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I'm sorry to say that this email is too generic for me to consider you as a future PhD student working with me. Unfortunately, it doesn't demonstrate that you know what topics I work on. … Here is an example of what I sent to my prospective PhD advisor 10 years ago. …

As I transition to faculty, I have increasingly gotten requests from people who want to do PhD's with me or want postdocs in my lab. Often these emails are extremely generic and don't suggest they k …

After you have finished a PhD when does it become inappropriate to ask your advisor for advice, read over a manuscript, or do any other "advisor things"? … Basically how should one interact with the former advisor once the PhD is finished? …

I had a very difficult personal problem. My head was not in the right place, and outside of getting through my administrative duties, my brain just couldn't function the right way to run wet lab exper …

Many Universities have GPA cut-offs where they don't look at applications below a particular GPA threshold. The cut-off is generally much lower than the average admitted applicant, but can still be qu …

Do the right thing and allow the person who really wants a PhD to enter the PhD program. The PhD program, most likely, has offered you funding assuming you actually want a PhD. … After your MS, you might even get into a better PhD program and have a better idea about what PhD program/advisor would be best for your research interests. …

You could say the following "I left due to reasons in my personal life. This issue has now passed and I am excited to get back into research." This is not a lie. Your ethical convictions and h …

One option is to ask the postdoc and professor if the postdoc can write a strong first draft that the professor would be willing to sign (and ideally edit). Most admission committees will probably kno …

Employers might look at the PhD -> MS like you are a professional student that lacks direction (plus it's a boatload of money). … You want your resume to say, I have a PhD in physics which means I'm smart and I self taught myself all this stuff you require for this job because I am self motivated. …

You should show some specialization in your PhD and in many fields (probably the vast majority) this will be delving deep into one very specialized topic. … That being said, this is the type of question that is best answered by your advisor, and ideally in your first year of a PhD program. …

I'd only go to the second tier school if you would be happy staying there until completion of the PhD. Going out into industry can equally look good on an application. … Many schools do in fact let you leave with a masters degree after 1-2 years of PhD work (usually after a qualifying or advancement to candidacy exam). Now of course some don't. …

You need to find the right advisor for You This not only means learning about how the advisor behaves but also about how you react emotionally and academically to different advisor styles. I mentione …

The best students in "mid-tier" programs publish more than the average student in the most prestigious programs. There are many factors that help explain this. Happiness - being below average is quit …

The answer is very field specific. In many departments all that matters is your research. Does your dissertation and publications fit the department's vision for what it means to do research in field …

Of course there are many advantages to having a comprehensive exam as are outlined in many of the other answers here, but there are also many reasons why departments don't have them. A comprehensive …