crazygirl2012

Before any new school year, I dream that I get lost trying to find my classes. It doesn't matter how many years I've been at the school or how many classes I have in the building, it's always the same dream and it's always unpleasant! This time, it may actually be legit. My new building is ridiculously confusing! It's like Hogwarts, for Harry Potter fans. I swear those staircases move.

Got it. I was thinking you meant they usually provide a basic swivel chair or something. This makes more sense.

I have the same problem. I've been told my family, friends, other students in my department, and professors that if I don't change, I will make it through grad school but not in one piece. I'll burn out within a few years. Enough people have said it that I can't help but believe them! I'm committed to continuing to work hard, but I also know that what I was doing was hurting my work in addition to my mind, body, and relationships. Yes, I had a lot to do, but I didn't need to work 12-20 hours per day, 7 days a week. My work simply wouldn't have taken that long to complete if I did anything other than work. I think I'm going to try to make exercise an important part of my "free time." I used to love it, and it will help to keep me healthy. Maybe even sane. At least 2 students in my new program work out on a regular basis. That gives me hope that it's possible. Another goal is to sleep 6-8 hours most nights and not to subsist entirely on frozen food-- partly because it's expensive!

They usually provide chairs? I didn't know that! I was just hoping for a desk.

I felt like a prospective undergrad when I visited campus recently. But three people asked me for directions, in addition to the one person who asked me for them on interview day, so I guess I looked like I knew what I was doing?

I'm an only child as well, and as much as I hate the stereotypes about us, it really does make a difference! I value my space and quiet as well. I've gotten lucky with roommates, but now that I'm starting grad school, I'm finding it's worth dipping into my savings and living farther from campus to have a one-bedroom apartment all to myself.

If and when I get into a serious relationship in grad school, I would love for my partner to be another grad student. Really. Preferably not in the same department, probably not in the same field, and maybe even not at the same university. I'll be about a 45-minute drive away from a much larger university. Considering how much I love my personal space and time, that would actually be a perfect distance! And if I do get married eventually, I would prefer to marry another academic. ...then again, I'm a lesbian, so some people are going to have issues with my relationships no matter who I date.

Publications will help you a lot. Your research experience and your focus on one area are great. I'd echo everything Arcadian said. As far as a minimum GRE score, it really depends on where you want to go. Do some searching online and find the averages for the programs you're interested in. Sometimes these are difficult or impossible to find, but it's worth a try. Some programs (mostly the ones that are both large and highly ranked) have a GRE cutoff score. They won't publish that score. If you're below it, they'll automatically reject your application. I think the cutoff scores tend to be in the 1200-1300 range (by the old scoring system) but I could be wrong on that. Cornell and NYU probably have cutoff scores. I don't know about Auckland. Wikipedia has a conversion chart for old to new GRE scores. It's good to know where you stand on both, even though you already know your percentiles. Study a lot for the GRE before you take it again. Not only is it expensive, it starts to reflect badly on you if you take it more than twice. Congrats on your verbal score! Your math isn't half bad either, and it sounds like your writing score was just a fluke because of the misclick. You have the potential to do really well on the GRE. Your GPA is a little low, so your GRE and research experience should help you a lot. Side note-- sounds like you're in social psych? My friend got rejected from the Ph.D. program at NYU, but they accepted her as a master's student even though she didn't apply for the master's program. She had already accepted another school's Ph.D. program offer, so she didn't take it. I don't think it was funded.

Any specific tips for getting involved in the LGBT community in Ann Arbor? I'm not going to U Mich but I'll be fairly close to it. Very easy driving distance. I'd be particularly interested in meeting other lesbian grad students.

I think it's very common for advisors to want you to follow in their footsteps. It doesn't really sound to me like she doesn't care about you. From what you wrote, it sounds like she has different goals for you than you have for yourself. Frustrating, yes, but it doesn't mean she doesn't care about you or your career. The income thing definitely isn't fair though!

10% acceptance rate. 40% interview rate, which is slightly better... unless it just implies that I'm bad at interviews (which I swear I'm not!).

My professors have said the same thing about back/neck/shoulder pain. I'll try to take care of myself in grad school, but I'm notoriously bad at that, especially when I'm disappointed in myself. Health in grad school sounds like a worthwhile goal. I'd imagine it helps tremendously to prevent these problems from occurring in the first place.

Agreed-- my true friendships have been fine, and have grown stronger from us going through this together. I was anything but isolated during the process. For me, that mostly worked out for the best.

One of my best friends applied to a more competitive subfield than I did. She did great as far as interviews and wait lists go, but despite being a weaker student, I got into grad school and she didn't. When my other best friend (same subfield as mine, amazing student) and I were getting interviews, the one who didn't finally told us that it was incredibly awkward when we tried to avoid the topic. She was happy for us, she wanted to hear about this important time in our lives, and she would let us know if she changed her mind and didn't want to hear about it anymore. That worked great-- we remained honest with each other throughout the process and it turned out totally fine. There was one girl who applied to yet another subfield and didn't get any interviews or acceptances. We don't know why. She's a great student. But she and I had a very tentative friendship after years of issues (long story!), and it did fall apart after a relatively trivial argument we had a couple weeks ago. Without the added tension from the grad school issues, I think we would have been fine. In general, my response has been to ignore it. Nearly everything has been said behind my back anyway. That's generally how things work around here! I tried to be very conscious of everything I said. I'm quite insecure and I still worried constantly about being viewed as arrogant. From what I've been told, people didn't think I was, so I guess I succeeded in that regard.

I already accepted an offer so I probably shouldn't care, but the fact that I've heard nothing from 3 of my 10 schools is really bothering me! One of those was after an interview. It wouldn't have been a good fit-- I knew it and I guess they knew it-- but I still wish they had bothered to reject me since I spent a weekend with them. My POI did acknowledge my thank you email, but that was it. Nothing official. I've never heard anything from the other 2 and probably never will.

This is nice so far! I like that you can adjust it for when you're stuck with fluorescent lighting, as I so often am. Thanks! Oh, and here's another thing that might help people with eye strain from computer use: Blinkers You put one of these little eyes in the corner of your computer screen and it blinks every 10 seconds, reminding you to do the same. My blink rate is actually okay, but this can help if your eye strain is caused by blinking too rarely during computer use. The eyes look a bit creepy, but you get used to it. They're pretty cool!

The TV part has actually been good for my time management! I hardly ever watch it these days because it's more painful than relaxing. I've found that reading printed pages hurts even more than reading a screen. I'm okay with it if the light is dim, but if I'm outside or under fluorescent lights, I'd rather just use my computer screen because I can turn the brightness down. Thanks for the input, everyone-- sounds like I have more fun ahead of me. At least I'm getting a head start on learning how to deal with it as an undergrad!

To the OP, I can understand this on multiple levels. I don't have an SO, but I get incredibly jealous and insecure when I think my friends in the department are better than me. It's terrible for all of us, and I need to fix it. Jealousy and comparison are very, very destructive to any relationship. You already recognize that, and you know you need to change. I don't have the answer for you not that one, but it is a problem worth working to fix. Also, psych. Sigh. During my interview day at a highly ranked program, two of the professors commended me for making it this far in the application process as an undergrad. I was ultimately denied because I am a 21-year-old undergrad and they had master's students competing for the same spot. My POI was incredibly nice about it, expressed interest in my future, and even said she hopes I'll consider being her post-doc several years from now. My undergrad advisor is only 9 years older than me and she was amazed by how much more difficult admissions have become. I don't know what kind of psych you're going for, but if it's clinical, you can't take anything personally. Clinical psychology Ph.D. programs are now more competitive than med school.

Has anyone else been told that grad school is very tough on the eyes? I've heard this from several people who have been through grad school or are going through it. I've recently developed chronic dry eye, and it sounds like grad school might make it worse. I'll deal with that if/when it happens. I try not to worry about it and to just focus on relieving the symptoms I have this year. Still, it's hard not to be concerned!