Eigen

It depends. Lately, I've been writing a manuscript, so I'll spend 6 or 8 hours straight writing, or reading sources followed by writing. It's also not uncommon for me to take a couple of days every other week and spend the whole day reading. It seems like you're talking about studying for classes, though, which I really have no frame of reference for. None of my focus graduate or undergraduate has been that classes took much time at all to study for, other than a few large study sections before tests. But for research, sure. Spending hours a day in my office or carrel buried in books isn't unusual. And for my friends in humanities programs, spending 10+ hours reading a day isn't uncommon at all. But then, you're also talking about masters programs rather than PhD programs, which tend to be less intense on the whole, I'd say. Coursework was considered a minor thing on top of our "real" job, and studying for classes was something you did in your personal time, primarily. You didn't take time off from research (literature or physical) to study for classes. Although my 14 hour days usually involved getting up at 4 or 5, working at the medical school labs until 8, then coming home and getting breakfast, going to my lab and doing (mostly) writing, data analysis and reading (articles or books) until 5 or 6, going home and eating dinner, and going back to work in the labs down at the medical school from 10-1 or so.

Heck with 5+ hour days, during crunch time It's not uncommon for me to work 14+hour days. The big thing that gets in the way of treating a PhD like a job, imo, is that it's not consistent- especially in the sciences. Some weeks are much lighter than others. And some weeks, like those preceeding a grant renewal deadline, are all-hand-on-deck work full time weeks. Sometimes I can take the weekend off, and sometimes I've got a reaction going that I need to work full days all weekend.

I don't know... I've got an iPad with a bluetooth keyboard, and a macbook air, and I tend to use the Air a lot more if I need to actually write something. Now, for instance. I really do like the apple keyboard- it's small and comfortable to type on. It's more the cursor manipulation than the actual typing that I feel like is slow and cumbersome. The iPad is great for displaying data, keeping articles on, etc. but when it comes to actual productive writing, I feel like it falls short. Mostly in the programs that are available to it, and the ease of editing/markup. I find the iPad and Air combo are fantastic for portability, and I'm even more excited about the rumored 8" iPad supposed to be coming out this fall. But with instant on and a full suite of programs (Scrivener, Endnote, etc) and a better wireless connection, if I need to get work done my Air is usually the one I pull out. And since my 11" air in case is about the same weight as my iPad in case, they're both equally portable.

It's also worth noting that if you want to do this, you have to make sure that you really buckle down to work during your work hours.

I think you can treat it as a job, I don't think you can treat it as a 40 hour a week job. More like a 50-60 hour a week job- 8-5 or 9-6 and some weekend time. I do consistently leave the lab around 5-7, come home, spend time with my wife, cook dinner, go out. On the weekend, I try to alternate between doing some work and some fun. I have hobbies and pets, and its definitely important to spend time with them. Some of the best advice I can give is that you pick the important things in life- eating well, exercising, cooking, time with kitties, etc- and make time for those. Then have your work fill the rest of your time. It becomes more and more important to learn to schedule and prioritize your life, rather than your work, because your work can often expand to take up the time you leave for it.

In chemistry, I'd say this is not only possible but quite common, at least in the US. I highly recommend to most prospective applicants that they not accept an offer from a school that doesn't have multiple faculty they would be interested in working with. Funding situations can change, faculty might leave, or another applicant might beat you out for the one coveted spot in a lab you wanted to work in. Unlike some other fields, chemistry tends to be more an "accept people to the program" field rather than an "accept people to a research group" field. That's why it's common for schools to employ rotations, where students work with 2-4 PIs for the first 6mos-1 year, followed by a "selection" process where PIs and students match up if they fit. You don't mention, however, if you're doing your PhD in the US or Europe- I don't know the situation in the EU nearly as well. In the US, it wouldn't be a big deal to get in touch with other professors that you're also interested in, and tell them you'd like to meet with them when you get there in a few weeks. Most of our entering class (with the exception of a few students that started early) have no idea who they'll end up working with- they'll all have the first semester to ask around, work in some labs, and decide.

Haha. I go to campus at odd times and avoid the main intersections for at least the first few weeks of school. And start eating lunch at around 2pm. And I can't get coffee from between 7:15 and 11 most mornings. And that's what really ticks me off.

I'm not sure how you found this site, but this really isn't the right place to ask about this. I would suggest going to your campus tutoring center, or going to your professor for assistance. It's also never a bad idea to make friends with classmates and have someone to practice with or review your work.

I'm with TakeruK- if you aren't one of the people in the relationship, it's none of your business, and not really worth taking the time to think about/look into. Different universities have different policies, but all of the ones I've seen that "forbid" the relationships are very specific and explicit about what is allowed, and the requirements (reporting, etc). If your school doesn't have such explicit policies, it's probably not explicitly forbidden. And as has been mentioned, as long as there's no direct supervisory role, it's not a direct conflict of interest (grading, lab supervision, etc).

Ah, the lengthening coffee line- truly the bane of graduate students everywhere! My university built a coffee shop into the breezeway in our building, almost directly under my lab. It's great during the summer, but it's busy as all get out during the semester. Especially right at the start. I swear most undergraduates seem to live on food from there, I'm not sure where they get the money. On the flip side, though, they open an hour earlier and stay open 5 hours later during the semester, so I don't have to rush down at 5 to get my evening caffeine. And for us, we get more undergraduate minions during the semester than we do in the summer, so it'll be nice to have some help back in the lab. Although sometimes supervising undergraduates seems to be more work than just doing it myself. And also, this thread wouldn't be complete without the addition of a relevant PhD comics strip:

The ubiquitous PhD Comic on research interests:

Glad to help. If you have any more specific questions, feel free to PM me. Your rotation schedule should work out great- you'll be almost finished or completely finished with your rotations by the time the application is due, so you should have plenty of time as you're rotating to pick a group to write the proposal for and talk to that PI. You'll also likely be able to get references from at least one of the other rotation PIs, which should help you a lot.

I have an NSF Fellowship in Chemistry. The research proposal doesn't have to encompass your final research project- it's just a proposal. So the best course of action is to pick one of the labs you will be working with (rotations?) or a potential lab, and talk to that PI about writing a proposal. You'll want a letter of rec from them, and you'll want to write a proposal that meshes with their research and facilities. Ideally, at this level, you'll want two letters of recommendation from your graduate program, and one from your undergraduate program. How is your program structured that you won't be doing any research until your second semester? Most of my cohort started right away, or at least did a rotation the first semester, and several of us came and started in the summer. As to other fellowships- ACS has some, but most are for senior graduate students rather than first years. Depending on your area of organic, you might also qualify for some NIH fellowships.

You mention a "change of department"- this isn't something I've ever heard about at the graduate level. With admissions being done completely on a department-by-department basis, the only way to get started in a new program is to apply completely fresh to that program. You can't just "switch over" from one program to another. The only possibility (as mentioned) would be to try to do some kind of a dual-supervised interdisciplinary degree. A Masters in the first field followed by a PhD in your new field might not be a bad idea- but if you are intending to start as a PhD student and leave with a Masters, you need to navigate carefully, so you don't burn bridges in the department. You might risk losing some funding, but you'll probably have better relationships and less ill will if you tell them going in that you've changed course and only want to do a Masters. And based on your last post, since you don't want to bend your desires, spending 2-3 years for a Masters in something you're no longer interested in probably isn't the best shot either. So you're probably stuck with withdrawing from the school, and applying again this fall in your new discipline.

I second trying to find another faculty mentor, but not bringing them on as an official supervisor. One of the more important things a supervisor does is help you get things to publication, and you say yours does have a good eye for when yours is ready to publish. The communication issues are troubling (and frustrating, I'm sure), but this far into your PhD I think you're better off just sticking with the one you have. As frustrating as they are, they're more common issues than anyone would like, I think. Lots of people I know have "unofficial" mentors- on their committee or not- and have even recommended having a mentor that is not your supervisor, but is also someone you can go to for advice *about* your supervisor. Having more people for advise, assistance, and letters of recommendation is never a bad thing.

So your options are missing a year- you've got spots for younger than 23, then we skip to 24.

Unless things have changed hugely, the application fees aren't so bad in Chemistry- I didn't pay for any of my applications.

Are the two of you in the same program for the same degree? Otherwise, the other GRA may well be paid partially from another source, in which case it's not the work that you're doing but the sources of payment that matter. From my understanding of graduate assistantships, it's not usually about the work you're doing, but the position you're doing it from. You're assigned funding, and then found a place to work, rather than where you work deciding your funding, a least in part.

Not knowing much about stipends in your field, I can't help much directly, but as for underpayment, looking at what it pays to adjunct might help. Adjuncting, for a full 3-hour class, pays between $1600 and $3000-ish per semester, with $3000 on the distinctly upper end of that range. And I've seen as low as $1000 or $1200 as well. I do know from friends in English on TAships that they pay very little, on the whole.

For your application, it's the GPA at the time of application that matters. There are usually conditions that you have to maintain your GPA above a certain level before graduation. I would go ahead and apply this season, but if you can get your GPA up in another semester, it might be in your best interest to do so, and then you can always apply again the next season.

English might be stodgier than chemistry, but the aforementioned girl in my department is starting a teaching position in the fall, so... Take it as you will.

I'd be interested in seeing a school in STEM with a lower GPA requirement for admission, 3.0 is the only one that I've ever seen stated.

Deleted all the duplicate topics. Please don't make 5(!) posts that are exactly the same and post them everywhere. One will suffice.

Those might have some lab safety implications that tuxedo's do not carry.

I'm sure its discipline specific, but one of the girls in my program has a full scene tattoo from one arm around the back across the shoulders to the other... And several other on her arms, and wears tank tops most of the time. No one seems to have an issue with it.