advice

IS GRAD SCHOOL RIGHT FOR YOU, AND HOW DO YOU MAKE IT HAPPEN ?

This page is for current undergraduates (at Bates, or anywhere, really), with greatest relevance for biology majors; it contains advice about what to look for in a graduate program, how to apply, and my thoughts on what schools might be worth checking out.

An additional resource for Bates students considering going to graduate school is this web page, maintained by Bates.

Some would argue that this picture is a metaphor about grad school. Maybe you’re the bird (who is a bit stuck and can’t wait for this to be over), or maybe you’re the person (working hard and, yep, covered in seabird doody). But I actually enjoyed grad school, and I think most people can IF they are going for the right reason, and IF they find a good fit. Easier said than done….

P.S. For anyone considering graduate school, it’s important to realize that research involves a lot of writing. Initially, you write reviews of existing ideas and proposals for the work that you want to do. Later, you publish the results of your own work. Writing is a crucial and potentially time-consuming aspect of science. Overall, graduate school will be tough for you if you really hate to write.

The Advisor and his/her Lab

When you are looking at graduate schools, it’s important to consider carefully the people with whom you would be working. This is critical in determining the quality of your experience and what others will think of your graduate degree. What is the reputation of the advisor—how well known in his/her field? What’s the person’s advising style—how hands-on / hands-off (and what suits you best)? What’s the breadth of research topics in that lab—all focused on the same system/questions, or do students pursue wider variety of research? (There are pros and cons…) In general, how are the students and their projects financially supported? And what has happened to past students since they graduated (i.e. where are they now, and how successful are they relative to your own career goals)?

The Department and University

The advisor and your fellow lab-mates are key determinants of your success and happiness, but you should also consider the broader context and reputation of the department and the entire university. What other faculty are likely to be available to help you with your research and education? How many other students will be doing work that interests you? What is the reputation of the department—is it well known for the type of research that you want to do? For biology in general?

The Application Process

Applying to graduate school is different from applying to an undergraduate school, because usually you will need the support of a potential graduate advisor to be admitted to the program. This advisor is the person under whose supervision you will conduct your research, so both of you have a big stake in whether you are a good match (but YOU have a bigger stake!). Your initial search of universities should narrow the field of departments and potential advisors that are high quality and that seem interesting to you. At that point you should contact the potential advisors (typically by email or postal mail) to gauge their initial interest in you. Briefly describe your background, research interests, and experience (you might include a resume for additional details, but keep the letter short!), and then inquire if they are likely to take new students in the upcoming academic year and whether they would be interested in more details on your background.

Some people will not respond at all, some will not be taking new students, and some will think that you are a poor fit for that lab or not competitive relative to other applicants. This is a normal range of responses (don’t be discouraged!), so be sure to plan your initial contact with quite a few labs or universities. If you receive encouragement, proceed from there. Eventually you would fill out an actual application to the program; this application is more than a formality, but it’s important to realize that the support of the potential advisor is an absolutely necessary first step.

As your conversations with potential advisors progress, there are some key topics to explore, including: how students are funded, how long their support lasts, how much freedom there would be in the design of your project, and how the advisor views his/her general style of mentoring. If things look promising, try hard to arrange a visit. This can be crucial for assessing how happy you would be there (be sure to have a beer with at least one current student in the lab!), and a good visit/interview can certainly strengthen your application.

Most departments have winter deadlines (December to February) for applications to start school in the fall semester. Consequently, you need to initiate contact with potential advisors in the fall (September is good).

Suggestions for Schools to Explore

This is a list of programs that I think are solid and very well known in one of three fields: behavioral ecology, evolutionary biology, and some combination of ecology and conservation biology. (Some schools appear in multiple categories.) This is not a complete list—just a starting point. There are certainly some great schools that I’ve not thought of, and I’ve restricted the list of non-U.S. schools to those where English is widely spoken.

+Animal Behavior / Behavioral Ecology Programs

+Evolutionary Biology Programs

University of Texas http://www.biosci.utexas.edu/IB/
Indiana University http://www.bio.indiana.edu/facultyresearch/index.html
University of Arizona http://eebweb.arizona.edu/interests.htm
University of California – Davis http://www-eve.ucdavis.edu/facultyresearch.html
University of California – Irvine http://ecoevo.bio.uci.edu
University of California – Riverside http://biology.ucr.edu/
University of California – San Diego http://biology.ucsd.edu/biosections/ebe.html
Cornell University, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology http://www.eeb.cornell.edu/department/faculty.html
University of North Carolina http://www.bio.unc.edu/
University of Tennessee http://eeb.bio.utk.edu/Default.stm
University of Nevada – Reno http://www.unr.edu/biology/
Duke University http://www.biology.duke.edu/index.php
University of Connecticut http://hydrodictyon.eeb.uconn.edu/eebwww/
University of Chicago http://pondside.uchicago.edu/ecol-evol/research/
Oxford University (England) http://www.zoo.ox.ac.uk/

+Ecology and/or Conservation Biology Programs

University of Texas http://www.biosci.utexas.edu/IB/
Oregon State University: Dept. Fisheries & Wildlife http://fw.oregonstate.edu
University of California – Santa Cruz http://www.eeb.ucsc.edu/
University of California – San Diego http://biology.ucsd.edu/biosections/ebe.html
Stanford University http://www.stanford.edu/group/CCB/About%20CCB.html
University of Minnesota http://www.consbio.umn.edu/index.php
Cornell University, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology http://www.eeb.cornell.edu/department/faculty.html
Colorado State University, Dept. Fishery & Wildlife Biology http://welcome.warnercnr.colostate.edu/fwcb-home/index.php
University of Colorado http://www.colorado.edu/eeb/
University of New Mexico http://biology.unm.edu
University of Missouri – St. Louis http://www.umsl.edu/~biology/
University of Utah http://www.biology.utah.edu/research/interest.php?int=10
Oxford University (England) http://www.zoo.ox.ac.uk/
Lund University (Sweden) http://www.biol.lu.se/ekologi/
Queen’s University (Canada) http://biology.queensu.ca/
University of Helsinki (Finland) http://www.helsinki.fi/science/metapop/
University of British Columbia http://www.forestry.ubc.ca/conservation/