pianocognition

Hi Y'all, I am still suffering from thesis brain fog. My defense went so well but I am so exhausted. There was so much administrative drama, including a professor that I'm not sure is mentally stable or academically credible. Do you have any tips for how to rest well after the thesis? My brain feels like a giant fuzz ball. I am starting a PhD in August but I have a few months to rest first. I still have to do normal life things like work through May (I'm a teacher so my summers are easier) but I can't concentrate on anything. Any advice?

Watching you go through this makes me so glad I'm not pursuing a PhD.

I am wondering the same thing. I have a TA offer where I would teach 2 classes. It's the highest level this department offers. I would need to pay $600 per semester for tuition. The stipend is $7,800 for nine months split up monthly. I told the college I was very interested in being nominated for some of the fellowships (it was their suggestion). I am concerned about needing to take out loans to survive. I don't want to commit if it is going to be a lot debt.

Dealing with brilliant and passionate professors is both freaking amazing and extremely draining.

Oh, I booked my own flight and I'm not spending the night there so I guess it's more of a schedule of meetings.

I just received the itinerary for my interview tomorrow.

"Don't worry, I'm telling EVERYONE that I'm a good friend because I'm encouraging you to get married instead of the PhD if you have to make a choice between the two." (Um, I'm not dating anyone...) "So, I guess you'll be a professor with that degree? Why would you want to do that?" ('Cause it's freaking awesome! That's why.)

Now I really want the Brain Cell one. http://www.giantmicrobes.com/us/products/braincell-gigantic.html

Hi Everyone, My department has gone some serious upheaval in the past year. I started my MA thesis research in June under the head of the department. He resigned from full-time teaching because of an emergency. I was working on an obscure topic that I had no prior experience with but was his passion and greatly intrigued me . An adjunct professor was willing to be my thesis chair for that topic. We work well together and communicate easily. A new department head was hired who turned the department upside down. It will be much better because of her leadership but it is painful in the process. Long story short, my research project involved biofeedback. Our department didn't have an IRB (I know! Not good!) because I was the first person to do that type of research. They formed an IRB, I passed my prospectus, and submitted my prospectus as part of my PhD application, and I got IRB approval. The same day that I got IRB approval, another professor from the statistics department found major errors in my research design. I had asked my thesis chair about those errors and she said there were minor or unnecessary additions to the design at the MA level. Yesterday, the head of the department and the statistics professor met with me to tell me in the most gentle way possible that I should not utilize the biofeedback part of my thesis and should instead focus my research on addressing the gaps in the literature and propose a potential study for the future. They also suggested I should create a more specific definition for one of my variables than what is currently available in the literature. This decision was also made because I have to defend the thesis in April. I truly agree with those changes. However, I do not know how to change course so suddenly. I had a plan of what to do every week until defense and now I feel really lost. My thesis chair does not know about the changes yet but she will find out today. Back in October, she told me to scale back my research design but I successfully advocated to my committee and the academic affairs office for using the biofeedback in my study. The errors that the statistics professor found were errors that I also was concerned about but my thesis chair dismissed those concerns. I am having a phone meeting with the head of the department again today to try to figure out what to do now. I wish these errors had been pointed out much earlier in the process (like BEFORE I submitted it as part of the PhD application). Any advice about how to change direction suddenly? I can still use a lot of my research but I have to restructure the thesis as a whole as well as my mental concept of what I will be defending in April. (PS Now I really don't even like my topic anymore. I know that doesn't matter at this point but everyone keeps saying "This will be an amazing dissertation at the doctoral level." I don't have the heart to tell them I don't even like this topic).

I suppose I should be grateful that thesis drama keeps me from worrying about my applications. After receiving prospectus approval and IRB approval, a professor who is not on my committee discovered glaring errors in my research design. We have an "emergency" meeting on Monday to come to a resolution. I am extremely grateful because all of these professors are passionate about my project, are brilliant, and want to help me succeed. I know that can be unusual. However, I really wish these errors had been noticed by my committee BEFORE I sent it off in my PhD application! My thesis chair keeps telling me not to freak out and that these things are minor corrections. They don't seem minor to me.

https://www.yahoo.com/makers/ditch-the-prozac-take-up-crafting-108671160605.html This article specifically talks about how knitting is good for mental health. That explains why I have taken up knitting again during this waiting period!

I've decided not to talk about the PhD waiting game with anyone other than family, my best friend, and a few understanding professors. I'm the only person I know this year going for a PhD so venting to my friends is not helpful. It usually ends in them explaining why they decided not to get a PhD (none of those reasons apply to me) and me reassuring them that they made the right decision. I have also vented about wanting a boyfriend which leads to people suggesting I get married once I get a boyfriend instead of continuing with the PhD. A couple friends were shocked at my first rejection letter which led to all kinds of questions about my plan B. I can't deal with everyone's sympathetic meltdowns on top of my own freak outs! I was trying to reach out to friends so that I wouldn't be going through this process alone. Now, I think it is more peaceful to ponder it alone until I get some concrete answers.

Ah, yes. This was the actual thought behind my original post. We have a new female department head at my college who is brilliant! Because she is harsh in her dealings with both students and other professors, as well as grading, students do not like her. Her personality seems more extreme than it really is because she is the only female full-time professor, never mind department head, in a very conservative college. People, myself included, tend to erroneously assume that female professors will be more nurturing. I keep thinking that I want to be brilliant like her but I would rather not harm people in the process. Then, I start to wonder if it's a gender issue more than just a personality trait: a male personality wouldn't create as much tension because of the gender stereotypes. My research tends to be assertive because I am passionate and driven but my personality as a whole is not overly assertive. People think I am brave because I do hard things with confidence but I would not say that I feel brave inside. I'm working to be more assertive in my personality without being aggressive. It's a confusing line sometimes. I am one of the only women I know who is going into higher education or a position of higher authority so it's something I have been thinking through (in between stressing about application results).

^very true. It's also less accurate than the DSM . (I'm a counseling major)