A Ph.D. is a research intensive degree, and a course–based Master’s doesn’t provide students with the same opportunities to do research as a thesis–based Master’s degree can. For that reason, it can be difficult to be competitive for a Ph.D. coming from a course–based Master’s degree. In many cases, Ph.D. admissions will specifically ask for a research–based Master’s to qualify. At the very least, the admissions committee will be looking for something equivalent to graduate–level research experience.

Some Ph.D. programs may provide the option to complete a Qualifying Research Paper to showcase your research abilities. If you’re not able to find detailed information on the program’s admission requirements page, consider connecting with the admissions staff to find out more.

A Master’s degree is often required for entry into a Ph.D. program in Canada. Research–intensive Master’s programs may give you an advantage when applying for a Ph.D. Some programs allow you to transfer from a Master’s to a Ph.D. program prior to writing your thesis. In rare instances, you may apply for direct entry to a Ph.D. program with only an undergraduate degree. Direct entry to a Ph.D. is more common to American graduate programs. Contacting the graduate admissions office will be your best source of information on your options for a Ph.D.!

At a minimum, you need to identify or find research that aligns with your interests, as well as a graduate supervisor’s interest. It will be important to find a balance between a research area that is too broad or too limiting.

A graduate supervisor is a faculty member that mentors a graduate student in their research. Most research–based programs require that you have a supervisor. Your supervisor will be the key person to contact at every stage of your research, from selecting your research topic, assessing your findings, to your thesis defense, if applicable.

In most cases, the graduate department website will provide a list of faculty that can be potential supervisors. Keep in mind that this list may not identify which faculty are available. In some disciplines, there is more research funding available than others, which may impact the number of potential supervisors working within your research interests.

When deciding on a supervisor, read their publications, attend conferences, and connect with current professors, teaching assistants, graduate students or alumni. It is strongly recommended that applicants contact potential supervisors to ensure that their research interests align. If programs advise applicants not to contact potential supervisors, follow this advice.

Send a professional email about 200 words in length focusing on how your research interests align with their research and how your skills will help the supervisor’s research team. Attach your resume and an unofficial transcript, if your marks are competitive, and list whether you are applying for scholarships. Ask to meet with the potential supervisor and tour their lab, or to set up a Skype or phone appointment.

The application timeline for most graduate programs runs through the fall term. Contacting potential supervisors in the summer between your 3rd and 4th year should give you enough time to connect before you write your application materials.

If your program application timeline is different, you might contact potential supervisors earlier or later in the year.

If a potential supervisor does not respond to your email, follow up with a phone call. If you do not receive a response, you could consider following up again or searching for an alternate supervisor.

If you are meeting your potential supervisor months in advance of the application, keep in touch!

If your program(s) of interest advise applicants not to contact potential supervisors, follow this advice.

For research–based programs, you can technically apply to graduate programs without contacting supervisors. If you choose not to, you will not be able to mention that you met them, toured their space and/or thoroughly understand their research in your letter of intent. Your application will not have the same personal connection or enthusiasm as others. Even if you don’t contact them, you will need to provide a list of potential supervisors in your areas of research interest when you apply.

There are many different ways to explore your research interests.

You could begin to develop your research interest by reading widely in your target field. In this process, you will learn about research methods, processes, and questions in your field. You may also identify areas of research and specific researchers whose work interests you.

Another potential approach is to consider your motivation for graduate study. Is there a particular problem that you want to solve? Something you want to learn about in more detail? A question you developed in your undergraduate study, or maybe something you think will be relevant to your future career? There are likely researchers working in this area and you can further develop your research interest by seeking them out.

A third way of developing your research interest is through conversation with existing researchers. You could consider connecting with current graduate students in your department or area of study, asking your professors about their current projects, and/or attending conferences or invited speaker sessions. Engaging with other researchers this way will help you further develop your research interests.

It may be helpful to find a professor who shares your interests and who will act as a mentor. This professor may be willing to help you identify the programs that are best suited to your interests and assist you in the selection and application processes. Also consider contacting the graduate student associations at your universities of interest as well as relevant professional associations: they may provide you with first-hand, up–to–date insights into programs.

Most applications in Canada are due in the late fall and early winter. Some program deadlines are as late as early spring. Be sure to check the deadlines for your particular program.

Most grad schools accept online applications where you can submit all of your required forms directly. Otherwise, you can request applications from the programs through the mail. If you will submit an application by mail, make sure you have enough time to receive and return the application before the deadline. The applicant is responsible for ensuring all documents are included and submitted on time.

Applying to grad schools in Canada usually requires an application fee. Most online applications allow you to pay by credit card.

If you are paying via cheque in a paper application, please contact the program to ensure you know who the cheque is payable to.

If your application package includes a statement of research interest, this is the best place to share information about your proposed research.

Otherwise, your letter of intent, sometimes called personal statement, is the best place to talk about your research interests, reasons for choosing the program and past experience that make you a strong candidate for the program. This is also the opportunity to mention whether you had met with a supervisor and aligned your research interests.

Here are a few things to consider when you want to find out more about the program you are applying to.

1. Read through the program website really, really carefully. Seriously.
2. Ask a professor. This could be someone you know now or someone you might want to work with for your graduate program.
3. Chat with other people in the program. Try to ask for a program ambassador or you can also search on LinkedIn.
4. Ask admissions staff. Many programs literally pay someone to talk to you about the program. Look for a graduate advisor or admissions officer.
5. Attend events or visit their location. You’ll get a much better feel for the program, instructors, staff and physical location. Participate and be proactive!

A strong letter of reference communicates that you will be a good graduate student. Ideally, it will come from a professor who can speak positively about your academic ability and your interpersonal characteristics as they relate to graduate school.

Likely, this means that you are looking for a professor of a course that you did well in. If you are able to use a professor from a relatively recent course, or a professor who has seen your work in more than one course, it’s helpful (but not required).

If you can think of a professor who knows you outside of the classroom, maybe someone you saw in office hours, someone who supervised you as a TA or RA, or someone you volunteered for, they might be able to share additional context about your work ethic, reliability, and other personal characteristics.

If you aren’t certain who to choose or are stuck between two or more options, the best reference always comes from the person who can speak about your abilities in the most positive way.

Programs usually request an academic reference because they want to understand your ability to succeed academically. In most cases, a professional reference is not an appropriate substitution for an academic reference.

If you have been out of university for some time, find out whether there is a mature applicant category at the program(s) you are applying to. Sometimes, applying under this category means that you are able to provide professional references instead of academic.

Your program choice(s) will determine which tests, if any, you need to take before applying. Research your program(s) thoroughly to find out whether a test score is required.

Occasionally, a program will indicate that a test score may be submitted but is not required. In this case, a strong test score might mitigate weaker grades on an application; if you are not sure whether you should write an admissions test, reach out to staff at the program to find out.

For most programs, competitiveness varies by program and year. If you are concerned because your GPA is in the lower range of admitted applicants or close to the minimum required GPA that that the program publicizes, contact admissions staff to learn more about the range of competitive GPAs.

If your GPA is below the minimum required for the program, you may choose to pursue additional coursework to improve your application. You may also contact admissions staff to learn how they review files with an uncompetitive GPA.

Most programs have requirements for your grades, experience, and/or test scores. Usually, more applicants meet these criteria than the program can admit, and the personal statement plays an important role in deciding who, of all the qualified applicants, will enter the program.

The personal statement tells the committee how you see yourself fitting with the program. It is how they understand your motivations and how you see the program aligning with your overall goals. It teaches them about you, the person, and not just about your grades or your test scores.

A strong personal statement is an argument that you should be admitted to the program you are applying to. It will show your fit and preparation for further study, and for the program you are applying to in particular. It will be unique to you because it will represent your personal motivations and experiences.

There is a lot of conflicting advice about what to share on a personal statement. The most important factor in what you share is the question prompts for your specific application; these will form the foundation for your content decisions.

You will likely include your specific motivation and interest for this particular type of further study and show that you are prepared to do well in this program and field by sharing some of your most important relevant experiences.

Take a second pass through the program resources, both online and in print where applicable, to be sure that this information isn’t available. If you can’t locate the personal statement requirements, you could consider contacting a program representative and asking for clarification.

If you still don’t understand what is required for this particular personal statement, general guidelines are one to two pages in length. Traditionally, you would talk about why you are applying to this program in particular and what has prepared you to do well in the program and/or career you are pursuing.

The most likely readers of your personal statement are professors or instructors on the admissions committee of the program or department that you are applying to. Think about this audience when you develop your materials; not every reader will be an expert in your specific technical discipline, so you will likely have some translation work to do to ensure your experiences are relatable.

NO!

A strong personal statement uses your unique voice to share your motivations and experiences as they relate to your program of interest. If someone else tries to write your personal statement for you, or substantially edit it, the quality of your statement will be negatively affected.

You are the expert on your own motivations and experiences; your best personal statement will always be one that you write.

No two candidates are exactly alike; what worked for a friend or in a statement template might not be right for you.

Before you get feedback or advice from other people, or read statements to see how others have approached their application, try the reflection activities and steps in the section on how to write a good personal statement. The best way of creating a unique statement is to understand what you want to communicate and why, and avoid being overly influenced by others’.

If you’ve already gotten feedback or advice or read other statements, it’s okay! Try to go through the below steps with a fresh mind.

It’s very normal to have one or more experiences that affect your candidacy in some way. Sometimes what feels like a large concern to you will not be remarkable to an admissions committee. Other times, the admissions committee is likely to notice that something affected your studies. You may also have information that an admissions committee could use to contextualize your candidacy.

For most programs, you do not need to address a single low grade, particularly if it does not fall within the period of time that a program looks at to determine your admission average. For example, if you received a low grade in a course in first year, but the program you are applying to only looks at your last two years of performance, you would not normally address this on your application. Likewise, if you are normally an 80s student and received one grade in the 70s, you would not normally address this on your application.

If you have had one or more terms of significantly lower grades, a large number of WDs, an absence from your studies, or something similar, it is likely that the admissions committee will notice evidence that something happened. If you experienced an accessibility need, or your performance was affected by another personal factor, you may wonder whether to share this information or apply under an access category.

You are never required to share your personal story, and deciding how to handle this type of experience involves two main considerations:

1. What information, if any, do you want to share with the admissions committee?
2. What information might the committee need to know so they can understand your experiences?

Evaluating exactly how to proceed with information sharing (or not) can take a lot of reflection. If you’re feeling stuck, attend a drop-in with a further education advisor to talk in more detail.

It’s tempting to list off a series of positive qualities about your target school or program; to make this a meaningful part of your personal statement, avoid generic content that could easily belong on someone else’s document.

Instead, think about what drew you apply to this particular program. Is it the geographic location? The type of training you will receive there? A particular researcher or instructor you want to work with? The institution’s research history or research areas? What others say about the program? The institution’s reputation?

Whatever your reasons, reflect on why they are important, how they connect to your studies, and what they mean for your ability to succeed in the program.

It’s common for people to try sitting down and writing as the first step of their personal statement. You will likely save time and develop a stronger statement if you do some background work first.

Investigate

You need to understand what questions you’re answering and how much space you have. To find the question prompt(s) for the personal statement, document length, and core competencies for the program or profession, you could:

• Read the school/program website and program manuals
• Talk to professors, graduate students, or staff at the program you’re interested in

You will know this stage is done when you know what question(s) you are responding to and how much space you have to do so.

Identify

You will use your personal statement to communicate to a specific audience. You need to understand that audience and what they care about in order to communicate effectively with them. To find out what they look for, you could:

• Translate the school/program materials and informational interview information into a list of skills, abilities, experiences, and/or competencies that they want.
• Read the vision, mission, and values statements and identify additional important parts of a competitive candidacy.
• Talk to professors, graduate students, alumni, or staff of the program you’re interested in.

You’ll know this stage is done when you understand what skills, experiences, and qualities you might need to be successful in this program.

Assess

You will use your past experiences to show that you will be successful in the program you are applying to. Look for the closest possible proof that you have what it takes. To identify your relevant experiences, you might:

• Revisit your past experiences, remembering your training, volunteer, employment, coursework, extracurriculars… everything! You could use the Access Your Experiences worksheet if you are looking for one place to record this information.
• Pay particular attention important moments and experiences that helped you know you want to pursue this area of study or career.
• Critically evaluate how your experiences relate to what your program needs from a strong applicant.
• Think carefully about what each experience means. You could ask yourself:
• What do these experiences and stories make you good at?
• What did you do differently than someone who is bad at this work?
• What did this experience prepare you to do well in the future?

One of the myths about personal statements is that you should only share stories that have a perfect happy ending; in reality, stories that don’t end perfectly can be the best at teaching you about yourself and your skills.

If you want to dive deep into your experiences, you can try the Access Your Experiences worksheet. This exercise asks you to identify important experiences, think about why you engaged with them, and then think beyond your surface reasons to the deeper “why” of your background. Often, that deeper why is similar for many of your experiences, and can form a cohesive foundation for your personal statement.

You’ll know this stage is done when you have remembered and reflected on your relevant experiences.

Compose

At this point, you have done extensive background work. You likely have a good idea of which stories you want to tell on your application. To start writing your personal statement, you might:

• Try writing a bad first draft — one where you don’t hold yourself to a perfect standard, but work quickly to get all of your ideas on paper.
• Start by jotting down bullet points or incomplete sentences and organize your thoughts before writing full sentences.
• Create an outline of your document, potentially using the Personal Statement Outline handout, then fill in stories with more detail as you revise.

You’ll know this stage is done when you have one or more rough drafts of your statement.

Revise

The final stage of writing a strong personal statement is revising your document. You might:

• Take a break from your document for a day or several days, and come back to it with fresh eyes.
• Ask for structured feedback from other people. You could ask others to:
• Circle or highlight the main competencies they think you are emphasizing on your document;
• Share one or more questions they have about your statements;
• Summarize what you shared about how you will contribute to the program/field;
• Restate why you are interested in this program/field;
• Provide any other feedback that would help you reflect on your writing.

You’ll know this stage is done when you have shared the stories that are most important to you, and hear from others that your statement clearly shares the messages you want an admissions committee to receive about you.

If the school(s) you’re applying to are far away, perhaps overseas, it may be difficult to organize an in–person interview. The admissions committee may or may not present you with options for distance interviews (e.g., Skype). You can always respond to the invite with questions, but prepare for the possibility that you’ll need to arrange transportation and coordinate with admissions.

Standard panel interviews are the most familiar interview type. An admissions committee, sometimes made up of faculty, admissions or recruitment staff, or current graduate students, will ask you a series of questions. They may ask about your interest in the program, qualifications, and future goals to determine your fit with the program.

Preparing for a graduate school interview isn’t all that different from any other interview. If you’ve interviewed for any job or volunteer position before, you have a head start! The short answer is, do whatever you need to do to feel prepared and confident heading into the interview. That could include:

• Practicing interview questions out loud
• Writing down some key points you want to talk about
• Planning a draft research proposal or some jot notes about future research
• Bringing a copy of your resume or CV to remind you of your relevant experience

The program you’ve applied to may have a set list of questions, or they might not. Check the program website or invitation email to see if they’ve shared any information about their interview process and what it might include.

Here are some common questions you can practice for graduate school interviews, no matter which program you’re interviewing for:

• Tell me about yourself.
• Why did you choose this program?
• Why did you choose this school?
• Tell me about a time you took on a leadership role.
• What kind of research are you hoping to pursue in this degree?
• Which faculty member do you hope to work with and why?
• Tell me about a time you failed.
• What is your greatest strength/weakness?
• What are your plans after you complete the program?

When a potential supervisor is evaluating your fit with their research and/or lab, they could ask to speak with you for a more informal type of interview. They may ask to set up a Skype chat or meet you for coffee.

First of all, this is great news! It likely means they’re impressed by the information they have about you. This is an opportunity to connect more and get to know one another, ask questions, and asses two–way fit.

You’ll be more relaxed and do your best possible job by spending a little time to prepare in advance.

You can prepare much like you would for a formal interview. Come ready to talk about your research interests, previous experience, a proposed area of study for your degree, and maybe your future goals. Consider running through some of the common interview questions above. If that doesn’t feel like enough, you can book a Further Education Interview drop’in.

This chat isn’t just about them getting to know you; it’s also an opportunity for you to ask them questions that you’ve been wondering about.

What do you genuinely want to know about that program and that supervisor? So much of your graduate school experience will depend on your relationship with your supervisor. It’s important to understand if they’re a good fit for both your research interests and your working style. You can ask them questions about:

• What they expect of students they supervise
• How they prefer to provide feedback on a student’s work
• How often they like to meet with their students and get updates on their progress
• What future research they’re planning
• How you can get involved in their research and/or teaching