PsychGirl1

My advice: get involved in research now, and do so heavily in your junior and senior years. If you're still feeling a bit unsure upon fall of your senior year as far as specialization, plans for the future, etc., then take another year or two to do research (you can get a paid RA/RC position, or your current lab might be able to find some funding to keep working there FT or PT), and then apply. I'm of the belief that an extra year or two off is only beneficial in the long-term, and that this career path is so long and specific, that you shouldn't apply if you still have any serious concerns or questions.

Here's my opinion: attendance at these things are voluntary, and should always be treated as such. Nobody should look down on you if you skip an event, or don't buy a book at the event, or whatever else is going on. Only go if you want to and feel like you can be in a social mood. However, once you're there, be THERE. Stay there as long as possible (or, at least until other people start leaving). Be social and engaging and supportive. It's good to go to these things because of showing your support and forming new networks and relationships, not just by your actual presence for 5 seconds. In the beginning of your program, I think it's important to go to these events when they come up, but once you get more settled, don't go as frequently.

Yes- this was something that was slightly an issue in my old program (master's program students not as important as PhD students in some settings). However, there's no reason that profs would favor PhD students AND ugrads over a master's student.

Date went well then??

Sometimes it takes an outsider to tell you that you're likely interpreting things the wrong way, or it may be something you can change about yourself. In my first post, re: discrimination against MA students, I'm pretty sure I told you to go for it and work hard to make sure you get the best education possible. But then in your follow-up posts, it became more clear that (to an outsider), your examples don't quite mesh with what you think the problem is. Yes, the advice and responses on this forum have been blunt, but sometimes that's needed. Our advice is based on our own experiences, and you can choose to take it or leave it. I also went through a master's program, which is why I was interested in this thread in the first place. Why don't you talk to people in your program and see what their experiences have been like? If it is blanket discrimination against master's students, then they should have had the same experiences and can lend you some advice. If they haven't been experiencing a similar issue, then possibly it will point to individual characteristics that you need to consider. Also, I've taken multiple classes at your institution, and I'm pretty sure I wore sweatpants to class many times without feeling out of place. I understand it can be difficult to fit into different educational cultures- I've done it a LOT of times over the years. Good principles are to be less defensive, try to be more self-aware, and reach out to people in your program. Also, try to have an open mind. PS. You say your posts are "not formalized accusations claiming causality"... yet the title of this thread is "discrimination against MA students". Just saying.

Basically, it's one of two things: 1) It's something you're doing, and therefore it's something you can change- and people have given some possible suggestions above for you to start with. 2) It's not something you're doing, and therefore it's something you can't change- which means the whole point of this thread is just to rant about how Harvard professors don't appreciate you. If it's #2, which you seem to think it is despite all our suggestions, then I guess it's time for you to consider alternate graduate program choices or accept being miserable for the rest of your master's. To be honest, each of your posts is slightly different- now you come across "very much self-deprecating and passive"- well that's certainly not good or professional either. There's one of those people in my grad program now, and even when she says something smart, it comes out sounding dumb. Approach professors as intelligent colleagues and future mentors- no self-deprecation or passiveness should be occurring. Again, I highly doubt it's your MA status.

Never for me either, and I have interviewed for a lot of different jobs over the years :-D

This last paragraph. You haven't really mentioned what kinds of questions you are asking- if you're approaching profs (not your mentor) outside of class, make sure your questions are well thought out, that you have already attempted to utilize your resources to answer the question first, and that you are not wasting their time. If you ask a basic, uncomplicated question that is easily found through a google search, or reading one of the prof's more well-known papers, for example, they may understandably become curt with you. "I wanted to know if the course would align with my research goals and at my level"- to be honest, that sounds like that warrants a 5-minute response, which the prof gave you. I've interacted with faculty at Harvard many times- not in your department- and they have been nothing but nice to me. In fact, I have nothing but very fond thoughts of them- for example, I took a night class there (as a non-enrolled student) while I was working in Boston, and it was taught by a Harvard professor who is quite well known in her field of research. A few months after the course ended, I sent her an email to ask her for career advice. To my surprise, she wrote back an incredibly long reply, offered to meet with me in person, and really (adamantly) encouraged me to go after the career path I was considering. She really gave me the confidence to go for it. Give it some time, have self-awareness, and keep interactions professional, mature, and intelligent.

^ What fuzzylogician said. That was my exact reaction.

We are prohibited from working outside of grad school in my PhD program. Thank goodness! When I did my master's, I worked, but only within my department (TA'ing, etc.), and was careful to accept only positions that would allow me to do my work as well. If that meant TA'ing one easy class for like, $300 a month, then that's what I did. You could start with something small- you will probably be surprised how well you balance the additional responsibility!

Just work twice as hard to prove yourself. And stand your ground. If they won't let you take classes, go to your admin or program director. This is your education- that you may be paying for out of pocket- and you should fight for the best opportunities for you.

I talked to a professor a few years ago about possibly applying to programs abroad, and he said to be careful- they tend to have less funds and research opportunities available compared to universities in the US. No idea if it's true or not, but it's something to research. Also, make sure other opportunities (ex. NIH grants or the equivalent for other countries, funding or scholarships at the school, etc.) won't be hampered by you being an international student. I studied abroad at a university in Australia and the culture is very different, especially with their universities and the way their educational system is set up. Definitely a great experience, but something to consider! Try your best to get a feel of the department and campus. PS despite all my "check into this first" warnings, I would be infinitely jealous if you went to Australia for grad school.

Advice I got: you can ask two people to co-write a letter (esp if they work at the same organization, for example, or if they each saw pieces of the work you do- like two committee members from your undergrad thesis, for example). Only ask for 3- some applications specifically ask you not to submit more, and you just want to focus on making those 3 as complete as possible. I'd put together a CV- it will only take an hour or two to convert your resume to CV format and make it up-to-date, and you'll have to do it eventually anyway for applications. Yes, submit your semester abroad transcript. My study abroad had an institute in the US it sent their transcripts from, but yours might be different. At least you don't have to send 6 transcripts, like I did :-D (undergrad, study abroad, master's, then night classes at 3 different places over the years all of which were in my field). FUN TIMES. (A few places will let you upload electronic versions and only send them if you get in- so make sure to order an extra copy of everything to yourself and scan it in for your records).

No problem- sorry to always be butting in (currently in grad school = need to procrastinate!). You can always email the general admin email (like whatever is listed for "application questions"). But I'd say it's pretty rare that a school would know at this point in time that it wasn't taking ANY students and didn't bother to note it on the website somewhere. IMO if you like everything about the program and prof, you might as well submit it (honestly, once you apply to at least 5 or 6 apps, I feel like there isn't a major difference in time/cost between applying to 7 versus 8 programs). Plus, maybe people will be less likely to apply to that prof if they don't answer emails :-D. I only had one person not respond to me, but I applied anyway- it turned out she was taking students, and she just was notorious for not reading or answering her emails.

Read their website. If it doesn't say anything about NOT taking new students (similarly for the prof), it's a good assumption to make. Again, contacting the prof is not a formal part of the admissions process.

Have you considered teaching philosophy at a local community college? You can teach at that level with your master's, and it will give you a chance to see if you like teaching, as well as build your CV and allowing you time to mentor students and do some serious writing. For the record: I'm definitely NOT discouraging you from getting a PhD. And if you want it bad enough, you will find a way if you plan smartly and work incredibly hard. However: I just keep hearing you say "I had my heart set on a PhD"- but not enough about what you want your CAREER to be. I'd encourage you to think about your career first, what exactly you want to be doing and in what setting, and then work backwards. Maybe a PhD isn't what you need in order to have a career that you love. From me, I'm only doing a PhD because it will get me to the career I want. Otherwise, there is no way I would voluntarily choose to go through 5-7 years of poverty-level income and enough stress to make my hair fall out if there were more practical and faster avenues to do what I would love to do :-D. Again, I'm NOT discouraging you from getting a PhD. I'm just telling you NOT to put blinders on and not consider other options to getting where you want to be. Good luck!

Ugh, thank you fuzzylogician and rising_star. Why does nobody ever listen to me?? If I had less of an urge to procrastinate, I'd stop trying to respond to these sorts of posts already :-D

What is it with nobody wanting to take the GRE? Your applications determine not only the next 4-6 years of your life (which program you attend) but possibly the rest of your life (career options, amount of debt, prestige of program attended, connections formed, etc.). Take the GRE already! If you're not willing to put in hours to study for it, you're not going to be very happy with the work you have to do once you actually get to grad school :-).

This is exactly what I was trying to say- but fuzzylogician said it much more eloquently :-D

1. Yes. 2. Not sure/probably not.

I agree with your statement- however, I'm just saying that there are certain things you need to get to your dreams (aka admission to a PhD program). LORs is one of those. Take 1-2 years off, make new connections, volunteer with other researchers/profs, get publications, work with the old committee to give you advice and show you have grown and improved- telling them to just apply now with bad/no LORs just doesn't make sense.

Do NOT under any circumstance email potential advisers and "explain the situation to them". This is the worst advice I've ever heard. You're supposed to explain that you bombed your master's thesis and nobody you interacted with over 3 years will write you a LOR, and they are supposed to be impressed and go out on a branch to try to get you into their program? .... No. Just no. Secondly, LORs DO matter. They matter a lot. Bad/neutral LORs are certainly submitted. It is incredibly easy to tell when a professor is just doing their duty and when the professor genuinely believes in a student. The former is NOT a good reflection on an applicant, and is basically the equivalent of writing a bad LOR. No professor wants to write a glowing LOR of someone who will enter a program and not be able to handle it- it reflects badly on them. For the record, I successfully went through an application cycle for my master's, then again for my PhD. As a grad student, I also coordinated the master's application process at my last program. I've also been involved in multiple labs and saw the application process from within them. Career-wise, I also applied (and received) jobs offers before my graduate career, and I was involved in hiring my replacement at my last research job. I've seen a lot of job/graduate school applications, interviewed a lot of people, and I've had a lot of conversations about students/faculty/bosses about the process. While fields may have different application processes, there are some things you should never do- whether it's applying for grad school or a job. I strongly suggest you do not take the above advice.

Yay! Glad to hear. Some profs never reply- if the program and the research is still a good fit, apply anyway. Some are just notoriously bad at responding to emails, or just don't like prospective students emailing them. A prof's response is not a prerequisite for the application to the school.

In regard to your second paragraph: I was the one who struggled to write an introduction to my thesis- I was in a master's program, and new to the field. Writing a massive thesis introduction is not easy, and not something that many people have experienced before graduate school (introduction for papers or proposals are much different). In fact, my adviser told me I was an excellent writer- when it came to writing manuscripts and proposals. Theses, on the other hand, are a much different process. They involve different scope, and a different type of writing. And my adviser and I talked about the introduction and how to improve it- it's not like I sent it out to my thesis committee while it was crappy. Learning these sorts of things are exactly what grad school is for- but you have to proactively show improvement. Also, there is a concept of "too ambitious" for a thesis, and it should stay- theses are often completed on incredibly tight timelines. I feel like faculty don't mind the student doing something ambitious in general- but what is appropriate for a thesis may be a different story.

Remember that other grad students are just as busy and probably don't have the whole story- I'd just politely let her know that you are going to be late because you have office hours each week, and that you told people before the change happened. She's not the boss of you, don't let her "chastise" you for something that isn't wrong of you. I can't tell if you're being oversensitive to people's cues (ex. maybe she just said, "in general, don't be late to lab meeting" without knowing the whole story), or if people in your lab are really this intense and clueless. My guess is that it's somewhere in between :-). Honestly, keep in mind that your adviser is there to ADVISE. They are not the boss of you or your life. They don't know all the details of what you're doing or what you're going through. If you are reasonable and logical, and keep communication lines open- this is your life, and your graduate school career, and you should treat it as such. If you calmly discuss with her that you're a bit overwhelmed, you need time to focus on your grant, and that this elective class will fit into your 3rd year school- you checked- and that there is no specific need for you to take it 1st year over 3rd... then there should be no reason for her to insist it unless she has a good reason. Again, tell her you want to focus on your NSF grant this term, and that it should be prioritized over taking extra classes- no reasonable person would argue with that if they didn't have a good reason. I guess my point is- she probably has reasons she is telling you to do certain things, and they just aren't being communicated clearly. I'd also guess that you aren't communicating your concerns clearly as well. Again- approach things logically, reasonable, and have a calm discussion with your x-year plan laid out. Communication, communication, communication.