fuzzylogician

Then use 12pt standard font; you can do "select references" if the references are part of the word count or give abbreviations. If it's around 500-750 words, try and keep it on one page and use standard 1 inch margins. ETA: those are the standards in fields I know .. if they are different in your field, use whatever is standard there.

What kind of conference are you applying to? In my field the review process is blind, so you don't submit a CV or any other detail that could identify you as the author of your abstract. Conferences usually have very specific instructions for their abstract in terms of length, fonts, margins, etc. Look at the call for papers. As for references, you can always give citations, I've never heard of a conference forbidding references in an abstract.

Combining three papers sounds like a lot of work. It also sounds like the content will be less interesting and original than your thesis. Can you add a summary of the other chapters before/after then one you submit? You might also inquire about submitting the entire thesis even though it exceeds the limit - many times you'll find out that that's acceptable. Otherwise maybe put the full version online somewhere and provide a link for your readers, or submit the whole thing with an explanation of which part to read? There are more (better) options when you submit the thesis.

I would advise you both to stay away from humor and from making statements like "not everybody gets as excited as I do about research." The adcom members will be passionate about research and so will the other applicants they will be considering, so this is not going to be a successful way of distinguishing yourself from the crowd. It's really only going to waste valuable space that you could use to set yourself apart from other applicants and might additionally turn people off. Either way, that's not something you want in your SOP.

Yeah, starting out with a 70-80 work week is a bit insane. I think in general it's good to treat grad school as a job and remember to come home at a decent hour in the evening, spend time with family and friends, and take time off during weekends. Like other jobs, there will be times when you're busier and need to put in more hours -- but if you start out that way, you won't have any energy left for those crunch times, or else you'll work yourself to the ground and get burnt. Grad school is a marathon, not a sprint. Treat it as such.

Unfortunately I don't really know much about what professional program look for. In there is any analogy to be made, research-oriented program look for applicants who are likely to (1) finish the program in time, and (2) succeed in making a meaningful contribution to the field before graduating. That is, students who are well-prepared, have a good understanding of the task ahead, can demonstrate that they've thought their decision through and know it's right for them, and have a clear understanding of what open questions exist in their field. You do these things by engaging in a concise but well-thought-out discussion of a question or potential project that you are interested in, hopefully thereby demonstrating that you understand what chunk project you can bite off and what is interesting in your field today. For professional programs the considerations are probably different. If you get funded then the question remains of whether you're a serious applicant who knows what they're getting into and are able to get through the program in a reasonable pace. Even if not, there will be a question of whether you understand the field and have a vision of the career you'll have after you graduate. And there is the question of "fit", which I assume also applies. You want to show that the program you chose has the tools to prepare you for the career you chose - that is, has scholar or specialists in your area, has relevant internships or other opportunities, and so forth.

Since it's not up to you to write the letters, this one seems like something not worth agonizing over. If I had to guess I'd say I was ranked high but maybe not necessarily "truly exceptional", and I ended up getting into all the schools I applied to. Either way, I have no idea what my letters said; Since I trusted my recommenders, I thought it'd make more sense to worry about the parts of the application that were under my control - the SOP and writing sample - and put my worried energy into that. I think it paid off.

Agreed. Follow up and get a definitive answer, instead of spending time interpreting the silence. Re: the adjunct, does he have a PhD? Does he publish, or otherwise recognizable in his field or searchable on the internet? Or, since your program is maybe more professional-oriented than research-oriented, can he comment on relevant skills in any way? If the answer to these questions is yes, then you could probably get a meaningful letter from this person. Otherwise, I fear it may just be a "did well in class" which is much less helpful.

What everybody else said. Wait it out. It may take until after the weekend and that would still be perfectly responsive and helpful. If you don't hear back - follow up with an email or (better yet, if you can) in-person chat. What you should not by any means do is (1) put the prof's name in a form before they agree -- you don't want them to just get a letter request from a school before they agreed to write the letter; or (2) give up if you don't hear back right away. Follow up, make sure you have an answer and not assumptions about silence that you are interpreting any which way.

A fact of life is that you're not going to have something new and exciting to report to your advisor every week. At some point as you're trudging through your work you won't have much of anything to report several weeks in a row. At this point, though, just a few weeks into your program, there is only so much your advisor can reasonably expect from you. But if you feel that you are seriously falling behind or haven't adjusted yet to the unstructured environment of graduate school, maybe that's something to bring up and discuss with your advisor at the meeting. The adjustment period can be difficult, and your advisor could help you. You could also talk to other students about their experiences (and keep in mind, even if everybody else seems to be getting along just fine, everyone feels inadequate at some point!). The most important thing is not to be too hard on yourself - this happens to everyone, and at this point it shouldn't have any adverse effects. Don't think about potential consequences a year from now; it's extremely unlikely that there will be any, unless you let this get to you and drag you down. So don't!

Some locations may be too far but there are actually quite a few good programs in the area: Harvard, Brown, Rutgers, NYU, CUNY, Maryland, Cornell, Rochester, Johns Hopkins, Yale. Edit: some of these programs are quite different than others and not all of them will have the concentration that you are looking for, so think of these suggestions more like hints than recommendations.

I have to admit that I didn't understand exactly what the project is about or what it is that you are asked to do. Could you elaborate a bit more?

This is just a required paper for a class? It wasn't presented anywhere or turned into a publication? If that is the case then that is not the kind of thing you put on your CV.

Then I'm confused about why the professor is suggesting for people to withdraw. Anyway, yes, going to office hours sounds like a good idea.

The two things I can suggest are: (1) get help, and (2) don't assume everyone is so much better off than you. Most people don't like to admit it when they are having a hard time, but pretty much everyone struggles to adjust in first year, and pretty much everyone feels inadequate and like everyone else is doing so much better. It sounds to me like you're doing all you can do on your own, and so now you need to get help from someone. Maybe that means taking extra classes or even some undergrad courses as background (or maybe reading the textbook is enough). But what it really sound like is that you need to find a more advanced grad student, a post doc, or your PI, to walk you through techniques you've never done before. Really, that's what the PI and the experienced folk are there for, and no one should expect you to already know everything coming in - else, why go to grad school in the first place. Since it sound to me like you have done your homework and you have very specific ideas about your research that you just don't know how to implement, I think you should talk to your PI about these ideas and ask for help with the implementation.

That is quite an unusual story! I am glad to hear that you have finally been able to identify the source of your difficulties and treat it. It seems to me that you need to slow down a bit in order to be able to reassess your life. That probably means that you shouldn't continue in your current program but you shouldn't make any rash decisions. Is there a mental health service at your school? I think that it's extremely important for your to get help and not do everything alone. Some feelings of inadequacy that you are having are very normal (and if you read other posts on this board you'll discover that many other first-year grad students are having them and are thinking of quitting). You should be sure that you are leaving the program because it really doesn't fit and not because of normal first-semester jitters. My advice is to stick it out at least until the end of the semester and while you're there, give it all you've got. At the same time, find someone to talk to who can help you work through your past. Eventually you should be able to find what it is that you want to do in life, but it may take some time. If that turns out to be the case, then you should quit the program and stay out of academia to figure things out for a while. If and when you'll want to come back, I think that your unusual background will explain away concerns about leaving the current program.

Even though the PI is not interested in writing you a letter, he might agree to co-signing the letter from the student. If not, the letter from the student can only have a limited contribution to your application. A student can't really talk about your potential to successfully complete a grad program, and can't compare you to other potential candidates. Whether getting this letter is better than getting a letter from another professor would depend on what that other letter would say. The grad student can talk about the project and your contribution to it, and that's certainly worth something. If the other letter is just a "did well in class", then you should take the letter from the student. If it's better than that, then it's probably better to have the letter from the professor.

What kind of program are you applying for? For a research PhD degree, programs want to see that you have relevant research experience and well-defined research interests. You show this mostly through your SOP and LORs, but if you've worked as an RA or TA, presented in any conference or have a publication, that all should appear there. Professional experience will certainly not hurt but it's probably not what programs will be looking for.

Can you go to the professor with this concern? Tell him you were thinking of trying to stick it out but now you're worried. Ask about previous years' records and also about ways in which you can improve your performance. Have people who got lower grades done well eventually, and if so what did they do to make it so? This professors seems to be trying to help you out, so he might have some useful tips.

1. Basic communication skills for Academia (and life): understand the tasks that you asked to perform (i.e., read all the questions in your assignments) and do them concisely (answer all and only what the questions that you were asked). Support your arguments with facts and data (and present them in full grammatical sentences). Read texts critically and efficiently. Present your arguments both in written form and orally. Debate effectively, learn to structure an argument correctly. Learn to make handouts and slides and structure them effectively. Learn to teach. 2. Basic economics and life management. Learn how to create a budget for yourself. Plan ahead for a whole year, if not more. Have a general study plan for your degree. Learn a bit about taxes. Learn about banking, investments, fees and expenses related to money spending and earning, learn about using credit, taking loans. Learn to shop wisely, compare prices, understand the benefits of buying vs. doing things certain things yourself.

You approach it straight and to the point. Keep the conversation collegial and impersonal. You explain that you've been working on a project in Dr. B's lab (which A should already know) and that you think it's going well and has the potential to develop into a thesis project. Dr B. has offered you a spot in their lab and you'd like to take it, so you can continue working on this project. Thank Dr. A. for their time and investment in you. Ask if you could stay in touch, maybe get help with your NSF grant if that's appropriate, and part ways as friends. If you do it like that, Dr. A. shouldn't get offended. It's understandable that you prefer to pursue an existing option over one that may come up in the future.

The only way to know if he likes you (more precisely, if you two get along and he is willing to advise you) is to meet with him and ask the question. Before you do that, you may want to talk to some of his current students to find out a bit more about his advising style and whether it fits your personality. Current students might also know if he's accepting new students and what kinds of projects he has going on. Once you have this information, simply go talk to the professor. You don't need to be super-excited about research but you should be able to explain what kinds of projects you might be interested in. It may come up and you want to come across as someone who is serious and will do the work well and in time.

Before you give up on what sounds like a very good potential letter, try and schedule a meeting with this professor and see how the conversation develops in person. Some people are very bad with email and sometimes professors can get busy or distracted and forget about things. That doesn't mean she won't write you a very strong letter, if she agrees to do so (though it could mean she'll end up flaking out and leaving you stuck at the last minute). In any event, whatever you decide, I think it is good practice to follow through and not make decisions that are based on less than the most detailed information you can obtain.

I did not do quals (instead, we defend two major papers) but for what it's worth, I think that the most important thing in a situation where you're asked to defend your dissertation is to be able to explain the questions that you ask and why they are important. Have a one-sentence summary of your research interests. Expand that into the questions you are asking in your dissertation, and how they are related to your main interest. From there, you should be able to explain what your predictions are (what you expect to find, what possible outcomes you foresee, etc.) and what methodologies you'll use to go about discovering the answers. At this point, you should decide what previous work you should demonstrate that you are familiar with. You should be able to describe major findings and their discoverers. There are, of course, always going to be too many people to remember and cite; but if you had to cite one person per discovery, or if you had to list the main people who work in your field, who would they be? If you submit a paper to a journal, who would be likely reviewers? Those are the people to know and cite. Also good to know: people from "the other side of the aisle", if that exists in your field. It certainly does in mine, and i try to remind myself that I should know that kind of work too, even if I don't agree with the approach, and be able to explain what is going on there and defend my views to those people. Good luck!

Definitely not anyone who doesn't want to write you a letter, so Professor D is out. (But try and schedule a meeting and ask her in person, before you decide she is avoiding you.) Probably not the professor who you think views you as young and immature and may not like your research output (but again you may want to ask in person before you decide what people think for them). Also not professors who can't say anything about you beyond the grade you got in their class. That information is on your transcript, so it'll be a completely useless letter. That leaves mostly Processor C, in my opinion. It's not very important that he/she can talk about your grades. Instead, you want letter writers to be able to say something beyond what the adcom can just read in your transcript - be it your enthusiasm, devotion to research, teaching ability, etc.