Hopelessly_Neurotic

I think this is an overestimate of the tax you will have to pay. I will be at the U of M as well and am trying to figure out how much I will have to pay and I found out a few things. First, I think there is a standard deduction that you can apply to your income to reduce the amount of income on which you have to pay tax. Second, if you are filing as a single individual, you pay 10% federal tax on the first $8350 and 15% on the rest. If you find out more, please post the info here. I have contacted my grad coordinator as well as payroll and I hope to get some more info. They really should make this clearer for those of us who want to budget effectively!

You have a great sense of humor. Your wit indicates that you are more intelligent than your GPA would lead us to believe... One should not lose hope if their GPA is less than impressive. If you know that you are capable of doing better but for whatever reason, did not perform consistently throughout undergrad, then consider taking a year to take more undergrad courses and demonstrate that you are capable of outstanding academic achievement (as measured by grades). My GPA wasn't abysmal, but it was not impressive either. I took many more undergrad courses at a better university than where I got my undergrad. My motivation was to broaden my background, further explore my interests, and demonstrate my potential. I achieved all these goals and have been admitted to a competitive program in my field. They apparently did not mind that my earlier GPA was not great because my subsequent grades put to rest any doubts they may have had about my abilities.

Thanks, guys!! These recos should keep me busy for a while...

I think it's possible that you made the right choice but because you no longer have a choice you are feeling doubt/panic/worry. Ask yourself, if the school you turned down actually gave you a second chance, are you 100% sure you would take the offer? If yes, then ask them. If they say no, learn to embrace the choice you made and make the most of it. Perhaps this is a sign that you aren't ready to commit to grad school at this time.

Hi all, I'm headed to grad school for developmental psych in the fall, but in the meantime I have time to kill. I want to learn about subjects that have always interested me but I never got a chance to study. I'll also be broadening my knowledge base, which could help when it comes to deciding on research topics. I am interested in linguistics and am looking for some good recommendations where I could get up to speed on the fundamental ideas /concepts in the field and the latest developments? Any suggestions? Is it worth it to check out Chomsky's original tract on language and mind? I have some background in phil of mind, phil of lang, and cognitive psych. Thanks!

Very interesting. I just wonder how much it varies by subfield in psychology. But I'm not really averse to doing postdoc. It seems like a nice way to transition from grad work to the responsibilities of being a professor.

Excellent advice. I hadn't thought about it this way. I wonder if I will need to do a post doc though. Are they common in neuropsych? My program is developmental and I'm in a decent department. I have fantasized about being able to get a job straight out of my PhD program.

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Oh, easier said than done!!! But yes, you make a good point.

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You're funny. Sometimes that's what people need (i.e., a decision monkey, as you put it). I went to a visit weekend and this girl was agonizing about a decision that was not yet hers to make (hadn't been offered a spot at either school yet): "Oh my god...how will I decide between [good school but not ranked for subfield] and [very high ranked school for subfield and overarching field]?" I was like, "Whatever! Like there is any contest between these schools. If you get in to [the latter school] that's where you are going, don't be silly." I don't think she appreciated my matter-of-fact approach to her pseudo-problem, probably because she wanted her audience to indulge her and give her well-thought-out responses...

I wonder if this book would be suitable for someone entering a Psych PhD program? Do you think some of the advice is applicable to other fields? I think the one about going to "grown up" conferences instead of local grad ones applies to my field (although I'm not sure that there are grad conferences in Psych?). Also, I've never really thought much about signing up for committee work....is this an important part of one's CV?

Hey, no worries, I didn't interpret your response as snarky. I like honesty!! And humor... The stuff you say makes sense. I expect that my program will be demanding, but I won't know just how demanding it will be on me until I'm there. I would like to have some semblance of a life while I'm in grad school, especially since I am a little older and the idea of sacrificing today for tomorrow is not as appealing as it used to be... In response to the last poster, that sounds like good advice you received; however, as I mentioned before, one could do the PhD in four years, followed by a post doc...that way you still have time to get papers out, etc. before entering the job market. If one is planning on doing a post doc either way, then it would seem sensible to get through the PhD faster. But if not, then yeah, five years is probably the way to go.

That makes sense...although one could also aim to finish the PhD in 4-4.5 years and do a post doc. I just worry that it's not really necessary in some programs to hang around for five years, i.e., that one could be doing other things...

Thanks for your point of view. See, it's not that I am super ambitious or anything -- I'm motivated of course, but the reason I posted this question is because I'm just curious to know if it's doable...i.e., if it's possible that people who complete a PhD in five years actually could do it faster but, for whatever reason, don't take the opportunity to do so. You seem to be suggesting that this is not the case and that to complete the degree in four years might be possible but you would basically burn out in the process. I'm not really interested in killing myself to get it done faster, but work hard? Yes. Be super efficient? Yes, definitely.