HiFiWiFi

Absolutely, and thanks for echoing things I'm already thinking so I know I'm not off the path too much in what I'm considering! I have no reason to believe I couldn't finish it on an individual level, I've just seen so many PhD candidates on reddit and such eventually dropping out of their program and so I felt it was important to put in that caveat. I agree with you: Since I want to teach the PhD will be inevitable (especially with changes to my field, eventually even industry practitioners will need a Masters so institutions will want PhDs to teach them, I imagine) and so it does seem like switching will be the better result for less debt and less time, I just have that niggling fear in the back that my possible mismatch on research might doom me. But like I said, I can get excited about a lot of things in the field. And absolutely I'll ask about alternative research and such, thanks for indicating that's not an impertinent or dumb question!

I am currently enrolled in an MPH program but have realized it's really not for me. The subject matter is interesting, but essentially the Master's is for people who want to go into practice/industry while my interest has always been more about teaching and research. (I was erroneously under the impression that it was standard for the field to get a credential from the Masters and then get a PhD, it wasn't until I got here and met PhDs without the credential that I realized I was wrong and went down a wrong path.) Luckily my program manager is amazing and has been talking to professors in the department on my behalf. She has identified several professors with funding to take on a PhD student and she is happy to help me transition to a PhD track instead! My problem comes from the fact that none of the POIs are really into the same research topics I am interested in. They are all doing tangentially related work, but none of their current projects are what I am most interested in studying. That said, "not what I'm most interested in studying" is the same thing that could be said about my current position, and at least the PhD would be funded (the terminal Master's program is not) and lead to better and more profitable jobs (at the cost of 2-3 additional years at school). So my question is this: Do I pursue a PhD working with a professor on research that I find interesting but am not at this moment passionate about (notably it's due to lack of exposure, I could fall in love with it, or could hate it!) or do I stay put where I'm at and get a less desirable Masters? I see it as the Masters program leading to more debt and a less desirable degree for future employment, but it will be simple to complete, while the PhD is better if I can finish it, which is my concern if I don't fall in love with the work. It's also probably worth mentioning that in all my time in school I have found passionate professors contagious: I can "get into" most anything that someone I look up to is passionate about, so that might play in as well.

I'm beginning a Masters program in nutrition UNC next week and I'm very excited. The application process did not involve interviews or campus visits, and so I have not yet really interacted with anyone in the program, students or faculty. Thursday I have the mandatory School of Public Health graduate student orientation which is, as it sounds, a orientation for graduate students for this particular school, ostensibly to learn about the programs, area, resources available to us, etc. Friday I have the optional diversity orientation which is for undergrad and grad students within the PH school but aimed at students in minority groups (I myself being in the LGBTQ category). On Saturday I have a more casual potluck/BBQ organized by a student group in my particular degree field. (There are ~50 students, 25 second year, 25 incoming, give or take a few, and I believe ~12 are going to attend this thing.) On Monday I have no classes but have a School welcome and department orientation. On Tuesday is my first day of classes. I'm quite certain I'm good with jeans and other casual wear for the potluck, but what about all that other stuff? I am not currently employed by the department but very much want to be in the coming weeks, and so I feel I should dress up a bit to make a professional first impression, but I'm worried about being overdressed if everyone else dresses like undergrads in sweaters and jeans. And obviously the last thing I want to do is be underdressed. Any insight?

I'm moving to Chapel Hill to attend UNC in the fall. I am hoping to get an on-campus job, but if not I will simply get a job delivering pizza or something to help pay bills. However, I've already ensured that the loan amount I am eligible for could sustain me all year if it needed to. I will need to sign a lease for an apartment within ~10 days of arrival in order to qualify for in-state tuition for the 18-19 school year, so I'm trying to be proactive about finding a place to live, and it occurred to me I'll be unable to show proof of income, and can only furnish proof of ~7k dollars in the bank at the time of signing the lease. Has anyone had trouble renting a place while dealing with student finances? Possible relevant info: I have low-end-of-good credit (696, ~10 year history) and all of my debt is deferred student loans, no credit card debt. I own my car. I have no rental history, as I have been living with relatives throughout my schooling. I am a 30 year old single, white female who will be living alone with no pets. I will be looking at apartments with a monthly rent of ~950 USD.

I'm just so paranoid about student debt. I have ~41k in federal loans and 6k in private loans from undergrad. I have a choice between Grad A which is 110% best fit, top choice forever, exactly what I want to study, well-connected and prestigious program which will require 100-115k additional debt, or Grad B which is a weak fit (but still in the right field for my career choice) but somewhere between free and 30k in debt, all-told. (Haven't seen the funding offer.) I've asked many people from all walks of life, all areas of academia, etc. and everyone is saying to go with Grad A because fit matters so much in grad programs and because the better connections at Grad A will allow me to get a better job in an area I'd rather live, but ugh, even my tiny student loans have a 400 dollar monthly payment, and my starting salary for my field is probably only around 60k. I'm quite frugal, but I'd rather not live in a box. I keep telling myself I can do income-driven repayment and most of the jobs I'll be looking at are eligible for PSLF; but with the political climate I'm so scared I'm going to make this decision to take on this debt then have the rug pulled out from under me and the repayment options I was relying on aren't going to be there when the time comes. It's so scary. I'm so anxious about this I keep getting mini panick attacks when I think about it. My mother did a "I'm so proud" post about me getting into grad school on Facebook and she finished it off with "I just wish college was more affordable" (Note: she ain't payin for it) and I know she means well but it's like I can't even enjoy one moment of congratulations without beign reminded of this suffocating debt.

I applied to four terminal Masters programs this year, all of which involve placement into three internship rotations. Two interviewed me, one said interviews are normally required but because I knew someone in the faculty already the interview was being waived, and one didn't interview at all. The one that didn't interview is the most prestigious and I'm happy I was accepted! But it made me wonder why they would choose not to interview when everyone else seems to. All the programs will involve the same style of thesis work and internship; it seems strange to me that the others want to 'get to know me' while arguably the "best" one apparently felt they got enough of an idea of me based on my SOP. Just curious, what might the reasoning be?

Studying philosophy does not mean that you have a rock-solid control of your thoughts and emotions, or even that you fully understand them. Maybe I'm alone here but I'm pretty sure OP wasn't saying "woe is me, I'm sad" but was reflecting on how they felt about their school and how their subjective view flavors their feelings and thoughts despite objectively probably being in a better position. Reflection is important, and sharing that reflection can be useful for a lot of people.

I'm a "bad profile" applicant on paper. My GRE is okay (great V, ho-hum Q, decent AW), GPA is only a 3.2, academically suspended (flunked out) from undergrad twice, my only research experience was a tiny, unpublishable project. But when you read my statement of purpose you'll see that I have a 4.0 in all major coursework and a 3.8 over the past three years, my GPA is just shit because of my problems 10 years ago. My academic suspensions are a decade old. That "tiny research project" was my project (I did the IRB, wrote all grant proposals, collected all data, completed all statistical analyses, designed my poster, and presented it at a professional conference poster session). My spring breaks were spent shadowing professionals and doing community service. One summer was spent studying abroad in an area specific to my top-choice grad school's aims. I wasn't employed in the field because I was helping design lessons and editing the textbooks my undergrad used. Of the schools I applied to I was rejected from the least prestigious and accepted to all three of the more prestigious programs. When you boil everything down to a few numbers and when "research" can mean you did what I did or that you were the 14th author on a paper because a professor thought you should put your name on something you really can't compare yourself to what you see on gradcafe, especially when you also toss in the concept of program fit.

This happened to me today; I've already gotten into a better fit program so I am not worried about what this means, but it made me wonder. I applied to an in-state Masters program and received an email today that I am being considered for acceptance. They said since I had already met with a faculty member on the selection committee that I did not need to complete an interview. (They didn't include any "But if you would like to have one anyway . . ." information, leading me to believe I don't get one.) I can only assume that this means I am getting in, because the idea of them waiving an interview then not letting me in would be pretty cruddy if I needed that spot, given I'd feel I didn't get the same chance other applicants got to make an impression. What do you all think? It's also notable that, well, I didn't meet with anyone on the selection committee, I don't even know who is on it. I'm assuming this waiving happened because 1) a very large portion of the graduates from my undergrad go to this program, and there's a strong partnership between the schools and, more importantly, 2) my "main" LOR writer (former professor and boss at my undergrad) is up there doing a PhD and teaching undergrad classes, though I do not believe she is on the committee. Thoughts on this situation? Has anyone else basically been told "You're in the running but we don't want to interview you" before? Since I'm not going to choose this program unless they make some major funding available (unlikely for this level/school) I'm not worried, per se, just thinking about the situation in general.

My undergrad wasn't a DPD, that's why I'm going for a master's rather than just doing an internship. Thankfully I got into my top choice though, so all is good.

Agreed. When I was in undergrad I was part of a group project and one member screwed us all over. She failed and had to retake the class. I was now the grader for that class, and some of the grading was subjective. I was so concerned ab out being fair to this girl because I sincerely did not want my personal feelings about being screwed over to impact my grading that I actually think I graded her too leniently on some assignments just to avoid seeming too harsh. Once you know, you can't unknow, and whether you want it to or not, it probably will impact your grading in some way.

Most applicants jumped through the same hoops you did when you were in undergrad. They want to get in too, so they did research, they got in good with their letter-writers, they studied for their GRE. Every applicant will appear as a list of accomplishments to the committee. The SOP is where you show that it is not just a list of hoops you jumped through. Talk about every notable experience in your SOP in a way that ties it into the program of study. I went to a rural small liberal arts college, I wasn't going to be able to go toe-to-toe with most other applicants in published papers, research opportunities, etc. And so I took my small and subjectively less impressive experiences but talked about them with such enthusiasm that I made it clear that they were important and they did make me a better someday-dietitian. I went through my resume and the mission statement of the program and found ways to talk about every extracurricular, job, shadowing experience, etc. that I had in a way that related to the goals of the program. Use your SOP to force them to see how amazing your experiences were, because they may look ho-hum among the competition if you do not. Runner-up tip: When asking for LORs I provided each writer with a 1.5 page letter outlining my accomplishments and my goals. I received feedback from all of them that knowing more about what drove me personally and what I'd been doing at the school outside of their view helped them write stronger letters for me. Help your LORs, it will probably result in stronger (and hopefully more punctual) letters.

Without the credentials I'll get in grad school I literally can't even use my undergrad degree in a very useful way (Nutrition degree with no RD credentials means you're only qualified for a few jobs and none pay well) so I was thinking of applying to law schools. I'd originally been pre-Law many years ago and still fancy the idea of being a lawyer quite a bit. So I guess I'd keep working at my current job and studying for teh LSAT. And try to figure out how to tell my nutrition faculty LOR writers that they're going to be writing letters for law schools and not dietetics programs . . . That or Food Corps, the nutrition education branch of Americorps.