morningdew

@Warelin Yea, that is also true... Trying to turn my CV into a resume will be fun. Also, when you are applying for a job at Google, you are competing with a lot more people all over the world than ABDs and/or professors. Hence, Google has this referral system, but I don't have that kind of connection either. I also feel like I will regret it if I don't have at least one year of experience as a professor. I mean that's why I'm getting my PhD. When I'm an actual professor, that's when I will definitely know if this job is for me or not. I'm also in a job market right now, and if I don't get a job this year, I guess that will be another sign. Teaching is tough. It takes a lot of time to prep, grade, and guide students. It certainly has good moments when I see sparkles in my students' eyes, but sometimes, I'm losing that sparkles in my eyes. Maybe I'm just having a tough teaching day this week. Thanks for reading!

@fuzzylogician Sorry for a late response and thank you for responding. Update: this person is presenting this work at a large conference that I'm also going to. Too bad I have to come back home at the time when they are presenting... I was planning to go to their presentation and stare at them. At least I don't have to deal with this person again - they got a job as a assistant professor. My advisor is not going to help. Although I'm in good terms, my advisor loves this person more (considers this person as their friend). I think I just have to be a bigger person and let it go. Major sigh. All my other colleagues know that this person copied my work so at least I have some support. From this experience, I feel uncomfortable sharing anything with anyone else.

Yea, just stick with PowerPoint. I love Google Slides too. As a person who loves creative presentation, I find that most people don't care about whether your presentation is digitally creative or not. Just make it clean and readable.

I'm glad I found this thread... I'm in my last year of my PhD program, and this is exactly how I feel. Maybe it's because of the class I'm teaching now (more advanced course geared toward juniors/seniors), but I just feel like I'm wasting my time teaching students when all they want is an A from me. There was a point where I really loved teaching though. I do have a lot of things to offer to my students. As a first in my family to attend college, I'm passionate about mentoring my students. However, I think I lost my passion for teaching. Also as a female who's in late 20s, I find that I have to work harder to establish my credibility and authority than my male peers. And dealing with parents... Ugh. It does feel like my students are my customers who I need to please. Do you think it's because I'm not in a right university? It's a good school, but it's in a rural area and lacks diversity. Perhaps, things might be different if I'm actually a professor rather than an instructor? I feel like I owe my advisor to become a professor (they trained us to be one), but I'm not sure... I would love to work at places like Google, but I know getting a job there would be harder.

Hi everyone, I will just make this short since I don't want to reveal anyone's information. I have a colleague who's writing a paper that's very similar to my work. This person saw my research so they are familiar with what I have done. They even told me that they were "inspired" by my research. I have talked to other colleagues about this, but there seems to be no definitive solution to my frustration. I'm just hoping that my paper will publish first and karma to play out for them. Any thoughts?

I use Piktochart for mostly making infographics. Just curious, is this your first conference? I would just say stick with PowerPoint. I also love using Google slides. Instead of focusing on software, I would say really concentrate on your content since you haven't written your paper yet. Make you you have the necessary structures and information. Go simpler, I have seen too many presentations where people try to pack in too many words on a slide.

Congratulations on everyone for their acceptances! @chrissyj007 I think you have subconsciously chose UWM already. It seems like a great fit for you. I think you should try to visualize how you want to spend 3-4 years of your life in that institution. I think it is not good enough reason to attend an institution just because it has a good reputation, unless it's an ivy league school. You might get more close support and opportunities in a lesser known institution, which can craft you into a standout scholar. Is your goal to become a professor? I also suggest you to e-mall professors you like or students who are already attending that institution. I have been doing that for one school, and it really gave me new insights to that school that I like! In the end, don't we all have that "gut" feeling on where we are likely to go? Good luck!

Hey Sconnie! At least you got accepted to two great schools with funding! That is so awesome! Which program are you leaning more toward? Did you applied to Ohio State as well? Good luck!

Congratulations on many of you! I'm so happy for you guys! For those who are still waiting (me included), let's keep on crossing our fingers! Anyone applied to Ohio State University and received their results yet?

Congratulations Sconnie! I'm so happy for you! Getting a call is definitely more personal than an e-amil. What kind of program is it? I haven't heard of Okalahoma Communication program.

Wow congratulations Tazo11! Your stats look really good, especially University of Washington. I'm sure if you get accepted to Northwestern, they will give you better funding. Do you have an idea on which university are you thinking of accepting? NC State sent their letters this weekend, rejected... For those who got the rejection letter this weekend/week, let's have some ice cream pity party!

Oh boy... I applied to Communication Sceience as well. Since I haven't heard anything from them and you had your interview, I feel like the rejection letter is coming up for me... Oyyy! Congratulations on getting interviewed though, seems like you will get that one spot out of 5!

Yea! It seems like it. A friendly competition huh? I applied to Ohio State Univeresity as well. What is your study focus? I hope you will get your happy news soon as well!

Just letting you guys know that I heard from University of Missouri and I am in! Yay! I really wish University of Wisconsin make their announcements soon. Good luck everyone!

Hi fellow Communcation scholars~ I have a question. I gotten an interview from one of my safety school and I was hoping if current PhD students can provide me some list of possible questions they will ask. Just a few questions so I can practice beforehand. Any surprising questions that you encountered? Also, they also gave me options to do a Skype or face to face interview. I'm financially not that stable so right now and it's a safety school so I'm leaning more toward Skype interview. Anyone have done Skype interview for PhD program? I know that face to face interview is so much better, but I still have 8 more schools to go and I want to save my money for other schools. Any advice? Thank you everyone in advance and good luck! Waiting period is always so harsh!

Just curious, his qualifications except GRE seems great, does GRE really matter if you are applying to average universities and not like NYU or Harvard? I'm sure GPA outweighs GRE because for GPA, you have spent 2-4 years bulding those numbers/letters. At least he is over 300 combined, which is like the minimum score for GRE for many programs. Good luck Cody!

Your SOP set up looks good. Is the SOP requirement 2 pages single spaced or double spaced? I am little worried about your SOP length though. For paragraph 6, I think you should just mention 1-2 MOST and GREATEST accomplishments that make you stand out and that show how you will contribute to the program. You are going to turn in CV anyways for your qualifications, awards, and such so I wouldn't bother listing out those things. I always felt like SOP is about showing you as a person beyond those numbers. Good luck!

I'm working on my PhD SOP right now, and I think the comments I have been getting from professors and tutors apply to yours as well. Be clear, less narrative, more future, demosntrate fit, and cut cut cut. The writing is sophisticated, but I felt like some parts were little complainy about your previous background and educational setting. I'm surprised that the department that you are applying lets you write SOP that is 2-3 pages single spaced. Mine is like only 600-800 words. Lucky you! Good luck!

I think you should apply but you should also apply to "safe" schools as well just in case. At least it seems like except your GPA, your other qualifications are decent. The admission comittee will look at overall qualifications. This is also a great opportunity to BRIEFLY mention in your statement about your low GPA and talk about other great qualities you have. Don't give up! I got into a fair/good Master's program with GPA 2.8.

I think it can differ depending on your field? I actually got an advice from my professor that it could be a good idea to mention few classes that you would like to take. This is what he said: "I’d suggest listing a few courses/subject areas of theirs that you’re interested in studying. That’ll show that you understand their program, and it’ll keep your interests from seeming too scattered" My field is Communications, and I'm applying for PhD programs.

@pourtant, how do you like Georgia Tech's digital media program? I actually looked into it before and it seemed like all production based program? I love engaging in a digital production, but I come from more qualitative media research background. The program sounded like also super competitive to get in as well.

Hey, you got into PhD program! So you definitely know more than me! I think I might follow your advice and do two SOP (one writing, one creative) for one of my top choice schools. *Sigh* this application process is always exhausting for sure. Thanks again!

I thought your advice was really helpful and I really liked the first few sentences that you wrote. It's lightly humored and cute at the same time. I can really picture the image. I wish you your professors have told you about what they thought of your sop because even though I think it's good, who knows, I'm just a student and they are the admission committee... Also, have you guys ever heard of people pulling a big risky move by not writing sop but doing a super creative sop, such as creating comics or a poster? I recently got a collection of good sop examples book from library (don't remember the name) and this person who applied to Harvard drew a cartoon (partly serious and partly humored) for his sop. So daring!

I really like Magoosh. I really liked that each problem comes with explanation video that gives you step by step guidance to the answer. I kind of didn't liked the math video person though, he sounded very robotic. However, the verbal explanation person (I think his name is Chris) is so awesome. He is funny and friendly when he explained the answer. Another thing I liked about Magoosh is the lessons. There are math and verbal lessons where they teach you fundamentals. Hm... What else did I liked... Oh yea! In your "Dashboard", it gives you approximate GRE score and pie chart on how many you got wrong/right depending on practice problems that you did. Magoosh is not expensive compare to other GRE prep, so I think you should try it. I have to warn you though that my GRE score didn't increase after a month of doing Magoosh, but I still learned a lot. Hope this helps!

This thread is very helpful as I'm in the beginning stage to write my SOP. If humor is not recommended, what other ways can you distinguish yourself from other canididate in writing? My area is new media/digial media and I highly value creativity so I want my SOP to be creative in format or style. However, after reading this thread, I think I should just follow the format and focus on being clear.