[Keep A Word Drop A Word]

barrel roll

[Please evaluate my profile]

So you have a little lower Q score on the GRE, you have an advanced degree, good GPAs and publications. The publications are really the big deals, you have established yourself and given yourself some solid credentials. So as long as your GRE score is in the reviewable range they will give your application a good look and this is where everything else you have done puts you over the top.

[How do I know a lab is well-funded?]

You can look them up on NIH Reporter or Research Crossroads and check out their funding situation. Make sure in the NIH Reporter to search all and not just active projects just to see how stable of funding they have had in the past.

[professor-student relationship?]

No its not normal and I've seen it get both the grad student and the professor booted out of the institution before. As far as why professors flirt, some of them just like to toss their proverbial fishing lines out in the water and troll for some ass, some have a horrible relationship or marriage that they are currently in, and some just don't give a damn. Either way stay far far away from it.

[How to negotiate the "have you received other offers" question...]

Be honest. From my experience (grad student on AdComm) we want to know if you have competing offers so that if we want to take you in we don't dilly dally and screw around. Your honesty may just increase the chances of getting a quicker offer from us than someone with no admits. So fess up!

[What math class to take that also acts as a good GRE review?]

Just get a copy of a Kaplan text book, which will tell what types of questions (algebra, probability, etc) they ask and how to solve them as a quick refresher. But if you want to do science you need some math classes, at least up to the Calc I level. Best of luck. And once again seadouche its still not surprising to see you acting like a condescending asshat, I really couldn't expect more from you.

[What not to say/do during an interview]

Yeah, the kid was into cocaine. As far as I know with graduate students, beer is the drug of choice. I know a few who dabble in pot. But rarely any that can do or even afford harder drugs.

[What not to say/do during an interview]

Yeah we have had these kids before. One of them interrupted me to ask why I had not done something in my project yet in a real snarky way that they thought would have been easy. This came after many other snide comments and the kid texting while sitting in the front row of my seminar. I came down off the steps stood in front of them and told them the idea they had would take at least 6-8 months while I had only been working on my project for 3 months because they learned about the concept at their uni. And staring them in the eye, I suggested that maybe they no clue as to the reality is of timelines for projects in science. To top it all off and put the little braggart into their place I told him that science is like sports, its easy to mouth off sitting on the bench and to talk to me when he started playing. Needless to say this kid's acceptance was revoked. These pain in the necks are few and far between but don't screw with grad students who help out with recruitment activities. Its not our jobs, we aren't payed to do it, we do it out of goodwill for others that will walk out path and have little time for those candidates who grandstand and toot their own horns.

[To waive or not waive: LORs?]

Wave it, you look like you have something to hide if you don't and most profs (writers and readers of LORs) look at you strange if don't waive the right.

[does having a master's help?]

Lily,

it can't hurt to get a masters, it will probably only help too. And if your heart is set on it, then go for it kid. Your life will be filled with c*cknob naysayers like seadouche. Just ignore them. Best of luck.

[Admissions Committees]

Usually a group of professors (tenured or tenure-tracked only) and administrators (representative of the dean or the dean themself) and in some cases students.

[An interesting link to anyone who uses animal models for research]

Take a look at Pro-Test, its a UK-based organization that I belong to who is in the business of trying to bring awareness to the public about the usefulness of animal models in the development of our understanding and treatment of many diseases. The voice of animal rights activists are ones that tend to be heard because they are always shouting the loudest, sometimes for good reasons and sometimes with fallacies. As there are two sides to every story why not take a look at this site and see if anything strikes your fancy.

GR

[What do you do for stress relief?]

I'm part of a group of grad students that formed a co-ed paintball team and we play once a month or every other month in all day tournaments. However we come back with horrible bruises on the Monday after tournaments but its fun to get away from the lab, drink beer, and bullshit for a while.

[Keep A Word Drop A Word]

Hamburger Helper

[Extremely Low GRE Score!!!]

I wasn't accusing you of personal attacks, merely I was rather going on the offensive. MedMan wasn't saying that slee had those conditions but it was possible for them to possibly cause an effect on someone taking the test.

[Extremely Low GRE Score!!!]

That would make me extremely uncomfortable, embarrassed, and just dumb-founded. I don't care what your credentials are. It is uncalled for and, once again, leaves me completely speechless.

I gotta go with MedManiac on this one Seadouche, since you know he is presenting logical and coherent reasoning to not diagnose but present some possibilities that might be affecting slee. With these vehement responses that you put out are you really a potential grad student or a lobbyist for ETS? And by the way still waiting on the speechless thing.

[Publishing the Wrong analysis]

Is it going to be a short communications or a full on research article. If its a short communication I think just let it slide since those aren't definitive and just serve as springboards for ideas. I might try to think of something to address the holes in your hypothesis but go ahead and put it out, rarely if ever is there a complete story. Someone can always disprove you or you can always go back and disprove yourself when you have more evidence. I read proceedings, like PNAS, but I always read them with a grain of salt. Just because you put something out for public consumption does not mean that we take your or anyone's analysis as dogma. Remember be a skeptic.

[Competitive GRE Score?]

I think you just have to punch through the 1000 mark and that is satisfactory. LSU states that their average is 1000 and that is similar to what I have heard from other folks at different places. Good luck.

[Harvard/Yale/Stanford]

Your credentials sound pretty solid, I would think you have a good shot. Good luck.

[PLoS bans tobacco-sponsored research]

No one has posted anything up new in a while so I figured I would throw out something for a little debate. I read this morning that PLoS Medicine, PLos Biology, and PLoS ONE are banning any publication of any research that is sponsored by the tobacco industry. Below is there stance on the issue and a link to the story.

First, tobacco is indisputably bad for health. … Tobacco interests in research cannot have a health aim—if they did, tobacco companies would be better off shutting down business—and therefore health research sponsored by tobacco companies is essentially advertising.

Second, we remain concerned about the industry’s long-standing attempts to distort the science of and deflect attention away from the harmful effects of smoking. … we do not wish to provide a forum for companies’ attempts to manipulate the science on tobacco’s harms.

http://writedit.wordpress.com/2010/02/24/plos-tobacco-ban/

How do you guys feel about this?

[Fellowship at a fully-funded PhD program]

While the fellowship gives you money, its not the end all be all as you can and should go out and secure your own funding. The fellowship would look nice on your cv if it is a competitive one. Find the place that is a best fit and then worry about writing fellowship apps, your PI should be prepared to pay your way the whole way out. That being said, if you want a good postdoc position or a boost getting a job after school wrangling in some funding is pretty important. It can be done, I secured a NRSA which was really difficult and competitive but it can be done. I'm sure the NSF equivalent is just as competitive but just having that on your resume speaks volumes as to your grantsmanship skills.

[Academia is like an abusive relationship]

I've been working 60+ hour six day work weeks for almost a year now. I see the public safety officer more than I see my fiancee but my project is not going to move forward all by itself. Its a pain in the ass but nothing worth having comes easy.

[Thanking folks who wrote LOR]

Generally I hand write a personal thank you note to anyone who wrote me an LOR to express my gratitude for their kind gesture.

[6% Quant, 80% Verbal]

Sorry seadouche but I didn't vote my own post up but kudos on your utterly crappy rating. I was supporting Branwen's statement that how you say something may have more impact on the recipient than what the message is. If I have to explain what impact is then, you are either grasping at nuances or have less emotional self-awareness than a small child.

[How to eloquontly talk about other programs you have offers from]

I sit on an Adcomm, and implore you to tell us. If you have competing offers it will push our hand to be more aggressive and quickly extend you an offer if we know you have others. Don't be ambiguous either, we might peg you as a liar trying to BS us. So your candor will really only help you. Be proud of your success and your offers.