waddle

Relevant.

Eigen goes to ....
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You know, there's a reason I don't have that listed in my profile information. You really don't seem to get the idea that most of us like some degree of anonymity here.

There is no beer on the internet.

seems like every other textbook I come across is titled "Name of (Sub)Field: Principles and Applications" ... if I ever write a textbook I swear I will title it "FALCONPAWNCH: This Book is teh Awesome, andhasnothingtodowithvideogames"

/rant

seems like every other textbook I come across is titled "Name of (Sub)Field: Principles and Applications" ... if I ever write a textbook I swear I will title it "FALCONPAWNCH: This Book is teh Awesome, andhasnothingtodowithvideogames"

/rant

Get rid of the smartphone now and you could save yourself a load of stress and money once you start grad school. I dunno about you but I prefer not to be anxiously awaiting the next email from my advisor or some whiny undergrad.

Get rid of the smartphone now and you could save yourself a load of stress and money once you start grad school. I dunno about you but I prefer not to be anxiously awaiting the next email from my advisor or some whiny undergrad.

I'm reaching out to the socially savvy grad students among us for a little advice, and to the socially ridiculous among us for a little empathy.

I am cripplingly shy. Not "I'm a little quiet when you first meet me" shy, but "my brain malfunctions when I'm meeting new people and I probably come off looking like a serial killer" shy. I end up saying ridiculous things and responding strangely, then I spend the next 24 hours replaying the scenario over and over in my head and praying for death. This effect is magnified when I behave ridiculously in front of Very Important People, e.g. professors.

Where I'm going with this is that I will be visiting my future school and meeting/making my first impressions on my future adviser and professors in March, If I was going on the official Visitation Day, I could cope because there would be a group and a planned itinerary and blah blah blah. BUT! I'm unable to make it on the official day, so I've arranged to have an unofficial visitation day in which they've kindly offered to let me sit in on some graduate courses and so on.

I'm already hyperventilating over the fact that this is going to be all me, and there will not be any other future grads to share the pressure with. If I have one-on-one time with future professors, what do I do? How do I behave? WHAT DO WE TALK ABOUT? Can they rescind an offer of admission if they decide I'm too weird?

Sigh.

It's the alcohol.

You're asking a question that (1) deals with a topic that has no straight answer and any answer given would be highly dependent on the personal experiences of the answerer, (2) can only be addressed properly by someone with firsthand experience with Yale's department as well as a range of other geoscience departments to compare to, and thus (3) you are unlikely to find an answer to here on the forums.

I know you're just curious, and don't blame you for asking these questions (the happiness of grad students is an important factor in deciding on a school--or least it certainly was for me) but maybe this isn't the best place to ask this question. Word-of-mouth and personal experiences go a lot further in academia than reading a post hacked out on a specialized forum that is read by a tiny subset of grad students by some anonymous dude who may or may not have an axe to grind.

Also, open house tends to be a time of high spirits--even for current students in the program, since they're probably getting fed too--so it's important to stand back and put emotions aside and consider the school's pros/cons rationally. Open house is certainly not representative of daily life in the program, so don't let a great recruitment experience sway your decision. They'll wine and dine you now, but don't make a decision based on how good the food was.



This seems like an extraordinary funding situation. Are you sure you're not misunderstanding their funding arrangements? Many schools guarantee ~5 years of funding, but I imagine that dipping into department funds (of which a huge chunk comes from overhead charged on grants and contracts anyways) would only be a last resort if both the advisor was unable to get enough grant money to support an RA, and the student has exhausted all other possible sources (TA, external fellowship, ...).

You're asking a question that (1) deals with a topic that has no straight answer and any answer given would be highly dependent on the personal experiences of the answerer, (2) can only be addressed properly by someone with firsthand experience with Yale's department as well as a range of other geoscience departments to compare to, and thus (3) you are unlikely to find an answer to here on the forums.

I know you're just curious, and don't blame you for asking these questions (the happiness of grad students is an important factor in deciding on a school--or least it certainly was for me) but maybe this isn't the best place to ask this question. Word-of-mouth and personal experiences go a lot further in academia than reading a post hacked out on a specialized forum that is read by a tiny subset of grad students by some anonymous dude who may or may not have an axe to grind.

Also, open house tends to be a time of high spirits--even for current students in the program, since they're probably getting fed too--so it's important to stand back and put emotions aside and consider the school's pros/cons rationally. Open house is certainly not representative of daily life in the program, so don't let a great recruitment experience sway your decision. They'll wine and dine you now, but don't make a decision based on how good the food was.



This seems like an extraordinary funding situation. Are you sure you're not misunderstanding their funding arrangements? Many schools guarantee ~5 years of funding, but I imagine that dipping into department funds (of which a huge chunk comes from overhead charged on grants and contracts anyways) would only be a last resort if both the advisor was unable to get enough grant money to support an RA, and the student has exhausted all other possible sources (TA, external fellowship, ...).

http://i.imgur.com/LoHso.jpg this is what I thought of when you said Pantagonia

(I'm sorry. It was just too good to pass up.)

Things not to say/do:


Well, it's not like you had a shot anyways. Reality check, eh? How does that feel, mate? <point and laugh> Cool story, bro. So where else did you get rejected from? Even <insert names of other people they know> got into there! And I thought you were better than them!

Things not to say/do:


Well, it's not like you had a shot anyways. Reality check, eh? How does that feel, mate? <point and laugh> Cool story, bro. So where else did you get rejected from? Even <insert names of other people they know> got into there! And I thought you were better than them!

University of Big Shots: Prof. Applicants R. Hilarious squints at waddle's transcript. "Teh Suck ... State University at ... Nowhere? Pshaw! He thinks that's a real school? Hawhawhawhawhaw! Teeheeheehee! Oh man, that's the best laugh I've had in days."

Leading Science Institution: Placing katerific's oh-so-awesome application in the 'admit' pile, Prof. Y-Do I. Bother picks up waddle's, expecting something just as amazing. Flips quickly through it, and thinks, "SON. I AM DISAPPOINT." This one goes on the pile marked 'document disposal'.

Nobel Factory University: After reading through waddle's statement, Prof. I. M. Amazing gets up to grab a beer to wash out the bad aftertaste. She feels just a modicum of pity for the hapless chap who had the audacity to actually submit such a non-amazing application.

University of Badass Research: Before sitting down, Prof. Reject N. Repeat decides to automatically reject every third application that comes his way, and only review the rest. This will save him time, allowing for him to pack a few extra rounds of foosball into his busy schedule (his defense has gotten a bit rusty over the holiday break). After disposing of 1/3 of the applications on his desk, he picks up the first remaining application. It's waddle's. Midway through reading it, Prof. Repeat starts screams, "WHATISTHISIDON'TEVEN!", tears the application into shreds, and out of anger, shreds all the other applications, too. Thereafter, he calmly gets up and walk towards the break room, planning to pwn some n00bs (grad students).

Lotsa Money University: Prof. Should B. Retired sits down and starts working through his inbox. "Oh hey, an applicant. I guess we'll accept her." Then goes on to accept every other applicant, thinking it'd be fun to see how many clueless new grad students he could pack into an office before they figured out what had happened. Heck, maybe he could strike up a collaboration with the psychology faculty and get the experiment published too. And apply for a grant. Of course, the money would go toward getting a sedan chair. With all that extra grad student labor, he wouldn't even need a car! (Oooh, this is an interesting train of thought!) Heheheheh ... zzzzzz.

I would put down more scenarios, but alas, I ran out of applications.

P.S. To the other applicants at UBR: Oops, sorry, guys.

It's controversial because in order to give to the recipients of the free or subsidized health care you must take away from others. It can be especially offensive when the government compels citizens to fund other people's insurance (through higher taxes and higher premiums) as well as mandate people to buy insurance.



Excellent post.

There is no such thing as "free health care", "free food stamps", "free tuition", etc. Someone is paying for it, and this payment happens through the redistribution of wealth. If one wants to use the fruits of one's own labor to engage in philanthropy, that's great; however, the government shouldn't be taking from a person unwillingly what that person has rightfully earned to redistribute it others so that they can reap what they have not sowed.

When (if) I pass my qualifying exams next month, I'm going to buy myself a table saw. I've been wanting one for years and I can put it to good use.

Another "Straddler" here! I have never seen the term before but I relate to it wholeheartedly.

I grew up in a blue collar household where "getting an education" was viewed as a golden ticket for moving up to a better life. I had no idea what I was in for when I went to college. I had a hard time relating to my classmates but at least I was at a competitive Tech school so the challenges were more academic than social.

That was not the case during my first attempt at a PhD, though. I ended up leaving my Ivy League program with a Masters degree because I just could not assimilate. I knew nothing about networking, soft skills were an unknown concept, and I couldn't relate to the other students at all. It's not easy to have a conversation about your office mate's birthday safari in Africa when your family celebrates special occasions with a Carvel cake and dinner at the Outback. (Mind you, I quite like Carvel cakes and Outback dinners - I just had no that idea the cultural differences would be so pronounced! Grad school turned out to be like moving to a foreign country.) And I am still bothered that who you know matters so much more than what you know for advancement in white collar / academic circles.

I'm going through the application process now with a much clearer view of what to expect but I'm still a tad worried about finding a program that I will be comfortable in. It's gratifying to see that so many other Straddlers a ) do exist, and b ) are facing the same challenges that I'm facing. Many, many thanks for starting this thread!

(Edited to remove unintentional emoticon )

Thanks to everyone for posting and I am glad the reception of this thread is so positive. There were a few specific things I wanted to say:



I have an issue with networking and I think it is one of the more foreign things that I've encountered. Growing up, everything was sort of 'in your face'; people said what they meant and meant what they said and the idea of charming someone for individual advancement isn't just foreign, it is somewhat repulsive. I learned quickly as an undergraduate to keep my opinions to myself and not to stir the pot, so to speak. I would speak very passionately and loudly about issues and was somewhat confrontational, calling most everyone on their bullshit (or what I took to be bullshit; it was mostly diplomatic talk I was not used to). This all changed in my Masters studies and I am now much more quiet and my world has become mostly about what I don't say rather than what I do say.



That's fantastic and all the better if your fiancee is completely supportive of your career. I also constantly feel like an impostor and that I'm close to being 'found out' or something; it is quite weird and I did not handle this experience really well until I read about the experiences of other people.

Class seems to be a hushed subject. Just recently my philosophy department began a "task force" for the study of "minorities" in philosophy. Of course all they talk about is gender; the professor running the group is a woman (whose father was a surgeon and mother a lawyer). I do think that departments should encourage women to study philosophy; however the only reason that the issue of class is not brought up in this "task force" is because, to my knowledge, I am the only graduate student from a working class background and I never participated in these type of things; there just isn't that many people who can relate to my situation, I guess. I am not belittling the plight of women in graduate school (especially fields like philosophy, mathematics and physics where there are very few women); it is just that there are enough women in philosophy to care about issues concerning gender but there are virtually no straddlers in the field to raise the issues of class.

I can relate to everything else others have mentioned. If anyone is interested I read a book recently on the subject:

Alfred Lubrano, "Limbo: Blue Collar Roots, While Collar Dreams"

Given Lubrano's Italian-American background it was easy to relate to many of the issues he brought up from his own experiences (both my parents are from Italy), but he also recounts many other stories from other straddlers he has interviewed.

Another book I have picked up, but I have yet to read, is:

C.L. Dews, "This Fine Place so Far from Home: Voices from the Academic Working Class"

They're uncommon. This is an unsubstantiated, and probably distorted/untrue, rumor, but I hear (or vaguely recollect hearing) that Yale geoscience interviews are actually competitive, whereas most other schools--if they even have interviews--use visits to confirm fit (instead of with the primary purpose of culling candidates). (Take this with a gigaton of salt.)

That said, you'll probably be just fine. Get a good night's sleep (perhaps try to get yourself used to waking up on Eastern time a day or two before you fly out; that is, if you actually have a sleeping "schedule" ). This will help ensure that you don't babble incoherently or accidentally offend someone without meaning to (and not realizing it until way afterwards! ).

I suggest a longer T-shirt:

Friends Don't Let Friends Develop Unreasonable Expectations About the Job Market, No Matter How Much Easier It Is to Pretend That You and Your Friend Are the Exceptions to the Rule and You'll Both Get Jobs Because You're Both Brilliant and The Unemployed People are Just People Who Aren't as Academically-Gifted As You Are. Instead Friends Acknowledge to Each Other the Exceptional Difficulty of Getting an Academic Job, Call Bullshit on Each Other When Appropriate, and Help Each Other to Professionalize Early and Often. Further, Friends Will Also Remind Each Other that While Getting a Funded PhD, You are Actually Getting Paid to Live Your Dream, If Only for a Short While, So While Academic Jobs May Be Few, It Was Still Worth It For the Opportunity You Did Get to Engage With Academic Discourse on a Daily Basis.That Said, Friends Certainly Don't Let Friends Get Unfunded PhD's. Nor Should Enemies For That Matter.

Definitely not.

Heck! I got an email from Santa Cruz Biotechnology, Inc about some antibody nonsense. But all I saw was 'Santa Cruz' and the adrenaline kicked in with the 'OMG, accepted or denied' panic response. The funniest part was that I didn't even apply to a school in Santa Cruz. wtf.

So ridiculous. This process has made me insane. *grin*

I forgot how much my liver hates AGU.

With a caveat: beware of conflicts (personality- and research interest-wise) associated with co-advising. You don't want to be the rope in a tug-of-war between two faculty members trying to take the project in different directions.