system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
PhD Application without publication/thesis

I am an international student (South Korea) who recently graduated from Imperial College London MEng Chem Eng. Although I have graduated with Masters degree (it is an undergraduate degree, 4 years program), I got no publication or proper thesis.

I do have research experiences, doing UROP (undergraduate research opportunities programme) at Imperial College, but I am not sure if this would be a strong appeal.

After this I wanted to apply to top US universities for PhD, but I was concerned whether I would be a strong candidate or not, so currently I am thinking of applying to MS as well. I got good GPA grades, but only got 2 letters of recommendation from academia, and 1 from non-academia. So my major concerns are:

1. No publication/thesis
2. Letter of recommendation, 1 from non-academia
3. Haven't directly contacted to any professor for PhD availability yet

Would I have a chance to make it to top uni's PhD?
gpt
Many many people are accepted to PhD programs without publications, maybe more than 50% of candidates. Perhaps in top 5 worldwide Unis may be slightly lower proportion but most would be fine. Grades, experience, passion, and good communication will help your application a lot more.