[I feel like dying...]

Small quibble but I haven't been accepted to my top choice. I've been accepted to a good school in an expensive city with little to no funding for the first year, when I already have $68,000 worth of debt from undergrad. I assure you I am as anxious for other results as anyone else.

Ah, I see. Didn't know about the funding issue but I vaguely recall you using "top choice" when describing your acceptance to one school in some earlier post and UBC is the only school you've gotten an acceptance to so far, hence the post prior to this one. Maybe I'm mistaken. In any case, good luck! Depending on your program and your skills, you could always find RA positions once you get there (esp if you have programming skills that could be useful in other departments or your own, though I have no idea about how research in religious studies is done or even if you need to use computers to code up stuff).

[Academia is like an abusive relationship]

Sure, I still have the occasional rough patch when a major project or application is due, but overall I'm much calmer and happier now.

I get everything done. Ahead of time. Without working 16 hour days or pulling all nighters. Every evening, I spend time with my husband and relax, and every night I get 8 hours of sleep. At first, I was super worried that if I wasn't going crazy, I wasn't working hard enough. Now I'm finally getting confident enough to know that if my supervisor is happy and I'm happy, it's enough.

I used to be the guy who would submit assignments late (in undergrad)or never. I now do as mudlark says she does.. I get time to spend with my wife. We go out to ballet performances, go out to dinner, celebrate every other occasion (the most recent was of course V-day and the Chinese New Yr just preceding that). The occasional movie..so its all good. I work from 9am-6pm or so everyday. When an assignment is due the next week, I do it little by little and finish it over the weekend prior. So instead of getting -ve points for late submission which I used to, I'm getting bonus points for extra effort on math modeling assignments these days because I enjoy doing stuff that says much more than what the questions ask for. So this doesn't have to be all torturous.. I have 300 exams to grade this week, I have to review a paper for a conference, I have to write my own for a journal, and I also have to handle my own research..I'll soon start a second project with a professor at a different dept. My adviser thinks its a good idea to try and produce a paper each (with my own adviser and the other guy) every year. So yes, you guys are right..there's too much going on but isn't it fun trying to balance all of that? Well, unless you have trouble at home and such.. The downside to this is that I don't get time to exercise which I would very much like to do, I also don't get to play the piano as often as I would have liked to but I'm trying to somehow figure things out so that I can incorporate those into my schedule as well.. So yes, its crazy but its also fun, at least for now I'm only in my first year. So we'll see if I think the same after 4 years.

[I feel like dying...]

In the immortal words of the great poet Frankie Goes to Hollywood: "Relax."

It's still so early. Don't panic yet, and just enjoy the fact that - while you were waitlisted - you weren't rejected. That's a good sign!

Good advice but its easy to say this when you have been accepted to your top choice I was in a similar position last year. I got an acceptance from one of my top choices on the 23rd of January. My more illustrious friends didn't get admission letters until March (they were applying to Physics PhD programs whereas I was applying to Linguistics/Psychology PhD programs though my masters was in Physics). I was an outcast for those three months nothing I said would convince them that they would end up with acceptances.

[Worst GRE Story]

Yea, ETS is horrible! Sue them!

I was responding to the guy who said that he fell asleep. The reasons people come up with! Blame that too on ETS? ("They should have had snore detectors installed, eye tracking equipment and alarm bells installed to prevent people from sleeping, they charge so much money! Its the least they can do!")

[Worst GRE Story]

It's really sad that so much importance is given to the GRE that your other achievements are completely overlooked.Despite having good grades and academic history my application was rejected only because of my poor GRE scores.

They get hundreds of "good grades + academic history" applications. GRE is just one aspect of the application that may or may not keep you out of the race..but to say that the GRE is not indicative of anything at all is wrong, I've argued for it in another thread and really don't have the energy/time to discuss that again. People really should stop complaining about how the exam is structured. Dummies did not design the test. Trained professionals did.

[Is a PhD ADVISOR same as a PhD SUPERVISOR?]

I am a bit confused about the usage of the terms PhD Supervisor, PhD Guide & PhD Advisor.Are these terms used synonymously or do they have different meanings and functions?

Please help.

I've heard the term "guide" being used in India and "adviser" in the US. Supervisor probably in the UK? In any case, I'm pretty sure they mean the same thing.

[Computer Assisted Music Theory / Analysis ?]

I don't know too much about tonal analysis software - I remember hearing about programs that analyze large amounts of certain highly stylized kinds of music (Bach Chorales, for example), I believe they then extrapolate algorithms from these analyses and use them as a way to automatically "compose" in the style. I've been trying to remember some of the people/programs but can't really recall.

you mean this?

Also read: Larson, Steve (2001).Dear Emmy: A Counterpoint Teacher's Thoughts on EMI's Two-Part Inventions. In David Cope, Virtual Music: Computer Synthesis of Musical Style. MIT Press, 237-262.

[Changing advisors]

A professor I am seeking to work with recently told me that it is acceptable and understandable that a person's area of research may change multiple times over the course of his or her PhD work, in which case changing advisors would seem to follow (depending on the degree of change in research). It would be a bit tricky if you were to sign on with one advisor with the intent of switching advisors at some point, but I suppose it could conceivably be done.

I agree with the above. I was chosen by my current adviser and he was the sole reason for my being accepted to the program. So naturally I felt a sense of obligation to work with him (also because I liked his research). I'm really happy with my decision to accept his offer as I'm doing some pretty cool work with him now and wouldn't trade advisers for anything (even if you offered to have the biggest name prof in the dept advise me). However, had this not been the case, I'm pretty sure the department wouldn't have kicked me out and I would have been able to switch advisers. Before accepting the offer, my adviser also put me in touch with 3 other faculty members whose work interested me and told me I was free to collaborate with any of them. So you would always be able to do lab rotations and stuff and collaborate with the professor you wanted to work with but it would be healthy (and professional) to work for the professor who got you in and like others have told you here, if you are sure you wouldn't be happy working with him, you really should convey the message to the department and ask if you could hope to work with the other guy for your dissertation. If the answer is no, you probably shouldn't go there and consider other offers more seriously.

[Losing Faith in a Program's Selectivity?]

1) Is this true? I was under the assumption that grad schools don't want people with potential, but rather people who have already developed skills, know what they want to do, etc.

You'll be amazed by how sometimes high achievers break when they get to grad school whereas some others (who may not have had stellar grades but have shown clear signs of being successful in grad school) fit right in. I didn't have stellar grades, didn't have professors who thought highly of me because my research interests were never in "high energy physics" or "condensed matter physics" which were the only research areas that professors were interested in where I did my undergraduate degree. As you see, I'm now in a Psychology PhD program at a very decent school. My current adviser saw the research that I had (almost) independently done which was something he was exploring to use in his own research. I've been here for a quarter and a half and have started writing my first first author paper for a top journal. Some others, who got in with university fellowships, have been crumbling under the pressure (I can't give you too many details here).

So be careful not to overestimate your ability to succeed in grad school based on just your performance in undergrad. Also don't underestimate the other "lazy" guy's potential. I was constantly labeled a lazy guy at my ug university. The postdoc in my lab now tells me very often that I'm way more hard working than the others in the lab and I've been making much more progress than them. Its unfortunate that I have to make this argument using my own case as an example because it might not motivate you to take me seriously.. but I take that risk while saying this because you'll see what I mean when you start a grad program. Grades suddenly won't matter.. what will matter is your ability to come up with ideas and your ability to implement them efficiently. So the advice I have for you are to set your priorities right at this point because when people go into grad school with this kind of mentality, they are sometimes shocked by how different grad school is from undergrad.

[ETS raised the price!]

I wasn't debating anything about capitalism's merits. Actually, ETS is a non-profit monopoly, so it has nothing to do with capitalism. I fail to see why you're comparing it to a publicly traded health care company which has shareholders, pays taxes, is subject to scrutiny by outsiders and is in competition with other companies ... it virtually has nothing to do with anything I said about ETS. I never said for-profit publicly traded companies shouldn't make profits, so bringing up Wellpoint is pretty silly and distracting.

I think that $94 million in profits is excessive for a company that has been granted non-profit status based on their mandate to serve the education system. You can think differently; it is subjective.

While I agree you have reason to say this, from the site that you referenced: Revenue of $879.7 million; Expenses of $785.6 million.

Now I would expect a profit/loss of $94million just by random error of calculating expenses looking at the total expenses! Don't you think that's reasonable? No company is going to calculate conservatively its estimated expenses (which they use to decide on prices of services). That would be the end of the establishment. It would be good to look at what ETS used its profits for. Did it all go to the CEO? In any case, like I said, 94m when total expenses = 800m is to be expected out of any non-profit organization which does not want to go bankrupt.

[Funding Packages: Care to Share what you have been offered?]

Wow, you guys are rich compared to me! I am here with my spouse (who cannot work due to visa restrictions) and I get paid 1500 (after taxes) per month. What I would give to get that extra money to help support a child (which we intend to have in about 3 yrs from now).. excellent offer that is from CMU!

[Getting along with other students in the dept...]

On 2/17/2010 at 10:40 PM, fuzzylogician said:

To expand on this, you don't need to be friends with everyone in your department, though it's good to have some friends even if you have an active social life outside your department. I personally find it impossible to be friends with too many people, however it is important to be friendly with everyone. It's wise not to make enemies among the other students. Just in a very practical way, you are likely to need someone's help at some point in your career as a student, and you want to be able to get it.

I do think it's important to occasionally help out with things you don't really care about, and chitchat with people you don't particularly care for at department functions and parties. But there's no need to impress anybody or be their friend.

^ Exactly my view and experience.

[how can I reply in this case]

That is unfair! I don't understand why some of these people are so unreasonable. I can't offer a solution, good luck!

[help.. my advisor makes me want to die]

I am in the sciences. I have an M.S. and I am currently working on a Ph.D.. My experience with advisers in the sciences is that they are all completely stressed out, wack job, bat-shit crazy assholes (my apologies to any advisers on the forum). My Masters adviser said extremely rude things to me on a regular basis, and my Ph.D. adviser is no better (possibly worse, actually). The last time I had a one-on-one meeting with him, he compared me to one of his Masters students and told me "If I were to compare you to [so-and-so Masters student who has done such-and-such amazing things] I would have to say that you didn't do very much this semester." He also said that taking care of my child is "a personal choice" (as if I can choose not to care for my kid if I want to) and that I shouldn't let it effect my work. I just had a meeting with him last night in which he told me that a recent draft abstract I sent to him for comments was "sloppy and half-assed" (his words exactly).

So, bottom line is, don't sweat it. Your adviser is just displaying the same asshole tendencies as every other adviser in the sciences. I get through it by telling myself that:

1. It probably has very little to do with me, but in reality is more a product of the fact that my adviser is completely stressed out for whatever reason (e.g. my adviser is currently about to come up for tenure review, and he has very little to show for his last year of work). I believe the short description for this is "Shit roles downhill.".

2. I think of grad school as "academic bootcamp" and my advisers as "academic drill seargents". Their job is basically to "beat you into shape" academically speaking, and they can't accomplish this by "being nice". You wouldn't expect a military drill seargent to "be nice" to his cadets, so why expect an academic drill seargent to be that way?

So, just suck it up, put your head down and do what you have to do. Recognize your adviser's BS as BS, learn whatever lesson you think this BS might be able to teach you (but know that sometimes, BS is just BS), and let the rest slide off like so much runny shit off a hot tin roof.

I made very similar observations of the people in Physics where I did my undergraduate (and masters, combined) degree. It was supposed to be the best program in the country for Physics. However, the work atmosphere was terrible.. students using the choicest of abuse words when professors weren't around (for very good reasons might I add), professors intentionally insulting students, etc. This was one of the MAJOR reasons why I decided I didn't want to do research while being at a pure sciences department. I'm now in a behavioral and social sciences department and I LOVE the change in atmosphere, much more reinforcing behavior here, more support and hence I've become much more efficient and hard working. I still do my Physics, its just that I apply those techniques to behavioral data.. its fun!

[Columbus AND Athens (or alternate university towns in OH)]

Hey, we're in similar situations here so I thought I'd share my thoughts. I'm currently applying to OSU for English, a program that my boyfriend is already in. It is the only school that I applied to in Ohio. I applied for English so that's a totally different situation than an MS. That being said, I can rattle off some universities that I know little about as far as program info for your wife, but that I know are close. There is Capital University which is in Bexley, I don't know about their graduate program. Case Western, among others, is in Cleveland, I know a couple that are in a situation going to OSU and CW and commute between cities on weekends. Denison University is in Granville, which is even closer and they have a graduate school. It's only about 40 minutes from DT Cbus. I don't know how far Oxford is, it's probably more than 1.5 hrs, but Miami University is there and a good school. OU is good and Athens is a cool college town in the foothills, its about 1.5hrs away. U of Cincinnati is about 1hr 40 min. U of Dayton is 40min.

That's the extent of my knowledge. Sorry if you already know a lot of this, just trying to help!

Hey, thanks! Was immensely helpful, I didn't know any of this (except for OU and Case Western). My wife will be applying to engineering MS programs, so have to check if these schools have the relevant graduate programs. She's writing the GRE this month and so we were trying to make a list of other universities she could potentially apply to. Traveling weekends wouldn't work for us.. we need to be together (to keep us happy as well as her parents as she's never lived on her own prior to this, so living alone is not an option). Thanks anyway, and good luck with your application!

[sub 3.0 GPAs]

LOL

You're not exactly correct. It is not below acceptable for "ANY department". However, for posterity's sake I did retake and I am choosing between fully funded offers as we speak.

I believe in the end I did a 680/540 or something like that. After the first offer you tend to forget, or, I did. It is no longer relevant and for that I am too grateful.

Also, update your acceptance status in your signature

[sub 3.0 GPAs]

LOL

You're not exactly correct. It is not below acceptable for "ANY department".

Well, you wouldn't really know since you retook and improved your quant score by around 200 points! Good for you

And yes, I do think it would be below acceptable for any department. A 340 would be way less than 50% percentile..(correct me if I'm wrong. what was your percentile?) I know that a score of 780q was at the 90th percentile or so (only a vague memory but I think this is an accurate estimate from what I remember of my score). I wouldn't think top 50 schools would be really pleased with a 30%ile score on any section of the GRE.

[sub 3.0 GPAs]

My GRE is just ok 680v 340q 4.5writing. I'm retaking to see if I can work on that quant. This semester I'm working in the aforementioned superstar's research institute doing research and writing a grant! I've received great feedback from my SOPs.

I'm applying to cultural anthro programs. Ten cultural anthro programs. :/ I'm trying to up my chances of an acceptance.

Hi.

Did you really mean 680v and 340q? If so, I'd worry about that quant score and I would most definitely retake the test after some SERIOUS preparation for the quant section. 340 is way below accepted standards for ANY department. This is not to scare you or disappoint you but I've never heard of a quant score equal to or below this that you have got. So do consider retaking because it looks like the rest of your profile is going to be competitive, don't let your GRE scores keep you out of contention..

[Columbus AND Athens (or alternate university towns in OH)]

Hi guys,

So I'm already attending school in Columbus, OH. My wife is applying to grad schools now. There are a few things I need to know:

1) What are the good universities at driving distance from Columbus (other than Ohio State University, of course)?

2) If my wife gets into one of these universities (other than OSU again), how feasible would it be to live together and still make this work? Hers being an MS should require her to attend classes and stuff and should not require her to work late hours. Mine being a very demanding PhD program requires me to work late hours and weekends, so we would end up staying in/close to Columbus. So I need suggestions for universities to which she can drive from Columbus to attend classes. So ideally within a 1hr-1.5hr drive. Anything more than that would be difficult..

Has anybody done anything like this and made it work? (I'm sure there are people who've done it.. do let me know your thoughts). Thanks.

All these issues would be solved if she gets into OSU. So fingers crossed that she does..

[Northwestern - Confusion.]

1) I'm at Northwestern (but not ChemE). I don't believe the fellowship office does RA assignments. I recommend that you contact the professors directly by e-mail.

Same advice. Also there is probably a web page somewhere that announces RA jobs (look at other related departments too.. you might be able to collaborate with professors from other related depts towards your MS thesis, so start reading about research activities of related departments, eg: biomedical engineering?) I know CS students who get RA positions in Psych depts (we hired one ourselves) for their programming skills. So ex[and your search to other departments while keeping a lookout in your own. Good luck.

[Awkward Interview situation]

It's a Ph.D. program. It was never my intention to have my partner attend all of the weekend's events, though perhaps this was not made entirely clear.

We had a girl interview here and she was accompanied by her boyfriend who was admitted to another dept here. He attended all the informal sessions, even the one on one interview with her prospective adviser (well, because he was interested in him as well for future collaborations). In any case, the professor (who is my adviser) told me later that the interview situation was a little awkward. I'm guessing that this (his being there) had something to do with it as well. Your situation seems to me to be a case of misunderstanding on their part. They probably interpreted it as if they would pay for him as well and if they would let him attend your sessions along with you. Maybe you should shoot off an email to the director of grad studies (who emailed you) and make this clear. Depending on his response (which would tell you if it indeed was a misunderstanding), this might be a reason for you not to attend. It is strange for schools to convey this kind of a message to a prospective student even if they don't approve of a request simply because their intention is (or ought to be) to have you accept their offer. This might actually be a blessing in disguise for you. Its always better to realize such things before you start a program! Also like somebody else said, if a current grad student thought it was important enough to send you an email, it means that there was some pretty strong opinions voiced about your (seemingly simple) request. You may want to consider your option here with care. 5 years and a PhD program is demanding..the last thing you want is an uncomfortable atmosphere.

[ETS raised the price!]

Why would it be unfair to make the actual test more expensive? If it costs ETS $200 to administer the test, shouldn't people taking the test pay $200 instead of making those who choose to apply to more places have to shoulder the burden? Why should one person have to cover the costs of someone else's test?

Valid point but think about this: if you choose to apply to more places, it probably suggests that you have the means to do so. Why would somebody not apply to 20 different places while you do? So this could be seen as a concerted effort (by both ETS and the universities/govt(?)) to level the playing field (financially). So if a person with limited means chooses to apply to the 4 universities (that ETS would send the scores to for free) and if another person chooses to apply to 13 universities regardless of the expenses, it probably means that the former person should not have to take the burden of additional costs because you're talking about a chance at education here.. there are more important social factors to consider here than just black/white equal responsibility of test takers. But yes, you raise a valid point but this is how I'd argue against it.

[ETS raised the price!]

A university is more than a dispensary of books.

That was a hypothetical situation :|

[ETS raised the price!]

LOL WTF.

Did you just go off on a tangent about grade inflation? What does that have to do with the ETS. Are you 5?

That would explain a lot.

Dude, tone it down. She isn't throwing insults at you, is she? While I agree with your reasoning in this thread, I do not agree with how you've been responding to JerryLandis' posts. I think we've both made our point as has she.

[ETS raised the price!]

However, I have "sucked it up" during my time at university and have still managed to pull off a GPA that is high even by grade-inflation standards.

That explains why you don't see that others need "standardized" scores to be evaluated fairly. While you may be this super genius (I'm not being sarcastic, this may very well be the case.. though not judging by your intuition of how business or the real world works), there might be hundreds of other deserving candidates who have more diverse interests than just keeping their GPAs intact (while being brilliant at the subfield they are interested in) regardless of how strict the professors were with grading at their undergraduate institutions,who might want to compete at a more standardized level. And GRE scores are not used in MAJOR admission decisions anyway.. I mean, these are not used as final word, mostly just for screening purposes, funding decisions (you may miss out on a university fellowship and instead land a TA job if your GRE is not high), etc. In any case, I'm done arguing with you as you don't/won't see my (what I thought was a) simple point.