rising_star

It depends on the journal and what the specific revisions are. You have to decide whether the revisions will improve the paper or if they'll take it in a direction you don't want to go in. If the former, then you should take the time to do them by whatever deadline the journal has set and then resubmit to the same journal. If the latter, you may want to withdraw your paper and submit it elsewhere. In general, you want to publish in the most prestigious journal you can.

Just chiming in to say that I always told people where I decided to go instead, if I'd already decided. For the schools I declined in like early March when I had decided against them but hadn't yet decided where I'd go, I used "elsewhere" (as TakeruK suggested) in my emails. Once I did decide, I told people where I was going. I did this in part because my decision came down to two programs that know one another very well (PhD grads of one are on the faculty of the other, the dept chair of one was the previous dept chair at the other), so I knew I'd see those people again. My field isn't huge, neither is my subfield, so I knew people would find out at the next conference where I'd decided to go. Given that, I figured I'd just be honest.

Personally, I would always include references. If you don't do so, then you're plagiarizing, which you definitely don't want to do. If you can't ask someone for their application, perhaps you can call or email the folks running the grant and ask them if the references are included in the 750 words or not. Given your space constraints, I would make sure you clearly present your over-arching research question, and then focus specifically on what research this $5K grant would fund. I've dealt with similar issues in the past and that's what I did (plus limiting my use of references as much as possible to save words/space). Good luck!

This is funny, if only because I'm going to a conference next month that I paid $350 to register for. I think I get two lunches for that, but nothing else. I'm mostly going because it's a new conference in a relatively new field and I'm excited to meet others in it.

Yes, you apply through the school. You should be able to apply as a prospective student, with funding pending your admission to a specific department. Not all of the schools you applied to have FLAS Fellowships though, and not for all languages either.

Well, depends on what kind of participants you need and what you put in your Human Subjects Board/Program application. You could do things like post the link on appropriate websites, share it on Facebook or via email lists, etc. But that depends on who you want to participate. Doing it online and in English will necessarily limit your pool of potential participants.

I wouldn't send that email. If you were clear about your research interests, then the adcom will know that you're willing to work with any profs who share those interests. Sending an email to the Program Director to say that will make it seem like either your SOP was incomplete or you're trying to game the system to get in. Sit back, relax, and just wait to hear from them.

One B is not a big deal. I wouldn't even spend time addressing it in your SOP. Just do the best you can. One B instead of an A- isn't going to be what keeps you out of a Tier 1 program.

I wouldn't word it that way. Instead, say something about how you'd like to meet with them about the possibility of being on your committee. That said, if this person is on sabbatical and people have warned you away, perhaps you should talk to your advisor first to get their opinion.

Some sort of Calendar and some sort of task/to-do list keeper (Workflowy, Google doc, etc.) are probably essential, as is learning to use reference management software (Zotero, EndNote, Flow, Mendeley, etc.). Get into the habit of reading a paper related to your research interests every night if possible. Set up Table of Contents alerts for the major journals in your field. Try to take senior grad students out for coffee in your first year so you can pick their brains about what you need to be doing and when (do this in individual meetings). Oh, and start looking for grants now. Make a list of the typical deadlines, documents required, etc., and then start prepping for those as soon as you can.

This whole conversation is super interesting. I'm not a vegetarian but I also don't really buy or eat meat much, especially not at home. I made the decision last year to only buy meat that's organic or fish that's sustainably harvested in the wild. I also decided to use farmer's markets/CSAs whenever possible for vegetables. Then, I moved to a place where the grocery stores don't sell any organic meat, which definitely constrains my meat purchases. The upside is that there's tons of farmers so I get awesome fresh produce (including hydroponic lettuce and tomatoes all winter long!) I have to drive ~45 minutes to buy organic beef, chicken, bison, or whatever, which I've done once since I moved here and most of it is still in the fridge. It's definitely better for the environment and also probably better for my health. That said, I eat a lot of beans (black beans and kidney beans in particular), am getting more into lentils, and go through periodic quinoa binges. Oh, and a lot of eggs. I eat an egg in some form for breakfast every morning. I purchase those from local farmers, though they aren't certified organic. I figure buying from a farm ~10 miles away is better than buying organic from across the country. The dating question isn't one I've had to tackle with my new diet. If it did come up, I'd definitely explain it to them as well as my reasons (environmental primarily). I imagine that I couldn't get in a serious relationship with a heavy meat-eater at this point since I don't love cooking it and don't care to spend money on that when I could spend it on craft beer instead. (*highfives GeoDUDE!*)

It's definitely a challenge and is something I went through when I started my Ph.D. What doesn't work, in my experience, is trying to act like many of the full profs you may have known as an undergraduate. Be authentic and be yourself. Be willing to open up a bit (every student I have could probably tell you something about my dog, for example, though they know nothing about the rest of my life). Take advantage of the teaching seminars/trainings available through the university's teaching center. Oh, and don't reinvent the wheel. When you need an idea for an assignment or in-class activity, google first.

My budget was similar to Monochrome Spring's. How much you spend really depends on the area of the country you're in though. Fresh produce is cheaper in the Western USA than in the eastern USA in my experience, meaning that $20 on produce would get me a lot more fresh fruit and veggies. If you limit yourself mostly to shopping the perimeter of the store, then stock up on things like dried/canned beans, whole wheat pasta, brown rice, etc., you don't have to spend a lot to get a bunch of food. As for eating out, my rule has been not to dine out for lunch. I would do it if there was a guest speaker or special event but not just to hang out with fellow students. To combat the urge to grab a quick bite at lunch, I'd cook extra portions with dinner and then bring those for lunch, make a sandwich and bring a can of soup, make a quick pasta salad (pasta + frozen veggies + canned beans + salad dressing), or just cobble together something out of leftovers. Our grad seminars would end at like 7pm so I'd also use my Crock-Pot (slow cooker) to cook meals while I was gone all day so that I'd have food basically waiting for me when I walked in the door. Doing those things definitely helped me save money. I'd still go out to dinner once a week or so, plus go to happy hour. That's really how I spent my "fun/entertainment" budget. Groceries though, I really kept that to $20-25/week basically every single week.

I would definitely try to personalize it to each one. Yes, you're thanking them for the time they spent writing letters but, this also gives you a chance to thank them for other things (a class you enjoyed, reviewing your application materials, putting you in touch with an important person in the field, etc.). It's unlikely that they'll sit around and compare your thank-you letters side-by-side but it's still a good idea to personalize things.

When you think about it in terms of your relationship and reputation with important people, maybe it makes sense to reconsider your plans to quit the 2nd master's. I would definitely talk to your advisor about everything and get their advice. If you end up deciding to drop the 2nd master's, I would let programs know because it does constitute a change to your application, though it's unlikely they'll care very much.

Eh, I dunno, Wyatt's Torch. I'm on the other side of this whole thing and don't have one. Or a website for that matter. I am intending to fix that this summer but don't have time right now. I feel like checking your academia.edu hits is just a way to wrack your nerves even more about this whole process.

There's really no need to. They know you're going to be interviewing with them and that's going to be due to overlapping research interests. What you'd be doing is sending a pointless email to be added to the flood of emails they get each day.

You know, what? Don't be a dick. If anything, call up the lower choice school and tell them that you've had a conflict come up, you'll need to cancel your interview, and you're happy to pay any fees that may result from this change in schedule. And then, hope like hell you get into the higher choice school because the lower choice school won't be an option for you after you cancel in all likelihood.

Interviewing committee members is a fantastic idea. In fact, that's the approach my MA advisor advises everyone to take. I had a person that a lot of people consider difficult on my dissertation committee. Two of my friends and I actually all had him on our committees, though for three very different reasons. People looked at me like I was crazy since I added this person later in my PhD. But, it worked out. He asked good questions at my defense, provided good feedback on chapters, and has been very supportive of everything since then. I guess what I'm saying is that if I'd listened to more senior people, I might've stayed away from this person even though he and I had a good working relationship going in. By contrast, there was a person outside my department who, on paper, was the perfect external committee member for my PhD. He knew one area of my research way better than I did and I even took a grad seminar with him to beef up my knowledge in that area. But, before asking him to be on my committee, I asked my PhD advisor (their preference was to be asked before you asked anyone). This "perfect" person was immediately ruled out by my PhD advisor, who informed me that the two of them did not work well together on a committee. I never asked for the backstory but, I didn't ask that person to be on my committee. I was also super glad I hadn't asked before checking with my PhD advisor. So I guess my advice would be to run all 6 of the names on your list by your advisor and see who they think would be a good fit for the committee BEFORE you go asking around, doing interviews, etc.

You definitely want someone who can write you a good letter of recommendation, rather than someone who will write you a neutral one.

Skype interviews are typically done with video. If you can't find out who the specific interviewers are, prepare for every single professor in the program. Be prepared to discuss what you want to research and how and why that department is a good fit for you.

I've gotten into making my own granola bars and oatmeal bars lately. You can get an easy recipe for almond granola from America's Test Kitchen that uses basic ingredients in your house and is way cheaper than the gourmet stuff. I've also found that having a solid breakfast (protein + whole grains) has made me much more alert in the morning. A quick workout also really helps me with that too.

It should be fine. If you really want, email the programs and have them add a note to your file.

I bought my own. My old cable company charged $8/month to lease one and the same one was available on Amazon for like $70 at the time so I just ordered one online. It made sense since I paid less to buy it than I would've paid the cable company in a year. I then used that same modem after moving to a new area. I was prepared to use it again this year after my most recent move but, my current cable company provides them as part of the service (no leasing fee, no reduction for providing your own). Make sure you price compare before buying. Newegg.com often has coupons for their e-mail subscribers that drop the price of a cable modem below $50. And don't forget to get a good, capable wireless router too.

That's basically an impossible question to answer. For all you know, they found half of the applications favorable but only can let in 10% of those. Or it could be 25%. Or everyone. It's a sign that you haven't been rejected, so that's a positive.