Neuronista

Thank you so much for bringing on this topic. I really thought I was alone in this. Although my problem is a bit different than Just me's.

It's more like what Mal83 said:



THIS is my problem.

Since 4th year of undergrad (that's about 5 years ago), I had a special feeling towards one of my professors. He was a young assistant prof. and I was one of the students in his very first classes to teach. I don't know how or why I got attracted to him, he is gentle, good looking (and looks way younger than he actually is), and knows his subject well.

I was attracted to him in a way that did not motivate me to study harder (but I did well in his class at the end as I was always a good student), but rather a in distracting way. I would spend classes just staring at him trying to figure out what was so special about him that is distracting me; I've met guys who were more handsome, closer to my age, and also gentle and nice. So WHY HIM???

As time passed, I got to know more about him. I learned he is married, has kids, and is at least 15 years older than I am. That tortured me even more. How could I ever dare have such feelings towards a married man, let aside one of my professors?

I didn't know what to do. But I decided I should must delete him completely from my mind. I started missing his classes, and avoiding him like the plague. I would never go to him during his office hours or ask him anything. I was full of shame and embarrassment of my self that I was even afraid it would show on my face.

My conscious mind was fully aware that this person can never be mine, but still a part of me it attracted to him. It seems like what Just me stated it:




Exactly. I will never pursue anything, and this problem has bugged me for a long time. It actually continues till this day, because I've done my masters in the same institution, and now I'm a research assistant also in the same institution. I still run into him every now and then, and there are a lot of situations when I potentially have to meet him, which I all try to avoid, but this is costing me a lot. For example, I've missed lots of conferences, meetings, seminars, and departmental lunches, just because I knew he would be there.

I don't know if I'm over reacting, but I really don't know what to do. I'm really embarrassed and I do not like the idea of being attracted to him, but some part of me doesn't seem to let go. I sincerely wish him all happiness, and would never want to ruin his family life or anything. I just want to get over it safely, for me and for him.

It just maybe seems harder because we've been basically in the same place for a long time. I'm now applying for a PhD in a different country altogether (thankfully). But before I get accepted, there is still one more whole year ahead of me in this place.

Sorry for nagging, but I wanted some place to let out my feelings without being judged. I hope you won't.

HELLO TO ALL... PLZ SUGGEST ME A STRONG TOPIC RELATED TO MICROBIOLOGY FOR Ph.D. AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.I HAVE TO PREPARE OUTLINE FOR PROPOSED RESEARCH WORK FOR INTERVIEW. I AM INTERESTED IN MICROBIAL GENETICS AND INDUSTRIAL MICROBIOLOGY....

Eigen has a good point. Have you been reading through all the recently published articles in this area? Is there something that jumps out at you and really interests you? From there, you can try to look for gaps. Why didn't they do ______? Could ______ be done and would it be valuable?

Choose a topic from regular biology, but do it on a teensier scale.

The point of you having to prepare an outline is you showing that you have defined interests and ideas for research projects.

Asking other people to suggest topics for you does not show that.

As Nike says, "Just do it!" Seriously. Open up a Word processor document and just write down whatever thoughts come to mind. They don't have to be in the form of a coherent essay right now, it's just important that you get over your fear of writing and jump in, and the easiest way to do that is to simply start writing. Alternatively you could brainstorm a list of main ideas/points you want to cover and make an outline on a piece of scrap paper and start from there. I, too was really intimidated by the thought of writing my SOP, but it was easier once I came up with a plan and got started. Whatever you do start soon because you will want to have plenty of time to revise. I have revised my SOP at least a dozen times, maybe more than that.

Well, I applied last year without contacting anyone and didn't get accepted anywhere. So I thought this year I'll change my approach and be more "interactive". I've heard that once you have a POI interested in your work, they might help get you into the program, if they were part of the admissions committee or if they have any kind of influence over them.

Yes, some programs urge applicants to contact professors, and the funny thing is that one of the professors who said it's too early for him to decide now belongs to one of those programs

I myself don't know if I would stay interested into my POI research topic after 2 years from now or I would find another more interesting one in another lab.

Make sure that you read any directions given on a school's website. While most of the schools I'm applying to just give a word/page limit, one school actually stipulated that in the first sentence of the SOP that you MUST mention the school's name and what department you are applying to. That changes everything regarding my entrance of the SOP.

Whatever you put in for your first paragraph, it needs to be strong, relevant and not too wordy/verbose. I think this website explains very succinctly how to make things sharp: http://www.uni.edu/~gotera/gradapp/stmtpurpose.htm

My deadlines are due in early January. This is my schedule so far:

September:
Last week: took the GRE. Satisfactory range for GRE, may need to retest in late Nov. if new scores are on the low scale of the ranges.
This weekend: tighten up CV, read my last POI's articles, contact POIs
This week: Meet with my undergraduate adviser and go over general application materials (talk about GRE scores, GPA and transcripts, look at Writing Sample, and CV). Make changes suggested.
Completed: CV, GRE, Writing sample*

October:Narrow down list of schools and visit the ones I'm most interested in.
Finish first drafts of Personal Statements; start second drafts of Personal statements

November:Order transcripts from college for December pick-up
If GRE scores are good, send them to other schools. If unsatisfactory, restudy for exam at the end of the month.
Final SOP written
Give copy of all materials to LOR writers. Request LORs done by mid-Dec.

December:
[*]Pick up transcripts and LORs
[*]Quadruple-check my writing sample and SOP for errors
[*]Submit everything by December 15


January:
[*]Start freaking out.

I am currently enrolled in a PhD program and had applied to my school twice before. I had also been accepted to other programs previously and was still accepted again after turning down their previous offers. My suggestion - just be honest!

Some applications ask: "Have you applied here before?"

1) Why do they ask?
2) Do they devalue your application if you say 'yes'?
3) What would be the repercussions of saying 'no' if you had applied before?

I was just always curious about this. Thoughts?

Please don't misunderstand the question, I don't mean like, how do you EVER find motivation. But do you ever find an extra spark of "I gotta get down and get stuff done" type of motivation in this? movies? music? some video? reading about someone's autobiography?

Hi,

You can also check this blog http://science-professor.blogspot.com/2007/12/writing-to-me.html

I'm currently contacting POI's based on the advice given in the above blog post. So far, I've got quite positive responses. The worst scenario is that the professor may be too busy to reply, but if that won't give you any benefit, it won't hurt you either!

Good luck

I always do better with getting things done whenever I either have a to-do list or some form of accountability.

Anyone else work the same way? Use this thread to keep on schedule with your applications and SOPs.

Or you can just vent about the application process and all its woes. That's cool too.

This is mainly a question for those who don't have an established relationship with the professors they are interested in working with.

I was planning to start contacting professors July or so (my rationale being I didn't want to email them too early while they were busy with the current crop of admits). Anyone have different opinions?

Related, how much do you tell about yourself in the introductory email? I was going to keep it to one paragraph, explaining my academic background, relevant work experience, and research interests (and how it relates to their work). I wasn't planning on going into details about my GPA, GRE scores, or coursework. I figure if they're interested enough, they'll ask. And I suppose the very first email is to suss out whether or not they're even taking on students (I dread the one-line reply "I am not currently taking on new advisees").

Also, etiquette on contacting multiple professors within the same program? A few of the schools I'm looking at have multiple professors who do work I'm interested in. Is it generally ok to contact all of them and see who is/isn't taking on new students?

Any other advice on contacting potential advisors is welcome. Also, any horror stories to share?

Hi all,

I am wondering how do you make the start of your SoP interesting and encourage the reader to keep reading? I don't want the first line to be some boring line/cliche.

Any tips from people who have written an SoP or are writing one?

Cheers

1. The GRE
1.1. You will have to take the GRE. There is no way out of it. Every program will require this test.
1.2. You are not as smart as you think you are. There is no aspect of this examination thatyou can just “wing.”
1.2.1. It doesn’t matter that you read a lot; your vocabulary is not GRE specificenough. This isn’t an evaluation of your current vocabulary. Begin doing flashcards and learning words as soon as you can – even 10 new words per day is anamazing start.
1.2.2. Math is hard, but not impossible. Cultivate your mental math skills and begin working on this immediately. Make flash cardsfor important definitions.
1.2.3. http://www.urch.com/forums/gre/ is agood resource to work with other people on prepping for the GRE and asking questions. It is also a good source of practice questions to test your knowledge.
1.2.4. Don’t be afraid to take practice tests. I didn’t take any practice tests until the weekend before the GRE because I didn’t want to psych myself out. In retrospect, thiswas a mistake because I never worked on pacing.
1.2.5. Don’t ignore the writing section. This isn’t like writing an essay or a newspaper article. It is a specific type of writing that you should specifically prepare for.
1.2.5.1. http://search.barnes...e/9781402250507is the book that I used to prep for writing – I feel it was a pretty worthwhile investment.
1.3. Start planning early. It is never too soon to begin studying forthis odious test.
1.3.1. The test changes in August – all of the free and available online resources aregeared towards the old test. You maywant to consider taking it early to ensure that you can be as prepared as possible.
1.4. A course isn’t absolutely necessary. I bought several practice exams and a smalllibrary of GRE prep books, but did not buy a Kaplan or Barron’s class. If you’re self-disciplined and can learn onyour own, there are great opportunities for cost savings.

2. Contacting Professors
2.1. You don’t have to contact professors at everyprogram you want to apply to. You canstill get in if you aren’t already besties with your POI.
2.1.1. It probably doesn’t hurt to contact professors at your top couple choices.
2.1.1.1. Don’t be frivolous. Sure, you have an agenda – they know that youhave an agenda in contacting them. Havemore than just your agenda, be familiar with their research and be inquisitive. Don’t just blindly mail outyour SOP to every DGS you can find online.
2.1.1.2. Be formal and respectful. Don’t be hurt if they don’t get back with youin a timely fashion. Avoid txt speak,over familiarity, and so on. Don’t hassle them.

3. Statement of Purpose
3.1. Different schools have different wordlimits. Mine ranged from 500 words to1500 words. Have multiple versions thatyou can submit based on the requirements.
3.2. Tailor it to each university. Make a point to explain to each school whyyou want to go there. Don’t ignore other aspects of your essay, but make sure to include why the university is a goodfit.
3.2.1. Personal Anecdote: I had an incredibly successful applicant season – the only two schools I didn’t get into were the two schoolsthat I cut the “Why I want to go to your university” section from my SOP due to length requirements.
3.3. Read Asher’s Graduate Admissions Essays (http://www.amazon.co...e/dp/1580080421),no one that has read it has come back and said, “That was a waste of time.

4. Writing Sample
4.1. Make sure you have one good piece of academic writing that you can submit. If yourschool is anything like mine, you won’t necessarily have that. Work with your faculty mentor (you have oneof those, right?) and polish up a paper that you can be really proud of. Bonus points if you can make sure to use references from publications that faculty at your top couple of schools have written.

5. Letters of Reference
5.1. Unfortunately, if you haven’t cultivated astrong relationship with one or two professors at this point in the process, itis probably too late.
5.2. Let them know that you’re going to be lookingfor letters of reference from them as early as possible. This will engage them in your application process and will likely get you a lot of insight and advice.
5.3. Gifts are generally inappropriate, as this ispart of their job and they could get in trouble for being seen to take bribes. A thank you letter is neverinappropriate

6. Application Submission
6.1. Something will go wrong. Submit it before the very last minute.
6.2. Schools would prefer to have all of your lettersof reference by the due date, this isn’t hard and fast though. Submit early enough that this is a feasibility.
6.3. Submit everything possible in PDF format. .doc and .docx can look completely differentto someone else than it does to you. It can also be edited, which means something else could accidentally deletesomething or add an unintended typo while reading it.

7. Cost
7.1. Budget for this to be an expensive process.
7.1.1. My average cost per school, including transcripts and GRE scores, was around 100dollars. I ran out of money near the end and had to nudge up against deadlines to afford submissions. I got lucky, I think – but you should plan ahead better than I did.
7.1.2. Visitations are going to incur costs as well. Not every school will be able to fly you out. I spent about 500 dollars on this aspect, and that was also unexpected.
7.1.3. You’ll likely have to pay more once you’re accepted to confirm with your school ofchoice (particularly if it is public). My wife had to pay 45 dollars to Miami University to confirm, I had to pay 200 to confirm with UNC. Plan for this so it isn’t a surprise.


Disclaimer: I didn't proofread this, but I believe it is generally accurate. It is one dude's opinion though, and you should consult other sources. Copying it from word deleted some spaces -- sorry, I tried to fix most of them, but I am sure I missed some.

I feel like it was easier for me, mainly because I *could* go and skip the harder questions first. Even though I didn't use it much, I did use it some and it gave me a lot of piece of mind. Mainly I skipped through the hard ones, and when I went back I felt like I had more time to work on those, and didn't stress out on later easy ones because of the time issue. Which I think is what happened to be the first time.

The times I really disliked that 'select all that apply' was in the verbal section, with the reading passages. With those I didn't find it harder to answer, just more time consuming. Really all of the answers were in the passage, it was just a matter of finding them.

In the quant section, the questions that got me the most were the ones that you had to fill in yourself.

I was rather glad that they got rid of antonyms and analogies, but they have basically replaced it with synonyms in the sentence completion. And the sentence completions are harder because of the more words that you have to use, and if you get one wrong even out of the blanks, you lose that question.

Hey, just curious about the revised GRE because I'll be taking it in two weeks.

How was it like to take it as an adaptive test by section?

Did skipping hard questions and then returning to them later help with completing the sections?

In particular, I really hate the 'select all that apply' type questions. Did any of these questions seem more or less difficult to answer because of the variety of answers?

Hopefully you can share a bit on your experience with taking the revised GRE.

Thanks in advance!

If you can't stand to be around other people drinking then it might be more difficult, but not impossible.
It's unlikely that every student in your program is a raging alcoholic who has no interests outside of drinking, so find out what those are. Find what you have in common with other people. Consider joining any clubs for grad students you find interesting, or even starting one if you discover an activity you and a lot of other grad students enjoy.

If you just don't drink yourself, but don't mind other people doing so then it really shouldn't be too much of a problem. My advice there is go to happy hour with everyone else. You're allowed to go, there's nothing that says you have to order the drink specials to attend. There are non-alcoholic drinks to choose from besides Shirley Temples. At some bars you can bet regular sodas like Coca-Cola, and all of them have the non-alcoholic components of mixers to chose from like club soda, tonic water, and fruit juices. You can order these on their own, or experiment with ordering them mixed together. Tonic water and lime, club soda and cranberry juice, or club soda and orange juice are just some suggestions to start off with.
As for your fellow students, a few might tease you and the best thing to do is just take it with good humor and be part of the joke. If they really won't spend time with you because you don't drink, are they really worth it? It seems to me that they clearly aren't your friends if their acceptance of you so tied to a single condition like that.

I think that if you have a student email, it might be better to use it. But you can use any other email address if it does not have a silly nickname in it

Hi all!

I have a question to those planning to apply for polisci phD programs this season. Are you already in contact with or going to contact professors you would like to work with?

Or is contacting the department and asking if certain professors will take in students in 2012 enough?

I have heard different opinions on contacting professors prior to or during the admission cycle (some recommend it while others advise against it), so I'm really confused. Some people say contacting professors is not absolutely necessary in political science, but I'd still like to hear some insights from others who are about to go through the same nerve-racking process.

Thanks and good luck to everyone reading this! xD

When I was checking out Aero/Astro at MIT a little while ago I specifically remember them recommending that you contact professors before you apply. I would see if the department website says anything similar to that, but based on that I would recommend that you do make contact. The worst that can happen is you are ignored. It's not like the prof is going to blacklist you or anything. They're just not going to remember you or respond.

If you can clearly explain why a non-CS faculty member would be central to your research, then sure, maybe mention them. Otherwise I would stick to CS profs and then try to pursue a novel project once you're admitted.

I have found some profs with research interests and projects which have seriously captured my interest;
I REALLY would want to work in these labs. Of course, with my luck, they happen to be at the most
competitive schools MIT/Stanford/Caltech/CMU.

Two questions:

1. Most people tell me that making contact with potential advisors is a good idea.
However, they say that the most competitive departments discourage this due to the
high number of applicants. The last thing I would want to do is annoy a potential advisor.
Does anyone here have experience with the culture of any of these departments? Should I
or should I not try to make contact?

2. My interests are deeply interdisciplinary, and some of these professors aren't listed as
CS faculty even as adjuncts. However, they have had a history of advising some CS grad students.
Would it be self-defeating then to mention such professors in the application? Would this confuse (or possibly anger) the
admissions committee? Is it possible instead that these departments have a philosophy of letting
some grad students pursue really novel CS projects that include people outside of the department?