redheadacademic

My advisor's research initially was not all that similar to my already fairly developed research agenda, but it was the absolute best decision: she is an amazing mentor, a fantastic teacher, and she has both become invested into my research topic as well as let me adapt some of her topic to my methods. I am defending my dissertation in June, and have - thanks to her, in a large part - a tenure track job waiting for me, and have 8 first author peer-reviewed paper published. All that to say: I would really consider option B. Having a female advisor/mentor is fantastic, too.

Glad to hear - good luck on your program!

Go the grad school route. My biggest concern is that the company that wants to hire you does not want you to go to grad school and does want to support that path. Follow your dream.

Bioo, I understand the sentiment but I have a feeling what people are trying to say (and a lot of people don't know this, I did not when I started thinking about PhD programs) that you should not go to an unfunded PhD program. A PhD program will offer full tuition and a stipend of some sort to the students they really want in their programs, and in the vast majority of cases an unfunded PhD acceptance is little more than a rejection by another name. GradCafers, please correct me if I am wrong here. Master's degrees are different though - obviously funded would be ideal, but there are very few funded master's degrees out there, and in quite a few fields you need a master's degree in order to be accepted into a PhD program. I took out loans for my master's (and I did get almost half of those as subsidized Stafford loans, about two years ago) - I am now in a fully funded PhD program with a stipend.

Binge watching Netflix shows I know well is what gets me through long coding sessions - I made it all the way through Grey's Anatomy and Fringe during my last project . I don't have to pay much attention, and when I need a break I can focus on the series for 15-20 min.

Late reply.... I kept checking out lots of books from the school library, and whenever I found one I loved and was on a topic I could see myself needing, I would check on book selling sites - and often would find the book for $.99 plus shipping (we're talking 1500 page textbooks!). Add $3 shipping and I would have the same textbook I borrowed from the library for $4:). I have now started to build up a library this way - usually the books are one edition behind, and most are almost new - no highlighting or writing. It allows me to add books on related topics that I would like to be able to study but that aren't exactly in my field (anatomy, physiology, etc).

Hi all! So glad to find this thread! (thank you, NavyMom, for starting it) I'm 46, just started my PhD last year, and am now switching programs so will be re-starting my PhD (with 9 credits of coursework transferring, yay). All the students in my old and my new cohort are much younger than I am - although most think I am in my mid 30's . I have made some great friends in other cohorts - but still with quite an age difference. All that to say, making connections with other students has not been nearly as hard as I thought it would be. But sometimes I do feel a little bit older (I'll be 50 when I get my PhD - and that is if all goes according to plan) and reading this thread is fantastic. NavyMom, you posted the idea of connecting via chat a while ago, and I would absolutely love that.

Criminologist: I just finished the first year of my PhD as a bit older student (finished a master's degree immediately prior after working in the nonprofit world for 15 years after my first master's). I can tell you that my marriage, my dogs, and my ongoing nonprofit volunteer work kept me sane during this year, and allowed me to finish the year with a 4.0 GPA, three conference papers presented, a book chapter, and a journal article in print. I was able to focus better because I had great support and because, when I needed to take a break, I had systems in place to do this. Like Eigen said above: marriage, hobbies, and non-romantic relationships all can make you a better scholar.

I'm presenting at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) conference in Montreal in August (two papers). Keeping my fingers crossed for the NCA (National Communication Association) - if my paper gets accepted I'll attend, otherwise I won't be able to.

I caved, too - I'm nearing the end of my first year of my PhD program on a campus where I am absolutely one of the older students, and I switched to a backpack midway through the year. And strangely enough: it's from Ikea. Here is the link: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/40241130/ The great thing is that it really is two backpacks: the complete bigger backpack, and when you zip them apart, a much thinner backpack that still fits my laptop, tablet, pad of paper, one book, and wallet and such. I absolutely adore it, it is super comfy, and I love the option to have a big backpack and a much slimmer one.

Ay761, I graduated in May with a terminal master's (MPS) in public relations that also had a capstone project as its final project. I pleaded my case and was allowed - as the first one in this program - to do original research and write a thesis. It was one of the harder things I have ever done, but I am so glad I did it. I had to find additional readers and experts at other universities - and I found gracious and kind experts in the field who were willing to help me (from schools around the country). I am now working on two journal submissions and a book chapter with them - all based on my thesis. I just started a (funded) PhD program, and one of the kind second readers is now my dissertation advisor. All this to say - I would not give up on the thesis yet. Personally - and this very well may be different for you - writing a thesis was both the hardest and best experience of my (two-year) master's program.