You’ve studied hard, gotten good grades, and spent the last two years working in research labs on campus.  You’re feeling ready for that next, inevitable step: applying to graduate school.

In a perfect world, the next step would be easy.  You’d simply fill out an application, and submit it to every Genetics or Microbiology department in the country.  They’d review your application, and you could sort through your options based on which schools offered you an interview.

But of course, it’s not that simple.  Each school requires a different application form, and steep application fees can severely tax your meager bank account.

You need to do the hard work of screening up front, and only apply to a select group of programs where you can expect to be both successful and happy.

This can be overwhelming.  There are hundreds of graduate schools and thousands of individual programs and departments.  Where should you begin?

Luckily, Beth Bowman, PhD is here to help!  Dr. Bowman is the Assistant Director of Graduate Programs in Biomedical Sciences and Co-Director, Vanderbilt Summer Science Academy at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN.

She has advised hundreds of students in their graduate school search, both as a recruiter and mentor.  Plus, she went through the process on her own PhD journey. 

In this episode, we talk with Dr. Bowman about some of the harrowing decisions applicants must make before actually sitting down to fill out forms.

For instance, it’s important for applicants to think deeply and honestly about their reasons for pursuing a PhD in the first place.

Going for the right reasons

“I think there are a lot of really great reasons to apply to grad school, and I think there are some not-so-great reasons,” Dr. Bowman begins.

“The first thing that is important is knowing that you love research.”

She recommends having a natural curiosity about how things work, or a desire to solve the puzzles and problems that tend to arise in the lab.

There are a couple of common reasons applicants list that she says could set you up for problems down the road.  

“I hear commonly, ‘I want to give back to my community.’  But the type of biomedical research in our program is not going to give you the type of immediate feedback you want,” Dr. Bowman observes.

Josh adds, “I’ve seen students who really burn out or really feel they have mismatched expectations when they enter for that reason of wanting to help the community, and you really are far removed when you’re pipetting small volumes of liquid into other small volumes of liquid every day.  It’s easy to lose sight of how this is helping someone right now.”

Other reasons students give that deserve some introspection are applying because you want ‘the degree,’ or to ‘take the next step.’  Some students even apply because they want to earn a stipend.

“That should not be your main reason for getting a PhD,” Dr. Bowman says.  “Not only is that going to be a struggle for you, but I have to admit, when I interview students, I can tell and that comes through.  And we don’t admit those students because it’s not going to be a fun journey for you to get your PhD.”

Narrowing the field

Once you’re convinced that your motivations are aligned with the reality of graduate training, it’s time to start looking at individual schools and programs.

“I remember that feeling of being overwhelmed at how many schools and how many programs there are,” Dr. Bowman recalls.

But she wants to dispel one assumption right away: “School...