Mauve23

I am a first year grad student, and have voiced some of my concerns here already. So as one student to another. Be prepared to do WAY more work! And in much more detail. And for me personally, undergrad. school was pretty easy, but in grad. school I did have to result to outside help, such as tutors etc..so be ready for that. Also if your program is MA/PHD, you will most likely have classes with PhD students who probably know WAY more than you. Just accept this fact and learn from it. Finally as I was advised, if you do not get perfect scores, talk to the professors because you wanna know what you are doing wrong. I don't know how it will be for your major, but for mine our grade is pretty much just based on a final paper, so everything depends on that.

A professional job does NOT entail you should give up on having any relationships, pets, children, friends, hobbies, or time off to just relax. You are thinking about this all wrong. Thinking about this as a professional job means you devote a certain part of the day (=the working hours) to your studies, and the rest of the time can be devoted to whatever else is happening in you life, including all those other things. It's really important to have something else in your life beside school, whatever that is. Otherwise, you'll burn out very quickly.  

I am going to devote all my resources to getting A's in my coureses and doing well in my assistantship duties, sure I'll interact with the other students at times but I think everything else will be less priority. People say grades are not important but you need to have high grades to maintain your funding
 
Also I am glad I have no other responsibilities e.g. Pets, relationship, children, etc. if you have those they will just be a big distraction to your studies. I'm also giving up all the pleasures I used to do like video games during my doctoral studies, I'm just treating it like a professional job now which it is.

Eigen has good pointers. I want to add that things will be much harder in grad school, especially during your first year. Be prepared! Your wellbeing is the top priority. You can't work 24/7! That said, schedule in down times to unwind. Seek supports from your cohort and be friends with them, or find a hobby that you can do when you are not studying/doing research. This will make your transition a lot smoother and prevent burnouts.
 
It is especially important to stay optimistic. Being pessimistic will really erode your motivation slowly, to a point of causing you to drop out. This is most prevalent when you are in the middle of your PhD. I have bouts of existential crisis and doubts of my own ability from time to time, the advice I got is "never fear, push forward!". Take baby steps when it seems too much. 

Natural thinking zone? Wat? The only thing I think about is stream or pellets. Floating or sinking. One fold two fold , cuz don want that finger to break through yo. Sometimes I'm forced to contemplate why it didn't come out normal. And 100% of the time my cat barges in or sticks his hands under the door. Too much going on to be reading

'Academic in-breeding' is an old-fashioned way of thinking that stems from a time when all academics were rich white European men who could travel wherever they wanted. Times have changed, therefore, many people's opinions have changed. Some people still have this pretentious and out-dated view and I personally feel sorry for them. It is a naive view, in my opinion. You can go to a different school and end up being more closed-minded than staying at the same school. Changing locations does not mean better education, it depends on a multitude of factors. And given that your decision was pragmatic and based on funding, I think you may have made the right choice (not to mention you said it fits your research interest best which should be the number one factor in  making a decision!!).
 
I wouldn't worry about it, if an employer's only reason to not hire you is because you went to the same school for your undergrad and grad then I'd say good riddance, I wouldn't want to work for that pretentious and ignorant employer anyway.

If you feel unworthy of the money, you can always donate it to charity. The spellbanisher relief fund is a very worthy cause.

Two weeks ago I was beyond thrilled to have finally made a decision! I was giddy telling everyone the news and I even ordered myself a sweatshirt from my new university.
 
Now that the initial excitement has worn off I'm definitely feeling nervous about leaving my friends and family behind! I feel like I'm gonna be out on this new adventure all alone and everyone's gonna move on with their lives without me and I'm gonna miss out on their new accomplishments.
 
I have to keep reminding myself what a perfect fit my program is for me and how excited I was to be there for interview day. AND that I'll be making new friends within my cohort once I arrive who I will (hopefully!) end up becoming as close with as I am with my current college/high school friends.
 
I also agree with starofdawn that each school has a different way of handling their incoming class and that makes a huge difference!
 
Long story short, I totally hear where you're coming from!

Oh my goodness! I'm terrified! But I'm super stoked for all of the new adventures and exciting things like that! I love traveling, so living in a new place (especially a city when I've been in a suburban town most of my life and attended a school in a rural town) will be crazy and scary and absolutely awesome. Plus, I will be on my own for the most part. That will be a new sensation. However, I certainly cannot wait to get into my classes. Not looking forward to all of the homework and stuff, but I cannot wait for the amazing discussions that I will get to listen to (and hopefully feel confident enough to participate in!).
 
Hopefully, everything goes smoothly for all of you and that it starts out exciting and entrancing! Good luck!

Being disproportionately sad about something CAN be a sign of depression. Even people who have everything seemingly "perfect" in their lives can still be depressed because it's a chemical imbalance, not a life imbalance. Why must you be so flippant about it? There's no "right" way to be depressed. 

My fear is the other person thinks like me and sends me back a 'thank you' to my 'thank you.' Then I'll be obliged to thank them back. And so on and so on. Until I move there in September. 

Make small goals for the time period between now and your move. If there's anything in your hometown that you've always wanted to do and haven't done, take time to do it. If there's a book you've always wanted to read, read it, because this might be your last chance for recreational reading for a while. If you don't have time to go on a big summer vacation, go on day trips or hikes or camping, just to relax and revel in not having anything else you need to do yet. If you absolutely can't get grad school out of your head, reread some of the most important books in your field, or email your advisor asking if they have any recommendations that you haven't read yet. Look over your department's requirements and map out a tentative plan for the next couple of years (when to take which types of courses, when to start major research, etc.). Even if it all changes later, you'll still feel like you're one step closer to your dream

I've started procrastinating to an alarming extent after getting an admit to grad school. So not I have 3 major projects and 2 assignments to do in 3 weeks, apart from studying for exams coming up in a month
 
I am so screwed! I just want to graduate fast and get on with preparing for grad school. But this laziness is killing me!

While I think you're being a bit inflammatory and rude, I agree. The general advice in the rest of the forums is to never take on a grad degree that isn't paid for or has a stipend, even for the fields that will lead to decent paying careers. Somehow in the art forum however, people seem willing to even consider 100k of debt. I honestly think it's a lack of realization of how much money it actually is and the fact that by the time you've paid up with all the interest, you've actually paid more like 200k. Maybe it's because people get into other fields for practical reasons more often whereas most artists are in it for love of craft and it seems somehow not classy to care about money.

I have seen someone get into 100+k of debt to go to their dream school for a non-lucrative career and years later, they are stressed and pinned down by debt. So I have to say that people really need to run the numbers - how much will your monthly payments be, how long will it take to pay it off or get loan forgiveness, and can you afford that on a small or unstable salary in two years...

I wouldn't worry about the rankings too much. For me, the most important question is the research fit, and it sounds like Northwestern wins on that one. It sounds like you've already identified great mentors you'd like to work with and the program is friendlier than UCSD, so there is no reason why you shouldn't be able to get a great education there. More generally, planning according to 'what if I fail' seems less helpful than planning for success. You're going to grad school for a purpose, namely to obtain an education that will carry you on to the next stage in life (be it as a researcher, teacher, industry worker, or something else). I'd go to the place you expect to prepare you best, not to the place where you'll have a better life if the education plan doesn't quite work out.

Hahahahahaha!

I am so sorry to hear all things you are getting through, also, I can exactly feel your feelings since I got 3 rejection without any ad or offers, and other 6 schools didn't reply my emails. I am in China, the most fucked up thing is checking email box as I opening my eyes on the morning and I find there is nothing but rejections I received before. Yeah, for sure, the process of waiting is quite hard for any of us, but we must find a way out, aren't we? my solution is getting prepare for another IBT exam, and do my final paper in rest of time, this makes me feel better, and helps me to find the feelings when I decided to go aboard to get a master degree, you know,that's good, and enable me to turn into a peace condition. While the result might be bad, the process is a sort of gift or kinda exercise, I believe we will gain more than we expected.
Martin Luther King, Jr. said we must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope. And my words are "good things take time, so be patient." This my first post in this forum, I hope my those words could be helpful, and good luck.

Honestly, it really doesn't matter at all how 'smart' you are. There are always going to be people who know more than you do.
 
The only thing that matters IMO for school and/or academia is how hard you are willing to work and how many sacrifices you are willing to make (as long as you are at some certain level of intelligence of course).
 
I was of average intelligence in high school, average intelligence in my community college, and average intelligence in the top 2 university in my country. I finished first class honours and won awards for the best honours thesis.
 
You know what I learned? The people who think they are smart and are 'all-stars' really aren't. The people who knew their limitations and worked to improve them are the real 'smart' kids in the class.
 
If this feels like a 'if you work hard enough you can beat anyone' post, it isn't. The sooner you realize that everyone is smarter than you in a certain way, or on a certain topic, the better.
 
Because at the end of the day, it really doesn't matter if you can beat someone in an argument in class, or know a bunch of stuff about X, Y, and Z. 

It's a master's program - whatever location you choose, you'll only be there for 2 years and you can always move to the preferred location after you finish your program.  So I wouldn't choose based on location; two years flies by really quickly and Atlanta's actually a pretty great city.  (Biased, though.  I'm from there.  But there are a lot of development organizations in Atlanta, especially if you are interested in health at all.)
 
I also doubt that you will always wonder what it was like to go to Berkeley.  If Emory is a good school in your field, you will take great, engaging classes; you will work with bright professors and you will network and get an internship and get busy, basically.  Then you'll get a job, and you'll work.  Emory has pretty good name recognition nationally, too.  If 2-3 years from now you're still holding onto wondering what it could've been like to go to Berkeley, I think other things would be at play.
 
So here's what I think: if you want to work in development in general, and Emory is a good program in your field, then you should go there.
 
If it's very important to you to specifically go to Berkeley, and you don't think you would be able to work in the field the way you want to work if you don't specifically go to Berkeley (like they offer some special thing that only they have) - then don't go to Emory and wait a year to reapply.  But do yourself a favor and don't apply anywhere else.  If it's Berkeley or bust, what's the point of applying anywhere else?  (I'm saying this not to be snarky, but as a thought exercise.  Consider how that feels.  If you turn down Emory this year, you are basically saying that nowhere but Berkeley is an acceptable alternative for you.)
 
Also consider that at this point you only have about 4-6 months before you would have to reapply; what adjustments would you be able to make to your application that would improve it?  It would be essentially the same as it is right now, unless you're doing some great internship/program right now that would bump you into the accept box.  But you've already said that you have a lot of field experience and extensive work in the non-profit sector, so I doubt one more year of the same is what kept you out of Berkeley this round and will get you in next round.  Did Berkeley give you any feedback about what minor improvements to make?  Because if they didn't, their response is almost as bad as nothing.

In my opinion - the application process is very fickle and you might not be accepted to either program next year. If you are fine with that possibility, go ahead and reapply. If not, I would stick with Emory. You might be qualified to be accepted to Emory this year, but anything can change that would make you unqualified next year.

My S.O. hasn't traveled outside the US, & he's really into brewing beer. I'd like to do a "beer-hopping" backpacking tour of Europe, after our work seasons are over so we've got time & money to spare. He could experience international travel & learn a lot about brewing, & I'd have a chance to see places I haven't been (Germany, Belgium, Czech Rep., Ireland, Netherlands). I love traveling, he loves brewing, we love adventures. Also, I mean, hey— any excuse to drink tasty beers & eat tasty cheese, right?

This isn't so much about ranking as it is about department culture in a way, but I definitely see what you're getting at.  I have always felt that if you are the smartest person in the room, you are in the wrong room.  It may be an adjustment if you are not used to being challenged, but I think people that genuinely enjoy learning thrive in environments where the material is challenging and you have the opportunity to learn from not only your professors, but also your peers.

You may need some time to adjust to being challenged, but I think if you're aware that challenges will come and you're open to taking them as a learning experience and not as a blow to your ego, you will be great.  Be excited!  You might look like a fool, but so does everyone at some point.  Your peers face the same risk.  Learning is hard, and that's why it's so damn rewarding.  Just anticipate the challenges/struggles, don't take them personally (easier said than done, I know), and do your best.  You will grow so much more when you are being pushed!  I think you'll do very well.

It seems to me that the distinguishing characteristic of a good scholar is professional integrity. Professional integrity would not allow the good scholar to make unsubstantiated claims, ignore or misuse evidence, engage in excessive sophistry, avoid answering the question at hand. Y'all are fucking graduate students. Why are you making up arbitrary percentages and throwing around concepts you haven't seen since 9th grade physics? Metabolism research is not your subfield. I suspect it is not even your discipline. Why are you opening your traps (without a single cue from the OP), when what you say can neither prove nor illuminate the subject at hand or the subject that you so eagerly try to foist upon this topic? You have done 0 research on the topic of obesity, body weight, and metabolism. You have read 0 peer-reviewed articles. You vehemently refuse, above all, to listen to anybody who does not agree with your viewpoint. Your knowledge of this topic is equivalent to that which is expected of a first-semester freshman. I am sure that you, like the freshman, have many bright ideas and exhibit potential. But right now, you have nothing of substance to say. 
 
So shut the fuck up and sit the fuck down.

This forum has a terrifying lack of empathy, and understanding of BASIC concepts regarding food politics, body politics, disabilities and general human decency. 
 
Seriously I'm beginning to think they should require a basic sociology class, something that covers poverty, disability, race -- certainly maybe some of you can try looking up "food deserts". 
 
Or....basic economics: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128621057
 
It doesn't even matter if the OP is serious or not, and what the cause of their weight is. Personally I'd rather be around someone who "chose" to be fat than a bunch of people who choose to be assholes.