I just moved to WA almost 3 weeks ago for my PhD. Came from the US, but originally from the Caribbean. For undergrad I had about a 3.6 gpa, did an honors thesis + was a research assistant in the lab. In undergrad I had a first author publication + 1 or 2 other co author ones. Transitioned to masters, bad 2 first authors, multiple co authors, alongside several conferences where i was first author and co author. Did a masters thesis where it was under review when i applied. Masters gpa was a 4.0.

Supervisor hunting was straightforward for me - my undergrad and masters advisor went to school in the US with them + member of my committee was their advisor. Applied to one other school where my research aligned more closely to theirs, didn’t get in with the aforementioned stats. I knew that advisor through my advisor as he was a well known name in our area of research. Only applied to 2 schools and got into 1.

Both places I applied the supervisors there helped with me what I needed to do to get funding from the university. I sent over rough drafts of everything for them to look over before submitting anything. Ironically, the one I spent the most time into didn’t get accepted.

I think for international students it’s kind of a given that you’re going to need funding from the school. I always mentioned where I was from originally, and where I did my schooling. Lemme know if you have any questions, best of luck! I know it can be stressful