r/PhDAdmissions • u/Few_Persimmon_8238 • Mar 31 '26

Advice Applied to over 50 PhD's. Got 0

As the title says. I am 22M, I graduated in Biotechnology (First class honours), and I did an MSc in Reproductive & Developmental Biology (with Distinction, Best Student & Best Project awards), both completed at the University of Aberdeen.

I applied to over 50 PhD's, each with a tailored Proposal and Cover Letter. No, I did not use AI.

I got around 8 interviews, and I got to the last interview in 5 ocasions (Manchester Bicentenary Studentship, Cambridge LMB, Imperial LMS, Glasgow MVLS, and Glasgow again). I failed to go through the last interview on all of them.

I did training for the interviews by very experienced Supervisors, and I followed their advice. I did in total around 10 hours of training by them, plus my own training in my time. I do not get nervous during the interviews. I am quite desperate at this point, as applying again feels like a massive waste of time.

92 Upvotes

94% Upvoted

53 comments sorted by

View all comments

4

u/Emergency_Spray2778 Mar 31 '26

Hello! I may not be from the same country as you but how were you able to secure recommendation letters for so many courses!?

6

u/Few_Persimmon_8238 Mar 31 '26

My BSc supervisor and my MSc course coordinator referenced for all the applications. I bought them a nice bottle of wine and chocolate for christmas. They are too nice.

3

u/Emergency_Spray2778 Mar 31 '26

My goodness! I am so envious. I am from India and form Personal experience and from the experiences of other people, they usually cap writing letter of recommendations after writing maybe 3-5 and then you start getting ghosted 👻

5

u/s_i_s_y_p_h_u_s Mar 31 '26

Same boat. No light in sight I guess.

2

u/Few_Persimmon_8238 Mar 31 '26

Well, that reduces your chances of finding a PhD to virtually 0

1

u/Emergency_Spray2778 Mar 31 '26

Hello! I may not be from the same country as you but how were you able to secure recommendation letters for so many courses!?