申请的整体流程包含以下几个方面：
A、寻找适合的教授
B、分析学校已录取学生的背景，可以看出自己的优劣势
C、选定要套磁教授的范围
D、提升背景
E、套磁以及跟现在学校老师沟通，确定推荐人
F、根据套磁信结果确定申请学校，开始文书和网申
G、跟催学校结果
在这几个流程中，我们重点分析下最耽误时间的：
一、知己知彼
这个过程中，学生需要分析自己分析教授，以及分析教授以往录取学生的信息
1、 分析学校的申请难度
首先，每个学校可能一年一个专业只招收十几个博士，具体细化到每个方向就更少，所以申请难度可想而知，而且每年不是每个学长学姐都能申请到你想上的学校，而且他们所有的核心竞争力是什么？这个也需要确定。
2、 核心竞争力
对于PHD，核心竞争力不是GPA和GRE，也不是学校背景 ，这个只是门槛，能达到这个分数的人多了。
真正的核心竞争力是什么呢？就像在 Ask a Neuroscientist: How o I get into the Stanfor Neuro PhD Program? 中所说
[Note: I' like to emphasize that the iscussion below is centere on grauate amissions into Stanfor's Neuroscience PhD Program. Other programs, an other universities, will have ifferent requirements. Also, these thoughts represent the personal approach of Dr. Ricci, as well as my personal experiences as both a participant an observer of the Stanfor amissions process. Other members of the Stanfor Amissions Committee may prioritize ifferent caniate attributes. Lastly, an I really can't stress this enough, any iniviuals chance of acceptance is epenent not only on her profile, but also the profiles of the rest of the applicant pool. The avice below coul help raise your chances of getting an interview, but it can not guarantee anything.]
What oes this mean? It means that goo graes aren’t enough. Of the approximately 500 applications Stanfor receives per amissions cycle, maybe 100 of those will boast high GPAs an GRE scores. An so while those recors of acaemic accomplishment are enough to prevent your application from being triage, they are not enough to ensure you are selecte as one of the 30 applicants given the opportunity to interview for a slot in the next years’ class. （申请者中不缺少标化成绩高的学生）
So research experience is a critical component of a successful application. An furthermore, a successful applicant will provie clear evience that she was more than just a technician, blinly following orers. Writing such evience into your research statement is goo. Having your statements supporte by your letters of recommenation is better. Having a first author peer-reviewe paper is best.
综上所述：真正的核心竞争力，是你有没有发表过核心期刊文章，有没有自己明确的目标和职业规划，有没有独立实验的经验，有没有承担过重要的角色甚至是有没有为行业做出过贡献等等，记住顶尖名校招收的人培养目标是未来行业的佼佼者。
虽然只是斯坦福教授的建议，基本也代表了大多数名校的心声……
