fuzzylogician

I use BibDesk to organize my articles. It allows me to search by author/journal/year, etc, and I can also save notes on papers I've read. When I save papers through BibDesk I have it set up so each paper is given a title that is a combination of last.name+year, and the paper itself is saved in a special Bibliography folder I've created in dropbox. Inside this meta folder I have a folder for each author (based on last-name), so it's easy to search directly in dropbox, though I almost never do. I just find my articles through BibDesk, it's fast and easy. Because the .bib file and the actual articles are on dropbox, it all syncs across computers, too. It also creates all my bibliography entries in all my papers, I haven't done that manually in years.

One W on your transcript isn't going to be that important. If you get a letter from the relevant professor that explains that you're a good student who's done well but withdrew from this one class for health reasons, it's a non-issue entirely. It's not worth what you're doing to yourself. I would say, try the exam, but withdraw if you don't do well. And don't worry about it, you'll be fine.

In my field it's said to be good to have one publication by the time you graduate. Two and you're in very good shape. Many students won't have any. (Or, they'll only have proceedings papers.) So, these things can vary greatly. I would guess that papers in my field are longer and the publication cycle is (substantially) slower, hence the difference. Also probably at least in part attributable to differences in methodology. In any event, I had more than one by the time I graduated, but I definitely made sure to have at least one, which meant starting to submit relatively early, because it's entirely possible for a paper to take several years from submission to appearing in print. My very first journal paper was submitted/revised over a period of about 11 months (which is considered fast!), then was in press for 3 years, so a total of 4 years all told until it was out. I submitted it in the summer after my second year, saw it in print around the time of my defense. I think this is probably sufficiently different from your experience that more details aren't going to help you here.

Cross-posted. Click here to reply:

cross-posted -- please click here to reply (and please don't cross-post in the future!)

This is something that's fairly commonly done in the context of postdoc/job offers, but there is a reason why the April 15 resolution exists, and if they are ignoring it, it's hard to see how they can blame you for following their lead. You have to know that it's not the most honest thing to do, but again, they aren't leaving you with any better choices, and I still think that you have to worry about yourself first.

Given that you are being unfairly pressured, I think that a very reasonable plan is to accept the offer and to withdraw if/when you get a better offer. They're not leaving you many other options, and declining before you have other solid options isn't a good strategy. It's a shame, but I don't think there is anything else you can do.

That's fair. It's just going to be hard to get a solid promise, but you can try. There are probably some things they have a good idea about, like their intro courses that they always give, etc.

You just ask it straightforwardly, and you state your concerns like you did here. I think you'll discover that no one can make you any promises about next year because they don't know yet what their teaching needs are going to be. Those depend on enrollments, and that's just not something anyone can know right now. But you can certainly raise your concerns and see what kind of answer your get.

Also, read this post, especially the excellent reply by juilletmercredi.

Fake deadlines. Things have a tendency to come in waves. All your class papers will be due in the same week, grants are due around the same time, conferences (at least in my field) have fall and spring cycles. Spread out the work and create your own timeline independent of the "real" deadline, so you don't run yourself into the ground when the work piles up. To-do lists. I wouldn't know where to be if not for my calendar and my to-do lists. (I also find it very satisfying to cross things off my lists.) My lists are electronic and sync across my devices. I also keep meeting notes on there, and it's all searchable. This helps me plan ahead and strategize. At this point in my life, I have things in my lists as far ahead as June, but I keep a weekly list for the current month. Have a routine. Some people do 9 to 5. I'm really not that kind of person. But I still try to have a semblance of a routine, because otherwise you can get distracted too easily. There is always more work to do, and I want to at least pretend to also have a life. Write on a regular basis. This may be premature, but writing should be a habit. Have a space for work that's separate from where you have your personal life. But also allow yourself to change locations if you need to. Actively block off time in your calendar for things that you need to do. If necessary, that can include things like sleep, time with friends, time for writing, whatever. If time is blocked off in your calendar for a particular purpose it's harder to give it away or to do something else with it. Keep track of what you've been doing. It can be very useful to be actively mindful of what you do and when you do it, at least until you're more familiar with your own body and habits. I know, for example, that I write the best in the afternoon, and I can do more mindless tasks in the morning. I also have a good idea of how long it takes me to write a new abstract or X new paragraphs or to prep a new lecture, because I've taken the time to measure it before. It helps with planning. Also helps appreciate how much you actually do. Structured procrastination. Often I'll push off doing one godawful thing I really don't want to do by doing other meh things I only kind of don't want to do. Allow yourself time to goof off without feeling bad about it. We all need it.

Nothing more than what you'd usually plan for when you move, and you can search the web for multiple lists like that. You want to ask around about the neighborhoods where students in your program tend to live and when the housing market gears up, and be ready to search for an apartment/roommates. You need to figure out how you're getting from Current location to New location and book your transportation. You may need a new bank account if your bank doesn't have branches where you're moving to. You want to find out about utilities, maybe get a technician to install your internet as soon as you move. You may need to buy furniture. You may need a new phone plan. You'll have to pay some down payments so plan accordingly, these things pile up. School-wise, you might want to read up on your programs's regulations. If there is a student handbook, browse it. Have an idea of the structure of the program. You could read up on on-campus groups, the gym, etc. City-wise, if you aren't that familiar with it, you could spend some time on the street view option on google maps. You could familiarize yourself with the local transportation options. You'll want to figure out if you need a car, parking, where the local DMV is, how much insurance would cost. Which is all to say, now that it's all done, there's a new kind of waiting period -- waiting to get your new life started. Nothing that I listed (with the possible exception of the housing market and any flights, movers, etc) needs to happen more than a couple of weeks before you move.

Frankly I doubt that asking for a Skype interview will be successful here, although of course none of us can know that for sure. If you think you did poorly on the questions, the best you could hope for is to express that and ask for an opportunity for a do-over. You might not get it, but that's at least something I think they might consider. They're not going to give you an unfair advantage over the other applicants (in fact, in some cases they may be legally barred from doing that) and they're not going to take the time to interview you when they didn't interview anyone else, but somehow asking for an opportunity to re-do the questions doesn't sound like that much of a big deal. (Though assuming that it was timed and you didn't know the questions ahead of time, it *is* an advantage and lowers the chances that they'll say yes.) In any event, not performing well on a recorded interview doesn't naturally lead to a request for a personal conversation. I'd keep the request to something more appropriate, or just accept the fact that everyone has good days and not-as-good days with these things and move on. I would vote for the latter, if you ask me.

It's not arrogant, it's common practice and I don't know why anyone would think that simply posting your CV is bragging or anything of the sort. The pros have been discussed and I don't think there are any cons. The more relevant question is when does it become *necessary* to have an online presence, and I think the answer to that is *whenever you think people will start looking for you*. Which may be the first time you apply for a national fellowship or award, for sure by the time you go on the job market, and probably as soon as you start presenting in national conferences. This probably means some time around your 2nd-3rd year (assuming a 5-year program). If you don't have anything in your first year, that's totally fine. You should do it when it's beneficial, but you're not competing with anyone and getting there first doesn't win you any prizes. It depends on the individual person and situation.

Hi there, this looks like a homework question. This site is not about helping students with homework but about discussing grad school applications, grad school life, etc. Please contact a teacher or TA about your question.

Hi there, this looks like a homework question. This site is not about helping students with homework but about discussing grad school applications, grad school life, etc. Please contact a teacher or TA about your question.

IAP ended last week. I would bet they haven't had their meeting yet, but I could be wrong.

I already got my PhD, thank you very much. And I didn't have a perfect GRE or GPA, but that hardly mattered. And I still try to call bullshit when I see it.

"I have discovered a truly remarkable proof of this theorem which this margin is too small to contain."

^ I'd do the above email, but just make it one email to the coordinator, cced to the POI. Say thank you for sending along the schedule and ask if it would be possible to add a meeting with [POI]. Say that you've corresponded and you'd really love the opportunity to meet in person during the visit (at the same time express your understanding if the schedule is such that it can't work). And say you're looking forward.

Cross-posted. Click here to reply:

It depends on the journal but in my field that's usually something the journal takes care of. The instructions to authors will usually have a section on how the final accepted version of the manuscript should look like, and if it doesn't, I would just ask.

Pick whatever you're comfortable with as soon as possible and run with it. It doesn't have to be your legal name. If you have older publications under another name, you could have a short statement on your website on how to cite them now (often I see people say something like "New Name. (Year). "Publication title". Publication details. (Originally published under [original name])". That way you get to keep all your publications on your CV. I've also seen people just switch and keep the old publications under their old name and new publications under their new name. It's your choice, but the earlier you make it the easier it'll be.

Ask to speak with a current graduate student to get information about how they budget. That will also help you get some idea as to where students live and what kind of expenses they have.

I faced a version of this question. I had an offer from a school that was *significantly* higher than my other offers (they got me some special named fellowship of some kind and are in a fairly low COL area, probably a top 15ish school), and an offer from the top-ranked school in my field (you could quibble about whether it's #1 or #2-3, but that's the range, in one of the most expensive cities in the US). The top-ranked school happened to also be a much better fit, and has a much better placement record. I ended up going to that school, once I verified that the stipend they offered was enough to live on, although I wouldn't be nearly as comfortable than with the other offer. I don't regret that choice even for a minute. I thought of it as an investment in my future, and I think the higher-ranked school had a whole lot more to offer. That said, I think I would have made a different choice if the stipend wasn't sufficient or if I had a family to take care of, so I don't think there is just one correct answer here. There is a set of considerations that you need to weigh based on your preferences and life circumstances.