morawel

I’m not sure about alerts from specific publishers, but have you looked into Google Scholar alerts? You can set it up to get emails when new papers are published containing key words or phrases that you specify. I’ve found it really helpful!

I see this was answered above but wanted to add that this does depend on your field and the programs you’re applying to. Lots of programs in natural sciences, ecology, fisheries and wildlife, etc. will require you to have been in contact with potential advisors and even have faculty sponsorship before applying, in some cases. In these fields, it’s helpful to reach out to faculty you’re interested in working with to inquire if they have funding and are accepting students for the upcoming year. Sometimes funded positions are even advertised and you will apply and interview directly with the professor before the formal application process. Disregard if this isn’t relevant to you, but this is a general biology forum so I wanted to put it out there!

You might find some helpful insight in this thread:

Oh my goodness, you should not be paying research expenses and travel costs. I’m sorry if that’s not a helpful response but you should know that it’s not normal or expected! I’m curious how your program works; did you apply to work with a specific PI? And if so, did they develop the project with you, and was there any discussion of funding? This is why many programs will not accept students without at least partial guarantee of funding (e.g., a grant your PI has that you will be working under), but I don’t know how it works in your field. Do you have a dissertation committee, and did you go through a research proposal process? I cannot imagine allowing a student to take on an international research project with no funding. At the very least, your advisor and department should be helping you find grants to apply for. Unfortunately I think it’s pretty standard to have to pay student fees even when your tuition is covered, as much as that sucks. But the research expenses are a different story. I hope you are able to find some support.

I don't know about your field or conference specifically, but some conferences offer Early Career Professional registration rates or travel grants for recent graduates. Otherwise, ask about other ECP benefits like shared hotel rooms or hotel waivers in exchange for volunteering at the conference (e.g., working the check-in table for a few hours). I assume you've asked your PI if they have any funding available? Is the work you are presenting funded by a grant or agency that may have funds marked for travel and presentation? If you have other coauthors on your poster/presentation who may have these funds available, it might not hurt to ask them as well. In terms of external funding, I have heard that local community groups like Kiwanis will sometimes give out money for this kind of thing, if you ask, but I haven't pursued that route. Good luck!

ETS has a calculator on their website that will tell you exactly how long yours are good for. I believe it would be June 2020 but you should check. Good luck!

I recently got an iPad for this purpose and I really like it so far. I briefly considered the Surface models but decided they were too expensive and I already have a pretty good laptop, too. But they did seem nice! I went with the basic 9.7” iPad with the iPencil, which is great for highlighting and marking up papers.

Thanks, @NancyAL! The rejections finally came in last week. Sorry to hear that; hope you’ve had luck elsewhere too. ?

I recently got an iPad and I love it! I chose the basic 9.7-inch model (not the Pro) and also got the Apple Pencil. For reading papers, I've been using the Mendeley app since it's what I already use as a reference manager, and it syncs all the info and PDFs to my account. You can highlight and add notes directly in the app. I've played around with other reading apps a little bit, and the built-in Books app is actually pretty good. I haven't done much note-taking yet, but I do like OneNote app for writing lists and things, since it also syncs across devices with your Microsoft account. The Apple Pencil is great once you get used to it, and hand drag won't be a problem.

Thanks! I'll be at Oregon State University. Good luck with your interview!

Same. I never heard anything after November when a prospective PI encouraged me to apply. From what others have said on here, it sounds like offers have all gone out. I assume the department is just waiting to send rejections until they have acceptances from their final pool of admits, but I don't know.

Hi! Yes, I finally had some luck and got an offer for a PhD position. I had been applying to lots of advertised positions for a few years, and this year I also submitted 2 formal applications at the encouragement of PIs at both universities. The offer I received was from an advertised position that I applied and interviewed for, but I didn't have any luck with the 2 formal applications. Good luck with applications and the GRFP! Are you applying for master's or PhD programs?

I would try to figure out what kind of time commitment you are expected to put in on campus, and whether it's okay to work remotely part of the time. For example, if you only have classes a couple days a week, or if you have no classes or teaching responsibilities at all in a given term, will your advisor be okay with you staying home to work on research, writing, grading, etc.? I assume you wouldn't have any "lab" duties as a philosophy student, but are there other expectations or commitments you will need to be on campus for? With that long of a commute, I imagine it would make a big difference if you only need to drive to campus 3 days a week versus 5 days a week, for example. It might help to check in with current students (and your advisor, of course) regarding the norms in your department. In my master's program, it was pretty common for some students to not come in at all on some days, like if they were working in the field for a whole term or even just didn't have classes and preferred to work from home. But I imagine this varies by field and department (and would of course depend on your obligations if you have a TA or RA position). The other consideration is whether you would even want to work from home and be somewhat removed from campus. It's great to be able to work from home when you need the flexibility or if you really need to concentrate and hammer something out, but it can also be isolating. I definitely benefited from working in a campus room with other grad students, both for moral support and also to bounce ideas around and help each other navigate logistics of the program. There may also be social or informal networking opportunities like happy hours and seminars that you could miss out on if you don't have as much flexibility (like if it would make your day prohibitively long, or you need to go home and let the dog out, or something). This isn't to say that it wouldn't be worth it, but that's just a decision you have to make. Good luck!

This was my experience for my master's degree, and it worked out well for me. I don't have much to add because I think you've summarized the pros and cons well. I found that my advisor was eager, ambitious, invested in us, and had a good appreciation for what it's like to be a grad student these days. (I particularly appreciated this last one. It could be really difficult to have an advisor who is out of touch with things like the current job market in your field or how things have been changing for students, financially and otherwise.) On the other hand, it may have helped to have an advisor with a more established network, especially when moving on to finding jobs and/or PhD positions. I've been given the advice that finding a supportive advisor whom you get along with is the most important factor in choosing a program. I'm not sure that the prestige of the program where your advisor did their PhD is that important. If it means that their background is particularly strong in areas that you're interested in, or that they've worked with people you may be interested in working with in the future, then that's definitely a bonus, but you should look for those things regardless of the prestige of their degree. It's possible that professors could leave the department at any point, but yeah, it makes sense to think about this if there's a possibility that they may not receive tenure. I've been told that it's okay to actually ask professors whether they plan to stay at their current university long-term (or at least long enough to advise a student through a master's or PhD.) Obviously this isn't always planned (especially the tenure situation), but it might be nice to know if they are considering looking for jobs elsewhere. However, I haven't actually been brave enough to ask this of any potential advisors One thing I would suggest is to make an effort to connect with students in other labs. Even if your advisor is bringing on other new students at the same time, you won't have the benefit of being around students who have experience in the department and can help you navigate the program. Your advisor may actually not even know the answers to some of your questions about things like classes, paperwork, requirements, tuition and fees, etc. So definitely make an effort to establish a support system of other graduate students!

I'm also looking at getting an iPad. From what I can tell, the price on Amazon is currently cheaper than what Apple offers for an educational discount on their website! But I'm curious if others have suggestions for getting discounts.