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cogscipixie

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  1. Upvote
    cogscipixie got a reaction from abeilles in Non-academic jobs for a PhD in Cognitive Psychology?   
    As far as I know in cognitive science/ cognitive psychology, there are a lot of research positions in industry (visualization, education-oriented research). For example, you have cognitive scientists being hired right out of graduate school by medium and large educational technology companies (Pearson, ETS, etc). I also know that there are a good amount of cognitive psychologists employed by Sandia Labs, government labs, private companies that are contracted by the government to do defense -related projects, and the list goes on and on. I think if more academics were open to encouraging students going in different career paths, there would be more people going non-academic. My advisors are pretty gung-ho about me going in an academic path that suits me, but not them. Not everyone is that lucky though. I think it also depends if you want to be a full-time research scientist or something more...corporate/cubicle-oriented. I want to be a research scientist wherever I go afterwards, but maybe not at an R1 institution.
  2. Upvote
    cogscipixie reacted to juilletmercredi in Things You Wish You Knew...   
    A lot of the things I would say have been said already.  So in an effort to say new things:
     
    1. Decide as early as possible what you are and are NOT willing to sacrifice for grad school and academia.  Anything worth doing is worth sacrificing a little bit for, but you have to make that decision up front here.  Your relationship?  Your ability to control where you live?  Your free time?  Your fertility?  A stable job market?  Your sleep?  Make decisions and then stick to them.  You will adjust as you become more advanced - for example, I am much less willing to sacrifice sleep now than I was when I first entered, but then again, I don't have to as much since I have no coursework.  I get a good 8 hours almost every night now.
     
    2. Even if you don't currently exercise, consider starting a program.  Exercise made me such a healthier person; I felt tired at appropriate times (by that I mean between 11 and 12 at night instead of between 2 and 6 in the morning), I was motivated to eat more healthily, and my mood and energy improved overall.
     
    3. Self-deprecating language aside, remember that you are a "real person" and have a "real life" in grad school.  You are not waiting for your "real life" to begin; you are living it.  If you remind yourself of that often - even tack it on the wall - remembering to indulge yourself in hobbies, friends, and relaxation time will be easier.
     
    4. Don't expect your cohortmates to become your best buddies.  One or two of them may become close friends; you may even date or marry one.  But I'd say far more often they become acquaintances or happy hour buddies.  My closest friends in grad school are grad students in other departments I met through various means.
     
    5. Go to some of the shit in your department.  I know, you're going to get about three zillion emails and you can't do it all, and especially introverted people will feel the temptation to just hit delete and go to *nothing*.  But at the very least, when you see professors and they see you, they remember you and think about you when opportunities come up.  They see you as a team player and someone who wants to participate in the department when it's time for them to write you recommendations.  And sometimes that brown bag or colloquium is really interesting and may get you thinking about your research in new ways.  I never thought I'd be interested in social neuroscience, but I love going to the SNS colloquia and it's definitely a consideration for future research.  And research excitement is infectious.  Even if the topic is the most boring thing you've ever heard, seeing someone else all fired up about their own research sometimes has the effect of making YOU feel more excited about your own, and more motivated to do some work.  So don't go to everything, but go to some things, and be thoughtful and ask questions and make comments.
     
    6. Write EVERY DAY.  Even if it is just a paragraph, even if it is not academic, set aside some time to write something every day.  Getting in the habit of writing every day makes it easier for the words to flow when you sit down to do academic writing.  If you have the most ridiculous writer's block, then just start babbling about your day on paper, or even just writing about how frustrating it is being blocked.  The only way to bust writer's block is to get in there.  I used to be one of those students who would wait for flashes of inspiration to come along before I sat down and wrote.  Not only is that untenable given the amount of writing you will have to do, it also encourages marathon writing sessions, which in turn encourages being up until the wee hours of the morning and getting no sleep.  So do yourself a favor and write often.
     
    6b. And just write.  Your first draft will be crap; that's what editing is for.  Don't worry about that perfect citation or trying to remember the quote exactly right or the exact percentage.  That's what editing is for..  Just make a note of it and move on.  You can fix it later, but if you break your stride, it's more difficult to get started again.
     
    7. I think what helps in learning to say "no" is developing a thicker skin.  Sometimes we say "yes" because we are worried about what others thing about us.  And while yes, I do think we need to worry what SOME others think about us, some of the time, don't spend too much too worrying about it.  The less of a damn I gave the easier it became for me to say "No, I'm sorry, but I don't think I can do that."  And you don't always have to give an explanation if you don't want or have one.  It depends on who you are telling no.  I think this can be especially hard for women because we are used to being expected to (or wanting to) take care of everyone and want people to like us personally.  I've given up on trying to make everyone like me personally.  I have friends for that.  Now I just want people to respect me as a scholar and a professional.  And sometimes, that involves saying "no."  Because people will perceive you a lot better if you do a few things very well than if you do a lot of things poorly because you don't have enough time.
     
    8. MOST importantly, remember that a PhD is a means to an end.  Enjoy it.  But everything you do in the program should have an end goal of getting you a job.  Do the things that will help you get there and eschew the things that won't.  And your goal from Day One is to get that job, so start putting the things on your CV that will help you achieve that goal.  If you need teaching experience in your field because 95% of the jobs are at teaching institutions, then TA or adjunct regardless of whether your professor (who is probably at an R1 and likely got his job in the 1980s or 1990s when things were marginally better) tells you you don't "need" to.  If you want to go into industry, find a way to quietly do an industry internship or two during grad school (and yes, a lot of them will take PhD students.  I did one).
  3. Upvote
    cogscipixie reacted to lewin in Reality on job situation for social science PhD's   
    It's great to be passionate about one's career, I'm driven by intrinsic interest too. Same boat as you!

    But passion doesn't put food on one's plate. "Bad job prospects" is something people should be worried about and I think sometimes academics don't think about this enough. For example, a professor I know advised students that their priority should be to get the best grad training and post doc position possible, even if it means significant debt. When tenure-track jobs were relatively guaranteed (20-30 years ago) that strategy made sense. But now, who would take on $20 or $50 thousand in loans when they might not get a job afterwards? Much too risky.

    If more people realistically considered their job prospects and decided not to attend graduate school it would be better for everybody. In the end, it's a hard truth that if you can't get paid for your work then you need to find something else to do. Otherwise that's a hobby, not a job.

    I'm giving myself two years applying for academic jobs. If it doesn't happen in that time I'm going elsewhere. And I'd rather stab myself than be an adjunct instructor with a 3-2 teaching load and no job security making $25,000 a year.

    (BTW it's good your flexible on location, that's almost mandatory nowadays.)
  4. Upvote
    cogscipixie reacted to Eigen in Summer Slump   
    Pretty much how my summers seem to go. I wait all year for when things will slow down so I can get lots of work done, but then it seems like summer is when we have to do all of our maintenance work!
  5. Upvote
    cogscipixie reacted to xxcheshirecatox in Advice for a first year PhD student   
    1. There's just no pleasing some people. This includes fellow students as well as faculty. Recognize these people and adjust your expectations accordingly, lest you succumb to the trap of killing yourself while trying to please the unpleasable. Instead, try to surround yourself with people that will cheer you on rather than tear you down, even if it's just your peer group, as realistically, you might not have much say with your assignment for your supervisor.
    2. Don't sweat the small stuff and know when to say no. It's hard not to in an environment that is so stressful and will take over your entire existence if you let it. Just remember that it's a marathon, not a sprint, and that you need to pace yourself accordingly.
    3. As hard as it is, set boundaries. Before you start graduate school, you need to outline what is truly important to you and what graduate school can't have. This could be your significant other, time for hobbies, money to splurge on something that will keep you sane, etc. Either way, be mindful of what you are willing to give up and what you are not willing to give up, as graduate school will take as much as you give it (which is everything, if you let it).
    4. A good advisor is one of the best tools you can have when navigating a PhD program. Make sure that you match well with your advisor in terms of working style (i.e., are they a micromanager, are they more hands-off) and personality over research fit, as even the best research fit with a bad personality will make your life a living hell. It's hard enough; don't make it harder by not having some support from faculty Additionally, sometimes you will find that your advisor just serves as a figurehead and that your true mentor isn't your formal "advisor". However you do it, just make sure you become close and have a good relationship with at least one faculty member. It will make your time in the program much easier.
    5. Branch out in your research. I know the cookie cutter advice is to write every single class paper on what will be your thesis or dissertation, but I disagree with this advice. While I think most work should be oriented towards a dissertation, about once a year, I pick a different topic that departs from what I usually research. Not only has this been a welcome break from the monotony of doing the same topic, but it can open up the door for new research interests (or hell, even a new course you'd like to teach), and I find that doing something outside of my comfort zone has really pushed me as a researcher.
    6. Try to have a few friends outside of your program. I find that it's helpful to socialize with people who aren't academics.
    7. Don't focus on grades. Focus on learning new skills.
    8. Be realistic; accept the possibility that if you are trying to land an academic position, it might not happen. If you are aiming for the ivory tower, be cautiously optimistic, but anticipate other career possibilities. To this end, if you have the free time, I would recommend learning skills that can be taken to non-academic jobs. This might mean doing an internship over the summer. This may be field-specific, but in my field, I've found that the networking associated with doing internships for non-academic companies/agencies has come in handy (if you can land a paid internship, bonus!).
    9. Always, always, ALWAYS be nice to the administrative staff/secretaries. They are the gateway to many things, such as submitting important paperwork and free food.
  6. Upvote
    cogscipixie reacted to mandarin.orange in Advice for a first year PhD student   
    Is there a way posts like jullietmercredi's can be featured as an article, or indexed prominently for later reference, in these fora? I agree, that was one of the most useful posts I've read in my 1+ year on Grad Cafe! Kudos for taking the time to write it!
  7. Upvote
    cogscipixie reacted to juilletmercredi in Advice for a first year PhD student   
    About your dog: I think that depends entirely on you and your program. I am in a social science program where the majority of my analysis and writing can be done from home, and I prefer to work from home or from a library (as opposed to my cube in the windowless cube farm). When I was taking classes I was generally there from 9-6 or so, but now that my coursework is finished I am rarely at the school itself. I go for meetings, seminars, interesting kinds of things and I do most of my work remotely. My time is verrry flexible, and if my building didn't prohibit it I would get a dog in a heartbeat. Another thing to keep in mind: a dog can be a great comfort when you're all stressed out over graduate school.

    Advice?

    Age:
    -Don't feel like you have nothing to offer just because you are younger. I was 22 when I started graduate school. You got accepted to the program for a reason, and chances are you are just as equipped as any older students are to successfully complete the program, just in a different way.

    -Your older classmates may be just as terrified as you. Talk to them. You have a lot in common. You are, after all, in the same place.

    -You will feel like an imposter, like you don't belong, or like you are constantly behind. Or all three. It's normal. It will pass. (Well, sort of.) People of all ages go through this.

    Adviser related:
    -If you are lucky enough to get both research interest fit and personality fit perfect, congratulations! But sometimes, personality fit is more important than research interest fit as long as the research isn't too different. A great adviser is interested in your career development, likes you as a person, advocates for you, and wants to hear your ideas. Even if his or her research is quite different from yours, they may give you the autonomy to work on your own projects and just supervise you. A bad personality fit will drive you nuts, even if you love his or her research. Consider that when evaluating your adviser fit. (This will vary by field: research fit may be less important in the humanities, more important in the natural and physical sciences. Social sciences are somewhere in-between.)

    -Don't be afraid to be straight up blunt with your adviser when it comes to asking about your progress. Ask if you are where you should be both academic program wise and getting-a-job-after-this-mess-wise.

    -Be proactive. Advisers love when you draw up an agenda for your one-on-one meetings, come with talking points and progress to share, have concrete questions to ask, and have overall shown that you have been thoughtful and taken control of your own program. Of course, this won't immediately come easily to you, but in time you will work up to it. Every semester I type up my semester goals, and at the beginning of the year I type up annual goals. I show them to my adviser and we talk about whether they are too ambitious, or whether I need to revise them, and how I can meet them.

    -Don't expect your adviser to actually know what courses you have to take to graduate. They will know about comprehensive exams and the dissertation, but a lot of professors don't really keep up with the course requirements, especially if their program is in flux. Get you a student handbook, and find out what you need to take. Map it out in a grid, and check off things when you finish them. Show this to your adviser every semester. You may have to explain how such and such class fills a requirement.

    -Nobody loves you as much as you, except your mother. Keep this in mind as you take in advice from all sources, including your adviser. Your adviser is there to guide you, but that doesn't mean you have to do everything he says.

    Studying:
    -You will have to read more than you ever did before, in less time than you ever have before, and you will be expected to retain more than you ever have before. The way that you studied in undergrad may need some tweaking. Be prepared for this.

    -Corollary: you may find that your methods change with age or interests or time. I preferred to study alone in college, but in grad school, I prefer to study in groups. It keeps me on task and the socialization keeps me motivated. You may find that you shift from being a more auditory learner to a visual learner or whatever.

    -You will feel behind at first. This is normal.

    -At some point you will realize that your professors don't actually expect you to read everything they assign you. This, of course, will vary by program, but there will be at least one class where the reading is actually impossible to do in one week. The point is to read enough that you know the major themes and can talk intelligently about them, and then pick some of the readings to really dig into and think more deeply about.

    -For most programs, don't worry so much about grades. If you stay on top of your work and do what you're supposed to, you will probably get an A. How much grades matter varies from program to program. In some programs, a B is a signal that you are not up to par, and more than a few Bs will warrant a discussion with your adviser or the DGS. My program isn't like that - A, B, it's all meaningless. My adviser doesn't even know what my grades are. But at almost all programs, a C means you need to retake the course, and two Cs means you have to convince the DGS not to kick you out.

    Extracurricular activity: What's that? No, seriously:
    -A lot of your time will be unstructured. You will have coursework, but most grad classes meet once a week for two hours and you may have three classes. You may have meetings with your adviser every so often and some seminars or things to catch (like we have grand rounds and colloquia that are required), but a lot of time will be unstructured. However, since you have so much more work than you had in undergrad, you actually will have less free time than you had in undergrad. This may initially cause you great anxiety. It did for me. Some people love unstructured time, though. (I don't.)

    -Because of this, you'll have to be planful about your non-grad school related stuff.

    -TAKE TIME OFF. DO it. It's important for your mental health. However you do it doesn't matter. Some people work it like a 9-5 job. Some people take a day off per week (me) and maybe a few hours spread across the week. Some people work half days 7 days a week. However you do it, there needs to be a time when you say "f this, I'm going to the movies."

    -Find your happy place, something that keeps you the you you were when you came in. I love working out. It gives me energy and I feel good. I stay healthy. I also love reading fiction, so sometimes I just curl up with a good book, work be damned. You have to give yourself permission to not think about work, at least for a couple of hours a week. You may also discover new hobbies! (I never worked out before I came to graduate school.)

    -Your work will creep into all aspects of your life, if you let it. This is why I hate unstructured time. You will feel guilty for not doing something, because in graduate school, there is ALWAYS something you can do. ALWAYS. But since there will always be more work, there's no harm in putting it aside for tomorrow, as long as you don't have a deadline.

    -You may need to reach outside of your cohort for a social life. None of my close friends are in my doctoral cohort. I've met master's students in my program, master's students in other programs, and I know a few non-graduate students I hang out with, too. Go to graduate student mixers. (If your university doesn't have any, organize some, if you like planning parties.) Join a student group that doesn't take up too much time. I had a doctoral acquaintance who kinda laughed at me because I joined some student groups other than the doctoral student one, and I was usually the only doctoral student in those groups, but I met some close friends (and future job contacts) and had a good time.

    -DO NOT FEEL GUILTY FOR WANTING A LIFE OUTSIDE OF GRADUATE SCHOOL. This is paramount. This is important. You are a well-rounded, complex, multifaceted human being. NEVER feel bad for this. Everybody wants some kind of life outside of work. Yes, you may loooove your field, but that doesn't mean you want to do it all day long. Some other doctoral students, and perhaps professors, may make you feel bad about this. Don't let them. Just smile and nod. Then disappear when you need to.

    Career:
    -This is job preparation. Remember that from Day One. Always be looking for ways to enhance your skills. Read job ads and find out what's hot in your field, what's necessary, what's in demand. For example, in my field statistics and methods are a hot commodity, and they're not a passing fad. I happen to really like statistics and methods, so I have pursued that as a concentration of mine.

    -Don't be afraid to take on volunteer work and part-time gigs that will give you skills that will be useful both inside academia and out, as long as it's not against your contract. Your adviser may be against it, but he doesn't have to know as long as it doesn't interfere with your work.

    -If you want to work outside of academia - if you are even *considering* the possibility - please please definitely do the above. Even if you aren't considering it, consider the possibility that you won't get a tenure-track job out the box and that you may need to support yourself doing something else for a while. You will have to prove to employers that you have developed usable, useful skills and this is one of the easiest ways to do it. But don't overdo it - get the degree done.

    -For more academic related ones - always look for opportunities to present and publish. Presentations look good on your CV. Publications look better. When you write seminar papers, wonder if you can publish them with some revision. Write your seminar papers on what you maybe think you may want to do your dissertation on. Even if you look at them three years later and think "these suck," you can at least glean some useful references and pieces from them. Discuss publication with your adviser early and often, and if you have the time and desire, seek out publication options with other professors and researchers. But if you commit to a project, COMMIT. You don't want to leave a bad impression.

    -If you can afford it, occasionally go to conferences even if you aren't presenting. You can network, and you can hear some interesting talks, and you may think about new directions for your own research. You can also meet people who may tell you about jobs, money, opportunities, etc.

    -Always try to get someone else to pay for conference travel before you come out of pocket. Including your adviser. Do not be shy about asking if he or she can pay. If he can't, he'll just say no. Usually the department has a travel fund for students, but often it's only if you are presenting.

    -If you are interested in academia, you should get some teaching experience. There are two traditional ways to do this: TAing a course, and teaching as a sole instructor. If you can help it, I wouldn't recommend doing a sole instructor position until you are finished with coursework. Teaching takes a LOT of time to do right. You should definitely TA at least one course, and probably a few different ones. But don't overdo it, if you can help it, because again, it takes a LOT of time. More than you expect at the outset. If you are in the humanities, I think sole instructor positions are very important for nabbing jobs so when you are in the exam/ABD phase, you may want to try at least one. If your own university has none, look at adjuncting for nearby colleges, including community colleges. (I would wager that the majority of natural science/physical science students, and most social science students, have never sole taught a class before they get an assistant professor job. At least, it's not that common n my field, which straddles the social and natural sciences.)

    -Always look for money. Money is awesome. If you can fund yourself you can do what you want, within reason. Your university will be thrilled, your adviser will be happy, and you can put it on your CV. It's win-win-win! Don't put yourself out of the running before anyone else has a chance to. Apply even if you think you won't get it or the odds are against you (they always are), as long as you are eligible. Apply often. Apply even if it's only $500. (That's conference travel!) Money begets money. The more awards you get, the more awards you will get. They will get bigger over time. If you are in the sciences and social sciences, you should get practice writing at least one grant. You don't have to write the whole thing, but at least get in on the process so that you can see how it's done. Grant-writing is very valuable both in and outside of graduate school.

    -Revise your CV every so often. Then look and decide what you want to add to it. Then go get that thing, so you can add it.

    -The career office at big universities is often not just for undergrads. I was surprised to learn that my career center offers help on CV organization and the academic job search, as well as alternative/non-academic career searches for doctoral students. In fact, there are two people whose sole purpose it is to help PhD students find nonacademic careers, and they both have PhDs. This will vary by university - some universities will have very little for grad students. Find out before you write the office off.

    -It's never too early to go to seminars/workshops like "the academic job search inside and out", "creating the perfect CV," "getting the job," etc. NEVER. Often the leader will share tips that are more aimed towards early graduate students, or tidbits that are kind of too late for more advanced students to take care of. This will also help you keep a pulse on what's hot in your field. It'll help you know what lines you need to add to your CV. And they're interesting.

    Other:

    -Decide ahead of time what you are NOT willing to sacrifice on the altar of academia. Then stick to it.
    I'm serious. If you decide that you do NOT want to sacrifice your relationship, don't. If it's your geographical mobility, don't. I mean, be realistic, and realize that there will always be trade-offs. But you have to think about what's important to you for your quality of life, and realize that there is always more to you than graduate school.

    -If you don't want to be a professor, do not feel guilty about this. At all. Zero. However, you will have to do things differently than most doctoral students. Your adviser will probably never have worked outside of the academy (although this may vary depending on the field) so he may or may not be able to help you. But you have a special mission to seek out the kinds of experiences that will help you find a non-academic job. Test the waters with your adviser before you tell him this. My adviser was quite amenable to it, but that's because I told him that my goal was to still do research and policy work in my field just not at a university, AND because it's quite common in my field for doctoral students to do non-academic work. If you're in a field where it's not common (or where your professors refuse to believe it's common, or it's not supposed to be common)…well, you may be a little more on your own.

    -Every so often, you will need to reflect on the reasons you came to graduate school. Sometimes, just sit and think quietly. Why are you doing this to yourself? Do you love your field? Do you need this degree to do what you want to do? Usually the answer is yes and yes, and usually you'll keep on trucking. But sometimes when the chips are down you will need to reevaluate why you put yourself through this in the first place.

    -To my great dismay, depression is quite common in doctoral students. Graduate work can be isolating and stressful. Luckily your health insurance usually includes counseling sessions. TAKE THEM if you need them. Do not be ashamed. You may be surprised with who else is getting them. (I found out that everyone in my cohort, including me, was getting mental health counseling at a certain point.) Exercise can help, as can taking that mental health day once a week and just chilling. Don't be surprised if you get the blues…

    -…but be self-aware and able to recognize when the depression is clouding your ability to function. Doctoral programs have a 50% attrition rate, and this is rarely because that 50% is less intelligent than, less motivated than, less driven than, or less ambitious than the other 50% that stays. Often they realize that they are ridiculously unhappy in the field, or that they don't need the degree anymore, or that they'd rather focus on other things in life, or their interests have changed. All of this is okay!

    -You will, at some point, be like "eff this, I'm leaving." I think almost every doctoral student has thought about dropping out and just kicking this all to the curb. You need to listen to yourself, and find out whether it is idle thought (nothing to worry about, very normal) or whether you are truly unhappy to the point that you need to leave. Counseling can help you figure this out.

    -Don't be afraid to take a semester or a year off if you need to. That's what leaves of absence are for.

    Lastly, and positively…

    …graduate school is great! Seriously, when else will you ever have the time to study what you want for hours on end, talk to just as interested others about it, and live in an intellectual community of scholars and intellectuals? And occasionally wake up at 11 am and go to the bank at 2 pm? Sometimes you will want to pull out all of your hair but most of the time, you will feel fulfilled and wonderfully encouraged and edified. So enjoy this time!
  8. Upvote
    cogscipixie reacted to mandarin.orange in Anyone else feeling like this?   
    EPIC. I have not laughed like that about something online for awhile. Well, at least not since I read the reviews for this product. I am sending this to everyone in my lab group life.



    For my part, I usually anticipate weekends...but then have a moment like this:


  9. Upvote
    cogscipixie reacted to Kathiza in Do professors care if you wear sweatpants all the time?   
    To each their own, as jordanami said.
    Some people just feel better when they wear makeup. For example, I have had skin issues for 10-15 years now (and I'm only in my mid-20s). I would NEVER have the courage to speak in front of a class or to even just ask a question without at least covering up some of my skin problems. So yes, to me makeup even helps at school, because it makes me more confident and I can concentrate on my schoolwork instead of feeling insecure because of my skin and feeling like everyone stares at me.
    And about the time issue: It takes a couple of minutes. If you have time to drink a coffee, if you have time to smoke, if you have time for any other habit, you also have time to do your makeup. I am NOT saying everyone should wear makeup. I just say I chose to because it allows me to be more confident and after those 5-10 minutes in the morning it allows me to devote my attention to more important stuff.

    That being said: If I had great skin, I probably wouldn't wear makeup at all. So all of you who have great skin: be happy! ;-)
  10. Upvote
    cogscipixie reacted to MakeYourself in Compensating for academic inbreeding   
    And I'll just add to this that people should stop being so concerned with judging others on their grad school choices and focus on their own lives.
  11. Upvote
    cogscipixie reacted to CarlieE in Impostor Syndrome   
    I think I.S can have some benefits actually.. That little (LITTLE) bit of insecurity can act as a fuel to keep pushing us to do better, revise, improve, rewrite - whatever. And it helps keep us modest and thereby open to other people's ideas and thoughts. I think having that little insecure voice in the back (very back) of our minds can act to prevent us from becoming over-confident and arrogant.
  12. Upvote
    cogscipixie reacted to Homo studentsis in NSF GRFP 2011-2012   
    The most ridiculous part of this is that you didn't even get a 3rd reviewer. That means that you weren't even in the top 65% of applicants in your field. Given that you have 3 "excellents" and a "very good," it looks to me like you got screwed by having reviewers who tended to score applicants higher. You pretty much had no chance to get to a third reviewer, short of writing absolutely perfect essays.
  13. Upvote
    cogscipixie reacted to rising_star in Nonacademic Career Path Looked Down Upon?   
    Check out VersatilePhD.com if you want to learn more about nonacademic career paths and how academics think of them.
  14. Upvote
    cogscipixie reacted to Jimbo2 in NSF GRFP 2011-2012   
    i wish they would give you your percentiles and z scores. not really sure what the harm would be -- maybe you could tell if someone reviewed your application and another person's based on an identifying z score number? Tough luck for the people that got a bunch of Es and no award. Boise State syndrome -- do perfect and it won't matter. you were screwed from the beginning because the strength of your schedule (or harshness of reviewers) wasn't tough enough, and it was always out of your control
  15. Upvote
    cogscipixie reacted to stereopticons in Why Social Psychology?   
    A big problem in social psych is that researchers have a tendency to publish their results in journals and leave it at that, so that the only people who consume the research are other researchers. There are a lot of findings in social psych that could have applications in policy and education, they just never get there. Part of the reason I want to go in to social psych is to try to change this.
  16. Upvote
    cogscipixie reacted to fuzzylogician in Do PhD grades matter?   
    They may ask for transcripts, but grades are certainly not what will decide whether or not you will be hired for a tenure-track position. At this level you are judged by your research record (cv, publications, research statement, job talk), teaching ability (as reflected in evaluations, teaching statement, sample lecture - in case they ask you to give one) and personality (as reflected in interviews, meetings and such). Letters of recommendation are very important, as are the essays you write and the way you present yourself in the interview (if you get that far...). People are choosing a colleague who will potentially be down the hall from their office from now until they retire; I'd say the same advice applies here as when you apply to graduate school but probably even more forcefully - grades are one of the least important components of the application. Don't mess them up completely but don't worry overmuch.
  17. Upvote
    cogscipixie reacted to newms in My thesis advisor asked me on a date   
    I think its a very bad idea, of course it could end up great, but the chances of that are so very small, and the chances of it ending up incredibly awkward or worse are so great. I don't know if you have the kind of relationship with this adviser where you feel comfortable sharing your thoughts with him, but if you have doubts about dating him, then you should probably tell him rather than just going along and seeing how it turns out.
  18. Upvote
    cogscipixie reacted to engguy in Best city to go to grad school in your opinion?   
    I nominate: Any city in which the program has offered you a great funding package and really seems to want you. Trust me, you will learn to love it there.

    And I agree with the above: anyone who disses the Midwest is a shallow individual who gets "bored" with real people, seasons, apple orchards, rivers, and great architecture from the turn of the century. And probably drowns kittens to boot. (Thus ends my Bull Durham-like speech.)
  19. Downvote
    cogscipixie reacted to teaganc in Best city to go to grad school in your opinion?   
    I'm sorry to be the one to break this to you but... Ohio is terrible. It has all the negatives of the Mid-west, but without any of the large cities or interesting things to do. Also, it might have the largest population in America of neo-Nazis? (If it's not Ohio, I think it might be central PA). Just driving through it makes me a little depressed. I'm sure you'll make the best of it, and besides, you'll spend all your time on campus anyway. But since you are an international student, I just wanted you know that there are many nicer places in the US; please don't judge us on Ohio alone.
  20. Upvote
    cogscipixie reacted to HyacinthMacaw in Do you take a break from work in Dec/Jan?   
    Absolutely I'll take a break! I can't afford to lose sight of what matters to me--nurturing relationships with friends and family. I know some people work continuously and/or are hard on themselves about it, perhaps because that's what they value and that's how they derive their self-worth. That's fine, and I'm not judging. I just know that if I neglect my relationships with the people I care about, I would go insane. I'm now planning my career accordingly.

    (My value for building relationships, carving out such an appropriate existence given the constraints of academia, explains my topic on "How family-friendly is life as a professor". I thank you all for your thoughtful comments.)

    If we live to work, we'll work to death. Work to live instead. At least I subscribe to that maxim in my case.
  21. Upvote
    cogscipixie reacted to eco_env in Friends in grad school   
    I've been going to all the social events that I can, and still I find that the rest of my cohort has social get-togethers without me. Not only is it depressing that I don't have anyone to have causal interactions with (no spouse or family around either), but I could be missing out on networking opportunities if I don't interact with other EEB-ers.
  22. Upvote
    cogscipixie reacted to mudlark in If you can give a starting Grad one piece of advice...   
    You are not special.

    I don't mean that in a flippant way. It's really the most useful piece of advice I know. Worried that everyone is juding you behind your back? They're not. Because they don't care all that much about you because you're not special. Faced with crippling anxiety about whether or not your planned project is absolutely perfect? Stop worrying and get to work. You're not going to come up with a field-changer in your first year. You're not special. Still have some bad work habits that you secretly think are part of your creative genius? They're not, because you're not Keats, you're just a grad student. Suck it up and fix them. Again, you're not special.

    I guess I could phrase it as "Work hard and keep your head down", but it doesn't have the same ring.
  23. Upvote
    cogscipixie reacted to StrangeLight in If you can give a starting Grad one piece of advice...   
    - memorize your graduate handbook. it will have all the timelines you need to meet, the courses you need to take, the requirements you need to fulfill. your advisor, believe it or not, will not actually know this stuff. s/he will know that there are certain things you need to do to meet your requirements, but s/he won't actually know what those things are. it's up to you to be on top of it. sometimes, the director of grad studies won't even know what it is you need to do. frustrating, but as long as you have the department handbook to back you up, you'll be okay.

    - learn to value yourself for something other than being smart. everyone in your program is smart. everyone is used to getting the top grades in their class. you will no longer be the best and the brightest. you will also frequently be told that your work isn't good. the grades themselves don't matter anymore, it's the comments in the margins that let you know your work was inadequate. you will have weeks or months of self-doubting, you will read your advisor's every twitch and tick as evidence of his/her contempt for your mediocrity.

    like yourself because you're funny, because you're creative, because you can run a marathon, because you can fix things with your hands, because you actually had the "wild years" (or "tumultuous years") that your colleagues heard so much about when they were in the library/lab. but do NOT like yourself only for your intelligence, because within a year, you won't feel smart anymore. i've given this pep talk to colleagues of mine that were having panic attacks when they thought they wouldn't get research funding or that their advisor hated their work, and it rarely sinks in for most of them, because they've always been "the smart one" and can't yet see themselves as anything else. it's time to let that go. even the students with 4.0 GPAs, who breeze through their thesis/comps/overview, who hold big-time national fellowships have days/weeks/months of feeling stupid.

    - know the department politics. if there's a universally-hated faculty member, you should know that before you start bringing that person onto various committees. if that universally-hated faculty member is your advisor, you need to know that too, because it will be up to you to cultivate strong relationships with other faculty. they'll need to like you because they don't like your prof.

    - don't date within your department. seriously. it's too incestuous and breeds competition within a relationship or between couples. grad school isn't on the buddy-system. you don't need to pair up with someone the first month you get here.
  24. Upvote
    cogscipixie reacted to ZeChocMoose in Nonacademic Career Path Looked Down Upon?   
    In my experience, you'll have naysayers on both sides of the fence (i.e. people who say you'll never get an academic job or people who say industry is the sub par choice) so I would just smile and if they say something really inappropriate-- I would just say, "wow." Nothing more and nothing else. It tends to make people not elaborate and stop throwing in their two cents.

    I agree with you. I am not sure why people want to tell you that you haven't thought this out clearly when they may know nothing about you -or- even worse, just met you! It's rude, but I also find it funny because I have had it happen to me a couple times now. Sometimes their generalizations or statements of "fact" are so wacky that you have to laugh a bit or at least smile at their expense. I assume they are projecting their own negative experiences onto you. Don't let them.

    Honestly at the end of the day, you'll have to live the day-to-day in whatever path you choose, not them. I think it is smart to keep your options open and explore all possibilities. Generally, industry jobs tend to be more plentiful and have better compensation (at least in my field) which is an added bonus. Since you have thought about this extensively, you'll be better prepared for your career options than the other folks who just want to parrot the masses. Good luck.
  25. Downvote
    cogscipixie reacted to honkycat1 in Non-academic jobs for a PhD in Cognitive Psychology?   
    but I think, going into a phd program in cognitive area with the intention of getting an non-academic job when you leave is probably not too practical. because thats just not what you are getting trained to do, to be honest...
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