rising_star

If you won't have a part-time job or a graduate assistantship, you should be fine with 9 hours.

While I realize it's aggravating to never hear back, it's also something you will get totally accustomed to if you ever go on the academic job market. In fact, for many jobs the only reason you'll know it's been filled is because either one of your friends posted about accepting the position on social media or because you checked the academic jobs wiki for your field.

I'll put it this way. I don't have any personal information on my CV except what becomes obvious from my name or specific awards I've won. I am also an avid craft beer drinker. I introduced myself that way at a new faculty orientation and made some awesome friends because it was a memorable introduction. What I said was "My name is [rising_star]. I'm here as [Position], teaching in the [studies Program]. And one interesting thing about me is that I really like craft beer." Up to that point, people had been talking about how many kids they have, the crazy country they'd previously lived in, etc., and I couldn't think of anything other than what I said. It totally changed the direction of the fun facts provided after that. So I'd save mentioning an interest in homebrewing for something like that and then only after you've gauged the audience.

ashso, you may be able to volunteer at an animal shelter once in a while. I volunteered at a shelter during my PhD program, going out there about once a week to walk dogs. It was relaxing and fun.

If you're going to be getting a fresh acceptance letter in 2016, then there's really nothing else you need to do now. There's no reason to stay in touch with the admissions office via email or phone in the interim. I would wait until you get the new acceptance letter to contact them.

Oh, review articles are awesome if you can get them published. They end up getting cited way more often than most experimental or case study articles. Others will cite your review paper and consult the references you use to write their own lit reviews in the future. One of the things I'd love to do one day is co-author a review article because it'll totally up my citation count.

I wasn't intending to be hostile. I was, however, approaching this from the perspective of the professor. That is, if you worked for me, how would I feel about this? I would think that you got paid as you were supposed to in the fall even though the project had to be put on hold. And now that I'm asking you to finish the work, you're providing excuses for why you can't and blaming me for your inability to follow through. Why should I have to assign you something more flexible now? Why should I pay you to do alternate tasks that weren't related to the grant that funded you? If I were Professor B, I would find your attitude irritating, at a minimum. It might be easier if you thought of this as an employee-employer relationship. If you get in the habit of making excuses for not completing the work (I'm moving, I already finished my thesis, you don't answer my emails quickly enough), you're going to land yourself in hot water not only with Professor B but with other bosses (faculty members) in the future. I do hope you're able to resolve this situation. Given the litany of obstacles you've provided as to why you can't do the work for Professor B, I really do think your best option at this point is to offer to repay the money so you can be done with this situation. Good luck!

Having to write a review article isn't a bad thing. Being able to write one means that you'll have a good command of the scientific literature about a particular topic. It's possible that (with the permission of the professor obviously) you could tailor your review as one written for a lay audience, rather than for a scientific journal. Such a "lay" review might be something that would be in the New York Times magazine or a similar publication. If you go the more academic route, you would definitely be making progress on the literature review for your thesis, which can be a difficult and time-consuming task given the volume of extant literature about or related to many topics. As TakeruK has said, it's unlikely that any review article that you write in one semester will be ready for publication at the end of the term. Also, it might be worth considering whether the employers and positions you're interested in outside of academia will value publications, particularly in the area(s) of your expertise. I've seen job ads that seem to explicitly want someone with prior publications, though I'm not in your field...

One B isn't going to kill your chances of getting into graduate school. You're overthinking this.

I'm going to sound like a bad person for this but, honestly? You're the one in the wrong, kwaugust. If you're relocating out of state while still working for someone that you know doesn't communicate over the phone or email then you need to find a way to be there in person. The onus is on you for this, not Professor B, because you're the one that was paid to do work you haven't done. If that means driving or flying back, changing flights or departure times, etc., then you should do it or just offer to pay back the money you got for the work you haven't done (and it seems like aren't going to do and won't ever do).

Are you trying to decide between a research internship abroad and some other job? If so, it really depends on what kind of job you would be taking and whether you already have an internship lined up.

Hi michigan girl, long time no see! If what you're missing is reading and discussing academic articles, why not take a grad class (or even upper level undergrad seminar) every semester or once a year at a nearby university? I totally understand missing the reading and writing about things unrelated to your job but perhaps you could get some of that by taking just one class, rather than pursuing another degree.

It sounds to me like you should defer and work. UT isn't a top MPPA program (or MBA program for that matter) so it's unlikely to lead to some awesome job prospects that would otherwise be unavailable to you. Also, I think your estimated loan amount is way off. Just for two years of tuition + fees, you're looking at $45K. It's doubtful that you can live on $10-15K over two years. To do so, you'd have to keep your rent around $300/month, which would leave you with another $300/month for utilities, food, gas, books, and any other expenses...

If the insurance is fully paid for, I would switch. While it may be possible to schedule routine examinations during breaks when you are home (though many doctor's offices are closed for a week or two over Hanukkah/Christmas/New Year's), what if you need something during the academic year? What if you slip, fall, and dislocate your shoulder or break your wrist? It would really suck to have a bunch of out of pocket medical expenses (you'd have to check to see what the out of network policies are on your parent's plan but on my current health insurance there's a much higher deductible and lower percentages paid by the insurance company if you see someone out of their network). It sucks to think about planning for the worst but, you kinda should. Also, many graduate students find that they need to see a therapist or psychiatrist while in grad school. If you were to need such mental health services and you remain on your parents' plan, what would your options be? That's something to consider too.

Yea, no one's really expecting undergrads to have gathered an original sample from a population and done research on (btw, you might want to consider doing research *with* people, rather than "on" them depending on the direction your research is going) them. Working with text and theory is a valuable skill to have and it's something not all undergraduates can do. This is the experience you need to capitalize on in your application.

There's one big event, for me personally, that happens in late April/early May every year. It was easy to go in grad school because it was in my town. But now that I don't live there anymore, I don't get to go, which is kinda irritating. I thought I'd be able to go this year but it didn't work out so maybe next year? I also like attending craft beer festivals but that hasn't seemed to work out for me lately ither.

Working in the lab will be a good experience. As long as you get someone with a PhD from there to write your rec letter, you should be good to go.

One thing I forgot to mention before. If you're coming from a hot place and have a car, you probably have "summer" tires on your vehicle. They're really crappy to drive with on ice/snow so be prepared to invest in another set of tires once winter comes. You can either get "snow" tires and swap them back and forth or get "all season/weather" tires that don't have to be changed out. Trust me when I say that it is well worth the investment.

I cringe at many of the things Kelsky says but other people like her advice so I figured I'd share that particular post.

You definitely do not want to spend your SOP talking about why you don't have research experience. You want to focus on the research you want to do as a graduate student and the skills you are bringing to the table to do that research. If you've done a research paper, interviewed people, conducted an analysis, etc., then you do have research experience. Good luck!

Here are your options as I see them: 1) Talk to Professor A and see if they can help you come up with a plan and/or intervene with Prof. B on your behalf 2) Talk to Professor B, explain your time commitments to Prof A, and try to work out a plan 3) Offer to repay the money for the hours you cannot complete 4) Renege on some of your other plans to fulfill your agreement with Prof B. This could mean moving at a later time, not traveling as frequently as you had planned, doing less work at those sites off campus, or not attending the conference (either at all or for as many days as you had planned). Obviously, we can't tell you what will work best. If I were in your shoes, I would have a sit down conversation with Professor B ASAP. Since it's Friday now, that would mean Monday morning at 8:30am to me. In the meantime, is there any of Prof B's work you can do this weekend to show a good faith effort toward meeting your end of the contract? If so, do that and be prepared to discuss/show it on Monday when you go in for the meeting. Good luck!

People are going to care much more about the work you do (did) as a master's student than the name of the university on your degree. That is, they'll be interested in the classes you took, the lab work you did, the conferences you presented at, and the papers you (co-)authored. That's the body of work that will get you into a top PhD program, regardless of the university's name. Go with the full funding and make the most of the opportunity you're being given. Good luck!

If you're tall or short, you might have better luck online because many stores only feature those sizes on their websites. Look for sales on clearance stuff and you can get great bargains. As for the old t-shirts, have you thought about making them into a quilt or collage? I got rid of a bunch a few years ago but took pictures so I could remember the shirts/events. I saved some more recent ones and I only wear those to the gym.

If you're this worried about it, have you considered contacting the other schools to see if you could still enroll with funding for the fall? If your mental health issues are leaving you concerned about your ability to do well in a PhD program this fall, have you thought about requesting a deferral or medical "leave" so that you could get your health in order and then start your program either in January or next fall? Those are the first two things that popped into my mind. I would also say, without knowing your field, that some of your concerns seem legitimate to me. I would be concerned about a program that has only a few good placements in the last decade. But, I would also look to your specific advisor's placement and use that as a guide. (For example, my PhD program has decent placement but, of the faculty in it, the best placement record belonged to one specific person whose students got jobs at R1s and top SLACs.) Having full funding is definitely an asset though and one you shouldn't just shrug off. Have you talked to current grad students in that program about their experiences? That might help allay some of your fears/worries about the department. Good luck!

There are ways to work around dogs and other animals without being a veterinarian. You could become a vet tech, volunteer at an animal shelter or with a rescue group, foster dogs for a rescue group, etc. There are also other kinds of jobs in animal shelters, like volunteer coordinator, office manager, etc. Have you considered those options instead of just feeling like you have to do more schooling? Whether or not you should quit with a master's is in some ways a separate decision. Can you envision any future career paths where having completed the PhD would be an asset? If so, you should complete it. But it also depends on how many years you would have left before completing your degree. You might also want to consider talking to a therapist before making any major decision. If you're terribly unhappy, then it can be difficult to see possible paths with clarity. Talking to someone else can help with that. Good luck!