VulpesZerda

Hmm, I was thinking about doing this for no reason other than I want to get it over with. Then I heard it can actually help your app. So, would you disagree? Obviously it wouldn't hurt, but maybe it just doesn't matter at all.

I'm not in grad school yet, but in high school and in my undergrad, I wouldn't feel awkward seeing a teacher or professor. Although, I have lived in areas where everyone drives, so I've never seen them on a train or anything. But I've actually seen a professor on the highway, lol. If I lived in a big city I would probably expect professors not to have a car. Seems silly in NYC unless you need it to visit family often or something. And as far as knowing where they live, I personally don't think that's very weird. Again, even in high school we knew where many teachers lived if they were in town, and if they coached a sport it was almost certain we would go to their house for a cookout at some point. I've even had a professor host a dinner party for one of my classes at his house. I'd imagine the level of comfort would maybe be about the same in grad school, considering everyone is a mature adult by then. Then again, maybe my experiences are due to growing up in a smallish town and attending a small undergrad institution.

I just remembered that I have this book called "How to Sew a Button and Other Nifty Things Your Grandmother Knew" by Erin Bried. It essentially has 100+ answers to the thread question! Examples: how to grow a vegetable garden, shine your own shoes, bake your own bread , etc. Check it out! http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0345518756?pc_redir=1402659369&robot_redir=1

^This sounds ideal! Thanks for all your ideas :-)

Wow, I bet you'd be good at backpacking a foreign country for an extended period of time! Thinking about the original post @bsharpe269...I wish I knew how to cut my own hair! I bet it would be easy because I don't have any layers, angles, coloring, etc. I also really want to pick up knitting sometime before the holidays. Last year, I got fed up with Christmas because there were multiple people who I got a gift card for, and they gave me the same gift card in the same amount. What the heck is the point of that?! I realized how gift giving should be a lot more personable if you actually care about the person. So I would like to make the majority of the gifts I give this year, whether it be clothes, food, anything. I'll probably frequent Pinterest to make this happen

I'm pretty good about the never spending money thing. I don't go shopping; I've never been one of those girls that buys shoes or clothes...I just wait until I need them. I tend to spend my money on travel or just one or two hobbies like photography and books and stuff. Owning too many things is something I would like to improve. Living with my parents makes it more difficult, because as soon as I go to get rid of stuff, my mom starts acting almost like a hoarder saying that I should keep it "just in case". But, a couple of years ago I got rid of all my furniture except a bookcase. No furniture is awesome. My box spring/bed just sit on the floor and I love it.

I'm thinking they would be possibilities for letter #3 under the assumption that my summer research goes well, which starts in about a week. I don't want to jump the gun since it hasn't started yet, but from what I understand, it is basically expected that I will ask my supervisor. It's one of those REU/SURF programs and I am a big fan of the professor! And the other letter would be my major advisor, who is currently supervising my thesis...he also let me work with his grad students my sophomore year so he knows me the best and knows I've been interested in research for several years now. So, if all goes well, all three letters will be from varying research experiences, which is why I'm being a little picky. I've been lucky to have many research experiences, but I rank them in my head and the lab with the "famous" PI wasn't great. It was only 5-10 hours per week and all I did was help collect data, nothing else. I didn't learn much.

I like it, thanks!

I don't want to hijack the thread at all, but I was relieved to read your post because I have been stressing about this issue. I think I made a thread about it a while ago but I'm still not sure after a recent conversation I had. I worked for a lab (in my field) for two semesters. It was a fantastic experience and I'm still friendly with my supervisor and the PI. Then a lab (unrelated to my interests) that they often collaborate with asked if I would work for them the following semester. This didn't go quite as well. I mean, it was fine, but I didn't accomplish anything special, barely met the PI, and had issues about lots of expenses related to the assistantship coming out of my pocket (that they promised to reimbursed but never did). I was relieved when it ended. Recently, when I was chatting with my supervisor at the first assistantship, she asked me who my third letter might come from. I said I'd love if she wrote it, since she has written one in the past, but she insisted the second lab's PI should do it since he is very famous. She knows about the issues I was having so I was surprised that she said that. I am scared to ask him and can't imagine what he could even write. He *is* very famous, but I never thought that was a good enough reason. Plus, he's not in my field, if that matters. How can I tell my first supervisor that I don't think I want to listen to her advice?

Are any of your professors around this summer doing any research? For the first few summers of undergrad I worked a full time job, but this summer I have made research a priority. It means I'll have less money, but I consider it a small investment in my future. My school is small but all my professors still work on projects throughout the summer. For example, one of my professors had a big survey data set that she just never had time for during the school year, so we spent a couple of weeks analyzing it, and now we have a conference poster submission sent in. Ask your professors if you can help out with anything at all, big or small. If publication/presentation doesn't come out of it, you can still put down on your CV that you assisted your professor for summer/fall semesters. Also, if you think some of your larger research papers are good, you can look for places to submit them for a research award. I'm in psychology, so for things like this I look at the Psi Chi International Honors Society website. Not sure about your field, but there's always something! I wouldn't say that this lack of experience would hurt your chances for a MA. Other candidates probably don't have tons of experience, either. As long as the rest of your stuff is good, such as GPA and GRE, I think you will be just fine. I'm pretty sure those two things are what most MA programs care about the most. At least you have the graduate level class to prove that you understand to workload and emphasis on research. I don't know much about MA funding since I'm not applying to any, but from what I've heard in my field you're definitely more likely to get funded for a PhD than a MA. I'm only applying to PhDs because I took out lots of loans for undergrad and don't want to pay much more. Depending on the rest of your stats, it might be worth a shot to apply to PhD programs. Maybe others can provide more insight because I haven't even applied yet so I'm no expert! Whether or not you should take out loans for a MA and be okay with it depends on a lot of things, such as the debt you already have, and how well a job in your field will pay.

I'm also coming from a small liberal arts college! I decided to go there because they have a 5 yr clinical psych BA/MA, but I'm no longer interested in clinical anymore. If it weren't for that program I probably would have attended a larger school, but the small school isn't bad.

There is a LOT! Go to a game at Fenway or do a tour of the park if you like baseball The Boston Public Library is amazing Boston Common and the Public Garden Castle Island I personally love the Aquarium and the waterfront is right there too Sorry I don't know much about things to do in Cambridge first hand, but I hear good things about Mt. Auburn Cemetery, and there are museums at both Harvard and MIT.

I love it! But, yeah, I think I need to be more realistic about my food budget since I go over it every month...

In summary, I'm really annoyed at my supervisor right now!! Posting that makes me feel just a little bit better. I don't want to provide details here, but if anyone wants to PM me, I'd like to see if you agree with me on this authorship issue...

Sounds great! Let's just hope I get in so that I can apply this advice :-)

Great advice for all, thanks! What do most people do the summer before they start their program? I wonder if that would be a better time for me to take a trip.

I'm starting to think that's the only way I'm going to make some progress with this. I have lots of free time right now but I don't do well with unstructured time, lol. I've been purposely working on my thesis and other projects all day instead. Luckily I'm taking part in an 8 week REU this summer that includes GRE classes twice a week. But that won't be enough, so I have to really get going on this!!

I'm an undergrad! I have some solid research experience (imo) and have had my interests nailed down for a while. Hoping this helps me.

Haha, interesting! If anything, travel could be a talking point when having a more casual conversation, I guess. It's probably the one thing that could make me seem mildly interesting. But, as an update about my OP, I will not be booking this trip unfortunately. I realized that I made a mistake reading my school's schedule, so I would be missing a few classes. That didn't seem like a good idea at all, on top of the possibility of interviews. I do hope I can plan something nice-ish after the process is over, though. It would be celebration of being done, and would distract me from the waiting game a little!

Okay, thanks. Looks like I have a difficult decision to make.

Hi all, today I found an amazing, hard to pass up deal for a trip to Europe (rt flight for $400--glitch fare) and the only dates available by the time I got to it were in mid January. I put Jan 10-20 on 24 hour hold to think about it. Thinking ahead, if I am lucky enough to be invited for an interview, are these dates likely to be an issue? Basically what I'm asking is, when are interviews typically? Most of my deadlines are Dec 1 or 15. I get the feeling that a program would not be happy at all if I couldn't make the date they asked. (By the way, I posted here instead of in the interview forum because I thought interview dates could possibly be a field specific thing.)

You're not alone in this, I'm the same way. It was so much easier to make friends as a kid but now I definitely hold people to high standards in everything without meaning to. Plus I've always been ahead of the curve with my overall maturity so when my friends acted immaturely I never found it as funny. Now I always say my best friends are my SO, my mom, and my cat. And I'm happy and content with this

Don't worry yourself too much. I actually got two B- in my first year and I will be finishing with a GPA between 3.85-3.89. I also have a couple of other small imperfections in there, of course. I think grad schools care a lot more about your major courses, and about your later years. They will also see that this was a challenging course for a first year. And one more thing is that there's a lot more to this than grades, so keep up everything else you're doing and you'll be fine!

Hi everyone! Glad our time has finally come :-) I feel as if I've been ready for a while, since I made the decision to put myself through this at the end of my freshman year, and ever since then I've been actively seeking advice and preparing. The one thing I'm probably behind on is GREs because every time I open a book or online program I get really sleepy ;-) I'm hoping this week is the week I finally get a set studying schedule down and stick to it. I'll be applying to social/health PhD programs (promotion and prevention) and I'm excited. I have a solid list of 15 or so with good matches, but my SO is trying to negotiate with me regarding location. If any cuts are made later on, that would be the reason, but, we've tabled the topic for the time being thank goodness. Anyways, if anyone thinks they are applying to similar programs, let me know!

Thanks very much! Looks like MPH would be a good idea if a PhD rejection led me into the workforce. I'm currently paying my monthly loan interest for my undergrad degree. It's hard sometimes, but definitely worth it. Man do I hate money...!