FOR GRADUATE PROGRAMS
Growing applicant pipelines in a contracting cycle
A former UC Berkeley and UCSF graduate admissions insider helping programs attract better-fit applicants, convert more of the ones who reach out, and spend less committee time on avoidable confusion.
This work matters more now than it did a year ago. With federal funding restructuring, cohort reductions at major institutions, and heightened price sensitivity from prospective students, programs are under real pressure to attract fewer but better-fit applicants. Clearer communication is how you get there.
From ten years inside UC graduate admissions
49%
Applicant pipeline growth over 3 years
$700K+
Annual grant + program funding managed
150+
Doctoral students served across two programs
UC Berkeley PhD in Environmental Science, Policy, and Management · Joint UC Berkeley-UCSF PhD in Computational Precision Health
The PhD-Ready Framework
Programs use the framework two ways: to align faculty and staff on what they are actually evaluating, and to tell applicants clearly enough that the pool improves before review starts.
What I do
I work with graduate programs on the part of the funnel that gets the least attention and the most damage: everything that happens before an application is submitted.
That means how prospective students find you, what they hear back when they reach out, whether your materials tell them what your committee actually evaluates, and where you're losing people between first contact and a completed application.
The result is a larger pool of better-fit applicants and less committee time spent on files that were never going to work.
Dimension 1
Program Understanding
Dimension 2
Statement Legibility
Dimension 3
Fit Signaling
Dimension 4
Doctoral Readiness
How I work with programs
The PhD-Ready Diagnostic for your pool
Free
No timeline. Nothing to install.
A shareable link for your program page, inquiry auto-reply, or recruitment emails
Applicants score themselves across the four dimensions before they write anything
Hosted and maintained by me, nothing for your staff to build
Optional: aggregate patterns from your pool, shared back with you
Applicant Funnel Review
$1,500 – $2,500
Two to three weeks
Review of your inquiry-to-application path as a prospective student experiences it
Audit of what your program actually sends back when someone reaches out
Read of your program pages against what your committee evaluates
Written report naming where you're losing people and the three changes to make first
60-minute findings call with you and whoever else should hear it
Framework Workshop
$3,500 – $5,000
Four to six weeks
90-minute virtual workshop for faculty and admissions staff on the four dimensions
Worked example: a real application package read the way a committee reads it
Review of your current applicant-facing guidance against the framework
Revised language you can publish on your program pages
Four to six weeks of materials support after the session
Optional: a recording your program keeps for future cycles
Pipeline and Enrollment Consulting
$12,000 – $18,000
Two to four months
Full inquiry-to-application funnel audit with drop-off points identified
Rebuild of your inquiry response process, including what the first reply says
Materials review across web, email, and recruitment collateral
Recruitment messaging for the populations you're trying to reach
Faculty and staff alignment session on evaluation criteria
Reporting structure so you can see what moved and defend it upward
Monthly working sessions through the engagement
Featured
The PhD-Ready Framework is featured in Dr. Fred Martin's graduate program guide, where it is shared with prospective doctoral applicants. Dr. Martin is Professor and Chair of Computer Science at UT San Antonio's College of AI, Cyber and Computing.
