Marst

Maybe because that is usually something you don't find out until you visit and talk to people in person?

My last comment was indeed what it looks like: a query for more information in order to figure out if the statement was accidentally or deliberately insulting. I believe this is a standard purpose to which "what" is put in English.

I genuinely want to know. My program grades harsher than most colleges, and it works quite well (for me, at least). An A is on track for a distinction, B is quite alright, and C is a sign you might want to put a bit more effort in. The average depends on the class. For instance, there was one class in which not a single student ever got an A on the problem sheets.
 
My question is: what is the point of a system where you give a vast majority of students an A and consider anything below that a subpar performance? IMO the point of grades is to get some feedback as to how well you are doing.
 
EDIT: It is worth pointing out that a minority ends up with a distinction, and transfer from masters to PhD is not unconditional. You have to apply for readmission and get a distinction in your masters. So, grades do matter here.

That "fully funded" was a euphemism for "working two jobs, one of which is unpaid slave labor".

I love being a mom. My almost six-month old daughter is always surprising me with her new discoveries. As of this week, she can roll over, sit up, and babble with consonant sounds. Her smile and laugh bring me such joy. She has helped me learn how deeply and strongly I can love.

I love being a grad student. I'm reading for my comp exams, and each text I read reaffirms my enthusiasm for what I study. I'm also writing a syllabus for a new class I'm proposing, and I'm remembering how much fun it is to teach and design courses.

And usually, I love being both a mom and a scholar. I find that my experiences with pregnancy, childbirth, and parenthood all make me a better scholar (especially given my research interests) and a better teacher.

But sometimes, it's so hard. My daughter who was a great sleeper has all of a sudden forgotten how to sleep. I'm waking up every hour, sometimes for two hours at a time. I'm so tired that I can't read or write or think about anything regarding my comps. And she has just started experiencing separation anxiety, making it harder to leave her with a sitter while I get work done. She's with a sitter right now. I'm on my way to a doctor's appointment, and I planned on reading on my way, but I just can't. I'm too tired, and I feel too guilty about leaving her (with a sitter who she usually loves and I totally trust). But still. It's hard, especially because she know says "mamamamamamama" when she cries. I know she isn't saying Mama (she's way too young for that), but it still pierces my heart.

I'm almost nervous posting this, as last week, I was told on this forum that having kids while in grad school is a bad life decision. I completely disagree, and I don't want to help prove that user's point. I have no regrets, and like I said above, I love being both a mom and a grad student. Still, sometimes it's hard, and I'd love to hear how other people on this board juggle the two roles. At the end of the day, I take great relief in knowing that everything great in my life has taken work, and parenting while in grad school is no exception.

I have not heard of someone using a Coursera course in order to augment/offset a low grade in one of their core courses. 
 
My thoughts on this?
 
Although Coursera courses are taught by experts in the field and might even be taught alongside "real" courses (at my school, one of the actual courses here uses the same online lectures as the Coursera version of the same course), I don't think they can be an equivalent/replacement to courses part of an accredited degree program. 
 
However, I think completing a Coursera course can still be helpful to an application. In the example scenario you provided, I think you can frame it as "self-study". I'd think that completing a Coursera course is equivalent to getting a textbook on the subject and self-teaching etc. 
 
Finally I would also say that the certificate is not going to make a difference to admissions committee. You should still get it if you want it but don't get it because you think it will make a difference in academia at all. The only reason to get it is because you want some evidence of your achievement, for yourself!

You seem to have a lot of frustration over your coworker(s). Everything alright, there?

Reading this made me angry and would likely piss off an appeals committee as well. Do not include anything like this in your appeal. Citing personal problems is a lot more honest than claiming you have a disability and accusing the school of not working hard enough to accommodate you.

Thanks, although I think people don't realise clinical depression can be equally hard to deal with. Your brain just shuts down and I am a very academic person and I have been struggling so much lately.

TLDR: Check your privilege. 

bsharpe269, again, you did it, congrats. But, that doesn't mean everyone can do it. I talk to high school students all the time who have zero clue that application fee waivers even exist. I imagine that's also true at the collegiate level. You took advantage of every opportunity you could but, there must be some financial reason why you were able to do so. That is, when I look at the college students who are working 40 hours a week in order to pay their rent on top of taking out loans to pay tuition, I don't ask myself why they aren't taking advantage of all the research opportunities around them because it's obvious that they can't. Having enough scholarships (and let's be honest, merit-based scholarships require writing specific kinds of essays and tend to go to those who get the most help with writing) or other financial aid (not loans mind you) to be able to "seize the opportunities" isn't something that's available to everyone. I've had students who are raising a child. They can't take advantage of every single opportunity because they have to balance that with childcare. And those are just a couple of examples, there are many more. Like I said before, I can go on. But, I also don't think it matters because you've clearly decided that it's up to each person to pull themselves by their bootstraps, even if they don't have boots.

For me, hard work equaling entitlement is a problem because not everyone is equally capable of completing a given task. Some individuals are no more capable of obtaining _____ degree than I am of being an Olympic athlete. My former adviser was right in this respect I believe, that not only is everyone not equally capable, but to award students a degree when they aren't capable of well representing your field is a disservice to the discipline (whatever your discipline is). There is a growing stigma in our society where you need a degree to be successful in life but it devalues the worth of a degree, especially if educators are willing to reward based on effort and not on outcomes. In the job field I am judged on what I am capable of doing, not what I am capable of trying to do. In the end working hard isn't good enough, I believe thinking that it does overly simplifies a complicated interaction of hard work, ability, determination, etc. 
 
 
 
Shouldn't it be the universal practice that process is as or more important than the end result? No. Because at the end of the day I want a doctor, lawyer, engineer, scientist (etc) who has good end results, not simply who tries and knows the process but is incapable of successfully completing something. While there may be some argument that we are evaluating progress and capability early in an individuals life (college age is pretty young), I wonder if it's ethically wrong to give students this false sense of security by rewarding things that are not results; because again, at least in my own experience, you can put 100 hours of work into a project but if the project isn't completed and done well your boss, professor or fellow group members will not find that satisfactory. 
 
Can you learn the process of "mastering a field" without having a good end result? I don't think you can. In a field like philosophy the end result may be a well formalized process (being a master of logic or mastering a philosophical argument that has no right answer) but even in that sort of field I'm skeptical that "mastery" can be achieved with only knowing process, especially knowing process while lacking end results. Educators are not grading a student while they are at home or after the student graduates; educators grade a student while the student is in their course, you are assuming that all students who know the process will master it after the confines of your semester- this is an assumption that I would posit isn't accurate. 
 
 
Expecting of students what the professional world expects of students I don't think is wrong- in fact to expect less of them, coddling them even, I think may be the wrong approach. It's a difference of opinion I guess, but a 20 year old college student is an adult, not a child, and I feel deserves to be treated like an adult which to me equates to them being held accountable for what they produce. Hard work is important, but the guy who easily completes a project and a guy who struggles to complete a project should be graded on the project, not on the struggling it took them to get there (obviously my personal opinion). 

Just don't flunk out of grad school.

Thanks for all of the advice on here! I particularly like the comment that feeling at ease while talking about it makes a big difference. I think that is definitely true. I don't think that I need to downplay it as much as just need to 1) Not be so conscious of it since that makes others feel awkward in itself and 2) find a way for others to connect with it. I had a very successful conversation about it with a nurse the other day. She asked what I do and I told her that I am in grad school, studying biophysics. She gave your typical "wow you must be really smart" comment. I responded that I was lucky to have such an awesome job... after all, in how many other jobs can you do something you are really interested in from your couch in your PJs! (I do computational work). She apparently used to work from home and that sparked another conversation about the pros and cons of working from home. Anyway, I think it is less of an issue of the job itself and more of an issue of finding ways to relate what I do back to what other people relate to.

Serenade, not sure why you would say this here. The OP's issue would have been the same regardless of whether or not there were spouses involved.

Putting aside stipend levels for now I'll just say that having a kid during graduate school isn't bad or wrong, but in some sense just naive and premature in one's chosen career path.  If the kid came before, then I'm also not sure if the parent(s) should get an additional stipend.  Yes this is a barrier in the academic pipeline, but the choice of grad school and having a kid is exactly what it is... a choice.  Taking a year on leave during grad school by possibly working lesser hours, or with less demanding work (i.e., not requiring you to churn out proposals/papers in one week), would also be harmful.  Especially later in the PhD or Masters program, since this would hamper one's publication record and likely cause one to fall out of the loop at conferences, etc.  Overall, the same number of hours per week should be worked (nothing less), albeit with more flexibility in schedule.  Although, such practice may portray these students as unfavorable to a PI since one's presence would be seen as uncertain and erratic (most likely a current bias).  I do agree with having grants (federal or private) designed for parents during their travels for grad students, post docs, and faculty.  But we're all adults, decisions like grad school (and kids, marriage(s), etc) are what we must face by weighing the odds and taking chances.
 
Also, Takeruk mentioned the issue with university/department reimbursements moving at a snail's pace.  They are the bane of my existence (I'm not even a grad student yet, I'm just a lonely research staff member... but still).
 
As for the original topic of discussion, the grad student wage gap... I'm sorry to say that I stand at a privileged position (see note below).  I cannot fathom spending several years at around $15k a year.  But I do enjoy reading this.
 
Personal note: As a B.S. degree holder my current research staff position offers me a modest annual pay (this is in the "hard" sciences at a more selective university) with a small research allowance.  My current fellowships will likely meet or exceed my stipend offer from the grad school I'll be attending (possibly maximizing to $40k/yr for five years if I can properly leverage the three fellowships I received).  In all honesty, I am not ashamed of where I stand.  My push for grad school was well planned and very calculated, I even turned down offers from financial firms and start-ups to put me in the best possible position for success.  My choice was because I wanted to build a stronger foundation in my education to qualify me for positions that'll, once I get a PhD, pay up to three times the amount offered by these same companies.

It is a curious thing, how you can state that you don't care about others, bash an entire discipline (and, by extension, several others) in which you have no experience or knowledge, and then accuse me of being snide and condescending. Hilarious.
 
Why would it be because of demand in the field? Are the acceptance rates of top graduate programs in the sciences much higher than those in the humanities? Is there a desperate, unmet need for graduate lab assistants driving up salaries? Not as far as I can see.
 
The difference in pay is the source of the funding for the stipends.

That's not really what I am saying.
 
I don't think it is "shitty" anywhere. My point was that the way society is set up, people make some sacrifices and with those sacrifices comes restraints or lack of opportunities. Starting a family is one of those restraints. If you want to get married and/or have children, you have to recognize that your opportunities will be more limited than they were before. Doesn't mean you can't succeed in whatever you may want to succeed in but it still means there are more restraints. It's a fact that people with families are going to be more risk-adverse and less likely to strive to become leaders of their fields because someone that has a family is going to value more stability and place less value on ambition. 
 
I don't think people should be paid more because they have a family. Nor do I think students should receive more funding if they have a family. It was their choice to have a family. 
 
The world isn't full of roses and free rides, well for the vast majority of people anyways. Simple fact is that breaking into academia is difficult and if you want to put more restraints on that pursuit by having children then so be it, you shouldn't get any advantages because you did so. And it doesn't matter anyways, because there is always going to be someone in line to take your place if you aren't passionate enough/willing to make sacrifices to break into academia. And that's the way it is everywhere. 
 
It's just a matter of entitlement. I want a nice house, a family, a Ph.D., and a tenure-track job please. Well, you might have to forfeit one or more of those things to get the other. 

But there are people who are marginalized in all industries and in the economy because that's how the current system works. 
 
It can be reasoned that having children is a sacrifice and that sacrifice comes with it restraints on other parts of your life, including your profession or job paths. Academia is no different and I don't believe it should be made into some kind of utopian place that is different than the rest of the economy. 

Potential abuses:
- people claim dependents who really could fend for themselves
- people start having more kids than intended
- people choose to have kids earlier than ready
- spouse choses to stay at home bc of stipend increase while otherwise could work and/or use daycare

I agree that you should appeal, but I would be careful about how you word it. Your latest post here sounds like you're avoiding personal blame for the low GPA, and that won't win you any points on an appeal. 
 
Similarly, as Julliet mentioned, you have to actually have a disclosed and verified disability with disability services to receive accommodations. The way you word your post, it seems to me you didn't have a registered accommodation, which is on you not the school. 
 
Also, as mentioned, it's not the fact that you're 0.02 points below the GPA cutoff- it's that you're so close to the cutoff to begin with. It's also worth mentioning that some programs have both the GPA cutoff, and require no lower than certain standalone grades. Especially given that your average was 3.5 in the first semester, that would indicate some really low grades to pull you down to 2.98. At my school, and grade lower than a C+ is grounds for dismissal in addition to the overall GPA having to be above 3.0.
 
Also, you'll want to be careful about alcohol and the ADA requirements: Just to pull from one set of University FAQs:
 
 
You have to be undergoing treatment for alcoholism, and not currently be "abusing" alcohol. Also, reasonable accommodations for alcoholism are usually a leave of absence/counseling to get the problem under control, not extra test time or extended deadlines. It's worth noting the last line of the second paragraph: "An alcoholic student who does not meet the performance standards of the university is also not considered qualified."

Actually, they do. Got one myself.

Yes, I heard it's possible at Oxbridge. I wasn't clear but I was speaking of the other unis in the UK - in the humanities.

I am in no way justifying the unprofessional behavior of your cohort but part of growing up is learning how to deal with people you don't like. You probably won't want to be friends with with most of the people you encounter in your career. That's okay. You're there to do good research, learn as much as you can from your mentor, and be polite to those around you. It's a shame your peers are less ambitious and not the type to encourage you to do you best. Let their comments bounce off of you. Keep working hard and getting funding awards. It's better not to disclose funding to peers, anyway because it breeds jealousy and greed. My boss recently obtained a $12M grant and professors are coming out of the woodwork, giving me their sob stories as if I can somehow relay that to my boss and get them a sympathy grant. The real world doesn't work that way. The best way to handle your cohort is professionally. Kill em with kindness. You'll probably be their boss someday.

Personally, I attract rats more than I attract spiders.
 
One night heard some critters scratching the ceiling. That's not uncommon, but I couldn't help but listening. At some point I heard a slight thump, and the scratching was gone. Slowly, I let my hand slide towards my flashlight and turned it on. There it was, the rat, in my bed right next to my head. Needless to say that I spent the rest of the night in another room with the lights on.
 
I am now living somewhere with very few critters. It took me a long time to get used to the white/empty/blank walls, but now I fully appreciate the peace of this place.