Teaching Faculty Wannabe
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Posts posted by Teaching Faculty Wannabe
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5 hours ago, MephsitoShaw said:
I am also worried about the future, the prospect of work after Grad school although I am not even a grad student, the relating status of the school I apply/have been admitted to, the current level of passion for research (not critically alarmed, but totally not 100% sure), the interpersonal aspects of academia, the relationship between me, my PI, and colleagues, the academia itself, my teaching skill, the lack of knowledge for certain stuff, my affiliation for perfectionism, mental states, preparedness for grad school, the imminent mental breakdown, etc.
Oh my goodness. I can relate to this so much.
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On 12/14/2018 at 11:06 AM, apex45 said:
I don't stack up well on stats-- my quant GRE is low and my undergrad experience was mediocre.
If it makes you feel better, all your GRE scores are higher than mine. I only have a little over one year of research experience during my undergraduate. I definitely feel inadequate when I compare myself to others on here. I also haven't done any work related to my research interests. But I am trying to stay confident anyway. It's hard, but I am hoping at least one school will see my potential. The fact that you are doing a Master's is good! I think you should be proud of getting that experience.
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6 hours ago, ray92 said:
That is an awesome dream! You are on you on your way to your dream have you looked at FermiLab?
Thanks! I have heard of FermiLab. The work they do is a bit too physic-y for me, but it is pretty amazing what they do there. Accelerators are super cool!
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@cf6049 Ohhh wait, I am dumb. I know what ppt you are talking about. I guess my anxiety is causing me to panic a bit. Sorry about that!
Also, silly question for anyone to answer: do your GRE scores appear red under the GRE Information section for the GEM homepage? I was hoping it is like that for everyone instead of it meaning my scores are really bad.
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@cf6049 When did they send out that email? I never got one with a PowerPoint attached :(.
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@650wordsorless Thanks! I am going to keep this just in case I don't get into any grad schools this year.
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Also, have you all being getting emails from schools because you are a GEM applicant? I've gotten a few this week and I wish they had sent these out a little earlier. I would apply to more schools for free if it wasn't the middle of December already.
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18 hours ago, ray92 said:
That is a great list. Are you a applying for a PhD? If so I bet you will get one of the national labs
Thanks! I hope so! Working in a national lab is my dream job! And yeah, I am applying for a PhD! Also, congrats on being selected. I also didn't get an email like the others.
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@ray92 Thanks! Hopefully this is good news! The companies were:
1. Lawrence Livermore National Lab
2. The Charles Stark Draper Lab
3. I can't remember the last one (is that bad??). I had a hard time choosing, but it was either the Oak Ridge National Lab, United Technologies Research Center, or Sandia National Lab.
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42 minutes ago, peanutjellyfish said:
Worries: I submitted my applications early, but I think I could have made them much better if I had sat with them longer. I think I forgot to explain more clearly and precisely what I wanted to do in the future, and perhaps spent too much talking about what I've done in the past (with the assumption that my future will look similar to my past). I'm also trying to balance getting into a good school and ending up in a good location. After some bouts of burn out and depression, I'm afraid that grad school will only make my mental health worse. On top of that, I'm doubting my abilities to succeed in the field that I aim to go into, and I'm also doubtful that I'll definitely enjoy the work I plan to do.
Oh my goodness, I relate to all of this so much. You are not alone in thinking these things. I can definitely relate to worrying about grad school making my mental health worse. I guess with that you just have to make sure that you get enough sleep, take breaks when doing research, hang out with friends, and have some "me-time" among all the chaos.
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Hi all!
I am sure I am not alone when it comes to feeling super anxious about waiting to hear back from schools after pressing that submit button. I know there is a Venting Thread, but I thought it would be nice to have a specific forum where people can talk about their worries while they wait. So, I am going to first talk about what I am worried about and then talk about what I am excited about if I get accepted in grad school.
Worries: I feel like I don't have enough research experience under my belt, especially since I haven't done any research in the fields that I want do pursue my graduate degree in. My GRE scores are mediocre, so that scares me as well. I think the fact that I am taking a gap year and I am not currently doing anything "resume/cv worthy" right now will make me look lazy to the admission committees. I am also worried about paying for moving to grad school. I really hope I can get a retail job next year so I can start saving money for that. Also, I want to pay off my loans during grad school, even though I know I can defer them while in school. I just am tired of my interest accumulating.
Excitement: Even though grad school will have plenty of hellish moments where I probably won't get enough sleep and be able to make meals for myself, I am ready to be back in school again. Despite the homework and stressful tests, I oddly like taking classes. I am even more excited to take graduate-level classes because I feel like I will be able to focus more on learning and less on getting an A on every single assignment. After doing that in undergrad and pretty much destroying my mental health, I am never going back to putting myself through that again. I am also ready to move to a new place and explore the area. Additionally, I can't wait to start researching something I am interested in. I am nervous that I might find out that I might not like it, but at least it will still be interesting enough that I can do it for 5-7 years.
So, go ahead and just type away your worries about waiting, grad school, and anything else. Also, talk about what your excited about when it comes to grad school. I feel like doing both will make you feel slightly better.
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On 12/6/2018 at 7:13 PM, s0m1 said:
Did you write any additional essays that weren't required? How clearly did you outline research that you wanted to do? I am applying to quite a few different research areas (my interests are sort of broad), so my research interests will be different for each SOP.
If a school asked for an optional statement, like a Diversity Statement, I wrote it. I think it shows that you really care about the program because you are putting time towards the application and doing something that isn't required. I was kind of specific about my research interests, but not to the point where they were super narrow. So, for example, I was want to develop and characterize biomaterials for tissue engineering applications. So, I talked about liking polymers as a biomaterial and why they are important to tissue engineering. I then discussed the research of professors that were conducting research on polymers for specific tissue engineering applications, such as bone regeneration or scaffolds for ovarian growth. I got more specific when it came to talking about the schools in my SOPs because I wanted to show that I could easily fit into their program by being able to work with multiple professors. So, for each your SOP, talk about your interests in a more broad way, but with some detail. So, for me, I didn't just say "I like biomaterials". I stated that I like polymers and I want to research them in tissue engineering applications. Earlier on in my essay, I also talked about how I became interested in polymers and tissue engineering (classes, mainly, for me). You can maybe go a little bit more specific than that, but not too much. Then, when you talk about schools, go specific as you can. I hope that makes sense and helps. This is just the way I wrote my SOPs, so I am not sure if it will work for you exactly.
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On 12/6/2018 at 11:47 PM, Hk328 said:
Teaching is great experience even if you don't have any intention of becoming a professor. It helps you with your public speaking, you learn a lot (research shows that teaching information to others improves your own learning), and it looks good on your CV. You are leading a group of college students, so it helps your supervisory skills a little bit too.
Thanks! These are good points. Even if don't end up liking TAing, I figured it would be good to at least have that experience because it will teach me something no matter what.
On 12/7/2018 at 8:20 AM, MarineBluePsy said:If you have not already, it might help to ask students in your department who are TAing what it is like and how they're balancing the workload. TAing means different things to different professors. Sometimes it might mean you hold study groups and guest lecture regularly and other times it might mean you make copies and maybe do a little grading. You also want to find out what sort of training/support is available if you need help or a student comes to you with a crisis.
That's a good suggestion, thank you! I am have not yet been admitted into a program, but I think I will ask grad students once I hopefully start visiting schools their thoughts on it. You also made a really good point about training on how to support students. That is really important to know. I honestly think more professors should get trained on this.
17 hours ago, Sigaba said:Get a sense of the preferences of the Powers That Be in your department. Especially the DGS, your advisor, and committee members. If they so much as hint that your focus should be on your work, focus on your work. For better and worse (mostly worse) many professors DGAF about undergraduates and have second thoughts about those who do.
Haha, "Power That Be". But yeah, this is very true. Expectations from the higher-ups in grad school seem like no joke and should be discussed/established early on, which I hope happens when (if) I get admitted into a program. Thanks for your advice!
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Hi all! Do you suggesting trying out TAing even if it is not required? As of right now, I don't want to be a teacher in the future, but I am still curious about it. What do you all suggest?
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9 minutes ago, ray92 said:
Has anyone received emails about interviews? Does anyone know what happens if a company wants to sponsor you but you do not get in to a graduate program?
I am not entirely sure, but I think if you don't the internship sadly if you don't get into a graduate program.
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2 hours ago, cf6049 said:
Not sure if you stayed around after the technical difficulties but it was postponed until Monday. The moderator said they'll be sending out a followup email. (I left work early for this . . smh lol ?)
Yep, I saw the email now. Good times. Sorry you left work early for that :(. Also, if you still need someone to still look at your SOP, I can take a look. Just PM me a link to a google doc, if that's alright. I already turned in my applications, so I don't need you to look at my SOPs.
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11 minutes ago, socneuro said:
I also have no idea about Chapel Hill or Pittsburgh either. If y'all live near there, visited, or have heard anything, please let me know!
I went to school at North Carolina State University, which is located in Raleigh, NC. Raleigh is a very LGBT+ friendly city and so is NC State, and it is only thirty or forty minutes away from Chapel Hill. I wish I knew more about Chapel Hill, but I only went there once while I was in school.
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Did anyone else have trouble joining the GEM webinar today? I tried to join like 13 minutes before and it already said it was too full.
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On 11/30/2018 at 5:31 PM, FutureGrad101 said:
For instance, applications for Fall 2020 admission to doctoral programs will OPEN in Fall 2019, WHEN? August? September? October? November?
Each application opens at different times. Some are really late. For example, Cal Tech's application for Fall 2019 did not open until October 1st, 2018 and their deadline was December 1st, 2018. Applications usually open a couple of months before their deadline (usually around late August or September). As @tashaonthemoon said, universities typically say on their websites when applications will open. If not, and you don't feel like checking every day, I would contact the Graduate Admissions for that school.
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On 12/3/2018 at 7:51 AM, yash13177 said:
My question is whether this is appropriate? Or will they view it as a nuisance because it's after the app deadline?
I am kind of in the same situation, but I didn't contact anyone before applying but I plan on contacting the professors that I mentioned in my SOPs. I don't think you should ask about chatting with them. I think they should initiate that. If they want to talk, they will ask, but you don't want to pressure them in something. I would say that you applied and you find their research interesting. Explain what you find interesting about it and if you read any of their papers. If you already contacted them, you can say that you applied. Good luck!
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1 hour ago, s0m1 said:
Do you think that the rest of my application will cover for my low undergrad GPA? I suppose I should talk about it in my statements of purpose?
I think your undergraduate GPA will be okay, especially with all the other aspects of your application. I think GPA is important, but not nearly as important as your SOP (and other essays), your research experiences, and your references. You also have great GRE scores, so I think you will be good. The most important thing is that you establish a good fit with the university and the department. If you don't do that, then even an application with perfect scores, a perfect GPA, and tons of research experience is pretty useless. I hope that reassures you! Good luck with all of your applications!
Venting Thread- Vent about anything.
in The Lobby
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I literally have to hold my last LOR writer's hand for every deadline. I told them in September about the deadlines. I give them a two days heads up and sometimes even have to reminde them the day of the deadline. I have three more schools they need to write letters to. I already applied to all of my schools, and I am only waiting on them. I know letter writers are being nice offering to write recommendations on our behalf, but this sort of situation is still aggravating.