Sword_Saint

*Nope.* I initially applied for PhD programs, but the schools I was applying for required finishing a master's prior to the PhD program. I'm completely sure in a year I'll be going through the hassle of re-applying to these schools while I'm a current master's student and not 'just' an individual with a bachelors.

Not at all. It was a couple of other factors. 1) Not a fan of the east coast in general- didn't want to apply to any schools along that coast. The population density and caricature lifestyle I don't work with well. 2) Don't have family or friends anywhere within a thousand miles or so. 3) One of my professors (whose alma mater is Rutgers) who knows me well advised I not apply as the research fit wouldn't be ideal for me compared to the other schools I applied for. Rutgers work on RTM is pretty cool though in my opinion, and Dr. Groff's work at Temple in Philadelphia I similarly find noteworthy and interesting.

These weeks suck. Just existing one day at a time, finishing everything for tomorrow or the day after. Always reminds me of Office Space, where the main character tells the shrink that every day of his life is worse than the previous day. Just stick to it, long term goals may be impossible to see at the moment, but finishing the short term objectives counts for quite a lot.

Almost applied there, some of their faculty are the pioneers in Risk Terrain Modeling (RTM). Really interesting work, the location though sufficiently deterred me from attempting to attend that program.

I'm curious about the frequency of "n/a" category responses in the Master's category. Do you guys think that's from individuals going straight from their undergrad to PhD programs or something else?

'Tech savvy' wasn't meant in the sense of individuals being proficient at writing code or script in a particular computer language. I meant the phrase more with respect to spending longer amounts of time on the computer and more importantly, to finding this website and finding this section where there is a poll asking respondents to indicate their age starting a master's / PhD program. It may be a stretch to say that the longer you spend on the computer the more likely you are to find grad cafe, but I guess I'm making that leap. I can't speak to the percentage of 20 year olds capable of computer programming compared to 40 year olds, but I can speculate that 20 year olds spend more time on their internet accessible devices, leading to more of them potentially being represented in this poll by having more time to find this website. *Cowen and Company indicated individuals in the 20-29 age range spent more time on every form of internet based social media than individuals in the 60+ age range* Article: "Younger Users Spend More Daily Time on Social Networks" http://www.emarketer.com

Me: Hey, so I got accepted to my #1 school in Canada, great funding, amazing faculty. I'll have the time of my life there. Mom: Are you sure a Canadian degree will count the same? [so much for telling family.]

Haven't seen a whole lot of individuals indicate they're attending SFU. If there are some SFU students, or graduates, I'd love to get in contact an ask a few questions about the B.U. system with TA's though.

I agree to some extent that age is irrelevant in terms of success in grad school. For me, age in relation to competition and comparison of others is of less concern: if there is one spot left, my opponent being 20 or being 60 doesn't matter because regardless you 'fight' to win that one spot. Age is more important in my opinion because it gives individuals an idea of the generational backdrop applicants, and subsequently colleagues, will have. Being able to effectively communicate with someone who is 20 is different than effective communication with someone who is 60, their coming of age was markedly different and historically characterized by unique phenomena. Effective communication is important whether you are in the work force or in graduate school, and understanding those who you have to communicate with is vital. I wonder about this poll's validity because it is online; convenience sampling with an online poll wont capture a generalizable sample of applicants and won't be very representative of those who are older and less tech savvy but I still don't think the poll should not be done.

Surprisingly similar to the commonly accepted 'pain scale'.

Starting Masters at 24 in the fall. I'll have it completed by the time I'm 25. Assuming I go on to complete a PhD at the same institution, will be 28 or 29 by the time that is over [crossing fingers].

"Based on the results of previous years, at least SOME of the funding is offered after April 15. But I guess you are right, Sword_Saint, some funding options might not be relocated after rejections." I brought up the deadlines thing because I was nominated for a scholarship with a due date of March 1st, where only 2 people per department were allowed to be nominated. Makes me feel bad for turning it down, but it still wasn't enough to cover all of the living expenses and tuition. Like rising_star said, it really depends on the program. I'm also in the social sciences; at least at the schools I applied to, funding for masters students was limited in most instances to only covering tuition or being a TA or RA that didn't completely cover living and tuition expenses. I'm by no means the most competitive applicant, but my gpa is good and I've got a lot of research and presentation experience. I was able to find a masters program that successfully covered all of the tuition expenses and living expenses, but I think it was in part due to how inexpensive the tuition was at the institution (Simon Fraser in Canada, roughly 7k / year but guaranteed 20.2 from scholarships and TA'ing).

sort out

My adviser was kinda pushy about me going to his alma mater. I really owe him a lot so making my grad school decision was pretty tough. At the end of the day though I would have to pay about 1000 dollars a month out of pocket to live there and the school I chose instead is a full ride situation. I owe my adviser a lot, but I don't owe him 24k kind of a lot for a 2 year program.

I really hope this person has an English or Communications degree. Assuming the response was spontaneous, this comment makes me feel like I write like an idiot.

Yeah, of the 4 people who were supposed to present it was just me an the panel chair. I can't wait to see how ASC is in Washington D.C. in November.

This is an interesting remark. I was hesitant myself about whether I should accept a TA position or an RA position working on research if I could only choose one or the other. After speaking with faculty at my department they similarly indicated that teaching experience is a plus- but some of them indicated while teaching experience is a plus, research experience is a mandatory. I imagine this depends on where you want to work after the degree. The faculty I asked have more emphasis on community engagement and research than teaching necessarily. Just looking ahead and planning accordingly is important I suppose.

This is what fascinates me about one of the philosophy faculty members I met; they double majored in [presumably bio] Chemistry and Philosophy, subsequently getting graduate degrees in philosophy with many science courses. They now work on biomedical ethics and I'm just amazed. I feel like that has got to be the better way to analyze a problem, with a background in more than 1 discipline allowing you to see both halves of a problem.

This one line, by itself, makes me want to read the book.

Last year I was in an interdisciplinary "Biobehavioral Criminology" course, which had criminology, psychology and biology students. Most of the course was pretty strictly about biological explanations for the causes of crime and it was always interesting to hear the biology students give differing accounts than the crim. students. Some of the best courses I've been a part of so far were interdisciplinary and I at least would be more than happy to see that become more popular.

Never had someone drive their vehicle into my house, but I've had my fair share of drama filled roommates. It's the main factor behind me questioning whether its worth getting a roommate or paying for a place all to myself when I start school in the fall. My sympathies go out to you man, hopefully he will be charged with crimes like attempted vehicular manslaughter and [felony] assault. Going out on a limb here but assuming he has prior charges those offenses could be enough to get him a few years in prison, hopefully long enough for you to finish your degree and gtfo.

Was brought up in a family that played all sorts of table top games. Favorite strategy? "Warhammer" or "Warhammer" 40,000 (army building and wars w/ miniatures) RPG? "Palladium Books" Games mostly (D&D'ish, pen and paper w/ dice) Card Games? Still enjoy games like "Cards Against Humanity" or "Apples2Apples". Board Games? "Zombies" was fun for a while, constantly trying new board games

It's my understanding it really depends on the kind of funding. Scholarships you receive from faculty nominations, that is more complicated because in many instances they can't re-nominate new students as deadlines and such may have passed. Graduate Assistantships and stuff though, those may be passed on to other wait-listed students or those who were accepted but without funding. Really seems to depend on the funding source from my understanding of it.

I agree with the other other responders for the most part. I voiced my opinion in a different thread but before reputation I would look at: 1) funding offered v. tuition costs and living costs in the area 2) Research fit at the school (how many faculty teach exactly what you want to learn about) 3) other stuff, reputation, special considerations, etc.

Forgive me for the poor phrasing there. The conversation I was having prior to posting the thread was with an individual who thought my research methodology didn't include statistics or instrumentation or any form of scientific method. I explained confidence intervals and statistical significance to them, but for brevity (and out of frustration) I poorly phrased that here.