kimmibeans

Unless you are a total asshole in person, you should have your pick of schools. Your profile makes me incredibly jealous!

So, fellowships and grants normally go toward your research. However, sometimes they can go toward a stipend increase or new supplies such as a computer it depends on the limitations of the fellowship/grant. Even if you don't, applying for and receiving grants looks great for your lab and for you. In terms of your lab, it increases funding coming into the lab and thus helps provide for your research and other research in the lab, as your lab is funded by the grants it receives. Additionally, the more grants and fellowships you receive the more competitive you become for jobs when you graduate. Assistantships are different. Assistantships are essentially extra jobs you can take on for money and experience, such as teaching.

I agree with Plan B. Most schools will help you find affordable housing options (I know that quite a few in New York City subsidize rent) and you can always take up a TA or tutoring position for extra cash. Fit is the most important thing when looking at a PhD program. Apply to programs which seem like a good fit for you and your research interests. When you are accepted, that is when you can get more information about cost of living. These are also excellent questions to ask other students during your interviews.

We're not rolling admissions... I take that back. Sorry, I was up until 2am doing a Western

Turns out staying neutral was a good call. This insanity is getting worse. Why can't we all just get along?

I just use google calendar. It sends notifications to my phone and I can veiw it from anywhere

There's as bunch of drama happening on the staff Facebook for an organization I volunteer with and it's driving me nuts. Essentially there is one person playing victim about something that happened and is making a big stink. There were faults on both sides, but she is overwhelming the conversation and anybody who disagrees or points out facts is "bullying" her. Now people are taking sides without hearing the whole story and shit is hitting the fan. Part of me wants to go in and just tell her and everyone else to get over themselves, but I know it is better politically to stay neutral and ride it out since I am not involved in this at all. Therefore, I'm sitting on the sidelines with popcorn watching the world burn and waiting for the dust to settle.

Hehe, funny you should say that because that's almost exactly what ended up happening to me. I went from HIV and infectious disease to mitochondrial disorders and heart disease. It wasn't on purpose, it kind of just happened and I absolutely love the research I'm doing. I do want to go back to infectious disease for my post-doc though, and my research is rooted in cell biology so I can carry the skills I learned over. Point being, it's okay to change your mind.

I nearly got into a major accident today (took a turn too fast onto an exit ramp and spun out, ending up in the middle of the divider). I'm okay and somehow managed to gain enough control of the car to not hit anything while I was spinning, so the car is okay too. It was just terrifying and I'm a bit shaken up and kind of dizzy, which is odd considering this happened about 3 hours ago. On the bright side, I may have what it takes to be a professional stunt driver if this whole PhD thing doesn't work out.

I'm on vacation and my phone died. Note, it's not out of charge, iit's bricked. It's super frustrating because I have an upgrade in two weeks so I don't want to buy a new phone, but my warranty is up and my insurance won't cover it because it is a manufacturing defect. Ugh, I Verizon so much right now! Thank God I came on trip with boyfriend so I have his phone for emergencies and to keep track of our plans.

I found that either running or meditation works for me as a way to reset myself.

My boyfriend's cousin and her friend are in town, and this morning he asked me if I'd like to go out for dinner and drinks with them, to which I said yes. It's now getting late and I haven't heard from him. I've been trying to get a hold of him for 2 hours and he is totally unresponsive. It wouldn't be so bad if I didn't have other things to do and I don't want to start something I can't finish, like laundry. It doesn't help that I'm starving but because I don't know what's going on I don't want to grab anything to eat. It wouldn't bother me so much if this wasn't a consistent problem. Usually it's not that he's purposely ignoring me or anything, 90% of the time he's asleep or doesn't have his phone with him, but it's really annoying. He's gotten better over the years about it, but it is still super frustrating.

Admittedly I'm not teaching, but I find that it's all about time management. I do about 10 hours a week volunteering, plus 3-7 hours of school-related extracurriculars, depending on the week. I try to plan my lab work so that if I have to some time off one day I can make it up later that week (staying late or coming in weekends if I have to) It's a lot of work sometimes, but it's important to me so I don't mind.

I would talk to your PI about this, because it is a problem. Don't go in shouting "He stole my research!" But do explain that your mentor is not doing his job. It sounds like your mentor is not doing any actual mentoring, so it is best to talk to your PI and explain the situation, especially that he is doing the aims of your research project without you and expects you to come up with a new project because he did half of yours. The PI will probably then either talk to him or give you a different mentor if possible. To make a long story short, this is a serious problem and you NEED to tell your PI before it is too late for you to fix anything.

I have a similar question. I am debating between a Samsung Galaxy Edge and a Droid Turbo 2. I'm leaning toward the Turbo 2 because I've had Droids for about 4 years and I've loved them (except for the Droid 3, which was terrible and was sent to me by my insurance to replace my R2D2 Droid 2 which was amazing), but I've heard awesome things about the Galaxy Edge. Any advice?

Seriously? That's totally stupid.

I don't think you need that much research experience for a Master's program, so I think you will be okay for getting into a Master's program, but I don't know about UMass Boston specifically (mostly because I know nothing about this school). Diversify your application and apply to a few more schools, and I think you may stand a chance. Also, when looking at stats it is more important to look at what type of applicants the accept rather than how many. They should have the class profile or FAQ with relevant information up on their website, so I recommend taking a look at that seeing what the average GPA is and how many of their accepted applicants have sustained research experience. That will give you a much better estimation of your chances than acceptance rates alone. Edited To Add: So I looked at the UMass Biology MS requirements, and it sounds like they don't expect you to have any research experience, just a really strong academic background. You can also contact the department and ask for the information I mentioned.

We've done this a few times. Keep the conversation flowing and have fun. This is an opportunity for the lab to see how they get along with the candidate, so discuss science but remember to try to have an interesting convesation. The seminar is before hand, so during seminar take down notes on interesting points you can ask about over lunch. Ask them about themselves, not just about their PhD and their work but also general questions like "Is it your first time in [city]? How do you like it?". Remember, you are assessing whether they are a good fit both in research interest AND personality.

My experience was pretty much the same as aberrant's, except my verbal portion was not open to the public; it was just my committee and me.

Damn. Officially, any extra work we do must be to improve on our education and skills. So, you can tutor or teach, but you can't get a job as a CVS cashier.

I found a really awesome part time job doing museum tours a few times a week which I would LOVE. However, it requires flexible hours which I *technically* have, but I would need to ask my boss for permission if I should get it. I would really love this job too, because it would be great career prep for me (I plan on going into science outreach and education).

Your GPA is definitely low for a PhD program. Not insurmountable, but really low, which means you have to really work hard to overcome it. An honors thesis definitely helps, but I don't think that alone will be enough, even with a high GRE. There are a few ways you can overcome this: 1) Do the Master's program and to prove you have an advanced understanding of biology 2) Work a few years as a tech doing research and taking classes 3) Do a post-bacc program designed to prepare you for research, such as PREP (Einstein, Columbia, and I think NYU and Mt. Sinai have programs like this). PREP is great because you get a stipend, work full time in a lab, take grad courses, and get free GRE prep and more personalized help for the application process. If you can show that you are able to think like a scientist, you will be fine. But it will be hard work. As for the Columbia program, I honestly don't know. Is the $65k just tuition, or is that including room and board and fees?

"I can totally keep doing all the hobbies and volunteer work I do now while in grad school"

You have a good mix of schools that you are applying to, and your stats and experience are great. You don't need a publication to competitive, so don't worry about it. You are very competitive applicant. With that being said, it's always good to apply to safety, just make sure it's a place where you can still do good research and be happy. Good luck!

Your stats are good, but the fact that you don't have much of a biology background will be an issue. I wouldn't try to apply this semester if I were you. I would take a year or two more of doing full time lab work and courses to compensate for your background. However, I am confident that with more experience you'll get in to some great programs.