bsharpe269

I honestly think it would make no difference. I would address the GPA. You need to maintain a higher GPA than that in even harder classes to avoid getting kicked out a PhD program so with that GPA, I think that any adcom would feel that you would have little chance of getting through the classes and qualifying exams. If there is an upward trend in your GPA and your last couple years average more like a 3.5 then they would be less worried since that proves that you can handle the coursework. I think your best bet would be either a masters first or a couple years of post bac classes. It would be very important that you make nearly straight As in these. My opinion is that your GPA will hold you up until you can prove that you can handle PhD level coursework. Good luck! Also, what is your undergrad major? I am in a bioinformatics masters and have noticed that the bio people tend to struggle in the program way more than the math, CS, stat people since the bio people have to pick up a whole new way of algorithmic thinking but the math, CS, stat just have to study some cell bio to catch up. If you come from a math, CS, stat background, then they may be more forgiving of your grades. If you come from bio, then they would probably find them more worrisome and the quickest way to help your application would to get As in some classes like CS, data structures, stat, linear algebra, etc.

Hmm how much money should a grad student makde? I think I disagree with TakruK that a grad student should make the same amount as an entry level job in the field. In an entry level job, everything you do relates to what will make money for the company. They should be paying you a decent salary because you are bring in money or offering a service that is needed for the money to come in. Grad school is different in that we of course do research or teach, but alot of what we do is for us, not for the school. I take classes and study for them which takes up a lot of time so I don't think I should make as much money as someone who can devote that time to work. There is also the issue of incentive... if a phd program pays the same as an entry level job then many more people may try for phd... I mean why not if they make the same amount of money either way? I think that this could create a pattern of people going into PhD programs who do not actually have the commitment necesary to get finish. I think that the fact that students are willing to sacrifice money going into the program shows that they truely want the phd and will make additional sacrifices for it. As for the students in your program, I have a couple thoughts. One, I do think that they are being rude and immature. Two, it sounds like you could be sensitive and not mention grants and stuff around them when you are making significantly more money than they are. Also, I dont think its fair to say that since you are married, you in a way need the money more. If you are married then your spouse can work too so I would actually argue that if anything, you need the money less than someone who will not be combining incomes. Either way, I am sorry that they are acting like this! I would get money from them up front in the future so that you dont have to deal with situations like that again.

I am leaning towards applying for a research grant for Sweden. There are a couple professors who are VERY well known in my field at the same school so that could be an awesome opportunity. I have not contacted them yet but may in the next couple weeks. If I understand fulbright correctly, basically these professors would get a full time student for free for a year right? Has anyone experienced professors not wanting to take a fulbright student... they would basically be turning down a free worker?

Yes, I agree that it is hard for us to understand your gpa since foreign GPAs are done very differently than ours. I would say that GPAs probably fall in about the following categories: Top 15% of class, GPA will help your application 15-30% of class, GPA is neutral and wont help or hurt you 30-50% of class, GPA will hurt you but you can still get in with great research fit and experience That is just my rough (and potenitally wrong) estimate and I have no idea where your GPA would fall on that scale.

What are your research interests? You applied to alot of schools (many more than most people) which suggests that you may not have narrowed down your list well based on your research goals. Do you know what your research goals are and did you discuss them in your SOP? Are there many (at least 3) professors doing research similar to what you want to do at all of the schools you applied to?

The grad students at my school dress just like undergrads unless there's an important presentation or something. Actually, a lot of the top students wear sweats most days even.

I think you are trying to do WAY too much too fast. When do you apply for grad school? I am the same as you, math, science person who has been in the 160s (usually high 160s) on the math without studying. Verbal is not my strong point though. In january, I was scoring around where you are for verbal... my 1st ETS was 154 and my first magoosh was 153. My goal was to get the score up to 160. In the past month I have taken 2 practice tests since I will be taking the GRE soon. On the 2nd ETS test i scored 162 and on magoosh I scored 164! As someone who has seen drastic improvement, here is my advice: Slow down! I am only learning the "common words" on the magoosh app. There are 300 and I have learned around 225 so far. From just learning these 225 words, I rarely see words on the test that I dont know now. I went from just about every word being a mystery to pretty much knowing them all.... there really areant that many words that show up on the test. Do you really feel like youreally know those 500 words well? I feel like it would be impossible to memorize that many words well in a month. I have been memorizing around 50 a month + revieiwing old ones. My study habits have included about 3, 30 min study sessions of vocab a week. I never make time for it... I pull out my phone and go through the app when I am waiting for an appt or stuck is traffic or something. I read the example sentance for every word and make sure I understand how the word is used. If I am unclear on how to use the word then I google it and read more example sentances. Many of the common words are synonyms, consider these while studying since they tend to show up in the questions that ask you to choose the two words that mean the same thing. When I come accross a defintion that I have seen earlier, I link the words in my mind. The 225 words that I know, I know very well. I dont have to sit there and try to recall the definitions, I just know them. I have also spent around 1 afternoon a week doing the practice questions on magoosh. I dont think that the verbal studying can be crammed. I think that it is more about getting a feeling for how the words would be used and just getting used to do the GRE types of questions. I think that you should give yourself a few months of study without testing yourself... anyway if you keep doing all of the practice tests this early then how will you measure improvement later? Good luck!

I dont really see why this would be a big deal. Jsut put the dates you actually attended and if the school MA program asks about the dates then explain that there was an error that was resolved so the date reflects when it was resolved. I doubt the school will ask or care, they probably just want to see your degree.

Something else worth considering would be trying to find another couple to share a 2 bedroom place with. Your wife could consider looking into nanny positions. There are some nanny websites that I have had great success finding babysitting jobs with. Feel free to message me if you want them.

I am in a similiar but different field but have some advice that applies to most fields. Get to know your professors well! Be that top student in their class who has 100 on every assignment and always participates. Many people in my program end up with jobs because of professor's connections. When a professor gets an email from someone looking to hire a recent grad (professors in my program get lots of these), you want to be the name that comes to mind. If you end up getting a phd, then these same people can be letter writers so it will be helpful either way!

My whole lab meets once or twice a week while classes are In Session and 3 times a week over the summer. I meet with my advisor one on one as needed... Like once every other month maybe.

I don't think that there exist scores high enough that they have to screen you in. Once you're past the cut off, your entire package carries the weight of your application, not a couple extra GRE points.

Do you have a masters already? If not then can you finish the requirements for that and then leave? I don't think i would stay 4-5 more years in a program that makes me that me miserable. You only live once... Enjoy it as much as you can.

Criminologist, the top 3 students in my program (judged by grades, research, and fellowships) have the following going on: 1) 1 is engaged with multiple pets and lives an hour from campus 2) another is engaged, no pets 3) the third is married, 2 kids, and lives 30 mins from campus In my program there is ZERO correlation between giving up distractions like relationships and success. Actually, the opposite seems true. Nearly all of the average students in my program are single, no pets, and live on or near campus. Your "theory" doesn't hold with my observations at all.

I think this is normal... I'm applying to some computational bio, some biophysics, etc. It's not bc I don't know what I want to do...it's because I know exactly what I want to do and I'm applying based on research, not department name. I think this is normal and a professor wouldnt even think twice about it. If them seem confused then just explain.

I found conferences to be a great tool for identifying faculty. Find out the big conferences in your particular subfield and then look at who is speaking at them, they are probably the big names in your subfield. Once you identify a couple big people in your area, look at who advised them, look at who they have advised, look at any listed collaborators. These are some great starting points. Also, I assume that you are reading relevent publications to learn about your research area. Look at who is writing these and also the publications listed in the references. In addition, the VERY tedius search through faculty listings ends up happening at some point. You can pull up the rankings and then go through like the top 50-100 schools and look through faculty. This is very time consuming but I spread it out over 6ish months and have a great list of schools and professors now.

I think the key for people like you is to turn all of this into an awesome convincing story about why you are a great candidate for this program. Some things that I would think about for your SOP: What makes you a stronger candidate than your average student just out of college? How do different aspects of your experience contribute to your knowedge and how will these different perspectives benefit you in a phd program? I would not focus your SOP on how you were confused and now youre not. Instead, I would turn this around into all positives... you clearly have interdisciplinary interests based on your background so youre applying for an interdisciplinary program.. sounds like a perfect fit! By the way you wrote your post it seems a bit like you feel the need to convince us that you finally know what you want. I think that is actually completely unnecesary. Your background screams interdisciplinary phd program. Are you a better candidate for these sorts of programs (with a science bachelors and social science masters) than the average kid coming out of undergrad? of course! I think you have the perfect background for these programs. You GPAs arent amazing but theyre fine and it would be your experience that sets you apart anyway. I would try to think about how your experiences and degrees make you really qualified for this program. I really think that the way you present your story will make or break your acceptances.

Haha thanks for the stories guys. His mother does the same thing... calls us and tells what WE will be doing that weekend. Doesnt ask if we want to do that... tells us. I am used to parents who have always treated me as an adult (even before I was one!) and let me make my own decisions. In general, I am a quiet, passive person so its hard for me to be assertive, especially against her since she is such a bold, loud person. I finally stood up for myself a couple weeks ago and repectfully told her that we are adults and she needs to ask for our opinions, not make decisions for us. She basically told me that this is her personality so deal with it. My fiance and I have been discussing how to handle it in the future and he is willing to stand up to her as well. It is made worse by the fact that we live only 30 mins from her. He lived with them until we moved in together since he was trying to save money to buy a house so I think she feels like I took him from her. I am working on my masters now at the state school near us and applying to phd programs this winter... one year until we move very far away... Im counting the weeks!

TAs and RAs are uncommon for masters degrees. I went without assistance for the first semester of my MS. I got a 4.0 that semester and did research for a professor as a volunteer (like 20-30 hours a week). After a semester of that, my department offered me a living stipend and 25% off tuition. As far as I know, I am the only student in the department who was offered this. If you want a masters degree in the US then you generally have to pay for it, especially when it is in a professional field like marketing. I don't think that approaching professors, asking for money will get you very far. If they decide to pay a masters student to do research then it will probably be a student that they already know from teaching, not someone who emails them who they have never met. From what I have seen, professors perfer to use their grant money towards phd students who will be there for 5 years instead of MS students since by the time they get them up to speed with the lab concepts, they dont have very long to work before they graduate. Even though funding it uncommon for masters, it does sometimes happen. Certain departments seem better at funding masters students than others. Good luck... I hope you find something!

We have very similar research interests! I have lots of research experience in biophysical modeling and molecular dyanmics simulations and plan to apply to phd programs in the fall to continue working on these kinds of problems. You might actually find biophyics and computational biology programs a great fit. The phd programs that I will applying to to to MD/modeling work include biophysics, comp bio, quanitative biology, biochem, etc. it really depends on where a school puts the professors doing this sort of research so I would not plan on applying to chemE vs computational programs, I would apply to whichever program that particular school has put the professors who you share interests with. Also, I would focus less on which programs will care about your CS experience and instead shift your focus to which programs have professors doing what you want to do. chem engineering is a great major for moving into phd programs like biophysics and biocehm if that is your interest. Again, admission it is about how you fit with particular departments, not about whether you should apply to chemE or computational engineering. Feel free to PM if you want me to direct you to particular departments heavy in MD and computational chemistry work.

I can totally relate to this! I don't get annoyed by music unless it is loud and bothersome, for example when my favorite restaurants decide to have live music on friday nights... my version of hell. Usually, I am just completely indifferent to music. I sometimes listen to it in the car or while I run but not because i enjoy it, just because listening to the lyrics gives me something to do so that Im not completely bored. I usually prefer to listen to audiobooks instead anyway. I dont get the fascination with music either... to me there is nothing at all special about it. I mean, it fine. It seems to me that most of the world is in love with it and I just dont get it either. I almost feel like whatever people have going on in their brain that makes them love music is just broken in me. I wonder if I even hear the same thing that others hear when they listen to it... because what I hear is fine, but nothing that I would love and spend time downloading off the internet. Its nice to know that another person exists who feels like this... I thought it was just me!

I used magoosh and really liked it

I actually just asked my PI this yesterday and he said that it's a waste of time in his opinion. He said that it's time consuming and probably won't hurt or help. He recommended contacting if you get an interview/campus visit since then they will take more interest.

My fiance's mother is impossible to deal with. She doesnt ask us what we want to do or if plans work for us, she tells us what we will be doing and when we will do it. She treats us more childish than my parents treated me in middle school. Anyone else deal with stuff like this? Hearing other people's stories might make me feel better about my own bad luck.

I think that more research experience is always helpful. You can always do reading on your own as well for your phd topic.