PaperTowels

After some time in graduate school, I was pleased to discover that I enjoy it very much and it's a lot of fun. It is unfortunately so much fun, that I hardly want to do anything besides work. If I just let myself to do whatever I feel like at the moment, I would quickly transition to literally living my whole life in the lab. This has destroyed my social life. I actually like the faculty, students and other lab members. A few I really "click" with and seriously regret not seeing more often. However, I am always too engrossed in my work to think of meeting up with people for drinks, and when I do think of it, it's usually at odd hours - I can't really call up someone at 2 in the morning and say "hey what's up, just got out of lab, let's grab dinner!". I'll admit that I've always been a little shy, introverted and awkward, and it doesn't help that I dislike Facebook and others, but I've never really had this problem before. Most of my life I've had things like classes impose some order on my social happenings, and even during breaks the vagaries of life would bring me together with my buddies. But my classes are over, and now that I am in grad school, there's nothing stopping me from being my own person and doing as I please. And worryingly, this newfound independence has become a license to bury myself in my work and become insulated from the world like a hermit. The obvious solution is to get out more, go to non work events, try to socialize. The problem is that my work is just so damn interesting to me, that my reaction to every potential event is "well, I could do that... Or better yet, I could just go to lab and work!". I am so far down the rabbit hole at this point that it is sometimes difficult to talk with normal people without babbling about not-work. How do you do it? How do you see more of the new friends you've made in grad school? How do you resist the siren song of your office and make yourself get out once in a while? How do you keep in touch with old buddies from your hometown or parents back home who are several timezones away?

I try to not bring work home, and keep all my papers in my office (where I have a drawer with hanging folders inside). So, I don't have much to organize at home. However, I've discovered several companies with online stores (Amazon, Staples, Walmart etc) sell "Banker's Boxes" (picture) which are boxes made from thick cardboard that you assemble on arrival. These are extremely cheap (usually $12-15 for a pack of 4) but quite durable if treated reasonably well (mine are going on their second year, survived a move with minor dents). They are just the right size to hold Manila folders, and seem sturdy enough to survive being loaded with paper and stacked (mine are only loaded to half the volume). They double nicely as storage units and are handy when moving. Both at work and at home, I keep a stack of paper trays. Top is "incoming", bottom is archive of important things, middle is scrap paper. I almost exclusively write or scribble on scrap paper, probably the biggest benefit is that I can print everything guilt free since I know I will recycle it by writing on the back. A paper shredder is very convenient, again if you shop around you can find a perfectly functional one for $20-30. Many areas have laws these days regarding student data privacy and so forth (when dealing with student materials), and it's nice for dealing with your own sensitive documents. Staples sells a very nice wall calendar which, as far as I'm concerned, is perfect and has every feature a reasonable person would want and no feature that they wouldn't: Covers academic year, starting July Nice big pages without clutter Lots of space to take notes both on individual days and at the bottom area (days have 7 rows) Visible from across the room Nice, quality paper Reminders to re-order near the end of the year I hang this on a prominent wall in the room where I hang out most and write all relevant events in their day. For me this is behind the computer or next to it, so I inevitably glance at it whenever my eyes wander away from the screen. I have actually managed to abandon my Google Calendar for it, and I don't regret the decision at all. I would advise against paying for citation management software. There are mature, usable free and open source alternatives which are just as good. For example, JabRef: Latex compatible Can export into Word compatible files File format can be viewed and edited with a text editor or many other alternative softwares if necessary, so you are not locked into it Has a nice simple interface that gets out of your way and lets you get to the business of hoarding citations One click citation data import from searching several databases, including Google Scholar Cross platform I have used it for years and it is very effective. My favorite notebook is this. It has a quality spiral, very nice paper (perfect paper and grid color, very pleasant to touch, good for writing on), strong covers and a handy pocket inside which is good for keeping a course syllabus in. I also buy some snacks for my office: Tea and protein bars (Amazon has some pretty good ones you can buy in bulk, they are nutrititous, low carb, quite filling and sweet enough to satisfy the afternoon craving). My mug gets nasty stains from all the tea, so I keep a box of baking soda around to clean it. If you are working in a lab, you should definitely get a lab coat. In many labs, you'll see most people not wear one, since truthfully most experiments these days aren't all that dangerous. However, you should ignore this and wear one as much as possile. Firstly, you never know when an accident may happen (what if an undergrad stumbles and spills acid on you?). Second, one day you might end up working with actually dangerous things, so it doesn't hurt to get used to the labcoat. Lastly, bleach splatter and other chemicals will ruin your favorite clothes. Don't buy it yourself - safety standards doubtlessly require your institution to provide adequate safety equipment; they are supposed to pay for it. Lastly I'd suggest a bicycle if your area is suitable. If you can get away with not having a car, you can save a ton of money. If you have to have a car, you can still save a lot of money on gas and parking. The exercise and fresh air doesn't hurt either. You can buy an extremely cheap (less than $150-200) "starter" bike from pawn shops or craigslist to ride for a few months and figure out what features matter to you, what posture and type of bike you prefer, etc. Then shop around and buy a cheap, sub-$500 bike from a store. Don't forget a cheap rack and saddle bag (this one is $25 currently). Unless you have specific athletic goals (such as winning a competition), I would recommend buying the cheapest one you can find that has the features you want. Even the cheapest Walmart bikes have a fairly sturdy frame, Shimano transmission, you can inspect brakes to make sure they work, etc. To a commuter, the decrease of <10 lb in the weight of the bike is insignificant in relation to the total weight of bike+rider, and not worth paying thousands of dollars for (not to mention the constant worrying about theft or damage, having to buy heavy and expensive locks, let alone what happens if you do lose the bike).

I've tried to look but it seems like the only major one available to non-citizen non-residents in the US is the HHMI fellowship. This is quite competitive (more so than GRFP) and you must be nominated by your institution (and your institution must be one that has an agreement with HHMI) first before you can even apply. Does anyone have experience with applying/getting the HHMI? Any tips on how to prepare the application, what to focus on? How many applicants were there in the past? Apparently this year there will be 50 awards. I've seen a few extremely specific (narrow non-academic criteria), small scholarships which don't require citizenship or residency. They tend to be a few thousand, meant to cover expenses such as textbooks - so not terribly helpful when the chief benefit of a scholarship is covering funding so you can avoid needing to TA. Moreover, this seems like it could be a problem for applying to exclusive fellowships like HHMI, which does not allow second funding sources. Excepting the HHMI, I haven't heard of any fellowship that accepts foreigners and can fully fund a student.

I think "funding" ended up a bit too vague: I wouldn't care if say one school gives 29k and another gives 31k. 10k over 5 years, just not enough money to be relevant for something like this. In this sense, funding is unimportant to me. If I get an admit with no funding, that's basically a rejection. I'm broke, I can't afford it. In this sense, funding is make or break. All the programs I am actually applying to guarantee funding with admission. So, it's irrelevant. Also, because lists are nice, here's my priority order: Program/Department Rank Pretty Good Resarch fit with several PIs Great Research fit with 1 PI Welcoming and happy seeming department Placement rates for postdocs/Industry Course Work Requirements TA/RA Requirements Location Funding/stipend Overall Institution Rank/Reputation I would only pay attention to 10 if I couldn't get data on 1, and even then I'd pay very little attention to it. There's a huuuuge gap between 4 and 6, and 5 is right in the middle of it. 1-4 are tied, though I know I consider 2 more important than 3. Any suggestions on ranking 1-4? 4 seems really important, but then what a department seems like and what it is like aren't necessarily the same. With 1, I know rankings are terrible, but I find it hard to abandon the notion that employers won't care about rankings. They are peer reputation rankings, after all. On the one hand, when you look for a job, the important aspect would be your research and connections, and your actual school is a very small factor. On the other, the fact that a school is regarded as good by peers can be interpreted as a higher chance that you'll develop yourself better there. That's as far as I could get.

Yes, it seems pretty worrying. One school actually told me that they had a lot of difficulty funding the usual number of students due to it. I suppose on the bright side, if you did manage to get funding, you'll ride these few years through, and things can only be getting better by the time you graduate and look for a job. But then that's assuming the government ever gives back some of the money they cut.

Waitlist for Tri-I. Still waiting.

Figured I'd chime in. I'm waiting on Columbia GSAS, PhD BioSci.

Thanks to both of you for the input! This certainly helps clear things up. Incidentally, I have since been able to confirm what TakeruK said regarding #1 and #2 on my own: The resolution applies to all offers from American institutions, and abiding by it is a matter of honor at this time.

I think it's definitely advisor. I'm not in the social sciences, but imagine you finished the PhD and applied for post-doc positions, they call you up and say they're interested, but want you to make a presentation about your work first. How prominent will your school be in this presentation? It will be one small photo or logo filling up a quarter of the screen on the last slide, and maybe a single line in a big "my background" slide. What about your advisor? 95% of what you talk about will be direct consequence of your relationship with the advisor. However, in your case the good advisor is not *unequivocally* better: She is in her first year, can you be sure that she won't have problems getting funding? Can you be sure she'll stick around long enough for you to finish? Can you be sure her word will hold enough weight in departmental politics? You must decide these for yourself. If something goes wrong and you need to find a new advisor, this might be easier to do in a fancier program. As for your closing thought: That's a false dichotomy. The best opportunity lies where you are happiest, and fit best. Dysfunction and unhappiness does not engender success.

Jung, I agree with what you say. Except perhaps I did not explain one point clearly enough: They said the deadline was "normally 15th" (this was a phone call) but not for internationals because blah blah. Well, they've also basically said, "for this reason, you get an earlier deadline, sorry". It's not an issue whether the deadline is 15th, they say I have to decide by their own deadline. But it's impossible to reconcile this with the CGS resolution. I wish I knew how. They're basically saying, "decide now or we'll decide for you!" I haven't received any other offers yet, because it's too early for all other schools, but in the worst case, this school is my only PhD offer. What recourse do I have?

I got a 5.0 twice, in both cases I followed standard standardized test essay advice (don't make spelling or grammar mistakes, don't misuse words, have an introduction and conclusion, make sure it makes sense, make sure it's about the prompt, throw in a few big words). Luckily my field doesn't care about writing. Honestly, I think especially the second time my answers were very good, because I happened to feel inspired to write very thorough, clear, logical critiques on the topics given. They also happened to ask me about stuff I was used to debating. I think my essay went over the scorer's head. As I understand it (there's a point by point breakdown somewhere), you can get to 4.0 by just making sure the grammar is correct, the words are not misused, there's no misspellings, the sentences and paragraphs are coherent and relate to each other. You know, basic stuff. 4 to 5 is "thinking" - ie can you apply logic to see where someone is wrong ("a cat bit me when I was a kid, cats are aggressive animals") and to prove you are right. 5 to 6 is some mysterious "talent" and "outstanding, excellent, exceptional" essay factor. To me, the notion that some ETS employee can judge an exceptional essay in a few minutes is offensive. I think the difference between 5 and 6 is mostly luck, or if you can figure out what silly rule of thumb ETS thinks can be used to define great writing and catering to it. This isn't great news if your field does care about writing, since now it's not clear what you have to do to get a perfect score - but the good news is if your field is writing-focused, they'll probably ask for a writing sample anyway and disregard the GRE writing score in its favor. If they don't, you could offer to submit one anyway. I'm sure a professor would be more interested in seeing your actual writing than the second hand opinion of a pair of college grads.

Hope you don't mind if I try to be critical: What are you doing in the lab right now, and where do you see the research going? - Great question, though it's sometimes hard for them to make a good description in a few minutes. What kind of methods commonly employed in the lab? - Also good, although you can often already find this on the lab site - also, "whatever ones are necessitated by the hypothesis"? I mean, obviously they won't run a particle accelerator in a plant genetics lab, and if you are familiar with your field shouldn't you know roughly what techniques are used for what? How do lab rotations work and how do you choose students for the lab? - Seems like it's better to ask how many rotations there are, and how long they take, because that's important for deciding where to go. The method of contacting the PI to ask for rotation isn't. What is the state of funding in the lab? - Good question, although they will probably say that every lab is different (so it's of limited usefulness for deciding where to go). How do you think students would describe the experience of working in your lab? - Again, great question, but specific to them so they'll start with the caveat. What articles journals do you publish your papers in? - I think this is a very bad question. It shows that you haven't even bothered to look at what the faculty is working on. What kind of courses will I be taking? - Usually you can find this information on the website. What areas are available for graduate concentrations? - Again, sounds like a bad idea which demonstrates that you haven't done your homework. How long does it take students to complete the program? - Should probably say, "how long does it typically take" because length of program is on the website and you should know it "before" you're applying. What percentage of students complete the program? - This is great information to have, but it always seems to me like it sounds a bit negative ("I'm trying to figure out whether I'll end up dropping out"). What kind of examinations/thesis work are required? - I don't think this is useful. You're not gonna decide whether to go based on whether the qual has 5 questions or 3 questions and one take home. Obviously classes have their own exams which you'll figure out when you take them. Thesis vs. thesisless Master's program is important, but it's something you should already know. What is it like to live in this area? - To be honest, it doesn't matter, and if I'm accepted, I'll see for myself. I do research about every city before applying anyway, but I'd happily move anywhere if it means going to the school I want. Other questions are all good. I feel like you should ask questions that are things you couldn't easily find out from the website, and which are about important factors in your decision about where to go. For instance, "is there a special fund to cover travel expenses and fees for attending conferences" is a useful thing to know. Questions about what's it like to do research there are great in theory, but in practice one or two interviewers is too small a sample (but still better than nothing). I like to ask how often there are seminars and how much interaction there is between different research groups. "When will I know your decision" is another good one. Unfortunately, there are some really important things, like "PIs X, Y and Z whom I intend to work with aren't mean and unpleasant, are they?" which I desperately want to ask and need to know, but obviously can't. There's always "what's X like" but who would say, "watch out, he'll chew you out for not working on the weekend! better find another someone else" during an interview (if that's the case)?

As a matter of personal preference, I try to thank schools that interview me for their interest, as I consider it polite. However, during a recent exchange I've thanked an administrative person in this way, and the exchange was forwarded to the faculty member who will interview me. So now if I thank him too, do I seem like I'm kowtowing excessively? If I don't, will it be strange that I'm thanking the staff and not the actual professor who wants to interview me? Sorry if this is trivial, but it's hard not to worry about every single thing with something important.

For reference: http://www.cgsnet.org/ckfinder/userfiles/files/CGS_Resolution.pdf I recently found out about the CGS resolution which brought both relief and further quandary. Does anyone know anything about the following: Does the resolution apply to international applicants? Even those who are not educated in the USA, nor have a Green Card or SSN? Is the resolution binding for schools listed? One school indicated that I will lose the admission offer unless I respond by a much earlier date. Can they do this? It is stated: "This Resolution applies to offers of financial support only, not offers of admission." - so what about offers of admission? In my field, offers of admission and financial aid are given together, since no applicant would attend without support in any case. Am I still allowed to change my mind after accepting an offer of admission before 15 April? What good is a financial support resolution, anyway? Is there a similar admission offer resolution somewhere, or is the financial support one supposed to take care of admission by proxy? Also feel free to ask any other questions about it if you have them.

I believe rankings are valuable if used responsibly, but (while I don't know which rankings you refer to) I would disregard any between-countries rankings entirely, especially for grad school. At most you could compare where each one ranks in their own country, but even that is dubious. Best to compare what PIs you'd work with, and where alumni end up.