AbaNader
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Posts posted by AbaNader
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Dal PhDer: your adviser sounds like a complete J A C K A S S.
Sorry, but it had to be said.
- mandarin.orange and aec09g
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To the OP: any new developments?
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Thanks Sigaba!
My feeling of the entire situation is that whatever the outcome is, I know I have to work with him for the next few years and will need to be in his good graces, so I don't want to burn any bridges with him. I do feel that writing for publication has many benefits and positive outcomes aside from authorship- so I have gained something by this experience.
I have a casual meeting with him on Wed and felt that this might be a good time to bring it up as we will be discussing the progress of the paper. Ideally I would like to have first authorship (Plan A) [he is not a person to give praise or verbally reward a student for a good job so hoping for that is a lost cause!], but if he says that the authorship is the way it will stay, I will just accept it. I don't know if this is the best method, but I think it's a learning experience and shows a lot more of about him...and in the future I will pursue publications outside of his guidance.
Unfortunately, there is no one in my department that can handle this. Our graduate coordinator (who would be the person to go to) is currently on leave until Sept and there is no replacement...so I am a bit out of luck. I may go to a Post-doc in our lab and chat with her about the situation. We're quite close and she is often filled with really great advice and experience. She would be able to let me know her experience with writing with him, and perhaps give me some advice on my expectations.
I am certainly cautious that I don't want to go into my meeting with him with my guns blazing and a chip on my shoulder.
An idea:
Ask him "out of professional curiosity": how much more work is normally expected from someone to assume first authorship? I want to become the first author on a paper, for my career, and I really want to know what it takes to get that.
If you ask him like that, you aren't brushing up against him or directly challenging his decision to relegate you to the last author but rather just asking for his advice. When he does explain what it normally takes to get first authorship, ask inquisitively about what he thinks of the level of your work in the current paper, i.e., how much more would warrant first authorship in his opinion. You can ask him questions like, is authorship based more on brute work or idea input or critical analysis, etc. Of course, I am just speaking roughly since you'll have to word it carefully so he doesn't misconstrue what you're saying.
If after all that 10-15 minute discussion he still doesn't offer to change authorship or defer your first authorship to a future paper or some other accomodation, IMHO you should just ignore it. He has already made a mental note of your thinking/objectives and its not worth butting heads with him on noncritical issues early on in your PhD career.
Good luck!
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Hi
I was hoping to get a second opinion about grad school. I had initially brought up the idea of going to a prof I've been working with on my honors thesis he asked my gpa, 3.5, and replied "unacceptable" from there he said I could only get in if I ace the GRE and get all As senior year. I have looked at other sources including this forum and it looks like there may be options for me, but I am so unsure because of his opinion that I am seeking opinions from others.
Right now I am a junior: history, geography, and anthropology major at Syracuse U. I am in the honors program and currently working on an thesis for departmental distinction. Sophomore year I worked as a research assistant as part of a group studying scholarly communication, but this was using anthropological methodology. My distinction thesis is in the area I would like to go to grad school for, it is on radical religious groups in Early Modern England. There may be some profs that will write me letters, but I tend to be quieter in class so I am not sure about how strong these will be. Still have yet to take the GRE (since I've been worried there's no shot of getting in).
I would like to end up with a PhD, but would be totally fine with doing a MA program first. I just would like to know if I stand any chance of getting into a graduate program within my interest area or are my qualifications "unacceptable"?
Thanks!
I've been in your same position (similar GPA, profile, etc.) except I had the benefits of some publications. I cannot stress how important letters of recommendations (LORs) are. When you ask for a LOR, don't ask IF they can write you one, ask if they can write you a STRONG one. If they don't explicitly say their LOR will be strong (i.e. specific with examples showing why you are a great candidate) then don't ask them to write you one. Ideally the LOR should be from someone who knows you intimately (not just, she got an A in my class intimate) and is well known in their field and/or has connections at places you will be applying to. If you can't find the perfect LOR writer (and probably won't) try to mix and match so you have a good combination of writers.
Since you have an year till you finish, use this time to "prep" your LOR writers. Going to them just before you want a LOR won't get you a good one. Give them a chance to know you, talk to you, ask questions about courses, pitch research ideas (don't worry about how wacky they sound - they are great conversation starters and shows you are thinking out of the box), just relax around the professors and they'll write you a good LOR. Everyone has their personality types and professors tend to be very rigid, especially with what they expect from their students. Some relax and open up when a student shows confidence, assertiveness and maturity. Some others become tense and threatened when this happens so they like students to well just act like minions. You just have to read their responses and adjust your behavior with them to put them at ease so they can get to know you better. Remember, you are just an undergraduate at the start of the day, but with a little work and a little persistence, you can become much more than that. That is what you need for an LOR.
I noticed professors love to talk about themselves and about their work. They love it even more when you come to them for their expert advice (it is usually good IMHO). This is more true of junior professors than the senior ones who have been jaded by years of brown nosing by both undergraduate as well as graduates, and of course the mandatory awards that come with faculty promotion. You can take advantage of this by asking their advice about whether to attend graduate school; what their personal opinion is about it. This will give them a chance to get to know you and you can open up to them since they can't really answer that question for you without knowing you. At another stage you can inquire about what schools to apply to. Give them ownership of the situation, make them feel invested in your success. They will always be on "your side" if you do that.
The other important part of the application is the statement of purpose. You can review these with faculty members as well. Show it to them and ask "would you accept as a graduate student based on this SOP?". The SOP is really important. You need to show determination, focus and maturity. You need to talk as if you know exactly what you are going to do and why you are going to do it. Leave the generalities for the beginning and the end. But the main parts of the SOP should show determination, focus and maturity. Its tough to do it, but I found envisioning success to be the easiest way to get beyond the SOP. First envision your SOP being this amazing thing that your professors and all the grad schools will be awed by, then believe with conviction that you WILL write it like that. It takes a while to get this and is really a paradigm shift for most people but it helps tremendously to get over yourself and frees your mind to write like a beast. Otherwise, you'll be second guessing yourself, looking for some measure of unknown perfection, copying others, etc. Just free your mind and I'm sure you'll write a stellar SOP that really shows who you are and what you want.
I've gone through two application cycles, attended school at 3-4 different institutions - some ranked in the top 10 in their field, worked under 4 different professors, so I think I can say I've "been there and done that".
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Just my name (first, last) in my personal email. My name, title, work address, website, phone number on my professional emails. It makes it easier for people to identify you and contact you in other ways if they need to (has happened before). I don't put in any personal details/emails, etc.
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I get 8 hours of battery life from my stock battery after 150 full cycles (~9 months).
I hardly ever use it when it's not plugged in, though, but 8 hours is plenty for what I do.
Yeah I screwed up the battery by draining it to 0% a couple of times. I forgot these new Lithium ion batteries get worse if you drain them unlike the older Nickel metal hydride ones that required cycling.
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No.
However, I do not use battery saver power options nor turn off background applications that use a lot of power when I'm unplugged. So if I cannot sit near a power outlet, I generally will not bother taking my machine out of my pack or my satchel. (And to be clear, it is a satchel, not a murse.
) So when I'm at the local coffee house, I sneer with green-eyed envy at the MPB users who can sit where they want and (apparently) not worry about running out of juice. But I'm not bitter.Word. That's my only beef with my thinkpad...the battery power.
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Without getting too much into specs (unless you really want to go there), I'm weighing a MacBook Pro versus a Lenovo Think Pad for my grad school computer.
The essential question is this: Are most statistical software native to Windows, and does that make it a hassle to run them on Mac OS?
Does the hassle of running Windows in Parallels on my MacBook outweigh my slight preference for Mac OS over Windows?
Since I own both: a personal Thinkpad T420 I bought last November and a top-of-the-line Macbook Pro provided by my work recently (I don't know the specs but they have a habit of going for the best thing available), I think I can make an informed judgment. I almost never use my MBPro if I don't have to. It is just too big and seems much to fragile compared to my thinkpad. The thinkpad is versatile, I dropped it a couple of times on stone floor and it doesn't complain, the keyboard feels waaay better, the little trackpoint is handy, and it just feels good. The MBPro is more of a fancy personal computer. I use it to run some of my optimization code or when I need to video chat with someone (the camera is much better than on the thinkpad); the sound on it is also much better. Maybe its because everyone else at work has one but for me it doesn't even have that "status appeal" that some people crave for anymore (not me but I realize some people want to look like they're hip...). Also I think this is unorthodox but I never grew accustomed to MacOSX despite this being my third Mac (I owned two when I was an undergraduate). I never liked the lack of a taskbar and it always irritated me to have to switch windows. I also feel like the design and build quality on the older macs (circa 2005-07) was better than the newer ones (for e.g. I don't know why they changed the first magnetic charger plug style they had -- the new one is more aesthetically appealing but functionally much worse).
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Looks like I have been rejected from every school. I am so angry and depressed. I don't know what I am going to do. Don't even know if I am going to even waste my time or money reapplying next year. Looking at the previous classes, seems most universities are only interested in foreign students for the program I was hoping to get into.
To be perfectly honest, it is a little disheartening to not even be able to get into a school, in my own country, for a Marketing PhD. I am so through with this whole process. Guess I need to start looking for a job now! Whatever! F it!!!
--Out
I was in your same position the last time I applied. I am now holding an offer from one of my top schools. What did I do? Well after I got over my anger, blame, depression, etc., I sat down calmly and did some pretty thorough research on students who got accepted to the schools I wanted to go to. Where did they do their undergrad? What was their GPA? What was their GRE score? How many/what type of publications did they have? Who probably wrote their recommendation letters? After doing that, I then researched what professors typically look for (they is a surprisingly large amount of information on this online - written by professors). I then looked at my own profile, and circled all my weakness. I then gave myself 2 years to overcome all those difficulties. I don't want to talk about specifics about how approached the problems in my application but I'd be happy to share my experiences over PM. Bottom line: you can do it if you want but you need a ton of patience and a ton of determination.
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I think there are pros and cons- and of course, it's dependent on personality etc. I am finding two major downfalls (1) lack of time: Mind you, this is not just for new faculty, but TT has caused a lack of time both to meet, review my products, and provide guidance. There is just so much on his plate that teaching often falls on the back burner- or in the garbage can under the sink. I think this is not necessarily the fact that he's new, but it certainly doesn't help. (2) Lack of skills/experience: This is truly the most difficult aspect of a young prof. If they are not willing to take the time and effort to learn how to supervisor, manage, organize, etc...it can be a difficult process. Having worked with someone who has been 'in the business' for quite some time, I notice a huge difference. It takes experience and skill to truly help guide a student through this process- simply helping them adapt their project to make it manageable is a big skill. Pair that with learning how to successfully write grant application and publishable papers- these are things that profs don't just pick up after their PhD/Post-doc, these are skills they learn throughout their career.
I do think you make a good point that it might be easier to maintain that connect and understanding, since they would have just gone through the process...but for me, the lack of skills/experience and little time- is making it very difficult.
I have recently picked up 2 mentors. One is a committee member, and the other is a woman I work with who is in a completely different discipline. It's nice to see 'seasoned' professionals/professors work, and really provide insight. I think it's important to have a balance between a new eager professor, and a seasoned experienced professor- it's not black or white, and it's dependent on personalities...but I really believe that a well-rounded, balanced, and muti-perspective committee is best for this experience...mind you, I am in interdisciplinary studies, so I might be biased!
I've so far worked for 4 different professors at different schools and I strongly identify with your experiences; I guess that is why I started this thread.Does anyone have any advice about how to choose a mentor and how to approach "the chosen one" about it?
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@AbaNader
It depends upon the sensibilities of the professor doing the advising. I've been in two situations where my advisers weren't that interested in mentoring anyone. In the first situation, the professor was a senior scholar in the twilight of his career with a wife who was dying. Within the matrix of his priorities, he simply did not have enough time to be as hands on with me as I'd have liked. Consequently, I actually changed schools because I didn't feel I'd get the kind of support/ass chewing I need to maximize my potential as a historian. In the second situation, I've benefited from having three mentors (one of whom who has since died) to balance out a less-than-ideal relationship with my adviser.
An additional point. A previous comment that characterizes as "silly and potentially dangerous" a dynamic in which an adviser "begrudges" a grad student for finding other mentors is, in my view, overly broad. First, in a discipline like history, the degree of specialization and range of philosophical views can lead to a graduate student being caught in the middle if an adviser and a mentor are from opposite ends of the spectrum.
Second, there are often issues going on 'behind the curtain' within a department that professors will not disclose even to their most trusted graduate students. A professor can have professional and personal issues that make him or her a less than ideal candidate for a mentor despite that professor's best intentions. For example, a professor could be up for tenure but the writing is on the wall that he isn't going to make the cut. Or a professor can have personal issues (a messy divorce) that are going to drain that person's time, energy, and concentration during a graduate student's intervals of greatest need for mentoring. Is it inherently "silly" for an adviser to warn off a graduate student even though she cannot disclose the details?
Thanks for the calm, contemplative comments.
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I didn't read ghanda's reply but it deserves a thumbs up for length, if nothing else. :-)
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Thanks for all the responses.
My adviser is also junior faculty so I thought the mentorship of a more experienced faculty would be helpful. I feel the mentor is someone you can always seek sincere advice from, unlike the adviser where there might be a conflict of interest.
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Are they, should they, be the same?
I would think a faculty mentor in the department that is not your adviser would be more appropriate since you do not necessarily have to juggle with the "professional" pseudo employer-employee type relationship.
I would really like to have the advice and guidance of an older, experienced, accomplished faculty member without feeling like I am compromising my professional position and/or worrying about pressure from them.
Is it normal to seek out non-adviser mentors? Is it an affront to your adviser that you don't consider them mentors per se?
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Sorry double posted this...ignore this please.
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I'm setting up a google group for new JHU students so we can exchange info more easily. If you are interested, PM me your email (gmail preferably).
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AbaNader, Thanks so much for the link! I had no idea about the google group. The GRO website you mentioned describes pretty accurately most of what I saw on my tour. I really like the campus (Homewood). There are historical buildings and there are really cutting edge contemporary buildings. I think you'll love it. My tour was by an Engineering student, and she showed us a ton of really cool new labs and buildings that are almost completed - it's good to know the university is investing in your field. There are also lots of study spaces, walking paths around and through the campus if you want to work out, bike paths, and more importantly- trees! The scenery is really nice, and since Baltimore is a small city, you don't have to sacrifice a social life to get the environment- 5 minutes from some parts of campus and you're back into the city. I will say that I kind of hate the library- it's really small.
The Area: Near the engineering side of the campus there are tons of coffee shops, ethnic food places, kitchy stores, and very close housing (although I've been told its overpriced- it's practically on campus). There's also a lot of cool stuff to do in Baltimore that's free/cheap for Hopkins students -like independent movie theaters, a free book warehouse on Saturdays, etc. It's all walkable in about 20 minutes, but if you want there's enough random spots to park a car or a bike so that wouldn't be difficult either. It seems as though the JHU shuttle that connects to the metro cuts around the edges of the campus (which is fine), although most students told me they only take it to go downtown (i.e. this is not a sprawling campus where you'll need to take a shuttle to get to each side). There's also random cool stuff like a gym primarily for graduate students, but you can also use parts of the gym that the athletes use- which is epic.
I don't want to ramble, but I took a ton of notes while I was there, so if there's something specific you want me to describe or have a question about just let me know. Oh! In terms of housing, I thought it was pretty cool that each neighborhood looks really different, so you can pick a neighborhood by the vibe that works for you - and at least 2 complexes had rooftop pools if that's something you're interested in.
Thanks for all the info. This thread disappeared for some reason after the forum update (atleast I couldn't find it), hence the late reply.
I am trying to get something in Charles Village because it seems close to both engineering as well as grocery stores, coffee shops, etc. I was reading on the JHU guide that Hampden has less stores and is more of a quiet area. Rollins Park even more. Are you guys just craigslisting apartments or what?
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nopes, i am still waiting for purdue mech to get back on my phd app as well.
I talked to vicki today and got the same old reply, that no denials have been made yet while admissions are still being sent out.
classes start in aug and they are still dilly-dallying with lame responses, the slothfull lot of them.
((Don't worry, all replies are usually sent out by the 15th - its quite usual. Also, a professor can get you in if he really wants you. Good luck.
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How are people finding roommates?
As for the safety of the area- my visit included a 2hour walking tour of the area, and it seems pretty safe (considering I've lived in Philadelphia)- very easy to avoid the less developed areas, and you can ask people where those are.
- I wish there was an official forum for new students (in all programs, or by campus, etc.) to help us find roommates/housing. I'm hoping this can be that forum! Maybe that's an idea for the GRO organization.
You should just check out their new students guide, it has some resources. There is also a google group for finding roommates:
http://groups.google.com/group/gro-housing
Apart from that, you can also hit up craigslist. I don't think it should be too difficult, in general.
I was invited to the campus tour but I was overseas at the time so couldn't make it. What did you make of the campus?
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I'll be attending JHU in the fall as well. I'm mechanical engineering PhD so I'll be at the homewood campus.
Its exciting, so far.
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Hello guys,
I recently received several offers for my Fall 2012 PhD application, and I need to decide which to accept. Personally, I am more interested in computer architecture, but VLSI and CAD are also OK for me. I plan to go to the industry after getting a PhD. I'd like to hear some advice of which to choose.
1. CMU ECE
Research Area: CAD of Integrated Circuits
- good reputation in EE/CS
- strong in CAD research
- CAD industry is very small, maybe not many opportunities
- location not so good
2. Cornell ECE
Research Area: Computer Architecture
- ivy league school
- strong in computer architecture research
- location not so good
3. UCLA EE
Research Area: Digital Integrated Circuits/VLSI for communications
- strong in IC research
- good location
4. UT Austin ECE
Research Area: Computer Architecture
- strong in computer architecture research
- good location
- overall school reputation not as good as the other three
Anyone gives me some advice on which to choose, in terms of future career prospective, school reputation and connection with industry?
Thanks in advance.
A general advice: the size of the school/department does matter. In general, private schools are better than public schools in terms of quality of life so you might want to consider that.
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Thanks for the advice everyone, especially v834 and spacecase618.
HassE: there is some value to living up to your own standards of integrity. Its an internal dilemma rather than an external one. Regardless of how anyone behaves, I decided a long time ago to hold myself up to my own standards rather than get lost in some relativistic swamp (oh he did this too or she did this too). I am sure most other people decide the same at some point of their life or another.
I've accepted the offer.
I20 was enclosed in an envelope, but I removed it. Problem?
in IHOG: International House of Grads
Posted
This is the first time I'm hearing this and I've been an international student for many many years. Your I-20 is separate from your passport. The embassy probably stapled it for their own convenience. Generally, nothing NEEDS to be stapled into your passport but its a good idea to keep the I-94 departure record (this is a form you will get at arrival) stapled into your passport. Infact, the I-94 (at least the part that you get to keep) has a "staple here" place.
Just make sure you know the real strict rules and don't sweat the small stuff. Its not a big deal.