Building on the Thesis post, here is one student's experience of applying for participation in a doctoral program.
The PhD process is sort of time consuming, but is fun in my opinion. You have to write a statement of purpose (anywhere from 500-1500 words) describing your research interests, relevant experience, etc. and make sure it's tailored to each school you apply to. You have to take the GRE and do relatively well on the quant and verbal since everything is so quant focused now days. Most places ask for 3 rec letters, but I had 4 just to be safe. They were all UNO professors, and the 3 I primarily used were the big 3 from my thesis committee. Some places ask for writing samples as well. Fit is really important- the school was a perfect fit for my research interests and they were willing to fund, so it was a win-win. I've always read not to pursue your PhD if the school won't fund it. I applied to 12 schools and went 8/12 acceptances...I'm glad I got my MS because I think it really helped me. Once you start to get acceptances, you'll be invited out to recruitment weekends which are typically all paid for. These are really fun and a great way to get to know the department, campus, get a feel for things, ask questions, etc.
If anyone else has any experience with this, please bring it up.
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