Only about 1/4 of all universities that admitted me did interviews before they admitted me. Hearing some experiences from other students seems to indicate that interviews are more common now compared to when I applied though.

Hey! Thank you! Just wanted to say, your feedback was so helpful for me, and probably for lots of others who don’t have direct connection to academia anymore. I have no resources other than to ask people who are close to academia, and you’ve been so helpful to me/many in the same circumstance and hope you know that 🙂 Thank you.

With this additional context, I think actually your letters are fine. I am not entirely sure what online collaborations means, but if it is mostly slack/email + some zoom meetings that is more than enough for a letter. I would probably ask for a letter from one of these professors. Even if the letter is not as strong as your industry letters, it sends a certain signal that you worked with academics on projects. People just want to see some context/contact with academics to know that you are not too stuck in an “industry mindset”. Looks like you have a great profile overall, good luck!

Hi M,

A letter from an industry researcher is great. In my application, I had one academic letter, one industry letter, and one letter from an instructor (researcher I only had classes with). I think it is important though to balance your letters with at least one academic letter. It would improve your chances to get admitted by quite a bit. If you can have 2-3 letter from researchers in industry though, it might be that no academic letter is needed. I guess the mass of industry research letters would make up for the different environments. In any case, you can always apply and see what you get and improve your application for the next year if it does not work out. Research experience with researcher in academia might then be on top of your list of how to improve your application.

Hi David,
I think your profile and path through life is great! I have seen that some people with a military background were discriminated against and I hope that your track record in tech makes people not look at that. You might just want to hide that part for the sake of the application. Otherwise, I think you are on a great path. One thing that I would very much recommend you is to work with other people instead of doing independent research. Independent research looks okay if it works, but more impressive is to have a recommendation letter from an experienced researcher say that you think have great potential to do research. So I would recommend you seek out experienced researchers to do research with. Since you seem to like your independence, you could try to find someone that is more hands-off. The fit of universities depends highly on your research profile. The experience that you have gathered is very valuable, but people want to see research publications and recommendation letters first and foremost. If you can have those, your additional experience will make you stick out and likely get accepted into good programs. So it is important to focus on publications and letters for now

Hi EJ,
I think you have excellent qualifications for a PhD program. While your profile is not strong enough to get into the very best programs, there are many professors that like students with industry experience. If you can get past the initial application committee, it is very likely that can find great professors that would want to take you on. This can even be at top universities and programs if you get past the initial hurdle. Your academics at work might be able to make your application more seen, so focus on applications where these contacts have connections/work at. So all in all, you can expect the application process to be a bit random, but you have good chances of getting into great PhD programs. I do not think a master’s is necessary.

Yes, I think your application is more than sufficient to go for a PhD program. You will probably not get into the very top programs, but there should be many great programs that would accept you. A master can make sense if you really want to boost your application and get into the top PhD programs. But it is also a bit of a gamble, people expect a bit more from Master applicants compared to applicants with bachelor’s degrees. Because your application is relatively strong, it could make sense to go for PhD programs directly.

Hi Rama!

Thank you for your comment. You seem to be very driven it is just that people did not give you enough opportunities yet to prove yourself. I would try to apply for PhD programs and try to use the many diversity pre-application that are now available at many universities. At UW, we call this PAMS, and this process is already on-going, so I am not sure if you can still participate, but you could still write an email and see if you can get some mentorship for your application (which should also be useful for other universities).

In general, if you are comfortable with it, I would also recommend you try to go a longer path. I did this myself and it worked out well for me. It requires some patience but it can make the following years much easier. So if you can do the 1.5 – 2 years that would give you a great start along that path.

Some universities can waive the application fee for people that have difficulty paying for it. I would see which universities offer this. Otherwise, try to carefully weigh where you apply. I think for many top 20 universities your profile is currently a bit too weak. Since you are so eager, I could see it working out after spending another 1.5 – 2 years, but in the current state I would spend the application fees on some lower-ranked universities. There are some great universities that are underrated which you can more easily get into. Look for universities that have groups that do great research but where the university is not super well-known.

Good luck!