fizzberry2

I'm going to be moving to Baton Rouge this summer to start grad school. I'm looking for an apartment in a good area (ex: Highland area) with an in-unit washer and dryer for a reasonable rent. Any recommendations?

Thank you for the great advice. This might be the best post I've ever read at the cafe. I am attending grad school this fall (2014) and you've pretty much summed up what I think my approach should be at the outset and what to expect when I'm in the thick of things. I will be sure to come back and refer to this post when things begin to get hectic. Thanks again. 

One tip I want to add, now that I've completed my first year of PhD work, is that you have to develop a certain level of... I'll call it apathy.  This has been a consistent theme when I speak with others in my program as well.
 
What do I mean by apathy?  Well, at the start of your first year doing PhD work you'll likely be somewhat frantic.  Everything must be perfect!  You must study all of the hours!  If you don't you will fail!
 
For me, the realization hit right after my first midterms.  I was just so tired from the pace I was forcing on myself that I couldn't do it anymore.  I started the second half of the term feeling like I wasn't doing enough, but was too tired to change it.  But as things progressed, I realized I was getting basically the same marks on my work.  Then finals came, and... again, basically the same scores. 
 
I think what I observed was probably due to two things:  First, you trade off a little less work for a lot more relaxation, and it balances out.  Second, I think the key is to identify diminishing returns.  For example, I had a professor who assigned really long problem sets of increasing difficulty, one a week, all semester long.  I found I could put in 25 hours or so and get a 9 out of 10... or I could put in 10 hours and get an 8.25 out of 10.  And combined they were only worth 10% of your grade, anyway.  There were way, way more productive things I could use those extra 15 hours a week for than gaining another tiny fraction on my final grade.  Your situations may vary, of course, but I think most PhD programs will require more of you than there is to give over a sustained period, and it will be up to you to figure out how to manage.
 
In short, learn to give up the idea of perfection in favor of doing well + keeping your sanity.  It's not worth the pending emotional breakdown if you try to sustain an unsustainable pace the entire time!

Do what you can to minimize the temptation to reinvent the wheel.
Do your level best to learn from those who have gone before you and have asked similar questions.
Consider the utility of incorporating your questions into ongoing discussions.
When assessing the guidance you've received, consider the background, the expertise and the experience of the person who offered it.







If I sound snarky it is because this BB is going through a phase in which newer members are repeating questions that have been addressed many, many times. While this trend provides opportunities to get great guidance from experienced graduate students such as jullietmercredi, it also provides opportunities to miss equally sound guidance from experienced graduate students such as jullietmercredi.

IMO, this trend represents a "lost opportunity" for many of you to start the transition from being undergraduates to being graduate students. As graduate students, you will often encounter an implicit expectation that you are doing the leg work to find the answers to your own questions, and from there generating additional questions and answers. (In some quarters, this leg work is called "research".)

Additionally, some of you who are in your twenties may be walking into a buzzsaw as new graduate students. Your cohort is developing a reputation for having attitudes of entitlement and self-absorption. (Consider how members of the generation of 1965 talk about the OWS and Tea Party movements) Regardless of the accuracy of this perception (Christopher Lasch had the same complaints back in 1978), perception is reality.

While it is your choice as to what questions you want to ask and how you want to ask them, do not be surprised if those who are most capable of helping you decide to tune you out. If you think this can't happen to you, ask yourself why you're asking strangers on the internet for guidance rather than going into a professor's office and getting mentored?

My $0.02.

I was 21 when I started my master's degree, so I can relate to being the youngest person in a batch. I don't know how much use my advice may be, as a master's, rather than Ph.D. student, but I'll try anyway. First of all, congratulations on your acceptances. In my opinion, your age won't make a difference. It obviously didn't to the admissions commitees. Also, based on my experience, I don't think your social interactions with your peers would be altered at all due to your age. I imagine most people start their Ph.D. from 22-25 years of age, and it's not like you're 16 or something.

I see there have already been very thorough posts made in reply to your questions, so a lot of what I am about to say may be repetitive, but here goes.

Selecting a research topic: One suggestion is to try and choose a research topic which has reasonably wide appeal in the field that you intend to pursue your career in. You don't have to pursue a career in whatever you do your dissertation research on, but obviously it would be great when you apply for jobs if your dissertation fits with what your potential employers do. You have time to think about what you want to do after your Ph.D., whether you want to pursue academia or industry, etc., but try to give it a bit of thought.You don't want to pigeonhole yourself by working on an obscure topic which would be appreciated by only a few specialists in the field, and thus limit your job prospects. Picking a research project which would be of significant interest or importance to the field will also help in the short-term, as you'll have a wider pool of professors to choose from to comprise your dissertation committee. Don't be like me, doing a basic molecular biology thesis project despite being an engineering student, and having to scramble to find committee members from my department who have at least passing interest in what I do. Another very important thing is to select a doable project. It's easy to pick the most challenging project, thinking you have so much time to work on it, only to get inconclusive results and find yourself scrambling at the end. Even the best planned project may look great on paper, but when you actually go around to doing it, you can get all sorts of setbacks you had never foreseen. For example, stuff which had been working before can inexplicably stop working, such as genomic DNA purification kits, molecular cloning, and sequencing reactions (drawing from my own experience). You can find yourself spending a lot of time on troubleshooting simple problems for even the best thought-out projects, so don't stress yourself out by being too ambitious in your project choice. Obviously you don't want to do pedestrian, barely original research, but strike a balance. A possible approach would be to pick a high-risk, high-reward topic, but have a less glamorous, "safety net" project as backup. This is what developmental biologist Leonard Zon of Harvard advises his graduate students and post-doctoral researchers. I'm not saying don't pick an interesting project or be afraid of challenges, but be realistic as to what you can accomplish in the timeframe that you have, and have a Plan B if possible. And of course, the main thing is to choose a research topic which you have a passion for; you will likely be spending the next 4-6 years of your life working on this. If you will be doing lab work, laboratory rotations will be extremely important in this process. Three to four weeks of working in a lab will give you a sense of what life would be like working in a particular field or subfield.

Selecting an advisor: It goes without saying, but pick an advisor whom you can get along well with. Make sure it is a person you feel like you can communicate candidly with, and who will be candid with you. Again, you'll find out about the personalities and expectations of potential advisors during laboratory rotations. Some advisors expect you to be in the lab at certain times, some advisors could care less when you show up, as long as you get the work done. Some advisors are very hand-on, will provide a lot of advice and suggestions, others are more laissez-faire, and will give you a lot of autonomy. Think about whether you want a lot of flexibility in doing your project, or whether you want to be in a more structured environment. In general, established professors, who often have large labs, tend to let students sink or swim on their own; newer professors, who often have smaller labs, are probably more invested in your success or failure. On the other hand, well-established professors tend to have more resources and funding, and their recommendation will carry a bit more weight when you apply for post-doctoral positions. Also, one thing I would like to say is, don't be afraid to let your opinion be heard. Don't just agree with everything your advisor says. He or she may be the most eminent person in the field, but if you have a disagreement over how an experiment should be done, for example, make sure you voice your concerns.

Selecting a dissertation committee: I've only had experience in selecting a master's thesis committee, but I imagine it would translate to a selecting dissertation committee as well. It's important to select committee members who work well together. As in any workplace, there are people who get along well, and those that don't, so discuss your intended committee composition with your advisor before reaching out to potential committee members. I've personally not had to deal with any personality clashes with my committee members, but I would still say it's something to keep in mind. Also, try to include professors who are prominent in your field of interest. Don't think that a professor is too famous or too important to serve on your dissertation committee. I've heard that one physics Ph.D. student was hesitant to ask the eminent Richard Feynman to serve on his committee, but when he did ask, Feynman readily agreed. Apparently this was the first time someone had ever asked Feynman, because all the students were afraid to thus far. Imagine getting a job recommendation from the Feynman of your field! Having said that, make sure that your committee members are there for a valid reason; select committee members primarily based on the skills and expertise that they bring to the table. If you are doing an epigenetics study, it's far better that you pick the lesser-known expert in chromatin remodeling rather than the world-renowned leader in gold nanoparticles, to use an extreme example.

Interacting with faculty: Obviously, it is important that you should try and build strong relationships with the professors in your department. I'm sure you must have been good at that as an undergraduate, since you would have gotten strong recommendations for graduate school, so what I say may be superfluous to your requirements. I think it's more important, but at the same time easier, to interact with your professors in graduate school. In undergraduate, your main avenue for interaction is through office hours, and your grade in their class is mainly what shapes the professor's impression of you. In graduate school, you'll get to go through laboratory rotations with different professors, and the classes will be much more of the seminar variety, where you interact directly, discussing primary literature with the instructor and your classmates. In one of my graduate seminar courses,(headed by the DGS for the program), I, along with some other people, actively contributed to the class discussion throughout the semester. Others were mostly silent throughout, basically just showing up just for attendance. It didn't affect their grade, but the DGS expressed his disappointment that some people did not seem to show interest in the field that they had ostensibly chosen to pursue for their career. That's obviously not the best way to kick things off in a program you are planning to spend the next few years in. If you have strong relationships with your professors, when the time comes to pick your dissertation committee, get job recommendations, etc. it will be much easier.

Graduate work and studies: DO NOT feel that you have to give your dog away. I know plenty of Ph.D. students with dogs, and they do manage to find the time to spend with their pets. However, based on my experience, you'll have to be a bit flexible at times when it comes to your research, being prepared to work on nights or weekends if necessary. This is especially true if you'll be working in a lab. There will be periods where you need to get a lot of stuff done in a short period of time, but there will also be relative lulls, so be prepared to adjust your schedule accordingly. But you don't have to be in the lab 24/7. The most important factor is your time management. If you are organized and plan ahead, there's no reason why you can't do your research mostly in a 9-5 timespan. Some people do that, others, like me, are haphazard, and come at random times in the night to get work done. So definitely, as long as you manage time well, your life won't be swallowed up by research, and you can devote the time that you need to your dog. As far as coursework, I don't think you need to worry about it occupying an inordinate amount of time. The courses will be more advanced, but since you have been accepted into multiple Ph.D. programs, you are obviously smart enough and talented enough to handle it. The courses will be much more of the seminar-type, involving discussions of primary literature, and your exams will be testing your critical thinking more than requiring you to cough up book knowledge. You will have to do a ton of reading of journal articles for both your research and many of your courses, which of course can be done at home. It might take a bit of getting used to at first, especially since many articles are not exactly lucidly written. Unless you do absolutely atrociously in a course, you'll get A's and B's in your courses, so don't stress about grades too much. You're obviously intelligent, so as long as you put in an honest effort, you'll get your just reward; you don't have to put in superhuman time and effort to get good grades in your coursework.

Non-academic life: The following advice is not stuff which I follow myself (wish I did), but I think it is valid nonetheless. Do not let your graduate work consume your life. Yes, you will have to spend a lot of time and effort on your research and courses, but set a limit. Do not let it prevent you from having a social life, spending time with your dog, etc. If you are someone who wants to have the weekend off, manage your time wisely, as I said before. But if you do find yourself having to spend inordinate amounts of time, just stop, take a step back, and make sure you get your time off. Ph.D. is a marathon, not a sprint, so it's much more important to stay mentally fresh, both for your own sake, and the quality of work that you do. I don't have much of a social life, but that's not because I can't find the time; I'm just simply an insular person. I know Ph.D. students, and they do manage to have time to do stuff, like play intramural sports, spend time with friends, etc. Unlike in undergraduate, where you are focused on coursework, and your schedule is much more rigid, in graduate school, your time is much more flexible; you can make decisions on how to use your time, so you can structure it such that you can have a social life. Just be careful not to procrastinate, because that can come back to bite you. When it comes to friends, I suspect you will make good friends in your cohort, because it is a small group, and they will be going through many of the same experiences that you will be. You can also meet graduate students in other departments, often through mixers and events hosted by your graduate student organization. If you are into sports, you can also make new friends by meeting other people if you play your basketball, tennis, etc. at your school recreation center. And again, your age will definitely not be a problem when making friends, having a social life, etc.


This is about all I have for now, and if I think of anything else I feel is important, I'll post again. Best of luck with graduate school this fall!

About your dog: I think that depends entirely on you and your program. I am in a social science program where the majority of my analysis and writing can be done from home, and I prefer to work from home or from a library (as opposed to my cube in the windowless cube farm). When I was taking classes I was generally there from 9-6 or so, but now that my coursework is finished I am rarely at the school itself. I go for meetings, seminars, interesting kinds of things and I do most of my work remotely. My time is verrry flexible, and if my building didn't prohibit it I would get a dog in a heartbeat. Another thing to keep in mind: a dog can be a great comfort when you're all stressed out over graduate school.

Advice?

Age:
-Don't feel like you have nothing to offer just because you are younger. I was 22 when I started graduate school. You got accepted to the program for a reason, and chances are you are just as equipped as any older students are to successfully complete the program, just in a different way.

-Your older classmates may be just as terrified as you. Talk to them. You have a lot in common. You are, after all, in the same place.

-You will feel like an imposter, like you don't belong, or like you are constantly behind. Or all three. It's normal. It will pass. (Well, sort of.) People of all ages go through this.

Adviser related:
-If you are lucky enough to get both research interest fit and personality fit perfect, congratulations! But sometimes, personality fit is more important than research interest fit as long as the research isn't too different. A great adviser is interested in your career development, likes you as a person, advocates for you, and wants to hear your ideas. Even if his or her research is quite different from yours, they may give you the autonomy to work on your own projects and just supervise you. A bad personality fit will drive you nuts, even if you love his or her research. Consider that when evaluating your adviser fit. (This will vary by field: research fit may be less important in the humanities, more important in the natural and physical sciences. Social sciences are somewhere in-between.)

-Don't be afraid to be straight up blunt with your adviser when it comes to asking about your progress. Ask if you are where you should be both academic program wise and getting-a-job-after-this-mess-wise.

-Be proactive. Advisers love when you draw up an agenda for your one-on-one meetings, come with talking points and progress to share, have concrete questions to ask, and have overall shown that you have been thoughtful and taken control of your own program. Of course, this won't immediately come easily to you, but in time you will work up to it. Every semester I type up my semester goals, and at the beginning of the year I type up annual goals. I show them to my adviser and we talk about whether they are too ambitious, or whether I need to revise them, and how I can meet them.

-Don't expect your adviser to actually know what courses you have to take to graduate. They will know about comprehensive exams and the dissertation, but a lot of professors don't really keep up with the course requirements, especially if their program is in flux. Get you a student handbook, and find out what you need to take. Map it out in a grid, and check off things when you finish them. Show this to your adviser every semester. You may have to explain how such and such class fills a requirement.

-Nobody loves you as much as you, except your mother. Keep this in mind as you take in advice from all sources, including your adviser. Your adviser is there to guide you, but that doesn't mean you have to do everything he says.

Studying:
-You will have to read more than you ever did before, in less time than you ever have before, and you will be expected to retain more than you ever have before. The way that you studied in undergrad may need some tweaking. Be prepared for this.

-Corollary: you may find that your methods change with age or interests or time. I preferred to study alone in college, but in grad school, I prefer to study in groups. It keeps me on task and the socialization keeps me motivated. You may find that you shift from being a more auditory learner to a visual learner or whatever.

-You will feel behind at first. This is normal.

-At some point you will realize that your professors don't actually expect you to read everything they assign you. This, of course, will vary by program, but there will be at least one class where the reading is actually impossible to do in one week. The point is to read enough that you know the major themes and can talk intelligently about them, and then pick some of the readings to really dig into and think more deeply about.

-For most programs, don't worry so much about grades. If you stay on top of your work and do what you're supposed to, you will probably get an A. How much grades matter varies from program to program. In some programs, a B is a signal that you are not up to par, and more than a few Bs will warrant a discussion with your adviser or the DGS. My program isn't like that - A, B, it's all meaningless. My adviser doesn't even know what my grades are. But at almost all programs, a C means you need to retake the course, and two Cs means you have to convince the DGS not to kick you out.

Extracurricular activity: What's that? No, seriously:
-A lot of your time will be unstructured. You will have coursework, but most grad classes meet once a week for two hours and you may have three classes. You may have meetings with your adviser every so often and some seminars or things to catch (like we have grand rounds and colloquia that are required), but a lot of time will be unstructured. However, since you have so much more work than you had in undergrad, you actually will have less free time than you had in undergrad. This may initially cause you great anxiety. It did for me. Some people love unstructured time, though. (I don't.)

-Because of this, you'll have to be planful about your non-grad school related stuff.

-TAKE TIME OFF. DO it. It's important for your mental health. However you do it doesn't matter. Some people work it like a 9-5 job. Some people take a day off per week (me) and maybe a few hours spread across the week. Some people work half days 7 days a week. However you do it, there needs to be a time when you say "f this, I'm going to the movies."

-Find your happy place, something that keeps you the you you were when you came in. I love working out. It gives me energy and I feel good. I stay healthy. I also love reading fiction, so sometimes I just curl up with a good book, work be damned. You have to give yourself permission to not think about work, at least for a couple of hours a week. You may also discover new hobbies! (I never worked out before I came to graduate school.)

-Your work will creep into all aspects of your life, if you let it. This is why I hate unstructured time. You will feel guilty for not doing something, because in graduate school, there is ALWAYS something you can do. ALWAYS. But since there will always be more work, there's no harm in putting it aside for tomorrow, as long as you don't have a deadline.

-You may need to reach outside of your cohort for a social life. None of my close friends are in my doctoral cohort. I've met master's students in my program, master's students in other programs, and I know a few non-graduate students I hang out with, too. Go to graduate student mixers. (If your university doesn't have any, organize some, if you like planning parties.) Join a student group that doesn't take up too much time. I had a doctoral acquaintance who kinda laughed at me because I joined some student groups other than the doctoral student one, and I was usually the only doctoral student in those groups, but I met some close friends (and future job contacts) and had a good time.

-DO NOT FEEL GUILTY FOR WANTING A LIFE OUTSIDE OF GRADUATE SCHOOL. This is paramount. This is important. You are a well-rounded, complex, multifaceted human being. NEVER feel bad for this. Everybody wants some kind of life outside of work. Yes, you may loooove your field, but that doesn't mean you want to do it all day long. Some other doctoral students, and perhaps professors, may make you feel bad about this. Don't let them. Just smile and nod. Then disappear when you need to.

Career:
-This is job preparation. Remember that from Day One. Always be looking for ways to enhance your skills. Read job ads and find out what's hot in your field, what's necessary, what's in demand. For example, in my field statistics and methods are a hot commodity, and they're not a passing fad. I happen to really like statistics and methods, so I have pursued that as a concentration of mine.

-Don't be afraid to take on volunteer work and part-time gigs that will give you skills that will be useful both inside academia and out, as long as it's not against your contract. Your adviser may be against it, but he doesn't have to know as long as it doesn't interfere with your work.

-If you want to work outside of academia - if you are even *considering* the possibility - please please definitely do the above. Even if you aren't considering it, consider the possibility that you won't get a tenure-track job out the box and that you may need to support yourself doing something else for a while. You will have to prove to employers that you have developed usable, useful skills and this is one of the easiest ways to do it. But don't overdo it - get the degree done.

-For more academic related ones - always look for opportunities to present and publish. Presentations look good on your CV. Publications look better. When you write seminar papers, wonder if you can publish them with some revision. Write your seminar papers on what you maybe think you may want to do your dissertation on. Even if you look at them three years later and think "these suck," you can at least glean some useful references and pieces from them. Discuss publication with your adviser early and often, and if you have the time and desire, seek out publication options with other professors and researchers. But if you commit to a project, COMMIT. You don't want to leave a bad impression.

-If you can afford it, occasionally go to conferences even if you aren't presenting. You can network, and you can hear some interesting talks, and you may think about new directions for your own research. You can also meet people who may tell you about jobs, money, opportunities, etc.

-Always try to get someone else to pay for conference travel before you come out of pocket. Including your adviser. Do not be shy about asking if he or she can pay. If he can't, he'll just say no. Usually the department has a travel fund for students, but often it's only if you are presenting.

-If you are interested in academia, you should get some teaching experience. There are two traditional ways to do this: TAing a course, and teaching as a sole instructor. If you can help it, I wouldn't recommend doing a sole instructor position until you are finished with coursework. Teaching takes a LOT of time to do right. You should definitely TA at least one course, and probably a few different ones. But don't overdo it, if you can help it, because again, it takes a LOT of time. More than you expect at the outset. If you are in the humanities, I think sole instructor positions are very important for nabbing jobs so when you are in the exam/ABD phase, you may want to try at least one. If your own university has none, look at adjuncting for nearby colleges, including community colleges. (I would wager that the majority of natural science/physical science students, and most social science students, have never sole taught a class before they get an assistant professor job. At least, it's not that common n my field, which straddles the social and natural sciences.)

-Always look for money. Money is awesome. If you can fund yourself you can do what you want, within reason. Your university will be thrilled, your adviser will be happy, and you can put it on your CV. It's win-win-win! Don't put yourself out of the running before anyone else has a chance to. Apply even if you think you won't get it or the odds are against you (they always are), as long as you are eligible. Apply often. Apply even if it's only $500. (That's conference travel!) Money begets money. The more awards you get, the more awards you will get. They will get bigger over time. If you are in the sciences and social sciences, you should get practice writing at least one grant. You don't have to write the whole thing, but at least get in on the process so that you can see how it's done. Grant-writing is very valuable both in and outside of graduate school.

-Revise your CV every so often. Then look and decide what you want to add to it. Then go get that thing, so you can add it.

-The career office at big universities is often not just for undergrads. I was surprised to learn that my career center offers help on CV organization and the academic job search, as well as alternative/non-academic career searches for doctoral students. In fact, there are two people whose sole purpose it is to help PhD students find nonacademic careers, and they both have PhDs. This will vary by university - some universities will have very little for grad students. Find out before you write the office off.

-It's never too early to go to seminars/workshops like "the academic job search inside and out", "creating the perfect CV," "getting the job," etc. NEVER. Often the leader will share tips that are more aimed towards early graduate students, or tidbits that are kind of too late for more advanced students to take care of. This will also help you keep a pulse on what's hot in your field. It'll help you know what lines you need to add to your CV. And they're interesting.

Other:

-Decide ahead of time what you are NOT willing to sacrifice on the altar of academia. Then stick to it.
I'm serious. If you decide that you do NOT want to sacrifice your relationship, don't. If it's your geographical mobility, don't. I mean, be realistic, and realize that there will always be trade-offs. But you have to think about what's important to you for your quality of life, and realize that there is always more to you than graduate school.

-If you don't want to be a professor, do not feel guilty about this. At all. Zero. However, you will have to do things differently than most doctoral students. Your adviser will probably never have worked outside of the academy (although this may vary depending on the field) so he may or may not be able to help you. But you have a special mission to seek out the kinds of experiences that will help you find a non-academic job. Test the waters with your adviser before you tell him this. My adviser was quite amenable to it, but that's because I told him that my goal was to still do research and policy work in my field just not at a university, AND because it's quite common in my field for doctoral students to do non-academic work. If you're in a field where it's not common (or where your professors refuse to believe it's common, or it's not supposed to be common)…well, you may be a little more on your own.

-Every so often, you will need to reflect on the reasons you came to graduate school. Sometimes, just sit and think quietly. Why are you doing this to yourself? Do you love your field? Do you need this degree to do what you want to do? Usually the answer is yes and yes, and usually you'll keep on trucking. But sometimes when the chips are down you will need to reevaluate why you put yourself through this in the first place.

-To my great dismay, depression is quite common in doctoral students. Graduate work can be isolating and stressful. Luckily your health insurance usually includes counseling sessions. TAKE THEM if you need them. Do not be ashamed. You may be surprised with who else is getting them. (I found out that everyone in my cohort, including me, was getting mental health counseling at a certain point.) Exercise can help, as can taking that mental health day once a week and just chilling. Don't be surprised if you get the blues…

-…but be self-aware and able to recognize when the depression is clouding your ability to function. Doctoral programs have a 50% attrition rate, and this is rarely because that 50% is less intelligent than, less motivated than, less driven than, or less ambitious than the other 50% that stays. Often they realize that they are ridiculously unhappy in the field, or that they don't need the degree anymore, or that they'd rather focus on other things in life, or their interests have changed. All of this is okay!

-You will, at some point, be like "eff this, I'm leaving." I think almost every doctoral student has thought about dropping out and just kicking this all to the curb. You need to listen to yourself, and find out whether it is idle thought (nothing to worry about, very normal) or whether you are truly unhappy to the point that you need to leave. Counseling can help you figure this out.

-Don't be afraid to take a semester or a year off if you need to. That's what leaves of absence are for.

Lastly, and positively…

…graduate school is great! Seriously, when else will you ever have the time to study what you want for hours on end, talk to just as interested others about it, and live in an intellectual community of scholars and intellectuals? And occasionally wake up at 11 am and go to the bank at 2 pm? Sometimes you will want to pull out all of your hair but most of the time, you will feel fulfilled and wonderfully encouraged and edified. So enjoy this time!

I'm in a MSc program, but in Canada, everyone starts grad school as a MSc student, graduates, and then applies for PhD programs (which can be at the same or a different institution). I'm finishing up my second and final year now.

First -- your question about time: It really depends on your program / department / research group / supervisor as well as your own goals in academia. For me, almost all of my research work can be done remotely (although I prefer to work in the office) so I really only need to go to school to attend class, TA, talk to my friends, attend seminars, and meet my supervisor. None of these things happen outside of 9-5 so I tend to stick to a 9-5 ish schedule and do extra work from home if necessary. I usually try to not do any "work" outside of 9-5 and not take my "work" home. However, I don't count course-work as "work" and I try to do that at home so it doesn't cut into research time too much. But if you work in, say, a chemistry lab, you might have stricter requirements as to when you need to be in the lab.

Many of my friends in school have dogs. Some of them take a break in the middle of the day to go home and walk their dogs or see them, if they live close. I try to treat grad school as a "job" -- unless there are deadlines approaching, I don't feel bad leaving at ~5pm even if there is stuff left to be done since it will still be there tomorrow! I know this means I'm not working to my fullest potential, and I'm okay with that. I'm not aiming to be the best in my field, and I choose to have other priorities.

Which comes to the second thing I want to say -- grad school is as much work as you want it to be. To use a cliche -- you will get out of it what you put in. So it's important to think about what you want to get out of your PhD program and then schedule your life accordingly! I think it's really important to budget your time and energy so that you don't neglect your priorities (whether it's courses, research, teaching, family, dogs, whatever). I think graduate school is hard enough even when you have a positive/healthy mindset, so maintaining whatever makes you happy is important.

I got some advice from my mentors (previous supervisors) that I thought was really valuable. They said to pick your supervisor and project in a way that will help you get a post-doc job (if that is the goal after PhD). If so, your PhD project will be the strongest argument you have for yourself when you apply for jobs. Pick something that will be interesting to people ~5 years from now, don't work on a super specific field that only you or your supervisor cares about (instead, do these as side projects). You don't have to love your thesis topic, just don't hate it! Next, make sure your project contributes to the field in a meaningful way, so that ideally people will start to connect the concepts you are working on with your name.

As for picking supervisors, my mentors told me that I should find someone who is a good mentor, not just a good researcher. We will need to trained in other skills such as how to write papers really well, how to apply for grants, how to give compelling presentations, how to get ourselves known. Many good researchers have these abilities but not everyone is good at teaching these abilities too. Also, if possible, find someone who will care about their students' success and will give us opportunities like attending conferences and so on. If you have an external scholarship and thus your supervisor may not pay you at all (or very little), it's common in the physical sciences to actually negotiate non-salary things like having a budget for travel or equipment, and so on. (Last piece of advice -- apply for external fellowships whenever possible, even if you are already funded by internal means. You probably won't get any more money, but you will get a lot more freedom and independence).

Those were some of the important (in my opinion) things I've learned in the last 2 years as a graduate student and from many conversations with my mentors while applying for PhD programs for this fall! Hope that gives you some things to consider

Here's what I can help you with, as someone in your field, in addition to what m-ttl already said.
 
You will definitely need to redo the PGRE to get into most PhD programs. If you will do a graduate program in a physics-related but not purely physics program (e.g. Astronomy) then you probably won't need as high of a PGRE score as a "pure" physics program because these programs tend to de-emphasize the PGRE. However, if by single digits you mean <10th percentile, then I think this will raise a lot of flags even at schools that might not emphasize the PGRE as much. Generally, a very high GPA is a good way to offset a low PGRE score. So, I don't think it will be worth it for you to apply to PhD programs that require the PGRE score this year.
 
For the LORs, most programs will require 3 but there are some that only need two. You don't have to elaborate further on your letter writers if you don't want to, but here is some advice to help you determine if they are going to be good, and which letters you should submit if you only need to send 2.
 
In my opinion, here is the preferred order of LOR writers, assuming that they will write good things about you in the respective categories:
1. The best letter is one from a a faculty member (with a PhD) that supervised your research.
2. Next is someone with a PhD but not necessarily faculty, that supervised your research.
3. Then a professor who taught you multiple classes and can write good things about you but you didn't work with directly. 
3. But, tied for 3rd, I think, is someone without a PhD but established experience (e.g. staff scientist with a MS) that can say really good things about your research ability, and importantly, compare you favourably to other graduates from your program.
5. Finally, letters from someone who you had limited contact with (e.g. just one class) or a non-professor position would be "neutral".
 
Some letters can be better than others if the prof is well known to the faculty you're applying to etc. And for non-traditional students, letters from professionals could also work. I would consider that letters in the first two categories are "strong letters" and the others can be "good letters" or "neutral letters". It's rare for an applicant to be able to get all their letters from the first two groups though, so it sounds like you might be doing pretty well in this department, depending on who the person that supervised your research is (i.e. does she have a PhD?) and whether or not the letters from the two professors can mention your research at all (even research in a term project or thesis would be better than just commenting on your classes). In your case too, if your profs that taught you can write about your strengths at your classes outside of exams, it would help too. They might be able to support your argument that your performance in exams is not reflective of your actual knowledge/ability. 
 
If you think it is worth the gamble, like I said above, you can try to submit a few applications to PhD programs that don't require the PGRE. Whether or not you apply to PhD programs, you should also have alternate plans for the next year or two and act on those now too. That is, if you choose to gamble with a few PhD programs, you can and should do one or more of the following too:
 
1. Improve your PGRE score. I hate the PGRE. I took it twice and did not do well both times (<50 percentile), even with a lot of preparation the second time. But you can't really avoid it for your current goals. You probably do not need to ace it or anything though, but it might help to devote some effort into not just studying for the PGRE, but seek out other study resources to make sure you are studying "smartly". I really think the way to do well on the PGRE is to know how to take the test, not just knowing all the physics. People say that a study group really helped (I was in one but I didn't change my score too much). Everyone I know who did well practiced a lot....like redoing the 5 practice tests over and over until you can solve all 500 questions each within 1.7 minutes (the time you have per question on the real thing). It's hard to find time to do this though, but if you are not aiming for top programs, you don't have to worry about getting the highest scores--probably something in the middle of the pack is good. And the PGRE isn't everything, I was able to get into some top programs that required the PGRE even with scores in the bottom half of people who take the PGRE! But you will probably have to improve a bit past your <10th percentile. It might be a good idea to try to redo the PGRE in April 2014 instead of waiting until Fall 2014 (although depending on what you else you choose to do, maybe the summer is a good time to prepare for it).
 
2. Stay in your undergrad program for another year and apply for PhD programs starting Fall 2015. This will give you two ways to improve your application, and also give you more time to work on the PGRE. You can use this time to do these two things:
a ) Improve your GPA/coursework. Retake classes that you are able to. You can also take advantage of the extra year to take some graduate level courses at your school (if they let you). Just take a couple, don't go overboard though! Admission committees care about undergrad grades because they indicate ability to perform well at graduate level courses. So, doing well at graduate courses now can go far in demonstrating this ability.
b ) Maybe more importantly, you can increase your research experience! If you stay another year, you can apply for those paid summer internships. This is usually the perfect time to apply for stuff coming up this summer. Look into REU programs and also programs at your own school. Don't be afraid to look into programs at other places too, but it might be too costly unless the paid positions come with room and board too (some of them are paid like awards and will do this). Also, you should definitely do a senior thesis at your current school in this extra year if possible. If you can get both of these research experience positions, you will be applying for Fall 2015 with 3 different projects, and potentially 3 very strong research based LORs. I would strongly recommend taking only a reduced courseload (maybe just the minimum to maintain full time status) during your 5th year so that you can devote a lot of time to research (and working extra jobs to pay for school as necessary).
 
3. Alternatively, like m-ttl suggested, you can try to get into a terminal MS program. Do a thesis-based one if possible, which tend to be about 2 years (some are 1 year though). This will also give you chances to prove yourself in graduate level classes. The downside of course is that there are very few terminal MS programs in Physics, and almost all of them will be unfunded. So this option will likely cost more than option 2. But it might provide better access to research opportunities than option 2!
 
4. Or, you can just work on improving your research experience/ability. You can apply to research associate positions or other full time science research positions for BS graduates. I think it might be hard to find positions, but if you get one, you can then save up money and maybe be able to afford a MS program (option 3) more easily later on. This might also give you more time to study for the PGRE. The downside is that many positions like this might not actually train you in useful research skills and since you are no longer in school, you will have to repay any student loans you may have.
 
Anyways, I hope that is useful. The above options are not mutually exclusive at this point -- you can try to apply to all four pathways (PhD programs, do an extra year in undergrad w/ summer research, MS program, or "industry") now and when decisions come in, you can then decide what you want to do. But that would take a lot of effort now and it's important to maintain good grades in this last semester. So, based on the questions m-ttl pose above, and considering your priorities and resources, you can think about what you want to do and go for it!
 
Finally, as a first generation college and graduate student, I found the whole process really confusing. I think I owe a big part of my success to having very good mentors in my professors and peers / older colleagues. I don't know if you are also a first generation applicant, but either way, don't be afraid to seek out help. Reach out to any professors you have a good relationship with (or people you have worked with that summer) and let them know you are thinking about grad school and ask if they have advice etc. Forums like GradCafe is also a great place. You should also visit www.physicsgre.com if you have not yet, it seems like there aren't very many Physics/Astro types here. Also the other website has a lot of profiles posted every year (since 2008) where people post their stats and where they got in. This could help you decide whether or not you would be competitive. Just remember that the people who post profiles there (and also here, or anywhere) are not a representative sample--generally only people who do well will post. So, it is a good source of information, but don't get intimidated by all of the perfect GPAs and GREs!
 
Good luck!!

Let me lay this out for you.
 
3.0 GPA
 
physics major, astronomy concentration
 
GRE scores pretty good, 75-90 percentile
 
PGRE score abysmal. I'm talking single digits. I'm talking I went and bought a bottle of Glenfiddich and drank it neat. When I finished the drink I cried back into the glass and drank it. Like bad. It's apparently not possible to will death upon yourself, or I wouldn't be typing this.
 
I have ADHD and was not medicated until this past semester, and good goddamn, I was kicking ass. I felt great, I felt like I was really learning, and I thought that showing a marked improvement in grades in upper level courses would be beneficial to grad school applications, even if my overall transcript is weak.
 
Plot twist: my grades sucked. (Minus an A in a graduate astrophysics course and the acceptable B in electronics lab.) Basically around exam time I had a gap in insurance (read: no medication), extremely stressful extenuating circumstances, of the like I would not feel at all comfortable mentioning in applications, and I failed miserably. So, C in E & M and C- in quantum. I mean, literally, I was making upper 90s and 100s on all of my homework. Then BAM, suckerpunched by exams.
 
As someone with crippling anxiety (I take medications for that, too!), I believe the emphasis on exams is outrageous, but I digress.
 
Since a C- in quantum ISN'T EVEN ACCEPTABLE FOR GRADUATION I am basically pleading with my professor to either raise it to a C out of the goodness of his heart, or let me take a course and petition for it to replace the grade, since I am supposed to graduate in the spring.
 
 
 
So now you're thinking, okay, so what's the question????
 
Obviously I'm not kidding myself into thinking I can apply to Columbia, but more than anything I want to go to a PhD program in astronomy/physics. Am I dreaming? What the effing hell do I do? Do I stay in undergrad another year and try to retake courses (rotting in my hellhole of a city in the meantime)? Do I try a master's program? Is that even realistic? Do I take the GPA punch, try to retake the PGRE, and just apply again next year? Do I cry some more?
 
I should have strong recommendations - two from professors and one from a woman whose lab I worked in this summer. I'm smart and motivated and passionate, just a dumbass. Or something. This summer is my only research experience, because working 30-35 hours a week hasn't left me with a lot of time for research during the school year. And to be honest, I had no idea you could get paid summer internships, so I hadn't even tried.
 
No publication came of it. It gets worse and worse, right?
 
I am a very strong writer and am somewhat confident that my statement of purpose can kick ass. But I have no idea how much that matters.
 
Obviously there is some luck involved in admissions as well, so I'm not expecting you to tell me which schools I will get into. Just be real with me and tell me if I should probably just hang on to the obscene amounts of money that will be spent on applications, and maybe help me with a game plan.
 
Maybe related: I am a hispanic not-a-girl-not-yet-a-woman, and I'm poor as dammit.

I go to one of the best graduate schools in Canada, and I am surrounded by professors and grad students with successful marriages and families. This includes students in their mid-20s and up, as well as professors working towards tenure. I don't think it has anything to do with age or your willingness to work hard for success, but more your mindset. If you've made up your mind that a relationship will hold you back, there's probably nothing that will change that. If you have the willingness to make your personal life and academic/work life work, then it will.

Bumping this thread once again.........   

I graduated from a big-name, private school in California with a BA in geology and a minor in Peace and Conflict Studies in 2011 with a 2.9 GPA. I had many wonderful experiences an undergrad (work experience in my field, 3+ years of research, building amazing relationships with professors and community activists) but I was never able to pull my overall GPA up over a 3.0. I was dealing with major depression, burnout, coming out of the closet (oy) and family issues/parental pressure throughout my undergrad...there were some days where I just couldn't find it in myself to fucking get out of bed, and I was always really afraid of getting help (stigmas associated with mental illness is no joke) until well after I graduated. 

I beat myself up for a very long time about what I did and didn't do during undergrad, but I now realize that it was 1) a (majorly expensive) learning experience that has made me a stronger, better, smarter human being and 2) that there are things that I needed to take care of (like taking care of myself and finding out a career path that would allow me to combine my passions for science, EJ, social theory, and cultural studies) before I embark on a fantastic voyage through Graduate School and Academia.

[in retrospect, I wish I'd taken a semester or two off to just chill out and figure out who I was outside of school. If I could have afforded it, I would have loved to have taken a few months to travel/volunteer somewhere and let my brain rest...]

Since then, I've had the privilege of interning at the National Park Service as a GIS tech (and presenting the work that I did there at a huge conference in my field--PM if you're interested in learning more about the program!), working in informal science education (continuing to work in the same programs that I did as an undergrad--I commute to my alma mater a couple of weekends a month) and working at a small environmental nonprofit organization where, despite our tenuous funding situation, I've had some great opportunities to meet amazing people (one of my mentors, a professor at a local college, wrote me a letter of recommendation), doing good work (environmental justice work in MY community, which feels gratifying), and figuring out what it is what I want to do in grad school (in a nutshell, study relationships between human adaptation to climate change + gender + water + human health + community organizing/social movements in urban environments).

I'm mainly interested in applying to programs in geography:

- IU: PhD, geography - after flying out to visit, getting a chance to see the city and meeting with EVERYONE in the department, it's my top choice!)

- UW-Madison: MS, geography - after talking on the phone with the person I wanted to work with--who said that she was impressed with my lab experience--for over an hour, definitely my second choice!

- Clark University: PhD, geography - I've contacted the people I've wanted to work with and read some of their books...they're feminist geographers and I love their work. Tie for second!

- University of Kentucky (PhD, geography - I feel like I didn't have as great of a rapport/feelings as I did about the first three schools, but I love their political ecology program and I'm a good fit for their department. Third choice!

I'm also applying to at least 2 other MS programs in forestry/watershed management/enviro studies/hydrology with later/rolling deadlines (right now, UConn - rolling). While I'm a great fit for those and I know I'd be getting some great skills in those programs (e.g. GIS, water law, biogeochemistry, fundamentals of forestry/social theory/etc. I missed out on as a physical science major)

My GRE scores aren't amazing (v160, q149), but I have:

- strong LoRs from peeps in related fields (geography is so interdisciplinary it doesn't matter that they're not officially "geographers"...technically, though, I guess 2 of them are physical geographers and 1 is a human geographer if geologists = physical geographers and polisci/human rights/cultural researchers = human geographers),
- mostly As and Bs challenging/interesting major and minor classes
-  lots of interesting research & work experience,
- previous, meaningful contact with all researchers at schools that I've applied to.

I'm also an African-American, queer female in the physical/environmental/social sciences and applying to schools where low racial diversity is an issue (2 of my top schools are in small towns/cities in the Midwest). At least one of the schools I'm applying to is aggressively recruiting PoCs to rectify that lack of diversity. I don't really feel comfortable touting my "diverse" background in my application (I didn't at all in my SoP), but I casually inquired about diversity-related funding in my phone interview at UW-Madison and let my other departments know that I was definitely interested in being considered for funding opportunities aimed at increasing diversity in the field.

I guess if I get rejected to all of the schools I've applied to this year, I'll take a break from work to travel, drop $$ on one of those fancy GRE prep courses and maybe complete a GIS graduate certificate at Penn State (does anyone know anything about that program? It sounds interesting.)

So sorry for being long-winded, everyone! I just wanted to get some angst off my chest and share my story...hopefully it'll help someone else out there.

f you've read this post to the end, thank you! Here's to finding success and happiness in the new year!     

Bumping this thread once again.........   

I graduated from a big-name, private school in California with a BA in geology and a minor in Peace and Conflict Studies in 2011 with a 2.9 GPA. I had many wonderful experiences an undergrad (work experience in my field, 3+ years of research, building amazing relationships with professors and community activists) but I was never able to pull my overall GPA up over a 3.0. I was dealing with major depression, burnout, coming out of the closet (oy) and family issues/parental pressure throughout my undergrad...there were some days where I just couldn't find it in myself to fucking get out of bed, and I was always really afraid of getting help (stigmas associated with mental illness is no joke) until well after I graduated. 

I beat myself up for a very long time about what I did and didn't do during undergrad, but I now realize that it was 1) a (majorly expensive) learning experience that has made me a stronger, better, smarter human being and 2) that there are things that I needed to take care of (like taking care of myself and finding out a career path that would allow me to combine my passions for science, EJ, social theory, and cultural studies) before I embark on a fantastic voyage through Graduate School and Academia.

[in retrospect, I wish I'd taken a semester or two off to just chill out and figure out who I was outside of school. If I could have afforded it, I would have loved to have taken a few months to travel/volunteer somewhere and let my brain rest...]

Since then, I've had the privilege of interning at the National Park Service as a GIS tech (and presenting the work that I did there at a huge conference in my field--PM if you're interested in learning more about the program!), working in informal science education (continuing to work in the same programs that I did as an undergrad--I commute to my alma mater a couple of weekends a month) and working at a small environmental nonprofit organization where, despite our tenuous funding situation, I've had some great opportunities to meet amazing people (one of my mentors, a professor at a local college, wrote me a letter of recommendation), doing good work (environmental justice work in MY community, which feels gratifying), and figuring out what it is what I want to do in grad school (in a nutshell, study relationships between human adaptation to climate change + gender + water + human health + community organizing/social movements in urban environments).

I'm mainly interested in applying to programs in geography:

- IU: PhD, geography - after flying out to visit, getting a chance to see the city and meeting with EVERYONE in the department, it's my top choice!)

- UW-Madison: MS, geography - after talking on the phone with the person I wanted to work with--who said that she was impressed with my lab experience--for over an hour, definitely my second choice!

- Clark University: PhD, geography - I've contacted the people I've wanted to work with and read some of their books...they're feminist geographers and I love their work. Tie for second!

- University of Kentucky (PhD, geography - I feel like I didn't have as great of a rapport/feelings as I did about the first three schools, but I love their political ecology program and I'm a good fit for their department. Third choice!

I'm also applying to at least 2 other MS programs in forestry/watershed management/enviro studies/hydrology with later/rolling deadlines (right now, UConn - rolling). While I'm a great fit for those and I know I'd be getting some great skills in those programs (e.g. GIS, water law, biogeochemistry, fundamentals of forestry/social theory/etc. I missed out on as a physical science major)

My GRE scores aren't amazing (v160, q149), but I have:

- strong LoRs from peeps in related fields (geography is so interdisciplinary it doesn't matter that they're not officially "geographers"...technically, though, I guess 2 of them are physical geographers and 1 is a human geographer if geologists = physical geographers and polisci/human rights/cultural researchers = human geographers),
- mostly As and Bs challenging/interesting major and minor classes
-  lots of interesting research & work experience,
- previous, meaningful contact with all researchers at schools that I've applied to.

I'm also an African-American, queer female in the physical/environmental/social sciences and applying to schools where low racial diversity is an issue (2 of my top schools are in small towns/cities in the Midwest). At least one of the schools I'm applying to is aggressively recruiting PoCs to rectify that lack of diversity. I don't really feel comfortable touting my "diverse" background in my application (I didn't at all in my SoP), but I casually inquired about diversity-related funding in my phone interview at UW-Madison and let my other departments know that I was definitely interested in being considered for funding opportunities aimed at increasing diversity in the field.

I guess if I get rejected to all of the schools I've applied to this year, I'll take a break from work to travel, drop $$ on one of those fancy GRE prep courses and maybe complete a GIS graduate certificate at Penn State (does anyone know anything about that program? It sounds interesting.)

So sorry for being long-winded, everyone! I just wanted to get some angst off my chest and share my story...hopefully it'll help someone else out there.

f you've read this post to the end, thank you! Here's to finding success and happiness in the new year!     

http://www.number-2-pencil.com/2013/02/26/30-mug-recipes/
 
nom nom nom…I've only done the brownie and basic cake ones, but still good!!

apologies for bumping an ancient thread. was looking for some solace and reaffirmation which was found.

i graduated with a degree in MEng with a GPA of 2.81. the reasons for this were mostly due to incompatibility with the university (received a scholarship upon admission). scored a 159V/163Q/5AW on the GRE and 114 on the TOEFL. applying to 6 universities in the top 25 for aerospace grad. not sure if extra curriculars matter but i also run an improv troupe in my city (worth mentioning?). so i guess what i'm really looking for is assurance that applying to these schools won't be a waste of money :$

Having just returned from my first visit to UConn, I thought I might share my impressions.

While the campus is certainly isolated--there is no town to walk into, for example--it's hardly "rural" in the sense I'm accustomed to in the Midwest. I stayed in Manchester, a rather nice suburb of Hartford and only a 30 minute drive to campus (albeit mostly on winding two-lane roads). There were houses and some smaller businesses along the road basically the whole way there. There is bus service between the Storrs and the nearby town of Willimantic--closer to 45 minutes from Hartford, but with a Wal-Mart, gorcery stores, etc. Where I'm from, "rural" connotes driving for at least 15 minutes--frequently much more--without seeing anything but farmland. This is not that kind of rural.

We liked Manchester quite a bit--lots of shopping and nice apartments--but are leaning toward renting in neighboring Vernon, which seems a bit sleepier but has lower rents. Both are easily accessible with a car (traffic doesn't seem to be much of an issue). I also visited with some faculty and students who live in more isolated areas north of campus, and they seemed quite content with their situations. Willimantic, while it does have the benefit of public transportation, seems to appeal to those accustomed to smaller towns. Some people do commute from farther afield, including the western suburbs of Hartford, but traffic in that area is a consideration.

In addition to Hartford, Storrs is only about an hour from Providence, 90 minutes from Boston, and less than three hours from New York (it's an hour to the commuter line in Waterbury--$40 round trip to Grand Central). I can see how this could be infuriating to an undergrad without a car, but to me it seems very promising.