mandarin.orange

Wait, WHAT? In CALIFORNIA??

Yes, or in the "Graduate Student Handbook" that most universities/departments have developed.

I have been using my personal scanner for 2 weeks now to catalog papers from my MS and I LOVE it! At only $55 (shipped free and quickly from amazon!), it is well worth it for the convenience. It is light and powered off of a USB cable only, so totally portable...I envision lots of occasions where I will be taking it to the library to scan and not worrying about copy fees! This thing will pay for itself and allow me to work at home more easily. And, it comes with software that easily makes .pdf files (this doesn't seem fancy at all, but a standard requirement of scanners nowadays). I totally recommend getting one. I researched this extensively and wanted something portable and that could do high-quality photos...even though I will eventually need a printer as well, I passed over many of the HP all-in-one devices because of reports of high price for poor scan quality. Here it is: http://www.amazon.com/Canon-CanoScan-LiDE110-Scanner-4507B002/dp/B003VQR1UC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1310695478&sr=8-1 Sorry for rambling, but I am so glad I made the investment and wish I'd had this during my M.S. program!

If sent to a local P.O., you might be able to label it "hold for arrival," so long as the window of time it's being stored at the PO is relatively short (e.g. 1-2 weeks). Long-distance backpackers do it all the time for their re-supply. Perhaps call the PO you'd use ahead of time to ask about proper labeling, policies, etc. I am fortunate in that I'm originally from the state where I'll be attending school, so I've been sending my stuff to my parents and know they'll take care of my boxes.

What sorts of rates did you get for FedEx Home? How much stuff (weight, or # boxes) are you looking to transport? I believe I tried to get quotes at one point this spring from both FedEx and UPS, and other bulk freighting possibilities. I concluded that USPS was by far the cheapest option, if using parcel post, and have been shipping stuff to my folks' house via them. It's run me about $450 so far for almost 20 boxes with just over 300 lbs of stuff. About $25/box, including insurance.

I assume the work/research was done at your former institution, so that is what you should list. Then, add a footnote stating "Corresponding author at:" with your new affiliation.

I agree with other posters to try and schedule it earlier. I took it in November, and also had Dec deadlines. While you will know the score that day and can enter it on applications, ETS needs a 6-8 week margin for official reporting. Also, this left me with no room for retaking it. I was working full-time as a HS teacher when I took it last fall, a job that regularly consumed 50-60 hrs/week for me, and here is how I found time to study: whenever we had half-days off for conferences or whatever, I'd devote that whole block of time to working through test prep books. I studied lots on weekends...disheartening as it was to put my social life waaay on the backburner and spend sunny Saturday afternoons indoors for a few weeks, these were the only large chunks of free time I had. Also, I was in the habit of carrying vocab lists and flashcards with me for times I had errands, was at the laudromat, DMV, or to read over lunch/dinner. "Dates" with my BF (who has an adv degree in math) consisted of working through math problems in the prep books. Lastly, I scheduled the test on a day I had off. As far as taking the course goes, depends on how well you've done on ETS-based standardized tests in the past, either SAT or GRE practice tests. If you tend to struggle with standardized testing or grammar, then this may be worthwhile for learning strategies, esp. on the written portion, and providing you with structured practice, practice, practice.

YES. I say skip the binders, hanging file folders, filing cabinet, etc. Most profs and professionals in the throes of research seem to do most everything electronically anyway. Many class materials will be available on online web sites, like Blackboard, etc. Now faced with the task of moving my stuff 3000 mi for school, I have been trying to pare down my amount of paperwork for weeks. Months! It is heavy to move, heavy to ship, a pain to find things again. The more I can get on my computer, the better. It is SO MUCH EASIER to find a crucial article from a computer search with an author's name or a few key words, rather than worrying where the hard copy is, or being in my office and realizing its at home, etc. (My organized files have been rearranged and disrupted by many moves). And back it up often! I have two 16 GB flash drives, a 60 GB hard drive, and just bought (unopened) a 1 TB hard drive I plan to set up this summer.

Higher salary would be one reason. I just saw an ad for CC job this weekend where PhD was preferred for the candidate, and the salary difference was $5-8K more. To the OP: There are many, many ways that becoming a better researcher will make you a more effective teacher. Here are a few: 1) I am not sure of your discipline, but in mine (science) it is essential to teach: how scientists obtain new findings, the scientific method, structure of a formal lab report, how to design an experiment, etc. From your research and findings, you can always find ways develop lesson plans, labs, activities, exercises, for your students. I've been to many an educators' workshop where we were given materials they had developed from research findings that they tailored for student labs and exercises. I had an aquatic bug collection that I made and cataloged during my M.S. program - very time-consuming, and a huge PITA at the time. But, I kept it and used it for years as a high school teacher for small-group labs and activities about water quality. I had worked in a climate change group before HS teaching, and thus was able to talk about these experiences and demystify what scientists were actually studying vs. what may run in the daily Observer. I had pictures of myself on projects in Turkey and coring rigs in Canada that I would show during appropriate lessons. I always got HUGE, positive response from being able to talk about these on a personal level. 2) You will want to stay abreast of ongoing discoveries and ideas in your field, in order to convey this to students and field their questions. They will keep you on your toes! I was constantly updating my lessons every year with the latest on ozone depletion, and astronomy findings. It blows 14-year olds' minds to realize that Jupiter actually has 3x more moons than what their textbook states! 3) Research will be frustrating, uninspiring, boring, rote etc. at times. But, it will force your critical thinking skills and powers of deductive reasoning beyond your comfort zone. Again, this depends on discipline, but many teaching standards and course descriptions state that developing critical thinking skills in students is part of your job. Being able to think "in this mode" for the next four years will help you tailor your future lessons, lectures, and interactions with students to activate the same in them. 4) Finally, your future career prospects...let's say you ultimately work at a small, private liberal arts college -- which seems a huge plum for someone as enthusiastic as you are about teaching. I went to one such school for undergrad, and many of the classes in my major were very small, with rigorous but interesting labs, and field trips with professors. Huge opportunities for mentoring undergrads, obtaining university funds for summer projects with students, and teaching them what research and being a professional entails. One skill my profs in major classes hit again and again was oral presentations - how to break down and clearly present research findings, which we did with reading journal articles. You may be called upon to do such a seminar-style course for majors or seniors, etc. at some point in time - undergrads, esp. those not pursuing grad school afterwards, tend to find professional papers very intimidating. The more familiar you are with the peer-review process, the more effectively you can break it down for them. Just some thoughts!

Zotero is free. I didn't use it for this last article (many of my refs were old print copies anyway) but installed it and plan to do a lot of archiving of my articles this summer. There was a thread here awhile ago about citation programs...from what I (vaguely) remember, folks spoke more highly of zotero than Endnote anyway. Might be worth a search.

Yes, they should send you proofs to double-check, with any changes highlighted that they have had to make. Depending on the journal, the editors may send it back for revisions multiple times before it even goes to the publisher (mine did). Part of the revisions included re-formatting the references according to their specs (their website of Author's Guidelines said one thing, while recently-published articles were showing another). In my proofs, the copy-editors caught a reference or two that was cited in the paper, but omitted from the list at the end. Reference formatting is, IMO, by far the most excruciating, nit-pickiest part of this process. Just go over it multiple times, ask for the help of your co-authors (if you have them), and have a willing friend/family member serve as editor. My BF has impeccable grammar and was very helpful with reading multiple drafts.

I have a 2.3 Ghz MacBook Pro (bought last year, so can't remember if 2.7 Ghz was an option at the time) and I love it. It replaced a Powerbook from 2004 that I'd had and used daily for 6 years. The memory on the new laptop easily stores all my music, photos to date, financial info, papers, MS research, subsequent research, and hundreds of PowerPoint presentations (both mine and my students') from teaching, with room to spare. I recently bought a WD Elements 1 TB hard drive for grad school and to backup my stuff regularly. I haven't set it up, so can't speak for its performance just yet. It was in the $60-70 range on amazon.com, connects with USB, and was one of the most highly recommended devices for Macs.

I will second the "yes" to both. I can't think of anyone in my cohort who had a parking permit, except one who split the expense with his wife, also a grad student, and they lived a few miles north of town. The rest of us walked/biked/scootered to campus. My advisor kept a 7am-4pm schedule expressly for the purpose of snagging the last of the free spots close to campus on Clifton Ave by the Burnet Woods. A bus route goes Ludlow Ave to Clifton Ave and then by the University, which I would sometimes do in the rain, or if I was running a tad late.

You won't find too many apartment complexes, per se...Gerdsen has studios and 1 and 2 BDs in historic buildings, so finding a fitness center included will be difficult to impossible. Agreed, the fitness center at the university was amazing. I was there all the time. This was in c. 2002, and any subsequent renovations would be a big plus. They had free classes, too. The Forum on MLK does have a fitness center (which they make very visible from the road), but I would avoid them at all costs. I housesit for a friend there frequently, the building was rundown and much of the fitness equip broken, crime was higher, and they actually had a bar (!) on the ground floor of the apt. complex...so it was loud as could be at all hours of the night.

Wow...amazing specimen. I probably would've stopped reading after the first 2-3 sentences. As a teacher at a private HS, I've had some humdingers over the years from parents. One of the more memorable emails accused me of being unfair for taking -2 off a test where the kid hadn't put his name on it, since name/no name didn't address the content of the chapter I was assessing.

This shouldn't make you anxious - be glad there are others willing to fill that role. There is a niche for everyone in science - those that only want to adhere to a 9-5 schedule and be done for the day, those that are willing to spend a little more free time as schedule permits (this is me) and those that are really, really motivated to get ahead in their field. Whatever your desired workload may be, there will be plenty of likeminded individuals out there.

Very incestuous.

Hmmm...it did work for me and I got a very fast, positive response from the PI I ultimately chose to work with. In the correspondence I drummed up with other profs, it was clear they had reviewed it, as they mentioned specific things about my degree or prior work. I found many examples and recommendations online that this was perfectly acceptable. But I realize this is only anecdotal evidence.

I had to include a CV on my applications. As you contact profs you are thinking of working with, it is useful to attach the CV for them to look over. Singlecell makes many great suggestions. Definitely include your scholarships. Also, list the years ("2008-2011" or whatever) that you have worked in that lab; I think your longevity there balances out the fact that, as you pointed out, it is only one point. It at least shows a long-term commitment to a lab or project.

I wouldn't recommend this, esp. since you used the term "slightly dodgy." I did study abroad in the UK, had to ship a set of car keys back home to CA, and chose this option. For a teeny padded envelope, it took months.

Are you getting tuition remission as part of your package/stipend? Most programs stipulate that they will only pay out-of-state fees (much higher) for you for one year. I had to establish new residency for my MS program in 2002. I have already received documentation from my school-to-be that I will need to establish residency there within one year, and what steps I need to take. Find a school-wide graduate student handbook, and review it. At my MS institution, the department grad coordinator was a 2-year rotation between the faculty and all they really did was sign letters to the incoming students and meet with us once a term to establish TA assignments. It would not surprise me if they did not know the specifics of school-wide policy for an issue such as this. A dept administrator might be more in the know about this, or at least point you to current grad students that you could contact.

This sums up my Mom's reaction quite well: Fortunately, friends and colleagues have been extremely supportive, though look quite surprised when I mention I'll ultimately have my doctorate (I admit it's still a bit of a strange concept to me!).

I lived in the Gaslight area for 3 years during my MS program and loved it! Still miss it sometimes, and still try to make a stop to Ludlow Ave. during trips to Indiana with BF to see his family. We love Sitwell's coffeehouse (which I basically treated as my living room when I was finishing my thesis), and Habanero's. The company A. W. Gerdsen owns apt buildings in the vicinity in buildings from the 1930s-1970s...I rented a studio apt. for $365 in 2003 and from ads and postings I saw around Ludlow this winter, it looks like the rental market has hardly gone up in price. The studio was perfect for a grad student - HUGE closets, eat-in kitchen with neat 30s-era cabinets...a reasonable amount of space. The company was on the ball about maintenance and provided tenants with extra storage in the basement. I would definitely recommend them: http://www.gerdsen.com/ I loved my time in Cincinnati and really got into the whole history of the city, the architecture, and the local music scene. Lots of bluegrass acts come through, Tall Stacks is fun, Bock Fest is a blast, and saw Muse perform in tiny venue of Topcat's.

I lived in the Gaslight area for 3 years during my MS program and loved it! Still miss it sometimes, and still try to make a stop to Ludlow Ave. during trips to Indiana with BF to see his family. We love Sitwell's coffeehouse (which I basically treated as my living room when I was finishing my thesis), and Habanero's. The company A. W. Gerdsen owns apt buildings in the vicinity in buildings from the 1930s-1970s...I rented a studio apt. for $365 in 2003 and from ads and postings I saw around Ludlow this winter, it looks like the rental market has hardly gone up in price. The studio was perfect for a grad student - HUGE closets, eat-in kitchen with neat 30s-era cabinets...a reasonable amount of space. The company was on the ball about maintenance and provided tenants with extra storage in the basement. I would definitely recommend them: http://www.gerdsen.com/ I loved my time in Cincinnati and really got into the whole history of the city, the architecture, and the local music scene. Lots of bluegrass acts come through, Tall Stacks is fun, Bock Fest is a blast, and saw Muse perform in tiny venue of Topcat's.