Source
r/gradadmissions•
planetbyter

How to get into a PhD program with no research experience?

General Advice

Hi all. I am currently a graduate student in Management online and I want to do a PhD. The problem is that I don’t have research experience and have been unable to get research experience at two of the universities I have attended, one for my bachelors and one for my masters. I am also an online student for my program which means I can’t do a masters thesis, which is what I would need to get into a PhD program as it checks off the “research experience” box. I am looking to get into an operations research program. Any advice? I am completely lost.

Posted May 3, 2022, 6:04 PM UTC

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redpiggy1•

Unfortunately you're chances are really really slim, research experience is the #1 thing PhD programs look at, and you would just find a lab to work in. Did you work and go to school, or was it just fully online and you didn't do anything else?

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planetbyterOP•

I work full time and go to school online full time. In undergrad I had little to no research opportunities and I have asked professors to do research via email but I have been rejected by them as well.

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redpiggy1•

Do you have letters of recommendations prepared? Also is your work experience relevent to your field,if so then you would be able to talk about that in your SOP

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CSP2900•

I'm understanding your post to mean that you've not had opportunities to participate in supervised research projects and have been unsuccessful in finding a professor willing to support such an effort now.

The following is a suggestion for developing at least one unsupervised research project.

Could you identify potential research topics and then start reviewing the relevant literature and then draft a literature review that frames your primary research question? From there, you could reduce that work to one page and then to one paragraph. These documents could serve as roadmaps for the research/thinking/and writing you subsequently perform as well as the bases for seeking guidance from SMEs (including graduate students but mostly professors).

My reasoning is that if you were able to demonstrate that you're seeking guidance as a part of leaning forward, someone may be more inclined to help / support / guide you.

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