UnlikelyGrad

Well, good. I get the feeling that you would do well in a Ph.D. program. I do have some advice though: (1) Go to a small school where you'll get more one-on-one attention...I think this will help you cope. (2) When looking for an advisor, make sure you find one who can cope with your affliction. Some people have very medieval ideas about depression (or mental illness in general), and working for such a person could easily lead to lack of success. My last PI had a wife who suffered from depression...he was spectacularly good at dealing with me.

Can't speak for this school in particular, but...Most adcomms don't meet for the first time until late November or early December. It's rare to see any decisions before December.

No. In fact, my advisor tells me: "They don't care if you actually ever do the research you propose--they're just looking to see if you can write a good proposal." ...which is good for those of us going into a new field.

Viva, You are exactly where I was a year ago. I, too, suffer from chronic depression...and a consequent lack of self-confidence. I, too, suffered from the delusion that I wouldn't be able to hack a Ph.D. program, and accordingly had several M.S. schools on my list. The story is here: http://unlikelygrad.wordpress.com/2009/01/21/where-to-apply/ Brief summary: I ended up applying to 9 Ph.D. programs on others' advice, got into 4 (including one stellar one), and ended up in a program where I am not only content, but thriving. Which is not to say that I don't still suffer attacks of depression from time to time.

I think it depends on what degree/program you are enrolled in. For example, my mom got her master's in education as a part-time student--which I think is a reasonable thing to do. Part time MBA? Do-able. On the other hand, a good friend of mine got a MS in Chemistry while working full time. He barely scraped through; I think his choice to go part-time was a serious mistake. I have a friend who is getting a Ph.D. in umm....some sort of psychology (sorry, not too familiar with psych)...and is going part-time. She already had a MA so had only minimal coursework plus thesis. I guess it is working out ok for her but I don't know how much she's thriving as opposed to just surviving.

Welcome to the "old" club, Jennszoo (and captiv8ed too, I see). I started at 37, and my age hasn't been a big hindrance so far. Now when I go to get a job...I dunno... (median time to finish my program is 4.5 yrs). In the mean time I am having a blast in school. I figure that, if nothing else, I'll have fun for 4.5 years. (I'm also setting a good example for my kids as well.) If no academic job opens up, I'll try to land a position at USGS or EPA or some place like that and have fun there. I love what I am doing!!

I also had a single-class transcript, one class I took at the CC in my home town before heading off to the "big school". All 9 places I applied to required that stupid transcript. The CC was realllllly slow in mailing out the transcripts, and some adcomms wouldn't consider my grades until it arrived...

There are people who get into academia....and then there are the people who STAY in academia. The second number is smaller than the first. To be a successful academic you have to (1) bring in funding, (2) publish like mad, (3) attract lots of grad students, and (4) get along with your colleagues. (Really. I know someone who didn't get tenure--at two places--because of #4...) Just because someone is young does not mean they have what it takes to stay. I will do all I can to get a career in academia...but, having experienced a lot of life, I also know that I can be happy no matter what happens to me. I'm gonna enjoy the ride.

Also the EPA STAR... http://www.epa.gov/ncer/rfa/2009/2009_star_gradfellow.html Current funding level: $17k toward tuition, $20k stipend Number of awards: varies by year, this year it's 120 Deadline: October (this week!) so it's a little late if you haven't started. Unlike NSF, you can apply for this pretty late into your graduate career--I've heard of several people using it to pay for the years remaining after NSF funding has run out. Of course this is only for people doing environmental research.

Good point, and one I think about a lot since I would like to go into academia. I personally know two people who landed TT positions at age 39, and there's a guy in my current department who got his TT position @ ~ 43 (guessing based on his CV). But they all got their Ph.D.s earlier--by 35. My plan: (1) Work fast, try to do the Ph.D. in 4 years. (2) Be aggressive in getting funding so it's obvious I can support my own research. (3) Make myself so indispensable that the department at my current school wants to hire me.

I'm in the opposite boat. I fell in love with Colorado the day I moved there. I never wanted to come back to California again. Alas, my family (that would be husband and kids) is STILL living in CA--probably won't move out until December at the earliest. So I am forced to fly back here every couple of weeks. Yes, I love them and want to see them, but I want to see them IN COLORADO. I do admit to missing real Chinese food, though probably not as much as my Chinese officemates.

So...my advisor has had several students get the award, but she can't find their successful proposals. If you saw her office, you'd understand. Spent a few weeks reading like mad and have just started writing. 1000 words and counting... I'm having trouble registering with grants.gov--is there some trick to getting it to accept your application? I may have to Express Mail a paper application if I don't figure this out!

I went back to school after being a mom for 15 years. When I put together my resume (lots of places ask for one, and I sent it to the others anyway), I showed not only the paying jobs I'd dabbled in over the years but also my 10,001 (ok, more like 101) volunteer experiences. Few of the paying jobs had anything to do with my field of interest--they were all part-time because I was primarily a mom--but they were all, ahem, interesting! Of course, I'm the type who always has a zillion irons in the fire. Even when I didn't have a paying job, I had a lot of stuff going on. Not sure if this is the case with you.

I've always hated writing conclusions (for essays--it's the easiest part in a lab write-up). After staring blankly at my SOP draft for a couple of weeks I handed it to my hubby and asked how I should end it. I just wanted a suggestion, but he ended up writing a paragraph for me that was absolutely perfect. Maybe I should have him look at my fellowship essays, too...

I got into a UC school (Davis). I loved it when I visited, but the horror stories I heard about funding scared me off. I'm not talking about the program, although that was impoverished too--I'm talking about individual professors, most of whom got their funding from CA state agencies. One guy was even told that he couldn't have the money he'd been promised but not given (he'd been promised his grant money in 2 allotments). His grad students all had to scramble to find new labs. GULP!!!

What is this 'extenuating circumstances' essay? I haven't heard of it before... Not really switching fields (switching sub-fields is more like it) but as some of the old-timers know I was "out of action" for many years. Would this qualify?

I had good experiences with the CSU system (CSLA, SJSU). I'm not familiar with structural engineering depts, but both seemed to be excellent schools in terms of teaching quality overall as well as the chem department in general. However, let me tell you that the CSU system is really, really hurting now (financially). If you don't live in CA you have no idea. Even if you do live in CA, if you don't go on campus at all you might not know just how bad it really is. You might think this has no impact on you, but it does--broken equipment might not be fixed, professors may not be able to pay you to do research, etc. When I was at SJSU last year my PI had problems getting maintenance to do anything!! They took four months to clear out the room that was supposed to be his office and then told him that it would be another year until he got a phone line installed!! (The jack was there, they just had to flip a few switches somewhere...) Personally, I wouldn't attend a CA state school right now if I could avoid it.

My sister did almost exactly what you did (though I think it was more like 9 or 10 years rather than 12). She got into a top-notch grad school and is now a professor at a top-10 public university. So there you go.

Put the shoe on the other foot. Let's say that you told your s.o. that you'd have dinner ready when he got home, but that @#$(%^ homework set was such a pain that you didn't notice the time slipping by until you heard him opening the door. Don't you wish he'd cut you a little slack? Well, do the same for him. Remind him--gently--that you'd been counting on him to do the dishes. Tell him you're sure he forgot because he had other things on his mind, but ask him--now that you've reminded him--if he could do them now. Things NEVER work out the way you want them to. That's the way it goes. My husband of 19 years promised to move out here with me. He also promised to be in charge of packing and moving the family, and he said he'd really like us all to move at the same time. But...here I am, in Colorado, and he's still in California. I have to fly back on weekends to see my kids. It sucks. But he's not being slow for malicious reasons; he just didn't realize what he was getting himself into. He's cut me slack in the past, and I try to go easy on him now. Forgiveness is essential if you want your marriage to last.

I'm going for it. Don't know how I'll finish writing everything on time, but I'm gonna try. My advisor has had several students get this award so I'm hoping she will have good tips on how to succeed.

If you're heading for academia, keep in mind that a lot of schools want you to send transcripts. So don't completely blow off your grades...

I worried for a long time about this issue--I didn't think of myself as an original person, I guess. Then I asked my dad (who has quite a few published papers) how he got his ideas. His response: Read the literature. Read, read, read. As you read, ask questions: Are there any problems with this person's approach? Could there be other conclusions which would explain the same data? Etc. This really helped me A LOT and I started thinking of things I could do for my thesis... We were talking about chemistry, of course, but I know enough about religion to say that the same approach could apply to your field... Certainly it wouldn't hurt to start reading the literature in your field ASAP. After all, when you go to schools to meet with prospective advisors, they'll probably want to talk about specifics.

I'm a bit younger than you (37) but didn't have nearly as much work experience as you, and none whatsoever in my undergrad major. I think your copious work experience will be a strong suit for you. For LORs I agree that you should take at least one class before applying, but I would also say that you should get at least one person from a former job who can speak to your strengths in management.

They work us hard here. I have three sections of lab--one freshman, two quant. I'm the only first-year of the bunch who isn't scared of being a TA, so I wrote something about teaching on my blog. http://unlikelygrad.wordpress.com/2009/08/28/teaching/ What else would you add?

I used both Princeton Review and REA for the practice tests only. However, what helped me the most was just getting out textbooks and working through them.