2021 Graduate School Application Program

Queer students and scholars are underrepresented and marginalized within STEM fields. Applying to graduate schools typically costs many hundreds of dollars which poses a major barrier to queer students, who are disproportionately affected by economic hardship. Queer students also do not have many sources and role models to turn to for advice when preparing their application materials for graduate school applications. The aim of Queer in AI Graduate School Application Programs is to alleviate the financial burden of queer students and connect them with senior queer scientists for application feedback.

Financial Aid Program

oSTEM and Queer in AI are working to end application and test fees as a barrier to queer STEM scholars applying to graduate programs. We are pleased to announce our 2021 Graduate School Application Financial Aid Program, which will provide up to $1250 per individual to cover application or test fees for queer people applying to STEM graduate and medical degree programs.

UPDATE: Our 2021 Financial Aid Program is now closed since we ran out of budget! We will not be accepting new submissions for the 2021/2022 application season. If you plan to apply to graduate programs in the 2022/2023 cycle, please wait until we restart submissions for the new year (tentatively summer 2022).

For any questions, please reach out to queerinai-ostem-grad-app-program@googlegroups.com.

To donate: we are also accepting donations to support this program--please visit this PayPal page to donate.

Application Review Program

As the graduate program application season begins, queer prospective grad students are seeking help with writing their CV, statement of purpose, and personal statement. Queer in AI wants to connect mentors at all levels of seniority (PhD students, postdocs, professors) in diverse subfields of AI/ML/NLP/CV with grad school applicants with similar research interests. By connecting students with queer researchers in their fields, we will provide expert feedback on all parts of grad applications.

To apply to get feedback on your application: please visit this CMT page and create a new application for review submission.

To apply to be a mentor: we are also seeking qualified application reviewers! If you have successfully applied to graduate schools in the past, please fill out this form to apply to be a mentor.

Submission Instructions

Here is a general walk-through of the submission process.

• Log in to the CMT conference submission site (follow this link). If you do not have an account, you can register one for free using any email address you have.

• Go to the conference “Queer in AI Grad Admissions Program 2021” and create a submission for either the Financial Aid track or the Application Review track.

• In the submission, please provide the required materials and answer the demographic questions.

For submissions to the Financial Aid track:

• Wait for a decision for your submission. This usually takes one to two weeks.

• More instructions on reimbursements are provided in the CMT submission site.

For submissions to the Application Review track:

• The chair will match you with a senior mentor in your closely related field.

• The mentor will give full feedback on your application materials or advice on the application process.

• Mentors will contact you to set up 1-1 mentorship and application feedback meetings.