DropTheBase

I worked with someone who finished in ~4 years. She worked very very hard (up to 40 reactions at a time, each set one after another). But as mentioned above, part of it was luck that any of those reactions worked. Also some experiments aren't even like this. Many physical chemistry experiments, for example, involve building an instrument that no one has built before with no guarantee that it'll even do what you hoped it would do!

Aside from athlete compensation issues, I really like the idea that athletes have to take classes for the reason mentioned above. For the ones who decide not to become professional athletes, at least they have an education. While there are certainly many jobs that don't require a college degree, you're very likely to make much more money over the course of your life with one. Can you show us some statistics to back up this argument?

Depending on your level of scrutiny, the Bitcoin FAQ is one source. (https://bitcoin.org/en/faq#is-bitcoin-anonymous) Only someone who is extremely cautious can successfully keep anonymous bitcoin wallets. i.e. keeping the wallet constrained in a virtual machine that routes all traffic only through TOR. But that still wouldn't protect you against the spending patterns you create (unless you only ever purchase one thing or something).

Yes, exactly. If anyone used anything as currency, the law wouldn't be able to protect against counterfeiting (too many currencies to keep track of!). It's worth mentioning that you CANNOT counterfeit Bitcoins easily (or at all), as far as I know. I'm not sure when Bitcoin turned into a volatile stock (blame the Winklevoss twins?), but it was and is in fact used as currency for a variety of businesses, including illegal ones. Even though Bitcoin is "anonymous", believe it or not, it's more dangerous to use Bitcoin for illegal services than real money. This is mainly because all transactions are public. Powerful computers can very effectively identify spending patterns when all the information is available. The current transaction confirmation time is ~8 minutes. I personally can't wait for Bitcoin to crash. Then all the speculators will leave and hopefully the price will level out again.

The creator of Bitcoin elaborated on the possibility of someone obtaining a large enough share. If someone at any point in time has greater than 50% of the computing power of all Bitcoin miners, then they could presumably control the market (this is also debatable). However, due to the increasing difficulty of mining Bitcoins, the odds of that happening are going down very, very quickly. The only other way someone could control the market now is by buying every Bitcoin. That's like buying every diamond or every block of gold. Good luck! The reason diamonds are so controlled is because the majority of them came from the same place and a few companies got a hold of the majority of them. That moment presumably already passed for Bitcoin. I'll reiterate what I said above. Bitcoin is fundamentally different because it's distributed over every single user. This is unlike normal currency. I know where all the Bitcoins in existence are, where they've been and who they go to when they're discovered! Also, anyone can make millions of copies of his/her Bitcoin wallet. With normal currency, the government (a powerful entity) can freeze your assets and seize them if necessary. For Bitcoin they'd have to seize every hard drive all over the world with copies of the Bitcoin wallet. No entity has that control over Bitcoin. Whether or not this is a good thing is debatable. But peer-to-peer currency is certainly different.

I certainly think it's a bubble right now. Every time Mt. Gox gets DDOSed or some government mentions it, the price swings violently. Also, I'm not certain about Bitcoin's future for technological reasons. There are a few security analysts who still believe that it can't scale up past a certain point. The fact that no one controls Bitcoin is what separates it from our normal currency. It can't be regulated. Precious metals, even though they can't be arbitrarily produced, can also be regulated because they are physical objects. A powerful entity can seize control of major stockpiles at any time. Like any p2p service, there is no source. It's always alive as long as at least one person is online and has the most up to date version of the block chain. Every user has a record of every transaction ever made. If Bitcoin eventually fails, something will certainly replace it.

If we're talking about the idea of Bitcoin in general, it's brilliant, especially the fact that the computations from Bitcoin miners goes towards verifying transactions. Whether or not Bitcoin will be the peer-to-peer currency in the future is questionable, but I think that there will now always be a peer-to-peer currency. It can't be stopped. Investing in Bitcoin is a totally different issue. I think our money best contributes to the economy by supporting companies that create physically tangible services.

This x100000. Using a PowerPoint is the most atrocious way to learn quantum. Quantum mechanics does not make any physical sense, so students have to see how the math translates into reality especially for strange concepts (i.e. the difference between superposition and statistical mixing). Derive things on the board and make sure the students are still with you once in a while. Use PowerPoint for thermo, since thermo is boring no matter what you do.

This is extremely childish.

If she's not willing to consider having both you and her boyfriend in her life, then maybe your friendship with her wasn't what you thought it was. No one should have to give up spending time with their good friends for a boyfriend (unless under extreme circumstances, of course). After you confronted your roommate about her boyfriend, I think it was pretty clear that things won't be the way they used to be any time soon. It's incredibly frustrating! But you know what's more frustrating? Having to come home after a long day and put up a face for a guest. I think this is a great opportunity for personal development. Learning to deal with people is a very useful skill, so you can start treating her like an actual roommate! If her boyfriend is over way too much, you have every right to kick him out whenever. And don't feel bad about it. If they're soulmates, they'll get over having to wait a little longer to see each other. There weren't any tables turned on you. It's all in your head. She's at fault and always has been. Oh and tell her to clean the living room and kitchen once in a while.

I can only apply existing memes...(sorry). "What's the number of times you've checked your email today?"

You're definition of casual dating is the same as a friend with benefits (with an unnecessary financial burden). To me, the only difference between a friend with benefits and a significant other is sacrifice. The thought of me losing my significant other hurts more than the thought of me sacrificing some of my goals.

I'm going to have to agree with Loric here. Dates are not just the beginning of a relationship. I've been in a serious relationship for many years now, and I still try to take my significant other out on dates as often as I can. The kind of person who avoids relationships tends to cut ties as soon as "casual dates" start becoming real dates. A hookup is not a date.

The first 10-11 seconds of the universe! Where did all the antimatter go???

Everyone above already gave great advice. This is certainly a grey area. I just want to point out that the person you want to talk to is actually the ORI (Office of Research Integrity) officer. If you do decide to take action, you can first speak to the ORI officer in "hypotheticals". What that means is it's completely between you and the ORI officer, and regardless of what you say (short of contemplating harming others) none of it will be reported. This is usually done when you want to find out the potential consequences of whistleblowing as well as how much evidence you need to collect to make a case. Whereas if you do decide to actually report fabricated data, the ORI officer will likely ask you to give testimony and so on. If you're bored, you can play this interactive game: http://ori.hhs.gov/thelab and play as the graduate student who's in a somewhat similar situation to yours!

I'm not surprised at all. The majority of people viewing the chemistry forum right now are not yet in grad school. The probably don't feel comfortable giving advice. @buylotusonitunes I'm not sure how much time you put into thinking about quitting grad school, but it's a serious decision that appears to make much more sense during periods of high stress. The beginning of chemistry grad school is very overwhelming because there are so many things that need to be done simultaneously. I don't know the details of your program, but soon enough you will be done with classes. When those are over, you will come home at the end of the day and actually relax, rather than continue doing homework and studying. Just make it through your classes. Aside from making sure you pass, your grades don't really matter. Talk to the appropriate departmental staff. Find the path that keeps you afloat (i.e. "at least a C- in this class, at least a B in my next two classes") As for getting into the group you want. People here might disagree with me, but I think all research is interesting (otherwise it wouldn't be done in the first place). Be proactive about finding another group. Given that the PI is a decent person, you can succeed in ANY group. All research will require you to learn new skills, so it doesn't matter what you know or didn't know before arriving to graduate school. You'll catch up soon enough. Remember that you are not stupid; somebody on the admissions committee, a faculty member, actually argued for you being admitted. Don't compare yourself to other students. Half the time I hear about how other students spend so many hours in lab including time on weekends, and in reality it turns out they're just staring at their computer screens on Facebook until their PI's walk up to them. Don't listen to the noise. And if you do, make sure it inspires you, rather than makes you feel inferior. Grad school will soon become like a job that you plan to take anyway if you quit grad school, except it's much more rewarding (not financially ). You just need to make it through the classes. If the rewards aren't worth it, that's completely fine and there's nothing wrong with that. If that's the case, consider the very good advice above (Quantum and Lynx, for example). Sometimes our brains naturally pile on all the bad things in our situations to make tough decisions easier. I just wanted to make sure you knew that there is still plenty of hope for your success in grad school and that quitting is not the only option.

+1 for the exercise advice above. Don't forget to have a healthy diet. If you can, try to avoid scenarios where you used to smoke. For example, if you would typically take 5 minute smoke breaks with friends/colleagues, it's a bad idea to just "tag along." It's better to replace that habit with what dat_nerd suggests. Also think about where you buy cigarettes. If it's from a convenience/liquor store, there's a huge visual trigger behind the counter. Again, if you can, avoid it by shopping at big supermarkets where the cigarettes are normally hidden behind customer service. Staying positive is critical, and it's what will get you through the mental blocks. Sometimes it helps to remember that choosing to not smoke even one cigarette in a situation where you typically would have, is a success. The most dangerous mentality is the one where you start thinking and accepting that you can't quit. When you start thinking like that, it becomes really easy to say "fuck it" and start again. You need to convince yourself that you don't need cigarettes and not be hard on yourself if you relapse. Good luck! DTB

"A tub and rub will change our day."

Great question! I had one GREAT letter, one good letter and one okay letter. Here's how I know. One of my PI's told me specifically what elements were in the letter and pretty much "described me as the second coming of Jesus." My PI also wanted to coordinate what I wrote in my SOP with the letter. Another PI just told me that he had plenty to say about me and didn't need any further information. I knew this letter was probably good because this PI went the extra mile by personally contacting some of my POIs. My last letter was okay because I needed a letter that attested to my academic abilities and my grade in my referee's class was not anywhere near an A. But my referee wouldn't have written it at all if it wasn't good enough. Who knows what any of them actually wrote, but that's how I got a feeling. DTB

It depends how badly you still want to go there after you receive all your acceptances. You actually CAN agree to attend another school (before the April 15th deadline), and then choose Princeton later on if you make it off the waitlist. It is highly advised to not do this, but it is possible and I personally know one person who did this.

If the applicant had stellar recommendation letters and an SOP that demonstrated an ability to write coherently and concisely, I'd accept him/her in a heartbeat. That being said, the admissions process gets it wrong sometimes, even for admits with high stats. We all have someone from our cohort in mind! DTB

Probably too late now, but isn't there an expedited service for sending GRE scores? Also, unlike the NSF, you're application immediately disappears once you submit it. So it's a really good idea to save all your entries somewhere for next year. DTB

Friendly discussion forum? Response. ------ If I may bring up a slightly different topic, I ran into this piece the other day about female aggression: link. Actual study. I only have minor anecdotal experience with this (..my girlfriend). Does this happen often in grad school as well? DTB

Why feel upset about having to defend yourself? Usually if someone claims evidence for something statistically unlikely happening, he or she will defend it all day, or at least admit when certain concerns were not accounted for. I think it's a little over-dramatic (ha! female stereotype) to think you're being singled out for "being different." Your experience is different and that's all we're interested in. DTB EDIT: ..and I of course don't mean to ignore or trivialize your perception of events (fuzzylogician is watching ).

If the adcom stops reading your app because of a low GRE score, then that's a school you shouldn't go to anyway. Don't worry so much. As long as they were submitted on time, it shouldn't matter. DTB