bsharpe269

This morning I cut my own hair (as I do every couple months). I can cut it in 15 minutes for free instead of spending a $40 + a couple hours going to a salon. I do all of that sort of stuff on my own like waxing my eyebrows. I bet I'm not the only one who does this sort of stuff... Anyone else have any little things that they do on their own to save money or time? Any skills you've picked up that others pay someone else to do? I don't really have any particular skills in mind while asking this question but I'm interested in hearing any answers that come to mind.

I was faced with the same situation and decided to live with my family. I am half way through my MS now and am SO thankful that I avoided the extra debt. I will be applying to PhD programs too. Dont forget how expensive this is... between taking the GRE, application fees, etc this can easily add up to a couple thousand dollars. If I get into a PhD program then I will be potentially moving across the country which is also expensive. Also consider the type of degree that you are getting when making this decision.. if your masters will be in engineering for example then you can afford the extra debt since you can work to pay it off easily if need be. If your masters will be in social sciences or humanities where jobs can be a bit more limited then I would be very careful to take on alot of debt. I agree with the people above though that you could always live with your mom for the first semester and then move out if it is too difficult.

I do the same thing... my practice test range from low 160s to 170 and all errors are due to careless mistakes. Idk if much can be done other than practicing alot of problems and getting faster so that you have some time to double check your algebra/arithmetic

Honestly, taking a break from school (1 year) and then doing the MS before PhD has been such a good experience for me that I strongly recommend taking some time before applying to PhD programs to anyone. I of course understand that not everyone is interested in doing that. If you were to work full time in a lab for a a year or two though while taking a class a semester and getting straight As in those could help your application a ton. It never hurts to apply so if you are set on going straight into PhD then you could always apply to programs are that a great research fit and then also apply to a couple MS programs or research positions as a back up plan. Based on what you wrote, your application really does look very similar to mine. I do think that you have a shot at PhD programs but I think that delaying applications for a couple years could make the difference between a top 50 program and a top 20. Good luck with whatever you decide to do!

This sort of question is really difficult to answer. It really depends on what classes your bad grades are in and if there is an upward trend. For most PhD programs you have to keep your GPA above 3.0 or 3.3 so admission committees may doubt your ability to do that if you are borderline in undergrad. I was in a simlar position my senior year (tons of research but 3.3 gpa and 3.0 science gpa) and decided to get a MS first. I think that I probably could have been accepted somewhere before the MS but I don't think I would have gotten into the top schools for my subfield or into the top labs. The MS has been an aboslutely amazing experience and has given me the opportunity to prove that I can handle classes (my GPA is 4.0 for the MS). Even though I had a ton of reserach as an undergrad, I have been able to get so much more and really figure out my interests.

If I were a professor, I dont think I would take this well. Most students don't do research to get a good LOR, they do research because they love it and want the experience. This is also true for developing relationships with professors. I don't go to office hours or talk to them about research because I want a good LOR. I do these things because the professors are brilliant and I want to learn from them. If you are developing relationships with them just for the sake of an LOR then I sort of wonder why you are going to grad school. Most people go because they love learning and research and honestly, if you are passionate about those things then, in my experience, relationships with professors just sort of form themselves. Anyway, it is hard to guess how individual professors would react to this. I think that you should work in a lab or talk to them because you genuinely want to though.

I seem to average 8-10 hours per week per course (including class time/office hours/etc). Just like undergrad though, I usually end up with 1 class that takes a ton of time and others that I hardly look at outside of class. Like others mentioned, the relevance to my research also plays a role. If the information is important to my work then I make sure I understand it very well.

Have you tried multiple medicines because maybe the one you are on isnt workng for you? I tried two different medicines that didn't help at all before finding one that did. Also, I have had to make other adjustments like making sure I exercise a few days a week at least and taking at least one day a week off of my meds completely (since my body seems to "get used to it" otherwise and it stops working). These things go a realllly long way in helping me focus. I am not sure what all you have tried or not so I figured it was at least worth telling you what works for me! Seeing a neuropsychologist might help but honestly your symptoms line up exactly with mine when I wasn't on meds or on the wrong one. It really might be as simple as trying something else. Anyway, once you sort this out, it might be worth talking to the department and explaining the situation to see if you can be admitted conditionally for a semester, provided you get a certain GPA that semester... it cant hurt to ask! Also, just to let you know, my bad grades in undergrad were always in the sciences too and I swear that I am a science wiz. If ADHD is your problem then the poor grades are not a reflection of your science abilities... they are simply a reflection of the fact that science classes can be difficult and require focus to understand the concepts.

SPLM, do you know why it takes you so long to study? Do you get distracted easily or just generally need more time to absorb the info? There can of course be many many reasons why a student may need more time to study but your last post reminded me exactly of myself. I have pretty severe ADHD and did not start treating it until grad school (even though I was diagnosed in high school). I was sort of exactly like you... in most of my classes I could pull As and Bs but then in thsoe hard ones that I actually truely needed to focus, I would alwasys get a C or D. I graduated with a 3.3 for undergrad but I did get about 1 C or D a year when I came across one of those tough classes. Now that I am treating the ADHD, I have a 4.0 in my MS and have score >97% in every one of my classes in grad school. I definitely think ADHD is overdiagnosed so I am not suggesting that if you need extra study time then you have it. I always knew that I could do a lot better than I did though. I knew that my intelligence level was definitely at the level needed to get As in the hard classes yet I never ever could. If this doesnt sound like you then ignore the advice but if you suspect that you could be experiencing something like this then get it checked out because my life has completely turned around after acknowledging and treating the issue.

Is this university the same one you went to for undergrad or different? I think that you should try to be more open minded and apply to other schools as well. if you do your research, then you don't really have to take a huge gamble. Before going to any school, you should make sure you click with the grad students and talk to the research groups youre interested in to make sure you will do the work you are interested in. It sounds like you are learning a ton from this university but that doesnt mean that you wont learn even MORE from another one. I would apply to a few at least... after visitation weekends, you may find out that you like one of them even more that the one you are at now.

Thanks for the input everyone. I think you guys are right that I am trying to pack to much into my MS (specifically before PhD applications) and that it is taking a negative toll on me. I should probably stop putting so much pressure on myself. Tons of people go straight from undergrad to phd and do really well so I am sure that I can too. I just always feel like I can do a little more and be a little bit better prepared... but I realize thats a never ending cycle. I didn't mean to come off as pretentious with that comment that I think my knowedge on the level of the PhD students. Youre right that it isnt possible since they have been in the lab way longer than me. Since joining the lab, whenever I come across concepts that am not familiar with (from the other students mentioning them or lab meetings or whatever) I have gone home and pretty much spent the entire evening learning about the topic. This has really helped close in the gap at least between their knowedge and mine. I do the same level of work as they do and my Mendeley shows that I've read over 100 journal articles since Jan when I got it. Even after this, I do realize that even though I have come to be familiar with many topics, they still probably know them in much greater depth than I do. I agree that comparing myself to them and trying to be at their level is a bit ridiculous. As far as I know, I am the only MS student in my program who plans to go on to a PhD program so no one else is really into research so there aren't MS students around to compare myself to... not that I need to be constantly comparing myself to everyone but I just mean that everyone in my lab is a PhD student so I try to keep up. As far as grades go, I am trying to make up for a mixed undergrad record. My undergrad GPA was a 3.3 (not super horrible but definitely not good) so I have been focusing on getting that 4.0. Also, I have ben considering moving closer to campus... by living an hour from campus, my fiance and I are being paid to keep up a houes for my family so basically I am making money and we get to live in a very large house with a huge yard for our dogs for free (like electricity and everything). It is REALLY hard to turn down that offer to move closer to campus. I am leaning towards toughing it out for another year but it is wearing on me so who knows...

I appreciate everyone's comments. I agree that I should make some cut off times for myself in the evening and try to spend more time not doing work. I definitely dont think this is an issue of me not being ready for graduate school. Well, my research advisor would disagree at least. I think my work has been pretty great. I think that there are a couple things that make my schedule feel difficult. 1. I probably spend about the same amount of time on classes on people on here say I should... maybe 8-10 hours per class a week. I have been taking 3-4 a semester so that is 30ish hours a week. I have a 4.0 gpa so I am understanding the material well. 2. I then spend 30ish hours a week on research. This is important since being in a MS program means that I really only have a year to work on research and publish before applying to PhD programs. 3. My field is VERY interdisciplinary so in order to excell in research, a very strong background in physics, chemistry, math, and bio is needed. Since no one comes in with all 4 undergrad majors, from my observations, the PhD students take 6 months to a year "catching up" on knowedge before they can fully understand the work. I feel pressure since I will only be in the lab a year before applying to grad school so I actually have 1 year to learn everything, do lots of research, and publish before PhD admission. Because of all this, quite a bit of additional times goes into teaching myself this info. 4. Since I will only have a year in the lab before applications, I also have been spending alot of time reading publications in the field to try to catch up on that. I guess what it comes down to is that the PhD students have a few years in the lab to learn everything and teach themselves quantum physics, statistical mechanics, organic chem, physical chem, linear algebra, or whatever they didnt take during undergrad and learn about the biophysical models used in the lab (which are super complicated... to the PhD students too) before they have to do their dissertation proposals and all. I on the other hand have a year to learn everything and get results published. Again, I don't think that I am not ready for PhD programs. My understanding of the research and models is pretty comparable to the 3rd-4th year PhD students but in a way, this is really necesary since I am trying to publish before applying to PhD programs, just like they are. After typing this out it sounds like I am probably just putting too much pressure on myself to understand everything now. It also doesn't help though there are are 2 other students in the lab. One who joined the lab when I did actually did 4 years of a PhD program somewhere else, doing similar research and then dropped out. The other has a triple major for undergrad and had already been in the lab for a few years when I joined. Understanding the research like they do and producing results like they do is time consuming. I really DO appreciate the advice. I was really wondering whether those feelings were normal or not (I guess I just assumed what I was doing was normal and expected). It sounds like the answer is that it isnt normal or expected and that I should make some changes.

Thanks! The school that I am most interested is known for its research is my subfield and has at least 4 people that I could rave about in my SOP. I will definitely focus on connecting my background to theirs. It wont take much work even... the fit is perfect. It is probably one of the few best schools in the country for my particular interest but department wise is ranked around 30ish...so very competitive but maybe not quite as hard as MIT or anything. My department confusion stems from the fact that even though my potential PIs are in the chem department, this school also has Systems Bio sort of department that all of faculty are also affiliated with so I could actually apply to either and still work with my dream professors. The Systems Bio might be a bit easier to get into with my background but looking at the coursework, it seems like it might not be quite as useful or interesting to me. I think I already know enough math/programming/stat stuff to do my research but a deeper understanding of chemistry could be really useful to me.

Anyone here found ways to handle the lonliness that comes from zero time to socialize? I am doing my MS and will be applying to PhD programs this fall so in addition to 30 hours a week of research, I need top grades. I LOVE my research and classes but I find myself studying/working nonstop. I really dont have time to both hangout with friends or family and get all of my research done. I live with my fiance but lots of days (like now) he goes out with his family or friends since the alternative is to sit and stare at me study. I don't blame him of course but it doesnt help my lonliness. I am probably in an even more difficult situation since I live an hour from campus so I only go to school on the days I have classes or research meetings. Over the summer thats only 3 days a week. I study at home otherwise since I dont want to waste 2 hours of what could be study time in the car. That also means that I don't live near other students. Otherwise, doing study groups might be a great way to combine socializing with studying. I have considered going to study at coffee shops since it might be a good opportunity to meet students at the community college in my small town or writers or something. My ideal situation would be to find other people to sit around and study with so I can get my stuff done but also not be lonely. I do want to add that I'm not depressed or anything (since this could be taken that way)... I just don't get as much human interaction as I would like. Do other grad students deal with similar feelings? Is this just normal stuff to get through or do most people hangout with friends in the evenings, even if it means coming to research meetings without everything done... I don't really want to do that. Any advice?

I advice you to retake it. For your field, they probably at least want to see average there. It really wouldn't hurt to try to get the quantitative up a bit... It doesn't matter THAT much in your field but you still need to show at least reasonable quantitative abilities. I would try for at least 155. If you do worse the second time then you can always send the 1st score only so there's isn't much to lose my retaking it.

I'm really thankful for this thread at the moment! I majorly need to vent! I hateeee my fiance's dog... really hate it. I didn't think that I could hate an animal like I hate this one. Part of me wants to go open the gate and let it run off and get hit by a car (I know that I am a horrible person for saything that). To understand my hatred, you have to understand that I have always hated large dogs. I like cute tiny dogs that will sit in my lap while I study IF they are really quiet. I am luck to have two of these cute little dogs. They lay in my lap or in their dog beds all day and don't bother me. They dont bark or drool. His dog is 70 lbs and the most hyper dog I have ever seen. I have to look after her most of the time since I can easily work from home and my fiance is a banker and gone all day. She doesnt listen at all, she slobbers and pants right next to me while I try to study. She sprints all around the house. If I send her outside to run around then she just scratches at the door until i let her in. I never get a minute of peace with my fiance either since whenever we try to watch a movie, she puts her ball right next to us and stares at it... just sits there and stares at it for hours, waiting for us to throw it. I know the first suggestion I hear will be to send her to training.. ohhh she's been to professional training. I don't think the issue is her training, its her personality. We have even put her on doggy downers and she still acts this hyper. Today was the worst... My (10 lb) dog was patienty waiting to go outside and she sprinted out and trampled its neck. He's ok i think... he's acting like its stiff but moving it fine. I hate this dog like I have never hated a creature before.

Hmm thats for encouragement guys. My interests definitely fit well with a couple chemistry/biochemistry departments. My interests can easily be classified as computational bio, biophysics, or biochemistry. I don't really care which one I do my course work in as long as the research is great fit... My worry was that my application wouldn't be considered due to lack of chemistry coursework. It sounds like that might not be the case though.

It is completely appropriate to ask why some people don't like a TV show. There is no reason to be offended by a show or a forum about a show. I embrace my neridness and laugh at myself while watching the show. If you dont find it funny then dont watch it. The show picks on penny just as much though. Also, I don't get why people find it offensive that penny is a female and the dumb blonde type. The show isnt at all sexist. They pick on that man for being dumb too (I cant remember his name but he is the one that dated penny and then amy had a crush on him). There are plenty of intelligent female characters in the show too (Amy, Leslie, Priya etc). I am a female in a male dominated science area where alot of people (probably including me) act a lot like some of the characters in the show. I don't find anything from the show offensive.

Hi everyone, I will be applying to PhD programs this fall and am wondering if I have a shot at biochem programs. I am interested in protein dynamics and energy landscape theory. I would like to create biophysical models to describe protein folding, thermodynamics, and kinetics. I have a couple years worth of research experience in similar work that includes 1 first author paper and a couple middle author ones. Before doing this work, my research experience was in mathematical modeling but was also applied to biological systems. I have an REU and a conference paper and presentations related to that biomath work. Anyway, the work that I want to do can fall into various departments, depending on the school. There are both physicists and chemists doing this sort of work. My undergrad degree was in math (where I focussed on the biomath research) and my MS will be in bioinformatics. As part of the MS ciriculum, I have taken biochem and cell molecular bio and ended up with >98% in both classes. As a math undergrad, I only took 2 semesters of chem so I taught myself orgo 1 and am currently taking orgo 2 and expect an A. My MS advisor has his PhD in physical chemistry (from a top 10 school) and will write me an amazing letter, stating that I have an amazing ability to teach myself information and catch up on material (I have already read one of his LORs for something else I applied for). With this odd background, should I apply to biochem departments if they are a perfect research fit or should i stay away from them and only apply to biophysics departments? There are a couple biochem departments that focus on exactly what I hope to do. Is it worth submitting an application to them? Any advice from you guys would be appreciated! Thanks!

Well I don't have kids but I do my masters full time and also work in research about 30 hours a week. My fiancé works full time and takes a class a semester plus one each summer so 3 classes a year. He does online classes. He stays pretty busy but he isn't in a constant panic or anything. I think your husband will play a huge role is how manageable this will be. If he is willing to take baby duty when you have big projects or tests then that will make your life much less stressful.

The characters are definitely exaggerated but I actually don't think they are that far from the truth... At the last acadmic "party" I went to, there was actually someone who was too scared to talk to people and sat in the other room curled up in a ball the whole party. I'm not saying this to be mean towards this person but I constantly run into these things in academia. My undergrad degree was in math and I am now in bioinformatics... there are definitely strong similarities between the characters in the show and my classmates.

Having questions doesnt mean you are trying to avoid hard work. IMO, laziness would be going to your advisor and asking him to exaplain the theories or concepts to you. A hard working student would go to his PI and and explain his current understanding of an idea based on all of his work and reading and ask for confirmation or clarification. It seems like you just want the latter. I feel like some PIs have this idea that students should be doing independent work on their own all the time. You are a PhD STUDENT. If you could get through this PhD without guidance then you would be a professor, not a student. Can you talk to your PI and tell her that as the only PhD student that you feel a bit lost and isolated and ask for occasional meetings (every 2 weeks for example)? I have PhD students that are higher up than I am that I can go to with questions. WIthout this support system, I think that scheduling regular meetings with your PI would be very necessary.

I think the show is hilarious. My fiance came with me to my holiday research group party. He is a banker and has a smooth, business man sort of personality. When we left I asked him what he thought of everyone and his response: "I thought that the Big Biang Theory was a satire... I didnt realize that it was a very accurate portrail of your life."

By this logic though, shouldn't masters and undergrad programs also fund their students so that they end up with the best and brightest students? Many people cannot go to college out of high school due to financial constraints... I dont think this means that universities should be paying them to go. Even though I agree that labor could be hired to do research and teach at the same cost as a grad student, I think that the labor would end up doing a lot more work than grad students do. The head phd student in my lab does a decent amount of work for the professor or school, but alot of his time is spent doing things for himself like his dissertation proposal. PhD students usually have big distractions that prevent them from working on tasks that benefit the university full time like classes, qualifying exams, dissertaions. When only 20-30ish hours or so a week are actually going to things that benefit the university and the rest of your time goes to tasks that benefit you, it makes sense that the university would not pay you a large salary. Anyway, those are just some of my thoughts... I do see the other point of view as well that many people are taking out loans/ living in poverty to get through grad school. I guess I just view this as a choice that was made by the student. A PhD is a long term investiment in your future just like undergrad, finishing high school, internships, etc. At any point in the schooling process, we could have chosen to work a job that was in high demand in society instead of going through more school. We chose more school though because of the long term benefits. Being a nurse or secretary pays a lot more money than taking classes, research as a PhD student. This makes sense to me since society has a much high demand for nurses than they do for students.

I just want to add that I saw your post about anxiety and since you have a good reason for your mixed grades, you may be an exception to needing post bac classes. I'm in a similar position with a mixed undergrad record due to pretty extreme ADD. Now that I have that under control, my MS gpa is a 4.0. I plan to say that I had a medical issue during undergrad that has been resolved.