Essential Reading for applicants

[Asimio]

Hey everyone. Can you guys give me a listing of essential books that I should read through to make sure I'm well aware of the parameters of the application process?

Pros and cons would be great, and would prefer reading pertaining to applying in the sciences, since I'm aiming for a PhD in neuroscience. 

I am currently reading "Getting what you came for," by Robert L. Peters which seems like a great book, but I'm worried about the possibility of it containing dated information.

As an international student I do not come across many advisers and have messed up my academic timeline to a great extent, I'm determined to get things right the first time and need to extensively research every facet of the application process.

Thanks! (I'll add more books on the poll as people suggest them)


 

Edited March 13, 2015 by Asimio

[Asimio]

Come on guys! This is sticky potential stuff! 

[isilya]

Maybe no one has read books on the application process? I haven't at least. I gained a lot from reading forums like this one. The other forums I'd recommend are the subreddits reddit.com/r/askacademia, reddit.com/r/gradschool, and reddit.com/r/gradadmissions.

[h409291]

Hey everyone. Can you guys give me a listing of essential books that I should read through to make sure I'm well aware of the parameters of the application process?

Pros and cons would be great, and would prefer reading pertaining to applying in the sciences, since I'm aiming for a PhD in neuroscience. 

I am currently reading "Getting what you came for," by Robert L. Peters which seems like a great book, but I'm worried about the possibility of it containing dated information.

As an international student I do not come across many advisers and have messed up my academic timeline to a great extent, I'm determined to get things right the first time and need to extensively research every facet of the application process.

Thanks! (I'll add more books on the poll as people suggest them)

 

For guidance on your application process, I would suggest you to also join the links mentioned below. These forums are very active and helpful. I am taking help for my GMAT preparation on these forums and it has helped me a lot in pulling my scores up. Hope it helps you too.

 

http://gmatclub.com/forum/the-princeton-review-manya-gmat-test-prep-centers-in-delhi-175520.html

 

http://reviews.beatthegmat.com/princeton-review

 

http://www.pagalguy.com/discussions/princeton-review-25038854

[TakeruK]

I'm not the type of person to read books on how to do things -- when I do have time to read non-work related stuff, I prefer fiction! 

 

However, I did read one book after I started grad school. It's called Marketing for Scientists: How to Shine in Tough Times. I would say it's aimed at the new graduate student or even early career postdoc, but it might be helpful to provide additional insight on academia for someone applying to grad school. It's also very recent--published in 2012. 

 

The title is deliberately provocative as I know many scientists have a knee-jerk reaction against the idea of "marketing" in academia, but the goal of the book is really how to apply these concepts to turn yourself into a better vessel for scientific communication and how to avoid poor communication from negatively affecting how others perceive you. So these concepts, I think, would be very useful to a reader in the grad school application stage too. If you know what kind of academic the school is looking for, then you can better portray these aspects of you in your application!

 

Finally, the book is focused on the North American academic world. So it might not be as culturally relevant for other places, but it can be exceptionally helpful for someone outside of North America to get a look at how North American academia operates.

[Asimio]

I'm not the type of person to read books on how to do things -- when I do have time to read non-work related stuff, I prefer fiction! 

 

However, I did read one book after I started grad school. It's called Marketing for Scientists: How to Shine in Tough Times. I would say it's aimed at the new graduate student or even early career postdoc, but it might be helpful to provide additional insight on academia for someone applying to grad school. It's also very recent--published in 2012. 

 

The title is deliberately provocative as I know many scientists have a knee-jerk reaction against the idea of "marketing" in academia, but the goal of the book is really how to apply these concepts to turn yourself into a better vessel for scientific communication and how to avoid poor communication from negatively affecting how others perceive you. So these concepts, I think, would be very useful to a reader in the grad school application stage too. If you know what kind of academic the school is looking for, then you can better portray these aspects of you in your application!

 

Finally, the book is focused on the North American academic world. So it might not be as culturally relevant for other places, but it can be exceptionally helpful for someone outside of North America to get a look at how North American academia operates.

 

 

Sounds good! We should extend this thread to Essential reads for Grad students!

I can't seem to edit the poll. but if more people start contributing I'll start putting up names on the OP.

Edited March 30, 2015 by Asimio

[audme]

This is a completely different type of book, but I would suggest Writing Well: The Student's Ultimate Guide to Acing Academic Papers. I'm a terrible writer, and it helped me organize my essays for my application. Plus it only cost $1, so it was worth it.