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Eigen

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Everything posted by Eigen

  1. Eigen
    Honestly, you shouldn’t aim to “ace” the GRE. It’s not a significant enough factor in grad admissions. Getting a “good” score is fine- put your time into other parts of the application. As a small selection of data, no one I met in grad school took it more than once, and most of my colleagues either studied minimally, or not at all. I used the free GRE practice tests from ETS, then took it. My score wasn’t amazing, but it was fine (similar to @lewin, like 94%V, 86%M) and I didn’t think twice about using it and moving on.
  2. Eigen
    Most of what makes research valuable is not the field/subfield specific nature- it’s learning how to take a project through a longer time period to see ups and downs. That’s usually more about depth (sticking with one area) than breadth. You can pick up new techniques pretty fast in a new lab in grad school, most profs don’t care as much about the specific skills (one assay or a type of instrument) as they do a long period of in depth work in a research environment.
  3. Eigen
    Getting an MA when leaving is pretty standard. It’s not surprising that the requirements are different than for getting one as part of your PhD. As to the summer funding... if the advisor had grant money and was willing to pay, that’s not program favoritism. It’s their money, and they think this is a worthwhile expenditure. Many things in grad school (and after) are about networking and convincing people that you need or deserve funding for things. Some people are better at selling themselves and their work than others. Take this as a learning experience to advocate for yourself. It might be that you could have gotten your advisor to hire you for the summer, or gotten your MA the same way. Did you ask?
  4. Eigen
    First, you’re responding to a post from 7 years ago. Second, it’s not part of a job description as a professor to respond to former students. And it takes a minute or two, sure, but I receive, as a junior faculty member, well over 100 emails a day many days that I need to respond to. My senior colleagues get several hundred. I would also argue that not receiving a response is a tacit “no”. To be clear, I respond to all of my students emailed requests and questions, but the expectation that it’s part of a job or required... is over the top.
  5. Eigen
    Good compilation of advice from early career faculty to new grad students. @Gradslack compiled the questions and asked them to the @NewPi_Slack community via Twitter, then compiled the answers. Nice range of topics from keeping up with literature, preparation for becoming a PI, and the perennial favorite of dealing with imposter syndrome https://gradstudentslack.wordpress.com/blog/
  6. Eigen
    More than likely, yes. And those won't earn you a livable income, anyway. From what I know, anyone adjuncting in a law school is usually an experienced practicing lawyer brought in for expertise. In the other areas you mentioned the job market is so tight that there are going to be dozens to hundreds of people with PhDs willing to adjunct that you're competing against. If you're an exceptional teacher with a good track record, or have connections, it's possible.
  7. Eigen
    Please do not post duplicate topics. Locking this one and moving the reply into the other thread.
  8. Eigen
    ABD is not a degree. If you don't get the second masters, you're leaving a lot on the table in terms of your qualifications in pure mathematics. I would say in the choice between a degree (even a second MS) and no degree, you go with the degree. I also second the recommendations that it will likely be very difficult to secure a full-time teaching position with a masters. I know plenty of people with PhDs struggling on the job market, even with years of full-time teaching experience. If you have an "in" at a local CC that you're targeting in particular, ask what they would prefer.
  9. Eigen
    This is highly field dependent. Math and languages (for example) fairly commonly have graduate students as the instructors of record, in my experience.
  10. Eigen
    Grad school was every two weeks for me. I had friends that got paid a lump sum once a semester too-it’s really all over the place.
  11. Eigen
    The only furniture we've bought new has been mattresses. Chairs, couches, etc. have all been second hand from craigslist or consignment shops. Check and make sure it's in decent shape, and clean it thoroughly. Our couch currently is a 4 piece white leather sectional that we've had for 6 years... Paid $200 for it used. I've bought speciality kitchen items new, but I have no issue buying them used either. We usually troll local garage sales and pick up a surprisingly large amount of what we need.
  12. Eigen
    FWIW, that's more expensive per pound than a mover. Granted, you have very little stuff but throwing this out there for other people moving. I paid around $0.50/lb for a 1000 mile move two years ago and am paying around $0.85/lb for an 1800 mile move this summer.
  13. Eigen
    It’s summer, responses are going to be slow. Especially because theres nothing that needs to be done until you’re actually there, it means it’s easy for your requests to drop down on the priority tree. Just email again, say you understand things are busy but wanted to check in.
  14. Eigen
    The other thing to do if you absolutely can't visit (or it's just not feasible to) is to see if someone that is already there can take a look for you, or ask around for recommendations of good landlords/reliable management companies. Just chiming in on housing costs... I pay $750 a month for a 2-bedroom house on half an acre. Almost all of the livable apartments in the area are more expensive.
  15. Eigen
    I mean, as reliable as anything else. It's not like Apartments.com actually screens adds. By and large, your best bet is to run a wide search, expect a lot of fake adds, and winnow those down by actually calling the places.
  16. Eigen
    Zillow is pretty decent, in my experience.
  17. Eigen
    I did a 2-day road trip with two cats and a dog to my current job, looking at moving 3-4 days (28 hours driving time) for the next one. Yay cross-country moves! We just got a big kennel and put both our cats in it with a litterbox. They weren't happy, but they survived. We try not to do more than 8-ish hour days so they can get out at night and breathe some. To build on to what @rising_star recommends, we've done a lot of selling/re-buying items. This works especially well for furniture- you can usually sell it and rebuy something at the new location for less than the cost differential of moving it. Our big thing is books- we've got 4 full sized bookshelves and some smaller ones, and that adds to the weight everywhere we go.
  18. Eigen
    If you've taken it, I wouldn't worry that you haven't taken it at the college level. If you wanted, you could always see about taking the ACS organic exam to make sure you're familiar with all the material.
  19. Eigen
    How have you not taken OChem? It's usually a requirement for upper level courses, especially something like retrosynthesis. Did you place out of it? Also, are you in the US? 5.0 GPA scales are really uncommon here.
  20. Eigen
    I highly doubt STI set up a sock account on this forum.
  21. Eigen
    Sadly, they probably aren't very far off base in this funding climate.
  22. Eigen
    I think calling those things "masculine qualities" is right at the root of the issues.
  23. Eigen
    Not sure what you're asking? It's not any different than any of the other interviews. They've seen the packets of all of the finalists, they'll have the same types of questions SC members or other faculty would. But usually they're at a more general level. Other faculty in the department are looking for what you will bring to the department, the Dean and President are looking more broadly at what you'll bring to the school. In some of my interviews like this I was asked about how I saw myself collaborating with faculty from other areas, what type of institutional service I saw myself doing, and to talk about my teaching (and research) at a less specific level. Every institution is different, but these are usually the people who have the final say in hiring. So yes, you absolutely need to sell yourself to them.
  24. Eigen
    It's pretty typical. Prepare some open ended questions about the direction of the institution, resources, etc. and be prepared to talk about your work and teaching at a non-disciplinary level. Also, is it individual meetings with each, or one with both? I had one that was a panel of senior administrators that was interesting.
  25. Eigen
    Your amount sounds roughly right, or a bit low. Thats roughly what I was paying on a similar stipend a few years ago, especially combined Federal and State. Your sister and last years amount is what seems off to me.
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