Suraj_S

Hi! I'm not currently a PhD student or recent graduate but am considering a PhD in cognitive neuroscience (in a psych department). I love learning about the brain/mind and want to continue onwards toward a terminal degree, but I worry about the longterm job options. I'm aware that academic positions are scarce these days. I'm not interested in tech/industry positions at all (it seems like a common alternative path for cognitive neuroscience people is to pursue Data Science positions in big tech companies, which totally isn't for me). I'm just a neuro-nerd who wants to learn a lot about the brain/mind and write about neuroscience/psychology/philosophy for the average lay person and possibly develop my multimedia arts skills (e.g. animation, video production) to create educational content. If possible, I'd also like some kind of formal training to be qualified to work in wet labs (e.g. brain banking with some public outreach maybe) What is the market like for these jobs? Is there decent job security? Where do science communicators work? What do their jobs entail? What are average salary ranges? And do you even need a PhD to get these kinds of jobs? (Would a Masters degree suffice?) Also, if I were to get my PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience (which tends to be a bit more psychology-leaning and probably more mathematics/stats-heavy than a neurobiology PhD), would I be qualified to write and create content about more "traditional" biology-based neuroscience? Or might I be better off pursuing a more traditional neurobiology path if I think I might also want to write more broadly about neurobiology and medical topics? (Boston University offers a really cool Masters and PhD option through their medical school: https://www.bumc.bu.edu/anatneuro/ )

You are cut out for research.

Thanks guys! I really appreciate it. I won't give up on research?

You are cut out for research.

Hello, I have decided to do an article-based thesis. It's going to help me to get published.

I wouldn’t doubt your calling based on any of this. The problems you've faced seem primarily practical and external. Look inward and/or change your situation.

My update: actually, this is very much possible...

Update: I still haven't defended, but have come a long way in just one year. In the months to come, I'll have two articles published in peer-reviewed journals, and I'm also working on two chapters for edited volumes. I had another two publications in conference proceedings, and will participate in five more conferences, via Zoom, in the following months. I also had at least ten rejections in just one year. I'm sharing this update because I was super stressed last year, so I want to remind everyone that things can and will get better.

I didn't necessarily give up anything wholesale, but I definitely had to cut back on social activities, exercise, and sleep at times. I think it's important to try and keep some semblance of balance in life, at least to the extent you can while in grad school. 

I am not sure whether I should study design in an art school or in a tech university. On the one hand, I feel like Parsons is more creative than GT and has more alumni in the field of design - GT is great, but Parsons may have a better reputation in design. On the other hand, Parsons is located on NYC -  I love the vibe of the city.

thank you

Not sure if this was mentioned, but another point is that as a grad student, you may at some point hold a position of power over the undergraduate or people in their social circle whom you both associate with. For example if you were TAing, or managing a lab where the undergrad or people in her/his social circle were either your students or research assistants. An imbalanced relationship in this context may blur the lines of consent.

I'm a chemical engineering undergraduate and a master's aspirant. I am looking for admission in fall 2020 admits in canada. I have a low Gpa around 3.0 (till 5th sem) I'm from National Institute of Technology Jalandhar I have done one research internship and an industrial internship, my gre score is 315(quant 166, verbal 149). Also i have worked upon some projects and have a good list of extracurricular activities in which i was involved will I be able to get admits in meng/masc in chemical engineering in a canadian university? 

It isn't normal for Ph.D. students in my department to find their life partners among one another. However, my psych department's Master's students have co-mingled quite a bit--two such sets of friends are getting married.
I went into grad school being in a long-distance relationship. That ended three years in...then, dated a couple of people: nothing overly serious. Then, had a relationship that ended earlier this year while I finished defending my dissertation proposal.
Now--a little over a month away from defending my dissertation (hopefully, once and for all)--I feel keenly that I have one hope at life love left. The weak part of me wants to find her before I finish up; the strong part assures me, You have a task to fulfill. You've sacrificed your most important relationship to date. Wait a little longer.
Success, in my mind, is not what academia is all about. It's about studying a topic so well that you either know or contribute to knowing about a topic more in-depth than anyone else has (or, possibly could).
Doing a Ph.D. necessarily involves going off of the deep end of what is known. For me, that entails commitment and a sense of deeper purpose--following my calling; responding to my life's mission.
Nothing should get in the way of our true love. This gives me close to all of the motivation I need to finish the job, and worry about what is meant to happen later.
This is my experience of love, success, and academia. Thanks for creating this thread, @Adelaide9216--you've clearly got a lot of heart.

I do a few things. I’ve had mental health problems on and off for a long time so I have some experience
- First of all, these things ebb and flow so it’s helpful to remind myself that a funk will end. I won’t feel like that forever. 
- Exercise. Honestly the most helpful thing. I feel more energized and positive about myself and my body. 
- Make sure I eat well. When I’m depressed I don’t feel like cooking. But, I give myself permission to eat a frozen dinner or burrito because that’s better than Oreos and chips. 
- Have someone I can talk to personally/professionally. Last winter/spring shit was hard. I dragged myself to a therapist and got some meds sorted out. Plus I can always call my mom or chat with my cohort. 
- Break large tasks into smaller chunks/goals. Sometimes it needs to be tiny like do at least 5 minutes. If you don’t feel like continuing you don’t have to. But tomorrow we’ll try again. 
- Most importantly I do my best to be kind to myself. Not shame myself for not getting work done or sitting on my ass. I’m awesome and capable and I just need to take extra good care of myself in that moment. 
 
Those are things that I do and they work pretty well. It’s important to know what kind of resources are available to you. Sometimes that’s counseling but it can also be an internet resource or friend or DnD group. Pets are great too. It feels good to take care of someone else. 

I totally get this. I defended faith in humanity during my dissertation proposal. It arose from meeting the best person I'd ever met...in the end, she didn't care.

I gave up thinking people were good. 

I went to a grad program, giving up fine career, seeking to switch careers make a difference in the world. I quickly realized that my peers and people in the social impact business by in large didn't really care about the social impact they were actually making. 

It's not about he didnt support them or me - coz he absolutely did. But it's also about us supporting each other - and that also means I can't ask him to sacrifice everything for me and my career goals. I still had a good thesis project - just not as great or cool as it could have been and I certainly missed out on opportunities to connect, network, and get some name value on my resume. 
I also didnt apply to some schools because of him - job opportunities, the area etc. Sacrifice is an essential part of every relationship I think. But I would make the same choices again.

I work in this field. It's called human-computer interaction, or user experience research.
A rhet/comp degree would be an unusual background; most people who come into this field have social sciences graduate degrees (psychology is common) or computer science-related graduate degrees (you can actually get a PhD in HCI). That's because the research techniques are social sciences methods, and are actually applied versions of psychological methods.
However, with some programming skills, you might make a good UX designer. There are also design-adjacent roles like design strategist or technical architect that may work at some firms/companies.

I would attend, especially if you're about to be applying for a fellowship. You want people to know you finished your PhD, are doing well in your postdoc, and where your research is headed next so that you can potentially find support for it. You don't have to go to every session or go all day. Be strategic about where and when you attend the conference.

Thanks very much!! 
And that's an important point that I'll need to consider. Thank you for noting it. 

Yeah I think your instincts are right here. If either journal asks you to verify that the paper is not under review elsewhere, then of course you should not submit to both. On the off chance that neither mentions it, then go ahead. 

Applying to two programs at the same school is definitely fine! The personal statement is a balancing act though, because you don't know how much the two programs talk to each other -- that means that you probably want your research interests/career goals to be very similar for both programs. At the same time, the departments are probably different enough they have separate strengths, and you would want to separately (and specifically) detail how each program will help you reach your goals. 

Hello everyone, 
I have just started the process of looking at grad school and there's so much info it's overwhelming. So I would really appreciate if you can give me some insights if my profile is competitive enough. I am applying to developmental psychology programs with close connection with education.
Degree: Bachelor of Arts in Psychology with Honors from a liberal arts college
GPA: 3.60 (cum laude)
Major: Psychology, Minors: Education, Sociology and French, TEFL certificate
Relevant courses: Statistics and Research Design in Psychology (in which I was a TA twice), Capstone classes in Cognitive Neuroscience (B+) and Cultural Psychology (A), International and Comparative Education (A), Psychology for the Public Good (A+)
GRE: retaking this summer but I expect V:160/Q:162/W: 5.0
LORs: 
- Psychology Advisor: with whom I've taken 2 classes with (A & A+) and conducted 3 research with. Should be really good
- Sociology Advisor: has known me for 4 years. Glowing LOR
- Supervisor: knew me for 3 years. Very good LOR about my professional exp
Honors project: establishing reliability and validity of a well-known theory about the relationship between parental rejection and adolescents' psychological wellbeing in another language
Experience: 
- First author of research about Guatemalan adolescents
- Corresponding author of research about Vietnamese adolescents
- 2 year experience as Research Assistant
- 3 year working as a counsellor at an enrichment program for elementary school children
- 1 year experience as TA for stats class
- Admissions intern for a university
- 1 year working as a liaison between school administrations and international students
Study abroad: 1 semester in France and 1 summer in Korea
Languages: Vietnamese, English, French, Korean, Japanese
Reach School: Stanford GSE, Teachers College at Columbia
Fit School: Penn State, McGill University
Safe school: UConn, UPittsburgh
My absolute dream school is Stanford GSE (DAPS), so if anybody got any insight into admitted students profiles, I'd really appreciate it!!!

seconding all the suggestions that you might want to look into English programs instead (especially if you intend to work primarily with Anglophone texts), because not only do traditional comp lit programs require that you're fluent in a number of non-english languages, they might also presume a certain level of knowledge of national literatures. (but of course, if this is something in which you're interested, and if you already have/know you can acquire a sufficient background in it, then go ahead and apply wherever you see fit.) 
about this, you might want to consider writing a final-year thesis, if that's not already a compulsory component of your undergrad program, since the experience of doing independent research will almost certainly help you refine/whittle down your interests (not to mention that it's a good way of coming up with preliminary material for your writing samples anyway). other than that, just read around, figure out where your favourite academics work, research those programs (what sort of work is being done there — and in which sub-fields? who are they hiring? where are they headed next?), and find a way to make your work speak to them.