NeilM

I'm not sure what type of writing you do in your program or what sort of help you need but have found these books very helpful:
How to Write a Lot by Paul J. Silvia
The Glamour of Grammar by Roy Peter Clark
Writing Empirical Research Reports by Fred Pyrczak

This is going to sound silly, but I've always loved just "chilling" in school supplies stores (i.e. Staples). It reminds me of the time when I was a kid and my mom brought my sisters and I to buy our school supplies before the academic year would start. I've always loved back-to-school season because of that reason. I really enjoy being in an academic/learning institution in general so I guess it reminds me of that as well.

All excellent advice so far! I only have a couple of specifics to add.
 
- I would echo what rising_star said re: accessing your university's teaching centre, where available. The workshops through this resource are incredibly helpful to aid not only your students' development, but your own efficiency.
 
- I would also echo what jullietmercredi said about organization. It is absolutely worth the time to come up with a system for organizing; it will be worth it even if you have ONE student/essay that goes AWOL, as you'll be able to quickly ascertain what's up (every semester students seem to top themselves in the creative ways that they disregard my submission instructions, while you should resist the urge to coddle, a good organization system will ensure that you can detect these hiccups quickly).
 
- On the organization front: I would also encourage you to spreadsheet your hours. I work at a Uni with a union, so there are stipulations about workload whereby one can grieve/remedy situations of over-work. I understand that this varies around universities, so I would encourage you to get acquainted with your departmental/university culture on the TA front and find out how TA assignments are comprised and what routes there are to address issues - in any case, track your hours. If a prof thinks that marking each mid-term test should take you 15 minutes, and you take a half hour for each, that does not mean that you suck at marking (though it is true that you'll take some time to find your groove), it might mean that there needs to be an adjustment in terms of the assignment or the hours that are expected/available to mark it. Think of it this way: if you just put your head down and do the excess work, some poor schmuck TA that does the class NEXT time will have to contend with the same issue. Again, find out the routes to address issues and gauge your departmental culture on this - it might just be a matter of informally discussing things with the prof, it might be a matter of submitting something to the uni HR so they can adjust the TA assignment. At the very least, spread-sheeting will help you get acquainted with how many hours each task in a semester requires, so you can predict how to plan your NEXT semester AND you can concretely see how you are becoming more efficient in each task.
 
- Have a "warm fuzzies folder". Every nice e-mail from prof or students, solicited or unsolicited, goes in the folder. This will make it easier to compose a teaching dossier later on. If someone says something nice about what a great TA you are, ask them to put that sentiment in an e-mail and send it to you - that might feel weird, but self-advocacy is a good skill to hone.
 
- I'm a strong advocate of the electronic rubric. That is, typing up comments in a word doc rubric and stapling these to the essays, rather than printing blank rubrics and writing in them. This has several benefits: (1) There's no question that my comments are legible; (2) I can send the whole doc to the prof, if they're interested, so that they can get a sense of trends in the comments and/or they have the comments on-hand if a student comes in to complain about the mark; ( 3) I find that students tend to skim comments if I put lots of them on BOTH the paper and the rubric, so I mostly put them on the rubric (which I have space for, as I'm typing them up) BUT I refer to specific examples from the paper (that is, global comment and then, "see the example I've commented upon on page 5"); (4) I can CHANGE the damn comments/mark if need be; scribbled-out comments on a student's paper both look messy and sometimes prompt students to complain - "I can see that you gave me a 4.5/5 then changed it to 3.5, whyyyyyy?"; there will be occasions where you have to go back and adjust - say, if you dock big marks initially for students who missed a certain component, but then it turns out that the majority missed this component, you might re-visit the assignment question and realize that it was confusingly phrased and be inclined to deduct less - so electronic marks help with this.
 
- Don't be afraid to sometimes tell the students that they're being inappropriate or unprofessional, it's a courtesy, really. If a student sends an e-mail that makes you cringe, tell them so. Don't just say, "that's inappropriate" and also refrain from an exhaustive point-by-point, just point quickly to the irksome thing and then address the request. Many of them will not reward you for this effort by amending their correspondence/conduct. However, I find that those that do rise to the occasion appreciate the advice - after all, it helps then glean more expedient/favourable responses, right? 

Hello all. Having passed my viva (STEM field, minor corrections) last week, I wanted to share my experience to put the mind of fellow PhD students at ease, especially at the last hurdles!
I think a PhD requires a general ability to shrug off looming mental (!) and physical ailments by taking care of yourself as well as your research. I have made the mistake of not doing the former. By running away from social anxiety and a stutter, I have reserved myself to a poor social life by worrying and over-thinking my every action throughout the project. Now, nearing 25, I am lonely with zero social skills, lost my sense of humour, and am more proficient in English than my native language. 
I realize now that my fear of failure was utterly unfounded. So if you suffer from PhD-related stress and are 'stuck' in the final stages, here is what I did prior to/during the viva:
1) Have not looked at my thesis post-submission until 3 weeks before the viva (ca. 2.5 months). When I did read it, it was only twice - you KNOW your research. Focus on the broader context and really understanding the main terminology/concepts of your work instead of having the book definition of those terms you mentioned in passing!
2) Had a practice viva with my supervisor 1 week prior - instrumental! Do not forego this if you can help it, puts things into perspective.
3) Kept my viva answers minimal. If the examiners want more detail, they will ask for it. You might trip yourself by giving away too much.
4) Brought in a list of typos and work done since submission into the viva - shows attention to detail.
5) Left time for fun! Enjoy your hobby(s), go out. Do not strain your mind - it is only so elastic!
As long as you submitted a thesis you are proud of, the overwhelming likelihood is that you will pass. Do not compromise your well-being for it as I have.
I hope this helps somebody along the way Good luck!

As someone preparing to start a Masters in the fall this thread has left me feeling pretty disgusted. It makes me think that I should not expect any empathy or appropriate support from colleagues if I ever face a crisis.
When someone is in a state of crisis, barraging them with criticism and advice is actually incredibly unhelpful. It can put the person in more distress and make it even harder for them to think and problem solve the crisis. It's not suprising that it would produce an emotional response or 'lashing out'. Do we really think telling someone in crisis that based on reading their posts on a forum we can diagnose all of their character flaws and declare that they actually aren't cut out for their position is appropriate advice?? It may make you feel self-righteous but you're not actually giving someone the harsh reality, you're just being a jerk.
 
Just because someone vents their personal frustrations on a forum doesn't mean you're obligated to respond. You should all reflect on whether you are really the best person to respond when someone is in distress on this forum and you are unable to provide a nonjudgmental response.

Yeeeeeah, that's too far on a lot a levels. Don't try to be a psychologist on the internet or try to explain to someone why they don't work as a person. It diminishes the rest of what you're saying. 

I'm not here to dogpile on the OP, but I have decided to log in for the first time in perhaps nearly seven and a half years to weigh in. This post has been unfairly received. I'm not sure that the criticism applies, but I think it's on point. There is a tenor throughout all OP's posts that her problems are not of her own invention, but that they are merely things that have happened to her, which were totally unforeseeable and against all expectation, indeed are even quite unfair. There is great deal of blame shifting I believe, and the complete rejection in her response to this post that any of it may possibly be true or apply here, indeed I felt when reading it that she wanted to characterize this as a kind of character assassination, an aggressive attempt to harass and badger the OP, when I see actually astute suggestions that no one else here is making, but that I think are balanced, and said with moderation, and need to have been said.
I would add to this has the OP considered that her advisor is frankly out of her depth? It sounds like there is a huge rift between what the advisor thinks is an acceptable level for a master's thesis and what the reviewer thinks is appropriate. As much is implied by the advisor's suggestion that the reviewer is being too demanding.
I actually find the story of the OP very fascinating and have spent some time reading through some of her threads going back over two years. I've sensed throughout a sense of doubt about her ability. This uncertainty has been present since very early on and I think what has happened is she gave herself false assurances, thinking that things would just "work out". A person can sell themselves short, by not believing in themselves, and this in turn breeds a sort of complacency which says, "I will write it and if it is accepted it is accepted and if it's not it's not." These self-imposed limitations are like painting a target on one's own back.
There are two kinds of people, I believe. People who things happen to and people who make things happen. OP is very strongly in the former category. This idea that people are passive agents, that life has treated unfairly or has handed rotten experiences must be set aside now and forever.

At first I didn't think I was going to jump into the fray, but I can feel @Adelaide9216's frustration and pain palpating through the screen. I know all of you are trying to be helpful and give her the harsh truth as you see it, but as someone who's been reading her posts for a year or so now, it feels a bit like you're crushing her soul. I know how much effort she's been putting into her work and how much all her hopes and dreams depend on passing the thesis. I gasped when she first posted about failing. I don't think she's trying to pass the buck and blame everyone else, she just poured out her soul at a time when she is feeling very vulnerable and stressed out, and I think it's kind of sad that people who have purportedly read her posts think this is an appropriate time to deliver the "harsh reality" in all its cold, unsympathetic harshness. @Chanandler made what may have been a valid point, but I can think of a few different ways it could have been stated more positively without hurting her to the extent that it did. Maybe I'm too soft and taking this too much to heart, but I like to think that if I reached out like this in a state of heartache, I would receive sympathetic support instead of a damn peer review.

No, it won't. Unfortunately. Referees are nasty all the time, and not just about genuinely weak papers. Anonymity lets them take on all kinds of unwarranted airs of superiority. My discipline's blogs and social media spaces are chock full of the absolutely unforgiveable things referees have said, and not just to new members of the profession. I can point to several people who are the top scholars in the world in their respective subfields who still get referee comments like "this is garbage, even for an undergraduate; does the author even work in [our discipline]?". Such comments aren't OK under any circumstances, let alone when directed at perfectly fine pieces of scholarship.
Hell, I submitted one of my papers to a T20-30-range generalist journal which took four times its average review time to get back to me, and when it did I got twenty words of comments telling me the paper was unpublishable in any journal in the discipline. I immediately sent it unchanged to a T10 journal which accepted it in under a month.
So: the moral of the story, I think, is that you ought to ignore the cutting remarks as much as possible. Make whatever changes you need to in order to avoid getting similar complaints, but ignore the nasty commentary. If a referee is altogether too nasty, then ignore them entirely. (And yes, I agree with PaulaHsiuling that one should strive to submit work that's more or less complete, and not use the peer review system as a means of getting feedback on drafts.)

I just accepted my fellowship awards for graduate school and they’re way more generous than I expected. I can’t believe it’s only 3 months away! My boyfriend and I have been spending so much more time together preparing for being long distance for a while, and he said after he finishes his graduate program (he only has 2 years left) he would love to move up to New York with me ?

comments.
1. People have different relationships with their advisor and even among their advisors. My first advisor during my undergrad was pretty distant, didn't really connect with him. My master's advisor basically treats his students like his children - so yeah we were close. I knew about his kids, sometimes even his relationship troubles, and he knows a lot about my life. My current PhD advisor is a bit more distant/professional but certainly takes my private life in mind. We have shared some personal info, but not to the same extent as my Master's advisor (obviously). Yeah I'd often shared personal opinions (including on faculty and those were also shared with me too for that matter) and things with the latter, but maybe not with the others. That's fine. So lets not start judging people's interaction with their advisors (or friends/family for that matter).
Plus I don't think adeleide said it was her opinion that the examiner was jealous? but others have suggested. 
2. It does indeed seem that the advisor, in this case, was overconfident. It's the 2nd person I've seen it happen to this year (although to my other friend her committee even told her to take out things her advisor suggested to put in....). And yeah, that's unfair, but well. It happens more often than you think. 
3. Academia is just unfair. I mean, I'm not a huge fan of the peer review process (wish it was double blind for that matter), theres a lot of luck (and bad luck) involved, etc. 
I don't think anyone here is in self-pity, but I think its healthy to express one's frustration?

Yes, I have another professor who is going to read my thesis. Thanks! 

I'm also happy that I am self-confident enough that I don't see this failure as a failure of who I am in terms of intelligence and ability. I know this is also a matter of the fact that  I have received very little guidance on the part of my supervisor throughout my master's degree. This is the second time that something backfires in my master's degree, and both times, she never warned me, prepared me or anticipated it. But I won't tell her that because I know she loves me a lot, and probably feels very guilty already. I'm sure that out of all of her students, she surely did not expect me to fail. She knows me, my work ethic, and the fact that I am a hard and dedicated student. But my family was very upset when they learned I had failed because I spent the last year complaining to them about how I felt like I did not have as much feedback as I wanted to. I almost had to defend her. I had to clarify with my family that my supervisor does not have bad intentions towards me. She definetly wants me to succeed. But I think she was overly confident in my ability to do this and did not offer me enough guidance.

Just learned the news today. I am still in shock. I did not expect to fail, even if I knew my thesis was not perfect. I was expecting a pass with revisions. Even my supervisor was not worried for me (she told me so yesterday). I just need emotional support right now. I need not to let my emotions get to me. I have won a major scholarship for my doctoral studies starting in September, so I need to resubmit by August. Otherwise, I am screwed. If I fail a second time, I won't graduate which means that my admission and scholarship offers will be revoked from me. 
 
 
 

One tip I want to add, now that I've completed my first year of PhD work, is that you have to develop a certain level of... I'll call it apathy.  This has been a consistent theme when I speak with others in my program as well.
 
What do I mean by apathy?  Well, at the start of your first year doing PhD work you'll likely be somewhat frantic.  Everything must be perfect!  You must study all of the hours!  If you don't you will fail!
 
For me, the realization hit right after my first midterms.  I was just so tired from the pace I was forcing on myself that I couldn't do it anymore.  I started the second half of the term feeling like I wasn't doing enough, but was too tired to change it.  But as things progressed, I realized I was getting basically the same marks on my work.  Then finals came, and... again, basically the same scores. 
 
I think what I observed was probably due to two things:  First, you trade off a little less work for a lot more relaxation, and it balances out.  Second, I think the key is to identify diminishing returns.  For example, I had a professor who assigned really long problem sets of increasing difficulty, one a week, all semester long.  I found I could put in 25 hours or so and get a 9 out of 10... or I could put in 10 hours and get an 8.25 out of 10.  And combined they were only worth 10% of your grade, anyway.  There were way, way more productive things I could use those extra 15 hours a week for than gaining another tiny fraction on my final grade.  Your situations may vary, of course, but I think most PhD programs will require more of you than there is to give over a sustained period, and it will be up to you to figure out how to manage.
 
In short, learn to give up the idea of perfection in favor of doing well + keeping your sanity.  It's not worth the pending emotional breakdown if you try to sustain an unsustainable pace the entire time!

I’m not in a philosophy program but this advice is excellent, thank you!

I thought it would be useful to have a thread about professional correspondence, since this is something that a lot of people in the group chat have had questions about, especially those coming straight from undergrad. I'm currently finishing an MA and starting a PhD program this fall. I have some advice below (but keep in mind that I have no particular expertise other than my own experience). My advice is specifically for corresponding with academic philosophers and phil departments in the U.S.
General stylistic advice:
- The standard greeting is "Dear [Name]." (I am not sure why as this has always sounded informal to me, but it seems to be pretty universal.)
- If you're writing to a professor whom you do not know personally, use the title "Professor [Lastname]." DO NOT use "Ms./Mrs./Miss/Mr." (This should go without saying, but do not address female professors differently than male professors-- Luckily the title "Professor" is gender-neutral in English!) If and only if they tell you to call them by their first name, do so in subsequent correspondence. 
- If you're writing to a staff member or current grad student (as opposed to a faculty member), I think it's okay to use their first name. 
- If you are writing to a general department email with a question about a program, application status, etc., you can use the greeting "To whom it may concern." 
- The standard signoff is "Best," or if you're feeling fancy, "All the best."
- Start the email with an introduction: "My name is [Firstname Lastname] and I'm a student at [X University]" or "I'm an applicant to [Y Program]." Then state the reason for your correspondence. 
- Be clear about the reason for correspondence early on in the email (and, if possible, in the subject line). Avoid wishy-washy language like "I just wanted to ask..."
- Specify either early on in the email or in the subject line if the matter is time-sensitive or urgent. 
- Err on the side of formality, but you don't need to be overly formal-- for instance, it's okay to use contractions. (Personally, I think calling someone "ma'am/sir" is overkill and in some contexts might even be taken as offensive-- Again, when in doubt, use "Professor," as this is their earned professional title.) Avoid exclamation points, as they can be read as immature or insufficiently serious. 
- Err on the side of deference-- for instance, thank them for taking the time to read your email-- without sounding overtly like a kiss-ass. 
- Don't be disingenuous-- for instance, don't say you're familiar with someone's work if you're not, and don't say a program is your first choice if it's not. 

On contacting your own current profs/advisors (or TAs):
- Use the name or title that you would use with them in person. (Use first names for TAs, since they are not professors.) 
- Be assertive (but obviously not aggressive) if you need help with something. It's their job to help you. Follow up if they don't respond in a reasonable amount of time (my rule of thumb is a week, but it depends on how urgent the matter is). 
- Office hours are drop-in hours. You don't need to make an appointment. Just go talk to them. 
- Asking for letters of rec: This is best to do in person, but that's not always an option. Make sure you have taken at least one class with them and have written a substantive term paper. Ask them specifically if they can write you a STRONG letter. 

On contacting profs at other schools:
- If you're contacting them about their work, make sure you're not asking questions or making points that they have already addressed in the text you're referencing. 
- Make sure your questions and points are clear and coherent. 
- Again, err on the side of deference, but this doesn't mean you have to agree with them about everything. 
- Don't send them an essay, literally or figuratively. Keep it concise. If you do want them to look at your work, ask first, and be respectful of them and their time. 

On soliciting your app status:
- This is also something that came up a lot in the chat. Personally, I think it's definitely okay to solicit after about a week if acceptances, waitlists, and rejections have all gone out and you haven't heard anything. It's also okay if it's particularly late in the season and/or you need a decision ASAP in order to make decisions about other schools. Here's the template I used for such emails: 
"My name is [Firstname Lastname] and I'm a philosophy PhD applicant. I've heard from other applicants that some decisions have been released, and I'm hoping you can give me an update on my status or when I can expect to receive a decision. Thanks in advance for your time."
- Include your application number if you were assigned one-- Some schools do this, and that info would be found in your app portal. Including it in the email will help them find your app and keep your materials organized. 
- If you're waitlisted at a program you really want to go to, keep in touch and reiterate your interest throughout the season, visit if that's an option, and BE IN TOUCH on the morning of April 15th. 

Rutgers is also unionized and they are militant- just authorised a strike vote. Mobbies in the best way.

After a challenging couple of weeks (written exams two weeks ago) I successfully completed the orals this morning and am pleased to share that I have passed my comps and am ABD.
 
hip hip
 
Basically, though, it just means I get to keep going to work!  
 
Good luck everyone, hope you are well and your summer gets off to a good start.
 
~QM
 

Thanks so much for the thoughtful answers, everyone! I will definitely take your advice. Now that a few days have passed I'm feeling less reactionary, and you're words of solidarity definitely helped.
Thank you!

Just curious to hear what everyone here has to say! I see some really experienced members on these boards and think we all could benefit. This was my first semester teaching and it definitely opened up my eyes.
 
My pieces of advice (maybe they are already obvious, but I learned a lot of these from this semester):
 
-I would say that no matter how much time you spend outlining and writing a rubric for a paper or project, be prepared for students to ignore it (and to inevitably be upset when they get their grades)
-Never assume that upper-level students know how to write properly
-Include a section on the syllabus about how to email professors/TAs/other administrators at school appropriately 
-And most importantly I think next semester I will make a syllabus/policy quiz mandatory so everyone knows exactly what is expected of them and so they are all aware of exactly what plagiarism is (I was a TA for an upper-level course but apparently it is still not a known fact what plagiarism entails even as a junior)

Document it, speak to your chair or department head, see if other students/classes have document these same issues. Do not give out the answers. You are not the instructor of record.MIT is not worth your job or career.
That aside I am uncomfortable with faculty who have vague and subjective grading systems. Look for rubrics, anything your department might have for the course.

Hi there--I'm so sorry you're facing this dilemma. I hope some internet strangers can help you out a bit. 
My (now husband) then boyfriend and I went long distance when I got a Fulbright for a year--I was in Germany, he was in Texas. That's about as long distance as it gets. We found out 3 days after we started dating and went for it--by the time I left, we'd been together 3 months. It changed the whole course of our relationship, because from the very beginning we knew we were taking it very seriously--seriously enough to go through the pain of long distance. We made it through the ordeal stronger together in the end. And, we're never ever doing that again!
Here's my two cents: if you're thinking that long distance for a year would tear you apart, then other hardships closer to home might as well. If you two are strong enough to withstand the distance, and you both want to, then you'll be even stronger at the end of it. I'm not going to lie, long distance was the hardest thing I've ever done. If, on the other hand, you truly believe that her moving would cause a breakup, then (I think) other issues in the future might as well, and perhaps a breakup is the right move for you both. I can't think of any other Fulbrighters from my year who went long distance and stayed together, though some did move with their partners and that worked out maybe 50% of the time. That means you might leave your job that you love, and your aging parents, only to break up in Tucson because of other issues. Just something to consider. 
I also think it's important for you to make the right personal and career choices for yourself. If you love your job, and you want to be there for your parents, it's totally valid to stay in the Bay Area. I know this isn't an easy choice to make, but it may be the right one--both for you and your girlfriend. Another option is to try long distance for a while and see how it goes--you won't be giving anything up at home, and there's a chance you make it through.
I hope I've helped a little. Hang in there!

Thank you both!! I'm an undergrad coming from a large public university in a fairly boring college town, so I'm not too worried about the size of the school at all, mostly just wanted to hear people's opinions of the program!

I'm a current UMD undergrad and agree with what was said above but can speak more from a student's perspective! Yes, the campus and student body are large but as a grad student, you will be spending most of your time in Lefrak Hall where the clinic is located and be a part of a small cohort (~25). Lefrak is one of the more dated and dark buildings on campus but isn't too bad. I think the department faculty are pretty great and you would see a lot of different disorders in the clinic. It's a rigorous program as you get multiple clients your first semester on top of your classes but I've heard it's worth it.
In general, College Park is pretty full of strip malls and chain restaurants so it's not THE BEST college town but with DC so close there is a lot to explore nearby when you have the time. CP apartments can get expensive (generally 800+) but houses and surrounding areas are cheaper. There's not THAT much to do in College Park itself but there are a few bars packed with undergrads (often freshmen) so I'd recommend exploring the area more. 
I have loved my time at UMD and am considering attending their grad program too.