process chemist

Its been a while, but here I go. Got a TA assignment at the start of my 2nd year that I wasn't thrilled with. I taught the class before with a different professor, no problems. With this instructor, the person is just so, what's a good work, annoying. They micromanage every detail of your grading, gets upset with you after the head TA reviews your grads and finds nothing wrong, accuses you not following the rubric, etc. In addition to this, my other TA assignment requires me to sit in a freshman lecture 1.5hrs on MWF, and write a lecture and activities for a recitation section on Wednesday and Thursday night. This is seriously starting to eat into my research time, even on Saturdays and Sundays, just as I was starting to get some really good data. Is this common, I am seriously considering leaving my program with my MS, and going to another school more graduate student focused. I feel as if I am only here to teach lab, and everything is ancillary to that. I am wondering, what is everybody else's TA situation. I am in Chemistry if that helps

Just found it a little odd that this tread is not up and running for the 2014 application cycle yet. Some programs are starting to take applications this month, and most will be due by the end of the year. I have no horse in the race, as I am in my 2nd year in a Chemistry PhD program. Although I thought I was never going to get in anywhere when looking at some of the people who would post here, I found it comforting that I was not the only one checking my e-mail like crazy after my apps were in. Anyways, Best of luck to the hopeful cohorts of 2014!

In a P/F class at my school, a F counts against your GPA, while a P doesn't. You should talk to your graduate program director, as he/she will have a better hold on your department's/ university's governance policy. Why did you think you dropped the class when you really didn't. The grad school and the grad program chair probably won't look favorably if it was just pure negligence on your part. Also, in most programs an F in a class brings you gpa so far down that you pretty much would have to withdraw from the program, so you may have a bigger problem on your hands unless you had a 4.0 the previous semester.

So I just finished my first semester in grad school towards my MS in Chemistry. My boss has shown great confidence in me as a student and as a researcher. My first year went rather roughly, as I was put on probation after my first semester. The second semester, I literally bussed my hump to pull 2A's and 1B to pull my GPA to good standing with the university. I also didn't manage to do a lick of research. As it stands I have a 3.00 GPA, and my boss is pushing me to stay in my current program to get my PhD, but I have a few issues. First, the program is not really highly ranked, although we have profs from Stanford, Purdue, UMich, etch (pretty much every school in the top 50 rankings), and we have arguably one of the better NMR facilities in the country, with great and knowledgeable support staff. I really want an tenure track academic position at a research university/research medical center where I know I can get some quality students, get research funded, and make a solid contribution. I don't think this is the place that will get me there. And I have already burned up my mulligan course work wise, so I am walking on the razor's edge if I stay here. The way the profs grade graduate students is sort of harsh. Grad students are graded like undergrads, and we are not really graded on higher level thinking/problem solving skills, only with the exception of a few classes. We even have weed out classes for a bulk of the grad students in one branch of chemistry ( I am not in that branch, but everyone has to take the class if you are going after the PhD). Myself and two other people in my cohort were put on probation after the first semester, and I think I am the only one who got off at the end of this semester, and one of my other friends just checked his grades and now he is headed to probation. We also had a student leave after the 1st semester, as the program wasn't a great fit for her, and she was having trouble with a prof in a grad course. The prof literally disliked this person and sent her harassing e-mails (not of a sexual nature). It was so bad the department head had to be brought in to solve the issue. So in a cohort of 13 we had nearly half of the students bounced out after the first year. I talked to my prof whose class I got a C in last semester, and we both agreed that I wasn't prepared for the class, as I am not a traditional student, and hadn't taken Organic Synthesis in close to 8 years before I stepped into her class last fall. You can't drop classes in our program, so you either you pass or you fail. I am really at a crossroads in my career. Should I take the risk, and go through the admissions cycle again to get to a higher ranked program? Or should I be loyal to my PI? This guy is great, I love the work, he is approachable, he brilliant, and he wants us to succeed and do great work. He was a post doc in one of the foremost experts in the area that I want to pursue research, and they still talk to each other frequently. I think that may give me a leg up with his recommendation. I just feel bad for not doing what he is asking me to do. I also don't know if my stats are good enough to get in anywhere else, as my undergrad GPA is higher than my grad GPA, and I probably won't get a publication before the application cycle starts. I want to work with specific profs at other schools, and I am worried that if I take this plunge, I will be stepping on toes, and may end up with nothing but a MS in the end. I am so confused.

I was off for 5 years, and that was difficult. My adviser took off 4 years before he started his PhD and he warned me at the beginning of the 1st semister that this semester will kick my ass. It did. The thing about working before going to school was that I worked so hard, that I just wanted to go home and relax. But this can be overcome by being disciplined and trying out new things until you find your groove. This semester is going much, much better than the last. Currently pulling an A-/B+ work, but it takes discipline and a change of thinking.

At my school typical is 3 lab sections with teaching and grading responsibilities.

This is a fair question to answer at grad recruitment weekend. Some of the grad school chairs offer this information, but you may have to ask: "Can I start working in the summer for Professor___________. I am really interested in his/her work.

It depends on the school. Where I go, the town is definitely a small college town, but there is not much in the way of apartments. Since I lived in the area, I went to look at apartments the Thursday before visitation day. I looked around and all of the complexes were 50% full for the upcoming school year. What I suggest you do is go to visitation weekend and talk to the current grad students. Our grad students were hella helpful. They provided a list of apartments, and an itemized budget based on the standard student stipend. This is helpful because you need a sense of the average utility/water, cable/internet, payments in the area you are going to school. If you can start some research in the summer, you can find a place then. Or you could just get a Realtor, and have them look for some places for you. They will know the places that have specific grad housing and grad sections in certain complexes.

I am a guy, but I will try to add my two cents. I would not say there is much difference in how men and women are treated; but, that depends on the personnel that are in your department (if you are in academia). Some (not as many now, <5%) profs. have certain cultural biases or feelings about women in certain fields. There was a professor that on of my coworker had a professor in the mid 90s who didn't believe that women should be engineers, so he would give all of his female students a hard time, and you had to take his class because he was the only one who taught Transport Phenomena at that time. All professors are not progressive in their thinking. There are affinity groups for women in the STEM fields (SWE (Society of Women Engineers), Women Chemist (ACS)), where women can get support/ encouragement. Pros: 1) The money 2) The ability to be a leader. Women are making great strides as leaders in the STEM fields, and as executives in Fortune 500s. 3) Doing what you love (hopefully) Cons: 1) When you get a job, business policies are not necessarily women friendly. Most women work until they are 8.5 months. I really feel sorry for them because they all work until they pop, and only get ~3-4 months of maternity leave. My mom got an entire year when she was pregnant with me. But you really can't do anything about that, as it is standard business policy for most companies/firms. 2) In a corporate setting, the STEM fields are populated, overwhelmingly by white males. Be prepared for the alpha male personalities, and pissing contest that go on. 3) Discovering that you want to do something else. I have a friend who was a great Chem. E. Graduated with a 3.8 GPA Chem E/Physics major. Got hired at a great company, made >$70 K a year (entry level), and generated over 30 million in revenue for her business unit. After two years, she knew she didn't want to be a Chem. E. because the work wasn't interesting anymore (She was more of a project manager than a Chem. E). She wanted to be a doctor, so she quit, and is finishing medical school this May.

How easy is this. Myself and at least two other fellow graduate students in my cohort are seriously thinking about switching to Chemical Engineering. We just don't see ourselves doing a PhD in chemistry. It makes no sense to waste two years getting enough credits to get an MS, then re-applying to the same university for a MS in the ChemE. program. I think we are starting to have these conversations and looking at the job market for PhD chemist, and we are coming to the conclusion that we are not in the right field. We have already had two students from our 11 student cohort leave the program, as they were not happy with the program, and some felt misled (faculty member left during the summer, but was still telling students that he was going to be here); and one student came here to work with the only theoretical chemist in the department, to only be told when he got here that the prof wasn't taking students so the kid gets thrown on some project he doesn't want to do. I know that I am not happy in this department , but I don't know how to proceed. I have friends at other universities who aren't havinga hard time like we are here. Some of us (me included) are TAing three lab sections with grading/exam proctoring responsibilities, in addition taking classes, and doing research. Some of the classes are almost to the point of insanity, but semi-doable if you don't get bogged down doing TA activities (I spent 50% of my time last semester doing pre-labs, grade changes, and grading). I guess this is the downside of going to a smaller program.

Turn it In is a solid choice. Many schools have licenses for it.

Earlier today I got an e-mail from the head of the grad advising committee saying that I was in "grade trouble". I got a B+ in my adviser's class, but a C in a class that is not related to my research or my interest, and I was the only one in the class with a C, everyone else got A's. I have been out of school since 2007 when I got my BS, and my advisor told me that this first semester was going to kick my ass, but I didn’t expect this. I spoke with my professor, I did my assignments, I like most others in my class passed the first test, but didn't do too hot onthe last two, and I got a 90 on my final paper. The average on the last test and final were ~60%. Given, the class was an ass kicker, and the prof's English is not good. Every test was 3hrs long (all were open note and open book), and everything on the exams came from SciFinder. Literally, we would be taking a test with protecting groups/reactions/reactants that we have never seen before. And the book/notes weren't really helpful. Like literally, one of my classmates was allowed to use his undergrad book on all of the test; that is how helpful the notes and book were. I spoke to my grad advising chair, and she said that I need to get no lower than an A- in both of the classes that I am taking next semester. Is this realistic? One of the classes is my adviser's class, but it is only worth 2 credit hours, and I need to replace that C with a 3 hour course. I only have one option to fill that slot and it is another organic class. Our program really doesn’t offer that many classes. And the classes I could take would be classes that I have been warned against taking (both from adviser, and other grad students). Other grad students tell me that the class is easy, and that you can get an A, but it seems like I have a high mountain to climb. I know I have nobody to blame for this situation but myself, but the only C? I am really questioning my ability to succeed in grad school now. I really feel like quitting, and just getting a regular job and doing something else with my life. I mean regular job like warehouse work, carpentry, UPS, etc. This kind of stuff really leaves a bitter taste in my mouth towards Chemistry. I had a class like this in undergrad where every undergrad in the class got their ass kicked throughout the semester, only to get a C or a D. I have known for a while now that I am losing my passion for the subject, and this really confirms it. I have thought for a while now that I should just find something else to do.

As far as I am concerned, Med. Chem and Synthetic Organic are dead fields. They prepare you for two directions: 1) Jobs in Big Pharma, that don't exist anymore, 2) academia, which you will have to do at least 2 post-docs to have a shot at a job. I just switched from synthetic organic to Organometallic /Inorganic Synthesis in my first semester. I knew I wanted to work in Catalysis, but not from a purely synthetic view point. I went through the same thing. I was sitting in Organic Synt., bored out of my mind, and I knew that wasn't the area for me. The work seems convoluted, but the Inorganic synthesis and spectroscopy that I learned in my Inorganic lecture caught my interest. I feel that I will have many more career opportunities working in a broader filed. Just do what you love. Is it a possibility for you to switch programs at the same school. If I were you, I would talk to your Biology professor, and see if he/she can arrange for you to work in her lab, or see if she can help you change grad programs. From the politics stance, you are never going to find yourself in a situation (unfortunately) where adults don't gossip, play politics or have favorites. The way people acted in high school, is literally the way they will act the rest of your adult life. I worked as a researcher in corporate america before grad school, and the same thing happens there. I got work dumped on me, people gossip, they set people up for failure, etc. You are never going to get away from that. You just have to put you best effort forward, but you also have to build a rapport with not only your fellow grad students, but with the office staff, and other professors besides your boss. So when the gossiping starts, your mentors (professors with who you have a rapport) can speak favorably about you in the midst of the gossip. The office staff has helped me more than I can imagine with everything from paper work, scheduling, getting classes next semister. These people are invaluable resources.

I went in with the though that I wanted to be a synthetic organic chemist. I had the epiphany while I was taking my second Org. Synthesis test that I didn't want to become a synthetic organic chemist, but that I wanted to do Organometallic/Inorganic chemistry. I just fell that I have wasted time in a class that I don't care for, that is frankly so hard it is beyond comprehension. I rather enjoy my inorganic lecture, and am doing very well. I had to hurt some feelings because I had to completely rework my adviser selection, but the dept. head said it was no problem. I just have to put my head down, and trudge through these last few weeks to get out of this organic course.

I am 28, and I am the oldest in my cohort, and one of the oldest grad students in my department. The average student in my department is ~21-22 years old. I heard someone talking how another grad student was old, and he is 26?! I socialize with my cohort (going to trivia, going to our favorite dive,etc.), but I do feel like the old guy in the bunch. I do things outside of school (running buddies, social aid organizations, etc) and that helps. I graduated a year late from college, and worked for 5 yrs. in industry before deciding to go to grad school.