How to find and apply to ecology graduate programs

Here is another post based on my response to a question from a current undergrad. They wanted to know what the process for applying to grad schools looks like and any prep they could do along the way to give them an advantage. Here are my thoughts based on my own experience of looking for schools as well as what I've seen other students do to successfully get into grad school in ecology. Quick disclaimer that that my experience is limited to the US system. I know funding and other aspects of the grad school application process are different in other countries.

Key Take-homes:

1. Get involved in independent research projects when you can (as soon as possible during undergrad).
2. Apply for the GRFP while getting as much feedback on the application as you can. Give yourself at least one to two months for writing the GRFP application well (deadline is usually in October).
3. Create a masterlist of professors that you could work with (summer and fall before applications are due).
4. Email a cover letter and your CV to all those professors (summer and fall before applications are due).
5. Prioritize finding an advisor you foresee getting along with really well over finding the perfect program or even an advisor that studies exactly what you want to study.
6. Try to limit your applications to schools that guarantee waived tuition and a stipend.
7. Practice and prepare for the GRE test and take it as many times as you need to.

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In more detail...

1. Between now and when you start actually applying to schools (as a 4th year undergrad), try to find and take any opportunities for independent or group research. Talk to any professors you like about ways in which you can get involved in their research. Especially if you tell them you are interested in pursuing grad school, I'm sure it will be hard for them to say no. And don't worry about the research being related to what you pursue in grad school. One of my colleagues in grad school did undergrad research on baby gut microbes, but then did her PhD work on invasive shrubs! The key is just to involve yourself in some kind of research if you can. Understanding how the scientific research process works helps a lot with your experience as a grad student, but also looks really good in the eyes of potential grad school professors looking to bring you on.
2. You don't need to know exactly what you want to study when you get into a grad program--but, you should start to think about it. Come fall of your senior year, you can apply for the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program. You can only apply the year before you start your graduate program and then one more time after you start, so take advantage of all the opportunities that you have. Deadlines each year are usually around the end of October, but check here. You basically need to submit a three page statement describing your "Personal, Relevant Background and Future Goals" and a two page description of a research project you will conduct during three years of your PhD (a few other things are required too, but this is the main component). That might sound super daunting to come up with ahead of time, but know that they don't care if you actually pursue that project or not. I, for example, never did the research I submitted for my GRFP. They just want to see that you understand how science works and are ready to do good research as a grad student. (I'll make a post specific to applying to the GRFP at some point soon). Many professors helped me with my application (by reading many drafts and giving me comments), so don't hesitate to ask for help and comments--aside from writing it themselves, professors can help a lot (though some have different ideas of how much they can actually help). I started by saying that you don't need to know exactly what you will study when you get into grad school, but having an example of what you might do (even if you don't), helps your chances and gives you something to submit for the GRFP.
3. This next step is more important in the preceding summer and fall of your senior year. Know that applying to grad school is very different from applying to college. You apply by reaching out to specific professors you'd be interested in working with. Then, if they like you they would encourage you to directly apply to the university. That application then usually goes through fairly easily, especially if the professor really wants you in their lab. If you end up getting the GRFP or similar fellowship, admission is pretty much guaranteed. To give you perspective on my application numbers--I emailed 30 professors mostly across the US (about three of them were international) with my interest in the form of a cover letter and CV (I will include an example cover letter template I used if anyone is interested). I heard back from about 15. About 7 of them actually had openings in their labs, and only 3 of those invited me for interviews. After interviewing, my decision was clear. That leads me to number four...
4. The most important advice I got when applying was to prioritize finding a good advisor over finding the perfect school or program. Find someone you can connect with on a personal level--even if their research isn't exactly what you want to do. If they are a good advisor, they will support you to do whatever you want and always be there for you. I can't stress that enough. Grad school is hard as it is, so having someone you feel comfortable going to when times get rough is so important. I have seen students seek out advisors based on their prestige—but I highly suggest against that. If you happen to align yourself with someone famous in your field, then great, but better to find someone you like as a person. As you start talking with them, build a relationship and remember that your questions for them are as important as their questions for you. My favorite question to ask during interviews? Why are you a professor and why do you do what you do?
5. But how do I find a good advisor? I can tell you what I did: I searched online for ecology programs in general as well as at specific universities (that I had heard had good ecology programs). Almost any prof has their own website which helps for learning more about their research and seeing if they'd a good match. I pretty much amassed a large masterlist and then reduced it a bit after studying their websites in more detail. In addition to that, I had read some papers that inspired me (or just found interesting) as an undergrad and the authors of those papers were automatically added to my original masterlist. In fact, that's a great way to go. If there are any papers in particular that you like, go for those authors right off the bat. If the paper is recent, many will probably still be grad students, but you'll find the profs that way too. I also recommend ECOLOG: the listserv for the Ecological Society of America. The listserv will send you countless emails every day about jobs, grad positions, advice, and other interesting things related to ecology (I recommend using a separate email address for this). All together these methods brought me to the list of 30 professors that I ended up emailing.
6. What about funding? It's important to recognize another big distinction between grad school (in the sciences) and college. Because you are an actual researcher, it is in the universities' interest to pay you to do a good job. Whenever you hear about some big discovery attributed to a particular university more often than not 90% of the work was completed by grad students. SO, what I mean to say is that almost all grad programs in the sciences waive tuition and include some sort of assistantship stipend through the university. The most common form of funding is a Teaching Assistantship in which you help professors with their classes in exchange for a living stipend. Some programs don't offer a stipend and expect you to pay up front so watch out for that. I can go into funding and grants a lot more (and probably will on a future post), but for now just know that most graduate programs in the sciences will cover tuition plus living expenses, but some don't. I highly recommend you stick with those that will pay you. I just can't imagine having to go through grad school while also working a job.
7. You'll have to take the GRE test. It's just another stupid (SAT-like) standardized test, but even if you are a bad test taker, practicing for it makes all the difference. It's an on-screen test, so there are a lot of practice tests online that you can go through really fast. Plus, you have the advantage of taking the test as many times as you'd like and only keeping your best score--so take advantage of that when the time comes. I am a bad test taker and the first time I took it I scored pretty low. Then I spent at least an hour a day taking practice tests for the better part of a month and my score went above the 80 percentile mark the next time I took it. There are a lot of resources out there for scoring well on the GRE—take some time to read them and make a plan of action for studying or practicing the exam. Also make sure to check with the universities where you are applying. Some schools are no longer requiring the GRE (e.g., see here).

In conclusion, it does take a lot of work to apply to grad school, but it's also not as bad as it might seem. After emailing 30 professors, I got interviews with only 3. But it didn't actually take me that long to write each email because I used a template for the bulk of the message. In retrospect though, I don't think it was much more difficult than applying for college.

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