fuzzylogician

I think wuglife's list seems very much appropriate for their stated interests (and assuming the list is pretty much ordered by fit, that seems quite accurate, too).

I always make sure to check these things immediately after they hand me back the passport, just in case. Otherwise it's too late to ask anyone in case you have any questions and if there is a problem it can be a serious pain to fix it.

bsharpe269, I am just now reading this thread and have nothing to add on top of the great advice you've already received. I just wanted to say that I think you are handling this very well and I'm so glad that you have such a great support network that could help you address this problem. I hope that this gets solved quickly and that you stay safe. You are very lucky, your PI sounds like a wonderful person.

Did I enjoy it? Yes. I mean, it's hard work but I've found it very rewarding. I enjoyed a good portion of my coursework and even the ones that were outside my main interests taught me new things and were valuable. I've hard several projects over the years and many collaborations that have taught me a lot and have become my friends. I had sort of a slump in the middle, around the end of third year, before I figured out what I wanted to do for my dissertation research, but I was in a place where that was expected and I had the time to do it, so I allowed myself to be lost and ask for lots of advice from lots of people. Can't say I enjoyed not knowing what I'm doing, but it was a valuable experience. It probably took me a whole semester, into my fourth year, to be back up to speed. I enjoyed my dissertation research itself and also writing it up and talking to people about it. I definitely did not enjoy going on the job market at the same time, because going on job interviews at the same time as trying to write can be very distracting. Overall though, it was a positive experience. Whether it was worth it? Ask me again in 2-3 years, when hopefully I'll have successfully concluded my postdoc and found my first tt job.

I have a Tonx delivery every other week, and I grind my own coffee beans and make a pour over at home. I try to limit myself to one cup a day but sometimes I buy myself a second cup on campus. I've never found a good solution to making my own coffee in the office. We have a Nespresso machine which is not bad, but it's not my favorite. Instant coffee also isn't a great solution, so there you have it.

Do it. The last thing you want is for the customs people to go through your truck/car, which you have carefully loaded with all your stuff. Better to be able to give them a list and describe what's in there. Unless something seems off, most likely they will just look at the list and your description and let you go. (And besides, making an inventory by box will help you find stuff after you move, which is helpful regardless of customs.)

I come from a different field so it's possible that conventions are sufficiently different so what I write here doesn't apply to you. That said: In general I feel that the questions you define for a project when you are a beginning graduate student are useful for setting the tone for the project and for defining its trajectory, at least in the beginning. However, projects have a way of evolving beyond what you plan at the outset, and I don't think it's reasonable for a student to expect to be able to concentrate only on the questions that they originally asked, ignoring important questions that have come up in the natural development of the project. It's of course not possible to answer every question that comes up, or no one would ever graduate from grad school, but I do think it's reasonable for your advisor to want you to follow up on some of these things. That said, there are other questions that have already come up that are also important here. First, do you have a prospectus, and if so, what does it outline? Do you have a dissertation committee, and if so what do they think about your progress? Will you be able to obtain strong letters of recommendation from your committee and advisor based on your current work? Do you have enough diverse experience to be able to draft a strong research statement that will get you your next job/postdoc? On the more practical side, are any of the questions that your advisor wants you to work on actually crucial for your work to stand and to be seen as a substantial contribution to your field? How many publications do you already have, or do you expect to have in the near future? That is to say -- are you a strong candidate now, or is it better for you to continue as a grad student a bit longer and improve your CV? Doing a fast PhD that fails to explore important issues raised as a direct consequence of the work, that could be addressed with another year or so of work, will not reflect well on the work.

I used to have everything in a moleskin, but at some point it became too small and besides I'd sometimes forget it, so a couple of years I switched to electronic calendars. I use google calendar, with several private calendars, color-coded to keep track of how much time a week I'm spending on teaching vs research vs meetings and other work stuff vs free time, plus a couple of public calendars (my department has one for all its events, for example). My calendars sync between my computer and phone, so it's been useful. I put deadlines in my calendar just to make sure I don't miss anything, but for the past couple of years I've been using workflowy for lists. For example, I keep detailed to-do lists by day, month and year; I keep all of my meeting notes there; I have a list of upcoming conference deadlines, with links to the conference websites for details; during job market season, I have entries for each job I am applying to, with all the required documents and links to the dept website, ad, etc. I keep lists of ideas and ongoing projects. I also use it to keep track of teaching, with a basic plan of what I'm doing each week and what I need to prepare. You can share lists with others, and it's also searchable. This has been a great way of keeping track of what I've been up to recently. I've been using it long enough now that I can step back and search through my meeting notes to get perspective for how my projects have evolved. Workflowy has an app and syncs with my phone too, so it's also useful for shopping lists and other private stuff. So basically the combination calendars+online lists has been a great solution for me.

While I agree with some of the post above (specifically, it's hard to live abroad, and HR may not be very patient if they don't know the university's name), there are several things I think are too harsh, or too US-centric. Actually, education is prohibitively expensive in the US, and much cheaper almost anywhere else you go. You should be wondering not why the MA is cheap in Spain, but why it (and worse, the BA) is so expensive in the US (hint: it's not about "American exceptionalism or bootstrap work ethic"). It's cheap in Spain and other parts of Europe because it is subsidized by the government, so that everyone, not just the rich--or people who are wiling and able to take out ridiculous amounts of loans--can have access to this important public good. In some countries students also get a stipend from the government, so they can concentrate on their studies and don't have to work. Language skills vary from person to person. I think you could achieve a high proficiency level in one year, if you made that a priority. It sounds like you don't have to, though I agree it's probably a good idea to learn at least some basic level. While it's true that dealing with bureaucracy is difficult if you don't speak the language well, there are ways to solve this that don't need to involve giving up on your plans. For example, you can have someone local come with you for errands once or twice. If you move in with roommates, everything in your apartment will be taken care of (internet, gas, etc), you'll have ready-made friends to help read stuff you're confused about, and you'll just deal with the other stuff. Getting a phone is actually probably going to be one of the easier things to deal with, if you ask me. You can usually buy a sim card at any medium to large store. Moving sucks, generally. Regardless of where you move. Moving to another country is even more difficult, even if you do speak the language. So it's true that it's something to keep in mind, but it wouldn't stop me (and hasn't in the past) from going abroad for my education if I otherwise thought that's where I want to be. I'm still not convinced at all that the OP should go to Spain, but I don't think this is a good reason not to go. Again, US-centric. This information is not going to be relevant to the vast majority of students/alums. If anything, I'm sure more Spanish students/citizens go on to work in other EU countries, and perhaps in South America, where they already speak the language. We're talking about one of leading universities in Spain, not a third rate community college in a small town. I think you made a good point about HR in the beginning of your post, which I don't think translates to further ed, but this one goes too far.

Two thoughts. Technically, it is completely doable, and not that bad in the scheme of long-distance relationships, as others have mentioned. One of you could drive down to see the other on most weekends, it's not terribly expensive or time-consuming (no flights, etc), and there is no time-zone difference at all. That said, it sounds like you're not sure whether your boyfriend is interested in making the effort, and that's something to be concerned about. Since you just moved and are starting a new life in your new city, you could invite him to visit you once you're settled in, so he can see your apartment, new school, maybe meet some of the new people in your life, etc. That would be a good excuse to get the conversation going, and he shouldn't say no to an invitation like that. It'd be a way for him to see what it's like coming to visit you after some time apart. But then at some point relatively soon after that, I think you will just have to sit him down and have a serious conversation about your relationship. If you are committed to making this work, you need to make sure that he is, too. Maybe the 'I don't know' is just him expressing his unhappiness with the fact that you've moved away, but he can learn to handle it. Maybe he can't learn to get over it and instead it will always hang over your head. I think it will become apparent soon enough. If he is unwilling to meet you half way (or anywhere close to that), I'd personally question whether this is someone who I want to be with.

I actually would have said the opposite. When you do a PhD you specialize in a certain subfield, study it very extensively, and end up becoming one of the leading experts in it (at least in the limited scope part of it you studied). The advisor's guidance doesn't have to be about the very specific details of your work but could be more generally about how to approach things, how to get unstuck, where to look for resources, etc. You have the time to learn the background and details of your topic yourself, and at some point you might find out that you know more about your topic than your advisor. Not so with a Masters--it's short, and you won't have the time to really become an expert in your subfield. You rely a lot more on your advisor to be able to guide you through difficult places, suggest literature, help you define a manageable size question to work on, etc. The best you can do is find a topic that you are interested in, which is within your advisor's area of expertise. It doesn't need to be the one topic you are most interested in, but instead it should simply be a topic that is in the intersection of your general interests, and your advisor's expertise. For more specifics about how to choose a topic that would be appreciated by employers after you graduate (assuming they would care, which I'm not entirely sure is true), you should post in the political science forum or ask your professors. Most of us here can't give you advice about how an poli sci MA plays out on the job market after you graduate.

Not to disrespect your friend since I don't know him or his work, but if it's true that he didn't publish is good journals then the problem is not where he went to school but with the output he produced. There is a question of whether this is the norm when you attend grad school in {Spain/Europe/elsewhere}, and I actually think there could be a systemic issue there because the European system is set up with a lot more independence for the student, and that sometimes means they don't have advisors that push them to publish or help them find good venues for publication. But then the question is not so much "is the program in Spain accredited" but "can this program prepare me for a PhD/job in the US after I graduate," which was the question I tried to pose above. This is something you can ask the school both directly ("have there been students from here who have gotten jobs/PhDs in the US? How many? Where was this job/school?") and indirectly ("do students tend to publish and attend conferences during their studies? How often? What do students tend to do after they graduate? Do they go on to do a PhD, and where? Do they get jobs - industry or academia, and where?") These are questions to ask any school you might attend anywhere--some simply do a better job than others preparing students for the job market. There is also a personality fit issue--some people require more external support than others, so you may or may not need that advisor who tells you when to write things up and where to send them. If we assume (plausibly, I think) that the very best top tier schools are in the US, and the choice here is between different slightly less-good schools, we want to ask why the OP should choose this school over another. If they work on Spain-related topics, that's a clear answer. If the school has experts in the OP's subfield, that's another answer. If the school is good at educating students and sending them off to top tier PhD programs or good jobs, that's yet another answer. If this school fits none of the above criteria, maybe it's cheaper than similar options in the US, and that's a legitimate consideration too. But the bottom line is I think it's not so much about Spain vs. elsewhere, but about status of the particular program.

Do you want to go to this conference? If so, I'd take the reviewers' comments seriously and explain how your paper fits. I assume they mentioned places where they weren't sure, so it's your job to respond to their questions. If this is a good conference it's probably worth your time to try and get into it. I'm not sure what a conference with a "perfect" fit for your paper would be, exactly. All that matters is whether this conference is a good venue for the work, in my opinion. You could, of course, start over and try for another conference, but these things take time so it seems to me that you're in better shape if you already have a conditional acceptance, as opposed to starting from scratch. This is under the assumption that you had a good reason to submit to this conference in the first place. If this is all just because you got some criticism, you should get used to that. It should not immediately cause you to back away, but instead you need to learn to deal with it. As Eigen says, these are things that you need to discuss with your advisors. We can't tell you how to respond to the reviews you got since we don't know your paper and haven't seen the reviews.

This thread has been locked because it has been cross-posted in several forums. To reply, follow the link here:

This thread has been locked because it has been cross-posted in several forums. To reply, follow the link here:

I don't think there is a centralized body in the US that accredits foreign degrees in fields like History (things are slightly different e.g. in medical fields, etc.). The question is simply what you want to do with your degree. If the goal is to go into industry, then the question will be whether employers will recognize the university's name and how impressed they'd be by the fact that you have a degree from there. My guess is that this university won't terribly familiar to employers in the US, but I don't know that they would be able to recognize what schools are considered good for History in the US either. Here it's more just about the fact that you have an MA, and about the school's name, but the specific program will probably matter less. It's also not clear what jobs you'd get that would require a training specifically in history, but that's another matter. If the goal is to get into a PhD program in the US or elsewhere, then you want to ask the program in Spain whether their students go on to attend such PhD programs. Here my guess would be that it's possible, but there is a question of how good the program is, what kind of research output you'd get out of it, and what name recognition the program and the professors that teach there might have. If you study Spanish history, there is an obvious story to be told about why you went to study in Spain. Similarly, if there is someone who specializes in your area of interest there who you could work with, it'd be clear why you chose to go to this university. If, on the other hand, this is not a place that is particularly well-suited for your research interests and also not particularly well-known, then (just like if you chose to attend such a school in the US) there could be questions about your judgment and choices. I am locking some threads you created asking this same question in multiple forums. There is no need to do that.

No problem. It was easier for my to search since I could use some keywords based on my own post (the stuff on my desk is still the same as last year ).

I remember writing about this is an old thread. I'll try and find it. ETA: Here, from last year and revived again a few months ago:

I do that for my CV, and so do others I know. Not everyone does it, but it's definitely not unheard of. You might also see similar descriptions for people's teaching experiences (e.g. 'led weekly discussion group, graded assignments, designed exam' etc).

You're welcome. Now that I think about it, you should change 'semester' to quarter. UCLA is on a quarter system, if I'm not mistaken. Also, as for your edit, I don't think there is any need to mention the medical issue at the moment. If the prof says no and there is no solution that doesn't affect your health, then I would bring it up. ETA: err, yes. Quarters. You say so yourself in your post.

Dear Professor X, My name is Coconut Water, an incoming Masters student in the Department of Education at UCLA. I am writing to ask whether it would be possible for me to take your class 'Topics in Awesomeness' in the upcoming Fall semester. This class was recommended to my by my advisor, Prof Y, since my research interests include Awesomeness and Amazingness. I believe your class would be a great way for me to round out my classes for the Fall and to start thinking about a topic for my thesis. Please let me know if you have any questions or if there is any additional information I can provide. Thank you, Coconut Water --- If this is someone who you might consider collaborating with, or having on your thesis committee or some such, you could include a line about looking forward to meeting this prof in person in the Fall.

You can register for the lottery on any status, so F-1 should be fine. If you win, actually applying for the green card is perhaps more complicated, because F-1 is not a dual intent visa (that is, it can't be used as a basis for immigration, which is why as part of the application process you need to demonstrate ties to your home country). There are discussions about this online if you google for DV lottery and F-1. It seems that it's possible to change your immigration status in the US and there shouldn't be a problem. I've noticed that sometimes people suggest documenting (don't ask me how) your lack of intent to immigrate when you first receive your F-1 status, because it's ok if your intentions change at some point, as long as you didn't lie when you originally got the visa. Basically, what I take from this is that 99% of the time there is no problem with this, and the 1% is not something you can really worry about anyway, so if you're interested, apply and only worry about this later if there is a reason to.

The youngest person in my cohort was 21, straight out of college. The oldest was 35ish and had just finished a PhD in another field. Others are sprinkled in the middle (there were 8 of us), and some but not all had MAs. We're all good friends, even now 5 years later, when we're all graduating and leaving our program. Everybody has a unique perspective they can offer to class discussions, so there is no reason why you can't be heard or make meaningful contributions. You could also choose to view your situation as an advantage, since there will be many people who you interact with on a regular basis who have interesting experiences and perspectives you could learn from. That aside, there will be students from other cohorts or even other programs you could become friends with, since it is possible that the older people who have families will be less interested in making new friends (but please don't just assume that about anyone!). And, of course, it's possible to make friends outside of academia altogether (gasp!), by joining groups or activities that interest you outside of school.

This is for the US; Canada is similar, but there may be some differences (in particular, I believe immigration may be easier). (1) You should apply in the application cycle prior to when you want to begin your studies. For Fall 2016, the application deadlines are usually around December 2015-January 2016. You can apply before you graduate with your BSc. You'll be competing with students who have already graduated and some who have MAs, but generally there is no reason why you can't apply and be quite successful. You'll submit a transcript based on your current status at the time of the application. If you are admitted to a school, your acceptance will be contingent upon finishing the BSc before you start your advanced degree. Some schools will also want you to submit a final transcript at some point, maybe also maintain a certain GPA. (2) I assume you'll be applying for a PhD. Most (all?) reputable programs in Chemistry fund their students, so if you are admitted, you will in all likelihood be funded. I wouldn't worry about what the university gets out of it (but since you asked, graduate students are very cheap labor, and the university also gets prestige because of your work). Your ability to work will be limited, for several reasons. First, most of the time programs require students to be committed full-time, so students aren't allowed to work during the semester. If you work in a lab, you may just not have the time. Moreover, as an international student, you can only work 20 hours a week during the semester, 40 during breaks. You can only work on-campus; you can get permission to work off-campus at a job that is related to your field of studies after one year in the US, but jobs are not easy to come by. That said, the stipend you'll get should be enough to cover your needs (assuming you don't have a family, then it's a different story). It will not be easy for you to get loans from US banks, since you don't have a credit history or (I assume) sponsors. [Note: MA programs are few and far between, and normally not funded. This is one way the university makes money.] (3) There is no way to get citizenship/permanent residency status based on your studies alone. You get a chance to find work in the US after you graduate (if you're on a F-1 visa, it's called OPT, you can google it; there is a parallel option for students on J-1). If you find a job that wants to keep you, they can sponsor you for a green card. There are also ways to sponsor yourself, though I don't know how easy it is to do that. If you find a job in academia, the university that hires you will usually be able to get you a green card. Or, like anyone else, you could fall in love with a US citizen, get married, and have your spouse sponsor you for a green card.

This varies greatly by institution and field. In some fields (physical/natural sciences, some other fields), once they are somewhat established and have spent their startup money, professors are basically expected to bring in grant money to support their own students, technicians, RAs, and (partly) their own salary, at least as far as summer funding is concerned. In other fields, there isn't that much grant money to be had, and in those fields students tend to be globally funded by their department, not by an individual PI. In those fields, there is sometimes some funding for RAs which comes from the university/department, but generally there is less funding for RAs than in fields that have a lot of grant money. This also depends on the individual arrangements PIs have with their departments, and probably varies by institution, etc.