[SOPs Word or PDF?]

2 hours ago, Sigaba said:

You've been using Word since 1983 or Word for Windows since 1989?

The statement "I don't know how you think [PDFs are] more professional" is a bit of a head scratcher. In my experiences working in two different industries with clients and third parties in different sectors of the economy, a PDF document is considered more professional than a Word document because PDFs are platform independent. Moreover, a graphics-heavy PDF is generally much smaller in file size than original files and therefore easier to hand off to clients.   And a PDF has security features that are crucial when handing over proprietary information. Companies have policies that forbid handing off source files such as Microsoft Office files to clients and third parties without case by case approval by managers and project managers. Companies insist that deliverables be submitted as PDFs.

Also, the formatting of Word documents does change if a computer doesn't have the same fonts used to make the original document, or if a slightly older version of Word is used to open a .docx file because older versions of Word don't have as many colors and features.

And, according to Microsoft, older versions of Word can open docx files, and for several years, Word has had a feature to allow backward comparability. 

Windows came out with its first stable platform meant for the Net in 1995. Word wasn't very stable before that (neither was Windows--I had a standalone computer in the office with Windows and a very early version of Word) and a majority of companies used WordPerfect, which was the big wordprocessing program that was used almost unilaterally across the US until then. Many companies had servers and limited networks that had capabilities of emailing intra-company. I worked as the assistant to General Counsel at one of the top 4 oil companies in the world in the early 90s and it had a network that was supposed to be company-wide, but many departments had their own servers and networks for security reasons (i.e. the law department that General Counsel was over). When Windows 95 and Office 95 were launched (I was back in a private law firm in Denver by that time), many state and county departments went in that direction almost immediately. State universities followed within a year. Law firms were slower to respond, keeping their WordPerfect. My firm went to Word in late '95. Outside of some quick training in Windows/Word, I was the Go To person who trained everyone in the firm. I developed the templates the firm used and ways to use the auto numbering system that has not always worked well in Word. Now, although I have Word 2016 Pro, I simply have it set for MLA, although I do have a template for Chicago, which English publishes in, since all I do is write critical literary essays.

My experiences with Word evolved within the world of law firms, from mid-size firms of 50 attorneys to world-wide firms with 1,000+ attorneys. No one is more paranoid about security than lawyers and most of them still use it every day to send documents back and forth between firms to make red-line comments. I have also seen red-lined docs come from clients with their comments. You are completely correct in what you say about security, but I worked in the field until six years ago, and I know what I saw happening every day.

[Grad Stipend and Living Expenses]

I'm in the English department and receive a stipend, insurance and waiver of tuition. The stipend is low, but not as low as Chai Tea's is. I have other independent income, but most of the GAs are in roommate situations. Most assistantships are 1/2 time (which is as much as the department will allow) = 20 hours per week. I teach a 2/2 schedule and hold office hours on campus. My MA campus was different in that the 20 hours had to be spent completely on campus. Anything lower than the 20 hours is quarter time and the benefits are reduced accordingly.

[SOPs Word or PDF?]

7 hours ago, samman1994 said:

PDFs can be changed as well. Its more of a formatting thing however, and just easier to read, that makes them more professional. 

I don't know how you think it's easier to read or more professional, as all that a PDF does is create a "picture" of the Word doc. As far as formatting goes, I have used Word since it's inception and formatting does not change because of use on an older machine and/or software. As a matter of course, Word docs in the most current version won't even open in older versions of Word. Universities (even in poor states) have the most current software available to faculty and staff (usually in the form of Office 365, which is also available to their students). If a university has the version of Adobe that allows for extensive editing of PDFs, they will have the most current version of Word. I think that many students are using Google Docs instead of Word and that may create a problem with the application software that universities use. I know it creates issues with Turnitin for both my students and me at times. Having said all of that, I converted my docs to PDFs for submission with applications during my season, unless the program asked for it in Word.

[Tax Change Impact - Tuition Waivers Taxed!]

Tuition waivers are already taxable over $5,250 per year. I just looked it up. However, currently any tuition reduction you receive for graduate education is qualified, and therefore tax free, if both of the following requirements are met. 

• It is provided by an eligible educational institution.

• You are a graduate student who performs teaching or research activities for the educational institution.

You must include in income any other tuition reductions for graduate education that you receive.  Please see IRS PUB 970 for more.

What I read about the new tax bill online is that Steven Bloom said "institutions wouldn't be able to waive tuition costs without imposing new taxable income on grad students." This is all speculation about a proposed bill at this point. We shouldn't get tied up in knots yet. These things always get changed and the proposed changes to higher ed are impossible, because universities depend on the cheap labor of GTAs. I will worry about this when and if it happens. Too many variables to factor in.

[SOPs Word or PDF?]

Sometimes the apps will designate what they want and sometimes they will simply leave it open to either. Why do you consider a PDF more professional? I like it because the PDF is more fixed. Word docs can be changed.

[How to make sure your GRE scores were sent]

6 hours ago, TakeruK said:

Maybe they have changed what that final screen shows but I didn't see percentile ranks there, only the score.

Unless there was a mistake in the grading system, your score should not change. 

You can already look up your percentile rank in the tables provided by ETS. The percentile rank that will appear on your report is relative to the test takers in the last 5 complete testing years. In this case, that's July 1, 2012 through June 30, 2017, inclusive. The tables are updated once a year. So for your applications this year, the scores of everyone testing after July 1 2017 does not matter. Also note that if you reapply next year with the same test score, your percentile rank may be different since it's now calculated with respect to the scores from July 1 2013 thru June 30 2018. This is probably why they don't show percentile rank on that screen, since they don't know when you will be submitting your score.

Only scores are posted and that is what is sent. TakeruK is correct in that percentiles change from year-to-year. I took the GRE once as an undergrad before getting my MA and every year my percentile changes slightly (up or down depending on the scores deleted and added to the composite).

[How to make sure your GRE scores were sent]

22 minutes ago, samman1994 said:

Hello everyone,

So I recently took the GRE, and chose to send my scores for free (to 4 schools). I had previously looked up the school codes, but was not allowed to take anything in with me, so I had to search the schools up using their search system. I was able to find every school, but there are a couple questions I have. 

1) Does each department have a different code? If so, if I just sent it in general to the school, will they forward it to the appropriate department (based on the major I stated I was applying to before I took the exam)? Or can I call graduate studies and tell them which department to send them?

2) How can I check if the code is correct? I.E. is there somewhere on the GRE site that will show which schools I picked to send them too? Since I already have all the codes, if I check and see all the codes are right, there won't be any reason for me to call the school. 

3) How long does it take to send? They told me the scores are sent immediately, but what about the AW? Are the scores sent one by one (first Q/V then AW)? Or are they all sent at once (so once they have AW scored then they send everything)? Based of the answer, how long should I wait before I call to make sure the school has received my scores?

4)Finally, will the scores automatically fill in my application, or will I still have to enter them manually for my application (and the school just verifies I didn't lie based off the scores they received from the ETS)?

Thank you ahead of time!

1. Some depts. have their own number, but most want scores sent to grad school; 

2. In your account at ETS, you can see where your scores were sent;

3. Everything goes together; since it takes about a week for your AW score to show up, they will send shortly after that. If there is a problem and school can't find your GRE scores, ETS will tell you what batch your scores were sent in and you can give that to the grad school.

4. The employees will enter your scores, unless you were asked as part of your application. In that case, they will check. 

[UMass Amherst Ranking?]

On ‎10‎/‎30‎/‎2017 at 3:35 PM, eilonwy21 said:

Hi, I was wondering if anyone knows what the ranking/reputation is like for UMass Amherst? I am applying to the Sociology program, and I keep hearing differing opinions about it. US News ranks it 36 in Sociology and 75 National. My professors suggested I shouldn't even bother applying there, but I think at the time I may have accidentally told them Amherst College (which is not the same). 

I am applying to UMass as a safe school, but I still wanted to know, if anyone can pitch in.  Thanks a lot!

I don't believe UMass is a safe school for any field. I attended there for a year as an undergrad in the National Exchange Student program and found the professors very similar to my home school. There were a lot of students in the exchange that year. Some went home early because of the difficulties they faced. Only a couple of us finished even a semester and we were offered the opportunity to stay for the spring semester. Cannot say what their sociology program is like, but their English grad program is hard for outsiders to crack from what I understand. It's a great school to attend.

[Funding eligibility if I work p/t at university?]

3 hours ago, NYCStudent said:

My question for all of you is do you think I'd still be eligible for funding and TA positions if I were to continue working part-time in student affairs? I really love working with students, and I see that as a great safety net to shield me from all the uncertainty of the academic job market. Plus, I'd like to have a better financial cushion, since I'm turning 30 next year and don't want to have to go back to just barely skimping by financially like I've done for most of my 20s (I can't imagine the stipend is anything more than $30K...). I'm thinking the stipend + part time advising position could roughly equal what I'm making now.

 

Thanks, all, for your input!

I don't believe you are being realistic about stipends. Humanities departments are notorious about low stipends. At my particular university, English and History are tied for lowest stipend on campus. I agree with the other posters here. On my campus, all TAs/RAs work a half-time position of 20 hours per week. I looked at the compensation and TA/RG/RAs History at the U of MN. MN requires a half-time commitment, and as most universities do, requires a commitment to the university with regard to outside employment. I did not find compensation listed, but didn't look extensively.

6 minutes ago, _kita said:

Maybe you can look to see if the department you work (or want to work at)offers a GAship. Just change you employment status to GA instead. Most student affairs departments offered a lot of graduate assistantship. Also consider, if you're an employee, you may not need the GAship to begin with. Most universities will let you take classes for free if you work for them. So you'd get money + tuition.. And more than many GAs get...

What you are talking about _kita is possible only if a student is registered as a non-degree student. At some point, NYC would have to apply and be accepted into the PhD program in order to accomplish all the things a PhD student must accomplish before they can graduate.

[Writing Samples + Biblio]

On ‎10‎/‎26‎/‎2017 at 11:48 AM, unicornsarereal said:

Hey, I've seen some threads on bibliographies and writing samples. Most of my schools do not specify the inclusion of a bilblio. Literally one mentions it in the form of "20-25 double-spaced pages, including any bibliography or notes."

My question is, for shorter writing samples what's the deal?? I have a school with a 12-15 page limit and my biblio is 5 pages. With the 20 page samples, I feel okay doing my full biblio, but not with this one.

Any suggestions/similar concerns?

Most of the programs I applied to during my season of applications required a WS of 15-20 pages. I did not "count" the Works Cited pages as part of the essay unless it was specified as you show in your post. As I was working on my MA at the time of my applications to PhD programs, most of my seminar papers were in the 15-20 page range, with some professors asking for 20-25 pages. These page counts were essay pages alone. My concerns were the same as yours. I called the departments that simply had a page number for WS and asked. If you email, you may or may not get an answer because it is an especially busy time. You don't want to shirk on your Works Cited for obvious reasons. 

[How long can you postpone a job offer?]

1 hour ago, samman1994 said:

Hello everyone,

So if anyone has read my previous posts, this is an extension to that. 

So I had 3 potential job offers, and was awaiting a response from all of them. I was told 2 of them would take 2 weeks, and one of them would take 1 week. However, I don't know if they really liked me, or just said two weeks so they had a workable timeframe, I just got a job offer from one of the 2 week ones. As per my previous post, this is from the small start up company for 40k/yr with benefits. I am awaiting another job offer next week (I don't think this will be better than my current offer), and another one in 2 weeks. The one in 2 weeks is the big pharma 45k/yr with stock options. 

My question now is, how long can I postpone accepting the offer? I think I can tell them I'd like to give them my decision next week (at this point I'll have heard back from at least on of the interviews), but is postponing for 2 weeks too long? Secondly, I told them this was my ideal job and I'd love to be a part of the company (which is true, this was my first pick until I received info regarding the 45k/yr with benefits and took into account big pharma could be a great resume builder), so would they be insulted/offended if I didn't accept it right away? 

I don't know if this is a factor, but they told me they also would like me to start immediately (Monday of next week). I've already called my current job and told them I'm leaving, but I don't want to lose this job offer, only to wait 2 weeks and find out the other company said no. It also appears to be a general concensus however the big pharma offer is a better deal. Thank you ahead of time, and sorry for all these posts! This is my first "big" job in the pharma industry and my future career, and I really don't want to burn any bridges or lost my chance to get my foot in the door. 

Just a bit more info: The current job offer is an R&D job at a small company. The Big pharma job is manufacturing. I do plan on pursuing a career in R&D after my PhD, not manufacturing. Finally, I do plan on leaving summer of next year for my PhD, so I'd only work for a little over half a year. This may upset the company, and if it comes down to burning bridges, I'd much rather burn the small start ups bridges than the already established big pharma company. 

So did you decide to not apply to PhD programs?

[Maybe I'm alone in feeling this way but doing a PhD has destroyed my self worth...can anyone relate?]

3 hours ago, harrisonfjord said:

I used to be calm and collected but I feel like a ball of stress and anxiety 99% of the time. Ive fallen into a depression where I barely recognize myself anymore. 

Has anyone else gone through this? What did you do to cope and get your life back? 

Most campuses have a center where you can sign up for counseling. It is amazing (not in a good way) how overwhelmed these centers are with students who need help. I'm only in my first semester of a PhD, but my department strongly emphasizes taking two academic classes per semester and no more, as we also have a 2/2 teaching load. It will take slightly longer to finish the classes, but I don't feel the stress strongly either. This is a far cry from my MA program, where I had to be on campus for 20 hours per week as a TA, and take 9 academic hours a semester to keep my contract in force. The last semester of my MA, I took 6 hours thesis, worked 20 hours and had to take one academic class to keep contract in place. I thought I was losing my mind. I am a non-traditional student and had a career for 20 years as a paralegal prior to going back to school. Because law is fast-paced and has a high burnout rate, grad school (MA and now PhD) is not quite as stressful for me as for some others. I do have stress, but have learned to manage it better than most, because of that career as a paralegal.

[Who in your opinion makes the best GRE prep material?]

I only used Magoosh and was faithful working with it (at least on the verbal side). I raised my score from the first practice test from mid-150s to an actual GRE score in verbal of 163. As you know, the math is algebra and finite math. It pays to learn the formulas for the finite problems. I had only used a TI-84 in class and never learned the formulas, whereas I knew the algebraic formulas. Therefore, my math scores were rather deficient. I feel that, if I had practiced with the math, to the extent I practiced with the verbal, I would have had a much better score. English departments are going to be verbal heavy and I had only so much time, so chose to focus on the verbal.

[Contacting POI: important or not?]

8 hours ago, Quant_Psych_2018 said:

Has anyone else noticed the wildly conflicting advice given about different parts of the application process? I've heard extremely different accounts on how important it is to contact POI. On one hand, I've heard it is really important to determine if the individual is taking grad students and still doing research in that area (I can see the logic here although sometimes it is obvious the POI is taking students and will be continuing in that area). On the other hand, I've heard that contacting a POI has absolutely no impact on whether you get into a graduate program, especially in psychology (I can get behind this). In general, we receive fairly generic responses anyway; therefore, I find it hard to imagine that a POI holds that initial contact at such a high esteem. 

I think that's why I was so surprised to see this website have such a conflicting account to what I've previously been told. What do you guys think about this quote? Is contacting your POI prior to submitting an application this important? I wouldn't think so, but I could be wrong.

"Some faculty members, myself included, will never accept a new graduate student who has not made some kind of pre-application contact, and the in-person visit is the best type of contact. It shows a lot about the student’s good judgment, among other things. You might be surprised to hear this, but most grad-school applicants do not bother making that visit! Most applicants just send in their application materials and hope for the best. They have zero chance with some of those applications, but they don’t even realize it!"

Website: https://mygraduateschool.wordpress.com/2017/02/22/getting-into-graduate-school-with-or-without-excellent-grades/

I actually bought this guy's general handbook before I start completing applications last year. Don't waste your money--it's $15, and won't tell you anything you don't already know, if you have been preparing for this application season. I could write a better handbook for English PhD applicants. In the article, he does make a few applicable comments that I certainly did do on my own. The statement in the quote about the visit is interesting. I don't know about other fields, but in English there can actually be answers in FAQs that discourage applicants from visiting the campus. I never contacted a POI prior to applying because in English, we don't work in labs--we are TAs; however, I did look at the faculty of every program before applying, to determine whether it fit my needs to be a 20th century Americanist.  That just says there are things we, as applicants, do not know. 

Sorry to ramble on.

 

[MA or MEd]

Oh Wow! I was off on that. Thanks. I was thinking University of Texas.

[What are my chances of being selected to present?]

55 minutes ago, Adelaide9216 said:

I was selected to go present my master's thesis topic in France in August 2018!!!! 

You go Girl!

[How are my GRE scores?]

5 hours ago, European Lumpi said:

That you were accepted to a better school in the south is in fact interesting (I'm also a little jealous of the amount of help you've managed to receive from your letter writers hehe). I really wish there'd be more feedback on applications. Currently we all, more or less, seem to be relying on anecdotal evidence...

There were only 4 English MA students on campus. The rest were far away and online. Three out of the four of us applied to PhD programs and we received enormous support and assistance from the department's professors. I might add all three of us were accepted into PhD programs.

[How are my GRE scores?]

57 minutes ago, European Lumpi said:

hey @cowgirlsdontcry, thanks for the input. As you rightly point out, I have not been referring to humanities and social sciences in general, but rather just to sociology.

So the quant score is quite low, no doubt, but I don't think that should be in any way keeping @nywnorb120191 from applying anywhere (other than the previously mentioned stats-heavy programs). I would also recommend against using magoosh's GRE overview to that detail. The problem is that it bunches together too many different things and is not a lot more than a best guess. Taking Berkeley and UT-Austin as (very selectively chosen) examples (that help me make my argument): Berkeley (T5) average GRE scores 161V; 154Q, UT-Austin (T15) 159V, 151Q. While both quant scores are above 150, these are still averages. There's going to be plenty of people below that measure that got admitted. It would certainly not hurt to have higher scores, but I think it fit and motivation can make up for a lot of things. As I said before, for the qualitative schools scores of 163/150 will probably mean that you get your application looked at. From there on it is up to your SOP to seal the deal.

Could you explain this again please? I don't quite follow why Q would be especially important if you're trying to focus on ethnography. 

I obviously can't venture any guesses into why the T25 schools you applied to didn't work out, but what I gather from working my way through all of these forums is that the amount of arbitrariness in admissions is quite significant. I'm therefore a little hesitant to make any specific guesses about which inferences to draw from your case about GRE scores. 

nywnorb states he is interested in statistical ethnographical studies, at least from what I can tell. That would imply a need for a statistical basis, which his Q score doesn't support, even though his grades in statistics were above his other math grades. I'm just saying that his Q score is low enough that, based on the both the Magoosh humanities and social science charts, it is the one to be concerned about. I didn't ever say he shouldn't apply, but I think that many opinions given on this site are way more optimistic about chances of getting admitted to top programs, which then leads applicants being even more upset, if they are rejected by programs than they should be. I was in the pool last year and to say some of the people appeared very distraught about not being admitted to their top choices is putting it mildly. The odds of getting admitted to top programs is very slim even with superior GPAs/GREs, which is why selection of programs must be a very close fit, in order to be admitted. There are also unknown variables that cannot be measured. 

My SOP and WS were vetted by 3 full professors, as well as my 3 recommenders (associate professors) who looked at them through several drafts. I had excellent specimens, not because of my superior ability, but because I had superior people making comments, which I followed. Having said all of that, the reasons why I said what I did about mine become more apparent. I only applied to programs that were good fits and I still was not admitted, which leads to the unknown variables that could possibly affect admission. I believe that it is very interesting to note that while I was not admitted to any T25 program outside the South, I was admitted to the one T25 program in the South I applied to. However, their funding was not as good as the large flagship university I eventually chose to accept. Programs are all different, but very similar in their requirements and actions within humanities and social sciences.

[How are my GRE scores?]

53 minutes ago, European Lumpi said:

 I think you don't have too worry too much about your scores. Your graduate GPA should help and make up a little for your somewhat lower UG GPA (Berkeley even states that they are interested in the GPA of your last two years) and I'm sure a letter from your Stats prof will help as well. Now, my best guess would be that your GRE scores are fine as long as you are applying to schools that have strong ethnographers and you are making clear that you aim to mostly work qualitatively. If I were you I might be a little hesitant to stress stats too much in your personal statement (other than showing that you are decent at stats, if not the rest of the GRE math), because I could see your quant score becoming a bit of a burden should the committee think that you'd want to work primarily quantitatively. As long as that's the case your scores should be competitive. Your verbal might be around or just below average for the higher-ranked programs and should be above the average the further you go down the list. You quant will be somewhat below the average for the most part, but you might be able to make up for that with your coursework or it might not even matter that much.

If you look at the humanities chart I posted by Magoosh, you can see that  nywnorb's verbals are right in the middle of all of the top 10 humanities and social science programs ranking each by field. Since he also states he is looking at the social sciences, I am posting those scores below. I would be more concerned about his Q scores because they are either on the edge of the average or lower than the average top 50 in either field, especially because he is seeking to emphasize ethnography. I had GPAs of UG-3.85 and G-4.0 with scores like his, with SOP and WS vetted by three full professors (also my recommenders), and every T25 English dept. I applied to rejected me, which leaves to me to think that my Q score, the fact that I went to a Southern UG/G school, or my age (non-traditional) were contributing factors. 

Magoosh Social Sciences: https://magoosh.com/gre/2013/gre-scores-for-social-science-programs/

 

[How are my GRE scores?]

11 hours ago, nywnorb120191 said:

So I took the test today and got 163V/150Q, which met my personal goal of getting at least 160 on verbal and at least 150 on quant (I feel pretty proud of my quant score since before I started studying, I would score in the low 140s on quant). I know that most programs like to see better quant scores but one of my LORs is from my undergrad stats professor (I made an A in the class; stats is actually the only kind of math that I'm fairly good at/don't mind) and in my SOP I talk about wanting to learn statistics, even though I'm primarily a qual person/ethnographer (so I guess I show initiative)? I've read a lot that excellent GRE scores don't necessarily get you in but bad ones can keep you out, so I hope that my scores pass whatever cutoff that departments might have. My cumulative UG GPA is mediocre (3.3) but the last 2 years of undergrad are 3.75 (my UG didn't do + and -, so if you got a B, that showed up as a 3.0 on your transcript, even if it was an 89.9) and my GPA for my Master's coursework is basically a 4.0. What do you guys think? Everyone around me is telling me these are good scores, but I'm still extremely nervous, based on my UG cumulative GPA. 

What is the exact field you want to apply to? Ethnography falls into a combination of history, anthropology and other doesn't it. Below is a link (copy & paste into browser) that shows Magoosh research indicating what top humanities programs' GRE scores are and it's rumored that humanities usually care less about Q than V. But look for yourself. 

https://magoosh.com/gre/2013/gre-scores-for-arts-and-humanities-programs/

 

[What's a good score in verbal?]

I think that it's a good score. That's what mine was and I was accepted by a program of my choice. It's the 93rd percentile. Copy the following link into your browser because my links never seem to work. Magoosh shows a breakdown of scores at various ranked schools. The top 10 schools in Foreign Languages/Literature had scores from 161-166. Your score of 163 is right in the middle. I would not take it over for a couple of points when you are definitely within the parameters. You don't have time to study for any kind of increase other than 2-3 points max and, as you point out, it's an expensive test. 

https://magoosh.com/gre/2013/gre-scores-for-arts-and-humanities-programs/

Here is a chart that Magoosh prepared regarding whether to retake the GRE. Copy into browser. 

http://2aih25gkk2pi65s8wfa8kzvi-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/gre/files/2013/12/Retaking-the-GRE.pdf

[Does a conservative political affiliation hinder admittance chances?]

2 hours ago, Sigaba said:

I'm going to stray from my lane a bit to recommend that, if possible, you identify members of admissions committees and do some quick background research. If you find that Professors Andropov and Record grind political axes in their scholarship, write op ed pieces, Tweet often, and are politically active in other arenas, you might want to make some of the adjustments in addition to the ones recommended above.

Keep in mind that this recommendation cuts both ways. In the long run, you may be worse off working with professors who hold POVs similar to yours. IME, I've grown the most by working with academics who hold different viewpoints on politics, history, and historiography (again, I'm drifting from my lane).

To pivot slightly, are you sure that conservative and moderate Republicans in the Ivory Tower are going to embrace you for working for Carson? What ever the man's political bonafides,  his boss is a colossus of anti-intellectualism. And Carson himself holds a number of views that are embarrassing.

If the department will tell him who is on the committee. When I was applying I never had much luck with getting those names (I wanted to know if my interests were in-line with any of them). Most of the time the departments never even answered my query. I ended up reading some of the Americanists' publications to figure it out for myself.

[Number of school's you're apply to?]

I'm from central Louisiana and made the drive to NSU almost every day for six years through my MA, so understand how a 100 mile drive, in addition to having a little one is just too much. Hate that drive over the basin. I always ended up going 190 into BR, but that's way out of the way for you. 

[Leaving PhD program - reasons and advice]

48 minutes ago, buttercup8d said:

Hi everyone,

I need some advice. I am a POC who entered a specialized program, believing there were lots of POC like me. Multicultural competence here is disappointingly lacking although the research is extremely important to me. I like my advisor a lot and we are a great great match. But I'm currently at a very white school where it's triggered my depression almost daily. I'm not sure if I should leave and contact the other school about transferring (which is actually a top tier for its field) or seek therapy to 'fix' myself for the next few years I'm here.

Also, there is almost no social support for me at this school due to a director's personal dislike/hostility to me (this is the person who told me the school was diverse). I don't know if I should stick to this program because the research is so important to me, or if the personal cost is worth it. It's also affecting my sleep, thinking and productivity. Any advice would be appreciated.

I am white and attended undergrad and MA at a smallish tier one-regional university in Louisiana. The diversity at that school was about the same as the population of the state was (55:45). I did a year-long exchange at a large flagship university in the northeast and was surprised when I saw no diversity at the university. When I looked at demographics, there was a diversity rate of under 10%. The towns surrounding the university were all white with even less diversity. So I can only imagine how you feel. Having said all of that, it sounds like you have a great relationship with your advisor and the program is very good. Those are difficult to replace. There are always things you are going to have to deal with and may not be able to have such a good work environment in a top program. I'm in an English PhD program where the MFA students act as though they are all that (NOT). Wherever we are, there are going to be things we don't like. Get some counselling to help and keep working. 

[What are my chances of being selected to present?]

On ‎10‎/‎17‎/‎2017 at 9:42 AM, Adelaide9216 said:

Hello! I've applied to present at a conference, this time, in France. It's a five-day conference and they have gotten approximately 400 proposals. What are my chances of being selected in your opinion? Is it assumed that once you apply, it's almost sure that you get selected?

I applied to present at the Hemingway Society's Biennial Conference in Paris next summer, and was accepted. I know there are hundreds presenting at that conference as it lasts 7 days. My attitude about conferences is not to worry what the odds are. If my abstract fits exactly into what their CFP is looking for, I will usually get accepted. If not, then I won't. It's good practice to simply apply. You get better and better at writing abstracts and improving on your bio and it's always a pleasant surprise to get accepted at a prestigious conference that improves my CV. I get to go to Paris (where I have never been) with my university paying for a good portion of the cost. I try to go to at least two conferences a year.