ERR_Alpha

Things are insane until the semester ends... Lots of grading, wrapping up two courses, and I'm presenting at a conference in May (yay!) but that means I need to rush to get data (boo!) and my advisor is in one of his extremely involved phases and is texting me nonstop. (Which I appreciate him thinking about my project... But at 10pm I would rather not)

I see babies and my brain goes "look! A baby! You've at your peak fertility! You should make a baby!" then I gush over how cute the baby is. Sigh. Someday... Haha.

Basically, it seems like your PI would have to fund you. From what I'm gathering the "backstop" would be your PI borrowing money from the department or grad school to pay for your salary with the intent to pay it back. So basically, you won't ever be without a pay check. Edit: found this Duke link https://gradschool.duke.edu/sites/default/files/documents/policy_phd_student_affiliation_and_backstop.pdf

As I see it, you have two options. Do what Ted Binksy said, or try to find a lab tech job. But since you talked about the difficulty you've had with that, the Masters may be a better option.

No, advisor. I did not work up all of my data in the three hours since I left lab. I ate some pizza with my boyfriend, watched two episodes of family guy, and took a nice shower. Sigh. I'm happy he's so interested but man, the pressure is getting to me.

My boyfriend of three and a half years (at the time) made the move with me for graduate school. The relationship can work, but you need a really patient and not extremely needy partner. My boyfriend knows grad school comes first and that I'll have late nights and not be able to see him a lot. Having him there has been a great resource for me- I had a hard time transitioning and it was nice to have someone there. However, if you were dating someone who demanded more attention, it could be difficult. LDRs would probably introduce more issues as well.

That sea slug analogy is on point.

My boyfriend's birthday conflicts with my alumni tournament at my undergrad, that I've literally been planning on going to for a year. I feel SO guilty because none of his friends from out of town can do anything, and he hasn't made any friends here.

I hate when I complain about my digestive issues and people are like "well avoid what bothers you!" When it changes from week to week that can be pretty damn hard... Ugh

I thought for some reason that students with bachelors degrees from the U.S. were considered the same as domestic applicants... I could be wrong about that though.

Congrats to everyone who got it and my condolences to those who don't. I give the senior undergrads and first years among you a lot of credit- I wouldn't have even known where to start! That being said, see you all on next years thread! Cue anxiety.

Holy s%#^. I hope he went to jail??? Where are you living?

If it were me, I would choose lab A. The research fit is better, and overall it would seem like you would be happy there. Like you, I'm not really in it for the fame and glory or to get into academia. As long as I can land a decent post doc and industry position, I don't really care. The smaller lab setting may also benefit you because you're forced to learn a lot on your own. (Painful at first, but worth it)

I'm picturing something like the show Wipeout... Which would be fantastic. One of our interviewees was from Cali and had actually been on the show (the Brains vs. Brawn one... She was brains). Definitely a memorable fun fact haha. Also on the pre application idea- I think it would give those who don't make qualifications to plead their case. Also stressing that a successful preapp doesn't mean admission- especially since LORs wouldn't be a part of it, feasibly.

Throwing my hat in also... Depending on where you apply, some schools interview many more students than they plan to actually accept. They may have the applicants pseudo ranked, aka the #1 applicant wouldn't necessarily have to have a stellar interview to get in, but someone who just got an interview would really have to wow them. I'm not sure how many people your programs interview, but it's possible they were looking for a fantastic interview that just wasn't there. (I'm pretty mediocre at interviewing myself) So it might not be anything catastrophic, just the wrong combination of things. Edit: also yes, coming from a smaller, unknown school can hurt you. Are there any alumni from your school in graduate programs already? The program I'm in has someone else from my school (happy accident) so I think they had a general idea how much he knew / what I would probably know.

1) Average rent is really going to vary on where you live, how many roommates you live with, and the quality of the apartment. Studios downtown can cost as much as two bedrooms out of town. 2) If you don't have a car, I would advise living downtown, or on one of the busier bus lines. (Martin St, Aaron Drive, Vairo Blvd) Being close to a grocery store would help also. 3) I would start looking ASAP. There are plenty of listings on Craigslist already. If you want advice on a particular place/ area, feel free to ask here or PM.

:( Jk, haha. Anyway- I totally understand not liking Family Guy. It's dumb most of the time. South Park though actually does some pretty funny political satires. I think I really like these shows because my mom forbade me from watching them as a kid... Then I discovered them in college and went crazy. NevER understood the Simpsons though.

I'm sure this has been mentioned but I HATE Dr. Who. My boyfriend is OBSESSED. I don't get it. It's stupid, the premise makes no sense, and the acting isn't even that good. I don't get it.

I have a polar heart rate monitor watch that I use to accurately track my calories when I work out. In undergrad I lost a lot of weight with My Fitness Pal- I've been trying to get back on the band wagon. Only issue I've been having is in undergrad I could go and get a fresh spinach salad whenever I wanted. Still learning how to cook and shop properly.

So it's a gluten free diet and then some? Sorry I'm in naive- when I looked online it looked like gluten was a FODMAP.

I've been actually thinking about this question... Here's what I think: I would set and put on the website a minimum GPA and GRE requirement. However, students who think they have an explanation can submit a pre-application to get approval to apply. International students would also do a pre application.(IMHO, saves everyone time and $$$) I would then read SOPs and LORs and sort into three piles: Yes, Maybe, and No. The No group would get rejected quickly. The maybe group would then be deliberated. This is where I would use wording to this extent: "program at awesome university requires a 3.0 and a 150/150. However, most of our students have a 3.5 and a 160/160" For the middle group, scores would be used to differentiate. (For example, Sally and Tom both have some research experience, mediocre SOP and LORS, but Tom had an excellent GPA...) The Yes group and the top Maybes get interviews. The lower tier Maybes get emails saying they are on a wait list for an interview. I would also include that if anything chances (NSF, publication, etc) to let us know. (These are the people who would benefit from an extra nudge) After interviews, sort candidates into accepted/maybe/rejected. Send as many acceptances as necessary. Reject people immediately. If not enough candidates accept or are suitable for acceptance, pull from the wait list. Once ~75% of the class is full, I would send rejections to the people on the interview waitlist. Also- being in contact with professors would of course help, but would not be required. Minority status would likely only come into play for the "maybe" group. If spots for international studnets are separate, so would the process and vice versa. Too idealistic? Haha.

I feel bad for all of those parents and teachers who had to try to explain that Planned Parenthood "joke"...