St Andrews Lynx

The great thing about living in the UK as a student is the existence of charity shops (thrift shops) in every town. Especially in university towns like Durham: it may take some searching but you can find a lot of good-quality clothing at ridiculously cheap prices. They are also the best places to buy kitchenware, etc. Pack light, buy all the clothes you need when you get there.

There isn't anything like the April 15th tax year deadline in the UK system. In the case of PhDs it is the supervisor who agrees/disagrees to take you on, their grant money comes in from various sources and places are just filled up as and when (it is not completely unheard of to get offered a place in the summer for a fall start, a friend of mine was offered a position in November after the new student dropped out). It's all pretty flexible. I think if you tell the universities that you are waiting for other decisions before you respond, then they would understand.

Personally, I come from a family where (i) both my parents were educated to a PhD level (ii) they didn't even meet in grad school, but a number of years later. Me and my brother came a good few years after that, too. My mother would have been in her mid 30s when she had her first child (me). So...from my perspective it is slightly weird to hear somebody aged 22 freaking about the condition of her eggs. Or putting the idea of a family before education. Your upbringing and life perspective is clearly different. That's fine. Just accept that everyone has their own views. I am also deeply cynical of the (commonly-held) belief that giving birth is somehow the be-all and end-all of a woman's existence, and that a woman who decides to find happiness & purpose in her life without raising children is somehow "defective", "selfish" or a pitiable failure. The problem is that woman seem to believe this all-or-nothing binary, too...

I submitted my preference form for joining a lab group right before Thanksgiving. I was stressing and dithering about that for a while, until I made a choice I'm happy with. Now it's just a case of waiting to hear if I've been accepted or not. I might officially hear back before Christmas...anecdotal evidence suggests that is what commonly happens. Adding in my last 2 exams and the TA evaluation forms that are starting to trickle in...it *is* going to be a slog to get to the end of term. But at least it appears I'll get there alive. My best advice for avoiding distractions is to take your work to the library or coffeeshop. Most of the time I treat my apartment as my "unwind, chillout and potter about" space, which makes it hard to do serious work there. I also change locations when my attention starts to flag, that keeps me focussed for more of the day.

It depends on what program you get your degree from, surely. I hear that its English & Philosophy Departments are well-respected in the USA. People I've talked to in Europe (i) recognise the name (ii) have said "That's a good school".

Sure. But then again, I want to work hard to impress the people I meet in grad school anyway, because I'm also a brand-new 1st year grad student. It is hard for me to differentiate between "These people surely think I'm an idiot" (gender discrimination) and "These people surely think I'm an idiot" (impostor syndrome).

If the program interviews PhD applicants, they will probably/certainly ask you to converse in the languages that you have specified knowing. "Misrepresenting" your foreign language abilities is going to backfire horrendously.

I'm not convinced that it is a good idea to enroll in that university for one semester just to drop out, especially if you have to pay tuition for the dubious privilege of doing so. It sounds like the only reason you're planning to enroll is so that you can come to the USA to find another job/educational opportunity elswhere. At best that comes across as unethical, at worst it sounds like a visa nightmare waiting to happen! What will happen if you come to the USA on an F1 visa to attend one university, but then drop out of that school and re-apply to another? You'll almost certainly need to apply for a 2nd F1 visa...but I'd be surprised if the consequences of dropping out of one university didn't affect your chances of getting a new F1 visa. Telling faculty what you're doing sounds like a terrible idea. Their immediate reaction will probably be: if this international student does this to University X...what is to stop them doing the same thing to us? They want to accept grad students who will finish their doctoral program, not ones who abuse their student visa privileges. In a similar vein, although it sounds easy to "(Temporarily) Go to the USA, apply for jobs there, get employment": again it might be more difficult than you realise. Again, you'll have to switch visas. The main condition of F1/J1 type visas is that you are expected to head back to your home country after they finish. Employers might also be reluctant to take you on if they catch wind of why you are currently in the States (using an F1 visa & university admission offer to fish for work). If you want to come to the USA to meet potential faculty, I think a tourist visa would be a preferable option on so many levels.

You can also try emailing the Dept's graduate program co-ordinator. Say that you're interested in applying to their Department and would like to visit on X date, then tell them your research area of interest and the PIs you are interested in meeting. The co-ordinator will then schedule a day/half-day visit on your behalf which will probably include a lab tour, meeting with current students and talking to several PIs. They'll probably buy you lunch too! I found that I had a lot more success arranging appointments via the course admin than through the professors themselves.

18 is a lot of schools to apply to, even as an international applicant. There's a risk that you will come across as unfocussed if you apply to too many schools (how well do all of those grad schools fit with your research interests). Although actually a bigger risk is that 18 applications are harder to keep track of, so the odds of your letter writers forgetting to upload a LOR to one school or having a 'Please Upload LOR' email getting lost in their inbox gets larger. That said, if you're only applying to grad schools that use an online application program then the time it will take a professor to click on the email & upload their LORs is not greatly larger for 18 applications than it is for 10. Make life easy for your letter writers and send them a list of (i) the schools you are applying to (ii) each individual deadline for the letters (iii) special procedures for letter submission (e.g., all done online, mailed separately) (iv) the date their details were entered into the online applications and emailed the 'Please Upload LOR' message, so they don't have to trawl through their inboxes searching for the it. That should ease the sting a bit...

This TED talk made me think of this thread, albeit indirectly. Amy Cuddy talks about participation in the MBA and grad school classes she's taught, and the ways that body language, attitude & self-perception play a role in who volunteers to speak up. http://www.ted.com/talks/amy_cuddy_your_body_language_shapes_who_you_are.html This is why I personally think it *is* important to ask questions in seminars & discussions...

Do you have research experience in biochem/biomed? If the answer is Yes (even if it was a summer research project)...what did you enjoy about it? What did you learn from it? What awesome skills did you gain in the process? If the answer is No...I'd strongly recommend getting some before you commit yourself to a research-based degree. For all you know, you might hate it. Or you'll find that Biochem is a lot more exciting than Biomedical research (or vice versa). For me, research experience was what gave my SOP and whole grad school application its focus: I'd worked in 2 pharma companies, I knew I wanted to return to pharma after I'd completed my PhD, I'd worked in an academic lab, so I knew I could manage to work in an academic research environment. I'm not totally convinced that a PhD is about "education" - the classes, exams and coursework will only last for 2 years out of the 5-6 year program - it is more about training yourself to become an independent, skilled researcher. As a final note. Although pharma jobs are usually well-paying...they aren't the most secure jobs. When a pharma company makes a loss (perhaps a patent expires, or a blockbuster drug performs poorly in a late-stage clinical trial, or another company comes out with a better drug) or just wants to save itself some money and relocate state/country, the R&D jobs are usually the first to go.

A class finishing at 9pm isn't that late, at my V. Large State School we have classes that run until 11pm (I've had to proctor some late night exams, but fortunately not yet have had teach that shift). Nor is 10am especially early - for a 9-5 job most of us would have to get up at 7am. In that light, I don't think you'd come across in a positive way for complaining about those hours to the TA co-ordinator. After all, every TA would prefer not to teach a night class... This might be the point in time to start shifting your sleep schedule back an hour. Bananas, green tea, seeds and fruit smoothies (that contain bananas) are all great for keeping my energy levels up in the evenings.

I got a 36th percentile on the Chemistry GRE. As an international applicant I think it hurt my applications at the super-competitive Ivies. But I also got admitted to several good programs a little lower down the ranking, because otherwise my application was a strong one. When it came to the diagnostic placement exams I did better than average. So, a low Chem GRE isn't the end of the world.

I wouldn't attempt to email anybody - it'll probably only draw attention to the fact. If they like you as a candidate the AdCom will most likely gloss over the typos (if they notice them at all). If they don't like you as a candidate then it will be for reasons other than 2 minor grammar errors. Basically, it is unlikely to break your application.

It's simple, really. * Delete your dating sites. * Look around and realise that possession of a boyfriend isn't the be-all-and-end-all of your existence. * Invite your friends to do stuff with you - go to nice restaurants, visit a nearby city, bake cakes. Whatever is fun, makes you laugh and makes you feel grateful for having such awesome friends. * If you don't have friends to do stuff with you...ask some cool-looking people you know to do the same stuff. * Instead of spending your time browsing online dating profiles or going on dates: take up a new hobby or sport. Join something social, like a book club or soccer team. Be willing to try new things & step out of your comfort zone. * Learn to enjoy your alone-time. Hot baths, cooking yourself a nice meal, watching your favourite movies. * Work on whatever insecurities you have. If you are terrified of public speaking, join a toastmasters society. If you think you are shy, learn a martial art or something badass to boost your confidence. * Turn yourself into the kind of well-rounded, likeable person that blokes would rush to date. Your comments about the "plight" of being single and fears of turning into an old, infertile maid once you hit 24 suggest a certain lack of emotional maturity. The kind of blokes looking for a long-term, serious relationship are the ones who value maturity in their prospective partners. For reference I am single, female, aged 24, in grad school. I'm ambivalent about marriage and children (sure, if I find the right guy...but if I don't then that's fine too). The notion that I might be worried about "getting lonely" is mystifying - I've got enough friends that I see on a regular basis, if I want more company then I'll just take up a new hobby. Grad school is stressful enough as it is without this whole "I've got to find a husband in x years" charade.

That could be something for one of your letter writers to mention in their reference ("Eruthos got a _ grade, scoring _th out of _ candidates in their final exam", etc). Also check if the institutions you are applying to have any requirements. Most applications want your official university transcripts, some ask for official grade conversions - though I can imagine that large international American universities might already have a Dutch degree conversation guide "on file".

I came over from the UK to the East Coast of the States. This was after having doing a 12 month internship in the same region, I decided to go for the full PhD relocation. The internship year was great, and I'm settling in to the PhD program without any major difficulties. However... You really can't "flit" between the UK and USA while you are in grad school. Trans-Atlantic flights are expensive on the average grad student stipend. Americans take a lot fewer holidays per year than Brits do: taking more than 14 days' holiday per year in the States is considered grossly excessive, especially for a grad student. Coursework, revision & teaching expand into your weeks and evenings - by comparison I think a British PhD or Masters student won't have as large a workload - so you are unlikely to be able to take breaks during semester time, especially not in your early years of grad school. Nor would I want to actually, I'd like to use my free time for something a bit more relaxing than navigating Airport Security. Realistically, you'll have the opportunity to go home for a week or so twice per year. You would need to be fully committed to the USA for the duration of your graduate studies - else I can't imagine how you'd be happy and productive. That said...Skype is awesome. I write letters to my grandparents regularly. My family are quite independent and each generation migrates around the place - so living in the USA isn't something I find especially difficult, even though I imagined it would be as I was growing up then applying for internships. My mother enjoys the excuse to have a holiday wherever in the world I am.

I know plenty of advisors who are rumoured to be exactly like that in my field. The amount of hours you are expected to work often varies with the institution: at the most elite schools, everybody else will be putting in 16 hrs per day, so one needs to do the same just to fit in. Unfortunately, the PI really does own you - fighting back usually means that you end up getting replaced with someone else. I would say that you have every right to start looking for a new, less demanding advisor.

Perhaps go out into industry and work for a couple of years before returning to do a PhD? That way you can i. Save some money, learn (new) professional skills, gain practical experience ii. Get a better idea what it is you want out of life. If the thought of a low income for the rest of your life makes you "somewhat depressed"...perhaps the inconvenient truth is that you should pursue a well-paying non-academic career instead. I can relate to what you're describing. Most of my friends decided to go into degree-level jobs after they graduated, I did a couple of research internships and applied to PhD programs. I was (and still am) envious of their financial stability. However, a large salary doesn't always bring happiness & fulfilment. I know several of my friends are struggling through their work training programs, not 100% satisfied with the jobs or questioning if they really chose the right career. The most miserably unhappy person I know of is working in finance. What I love about academia is that fact that I can use my brainpower on a daily basis to learn lots of new things and solve a variety of problems - to me that will always trump a well-paid but mindless job.

Professors don't actually know everything. A revelation which may come as a surprise (especially to the professors!). They do not necessarily know the intricacies of league tables: the reason they may recommend a particular department is because they have friends doing research there, or they visited the dept for a conference. Conversely somebody they hate is head of department at University X, or they just have less information about University Y compared to University Z so say that's Y is a worse school. Their view of a school might be several years/decades out of date. You really don't know. As Eigen said, all you need to be concerned about in the beginning is if these schools on your list have 2-3 faculty you could see yourself working for. I applied to a total of 6 grad schools, but I'm an international so the odds of me getting accepted to a US school was slightly lower. I can tell you: applying to 6 grad schools is time-consuming. It is expensive (you pay some ridiculous sum for every extra GRE score you send out above the "free" limit). The risk of missing something out of one of your applications increases (a LoR or transcript overlooked, too many online application forms to fill out, leaving the name of University Y in your SOP to University W). Most chemists I saw on the forum last year applied to a maximum of 6 or 7 universities. Plenty more applied to fewer.

"Bonking" means something so completely different in British English! Give yourself a break to recharge your mental batteries.