TheCrunchfish

in a relationship with a professor at a school in georgia. i will be attending a phd program in nc. we've been dating six years and two of those years have been long distance. once i move for school, we'll be even further away from one another; four hours away is going to turn into seven hours away. not ideal but my parents live pretty much at the midpoint between us so we'll probably meet there a lot on weekends. its hard but it can be done. we're supposed to be planning our wedding but thats moving along very slowly since we dont live in the same town

there are but theyre TINY towns, even smaller than the one that my university is in. im talking one stoplight kinda towns so it doesnt seem like the best compromise for me.

Ive never lived there but ive gone up there a few times both for my interview and to look around. I was hoping id grow to like it since I know commuting isnt ideal but the more i see of it, the more i dislike it . Youre correct that there are many small towns that still have a great cultural life and many things to do just by virtue of being a college town (athens, ga where UGA is located comes to mind-very small but very cool). However, this place isnt one of them. Most of the grad students I talked to dont like the town either. Granted, they still seem pretty happy because they all like the program so maybe Ill wind up just as happy but for me, location factors in a great deal to my happiness. Some people might not prioritize it as much as I do. I do have my own car, otherwise theres no way I could hope to pull this off! I was just looking for a carpool because I figured that would cut down on the expense of commuting and on days when Im not driving, I could work in the car. Someone emailed me back today about carpooling so maybe I can make this work. I have to make a decision soon. I appreciate the input you guys have given me even though some of it wasnt what I was hoping to hear. Its great to take into consideration the different perspectives as well as the experiences that people who have actually done it have had.

glad to hear that because thats my biggest worry. of course, i also worry about the time commitment and distraction of driving a long way but im willing to make that sacrifice if it means being happier (and i get up super early in the morning anyway so that helps). i might try to get a short term lease so that way if it doesnt work out (or if the small town eventually starts growing on me once i get to know it better), i can move closer to school

thanks for the replies, everyone. to the person who asked, its about a 60 mile commute thats pretty much all highway. I looked at apartments in the larger city and specifically focused on ones near the highway. i live in the south so public transportation sucks though my school's website has a forum where people can set up carpools and though most are within the small town where the school is located, i found a few that go from the larger city to the small town.

Hi all. Im starting a phd program in the fall and though im very happy with my department and their research, i despise the town that its located in. its very small and im definitely a city person. luckily, there is a much larger city an hour away. Im considering living in the larger city and commuting but everyone in my life keeps trying to dissuade me from this. I know that its not ideal and that a phd program takes a huge amount of work but i also feel like you cant really do your best work if your in an environment that doesnt make you happy. Im also hoping that maybe some of my work could be done from home. i aready know i wont be in class everyday and although my particular program will require some lab work, i imagine itll also involve a lot of writing. I really do think that I can handle it and that this is whats best for me but its hard not to second guess yourself when everyone questions you. I also worry about what my adviser will think about this. It shouldnt be her decision of course, but I worry that maybe ill look less dedicated. Ive done a masters program already so I feel like I have at least some idea of the dedication that research requires (I know a Phd is a whole different level entirely but at least I have some research experience). Does anyone here have experience with doing a long commute while also doing a demanding graduate program?

yep. going for the Phd but since my masters is in Linguistics and not speech pathology, I spoke with the grad director about the possibility of getting the clinical speech pathology degree on top of the Phd. I want to at least leave the option of working in a speech pathology clinic open because ive heard some scary things about the job market in academia. I might do a search for the masters student's fb group to see if I can join. or find just a general ECU grad student's group. Last I heard, theres only going to be one other new Phd student entering this year so the Phd cohort is probably too small to justify having its own group

hey! im also going to ECU for communication sciences and disorders (PhD but also trying to work it out so i can get the SLP clinical certification so i may be in some of those classes as well). does anyone know if there's a facebook group or anything for new students?

Hi all, this is an odd question and after many stressful nights, many google searches and many searches on my own school's website, I havent found much to help me. I defended my Masters thesis months ago but sadly, this whole nightmarish process still isnt over. My advisor wanted me to continue working on the paper to submit it for publication. I was very leery of this idea because my results really werent all that strong, im now juggling both work and writing, and because im so burned out from working on the same project for so long . however, since he wrote me a letter of recommendation for my phd program, I felt obligated and agreed. While working on the paper, I noticed that I made an error in my data analysis which affects one of the conclusions I made in my thesis. Im completely freaking out now and wondering if he could make me redefend or if the school could strip me of my masters. Im not opposed to rewriting portions of my thesis and submitting the changes as long as I dont have to do a defense again. I called the graduate school to ask them about it but they didnt have an answer other than 'probably not'. they said theyd get back to me and never did. I know i should be talking about this with my advisor instead of the internet and i definitely will do that eventually since I cant knowingly submit incorrect results to a journal. However, before talking t ohim, I wanted to mentally prepare myself for what the consequences could be. Does anyone have any insight about what would happen in a situation like this? Ive already been accepted into a phd program (thankfully, at a different school since my experience at my current one was so nightmarish) and im scared of getting my masters taken away and my phd offer rescinded