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Advice on Applying to Graduate School in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology: How to Prepare and a Step‐By‐Step Guide

2021; Ecological Society of America; Volume: 102; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1002/bes2.1917

2327-6096

Walter P. Carson, Sara E. Kuebbing, Tiffany L. Betras, Amoi S. Campbell, Eden W. McQueen, Cheyenne L. Moore, Castilleja F. Olmsted, Laurel B. Roberts, NyJaee N. Washington,

Career Development and Diversity

We provide an introduction to the process of applying to graduate school in ecology and evolutionary biology with information on how to prepare for graduate school, how to choose a program, how to gain admission, and how to find and select an advisor. We provide a basic step-by-step guide for the application process and for the prelude to that process. This is a much revised and updated version (Carson 1999) containing additional information on parenting during graduate school and information for underrepresented groups in ecology and evolutionary biology and first-generation college students. We hope that this guide will help students, and others get started down the right track and help them to ask more refined questions of their mentors about the whole application process. This guide applies primarily to graduate programs in ecology, evolution, and behavior, as well as other areas of organismal biology, particularly those where the prospective student will be directly admitted into a specific professor's laboratory. It may also be useful for those applying to graduate programs in other subfields of biology such as molecular, cellular, or developmental biology. In general, students should understand at the outset that applying to graduate school in these disciplines is much different than applying to undergraduate programs or applying to professional graduate degree programs such as medical or law school. Graduate schools will often use some combination of up to five primary criteria or metrics to evaluate applicants: these are grades, your scores on the Graduate Record Exam (GRE), your research experience, your letters of recommendations, and your personal statement or essay. We discuss each of these below. While it is never too early to start thinking about graduate school, before applying, you should be pretty confident that graduate school and research are right for you. It can be a long haul (typically 5–6 years for a Ph.D.), and a serious commitment is required for success. If you are not certain, or if you feel "burned out" from school, take a year or two off, gain some additional research experience through postbaccalaureate research programs, seasonal fieldwork, laboratory technician positions, or get a job and bank some money, and then carefully consider postgraduate education. Delaying entry into graduate school will rarely hurt your chances of admission later and will improve them if you garner relevant research or life experience. Perhaps more importantly, it may reinforce your decision that graduate school is the right place for you. The use of the GRE by universities is waning, at least partly because of the mounting evidence that the examination only weakly predicts student success (Moneta-Koehler et al. 2017, Peterson et al. 2018) and often fails to predict the success of students, particularly minority students (Miller et al. 2019). Whether the GRE is required can vary by departments even within institutions, check to be sure. Although your grade point average (GPA) and your GRE scores are not always good predictors of success in graduate school, universities will use these metrics as one way to compare and evaluate applicants. Here is some advice: Many graduate schools have a 3.0 as a standard cutoff and the most competitive programs will look for GPAs that are much higher. However, if you have a low GPA, do not lose hope because there are a few things you can do. For example, make it clear in your personal statement (see Applying) if your grades improved steadily over time. Some programs will emphasize your GPA in the last two years of your degree program, or within your major; if your GPA is higher in these respects, emphasize this in your application. Also, if you had a semester or year when your GPA plunged relative to other years, explain why this may have occurred in your personal statement. These reasons, however, should be compelling and may include illness, caregiving, holding down a part-time job, or participation in scholarship athletics, but only you can provide relevant context for your GPA to an admission's committee. The GRE attempts to evaluate your quantitative, verbal, and analytical abilities. While the use of the GRE as a performance metric is declining, if you score well (~75 percentile or above), this can make up for a low GPA. Thus, even if an institution does not require GRE scores, if you do well, you can still pass on the scores when applying or contacting a prospective advisor (see Selecting a potential advisor). A high score on the GRE can make up for a low GPA (or vice versa). If you decide to take the GRE, you should consult one of the many available preparation and study guides. Educational Testing Services, which administers the GRE, has low-cost tools to help you, including two free practice examinations (https://www.ets.org/gre/revised_general/prepare/). Practice taking the test under the actual conditions of the examination until you feel comfortable with the format and length of the test. In addition, see if your undergraduate institution offers free help and instruction through the library or career services center. Students can also request disability or health-related accommodations from Educational Testing Services (https://www.ets.org/gre/revised_general/register/disabilities). Note that some universities may require that you also take the GRE Biology Subject Exam. Regardless of all of this, we predict, and welcome, a continued decline in the use of GRE scores as a metric to vet applicants. One way to avoid the stress and cost associated with taking the GRE is to avoid applying to those places that still require it. There are many outstanding master's programs out there. Thus, if your grades or GRE scores or both are relatively low, but your ultimate goal is a Ph.D., do not despair. Consider trying to find a master's program (see Should you do a master's degree first?) that emphasizes research, where your chance for admission might be higher. In a master's program, you can conduct interesting research and produce publications in peer-reviewed journals derived from that research. Along with enthusiastic letters of recommendation, this effort can more than make up for a modest GPA. Know that classes are only one part of your education. You should begin to obtain real hands-on research experience as early as your first year as an undergraduate. Research is the most important thing you can do to prepare yourself for graduate school. This is because it will teach you not only how to conduct research, but also whether you like research, and if so, what areas of research you enjoy the most. You can gain research experience working with professors, graduate students, and with scientists at nearby natural history museums, zoos, or botanical gardens. The vast majority of scientists have personal web pages or information about their research programs on their departmental website. On these sites, you can learn much about the professor, their graduate students, their research, and their scientific publications. There are a variety of ways to gain research experience including volunteering to help, working as a paid assistant, signing up for research credit, conducting independent research, or doing an independent study (library project that will require reading in the primary journal literature). Graduate students almost always need help with their research, and they are often short of funds, so seek them out if you are willing to volunteer time; they will be grateful, and you will learn a lot. Unfortunately, many undergraduate research opportunities are unpaid, which is inequitable because students who cannot afford to work without pay will have a harder time gaining research experience than their peers who have the financial support to volunteer their time (Fournier and Bond 2015). Students who seek research experience but cannot afford to volunteer may be able to apply for federal work-study funds to work in research laboratories or look for funding through university undergraduate research offices. There are also opportunities for undergraduates at universities across the United States and at field stations that offer well-paid summer immersion programs in research. Many of these are funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), but others are funded separately by the host institution. If your university has an Office of Undergraduate Research, they also likely offer grants or fellowships to promote research or have additional information on how to find and apply for paid undergraduate research opportunities. These opportunities are a terrific way to get paid to do research. If you are unsure about how to begin the process of selecting an undergraduate research mentor or applying to an undergraduate research program, McGill et al. (2021) have produced a useful guide. A current listing of NSF funded Research Experience for Undergraduates can be found at https://www.nsf.gov/crssprgm/reu/list_result.jsp?unitid=5047. There are other resources for finding opportunities to conduct research. Texas A&M has a fairly comprehensive Job Board in ecology and wildlife biology (https://wfscjobs.tamu.edu/job-board/) as does the Ecological Society of America (https://www.esa.org/nextgencareers/resources/job-sites). After gaining experience by one of the above means, try to attend a scientific conference or research fair, and if possible, give an oral presentation or poster on your research. Presentations are short talks (12–15 minutes) on your research, while a poster displays your research with text and figures. Conferences can also be a great place to meet and visit with potential advisors or graduate students at institutions where you are considering applying for graduate school. Conferences also frequently have professional development workshops and panels that you could attend to learn about future career options, how to develop a CV, and even how to apply to graduate school. However, to make the most of a conference, you may want to reach out to schedule times to meet with scientists prior to the start of the meeting. Most meetings publish their conference programs online where they list those who are presenting. Many universities have research fairs specifically designed to allow undergraduates to present their work, although graduate admission's committees weigh regional or national meeting participation more highly than research fairs at your home institution. Larger national meetings occur in most years and are hosted by scientific organizations such as the Society for the Study of Evolution (SSE) and the Ecological Society of America (ESA). Ask graduate students and professors for advice on attending meetings and work with your research mentors to polish your presentation or poster. A growing number of scientific societies offer funding for undergraduates to attend meetings; these include ESA's SEEDS program (Strategies for Education in Ecology, Diversity, and Sustainability) and funding offered by SSE (http://evolutionsociety.org/content/society-awards-and-prizes/travel-awards.html). These societies, and others, often have dedicated travel awards to promote participation by underrepresented groups. Sometimes universities or individual scientists will have funds to defray the cost of attending a meeting. See if your institution has an Office for Undergraduate Research, which may provide travel funds. Even if you do not have independent research to present, you should still try to attend a conference or research fair. These gatherings will give you a glimpse of the diverse array of research that is out there, give you a chance to meet prospective advisors, and probably convince you that you can do interesting science. This could result from your independent research, a project you began in a class, or an independent library project; it will require the help of a professor, postdoctoral researcher, or graduate student. Do not think that this is beyond your ability but know that it will require dedication and perseverance. It is essential to plan ahead, because getting the research to a publishable level will be more time-consuming than you expect. Nothing impresses a prospective advisor or graduate school like a publication in a refereed scientific journal! This will no doubt help you get into a top program or is an excellent way to get past a modest GPA. If you are working on a publication, but it is still in the works after your application was due, make this clear when you apply. Finally, some applicants have earned co-authorship on publications; this also demonstrates commitment and achievement. And of course, many applicants are not authors on papers, and this does not preclude you from gaining entry to an excellent graduate program. The research experience itself will have been essential to prepare you for graduate school. A mentor is someone you can talk to about careers in science, ask for guidance, request letters of recommendation, and someone you can keep in touch with throughout your journey in academics or subsequent career. The earlier you find a mentor or even multiple mentors the better; however, there is no deadline. If you are a first-generation student, this is a great way to start researching possible career pathways with someone who has already navigated them. Your mentor does not necessarily have to be a professor, but could also be a graduate student, a postdoctoral researcher, or someone from the advising office. The most important thing you want in a mentor is someone who you feel comfortable meeting with and talking about your professional goals. It is important to know that recommendations that only include your performance in class will be considerably less influential than recommendations that evaluate your performance outside of class conducting independent research or completing an independent study. Recommendations are extremely important. Your professors are likely to be friends or colleagues of the professors that you are applying to work with. Potential graduate advisors will often trust the recommendation of a close colleague or scientific peer more than a GPA or GRE score. Participation in departmental events will contribute to immersing you into the culture of science. Examples of departmental organizations include biology or ecology clubs. Consider taking on a leadership role (e.g., president) or starting a relevant science club if one does not exist; doing this can help you learn important leadership and organizational skills. Perhaps most importantly, if your department has a weekly seminar series or journal club or both, make time to attend at least some of these gatherings. A journal club is an informal weekly meeting of scientists to discuss recent scientific papers. Seminars are hour-long presentations on current research by scientists from both within the institution, and more often, by those outside the department or university. Undergraduates are almost always welcome at these events; however, you may need special permission to attend a journal club. Just ask a grad student or professor to be sure. It is certainly possible that you could meet a future advisor (see Selecting a potential advisor) at one of these events. Graduate-level courses provide a window into the graduate school experience. They can expose you to the flavor and tone of graduate school and will allow you to interact on a regular basis with graduate students. Do not think these courses will be over your head; often, they are no more difficult than undergraduate classes. Primarily undergraduate institutions may not offer graduate courses; if so, talk with your professors about acquiring skills that will help you prepare for graduate school, such as analyzing data in R, learning ArcGIS, or reading and discussing scientific papers with a group. Consider organizing a group of students with similar goals to work on these activities together, and at some colleges, you can register these groups as student-led courses for credit. Graduate students at research universities typically plunge right into a Ph.D. program. Consider completing a master's degree if you are unsure whether you want to commit to a lengthy Ph.D. program, if you are really unclear about your research interests, or if you are not sure that research is definitely for you. You will get additional experience and will be able to choose a Ph.D. program with much greater insight and clarity. Alternatively, there are often opportunities to become a full-time paid research technician where you can acquire important research experience (see the Job Boards mentioned above). Start the application process well before applications are due, which is typically from early December to early February for programs that begin the following Fall. A spreadsheet might be helpful with entries such as application deadlines, whether the GRE is required, whether there are internal fellowship opportunities at the institution, and whether there is an application fee. Note that only a small number of programs accept graduate students in the middle of the year; thus, it is a once-a-year process! You should ask your mentors to help with your application. Your university's career center may also be helpful in helping you find fellowships, connect you to alumni who have pursued graduate school, and write your application statements. There are also experienced mentors from around the country that are willing to help anyone with the application process; we encourage you to seek out this help (see https://dynamicecology.wordpress.com/2018/08/21/call-for-mentors-and-mentees-for-eebmentormatch/. You will need to secure at least three letters of recommendation for your application. These recommendations should come primarily from faculty, but one may also come from a senior graduate student or job supervisor. Choose people who know your abilities well. It is fine to email professors to request a letter of recommendation and to ask them if they are willing to write you a positive letter. Attach your résumé and offer to provide the professor a list of bullet points that highlight your accomplishments that might not be obvious on your résumé. These could include fluency in a second language, how you overcame significant hardships, lead guitarist in a rock band, or anything else that would help the professor compose a more compelling letter. Make sure you give the professor at least a three-week window, if not more, to submit your letter on time. Most programs will have you provide the email address of each person who has agreed to provide a letter of support. These programs will often automatically send emails to those faculty requesting that they submit a letter by a specific date. Faculty can be notoriously bad about getting recommendations in on time. It is your job to ensure that individuals who are writing your recommendations actually send them in. Double-check this and if the letters have not arrived by close to the due date, contact the faculty member and request politely that they send the letter ASAP. Identify the general area of research you would like to pursue. It should be more specific than just ecology or plant ecology, but it should not be so narrow as to exclude relevant options. Seek advice from your mentors. Although it may be difficult, it is important to try to narrow your interests. This underscores the benefit of gaining exposure to different research areas as an undergraduate so that you can begin to narrow your interests. One way to gain further insight is to explore job opportunities in research after you graduate but before starting grad school. This may help you hone in on an area of research that you really enjoy (see the job boards mentioned above). Select a range of institutions from major research universities to smaller Ph.D. granting institutions. You should choose at least one university where you are fairly certain of being admitted. It is sometimes the case that large research universities may be less likely to accept master's students, or that these applicants are given lower priority or less funding than students applying to doctoral programs. This varies by department and discipline, so do your research or ask to be sure. Attending graduate school while caregiving is challenging. Graduate school is demanding, requires a high level of commitment, and does not pay well, but it can be tremendously rewarding. You can succeed in graduate school while caregiving, especially when you find a department with supportive and well-established programs that are already in place. Here, we offer insight and advice to those who have children or plan to have children during graduate school. Some of our recommendations are likely specific to graduate schools in the United States, where federal and institutional support for families is limited relative to many other countries. We divided considerations into four categories: Location, Institutional Support, Departmental Culture, and Laboratory Culture. We note that similar challenges may apply to students with adult dependents. Recognize the difference between "accommodation" and "support." An advisor insisting that they are "flexible" is accommodation; a department offering paid parental leave is support. When deciding on a program, be careful not to make too many compromises that could put an unmanageable burden on yourself. It may be a cliché, but graduate school is a marathon, not a sprint. When you have children, that marathon maybe even longer and steeper, but it can also be enormously rewarding. For the sake of yourself and your family, choose a program that provides tangible support for parents at multiple levels. Do not worry about asking too many questions. Asking questions will allow you to identify programs that are a good fit for you; showing initiative will also reflect well on you to prospective recruiters. Being assertive demonstrates that you understand the challenges and that you are ready to take on the challenging but rewarding path ahead of you. For quite some time, universities and departments have been promoting diversity initiatives to support minoritized students and to combat tokenization of students from underrepresented groups; these initiatives gained significant additional momentum in 2020. While it is great to see this goal on institutional websites, you should evaluate the degree to which these initiatives are primarily publicity statements rather than actual commitments to diversity. Ask yourself: Are universities truly changing current policies and what actions have institutions and departments taken to make their programs more inclusive and welcoming? Here, we offer insight and advice to assist in identifying programs that are working toward solving the many serious inequities in ecology and evolutionary biology (Graves 2019, Tseng et al. 2020). There are many dimensions of diversity including race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, among others. To help minoritized individuals identify an outstanding program, we divide this box into four considerations: Location, Institutional Support, Departmental Culture, and Laboratory Culture. You should strive to find a supportive program where you will thrive and be accepted for who you are. Seek out programs that genuinely invest in inclusion and equity and provide real support rather than mere accommodation. Find an institution that welcomes you, one that invests in programs that provide marginalized students with critical social, cultural, and mental health support. Departments that provide a one-time fee waiver for your application are accommodating, but a department that provides a livable wage to live in a safe and welcoming neighborhood is supportive. Choose well and wisely. I was used to being an outlier, smoothing my rough edges, moderating my responses to trend to the mean. Attending schools where I was often one of two black kids in a class of 25 was the norm. Being a black girl who thought animals were fascinating required another layer of adjustment as well. My history in ecology began as an undergrad. I was at the University of Pennsylvania and all of my profs in biology were white men, the grad TA's were mostly white men, with 1 or 2 white females for leavening. I took several courses that fascinated me, particularly Ecology with Dan Janzen and a behavioral ecology field course with W. John Smith. Although I was deeply interested in behavioral ecology, I had no model for how to pursue it. I grew up in the inner city, raised by parents whose career aspirations had been stifled by the lack of opportunities for smart, young black people. Upon graduating, I worked a few years in medical research and then decided to pursue a master's degree, mostly in hopes of getting a better job. Because my transcript best matched the Ecology and Evolution program at the University of Pittsburgh, that is where I landed. It was like being in a foreign country. None of my family had ever held a non-clinical degree; I was not raised to think about graduate school, unlike nearly all of my fellow students and mentors. I still remember taking my comprehensive examination at the end of my first year. I spent 2 hours sequestered in a conference room with half a dozen white middle-aged men, desperately trying to figure out what they expected of me. I knew that they were (mostly) only interested in helping me, but I could not comprehend the nuances of their questions. I finally excused myself to get a drink and let the cool water from the fountain bathe my eyes as I cried. They took pity on me and I continued in the program. Fieldwork was traumatic; aside from a few weeks at summer camp, I had not spent time in the field and had certainly never contemplated standing alone in a marsh in hip waders on a cold April day while hunters unleashed shotgun blasts nearby! My academic career as a graduate student in ecology was like my undergrad experience. I became so accustomed to being the only female and only person of color in the room that I stopped noticing. I could not even let myself imagine that being denied a fellowship, a cushy TA assignment, funding, etc. could have anything to do with my color or gender; that way lay despair. Although falling in love with teaching was my impetus to finish my Ph.D., I never intended to join the tenure stream. When I look back on it now, I am sure that the alienation I felt was a major (if silent) contributor to that choice. How far have we come since those days nearly 40 years ago? In my department, we have ~60 faculty (tenure and appointment stream). For the last 25 years, I have been the only self-identified minority faculty member, but now we have two. Our department, like our university and academia in general, is starting to shift. Like the first hints of dawn after a long, cold night, hope is on the horizon. But, we still have a long way to go. Another important consideration in choosing a program is whether there are opportunities to acquire career training beyond research and traditional coursework. Not all students want to pursue the prototypical track of obtaining their doctorate, moving on to a postdoctoral position, and then accepting a professorship at a Ph.D. granting institution. These tenure-stream professorships tend to be scarce and fairly competitive. Fortunately, there are a wide array of other employment opportunities once you complete your degree, including science communication, working in the private sector (e.g., ecological consulting, natural history museums), teaching at a primarily undergraduate institution, and state and federal positions (e.g., U.S. Forest Service, policy advising). Does the university or the department you are considering offer courses, certificates, or training in pedagogy, statistics, GIS, or science communication that will allow you to expand your skill set in a way that would be attractive to employers? Does the department have affiliations with researchers or adjunct or affiliated faculty who work in these other sectors that could provide career advice? The ESA journal Frontiers in Ecology and Environment has an Exploring Ecological Careers section where more than a dozen articles explore career options outside of academia (https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/toc/10.1002/(ISSN)1540-9309.Exploring-Ecological-Careers). Your selection of an advisor is the most important decision you will make with regard to your graduate degree. Identify 5–10 professors who might serve as your potential advisor in graduate school. Find their laboratory webpage or Google Scholar page to understand more about their research. These professors should be conducting research in an area you are interested in, and at universities, you are interested in attending. Some universities that you are interested in attending may not have faculty that work in your area of interest, while some faculty with strong research overlaps may not be at an institution you would consider attending. The faculty member is almost always more important than the specific university (Fox 2020) and narrowing your scope of institutions may also limit your chances of finding the right faculty advisor. Do not go into this without careful thought. Ask mentors for advice on appropriate advisors. Although it may be possible to switch advisors once you enroll, switching advisors can sometimes become awkward and politically difficult, and there may not be another professor who has an opening for a student or one who matches your research interests. Thus, choose your advisor as wisely as possible in the first place (for some advice, see The Interview below). Finally, the degree that a potential advisor is progressive in terms of diversity and inclusion or is family-friendly or both may be of central importance for many applicants (Boxes 1, 2 offer advice). You