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Jungshin

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Everything posted by Jungshin

  1. Agreed with this advice. For MSc without funding (which is hard to get in the first place), you just need a little luck to find that professor with extra funding who's willing to take a chance on you. Don't give up, it's like online dating but with research.
  2. Yes I changed my mind. I'm also desperately waiting for my CGS results. haha.
  3. Wow Congratulations guys, I'm still desperately waiting for my PGS results.
  4. Time management and multitask experiments. Only if you know what you're already familiar with what you're doing though. But most importantly, carefully plan out your experiments and know exactly how you'll be doing certain experiments and why! Nothing worse than efficiently running multiple, meaningless experiments. Always stay on track on your research goals or you'll be that guy who's been doing his PhD for 10 years.
  5. When life feels like a cruel joke

  6. I wish it was late March so I can hear back from NSERC! Been holding off more applications until I have their decision... Anyone think it's a bad idea? Should I just make the applications now? Deadlines for the programs that I want to apply to are in May or June, although they encourage you to apply early for a higher chance to find potential supervisors. I've made applications for places where the deadline is prior to NSERC decision date, but I'm unsure when it comes to schools with later deadlines. In the end, really because applications are expensive and I'd rather make as little as possible. I'm looking to go into molecular biology and etc, finding a supervisor is the most important step and having NSERC would definitely help. If I don't have it, well then I'll be making traditional applications. Any thoughts? starting to freak out a little.
  7. If a man hasn’t found something he’s willing to die for, he isn’t fit to live.

    1. fuzzylogician

      fuzzylogician

      My field of study is something I enjoy and want to do as a career, but I don't want to die for it. It doesn't define my identity. But then, I'm not a man so maybe none of this applies to me.

  8. Agreed with dropthebase. Stay positive. Don't think of it like you're quitting or giving up smoking, but instead think in terms of starting a new life and finally becoming free from the choke-hold nicotine had on you. You're capable of doing all those things without a cigarette, don't let it control your day and life. It does not help you concentrate. Cigarettes do nothing but distract you because you're always thinking about when you can have the next one. This may sound like jibberish, but you have to change your state of mind to give up an addiction.
  9. Too much uncertainty makes unhappy me.

  10. see it worse for people who's studied neuroscience caused we know how it works. Used to tell myself that nicotine just makes me smarter when I'm studying due to it being a more potent activator of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors comparatively to natural neurotransmitters. And then I'd smoke like a chimney before exams to practice state-dependent learning. Funny enough, my GPA sky-rocketed when I picked up smoking leaving trail of lowly non-smokers behind. But I quit in grad school after looking at my career direction and my dream of becoming a professor. In the end, I determined that it would help to live longer in academia.
  11. That's rather an assumptive comment. You should explore all possibilities after your PhD. You might be surprised by where you end up.
  12. You do understand that those sales representatives make shit load of money right? 60-80K+ with base and commission. And these jobs are really hard to obtain as they are usually reserved for females with PhD and postdoc experience. I say female, not because I'm sexist, but because it's almost fact that female sales representatives have higher potential. I wouldn't feel too bad for them. They made a choice to pursue money instead of research.
  13. Unless you were Barack Obama or Stephen Harper, you should not be sending Christmas cards to professional acquaintances. And I personally would not say anything to these rock stars. The most they can practically do for you is keep you updated on whether offers or interviews were sent out, which you can do on the internet anyway.
  14. Good, Glad it worked out. There are so many examples of confusing and perplexing situations regarding recommendation letters, and I'm glad that yours is a happy ending.
  15. Maybe the 'more information' you gave her didn't help your case. Or maybe she just changed her mind and now she's too busy. Or maybe she thought you were someone else when you dropped by her office. Whatever the case is, I wouldn't pursue it. I would agree with the poster above and ask X or find another professor to write an LOR for you. Sorry about your situation.
  16. Maximum possible retardation varies by department. I know some allow 14 days to receive all supporting information, and some have Zero flexibility. You should send a nice email to the department explaining your circumstances, and then send even a nicer email to your referee telling them to hurry the fuck up.
  17. I'd first determine whether this personal information is 100% crucial and beneficial to your application. Yes? then it'll sound better if it's coming from your referees... since if it comes from your own writing, you may (or may not) just sound like a whiner making excuses. I'm sure your referees will have no problem including this information for you anyway as long as both of you are on the same page.
  18. It really depends on the departmental/admission system of the institution of interest. As far as I understand there are three primary methods: 1) contact professor prior to making an application to receive general support that he/she would take you as a graduate student once you are accepted into the school. In this scenario, the department with not even consider your application unless you have at least one professor's support. (In this system, most of your stipend is coming directly from your supervisor) 2) Apply to the department where they will consider your application first, and once accepted to the department, they provide you with a list of faculty members that are able to take in graduate students that year. You will make contact with them and once you have a support of a professor, you will get a final notice of acceptance. (On average, the stipend varies for this system, where university fellowships and departmental awards help professors subsidize some of the costs). 3) Apply to the department, interview, and get accepted by the department. You start your PhD with laboratory rotations where you will gain experience in 3 different laboratories. The entire process may range from 6 months to a year, after which you will decide a single professor and a project you want to work with. In this scenario, it's rare for the student to get kicked out after rotations, and the department in most cases will make sure that you find a position. (The department will also pay your stipend during your rotations, the rest I'm not sure where it comes from but I'm sure you'll get it). extra 4) you're a self-funded student who's willing to pay for your own living expenses and research costs associated with your degree. You pay for everything. adds up to 50,000 dollars per annum and you apply like number 1), while mentioning that you have independent source of funding. Only place that still allows this to my knowledge is UK. Sorry if you weren't interested in the stipend information, but I think it's important for people to know where it's coming from.
  19. I think a jerk would be someone who says they'll be happy to write one for you, only to submit a terrible letter that you could have received from 'that' prof down the hall. In most recommendation letters, the professor has to categorize the student of interest into percentiles based on academic performance as objectively as they can. top 5%, 10%, 20%, 40%, and so on. Hard to say what the class average was, but at most universities, a B- wouldn't stand in a good category. And honestly, we'll never really know what this professor is thinking. We're only hearing one side of the story here.
  20. Well I'm sorry about how it turned out then. Since you did mentioned it (it being sensitivity), just an advice from someone who has been through grad school by research, you should get used to that feeling of inferiority. Supervisors will mock you left and right whether it's intentional or not (in most cases, they know exactly well what their saying and implying). It's up to you to rise above and demonstrate scientifically that you're capable of research. PhDcomics will shed some light into this. Again best wishes on your applications.
  21. Best wishes on your applications and I'm glad that you have enough LORs. EDIT: I wrote something rather mean and then I deleted it. mainly because you seem like a smart kid and I'm sure this was just a joke.
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