dstock

There is a huge NSF GRFP thread in "The Bank" forum on this site you can check out.

I'm not taking it personally, I only made a single comment. It seems your actual opinion is more flexible than your previous statement that you "don't think it is the right choice" to have kids until people "are in TT territory". That is what got me a little riled up.

I'm not sure what field you're in, but in biology: after completing undergrad at age 22, a PhD typically takes ~6 years. A postdoc is required for a tenure track assitant professor position... postdocs are variable but can be 4-5 years. So you're saying you wouldn't suggest biologists to have a kid before age 32. To start trying for a first child at 32 isn't a realistic option for many women that want children, especially if they want multiple children. And this doesn't account for people who do a year or 2 after undergrad to boost their PhD application. I'm trying to point out that your ideal plan is not possible for many people.

Wow. What a year!! Congratulations.

Can your SO complete his degree while you are getting your PhD? At least you'll be in one place for 5 years or so. Since you want stories : I met my fiance in college. After college I got a job in city X, so he also found a job there. We lived in the same city and dated a few years, and we weren't living together yet. I moved jobs once, about 45 mins away (still close enough for us). Then he applied for graduate school and got into 2 schools. One in an academic hub (several colleges) and one that was kind've remote. Since I also was thinking about graduate schools, we decided he take the one in the "hub" so that I would have a good chance of getting in nearby. He started school and we moved in together! A year later I applied to graduate schools, and obviously I only applied to local schools! I started school at one about an hour away from his so we live midway between and both commute a bit. The next hurdle is when we both graduate. We may graduate at the same time, or 1 of us will be a year behind- hard to say. We'll face that when we do! I think this next step will be the most challenging due to timing being off and in case we have young children by then We've been successful thus far due to the luck of finding opportunities nearby, putting staying local to each other *above* finding the absolute best opportunity, and compromising!

2 years into my PhD and I still feel this way! Some days I'm so thankful I'm here and not at my old job, and other days I wish I just stayed there. (Also, the "new" people I trained when I was working have since gotten substantial promotions at that company...meanwhile I am a student). But... today is a good day so I am fine with it!

I wish I could read a paper a day but I haven't been able to make that happen. Maybe 2-3 each week, usually over the weekend.

Thanks for making this. It is cool to see the distributions

So should I be sending a "thank you again, I got an honorable mention" note to my letter writers?

What are you doing during graduate school to gear up for a career in RA? I worked in a small biotech before my PhD and got some on the job experience supporting regulatory submissions but obviously I wasn't leading any of that work. I haven't found a way to beef up my resume or do anything related to this during graduate school. I'm also a 2nd year life sciences.

Honorable mention. E/VG, E/VG, E/E. Can't really complain!! (but I want to! but I won't) Congrats to those who got the big $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Depends how much your resume/qualifications match the job you're applying for! For lab assistant type jobs, you should be targetting your resume and cover letters to the specific job. If you have lab experience relevant to what you're applying in, you should be able to get something. I'm not familiar with library or food service jobs.

My mother did this. I was mortified. It's hard as a 17-19 year old to know how to set boundaries with an insistent parent.

It's enough to just be friendly to her at school- there's no need to force a relationship outside of school with someone you don't mesh with.

I applied to 7. I got 5 interviews-since schools generally have interviews around the same time I think it ended up being 5 weekends in a row. I definitely would not have wanted to do more than that.