sheldina

I'm halfway to convinced that OP plagiarized that assignment - imagine how the professor feels.

IMO, what start as an innocent request "hey, can you send me an electronic copy of this" turned into a more serious inquiry when you said you didn't have one. 
If I was the professor, the first thing in my mind would be "well, I didn't think this was plagiarized, but I certainly do now". 

I have my guesses why they want an electronic copy. Sorry you didn't get the affirmation a special snowflake should get.

Another update: the lab I joined with plans of leaving May 2017 has now changed to my staying in the phd program. Yay!

Most people I know take the summer off to relax (you've earned it if you've made it this far!) Me personally, I'm starting research early over the summer for two reasons A] I'm switching fields from undergrad to grad school and I'm nervous about being behind (my PI told me not to worry and relax, but it would actually make my anxiety better to get a jumpstart on research and be productive rather than relax and wait around, me personally) and B] I graduated from undergrad a semester early (December) so this spring I took the semester off to relax and spend time with friends already so I don't feel I need the extra break, I'm eager to get started and get back in school-mode. Don't feel bad for relaxing and just mentally preparing yourself for the journey ahead. Otherwise, find housing, register for courses, etc.

I'd phrase it more in terms of feedback on your returned papers ("how could I have strengthened this paper?") rather than the dreaded "If I gave this paper to you now...what grade would you give it?" 
Think about the whole coursework process less about "getting an A", and rather about "writing excellent graduate-level papers". Sure, the outcome of the latter is probably an A, but the grade itself isn't what matters. 

Excuse me, but who do you think you are to tell me that my husband, family, friends, pets... they are "non-necessities?" You may be able to live without those things, and that's totally fine, but you have absolutely no authority to tell anyone else that we "don't need them" and that they are potential hindrances. 
 
I particularly take issue with your insinuation that anyone who doesn't "give up everything" to devote themselves 200% to their studies is somehow less committed than you. 
 
I find your arrogant tone appalling, especially from someone who hasn't even STARTED grad school yet.
 
Good luck. With that attitude, you're going to need lots of it.

This has been my experience as well. My department has an almost weekly happy hour frequented by grad students and faculty. Some people talk about random things (sports, news, etc.), others talk about teaching, others about research. I've found that in some of these small conversations I've gotten great ideas or insights into my research that I hadn't gotten otherwise. Sometimes just being asked to give the 30 second version of your research can force you into thinking about it in a different way or allow someone else to say something you hadn't thought of. Without those conversations, my work would definitely suffer.
 
And yea, I'm one of those people who can't work all the time. Back when I did my comprehensive exams (which were multiple questions over like 10 days), I remember people in my department (mostly those not yet at the exams stage) being surprised that I was still attending the class I was TAing (I was mostly grading but went to every single lecture), working out, and even watching an episode or two of a TV show online. But you know what? You can't work for 16 hours a day for the 10 days without a break. And really, since I was limited to like 25 pages double-spaced per answer, I would've ended up writing way more than I needed if I'd worked that long. Instead, I rode my bike to the gym, worked out with friends (including some who had PhDs and thus totally understood what comps were and why you might need a break), cooked myself real food, etc. It's about knowing what you need to work efficiently and be productive and taking the time to do whatever that is.
 
Back to the original question though:
- Be open and willing to learn.
- If you're in the humanities or social sciences, take the time to just browse the library shelves in your general field and in your intended research area to get an idea of what's been published and what research resources are available to you. (Even better, meet with a librarian early on to make sure you know what your school has and the support s/he can give you.)
- Skim through recent journal issues in your field to get a sense of what topics are current and which are becoming dated. Pay attention to book reviews if there are any and use those to help you find relevant books for your discipline and research area.
- Learn to use reference management software (EndNote, Zotero, Mendeley, etc.) and start keeping track of your references that way.
- Figure out an easy to use system for staying abreast of current/new research in both books and journals that may be of interest.
- Read your graduate handbook (and TA handbook if needed) so you know what is expected of you. Ask questions if expectations are unclear.
- Start figuring out what, if any, courses outside the department you might want to take, how often they're offered, how difficult they are, etc.
- If you're going to need research methods training, figure out how to get that ASAP. In the social sciences, this often means taking courses in qualitative methods, statistics, and/or GIS and seats in those classes can fill because they're attracting students from an array of disciplines. Getting your methods coursework done means you can start collecting data sooner.
- Get to know whomever helps oversee grant apps (NIH, NSF, SSRC, Fulbright, IAF, etc.) at your institution and ask them what you can do beginning now to prepare to apply in the future, when you should be applying, what you'll need to be competitive, etc. And, while you're there, get them to help you set up some alerts for grant announcements.
 
There's probably more you could do, especially related to conferences and networking, but I don't want to overload anyone with suggestions.

I agree with TakeruK and I also want to recommend keeping an open mind for grad school. There is no reason to go in with the attitude that all leisure activities are leaving and no relationship welcome etc. I would try to go in more with the attitude of "I have no idea how much time grad school will take or should take so I will give it as much time as I need to and then enjoy myself when I can." It is easy to think that you will never get burnt out but the truth is that you will if you dont take breaks. I often times do work from the time I wake until I go to bed but I still do have a date night with my finance once a week which is wonderful and relaxing. I also make time to workout, even if that means that I can only get a 15 youtube video workout in.
 
You dont need to completely give up video games if that is a good relaxation tool. I would instead focus on making rules for yourself like that you won't play them until all of work is done + reading a journal article or something along those lines. Sometimes you might get lucky and be able to play for an hour before bed. Other nights, you may have to skip it or keep it down to 15 mins. At this point, you have no idea what your schedule will be like so giving up activities that you enjoy is silly.
 
I also recommend finding a couple friends to study with so you dont get lonely. When you study nonstop and dont interact, its easy to get loney. Im lucky that my SO is working on his MBA so we often spend evenings studying together. It is really great to have someone sitting there studying with you, even if there isnt time to socialize with them. You say pets are a distraction but I actually think they help keep me on track. They allow me to spend 12 hours straight studying without feeling as lonely. Try to keep an open mind about these things. You might see a relationship as a distraction but I see it as a buddy to study with in the evenings and same with my dogs. I actually recommend finding a few close friends to sit in the library with a few nights a week or a dog or something. You need to be able to combine study and socialization since its hard to do adequate amounts of both seperately.

Not my first time in grad school as I have a masters already, but here are a bunch of things I did to prepare :
 
Academic wise :
-Start thinking about my research /read papers to make sure I enjoy it before commiting to a topic.
-Organizing my files on my computer( seriously, do it) and retyping notes that I would need again.
-Learning LaTeX. 
-Work on my CV / personal website (even if you don't put anything online yet, just having an idea of what you want)
 
Mental Health wise:
-Spending time with my family /friends
-Allowing myself days off where I would just watch youtube and play pokémon.
-Read for pleasure.
-Old hobbies (art, painting...)
 
 

Thank you everyone who took the time to respond. I truly appreciate many of your kindness. 
I found a fourth lab to do a rotation with, but I'm lukewarm about whether I will be able to devise a thesis topic that I'm passionate about. It's probably too early to tell, but I am at a crossroads of trying to decide if I want to suffer through it, for the sake of getting a PhD, or try the difficult path of transferring. I'm not ready to give up my goal of research/a PhD however. But I do feel that, in order to be more happy, I need to do something to feel more in control of my life and my career path. 
I originally found a different lab that seemed to be more suited to my interests (and that I was super excited about), but before I could formally join, the department head strangely intervened and told that particular professor that I did not want to work in her lab (which was not true/we never had a conversation about) and she took a different student instead. She went from saying "I would love to have you work in my lab" to "I'm sorry, this is very awkward, but I was told by the department head that you wanted to join a different lab, so I took a different 4th rotation student and I no longer have room." I was about at my wits ends with the seemingly behind the scenes politics of my department, but I have since gotten over worrying about what I cannot control. The whole thing was weird.
To answer some of juilletmercredi's questions (that were probably hypothetical): In two of the three labs that I originally rotated in, the students and post docs that I talked to seemed confused as to why the professors themselves were not more eager to take me. In the lab I most wanted to join, the professor told me that several of the students made very strong arguments to her for why I should join, and that she found it very moving. She simply said she felt I would be happier somewhere else (that was more focused on bigger picture biological problems, rather than the more narrow biophysical work that she did). When I asked her for feedback on areas where I could grow, she said she felt I was very aware of my strengths and weaknesses. The particular PhD student in my third rotation, who suggested that I drop out of grad school entirely, seemed to say it in a petty way (she was frequently suggesting that I don't run controls with experiments, don't do particular experiments and don't even do a lab meeting, because she didn't feel like I should join the lab anyway, and why stress myself with extra work...it felt bizarre). After giving lab meeting for my third rotation however, I got several emails from people in the lab telling me that I did a great job. I never got to have a followup meeting with the professor from my third rotation, presumably because she is constantly traveling (and she never responded to an email asking for a followup meeting), and according to her secretary, her schedule was completely booked for several months. When I had a followup meeting with the first professor, he restated that he felt I was "slow" compared to other students. When I asked him to elaborate, he said he felt I pipetted slow and was too easily distracted by my mom's illness—there's little loss, because I don't feel like we were a good match (I wouldn't want to be judged on those factors anyway, even if they were were true).  
But truth be told, I don't want to join a lab where I don't feel valued or wanted. I appreciate your input Ignis, but I can say with complete certainty that it was not because I was not nice/sociable/likable  If anything, I was too nice (and thus either seen as a pushover and/or possibly not intellectual enough). 
 

A couple things:
I'm so sorry about your mother. I wish her all the best, and you, too.
You can take leave while on an NSF - it's called Medical Deferral status. If an immediate family member (including a parent) experiences a serious illness, you can be granted a Medical Deferral. You can then use the deferred months of your fellowship later on. You have to contact the administrator (coordinating official) of the NSF on your campus and get an approved medical leave from your university, and then submit a request for medical deferral. If you look at the NSF Administrative Guide it's all laid out there. (http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2011/nsf11031/nsf11031.pdf). This sounds like exactly the kind of situation a medical deferral was invented for.
You may need to spend some time thinking about whether your anxiety and depression is due to PhD studies in general, to your specific program, or to the very difficult period you are going through in your life. That should help you determine what to do here. A leave of absence is a really good time to do that, even if you are spending most of it caring for your mother and getting treatment of your own. First of all, I think regardless of whether you stay or go, put yourself and your family first. You need to care for your mom and you need to care for yourself. That seems to signal getting out quick and getting back home to the Midwest. You aren't sacrificing your career opportunities. You are clearly a bright, intelligent, driven person who managed to get two independent forms of funding AND into a PhD program. You'll be able to achieve in your career. If your program is so terrible as to not be understanding during this very stressful time in your life, forget about them - it may be best to move on. Either way, focus on taking the time to care for your mom if you know in your heart that's what you should do.
But after you get that squared away, then the idea is to reflect some and think about whether it's your department or the program that's stressing you out. Before your mom was diagnosed with breast cancer, how were you doing? Were you enjoying your work and were your professors responding to you in a different way than they are now? Or were you unhappy from the start? Think about the sources of your happiness, and think about your work. Imagine if you were in a lab with your favorite professor at this program, and they were supportive and you were doing interesting research. Would you still love graduate school? Would you still want a PhD? These questions are difficult to answer; I had a difficult time answering them myself until after I had finished my PhD.
One recurring thing I see in your post is that your own perception of your work doesn't seem to match up with outside perceptions of your work. For example, three separate professors have said that they don't want to take you on in their lab because it appears that your interests lie elsewhere (which is a nice way of saying they don't feel you were engaged enough in the lab) and/or because it appears you need more mentorship (which is a nice way of saying that they don't think you are independent enough ). The fact that they don't even want to take you on even though they don't have to pay a dime for you is very telling - but telling of what is the question. Is it just that your mom's illness affected your work in ways that you didn't see or realize from the outside? Or is there a kernel of truth independent of your mom's illness? You say you don't understand their comments. Have you asked them what they meant or for concrete examples of this? What about the PhD student who advised you not to join her lab? Was her advice given in a constructive way or a petty way? Are you comfortable enough with her to go back and have a chat about what she thinks you need to improve? Is your mind open enough to hear some constructive criticism about yourself?
Quite frankly, grit and determination are not enough. 16-hour days in the lab sounds very stressful, and if you were doing this for days on end while also dealing with your mom's sickness and traveling back and forth, the quality of your work may not have held up. Also - different labs are different, but in most labs you shouldn't have to work 16 hours in the lab to be productive on a regular basis (maybe occasionally, but not forever). Days longer than about 10 hours really aren't sustainable by humans for long periods of time, as studies show that really we can only do about 6-8 hours of productive work before our brain starts switching to other things and we lose productivity. When you're in the lab for a long time, are your days really productive or are you actually spending several of those hours procrastinating? And besides all that, what is the quality of the work that you turn out? 12 hours in the lab won't be important to your PIs if you don't have good work to show for it. I'm not saying you do or don't - I'm just saying examine these as potential reasons they don't want you in their labs.
Another possibility, of course, is that this is the kind of program that expects you to sacrifice all personal and family interests in pursuit of Science, and that these professors are part of a culture that embraces that - so they are avoiding you in the lab not because of your work but because you have a sick mom and they don't want a PhD student who has a commitment to caring for her sick mom. It's unlikely this is the case, but it's still a possibility, so examine that as well.
 

Saw a topic about dating other grads....how bout an undergrad?

Need you guys opinion...is that unethical? (when the undergrad is actually in the class we're TA-ing?) I've heard about some college girls dating a TA in-exchange for little "help"....I'm a normal straight guy, and I was a TA before, some of girls I taught were TOTALLY my type....

I admit I dated a girl from a class I tutored (we're both undergrads), and sometimes we got "private session" a week before an exam (no dirty mind please ). Do you guys think it also unprofessional to do such thing anyway? (specially if one is graduate and other is undergrad?)

It is HIGHLY unethical for a program to demand that you reply before April 15- in fact this is one of the worst things that they can do other than reneging on an offer of admittance. The whole reason why the agreement was put in place was to enable students to compare funding offers. Even if a program (for example, a Canadian school) is not a signatory, they still know about this and If they are demanding a response before it is a cynical abuse of the system. Those that do are not respected by other programs. Frankly they have put a bullseye on themselves by doing this.

What you should do: contact the programs you have been accepted to (perhaps start with the one where the Dirextor of Graduate Studies has been most friendly/helpful/in contact) and tell the DGS what LSU has done. If you you are doing/did your undergrad at a research university talk to your department's DGS in addition, though it would be less hard to trace if it came from one of those other schools if you have any interest at all of attending LSU. The DGS will email their counterpart at LSU or ask their graduate dean to contact LSU's graduate school to get this rogue department to quit it. If you have been compelled to accept this offer before reading this you are perfectly within your rights to withdraw and accept elsewhere since they coerced you to do so under false pretenses in the first place; again whichever dept. ultimately offers you the most money and/or best program could facilitate this if need be. Once a program transgresses this agreement a prospective student owes them nothing- no other institution would shed a tear for them- just protect yourself. The bastards.

I'm in the same situation as yours, I would suggest you to accept the offer, then reject if you have better offer later. I know, everyone will attack me, saying that it is unethical and etc., but is it ethical or fair to ask student for decision before the 15th of April???

Not recommended. Senior undergrad at Princeton. 3.9 GPA. Hertz finalist.

E/VG E/VG VG/VG

I don't understand how I didn't even get HM lol. Comments were strange and contradictory. One guy said "stellar letters of recommendation" while another said "letters were not strongly supportive." What?
One guy said "lack of publications." I'm a undergrad with a first author journal paper in a high impact factor journal. can you expect more than this from an undergrad?
This last one was so strange "lack of research experience, but excellent outreach." He must've gotten that backwards or he's trolling me or he's just a dumbass.
I got nailed for formatting by all 3, which was legit. Didn't know they cared about that.
Some positive comments:
"Impeccable academic and research record from Princeton."
"Stellar letters from members of the national academies"
"Excellent outreach" lol'ed hard at this. I didn't talk about outreach at all since I didn't have any consistent experience with this. Idk who's ass he pulled this out of


Some other negative comments
"Letters were not strongly supportive" lol this guy...troll?
"Organization lacks in appeal" apologies, I've never been known for fashion.
"Lack of research experience" I don't even fucking....bertstare.jpg

I will not be applying again after reading these comments. I'm more disappointed in that they appeared to not have looked at my app based on the very peculiar and contradictory comments than not receiving the aWard.


Also can I file complaints about reviewers? I honestly don't care about the reward since my offers at schools are bigger than NSFs but I do want to find out how some incompetent guy managed to review my app.


Congrats to everyone else.

Yes, because this grant allowed me to get admission from a program that was otherwise going to reject me (made it to the final round of cuts, then didn't make it ultimately), and another that I never even applied to. I went from preparing to attend a "backup" school to having the choice between multiple dream schools overnight. Which I'm so grateful for, but now I have a lot of big decisions to make that I never thought would ever be in the cards for me.

Most people I know take the summer off to relax (you've earned it if you've made it this far!) Me personally, I'm starting research early over the summer for two reasons A] I'm switching fields from undergrad to grad school and I'm nervous about being behind (my PI told me not to worry and relax, but it would actually make my anxiety better to get a jumpstart on research and be productive rather than relax and wait around, me personally) and B] I graduated from undergrad a semester early (December) so this spring I took the semester off to relax and spend time with friends already so I don't feel I need the extra break, I'm eager to get started and get back in school-mode. Don't feel bad for relaxing and just mentally preparing yourself for the journey ahead. Otherwise, find housing, register for courses, etc.

Yes, because this grant allowed me to get admission from a program that was otherwise going to reject me (made it to the final round of cuts, then didn't make it ultimately), and another that I never even applied to. I went from preparing to attend a "backup" school to having the choice between multiple dream schools overnight. Which I'm so grateful for, but now I have a lot of big decisions to make that I never thought would ever be in the cards for me.

Yes, because this grant allowed me to get admission from a program that was otherwise going to reject me (made it to the final round of cuts, then didn't make it ultimately), and another that I never even applied to. I went from preparing to attend a "backup" school to having the choice between multiple dream schools overnight. Which I'm so grateful for, but now I have a lot of big decisions to make that I never thought would ever be in the cards for me.

Are any other awardees overwhelmed by the next steps of accepting and moving forward?

Senior undergrad
E/E E/E E/VG - Selected for geosciences- marine biology! 100% did not expect to receive it, which to some extent speaks to the fact that it can be a crapshoot. I felt I had a very strong application (and was told so by many professors) but I know how qualified others are so I didn't get my hopes up. So to everyone who didn't get it- this doesn't define you as a scientist! I'm sure there are many qualified people out there who were deserving, but that's just how it goes sometimes. Congrats to everyone who got it!

E/E E/E E/E Awarded.
 
To all, this is an arbitrary award process with little bearing on your value as a scientist. Congrats to those who won, condolences to those with less luck.

She posted on a public forum, I said what I had to say take it or leave it I don't really care:) Good Luck

Why would you take time off to get married in grad school? You could always do it in the summer or after graduation... school is hard enough I do know a girl in my program who might have a fall or spring wedding next year, I personally wouldn't ever do it but whatever