“One lesson that you quickly learn throughout this process is that, irrespective of how knowledgeable, creative, or capable you are, you have little chance of succeeding on your own. And that is not a bad thing – quite the opposite. Academia is very collaborative, and having mentors that you can look up to and learn from is, in fact, an absolute necessity for finding your own path and being successful.”
As U.S. government budget cuts create turmoil in North American graduate schools, we want to highlight WriteIvy students who’ve achieved uncanny success, and whose inspiring stories will inject hope and clarity into this all-too-opaque admissions process. This series aims to celebrate intellectual achievement, explore the barriers that applicants face in various fields, and give proven examples of how to succeed amid increasing competition. As part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Michaela Bocheva.
Michaela Bocheva is an upcoming PhD student in cognitive science at Yale University. Her research focuses on visual perception and memory in humans. As an undergraduate at Sofia University, she published single-authored research on how structure and visual disorder in the environment influence people’s immediate perception of familiar and unfamiliar stimuli. She was born and raised in Sofia, Bulgaria, where she spent most of her undergraduate career extrapolating concepts from information theory to ask questions about human cognition.
Thank you so much for doing this with us, Michaela! Before we dig in, can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to your academic career path?
Thank you for having me. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that I’ve always been fascinated with human cognition (perhaps unknowingly influenced by Nat Geo’s popular “Brain Games” series as a child), but my deep engagement with cognitive science really began during my Research methods course as a first-year in college. There, I was introduced to the beauty of measuring unobservable phenomena like people’s susceptibility to false memories or certain biases in perceptual experiences.
I remember purchasing an old conference abstract book—that is, a printed collection of all the papers included in a Bulgarian cog sci conference from many years back—for $3 from an online, second-hand store. I’m inclined to believe the owner was quite touched that someone had expressed interest in the subject, in a small country like Bulgaria, twelve years after the event, because he left me a personalized message in the book. In hindsight, I believe this purchase marked the beginning of my obsession with cognitive processes in general.
That’s so cool that the bookseller messaged you personally. What was it about cognitive science that inspired you? Or, why should everyone care about this field?
Having a deep mechanistic understanding of cognitive phenomena can help us simultaneously unravel the “mysteries of the human mind” and guide us toward developing artificial systems that can convincingly replicate human cognition. Most of these efforts have been geared towards developing AGI – artificial general intelligence, that will someday have various applications – from facilitating everyday tasks to assisting us in scientific and technological advancement.
Somewhat ironically, developing large language models (LLMs) like the ones we have today may also serve to inform us about biological systems (rather than the other way around).
Finally, if we trust that our understanding of certain phenomena will continue to advance exponentially over the next few decades, we might finally succeed in developing artificial consciousness or perhaps even isolate and preserve biological consciousness itself. Which of the two is more exciting would largely depend on the audience.
That’s heavy stuff! In this case, how do you envision your future career or your research making the world a better place?
I would like to believe that I’ll be capable of making a small contribution to our knowledge of the basic principles underlying the representation and retrieval of information. I am looking forward to exploring the potential applications my research could have in clinical contexts in hopes of facilitating certain impaired cognitive functions in clinical patients.
GRIT, PERSISTENCE, AND FINDING RESEARCH MENTORS
Can you share a story of a challenge you faced or observed in cognitive science and how you overcame it? This could be something personal, or it may relate to large-scale issues like how government budget cuts are affecting people in your field.
When I started looking into graduate programs, I quickly realized I wouldn’t be able to fund my applications (most graduate schools charge a >$100 fee per application), and I had initially planned to apply to at least 10 schools. So, I landed a job outside my field specifically for the purpose of saving money for my graduate school applications, and I managed to save up for my fees over the course of a year and a half. I suppose this is to show that, with the right motivation, certain hurdles that many graduate school applicants go through can be overcome.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person or teacher who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
I started looking into labs about a year and a half before my application season. After reading some very intriguing commentary, I reached out to Doby Rahnev’s lab at Georgia Tech which primarily focuses on metacognition (our ability to reflect on our subjective experiences). One very innocent email motivated by my interest in Doby’s work resulted in me landing a remote research assistant position in his lab. Funnily enough, Doby is also Bulgarian, which I genuinely was clueless about before actually hopping on Zoom with him. The odds of that happening are astronomical, given how small our country is, and how underrepresented it is in US academia. In any case, Doby Rahnev has made a contribution to my development as a researcher that I can’t highlight enough, and I am confident I would have never been in the position I am today without him.
That’s such a fantastic story! Beyond mentors, was there a particular book, class, or lesson that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?
What immediately comes to mind is my first-year Research methods course which was led by another very prominent figure in my personal academic journey – Svetoslav Bliznashki, who is also a cognitive scientist, although this was a general Psychology course. I am a firm believer that our tutors are what guide our interests and the paths we choose to take as academics, perhaps to a degree where our tutors’ contributions as intellectuals, teachers, and people, are comparable to how one’s intuitive interest in a subject matter impacts this decision.
COGNITIVE SCIENCE PHD ADMISSIONS
Awesome, thank you so much. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview: grad admissions. In your opinion and experience, what was the biggest obstacle you faced—or that you think others face—in applying to degree programs in your field?
Cultural differences. It took a while to get accustomed to US-specific requirements that usually look a little different in Europe. I find that one of the most important aspects of grad school applications is finding the right tone, message, and structure, which might not always be intuitive for people around the world (it sure wasn’t intuitive to me). It took many, many months of editing my 1000-word statement of purpose, which is ultimately the most important part of a graduate school application.
You really achieved a special kind of success—what do you think was the most important thing that helped you accomplish this?
The support I received from the PIs in the labs I worked in (Doby Rahnev and Mauro Manassi) and my mentors at home (Nikolay Rachev and Svetoslav Bliznashki). One lesson that you quickly learn throughout this process is that, irrespective of how knowledgeable, creative, or capable you are, you have little chance of succeeding on your own. And that is not a bad thing – quite the opposite. Academia is very collaborative, and having mentors that you can look up to and learn from is, in fact, an absolute necessity for finding your own path and being successful.
Were any WriteIvy articles or resources particularly helpful for you?
The SOP-dedicated articles definitely gave me a better idea of what might be expected.
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Do you have any advice for future applicants (about their essays, applications in general…anything) that should probably seem obvious…but isn’t? Or, to put it another way, can you think of any aspects of the application that might be more important than they seem at first?
Keep it simple (but not too simple). The ability to write simply comes with time and practice, but it also comes with knowing what you’re talking about. Strive for structure and simplicity, but not shallowness. And always have your mentors read it, shred it (and your confidence) to pieces, edit, and repeat!
4 Things Michaela Thinks Every Student Should Know About Grad Admissions
- Tell one big coherent story with your application. Make sure your story resonates with your prospective PI’s goals.
- Make sure you highlight one thing that the admissions committee can remember about you. What is one research- or school-related experience that you doubt other applicants would share? I would suggest thinking long and hard about this one. [Editor’s note: this is absolutely amazing advice!]
- (Field-dependent) Although you should ideally have a certain research program in mind when applying, stay open to new directions. We, undergraduates and first-year PhD students are still highly subject to influence. Consider applying to a variety of good labs that may slightly defer in their research. You might surprise yourself in terms of what you find interesting and what you envision yourself doing over the next 5-6 years.
- Faculty are people! Have faith that they can relate to your human-like experiences. Be genuine in your application. Since you are just at the beginning of your career, show that you are willing to learn and become better.
CHANGING THE WORLD AND FUTURE PLANS
You are an unusually talented person. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good for the greatest number of people, what would that be? You never know who you might inspire.
I would like to see us dismantle the paywall limiting access to scientific and non-scientific literature. I believe people deserve worldwide, free access to (all) knowledge.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
Please follow our extraordinary lab through our website. Starting this fall, I’ll have the privilege of working with many exceptionally bright people, and I believe our work is very accessible to the general public.
Thank you for these fantastic insights! We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.
Thank you for this opportunity, and best of luck with your blog!
Key Takeaways
We’re incredibly grateful to Michaela for sharing her amazing story, her thoughts on the future of cognitive science, and her reflections about the absolute necessity of finding research mentors who will guide your path in academia.
Future applicants should take note:
- Michaela started looking at labs a year and a half before application season
- She spent a year and a half working a part-time job to save the money for application fees
- She spent “many, many” months working on her SOPs
- “The ability to write simply comes with time and practice, but it also comes with knowing what you’re talking about.”
- “Make sure you highlight one thing that the admissions committee can remember about you.”
- “Faculty are people! Have faith that they can relate to your human-like experiences.”
Follow Michaela’s example, and we’re sure you too will be on the path toward designing and conducting research that changes the world.
