St Andrews Lynx

In your case: buy or find a scanner (university libraries will definitely have them). Scan important text, diagrams & images from the books you are reading, convert the uploaded files into PDFs and store them in Mendeley.

Defining "completed" in the sciences is really difficult. There is always more work you could do. You would need to have a conversation with your prospective advisor about what they expect from their Masters students (universities usually keep copies of defended theses online, so a bit of Google searching can probably turn up the pdfs from groups you are interested in). Most supervisors wouldn't like it if you dropped everything you were doing as 24 months exactly, handed in a thesis, and was never seen in the lab again...but you will be able to negotiate with the reasonable ones the exact quantities of data you will need to successfully defend.

Masters students aren't usually expected to do the same amount of research as a PhD student in the same group. What I mean is that advisors will usually give them smaller/shorter projects. A good PI will give you a project that can be completed in 2 years. I would say don't worry about not finishing it - just go for it. Even if you don't finish the project in the allotted time, a project that is working will be passed on to another student to finish off, and you'll retain authorship credit (and glowing recommendation letters from the PI to attest to the fact that you got a project off the ground). I say go for it!

In my field an accepted conference paper is withdrawn from the proceedings if the author doesn't (i) register for the conference (ii) show up to present it. There should be guidelines in the conference information/organising society website to clarify the official policy.

From what I've seen in my discipline, graduate students are usually in their 2nd year when they start generating publishable data and getting first-author publications. That's due to many things: new projects that don't get off the ground, going down dead ends with their investigations, getting used to new experimental procedures/equipment/levels of rigour. If you're new to research then I think the odds are that you are doing something(s) wrong if you can't replicate data. That's not meant as a criticism - the level of precision and attention required for some lab disciplines is really high, and I don't think undergrads coming into those labs really appreciate how much damage a single slip-up can do to their experiment. Getting experiments right takes a lot of practice of the simple stuff before moving on to the difficult projects. As long as you remain self-aware, keep on asking others for advice/assistance, keep on thinking about why things are going wrong (Are you 100% sure that you made the correct material to the required level of purity? Is it a problem with the analysis method itself? Is there a variable that you aren't accounting for that might be obvious to an experienced researcher but which you've just never considered) then results will eventually come.

I can't help but think that if advisors were paid commission for every graduate student that successfully defended their thesis, then >75% of the GradCafe Forum threads would never have existed...

Snow days. Smartphones. Coffee or tea with milk in it. Reality TV shows.

There's a reason that it is called graduate school: you are still in the process of learning how to become an independent, successful scholar. At this stage in your education you just don't have the foundation of knowledge or critical thinking skills to come up with something "revolutionary" in your chosen field. That comes later.

I'd say visit the other places you were admitted to. Another school might blow you out of the water even more than this one. Or you visit one where you kinda like the city and quite like the program and realise that's the best overall option for you.

The set-up you describe does sound moderately dodgy - in that there is an undisclosed conflict of interest. For the most part I agree that 2 people's relationship is their own private business...until it becomes everybody else's business. I disagree with other posters who think that it is possible to separate personal from professional in this case. Something like grading is very subjective and easily influenced by the instructor's (conscious & unconscious) biases towards the students. It would be incredibly surprised if there wasn't unfair grading going on. To answer some of the OPs other original questions. Dating between grad students and undergrads isn't that common - in most American universities there doesn't seem to be much social interaction between grads & undergrads, and there is often a big difference in maturity/life goals between the two groups. The most common reason behind such a pairing is that they started dating when they were both undergrads, then the older one graduated.

When you get to 25+ your metabolism starts to slow down, which means that you would probably gain some weight even if you weren't in a high-stress place grad school. I've not weighed myself since I started, though I suspect I'm losing weight because I skip meals or eat less when I'm stressed. (And also because my caffeine intake has skyrocketed!) As long as I don't have to buy new clothes, I'm fine.

Plan yourself a really nice, relaxing holiday immediately following your graduation date. Then get back to the computer and force that damn thesis out of you. I think the appropriate phrase in your case is: "If you're going through Hell...keep going." The sooner you write and defend your thesis, the sooner you can leave this crappy Department and campus behind. After you defend your thesis you don't need to waste a minute of time thinking about that awful topic ever again...but that is only after you defend. Remember that the thesis doesn't have to be perfect: type a load of gibberish just to get the words onto the paper, then edit it into a passable form. Tell your advisor that you will have a draft of your thesis ready for inspection by Date X, and need it reviewed by Date Y. Then honour that deadline you set yourself and use it to get the draft done.

At every school there are always going to be professors with icy relations between each other. That's a product of tenure & academic life (big egos, patchy social skills, stuck in the same place together for 20-40 years). I'm sure that's true at MIT, and true anywhere else you're applying. It doesn't have to be a major problem if it's the case. Just make sure that the conflicting professors are never on your thesis committee together, and don't ever get caught in the cross-fire or dragged in.

I bet that some PIs think that kind of talk is "motivational" for the students. There is a difference between a PI venting their own anger - staying stuff they don't completely believe - and a PI who really wants you out of their lab. In the latter I would take the hint and exit, because it isn't going to be good for either of us if I stay.

Start with observing your coworkers. What is it about their communication style that makes it seem "mature"? I suspect their language is more direct, with fewer filler words ("like", "I mean"). If you talk anything like you write, I suspect you talk very fast and run all your sentences together! Don't be afraid to take a deep breath before you speak and slow...everything...down. If you pause before you speak, you give yourself time to map out what you're going to say in your head and it will come out in a more organised fashion. Instead of filling with "like", "I mean" or "y'know", pause for a microsecond. Once you've found the next word/sentence talk again. People aren't going to notice the gaps, and what you say will sound a lot more deliberate, clear and "mature".

Making in-person connections with POIs/Departments is really important. Visit before you apply, introduce yourself to POIs at conferences. You'd be surprised at the difference it can make to your application success. Industrial research experience really impressed some of the POIs I spoke to: if you can get a summer internship at a big pharma company or the like then I would say to go for it.

Edinburgh is awesome. Beautiful city, and really good in the informatics/linguistics/psychology field. You should totally apply to do your PhD there! The way that higher education is structured in the UK is that most students will do their undergrad degree, then a Masters...then apply for a PhD. It isn't like in the USA where the Masters is usually a part of the PhD program. (In my case, my Masters was actually part of my undergraduate degree!) That means that most British students do move between the MSc and the PhD. There will always be some students who stay put, but I think it usually looks slightly better on your CV if you move somewhere else (for the same reasons as in the USA).

It's also a useful way of making connections & friendships with other lab groups. Who knows when you will need to go down the corridor to borrow a chemical or use a specialist piece of equipment? If you impress the other faculty during your 2nd and 3rd rotations it will be very easy for you to choose your committee members later.

It depends on the Department - some are strict about doing the proscribed 2-3 different rotations, others aren't. There is often the opportunity to begin a rotation in the summer with your top choice lab. I'd say go in with an open mind and do a 2nd rotation. Most 1st year grad students in my cohort shuffled their advisor preference list within the first week, even. New information will emerge once the current grad students really start talking to you. Grant applications fall through. You don't want to be in the position where your top choice lab rejects you due to incompatibility/lack of funding and not having a back-up.

...Sounds perfectly legal. I know that this happened in another research group where the PI suddenly lost a chunk of funding and had to push out a number of their grad students with a Masters because they could no longer all be supported. It isn't nice, but it still happens. What also tends to happen when a research group gets to a certain linguistic concentration is that domestic native English-speaking students are put off joining the group because they don't think they will fit in. Meanwhile the international applicants who speak that language aren't deterred in the slightest. Then it becomes more about the applicants self-selecting than the PI's bias. Having seen that International students are more often disfavoured by American Professors than favoured (both when applying to join the group and once they're inside), I can understand the psychology behind choosing a research group where you are the ethnic majority. Regarding start-ups. My understanding is that this is fairly normal in Chemistry (and bio/medical disciplines). I can think of a number of big name Professors who founded companies to commercialise their research - or else are involved in lucrative consultancy gigs. Other academics supplement their income by patenting off their inventions.

At our university, all international TAs must take an EFL test. If you meet the basic standards of English proficiency - then you're allowed to teach. If you don't meet the English language requirements you will keep the TAship but instead do grading in your first semester rather than teaching, and take an English language class through the university to get up to the necessary standard. Then after the first semester you are assessed again. Something similar might happen at your school. There will probably be a lot of Chinese and International TA/grad students in the same position as you when you arrive. It is a steep learning curve for the people I've seen - but none of them have ever been disciplined for their language skills. Most grad schools don't expect their TAs to be brilliant teachers from the day they arrive: as long as you can deliver the material, turn up on time and follow the rules laid out for you, then you'll be fine. Don't worry about being "interesting" or having a native-level fluency - those things come later. The best way to prepare for speaking English in front of others...is by speaking lots of English. Look for conversation groups, language exchange partners or tutors in China before you start your program.

I've seen it happen to others - it isn't uncommon for PIs to switch countries, after all. The fact that your boyfriend has less than a month before the move is really rough (most PIs know ~8-12 months in advance that they will be moving institution - I can only assume the PI hid this information from their students). In the scenario I witnessed, a student was able to transfer to another group in the same Department. No issues. They started work immediately on their new project and I don't think they were set back too much. There are also scenarios where the PI keeps the lab at their old institution running in the short-term as they switch - that might allow your boyfriend more time to wind up their current project before switching lab group. But no, it isn't the end of the world. As you've said, it sounds like in the long run this will work out favourably for your boyfriend. In your place I would tell the poor lad to take a few day's complete break from the lab, just to sort themselves out. Go along with him to any DGS meetings and be with him if he makes any important phone calls/emails. Focus on strategies and plans of action, rather than platitudes. Hopefully he'll recover from the shock soon.

TAing in the UK is a different set-up from the USA. Firstly there aren't such things as "TAships", really. You will typically do a few semesters of "demonstrating" in the undergraduate lab (rarely your first semester of the PhD) and get paid an hourly rate for it, but most of the income you get will be directly from your funding/fellowship source. Or else you will be in charge of a recitation, but I think that only the senior PhD students usually do that. UK demonstrators have it easy compared to American TAs! The hours are a lot less, it isn't even every semester, your level of responsibility is slightly lower. As a TA in the States I have to introduce the lab session, administer quizzes, prepare unknown samples for each session - and I'm usually the most senior individual in the room, there's no one to get advice from - hold office hours, proctor & grade several exams, then grade...etc. In the UK there is usually a faculty member who is in the lab supervising the lab session and you are assigned to grade the papers and help out a smaller section of the main group. Congratulations on you admittance to Imperial! I was there as a visiting Chemistry student - feel free to send me a message if you have any specific questions about the Chemistry Dept, Imperial College or life in London.

I'd start with a more local USA-based trip before heading abroad. If you can prove to your parents (and yourself!) that you can manage a solo 1-week roadtrip to the beach then they will be more approving of any foreign trip abroad. I've travelled alone a lot, and I think it's fantastic. If you decide you want to go to the museum and eat lunch at a famous ice cream shop then you don't have to argue about your preference with your travelling companion who wanted to go on the segway tour instead. Hostels are cheap and pretty fun places, if you are intimidated by the thought of striking up conversations with strangers then they organise food/movie nights, city tours and other activities to help introduce you to the other travellers.