BionicKris

Congratulations to everyone! So happy that your admits are rolling out! And hang in there to everyone else!

@unfriendlyblackhottie Sadly, no. Keeping hope alive though! Also having stress-induced dreams where I'm either stuck in a never-ending cycle of refreshing my screen to see if a decision has come, or having a dream within a dream where I've been admitted. I'd like to start getting answers either ways so I can at least start sleeping through the night again

Congratulations! That's awesome news! So happy for you!

I haven't heard that. Their website does say that students admitted are invited for a recruitment weekend, but I didn't see anything about interviews. KInda don't want to call because if I do, and they say that they've sent out requests for interviews - my hopes'll be crushed.

Hi Everyone! Late to the thread - but I've applied to some of the same schools as you in similar combinations - African/American Diaspora Studies, American Studies; English Lit at Northwestern, USC, UT Austin, U Mich, Emory, Yale, with UT being my top choice (fingers crossed!). I have been obsessively checking my email for the last 2 weeks. I know it's too early, but I can't help it! Good luck to everyone and I hope you all get into your top choices *with funding.*

Hello everyone! I'm also gearing up to apply to grad school in the fall. I'm not looking forward to either of my GREs but reading the advice posted here has given me a bit of hope.

I hated my program, too. So, I left. It seems like a lot of people on this forum are ready to jump down your throat about classwork being irrelevant - but I'm sure quite a few of us have felt that way at some time or another. My program in particular didn't allow us to tailor our classes to represent what we'd be studying. We were all lumped into a group - so if you wanted to study cancer, you took cancer courses. Neuro, you took neuro courses. It makes it a bit frustrating when your focus is a little more interdiscplinary than that, and your stuck having to fight to get into classes that are "reserved" for people of a specific training group. While I don't think that every class is worthless, I can fully empathize with you about wanting to just get into the lab and learn what you need to learn for your work. There are more ways to gain foundational knowledge than being stuck in a classroom and taking tests to determine how well you memorize information. Being able to ace coursework is only half the battle and a lot of classrooms these days don't necessarily allow students to engage in meaningful critical thinking - which is central to any discipline. Some people learn better in a classroom, others learn better as they actually practice the work. I'm a member of the latter group and found attendance in class to be frustrating. I don't know what your circumstances are. I don't know if your teachers are only teaching to fulfill a university requirement and therefore have no dedication to it (I've experienced this more times than I can count), I don't know if you're in a situation where you're better off just teaching yourself the material at home and reaching out to a prof when you have questions (also experienced this.). But, hopefully things will get better. Everyone told me to stick with my program becuase "that's just how it [was] supposed to be during the first year." If you plan to stick it out, try to temper your unhappiness in the classroom with supplementary articles you find on your own. Talk to professors/PIs on a one on one basis about what you want to study and how you can make the classwork more relevant for yourself. At the very least, find a mentor. On another note - we've all heard the reports and seen the statistics by now. The system may be "f*cked" as you say, and the market may be flooded with PhDs, etc. The only person you can worry about is yourself. What are you going to do to separate yourself from the masses? Sure, there are always plenty of people that apply for the same job, but someone has to get the position. Why couldn't or wouldn't it be you? As my boyfriend's father once said, "shovel enough sh*t and something is bound to stick." I hope things get better for ya!

I know this post is rather old, but I figured I'd post anyway. I've been told on multiple encounters with 2nd and 3rd years in my program that we are all supposed to feel this way. I've been given the same story over and over again, but no methods on how to really cope with it. I left my SO, my family and my friends behind in NC and starting over in a small town was very difficult for me. It still is. I'm drowning in classwork that everyone says is unimportant while simultaneously stating that we have to maintain a certain GPA. If I have to maintain a certain GPA, then the classes are important. Period. My outlets, thus far, have been writing, picking up non-science related novels and treating myself to the movies every now and again. I initially attempted to cope with the stress by working out, but there comes a point where physically fit meets manly and I'd very much like to still have some curves by the time grad school is over . Don't worry, apparently everything does get better. Of course, we always question when. And, as with all things, "when" is out of our control. I wake up every day expecting it to be better, and every day I am confronted with the sheer amount of work that I have to squeeze into a single 24 hour period. I am now attempting to train myself in the mystic art of patience. I know it will get better, but probably only once I stop focusing on how bad things seem to be. I hope tomorrow will be better, but if not, there's always Haggen-Daas.

More coffee!? I think that is definitely the answer. Let me know when you go to Greyhouse/Starbucks next time. I might join you!

I have a similar question and didn't think it warranted initiating an entirely new post - can anyone give me a guide, really good website, etc that'll help me start a CV. I'm not even all to sure of what it is because I've only ever used my dinky undergrad resume. I'd appreciate a little bit of education on the matter. Thanks a bunch!

Send stuff to publishers!? I'm working my way up to that. It's much easier to be entirely too scared to function and use that as an excuse to allow my writing folder to grow like a fungus and consume my hard drive. It is quite true that a lot of my favorite authors do not have MFA's. In fact, one of them (L.K. Hamilton) has an undergraduate degree in biology. *Sigh* I will do as you all bid. MFA = worse death than PhD. I will take the lesser of two evils, and just write my pain away. LOL

Hi Sparky - I don't think it'll be magic - not in the least. I just think it would be a better fit. But, as you said, I am a first year and it is my first semester. My classes blow (mostly because grading is subjective and I can't give you the answer you want unless you actually tell me what it is), and lab, while stimulating, is always a lesson in what I don't know. Whenever I'm there I find myself thinking "I could be writing right now." However, it would be foolish to decide after 1/2 of a semester that this bio program isn't for me, especially when they've invested so much time and money in my future. I will take your advice and set aside time to write everyday. If I can stay up to read Jim Butcher all night, I can stay up to write.

Hello Everyone - Let me start by saying that I haven't been on the forum in quite a while. I've missed you guys! Now, on to the meat... I'm currently enrolled in an interdisciplinary biology program that I thought I would absolutely love. My plan was to get a PhD so that I could teach at the undergraduate level and mentor to students interested in pursuing degrees/jobs in the sciences. To sum it up, I hate my program for a variety of reasons. My question for the Cafe world is - have any of you out there transferred/applied to a program in a different discipline after 1 semester of your PhD program? I'm starting to feel like I made the choice to enroll in a bio program because of my bio background, instead of pursuing my dream of becoming a writer and enrolling in a creative writing program. I'm greatly confused and would love any advice you guys have to offer! Thanks. P.S. I hope that life is going much better for the other first years out there!