katerific

Our posts were only a minute apart. I like you.

waiting and waiting and waiting and etc.

Just a sidenote/PSA: The worst part about New Jersey is all the people who bitch about New Jersey. They make me want to dial whine one one and get a WAAAAHmbulance asap. NJ is actually pretty normal and alright in terms of places in the US you could live. Oh, and the traffic on some roads is also pretty terrible, but I don't think it's worse than other places I've lived (i.e. major cities elsewhere). tl;dr: RU is a'ight

Oh man, I remember. As an undergrad, back in the day, I could stay up in the computer lab all night, fueled by nothing but coffee. I think I also walked uphill both ways in the snow to get to my office, and there were saber-toothed tigers all along the way. uh, I guess at this point you only have 24 hours or so left, but uh... good luck. If you aren't done, work like hell. You can do it! [/Rob Schneider]

Dropbox, Amazon Prime, etc. But just wanted to reiterate--ask other students (both grads and undergrads!) if they have extra student discount cards. I don't know where they come from (I guess local landlords/property management places?), but some people have them, and they're magical. 15% every Subway purchase? 10% off the local froyo place? awesome.

I am not a fan of whiskey, so I usually stick to vodka or gin. BUT if you're looking for endurance (i.e. a looong night out without blacking out), I'd say something like Coors Light. Go ahead and judge, but you can pretty safely drink this for hours on end without passing that point of ickiness. (Unless you hate cheap beer. In that case, ignore this advice.) Something like Long Islands are good for getting the job done if the friend is not in to alcohol. If they are, and they like whiskey/any derivatives, go with that. I have to agree with Jameson--not a fan of the genre, but it's a pretty solid choice. for the frugal, if you plan on going out: pregaming is KEY. I cannot understate its importance. Avoid tequila. 99.1% of bad alcohol-related stories (that I've heard) seem to involve tequila. I have not actually done that stats on this, so I can't give you any uncertainty on that number.

Yes. Drowning is a great word to describe it. There are a lot of really good, qualified grad students who do not get encouragement or reassurance from their advisors. However, I don't think the converse ever happens (i.e., an advisor is confident in a bad student). If your advisor gives you reassurance, att the very least trust your advisor on that! Echoing what juilletmercredi said, just about everyone feels this at some point. People have different ways of coping. For example, people who appear confident may be totally faking it. Even the person I consider to be THE BEST student in my program--she has a lot of doubts. Even the "weaker" students in the program have them--but by NO MEANS are they bad students. Everyone's pretty good. You got in for a reason. You're a good student and a good researcher with good potential. I will say, though, don't compare yourself to other people--there are plenty of other grad students who seem perfect, but that doesn't mean you're bad, by any means. One thing you could do, though, to help convince yourself--examine your performance vs what the advisor expects. Sometimes, advisors are unrealistic. At the same time, some of us could improve. Like, reading an extra paper (or 5, 10) per week, doing a few extra hours in the lab, etc. If you're already at your max, you're probably doing a good job. Even if you aren't, you're still probably doing a good job (unless you are SERIOUSLY slacking, but this doesn't seem to be the case). Okay, there was a lot of rambling here, but the bottom line is that you're not alone!

1. CONFERENCES AND NETWORKING. I. Love. Conferences. This is probably my favorite thing (not to say that I don't love the others, especially #2--I do, and a lot!) 2. Doing something that is intellectually stimulating. Challenging, yes, but it's great when it's a topic that you love. I get overly excited about some topics... it's terrible/terribly AWESOME. 3. Flexibility in terms of hours. I am fine working 80+ hours a week as long as you don't make me wake up by 9.... seriously. 4. I am totally okay with (and may secretly love) being in the lab for hours upon hours as long as I have some music/NPR/This American Life/Radiolab/Game Grumps commentary/etc. Bonus points if it's me+the most awesome people in the department (and in that case, I don't even need the above listed!). 5.1 My cohort is very cool and tight. Small department, but lots of students with similar life goals/interests/etc. Took a while to get to that point where I am pretty friendly with most of them, but it's great. 5.2 In general, I work with people who have similar interests and/or beliefs, even if they aren't close or aren't my friends. 6. Student + faculty benefits. Awesome health insurance, lots of freedom in terms of parking (here, at least), student discounts. + some other things I may be omitting, be these are the basics for me.

While ya'lls are waiting. Reaction gif time. Waiting for results: When the grfp site is down for some unknown reason: BUT IT'S A FALSE ALARM:

Well, in my field, any sort of crazy hair seems to be okay. Not sure how much it varies between fields.... but a cleaner look is always good for a first impression, at least. One option, perhaps, may be to slick it back? I feel like most of the guys in Mad Men actually have the same length (i.e. above the eyes), and that's what they do. But I really know nothing about short hair (<10 inches) and about dude hair, because I am female and have always had long hair, haha. If you do cut it for the interview... it will grow back, fortunately.

Dude, a million e-hugs to you. Honestly, his reaction sounds completely inappropriate. COMPLETELY f'ing ridiculous. I think everyone has given some good tips, but definitely talk to your program director. Personally, I suggest explaining to him/her what exactly happened. I assume it varies from program to program, but my impression is that programs would rather help students get a degree of some sorts rather than just, you know, yell at them inappropriately and cut them off completely. It is true that they HAVE invested time and money in you, but it'd be infinitely more constructive to help you get a degree and help you not fall off the map--wouldn't it look better for the school and the advisor? I mean, that's just my logic, so yeah. Here are some dogs hugging.

OP: it's okay. A lot of people get nervous. They see this a lot. It's one presentation. To echo what other people said, don't drop out of the class. You could email someone/the prof and ask them what they thought, though. It may be bigger and badder in your head. Dang, I think if I tried this, I would cringe so hard that I would just hide under my bed for the rest of my life. But it sounds solid... I will probably try this. It's only been recently that I've become semi-comfortable with presenting in front of a small class. I can't even imagine talking at a conference yet. EUYCK. edit: oh, I just remembered. My friends and I joke about recording the talk and setting the ppt to run automatically so that at conferences you just hit play and stand there. The mental image makes me laugh. Ha.