shadowclaw

Hey, don't forget that spring break varies by school. My masters school and my undergrad school have breaks on different weeks, and I imagine schools on quarter systems have different breaks, too. I actually got my acceptance to my masters program on the first day of my spring break, which was pretty cool. I'm hoping for a repeat of that event with a PhD program.

I agree with agrizz. You want to get to know your potential research mentors as soon as possible so you can explore all of the options open to you, as well as make sure all the good projects aren't taken I emailed my thesis advisor during the application process and continued to communicate with him over the summer. Depending on your topic and the structure of your program, this will allow to get started as soon as the first semester starts (or sooner), or at least get you on track to start reviewing relevant literature.

First thing: anyone who will exclude you because of your religion or clothing is not someone you want to be around anyway. If you encounter any of these people, pity them for their ignorance and narrow mindedness. Now that we have that out of the way, I wouldn't worry about feeling excluded from your cohort because you don't drink or party. If you have a very young cohort (lots of students around 22 or 23), it's possible many of them will want go to bars and parties. Not everyone lives that lifestyle, though. Besides, as people reach their mid and late twenties, they tend to realise that there are better ways to spend their time than getting blasted. Plus alcohol metabolism tends to slow down in your late twenties, causing horrible hangovers that no one wants to deal with. So don't expect that all your cohort will want to do is drink and go on dates. In my own program, we like going out to eat as a big group every month, and we tend to hang out in smaller groups the rest of the time. We might go hiking, to the coffee shop, out for lunch, to the movies. Sometimes we just sit and study together. We do have a few students who enjoy drinking, but they do that on their own time. They don't ever suggest that we all hit the bar. Don't forget that besides doing activities outside of school with your fellow grad students, you may find opportunities on campus to spend time with them. You can go see a guest speaker or a seminar, attend a workshop, go to social activities that different clubs and organizations put together. All you have to do is stop someone in the hall or pop into their office (if you have grad student offices) and ask if they'd like to go.

In my head, I have it reasoned l reasoned out that I have a decent chance of receiving it. We have 2000 fellowships and 14,000 applicants. So by pure chance alone, I have roughly a 1 in 7 shot at it. So several applicants likely didn't follow correct formatting, submitted two minutes too late, didn't get all of their LORs in, or otherwise did something to disqualify them. That probably brings the odds down to 1 in 6. Of those that did everything right, some people had to have written lousy proposals, not had any outreach experiences, had crappy GPAs, etc. I figure that brings the odds down to 1 in 4, assuming I didn't write anything stupid. It's better odd than playing the lottery!

"Good SOP and the research fit is perfect. These LORs are absolutely fantastic. Look at all these awards and field experiences listed on her CV. That quantitative score could be higher, but the verbal and AW scores are good. Overall, she looks like a pretty amazing applicant. Now where are those transcripts..." * reads a masters transcript * "Very nice. Did a good thesis, maintained excellent grades, and served as a grad assistant. This applicant keeps getting better!" * reads through four undergrad transcripts with wildly different majors and some epically terrible semesters in the early years. Gently places the transcripts back into the file, then gets out a lighter * "Kill it... Kill it with fire..."

Thank you for the info on peppers! I had heard that milk neutralizes hot peppers before, but I didn't know about the sugar. That would have been nice to know about 11 years ago. I went to my first non-buffet Chinese restaurant and ordered General Tso's. Buffets never leave peppers in it when they serve it (or perhaps they don't even use them). So when I encountered a mysterious shriveled dark vegetable in my chicken, I had no clue what it was. I also ate the whole thing (by itself), and for about 2 seconds, it just tasted bitter. Then my lips, mouth, and throat caught on fire and I basically experienced what you did, jujubea. The only drinks at the restaurant were soda and water, so I drank about 4 cans of coke in an attempt to cool myself. It didn't work and the restaurant staff just laughed at me. I never ate General Tso's again.

The rejections I have so far I'm not too bummed out about... they were actually at the bottom of my list and didn't have as good a fit as the other programs. So I'm not sure I have anything in particular to say. My undergrad advisor, on the other hand, has lots of words for them. Colorful words. Colorful words used as adjectives, verbs, and nouns in the same sentence. I'm very likely going to be rejected by 2 of my top 3 programs (including my number 1 choice). To them, I say that they should have at least interviewed me. Then they would have found out how flipping brilliant I am

TakeruK, when I tried using the crock pot I didn't heat the peppers first, but I did fry the paste and coconut cream on the stove first. I do the same when cooking everything on the stove top. I'll try frying some peppers with it next time!

If the Asian grocery store turns out to be good, I can probably start making my own curry paste. My paste recipes call for Kaffir limes (and some other recipes call for the leaves), which I definitely can't find at the regular grocery store. I'm sure homemade paste will end up being quite spicy... the recipe I have for red curry paste calls for 12 bird's eye chilies and 7 of another chili.

I can't say that I am very close with my masters cohort. There were 5 of us at the beginning, and two dropped out before our first year was done for various reasons. Of the other two left, one does research that bores me to tears and she constantly talks about it. She's really nice and I like hanging out with her now and then, but I wouldn't say that we're really good friends. The other is much more aligned with my own research interests, but he's kind of annoying and tells lots of stories that you know are really exaggerated, if not complete b.s. I am pretty good friends with someone from this year's cohort (which is made up of 7 students), and I kind of wish she had been around last year. I'm also friends with an undergrad who has been accepted to the masters program, and I'm really bummed that I won't be around to see in person how his masters research goes. It's probably not a surprise that both of these people are in the lab of a professor I really like and have worked with, and are also doing research that really interests me. I've spent more time with them than any of the other grad students due to research, so we really had the opportunity to get to know each other well. So I don't think your cohort is really that important. Sure, you'll see them in classes and seminars, but you probably don't have to interact with them all that much. What's more important is that you get along with people you definitely will be working with on a regular basis, which can easily be people outside of your cohort.

purple rain

Thanks for all of the advice! I know there are some small Asian grocery stores around here, so I suppose I'll have to find them and check them out! I think I used jalapenos. They look like jalapenos, but I think the sign at the grocery store just said "chili pepper" or perhaps even "hot pepper." I cut them with my bare hands and several hours and many hand washings later, it still burns if I touch my fingers to my lips. However, my green curry had only a hint of heat to it, and that's probably because I am very sensitive to spicy flavors (mild wings generally have a good kick for me). I'll have to hunt down that bird's eye chili... it looks like it will definitely turn up the heat! I will stay away from the suggestion of eating them on the side, though After trying it with different peppers, if I'm still not satisfied, I'll try simmering it longer. However, I'm surprised the jalapenos didn't make my crock pot curry very spicy. It simmered for about 3 hours and I think it was less spicy than when I made it on the stove! Don't ask me why I am seeking spicy curry when I can feel the heat from mild wings. I first tried Thai food back in September at an excellent Thai and sushi place that a professor took us to after a day of field work. I got a spicy mango and shrimp dish that was absolutely divine, and after that, I haven't been able to eat Chinese food... I want it to be more spicy and flavorful! Unfortunately, while there is a glut of Chinese places and several sushi and hibachi joints, Thai is in short supply. The closest Thai restaurant is really just a hibachi and sushi place that offers a couple Thai dishes. So I tried the red curry, and while my mouth was on fire, it was just so delicious! Since the restaurant is overpriced and really not close enough to really do takeout, that's why I've embarked on a quest for curry and other homemade Thai delights.

I'm married to someone who didn't go to college at all. He joined the marines right out of high school, and I met him shortly after he finished. He does take somewhat of an interest in what I do. He asks me about what I'm doing in class, and when I was collecting data for my thesis, he regularly asked about what field sites I visited and what birds I saw. Generally speaking, though, if I go into much detail his eyes start to glaze over. He's really not into biology. We talk about his job, too, which honestly isn't too exciting to me. He does tell me some funny stories, though. The bottom line is that we do talk about each other's work, though not in too much detail. I don't see any reason that graduate students should only date other graduate students (or even anyone involved in academia). I do agree, though, once you establish that you want to talk about your work, he should be willing to talk to you about it. If not, well I don't know then. It's up to you to decide.

I was wondering if anyone here has experience cooking Thai food. I really enjoy Thai and Japanese food, so I got a few cookbooks and have been trying some recipes. Specifically, I have been trying to make a good curry. I'm not up to making my own curry paste yet, so I bought the only brand available at my local grocery stores (Wegmans, Weis, Giant), which is Thai Kitchen. I've tried red and green, but the pastes themselves are not spicy at all. My final curries haven't been spicy, either. I'm trying to decide if it's the paste or if the hot peppers I added aren't spicy enough. Anyone have any thoughts? Should I just order some better paste online?

Congrats Rivers and sfrie!

I have a friend in my department who is doing some neuroscience work for her masters, and she takes a lot of images of brain slices. So she has all these images to analyze, and naturally it takes a while. Pretty much every week she tells me about how she spends x amount of hours in the lab and has all of this work and can barely find time to eat, sleep, or have fun. She then finishes with something along the lines of "you're so lucky you didn't have to collect this much data and that your analysis is so easy." Sometimes I just want to go on a huge rant about how I got up at 4 am everyday over the summer, walked a few miles to collect my bird data, then went to work from 11 to 7 five days a week (and often got called in on my days off), went home, ate dinner, and then went to bed. I put in my time to collect my data and suffered just the same, I just did it in the summer.

I second using kayak to search for cheap flights. The website also keeps track of flight prices and patterns, so they can try to predict if prices are going to rise or drop and offers recommendations on whether to buy now or wait. Using Trip Advisor is a good way to get reviews for cheap hotels to see if they're worth staying at or if you should run away. It's also a good way to find little places with a limited web presence. I also recommend cooking while on trips if you can. It might not matter for a short trip, but longer trips will much cheaper if you don't eat out all the time. Even if you're just eating sandwiches like TakeruK suggested, you will really save money. Also look into public transportation as opposed to taxis or rental cars. I spent time in Belize and saved lots of money taking the bus to get between towns and to different tourist spots. Instead of spending $60 on a cab to get where I needed to go, I spent $5 on a bus ride.

Well, my application season may not be going that well, but at least my summer job search is bearing fruit. I got phone interviews for 3 of the 4 bird jobs I applied to, and I already have a job offer. Which I plan to take. It's a cool project associated with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, which I think will look super awesome on future grad school applications if this year doesn't work out. So at least I'm employable I guess this is the month I'll find out about my future. I hope I start hearing from my remaining programs either way.

I'm so glad that it's March. Acceptances for most of my programs should go out this month, though I think rejections will probably be held off until April. I really wish I knew where I stood with these programs. The silence is killing me!

You're forgetting that those averages salaries are for experienced graduates, not those fresh out of school. A CS major isn't going to make $93k fresh out of undergrad. According to Payscale.com, the average starting salary with a BS is $57k to 61k (depending on experience through internships). It takes 10+ years to reach that 93k figure. Someone with an MS starts anywhere from $68 to $79k, which I feel is a substantial difference. http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Degree=Bachelor_of_Science_(BS_%2F_BS),_Computer_Science_(CS)/Salary#by_Years_Experience http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Degree=Master_of_Science_(MS),_Computer_Science_(CS)/Salary#by_Years_Experience The opportunity cost is a reasonable point. Spending 2 years on a masters could be 2 less years of work. However, you'd be a fool if you weren't doing internships while working on your degree (for a CS major), and an internship at the graduate level can be quite lucrative. You're also not considering people in funded programs and those who are pursuing a masters while working. The latter will have zero opportunity cost, and perhaps will have tuition covered by their employer. For me personally, I don't think about the opportunity cost at all. I don't view delaying my entry into the workforce as losing/spending money.

Recycled newspaper

I changed my major 13 times, although from my transcripts, it only looks like 5 or 6 times (some changes were to similar majors). Which is part of the reason I'm having some difficulty getting into a PhD program. It didn't impact my desire to go to grad school. I always knew I at least wanted to get a masters so I could do some substantial research in whatever field I was in at the time. There was a time when I thought about getting a masters in education while a computer science major because I was considering becoming a high school teacher. That didn't last long, though.

That's an interesting look at average salaries. However, I think they are overlooking exactly what it means to be experienced. I know someone in computer science. Straight out of undergrad, he could have taken a job that paid $40k and maybe after 5 years, he could have been making $60k if he played his cards right. He's about to get his PhD and has job offers for over $100k. That's quite a difference. Sure, I guess eventually the two salaries will be closer together with experience, but that could take a long time. Even just a few years with a disparity of $40k will make a huge difference. Plus, like the above poster mentioned, a $10-15k difference can be huge. For example, my brother makes somewhere in the 40's and his wife worked at a department store making around 20k. She hurt her back and stopped working. They couldn't make it on his salary alone, so he started working a second job part-time making maybe $10k. That made a huge difference. I also agree that money isn't everything. Some things require a higher degree even if they don't pay that well, but if it makes you happy and you can still eat and have a roof over your head, you should go for it. Also, communications is a crummy field to pursue IMO, undergraduate or otherwise. When I was a freshman, half of the incoming students majored in communications. There just aren't enough jobs for all of those majors. One of my brothers got a degree in communications from a very prestigious school (and did well), and his job has nothing to do with his major, plus the pay isn't very good. He even had to work in fast food management for several years before finding it. Meanwhile, my brother who majored in accounting at a state school and then got his MBA on his employer's dime makes over $250k as a pharmaceutical sales rep.

I am really intrigued by the different responses to this topic. This is how I interpret the OP's interactions with the student: the student is in his class, has probably chatted with him during office hours, and they exchanged phone numbers. Friendly texting ensued, and at some point the student suggested the possibility of relationship after the class was over, to which the OP said, "we'll play it by ear." The only thing I think the OP did incorrectly was say that they'd play it by ear. It isn't a horrible response and certainly doesn't commit to anything, but it does send the message to the student that you are interested in her romantically. A better response would have been that you couldn't discuss that at all until the semester is over. It's not clear if the OP and the student ever got together outside of school for any kind of social activity. I think that would make things murky. However, having conversations at lunch, in the office, etc. is certainly acceptable. I've spent many hours in the offices of my professors (of both sexes) talking about a wide range of things, from coursework to current events to movies, and so have many other students. I've also had professors who invited groups of students to their homes for dinner. So socializing in itself is not a bad thing. As for trading phone numbers, that's also something that I don't think is wrong. I have the phone numbers of several professors for a variety of reasons. Some gave out their numbers to everyone in class so they could easily be reached. Others gave them out only to advisees or students on field trips or research trips. Some who do tutoring give them to students so they can call if they really need help with something outside of regular hours (I did this as a peer tutor during undergrad). I think professors occasionally regret this... on one weekend field trip for a course, a bunch of us went to dinner and then to a bar, and several of the guys decided it would be fun to text weird pictures and memes to our professor. So yeah, having friendly text conversations isn't bad, but only texting this one particular student would certainly look a bit fishy if someone decided to investigate. However, having the same conversations with a male student probably wouldn't set off any alarms (excluding the bit about a future relationship, of course). So I really don't think the OP has seriously crossed any lines. Again, the play it by ear comment puts you in some murky territory, but the mere fact that you are interested in this student doesn't violate any ethics (as long as you aren't letting that interest dictate how you treat her in class), nor does having deep conversations with her. However, backing off may indeed be a good idea to help keep you objective as well as help keep her focused on the class.