Unsure of exactly which area of the field you want to go into? Pursuing a Master's might be a great step to determine your next career steps! A Master’s degree is a 2-3 year program based around 1 project. An MS degree is good for if you aren’t 100% sure about your choice of study area or aren’t planning to go into academia. 

A Ph.D. is a great aim for students coming out of a Bachelors or Masters who know which field they want to continue working on as their career. A doctoral degree typically lasts around 5 years but can range between 3-9 years (depending on if you already have a MS, how wide of a project you are working on). The degree typically has one main project that includes smaller projects within it (averaging 4 chapters). This is the typical degree required to go into academia and will provide you with a solid background in a specified area.

The graduate school application process can be a very taxing process, so below are some summaries and tips for what to expect. 

Contacting Potential Advisors

Within the planetary and geosciences programs, it is standard to reach out to potential advisors (in august-november before application deadlines). Some programs even require this and many researchers won’t even look at applicants who don’t contact them beforehand! Contacting possible advisors helps you learn a lot about the program while also getting your foot in the door. You want to put your best foot forward and see if they have any projects that fit what you want to do. This also helps the advisor grasp which of their projects would be best for you.

Tips for drafting an email to potential advisors:

• Be specific and do your research: don't send out a broad email, write specifically what projects and analysis techniques of theirs that you want to work on.

• Don't make it too long: Researchers are very busy, so make sure to be straight to the point and concise.

Achieving Letters of Recommendation

Most graduate school applications require 3 letters of recommendation, with positions for up to 5 letters to be received. August-October before application deadlines is a good time to start asking for letters of recommendation.

 Who can write you a letter?

Professors, research advisors, academic advisors, bosses, internship advisors, etc.

Tips for letters of recommendation:

• Don't have broad letters: Pick people who can attest to your work and experiences, painting you as the best candidate.

• Be timely: Always give your letter writers the deadlines for applications early and tell them anything specific that should be include in the letter (what your project is, what the program is most looking for, any specific formatting, etc.).

Making A Deadline Schedule

Keeping organized makes the graduate application process much less stressful and helps you accomplish tasks much easier. For creating an outline of the graduate school process, use a tool that works best for your planning style (word documents, spreadsheets, gantt charts, etc.). 

To make a deadline schedule, you should include each thing below for every school of interest:

• Deadline of application (including for letters of recommendation)

• Potential advisor(s) your are interested in working with

  • Include if you have contacted and/or met with them

• What kind of funding is available for graduate students

  • Make sure to consider summer funding, health insurance, tuition & fees coverage, conference funding, and Research vs. Teaching assistantship stipends

• What documents and/or test are required for the application

• How many letters of recommendation are required

• Are any test required for admission

• Are CVs required 

  • Specific format?

• Transcript requirement

  • Official or unofficial?

  • Delivery method: mail? electronic?

Tips for staying on schedule:

• Make deadlines for having drafts of individual documents completed

• Put all deadlines into your digital and/or written calendar(s)

Picking An Advisor

Have a good advisor-advisee relationship is vital to making the most of your graduate career. Finding the right advisor is a difficult process where you have to know what does and doesn't work for you. 

When looking for an advisor, ask yourself:

• Do you and the potential advisor get along well?

• Do you need a mentor who is more hands on or hands off?

• Is work/life balance important to your potential advisor?

• Are your academic career goals aligned with your potential advisor?

• Does your potential advisor have collaborations that you wish to continue?

• Can your potential advisor fund your research (including conferences and publications)?

• How cohesive (based on size and dynamics) is your potential advisor's current research group?

Tips for finding the advisor for you:

• Get advice: Email and/or meet with your potential advisor's current and past students.

• Know your boundaries: Make sure your potential advisor knows your boundaries and doesn't expect way too much from you.

Picking a Program

Finding a program that fits your needs and expectations is important to the success of your graduate career. Your program should be a community that helps and promotes you and your research. For longer degrees (Ph.D.), make sure you are moving to a place that works for your needs. 

Tips for picking the program:

• Take a visit: going to the campus and touring the building is a nice way to determine if you can really fit in there.

• Know what projects are available: Ask what existing projects/questions there are that you could work on.

• Time commitment: Ask their weekly hour expectations to be in the lab and for teaching (if you are on an assistantship).

• Facilities and collaborations: Pick a program that has the laboratory and computational facilities your research requires. If they don't have the facilities, make sure proper collaborations are in place for you to do your research!

• Resources on campus: Identify if there are resources for you and your needs. 

Where ever you decide to go, the #1 thing to do is make your new home your place to be. Find communities and activities that fulfill your needs outside of your schooling. 

Funding Your Graduate Education

When deciding where to go for your graduate education, it is important that funding for you is covered. You should not have to take out loans to fund your graduate career! 

When discussing with potential advisors, make sure to ask:

• What funding is there for a Ph.D./M.S. position?

• Is the funding a research or teaching assistantship?

• How much is the stipend and how many months of the year does it cover?

• Is there funding for during the summer?

• Is tuition and/or student fees covered?

• Does my position include health insurance?

• What additional cost should I expect?

How to know if you can afford the school:

• Look up local rental and utility cost.

• Make a spreadsheet of all your expect cost vs. income.

Other ways to fund your education: Fellowships!

• NASA FINESST: a 3-year support fellowship for students in planetary and earth science that provides a stipend and covers student expenses that aren't covered by the school. 

  • Students can apply as soon as the winter before starting graduate studies.

• NSF Graduate Research Fellowship: Providing 3 years of financial support, the NSF GRFP funds students in all sciences with a stipend and coverage of student expenses. 

  • Students can apply once during their undergraduate and once within the first 2 years of graduate studies. 

For more funding opportunities, additional fellowships and scholarships are listed below.

• Geosciences Education & Mentorship Support: "GEMS provides mentorship support for undergraduate and early-stage graduate students in the geosciences. We believe that all students wishing to pursue an advanced degree should have access to resources and support. In order to address existing mentorship gaps, particularly for students from historically excluded groups in the geosciences and academia, we match students with faculty, postdoctoral, research staff and graduate student mentors. In addition, we hope to provide materials, webinars, and Q&A sessions on how to apply to graduate school. GEMS aims to increase the accessibility of graduate programs and funding for all students, which we recognize is only one component of a larger effort needed to diversify the geosciences."

• Graduate School Application Station: "The Graduate School Application Station Welcomes You! Your one stop shop for navigating the grad school application process. Welcome to the Graduate School Application Station! We are here to provide you with some tips and tricks for applying to graduate school in the Geosciences in the US. Click the “Application Timeline” tab above to get started."

• NASA Future Investigators In NASA Earth and Space Science and Technology: 3 years of funding 

• NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program: 3 years of funding (including tuition and fees)

• Ford Foundation Fellowship Program: 3 years of funding 

• AMS Graduate Fellowship: 1 year of funding

• NDSEG Graduate Fellowship Program: 3 years of funding

• Department of Energy Computational Science Graduate Fellowship: Renewable funding for up to four years

• Space Grants and Fellowships: Most states have a Space Grant system that provides grants or 1-year fellowships to students

• Amelia Earhart Fellowship: 1 year of partial funding for women pursuing a doctoral degree in aerospace engineering and/or planetary science

• Graduate Women in Science National Fellowship Program: 1 year of partial funding for women identifying, gender-fluid, or non-binary students in STEM

• Geological Society of America Graduate Student Research Grants

• American Geophysical Union Student Grants

• Mineralogical Society of America Grant for Research in Mineralogy and Petrology, and Crystallography

  • Mineralogy and Petrology Award

  • Crystallography Award

• International Association of Geochemistry Research Grants for PhD Students

• Space Generation Advisory Council

• Association for Women Geoscientists GEOID Scholarship

• MAES Scholarship for Latinx/Hispanic researchers pursuing a higher education in STEM

• Sigma Xi Grant in Aid of Research

• The Editing Press Laura Bassi Scholarship for funding research publications

• Additional Earth Science Fellowship Opportunities

• GEOSCIENCE EMPOWERMENT NETWORK 

  • Student and Postdoc Funding Opportunities