Hello! If you’re reading this as an undergrad, you're light years ahead of me when I was in your shoes. It wasn’t until my last quarter in undergrad did I realize research was a thing I could do. But even then, it was still unclear to me what it meant to be a "researcher" let alone what it took to apply to grad school. So I spent the following summer sending (70+) blind emails to anyone remotely affiliated with research asking them what their job was like.
However, before I sent those emails I spent an obscene amount of time trying to figure out what to ask people. I don’t wish anyone to spend that much time figuring out knowledge that should be more available & transparent to those who are curious about research & want to connect with folks who can ultimately shape their career. From my limited perspective, I have assembled an assortment of resources that I hope can help start the process. Please feel free to reach out at any time to edit/correct or add additional resources that may be helpful.
Also, by no means am I the only one who has created material on the grad school application process & I highly recommend checking out these additional resources:
Erin Mordecai's blog that shares resources on the pre-, during, & post- grad school experience
A guide by E3B Columbia students on applying & deciding on a PhD program
Additionally, as Instructor of Record for UCSB's Biometry (bio stats in R) class in W 2023, I put together professional development (prof dev) resources to share on the first day of class in lieu of lecture material. This prof dev lecture highlights some resources that I put on the class GauchoSpace (GS). I have shared the prof dev PDF below which briefly discusses topics like email etiquette, common academic jargon, purpose of the CV & SOP, and more.