PhD Blogs

When you’re working toward your PhD, or even just trying to get into graduate school, it’s easy to feel like you’re alone in your struggles. Of course, that couldn’t be farther from the truth, so we’ve collected a number of different blogs on the subject of getting a PhD to help connect you with the graduate school community.

These blogs come from a wide range of writers, and cover a ton of different areas. You can find chronicles of the search for grad school, starting from undergraduate through taking the GRE, LSAT, MCAT or whatever your test of choice, and on to the application and acceptance/rejection process. Or, if you’re already in your program of choice, there’s guides for dealing with hard (or neglectful) advisers, writing research proposals, preparing your dissertation—just about everything you might come up against in your tertiary education. And if you really want to get specific, there are blogs from people all across the academic sphere, from the hard sciences to the arts, which means that you can find someone who thinks like you and learn how their graduate experience went.

The blogs have been split onto different pages for your convenience. This page is just the general information blogs—the ones that are applicable to all disciplines. Of course, there’s useful information for everyone in each blog, but it’s nice to be able to pick out the ones directly relevant to you, so the rest have been organized into the hard sciences, the humanities, and business/law blogs. Take a look at what’s on offer, and hopefully you’ll be able to find a kindred spirit.

Resources

  • BlogU

    This broad-minded blog covers tons of different issues in the graduate world, and nearly every subject you could possibly want get a Ph.D. in. It’s a collaborative blog, so posts come from all different corners of the academic world and a wide range of viewpoints are expressed.

  • Dissertation Diva

    Modeled after newspaper advice columns, this blog answers questions about dissertations and writing papers in general, giving advice about ways to get organized, stay focused and make sure you’re always on schedule. And the information is coming from a Stanford graduate who now works at Yale, so you know the source is good. The blog is a little out of date now, but all the old advice is still very relevant and useful, and the conversational style makes it easy to digest (unlike those academic papers you’ve been scouring).

  • Feminista PhD

    For any mothers out there aspiring to become a Ph.D., this is the blog for you. Written by a middle-aged mother going back to school, it touches on a number of topics that will hit home, including the benefits of failing once in a while and the unique challenges women face in the academic world, especially with kids.

  • My Exciting PhD Journey

    This blog was intended to chronicle one student’s journey to a Ph.D., but ended up following his burn-out and decision to leave academia. An interesting read for anyone who’s unsure about what kind of future they might have in the ivory tower.

  • PhD Life: a blog about the PhD student experience

    A collaborative blog from a number of Ph.D. candidates at Warwick University in the UK, this resource chronicles the struggles and challenges of going through graduate school.

  • Stay Out of School

    This slightly off-beat blog focuses on ways to improve your study and learning habits, particularly through the development of critical thinking. It’s written by Elizabeth King, a Cultural Economics degree who seriously considered grad school, decided against it and has ever since dedicated herself to helping students recognize when grad school is good for them—and when it isn’t.

  • The Chronicle of Higher Education

    This site is one of the go-to resources for information about higher education, be it college, graduate school or post-doctorate studies. It covers just about every imaginable topic, including distance learning, hiring practices, changing teaching methods, global education, rising tuition and book costs, and more. Because it works just like a newspaper website, it also features columns and statistics, and job listings for those looking to get hired in academia.

  • The College Puzzle

    Sponsored by Stanford University, this general college information blog is a great resource for learning about higher education environments, especially if you’re interested in diversity and enrollment issues.

  • The PhD Mom

    Another great resource for mothers working in the academic world, PhD Mom chronicles the life of a young mother and aspiring History Ph.D. as she makes her way through the particular challenges of motherhood in college. She’s just as open about sharing her failures as her successes, which makes this blog a particularly good, honest resource for Ph.D.s considering motherhood—or mothers considering Ph.D.s.