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anabeldm9

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  • Gender
    Female
  • Location
    Midwest
  • Interests
    Criminology
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  1. I am wondering if anyone can weigh in on my situation, which is similar. I switched advisors in my second year from the person I was supposed to work with (recruited me into the program) to someone who gave me more structure, feedback, and was an overall better fit academically. I told the first advisor I was thinking of switching and eventually confirmed with them when I made the switch permanent through paperwork. I said I would like to continue working with them and have kept up my promise on a joint project, but did not go out of my way to thank them and care-take for their feelings. I didn't schmooze them. Dumb mistake on my part. How important do you think that is? Since then, this first advisor, who is also the director of graduate studies, has not helped me with many things. He did not offer me summer funding (last year he did) and I suspect he discouraged a conference summit fellowship committee from choosing me over a less experienced grad student (I have no proof, but it's odd to me they chose someone with fewer publications, less research experience, and who was not as far along in the program). He only read my qualifying exams for typos (he's on my committee). Is there a way to repair this without making a big stink about it? So far I haven't disclosed this to anyone. He is still on my committee and controls departmental funding decisions. I find him unprofessional and unethical at times, for what that is worth.
  2. I don't think this has been covered (based on my search of this site) yet, but I am wondering about entering student paper competitions. My field has smaller divisions within our main association and I belong to several of them. One division recently announced a student paper competition (to coincide with the big national conference in the fall, which I'm attending) and I'm wondering whether or not to apply. I have a paper that will be done soon that I'm writing with my PI looking at a research question using her data. I will be first author and of course she will also be on it (we have done this before with another paper I wrote using same data). My question is: should I submit to the paper competition even though 1) it's not my data (issue is not whether my advisor approves, more about how it looks to not have your own data yet) and 2) the topic is a small sub-set of the field and while it's interesting, it's not earth-shattering stuff. I feel kind of stuck on the fact that I work with this data that is interesting and fruitful, but is not mine and is not the kind of data I'm super passionate about, which I assume (and plan!) my dissertation data will be. How do others approach paper competitions? Should I wait until I have something from my dissertation research, which is still a year away for me? Any advice appreciated!
  3. I attend UIC and my piece of advice for you is to live along the blue line. It is so incredibly easy to get ANYWHERE by living near the blue line. Living off the red line is also good, but will involve a transfer to the blue line. Logan Square, Lakeview, Bucktown, and Rogers Park seem to be the top neighborhoods where my fellow students and I live. Good luck!
  4. Definitely check with your program. My masters program required us to have residency after one year or they would charge us the $10,000 difference for out of state tuition. They told us clearly from day one when and how we needed to do all the things to get residency- it can involve a lot of paperwork and in my case, some of that very important paperwork needed to be set in motion THE DAY I MOVED THERE. Some of the requirements were to have my car registered there for a year, so timing was important. It was a little stressful but they were good about walking us through it so we all got our paperwork in on time. My point is that some programs may not be as clear or up front, so be sure you thoroughly check into whether or not it's needed and what exactly you need to do to get it. Good luck!
  5. Thank you all so much for your responses! So helpful and exactly what I needed to hear. And it just occurred to me- here I am getting my own validation from social media. I love the proverb, Cheshire_Cat. I think it's probably a combination of this person has a specific audience in mind when they post, they are perhaps justifying their decision to be in grad school, and I just need to focus on my own stuff. Will work on this. Thanks everyone!
  6. Thank you. I am the same way with the unfollowing- it doesn't help much. Maybe one way to do what you suggest is to get to know them better and then it may be clear as to why they do this. Thanks for your response 1Q84.
  7. Hello fellow students. I have a somewhat petty issue bothering me lately and could use your collective wisdom. I have found myself getting really, really annoyed by a classmate who constantly boasts about how long their exam essays and papers are (this person always writes way over the page requirements) and then their good grades on said assignments. They do all this on Facebook. I am so irritated by this behavior that it's affecting how I feel about this person in real life. Our approaches to social media are fundamentally different. I perceive this grade-bragging behavior as supremely tacky. I get the same high grades as this person, but would never think of sharing it with the world. Or with classmates who may not have done as well. I know I am being petty. I know this. What I would like to hear from people is a new way to frame this in order to move on and cultivate a better relationship with my colleague. At some point, we will probably work together. At the very least I value good relationships with the people in my program. How would you reframe this for yourselves? How have you dealt with irritating fellow students? Thanks for your input. I always find support here when I am rolling something around in my head for too long.
  8. I just came across this thread tonight and agree with what everyone has been saying about staying low key about age and not assuming things about people of any age. I would extend that to race, ethnicity, ability, gender, etc. Try to be as open to people as possible- they will surprise you the more you get to know them. And a caveat- don't constantly bring up how young you are. I have a colleague who is 22 and she brings up her age almost everyday. When a professor talks about some bill passed during the Nixon administration, she'll say "I wasn't even alive yet!" and she draws attention to it on other people's birthdays, too. It's constant and irritating and probably a sign that she is insecure about something. Which is silly because she's very smart and I don't think anyone would say she shouldn't be there. So there you go. Just be yourself.
  9. I would ask around what other students have done in the past in your program. In my first semester, I found in my own program three courses was kept me quite busy and so I ended up dropping a fourth, extra class. It was not a course I needed in the first place, so I was able to do that. Seek out the advice of older students.
  10. I think mental health among graduate students is not spoken about enough; and I personally feel uncomfortable talking about with fellow students and professors. I wish there was more emphasis on mental health in programs. I don't suffer from severe depression, but generalized anxiety. I noticed after my first semester an increased feeling of anxiety all around so this semester I have been taking advantage of the free counseling sessions at my school. Most schools offer at least several free sessions and then can help transition you into longer term therapy if needed. Counseling really helps me and I've done it at various times in my life. Also, I discovered a female graduate student support group that I plan on joining at some point in the near future after I've gone through some individual sessions. I encourage people to check out what your school has to offer. Chances are it's pretty decent.
  11. Well, that really puts it in perspective. Thanks everyone for the thoughtful responses. I guess I expected more from feedback in a social science program, but I can see the point that it would be sort of time-consuming to give lots of feedback on these early papers. He seems to be a slouch in comparison to my other professors who regularly meet with us to discuss our papers and then give us lots of comments. But he is older and has been around the longest, so that probably explains it.
  12. Wow! Well it's comforting to know I'm not alone, mandarin.orange. But didn't you find it frustrating? Or were you just so focused on your research and the parts that felt validating that it didn't bother you? That's pretty hilarious how you and your friend handled it.
  13. I posted earlier the topic Bombing my first Paper and recieved really wonderful and helpful responses. Someone in that thread asked me what I received on the paper, and that made me think about asking this new question: Is it normal for professors to not hand back a single thing they have graded? In this course, I received an overall grade of A--> the highest possible. But I wrote three papers (the only class assignments) and did not receive a single paper back. Other students have told me they do not think this professor reads the papers and they seem totally fine with it! And I haven't asked him yet for my papers back. I'm afraid of what he will say. When he doesn't want to answer or respond, he pretends not to hear or understand the question. The only feeback I got was his oral responses to my oral summaries of my papers (essentially, a 15-minute chat), the first of which seemed like it went horribly wrong for me. This professor is brilliant and I genuinely learn a lot from his courses, but his attitude infuriates me when I see how hard other professors are working while he does next to nothing. Advice? Similar experiences? Am I crazy? Don't answer that last one. Thanks for reading, folks.
  14. And somehow I ended up with an A in the course. Just goes to show that bombing is not the end of the world and some professors are just outwardly unpleasant!
  15. I think it sounds like you are a good candidate for the MS. Not sure specifically about UPenn, so make sure you apply to several schools. In my experience (just entered a PhD program in Crim), your GPA, GRE scores, letters of rec, and some experience are all important when you apply to a master's program. Just make sure you really think about the fit of the program with your interests and communicate that to people you talk to. Reach out to the graduate director or coordinator and ask a few questions. It helps to talk to people at the school to let them know you're serious. And when you write your statement of purpose, focus more on all the great stuff you've done than what a wonderful person you are (a common mistake I see in people applying to master's programs). Focus on your research experience- even if it doesn't align completely. Tell them what you've learned from it. You have already done a lot and seem prepared. Be confident and don't stress too much!
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