rising_star

Maybe I should just quote myself. I wrote, "This statement is just like saying "I'm not racist! I have a black friend!" That is, it only serves to further the argument of those accusing you of being elitist. You set yourself up for that through your blanket generalizations." That is NOT the same thing as saying that you are elitist. I said that you are furthering the arguments of those that say you are elitist when you write that comment. So, I'm not sure why you're accusing me of jumping to conclusions. It seems to me like perhaps you should re-read what I posted. So you're just as guilty of gossiping about the MA students as they are of gossiping about others? If you have problems with how academia works, why are you in it? Personally, I enjoy shooting the shit with my colleagues over drinks as much as I enjoy writing a cool paper or doing research. If that lifestyle isn't for you, why are you pursuing it? At any rate, you strike me as the obstinate sort who just wants confirmation of his/her decision not to interact with MA students beyond required classroom interactions. Do what you want. Do whatever makes you happy. If you want to isolate yourself, do that. If you want to hang out with people, do that. But, do what makes you happy and stop worrying so much about what other people are going to think!

Blanket generalizations never serve anyone well. They certainly are not helping you demonstrate that you're not elitist. If you can't be friends with people and not get dragged into their drama, then that's a personal issue. No need to project that onto your MA student colleagues. Honestly, I wonder how you know this. Are you sitting in meetings between MA students and their advisors? Agreed. Honestly, as a PhD student, I'm probably younger than you. But that doesn't mean you should automatically label me as immature and wanting to get drunk all the time and drag you into drama. Individuals are different. Lumping all the MA students together is silly, just as it is silly to lump all the PhD students or faculty into one category. Pick your friends based on common interests, not based on where they are in a degree program. This statement is just like saying "I'm not racist! I have a black friend!" That is, it only serves to further the argument of those accusing you of being elitist. You set yourself up for that through your blanket generalizations. Honestly, I can hang out, go out for dinner/drinks, gossip (or just catch up with what's going on), and come home and write my papers and grant applications. You're too quick to judge, TheSquirrel. I get the sense that you made relatively quick judgments about the MA students in your department, without actually getting to know them as individuals.

You'll discover the advantages of having it stored online once you have a hard drive randomly fail and you lose a year's worth of references. As for exporting, you can export your EndNote library to Zotero or vice versa. Same with Mendeley. So, it's not like you're stuck with one program, unless you really want to be.

What are the key differences between LibreOffice and OpenOffice? Is LibreOffice compatible with citation software like Zotero or Mendeley?

My answer may not be all that helpful because my program is structured differently than yours. People do the MA then typically continue on to the PhD. That said, I'm a PhD student that hangs out with MA students and was an MA student that hung out mostly with PhD students. When I started my PhD, I made three friends really quickly, one of whom was a MA student. Now we're both PhD students but that hasn't affected our relationship or how often we hang out or anything like that. I don't really understand why you think faculty would think less of you for befriending or hanging out with MA students. Obviously, they are deemed academically qualified or they wouldn't have been admitted. If you tried, you could probably find common interests with at least some of them. Also, why would you want to distance yourself from MA students and act more formally with them? Do you think that somehow being friends with a MA student will taint you academically or diminish your career? If you want to get involved in the grad association, you should. I'm not involved in ours because it's run by a three-headed monster that doesn't care what anyone else thinks. But, it's good to get involved in governance/leadership if you can, since having an elected position is something you can put under "Service" on your CV. In our department, the grad student association is run by PhD students, primarily because they have a longer institutional memory. I think you're too concerned with what other people might think. Be friends with the people that it makes sense for you to be friends with, whether that's MA students, PhD students, or mostly people outside of your department.

I downloaded Mendeley, played around with it for a few days, then stopped using it. The same thing happened with CiteULike. Strangefox, do you see any advantages to using Mendeley vs. Zotero?

In my MA program, it was common to take 3 courses, usually all seminars, in addition to TAing. We had to take 12 hours to be full-time, so everyone also took 3 hours of either master's research or doctoral research. In my PhD program, we only have to be enrolled in 6 units to be full-time but, I took at least 3 classes per semester in my first two years. Last year, I took 2 classes in the fall and 1 in the spring (plus independent study) since I was just trying to finish coursework requirements in a related field.

Sorry about that. I was moving them to make it easier for people to see if there was a past discussion on a particular topic.

This may vary by discipline. Politics are often central to understanding the projects the people in my program choose so they come up pretty frequently, both in class and beyond. We also frequently discuss contemporary politics and topics like gay marriage.

I've been in grad school for five years. There is *definitely* time for hobbies and everyone I know has at least one. I have several. They are what help keep you sane in the midst of all the work. If you aren't going to take care of yourself, you will burn out.

I have a Dell laptop that I got in spring 2006 (and which I'm using to type this post) that has, admittedly, had some issues (some of those were user-created). I also have an Asus eee netbook that I got two summers ago for fieldwork. I'm getting a new laptop in a few weeks, mostly because neither of my computers have enough processing power to run software I need to run while in the field. I'm either getting an Asus or a Lenovo, based on recommendations from computer-knowledgeable friends. I'm not a huge gadget fiend so having an iPad is only sort of appealing to me. Also, if you're interested in a tablet and don't care if it's an iPad, you can go to Staples and use this $100 off coupon to get one. Rumor has it that even if it's out of stock in store, you can order it and pay now using the coupon. Coupon expires July 30, btw. I'm considering getting myself a tablet, but will probably get a Nook and root it instead. That way, I'll have a portable tablet-like thing, an eReader, and a netbook.

I would go talk to the Study Abroad office on your campus.

There are also some older threads on "Dogs in grad school" that you can find if you search the site. As a foster mom, I just want to caution you about fostering. Yes, it's less financial commitment because you don't have the vet bills. But, as Sparky explains, it can be a LOT more work because you may get a dog that someone else has already tried--and failed--at training. Moreover, a lot of people I know and foster with find it difficult to give up the dog and end up keeping it. I know people that have kept 4-6 of their "foster" dogs as their own. And, as far as time, I'd just point out that I had my last foster dog for 5.5 months. Other people in my rescue group have had foster dogs for even longer. In addition to the time training the dog, there's also the time spent driving that dog to and from adoption events (which is something you NEED to do if you want to have that dog adopted) and hanging out at those so you can talk up your dog to the people that come by. I would spend 3 hours every Saturday morning doing foster dog-related stuff (drop dog off and volunteer for 1-2 hours, drive home, run errands [do things like mop that can't be done with the dog around], pick dog up). Dog owners are spared that lengthy weekly commitment. FWIW, neither of the rescue groups (two different ones in two different states) I've been involved with have required you to own a dog to become a foster parent. But, it can be easier with two dogs because one can model good behavior for the other and there's a built-in playmate. It's definitely something to ask about. Also, don't just go with the first rescue group you hear about. Ask around and find out where people adopt from. Also, talk to their other volunteers about policies and how supportive the group is. While many groups say that fosters have no out-of-pocket expenses, I have yet to find one where that is actually true. They'll pay vet bills and, in many cases, they'll pay for food and provide you with a crate and possibly food and water bowls. But, dogs need toys and you're going to buy those. You're going to pay for any damage caused by the dog. And, quite honestly, I've almost always paid for food myself. I don't have much experience with breed rescues but do have lots of experience with dog rescues more generally. Getting a purebred dog has its advantages and disadvantages. A lot of the advantages of rescue dogs that Sparky is talking about are also the case with reputable all-breed dog rescues. Agreed 100% on this. I know a lot of dogs with separation anxiety. My friends have a dog that barks every time they are both gone from the house. Luckily, their neighbors have dogs and just let her play with theirs when this happens. But, if they didn't have nice neighbors, it could be a nasty situation.

This is important. But, you should also be open to finding new things that you might enjoy. I mean, I learned about capoeira on a whim, then decided to try it. Now, some of my closest friends are those that I train with 2-3 times a week. The meetup sites aren't random, at least not meetup.com. You would only sign up for groups that you're actually interested in (wine tastings, quilting club, bridge club, swing dancing, weightlifting, yoga, tango, book club, etc.), not just say "Hey! I want to meet 20 people I have nothing in common with. Let's do it!". If you take the time to explore the site, you'll see that there are lots and lots of groups devoted to different topics ranging from athletic to religious to political and so much more. Plenty of people go to cafes to hang out, not just to do work. I recommend that everyone find one activity they want to pursue. Take a look at what your campus rec center offers. If you're worried about running into your students all the time, take a look at the YMCA/YWCA, the city/county parks and rec department, and scout for deals on Groupon, LivingSocial, and other daily deals sites so that you can try something new at a low cost.

My program has about 75-85 graduate students, so it's a bit larger than some. That said, we accepted about 10% of applicants in each of the last two cycles, which isn't a particularly high rate of admissions. It does mean that there's some diversity in interests, which can be helpful when you need help with an area or want to form a reading group outside of class. Personally, I hate larger classes. I've been in graduate seminars with 22 people and they are awful. The conversation gets dominated by a few people while everyone else sits there in silence for 2.5 hours. The learning experience becomes much more impersonal to me when classes are large. Some of this is likely influenced by my experiences as an undergraduate when I frequently took classes with 10 or fewer students. In terms of networking, you're going to have to do that outside of your department regardless of its size.

Officially Grads would be the place for those discussions, if you want to focus them on people already in or about to be in graduate school. The Lobby is for more general inquiries that apply to people regardless of their educational status.

Yea, I'm thinking it's field-specific. My CV is about 2.5 pages, but I could shorten it by not listing the titles of all the grants I've received. I like to list the titles because they show a clear trajectory in my grant funding. I also list the dollar amounts. (Also, this is probably field-specific but I apply for--and have received--small grants to support predissertation fieldwork and larger grants to support dissertation fieldwork. This is, by far, the longest section of my CV.) Conventions on what goes on a CV and how to list it vary by discipline. I copied the formatting of my CV from another prof in my department. I'll probably copy my webpage format from someone as well. I don't have an academic webpage yet, but I'm probably going to make one this fall. When I do, it will have sections for teaching, research (including a list of research interests and a link to a PDF of my MA thesis), my CV, contact information, and a link to my research-related blog.

I haven't had any problems with Zotero syncing between my computers, so I assume that means the backup works. It does have to be connected to the internet to sync (obviously). If you edit a reference on multiple computers, you'll have to select which version to retain when you sync.

It will be a miracle if I have two publications by the time I finish. I'm in the social sciences and don't have an existing dataset to draw on so things take longer. I'll likely end up with 3-4 articles based on my dissertation. My hope is that one will be published and one in press by the time I go on the job market. That said, if it looks like I'll need more pubs, I have a side project that I could do that could more quickly lead to a publication.

You can get a R&R, which means "revise and resubmit". In that case, you would be resubmitting to the same journal.

IRdreams, I don't think I've ever seen a GPA on a CV. As far as fellowship information, my department sends out "Kudos" summarizing all of the awards and grants people have gotten in the last month so they're already public knowledge anyway.

That was definitely our aim in creating the new subforums. We'd love to have more people stick around, rather than disappearing once they arrive at their programs in the fall. Awesome. I'm glad to hear it. Feel free to start new topics related to the Grad School Life!

I think doing a separate MA is less common in anthro, probably due to funding reasons. Most people I know in anthropology have earned their MA en route to earning their PhD, staying at the same university and often with the same advisor.

Why not get someone that has interacted with you in a classroom as well?

I have no objections to people continuing discussion in the old threads. It's not like there have been major changes in what's appropriate to wear at conferences in the last five years. In moving these posts, it was interesting to see how many times the same questions come up (should I transfer programs? questions related to moving and housing, advisor issues, etc.)