The Professor Is In

Guidance for all things PhD: Graduate School, Job Market and Careers

Graduate School Application Assistance

“I already heard back from [Ivy] and was admitted for the Fall 2017 PhD program. I am really excited about this and obviously have some tough decisions ahead depending on where else I get in. Thanks again for all your help with this process, it clearly paid off!” ~ Client testimonial (see more below)

Dr. Nica Davidov

We can help you plan for, apply to, and get accepted with funding by the best graduate programs to achieve your goals.  Dr. Nica Davidov, a tenured TPII staff member who has served as Director of Graduate Study and coached 100s of clients, will walk you through all stages of the graduate school application process.  She works with all fields, from the initial planning stages, to editing your Statement of Purpose and other application materials, and prepping for admission interviews.  See Nica’s bio below.

For those of you seeking help making that initial contact with prospective advisors,  we offer a $24.99 Guidance Package (see below) that walks you through the proper language and organization of an inquiry email.  You can read more about our proven approach here: “How To Write an Email to a Potential Ph.D. Advisor/Professor.“

1. A 2-Email Consultation Service – $180.  We discuss the pros and cons of attending, and also, which institutions, departments, and/or offers are the best for your goals.  (This service is available only for applicants in humanities and social sciences).

2. Graduate School Consultation by Zoom – $150 for 30 minutes; $285 for one hour.  Wondering whether to go to graduate school? During this session we’ll talk about your goals and ask the hard questions that anyone considering graduate school must answer.  These may include (but are not limited to) questions of financing and debt, the hierarchy and status of graduate programs, domestic vs. foreign graduate programs, advantages and pitfalls of interdisciplinary PhD programs, the job market, and evaluating potential advisors and areas of study.  (This service is available only for applicants in humanities and social sciences).

3. 2-Email “Application Assistance” Service  – $180. This service is designed to walk you through questions that may arise in the process of applying to graduate school, for example, how (and whether) to reach out to a potential adviser, who should you get letters of recommendation from, and other miscellaneous issues. 4. Document Editing – $120.  We help you edit your statement of purpose; includes two rounds of edits — a structural/conceptual edit (first round) and a line edit (second round).  Each subsequent statement of purpose for additional programs is $50. Editing for writing samples, statements of diversity, and other documents that may be required for an application to a PhD program is also available; pricing depends on the length. 5. Interview Preparation – $285.  This hour-long online session is designed to help you prepare for an interview for a PhD program.  We will go over “scripts” for likely questions, streamline your ability to talk about your research experience and goals, develop appropriate questions to ask your interviewees, and make sure that your affect and body language signal calm confidence. 6. How To Contact a Prospective Ph.D. Advisor Guidance Package – $24.99.  A package of materials that walks you through the composition of an email of inquiry to a potential Ph.D. advisor, with instructions and examples drawn from STEM, social science, and humanities. Does NOT include live individual editing. Find this product here.  

On Demand Course: Hacking the Grad School Application

This webinar with Dr. Nica Davidov, who is a current Director of Graduate Studies in the social sciences at a graduate institutions, will walk you through the process of deciding to go to graduate school, choosing programs, completing the application, and making a decision about enrollment and funding.  It goes into specifics about how to write effective application documents, especially your Statement of Purpose and CV.

 

What Grad Students Need To Hear

Targeted for people still in graduate school, this lays out the ways to prepare yourself for the job market no matter how early in your grad school career. Addresses Ph.D. debt, and minimizing the financial impact of graduate school. Shows you how to prioritize among competing demands (research, teaching, service, writing for publication) and create a competitive record without missteps or wasted time or effort.  Targets typical grad student errors misunderstandings about the academic career and how best to prepare for it.  This webinar is meant to counteract the bad advising common in so many graduate departments, which mystifies and obfuscates both the financial risks of the Ph.D., and the steps necessary to create a competitive tenure track job market record from early on.

 

For Grad Students Only: Turning Your Ph.D. Into a Job (Special Price: $30)

Strategizing for the academic and non-academic job markets while in graduate school. It is open to students at any stage in their program, including those just starting this fall. Covers the financial risks of a Ph.D. and job placement rate of your graduate program, setting a 5-year timeline to completion, building your CV; also non-academic job prep, including finding mentors, networking, identifying and developing your skills.  Throughout we’ll address ways that you can “stop acting like a grad student” and take charge of your program and your career.

 

 

 

 

TPII Graduate School Application Coach Prof. Nica Davidov

Dr. Davidov completed a Ph.D. in Anthropology from New York University in 2008. She lived in the Netherlands and worked in Dutch academia for five years (at Maastricht University and Leiden University). In 2013 she moved back to NYC, and is now Associate Professor of Anthropology and Monmouth University in New Jersey, where she also directs the anthropology graduate program. She also co-chairs the New York Academy of Sciences Anthropology Section board, and co-directs the Ecology and Culture University Seminar at Columbia University. She has mentored aspiring grad students through the application process, and she will help you navigate all aspects of applying to graduate school, including deciding whether to do and where to go, and how to finance it.  She will work with you strategize a grad school plan, assist you in contacting potential advisors and programs, coach you in writing a kick-ass Statement of Purpose, help you prep for your interview, and evaluate and leverage offers.  

More testimonials for Dr. Davidov’s work:

“I just wanted to let you know that I was accepted to XXXX State! Woo hoo! This was the interview you helped me prepare for last week. I got a call from Dr. YYYY, who is who I applied to work with, today where he told me he’d like to offer me the student position he got funding for. Very exciting as that was my top choice in terms of research! I just wanted to let you know. If it weren’t for you I wouldn’t have been nearly as prepared for the application process or the interview!” “Your help was clearly extremely effective, as I got into ALL of the schools that we worked on together (!!!) — Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Princeton, Georgetown, and NYU. So thank you so much for all the hours you put into editing my application materials. I could not have done it without your guidance!””Your answers are thorough and fantastic.  Thanks so much for your guidance. You have no idea how much it is helping me!” “Working with Nica was extremely helpful in preparing my applications. Not only did she help me revise my documents, but through working with the Professor is In, I also learned an awful lot about my research disciplines, as well as about the ways they are practiced differently in the USA than in an EU/UK context. Getting offers from universities such as Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard came unexpected, and I am grateful for their incisive work which helped me realise it. When in doubt, contact the Professor Is In.“
 
“I came to Nica  thinking I had an incredible personal statement that would get me to my dream University. I thought I just needed some small edits. She explained to me that my approach was not the right one for that University, and I needed to completely re do it. Took me some time, but we discussed it together and she made an incredible job putting my ideas and experience in a professional, coherent and even poetic way. A week ago, I got an email notifying me that I was admitted. 🙂 Thanks so much Nica for your time and patience!”
 
“I got accepted to the graduate program at Oxford! Thank you so much! I really could NOT have done it without your help – your guidance, knowledge and advice was absolutely vital. You are incredible at what you do! I hope I can repay your kindness and help some day or maybe one day I can help other students the way you helped me.
 
“I’m writing with an update on the results of my PhD applications, whose materials you had assisted me with editing this past December: I’ve been admitted to the University of Toronto which was my clear first choice. This is a life-changing outcome, to say the least–something I dreamed about but never quite thought would really happen. I can’t thank you enough for the expertise and care you brought to the editing of my materials, which I know made a great deal of difference. I will certainly be recommending your services to anyone and everyone who may have the slightest interest in them!”