hippyscientist

@raaawr I've applied for kinesiology/biomechanics PhDs, with a focus on knees. that seems a broad focus, but I'm interested in the injury mechanisms (less so), the surgery (including materials used and techniques to minimise healing time) and the post-operative process. I'd love work my up and become a head honcho in a department (before I have to retire for it taking so long to get there lol), but I'm really goaling for professorship, with a side business of property flipping and elite athlete consultancy. That's the dream! I only applied to 4 schools and I've heard something from 3 (in terms of application materials not acceptances). The 4th I think is a bizarre process. You apply, then you contact the professor you want to work with, then once they respond the committee will look at your application. I have heard nothing from the professors there, and I'm annoyed at wasting the $75. It was a new condition they put in for Fall 2016 applications and I don't like it! @gingin6789 so glad you had a relaxed, but full of love wedding! Once again, congratulations (from one internet stranger-friend to another).

UK universities do not require the GRE as part of admission. If you have taken it, you can supply your scores but it is not asked for. In the UK we don't have the GRE (other than for those who are applying to US universities) and soto the original poster, relax. Your scores are fine (and irrelevant). Factors that will be considered more heavily are your letters of recommendation, your undergraduate grades (and typically what courses you took), and your personal statement.

I've just found the most perfect apartment near my top choice school...now I just need to know if I'll be needing a deposit or not.... @nightfarmer I like it! As a new week approaches, I wish you all good luck!

@gingin6789 congratulations on your wedding day! Have the most amazing day and forget about grad school stuff completely. Go be with your love

@sighsdeeply you're welcome, and congrats on the interview!

The normal scenario is to respond with two or three dates and times you can do. The fact that you responded with one means the school now has to figure out who will be around and available at that time to interview you. As such, their lack of response is them trying to figure out availability of interviewers on that date and seeing if it's feasible before getting back to you with a confirmation/asking for another date. Leave them be for the time being, if you haven't heard anything in a week or so, then it would be appropriate to get back in touch. Relax, you still have 4 weeks before your interview - that's plenty of time to get everything organised. Don't pester them! They're busy people who have many other commitments than responding to applicant meltdowns!!

Congrats to everyone who has received an interview at this stage - that's awesome, and you should feel deservedly proud! You earnt this. That school is lucky to have you. @DrZoidberg thanks! I'm not too worried about it, it just frustrates me as I know my transcript isn't representative of my abilities. I'm hoping my solid masters will help (albeit still in progress). On the topic of wine-ing, I've enjoyed an epic shiraz this evening, while not looking at any sorts of admissions pages/application statuses/gradcafe! It felt so good not to be glued to my phone. Alas, I couldn't go to bed without a quick visit! I'm now not expecting to hear from any of my programs until mid-Feb/March time. Time to settle in for the longhaul!

I'd love to know what my GPA would have been going through the american system. The way the UK is there is no direct comparison. We specialise at 16 and specialise further at university, and our grading system is all skewy! WES converted me to about a 3.2 but when I asked my American LOR (who taught at my UK school) he said that at his old university the poorest student in his class would have been on a 3.8. It's just so frustrating!! Oh well, at least my masters is a straight 4.0 (i'm assuming. I have distinctions in everything so it translates as the highest grades lol). This whole process is such a mess!

The point you raise is a very valid one, @Eigen. My school is in the UK so we don't have tenure, but you're absolutely right that mentoring adds work to already busy plates, and should be supported accordingly.

There's definitely a difference between incorporating phrases and jargon-like terms to trying to copy another's writing style. Sometimes jargon cannot be helped, and for the most part the papers are going to be read by those who are knowledgeable of jargon. Key phrases are super useful too! I think my point is keep your flow and your voice, and build the sciency-jargon into it rather than try to be stiff and wooden from the start. You can really tell the difference in papers which are fun, informative and easy to understand and those which are disjointed and tiresome to read. Aim for the first!

I had a review board meeting today, where current grad students met with university "high-ups" and external examiners to address the postgraduate experience including teaching, research and life. One of the main issues that got brought up was faculty diversity, and it was hotly debated. The final, immediate conclusion was that all students should have access to a female mentor, and mentors of other "minority" groups, in their broad area who can help them navigate the academic waters in their graduate studies as well as provide a type of pastoral support. The powers that be have acknowledged they will address policies for hiring and recruitment in their next meeting. I am really encouraged that the university big-wigs are actively encouraging grad student participation in key topics that will directly effect them, and even more encouraged by the productive and constructive approaches taken.

Man I missed a lot on here while I was asleep. @Need Coffee in an IV I desparately want a library in my new home, but for right now all my books are on my kindle as I have no idea which country I'm going to be in and I need my library to be portable for the time being. That being said, I'm already on book 2 of the year I love reading and I find it's such a good break from studying! I have absolutely no friends applying to grad schools abroad, some are applying to PhDs in the UK but the process is very different and not as taxing and also on a different timescale so we can't freak out together. I can't imagine being in a situation like @haltheincandescent, that's gotta be tough. As for linked in - I think it's invaluable as soon as you start looking beyond undergrad. I urge everyone over the age of 20 to have an account as it's the start of your professional persona. I have not come across researchgate and academia.edu but might have to check them out, although a quick search shows none of the PIs I applied to are on there. Great article, @gelologist! I have a quadrennial review today. It's a super big deal and I'm kinda nervous about it - there's some areas in the department I really feel could be developed further but I also don't want to give them a bad impression because I love it here. Also, a PI asked me to draft a personal statement for a fellowship on Friday, and I got it to him on Sunday and I still haven't heard from him (it was in bullet points, we need to work on it further). Not a great sign in my mind.

This. So much this. The best way to write papers (I find anyway) is to just write. If it's a lab report I start with the methods as I've done the experiment, if it's a review I start with the structure. For example: "Here is where i'm going to introduce the topic. I know this, this and this. I think this will be important. Do I know any key papers? If so pop these here. Then I'm going to break down my topic into lots of categories and write a bit in each" It's basically how I talk. I will write an entire paper with words in there like "stuff" and "we did this because we were told to" or "the springy thing holds onto the thin thing" and then once the whole paper is written, I'll go back and science-ify the writing. This doesn't change the structure, but removes the stuff and things and puts in the proper words. Writing like this means my papers have a natural flow and conversational tone that is pretty hard to come by in scientific literature. The way I see it is if you try to emulate others writing, you end up losing your voice, and the whole point of us doing our research is to add our voice to the literature. If you make your voice the same as others, how are you going to stand out? We always are our best selves when we are ourselves so use that in your writing.

@Need Coffee in an IV I think that's the point, it's so utterly ridiculous. Either way it gave me a good chuckle

Just saw this on the results page and utterly giggled: "Graduate School Of Business, Stanford UniversityFull Time MBA, MBA (F16)Rejected via E-mail on 10 Jan 2015I13 Jan 2016 So, my billionaire boss' son gets accepted even though he had someone else write the GRE for him and has little to no qualification. And I -someone who has saved the company hundreds of thousands of dollars- gets rejected??? There's no justice in the world." Bitter much? And a happy one that said "Pardon me while I go dance in the streets". Love it! Party on wayne.

@Jennadottswan who you calling assholes? This waiting game is so much more unbearable without exams to distract me!

@Pink Fuzzy Bunny CONGRATULATIONS! and Michigan too! That's so exciting! Woohoo!!!

@artsy16 sorry to hear about the rejection man (gender neutral, I call everyone man)! Enjoy the wine and the fact you have interviews. The conversation about class registration just saddens me! I have way too many classes on right now (4) + research + labs + training. I'd love the choice to tone it down, unfortunately it doesn't work that way here. Even in undergrad your final semester is horrible - coursework, research and 6 classes. I was in timetabled lectures/seminars/labs for 30 hours a week, then had my research hours which added up to another 20hrs and I still had training (~ 20 hrs a week). Needless to say I was exhausted, but feel ready for the time demands of PhDs!! I'll be joining you all with the wine (and brandy) at the weekend. Raising my water bottle to you all!

D'oh I effed up the stats exam. Hopefully only about 4 or 5 marks but d'oh. I knew that would happen too - it's stuff I've been doing for years and years so I should have come out with 100%. Darn it!

This is brilliant and makes me feel better about the rejections that will inevitably come. I really should pay attention to exams but grad cafe is way more entertaining than stats.

Yay! Last exam tomorrow, but absolutely no time to freak about applications this week. Wednesday is sports massage, and catching up on assigned reading and sorting out notes and training (little freak out day). Thursday I start an assignment using a totally new skill-set that will culminate in a "BIG-DEAL research article" according to the module outline, and I also have to be part of a review board meeting that happens every 4 years. It's like the pass/fail for the department from outside agencies, so they want us to say nice things. Still thinking about what I actually want to say because there's definitely some work that could be done to improve things. Friday I have a 4hr (one way) train journey to see my Dad for the weekend and somehow find the time to catch up on all the work I've missed from having a busy week. Maybe there will be some emails..... Agh busy times busy times. Any one want to bring me some Belgian chocolate?

Great idea! I'm thankful for: Grad cafe - especially as an international applicant this has helped me navigate all sorts of things I didn't think would be an issue but have been. Plus it's great to know we're all freaking out together, but separately! My friends and boyfriend who've put up with me talking incessantly about the application process, pros and cons of each school I considered applying to, being there through my Masters degree which has been amazing. They've been such a great support system and I'm so incredibly grateful for them My LORs. One writer is truly a mentor of mine, in a related field (kinesiology but he does nutrition, I do engineering), while one wrote me a glowing reference despite the fact I kept hounding him to write it. My final LOR was a guy whom I'd known only 3 weeks, but could vouch for my skills (he said he was impressed with my math!), and is world famous in my field. Apparently all 3 letters were good because I'm hearing positive things. I'm so thankful they each took the time to help me with the next step in my career. My undergrad degree, for prepping me so much better than I had previously been aware of. Doing this masters has shown me just what an incredible grounding I got initially, and for that I really am grateful. Finally, I'm thankful for Netflix, chocolate and tea/coffee. Without these 3 I'm not sure I'd have got this far!

@fuzzylogician I see your point. Let's go with how to get the best mentorship you can? Also, anything you would recommend to do throughout the PhD to give yourself the best shot when it comes to the job market (I appreciate I'm in a wildly different field to you)? I think I've had my fair share of dealing with jerks and being a student to hold my own there!

@fuzzylogician any words of advice for women starting out in academia, other than the standard "have a tough skin and be prepared to prove you know more and are more capable than they boys"? This whole discussion appears to be one that is global right now. A friend's fiancee is looking at gender bias in science for her PhD and it's as much a societal thing as an academia thing. I'm glad that we can have a productive conversation about these issues though, and it's encouraging to see some departments actively trying to change.

Hi! Again, I've applied to a different department but my application status reads: "The initial phase of the admission process has been completed. Your application is now pending review by the program/plan of study admissions committee. Please be patient; you will be contacted by the program/plan of study directly when a decision has been made. Questions should be directed to your intended program of study." I am expecting that the funding decisions are not made until the start of this year so they may be waiting on funding before proceeding further, with a shortlist of applicants they want but just depending on advisor allocations or something. Best of luck to you both!