rheya19

Not many schools have military psychology specific programs, however, any APA accredited clinical or counseling PhD program would be accepted by the military and the VA as well as most PsyD programs.  If you would like to work in the VA system, look for a school with a close relationship with a VA hospital for practicum and internship opportunities.  If you would like to be active duty military, you can begin speaking with a Health Professions recruiter for whichever branch you're interested in now as you're beginning to think about your programs (this is for the US military only, I know nothing about the Canadian military and if they may have opportunities for active duty military psychologists).

Please do NOT say what you just said here. R1s are full of (perhaps invisible to you) diversity. There are LGBTQIA+ students, first generation students, veterans, students with children, etc. in amongst the students in your R1 classroom whether you realize it or not. Addressing what you've done to ensure those students are welcomed and included in your classroom is something you can and should be able to address, even if there wasn't visible racial diversity in your classroom.

Not a formal interview, but I've given "job talks" at places where an audience member is an opponent of an idea/model/theory that I was working on and speaking about. The advice I got was to ensure you show them that you know about their work and that you acknowledge it. Ensure that you aren't presenting your idea/theory/work as the only correct method. I would first present the research question, then talk about how your chosen theory can answer it. Then, say something like, "However, this is still an open question, and Prof X here argues that ...." State why their work is good but then professionally highlight why you would disagree. Don't be afraid to also mention the weaknesses in your chosen theory. I would try to end on some common ground. I think as long as you are open/honest about differing opinions and don't make it personal, it should be okay! 

Yes! Forest is a great app. I use it every day to keep myself off my phone while working. The little trees are cute. Plus you can use the points you earn to plant actual, real trees. It's a very cool app.

This might be too late, but I teach religious studies courses and would like to throw my two cents in.
I have never seen "+JMJ+" from Catholic students, but I do emphasize the importance of formal English writing in the classes, which means no unnecessary abbreviations, etc. The issue with Muslim students and PBUH is a little different though; Muslims are culturally obligated to say "peace be upon him" after the Prophet Muhammad's name. They also don't normally call him by his name ("Muhammad") with out his title ("Prophet.") It's not a religious requirement, but often a cultural one done out of respect. Likewise, some Jews are more comfortable writing "God" as "G-d."
The difference between these two examples and "+JMJ+" is that the former are cultural expressions of respect or piety, and the latter is an informal abbreviation for something that can be written out in full. So I think it's ok for students to use familiar forms of respect for the figures we study as long as 1) it's not incorrect, informal English and 2) it doesn't create bias in their argument.

C_C
Did you look at the responses to the exam questions for patterns? You might be able to narrow down the issues to a topic or a problem solving technique so you can fix what needs fixing rather than doing a complete overhaul. Along the same lines, holding additional and/or mandatory office hours for students who did poorly may help you to develop better rapport and to figure out how to zero in on the students' learning styles.
Also, a tactic I picked up from a professor was to distribute after every section an evaluation form that can be useful for figuring out where to improve. You'll not get many responses, some will be snarky, and a handful will give you the information you need to teach more effectively.
More generally, keep in mind that teaching is a skill that some believe is independent of the domain of knowledge one is teaching. I am mentioning this point so that your confidence in your teaching skills doesn't seep into other skill sets that are further along in their development.
STUDENT EVALUATION FORM.pdf

I think the thing to do is to ask for an evaluation from someone with more experience, be it from your university's learning center or someone within your department. Maybe have someone observe a class or two, and show them some of your materials. There is always room for improvement, if not in content then maybe in the delivery, so that whatever is causing the students to doubt your teaching abilities can be remedied. As it stands, it's hard to know if there is a content problem, a delivery problem, maybe a problem of addressing the class at the right level and getting the strugglers to a good level instead of only talking to the strong students, or if this is all just backlash because they didn't study and it's not your fault, because it sounds like the other section(s) are basically doing the same as yours. It could just be that you are not feeling confident and that is being picked up by the students, and is making them feel insecure about the material as well; that could be addressed and fixed, and doesn't mean that you're teaching them wrong but that you need to work on your presentation style. It's hard to take criticism, and it's even more difficult to know which points are actually true and helpful and which are not. So get help from a third party who is willing to support you. 

The only Middle Eastern countries that require a head scarf by law are Iran and Saudi Arabia, if I'm not mistaken. I had a friend who traveled in Amman, Jordan alone, and she said she felt very safe. She dressed in loose clothes, shoulders and knees covered, and men never cat-called her or harassed her in any way. I also know someone who taught in the UAE for a few years. Those countries could be worth looking into.
I lived in Taiwan and taught ESL there for four years. I was studying Chinese at the same time. It's relatively easy to get a visa to live and work there (compared to Japan or Korea.) The money isn't as good, but the cost of living is way, way cheaper. Learning Mandarin is not easy, though. You'd need a couple of years there to get a handle on it. I don't know how that compares to Arabic, though.
Feel free to PM me with questions about Taiwan, if you like.

- Public speaker (I am already doing it)
- Social Work professor
- Journalist on social issues
- Social Worker

1) Singer-Songwriter (did a year of training at the California College of Music for this and despite an EP and single on iTunes and tons of unpaid performances here and there, I'm still struggling but I'll keep going forward with music while I look for day jobs that I still like
2) Advertising Exec/Art Director (this is kinda what I'm trying to get a Masters in - I need to gain new skills in this and to network)
3) TV Screenwriter/Producer (had a screenwriting background and would like to be one of those powerful women who revolutionize the TV industry)
4) Best-selling fiction novel writer

Serious question: if you don't know what kind of history you're interested in studying, why are you applying to grad school to study history? Sounds to me like it might be useful to take some time off, have some other experiences outside school, and apply to grad school when you have a clearer sense of what you want to do.

The one trick I've learned (mostly through analyzing why I respect some professors despite being subject to their scathing criticism) is to be honest and confident and deal with the behavior like a boss, but to never judge or make assumptions about the student's personality, motivation, or abilities.
Instructors who get the best results:
Might tell the student that his/her behavior comes off as [insert negative thing here], but will never say that the student is A or B or that they think the student is A or B. Might say why they took points off and where the problems are in a certain paper or assignment, but will never generalize the performance on that single assignment to make negative assumptions about the student's performance overall or question the student's effort or abilities. Keep personal feelings out of it. Treat each situation as something separate - once a conversation is over, let it be over. Don't let your attitude cloud your other interactions with said student or with other students. If they don't bring up the topic of a past unpleasant interaction with you, you don't bring it up first. You smile and treat it as if nothing happened after the fact. Also, it's okay to clue in the instructor of record if it gets too absurd.
As a TA, one of the worst interactions I've had with a student involved that student being aggravated by a not-so-great grade on her essay and was trying to get points that I couldn't give her. She yelled at me during office hours, refusing to believe that her answers weren't correct and telling me that she didn't think I understood how much money and effort she put into her education, that I didn't care because I wasn't paying nearly as much as her, and that I wasn't qualified to teach and probably didn't even read the textbook.
I ignored any attacks on me. I told her first of all that I didn't question her ability or effort - there were specific things we were looking for and she didn't have it; it didn't mean she was a bad student or that I graded on a whim. I also explained the answers to the questions and the reasons her answers didn't express them adequately. I then told her that she was welcome to go to the instructor for a second opinion (which she was going to do anyway). After she left, I followed up with an email recapping what I'd said, BCC'ing the instructor, and I met with the instructor later that day to talk more about the incident. When the student sent in the essay for that second opinion, the instructor and I went through it together, and the fact that the instructor was on my side about the grading helped the student come to terms with her grade, and she ended up apologizing for her attitude.
Honestly, I have to really thank this student. She gave me a killer answer to a really common and hard-to-answer interview question! 

The other thing to try is to search the school website - there might be an older version stashed away somewhere and accessible. I have done this for just about every course I have taken - usually I can find something.
 
 

That's true. I didn't think of that. I know some professors keep the same syllabus and just change a few things from semester to semester. 
You have a point. I'm definitely going to try and enjoy the rest of the summer. Once courses start this Fall, there isn't much of a break until I'm finished. 
Thanks for the suggestions. 

Thanks so much for posting this. I am an entering Ph.D. Lit student this fall and this is a second career for me. While I knew some of this stuff, having it all located in one place is great to have. I have interviewed for positions multiple times over the years, but this is a new field for me and timelines are always different.

Yeah, that is a high proportion of your salary to spend on housing. I think you need to collect a bit more information. First off, what are other predictable expenses? Does the dorm cover utilities (electricity, gas, *heating* if in a cold location, internet, phone) -- those can add up, especially heating, if not covered. Is your health insurance fully covered or will you have to pay more (vision, dental, spouse/children's insurance)? What are average prices for groceries? Will you have a car -- factor in insurance and gas; if you are using public transportation, what is the cost of a monthly pass/however many tickets you'll need? Important -- is the stipend for 9 or 12 months, and will there be additional summer funding? If not, you need to save on each month's salary so you have enough to get yourself through the summer. 
Then I think it'd be useful for you to get in touch with current students and get some advice from them on how they handle their budget, which I assume is similar to yours. It might be beneficial to try and find roommates in an already existing apartment situation rather than try to contact landlords directly. Current students in your department might know someone who is looking, and could put you in touch with them. If you have roommates, you should not spend nearly as much on housing as you are describing now. 

^ In addition, in all such matters, involve the instructor of record. The professor in charge of the course should know of any issue serious enough to warrant removing a student from class (name calling would be included for me, argumentative student in discussions would not, but that is a judgment call). If it were me, in cases that don't involve safety I would do my best to ignore the bad behavior and steer the class back in a productive direction; engaging a student like that could be dangerous in that you as instructor often can't actually do much in the moment and you don't want to give the student too much power (e.g. refusing to leave and causing a scene, taking time away from class). It's a judgment call. In many cases, the right course of action would be to turn matters over to the professor and not deal with it yourself. The power differential between prof and student and the experience will usually mean it'll be easier for the prof to deal with it than for the TA. 

I want to thank those who have responded.  As far as the comments re: first year review: I understand that a review is a place to critique, hopefully constructively (mine was not  constructive) your performance.  I am in a very small cohort, and I have asked those in my cohort about their reviews, and they were either more even handed, definitely more constructive, or, in one case, completely glowing.  Trust me, I am not trying to play the victim, and I do not want to feel this way, but I cannot help but feel that maybe this is a bad fit, and the department feels that way as well.  As a result, I have begun reaching out to other programs to gauge their interest.

I really appreciate the advice on housing and legal issues.  I felt the approach taken by University Housing was wrong when I was faced with it, and they tried to play it off as they do not have to follow state rules regarding evictions, etc.  I have countered in email after doing some more research into Federal rules, and hopefully they will back off a bit.

Orphic, thank you for asking about how I am doing (although, I am actually a working father).  The service provider that was working with my child has offered us family and individual therapy, and we are getting that organized as well.  
 

Sounds like you need to talk to your advisor explicitly about these communication issues that you are having. She sounds like she is trying to find a way to get through to you and would be open to new things, but you need to help her find ways to make the relationship work. That basically means telling her, or if it's hard to say, then writing out and emailing her (though eventually you'll have to have an in-person conversation), a version of what you said here. You could do it directly with her, or with some mediation (e.g. with the help of your DGS, or someone from the office of disabilities). It would be good if you could provide direct guidance about what works for you and what doesn't, and also some explanation of your behavior and what it means, as opposed to how you think it might be misinterpreted. It sounds like she is generally a good and dedicated advisor, so I'd stop worrying about her dropping you as an advisee, as long as you can communicate that you want the relationship to continue and to find ways of improving it, including how best to give you feedback that you can understand. Her frustration should lessen once she understands why it's been difficult, and in particular once you start actively trying to find ways of fixing it. 
At the same time, it would probably be a good idea to seek help through the office of disabilities at your university. Your anxiety is something that perhaps could be treated, and the communication issues are something that they might be able to help you manage better. It would be good to do this sooner rather than later; academia is a lot about social interactions, not just about pure research. This is also true in many other future careers you might want to have, so you should start thinking about developing strategies for getting yourself understood and dealing with people you have a harder time relating to.

My undergrad GPA was relatively low (3.3) and this got pointed out to me on grad school visits and on my first NSF application. Senior year I managed rise 3.45 by the time I graduated, not sure how much better that is.
 
For me, grad school has been a lot easier than undergrad. I have a 3.93 right now and between both of those GPAs, I was told I had a "stellar academic record" on my NSF reviews this year. Considering I don't think I've gotten much smarter in the past two years, I think the whole system is bull.
 
Moreover, I'm a bit upset because there are some interesting classes I want to take, but my adviser is telling me to protect my GPA - I thought it doesn't matter anymore! I just want to learn...

Here's how I'd look at it:
Essential = those that everyone always cites. The go-tos. They may not be the oldest piece but, they are the starting point for dozens of other pieces of scholarship. 
Does that help? Alternately, find a review paper or historiography of your area and see which texts they identify as most important and go from there. A lot of building a comps list is following the bibliography from one piece to the next, then looking at who has cited the new piece and doing that again.

Don't go into too much detail on your personal life in your POS, unless it directly relates to your area of research. The admission's committee is going to assume that you're willing to put the time and work in if you're a 38 year-old professional applying to grad school; don't give them any reason to second-guess that assumption. Focus your POS on the kind of work you plan to do as a member of the department.

A professional job does NOT entail you should give up on having any relationships, pets, children, friends, hobbies, or time off to just relax. You are thinking about this all wrong. Thinking about this as a professional job means you devote a certain part of the day (=the working hours) to your studies, and the rest of the time can be devoted to whatever else is happening in you life, including all those other things. It's really important to have something else in your life beside school, whatever that is. Otherwise, you'll burn out very quickly.  

Yep, I've never done this and can't help, but agreed that a thread could be useful. I just want to make sure you don't rely solely on this thread (happens occasionally on this board and doesn't seem healthy). It's important to make use of all resources  

For admission to the program, age should not matter. In fact, you could swing it to your advantage by mentioning how your professional experience relates to the program that your applying to.