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I started this website primer in 2007 and it has received over 200,000 hits (as of November 2018). Given the wide interest, I decided to take this to the next level and I wrote up my strategies into a manuscript. After peer review, it has now appeared in print and you can download the PDF here. I have paid to make it open access so anyone can download it.
Walters, E.L. 2018. Eleven strategies for getting into graduate school in ecology & evolutionary biology. Ideas in Ecology and Evolution 11:78-83. | 
***Please note that I speak about GRE requirements in my published article. Since that piece was published, many schools no longer require the GRE. Please check to see if the school you are interested in has also removed the GRE requirement.***
One of the items that I did not include in the published version of the manuscript was my take on a Masters degree vs a PhD. Here are my thoughts.
MS vs PhD
Graduate degrees in North America come in two forms: Master
of Science (MS / MSc) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD). If you
want to teach at a 2-year college, go into government, work for a
consulting firm, or be a professional biologist then you most
likely would be interested in a Masters degree. These are
typically 3-year degrees with 2 to 3 field seasons of research.
If you want to go on in academia and become a professor or work
in a higher level research position then you should be pursuing
a PhD. Some schools don't offer a choice - they only grant PhDs
and only issue MS degrees as a concession when a student isn't
cut out for the PhD (often referred to as the "terminal
Masters"). Other schools, especially wildlife programs,
offer MS and PhD degrees. Some people, like myself, choose to
embark on an MS to begin with. It gives you a chance to
experience graduate school and learn more about the field
without having to commit to 5-7 years of PhD research. You can
cut your teeth so to speak and figure out what you'd like to do
for a PhD once you are finished with the MS. Others, typically
those that have only done PhDs, will argue that you shouldn't
waste time on an MS if you ultimately want a PhD. These people
go directly from undergrad into a PhD program and work very hard
to get themselves up to speed to the level where they can start
developing a dissertation topic. It's been my experience that
very few undergrads are prepared to come up with novel ideas
immediately after completing undergraduate degrees. It takes a
number of years to catch up with the literature and become
familiar with what research has been conducted, what ideas are
novel, and determining a future research direction. Masters
degrees put much less emphasis on the level of research
questions as do PhD degrees.
Good luck - I hope my strategies can help you get into graduate
school! Send me a note if you have any comments, suggestions, or
success stories. Don't forget to visit my Top
5 Mistakes Undergraduates Make When Applying to Field Jobs
site as well.
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