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OldDome

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  1. Yeah, I was going to say playing coy little games when it comes to funding isn't the way to go. I say that a someone who does feel uncomfortable talking about money, too! Asking is the way to go. If someone is put off take it as a sign they have their head in the clouds too much. If we didn't love science we wouldn't be in grad school. No one goes to get rich! However, our funding is our livelihood, and there's no way around it. We have to be able to eat and have a roof over our heads while advancing the field. After all, would they be willing to keep working on it's behalf if the institution suddenly stopped paying them?
  2. Thanks for your support guys. I think I was putting too much pressure on myself to get results in a short period of time, so I was majorly strung out. That second lab, at first I wanted to get in but now, to be honest, I'm kind of afraid I will. The PI and I got along well, but the other people in lab and I never really connected. I didn't think it bothered me until I moved onto the next rotation and found what a difference it made being around people who will actually talk to you without you having to directly ask them a question. For that reason, a fresh start somewhere else does just sound appealing. If I'm offered that lab, though, I'm not sure I'll be able to say 'no' without it looking bad, so I'll just make the best of whatever happens.
  3. Well you got in so I'd say don't panic. I would ask for more detail about what they calculated it as and how (there could be a mistake if you really think there's no way it should be below their minimum), and what it would mean for you as an incoming student. Would you be on academic probation, etc.?
  4. Yeah in my field, a non-funded program is not an option period. I know that for the moment, I need to just sit tight, finish my first year, and see where I end up in a few months. However, in the course of this year, I've even kind of gone a different direction in terms of what I want to study and know of other people at other schools whose work I'm interested in.So what I'm asking is, how do I go about contacting them and when?
  5. Timeline conscious, not really. What I could not stand, though, is to have a gap year in which I'm not in school at least doing something. In other words, it's already too late to apply for somewhere else for Fall 2012, and I would not be comfortable just dropping out at the end of the semester and applying to other places for Fall 2013.
  6. As someone who is now struggling with what to do at a school that has funding problems, I will tell you that funding is definitely a serious consideration. However, if the lower ranked school does have adequate funding, just maybe not as much as the other, and is more in line with your reserach interests then I'd say go for it.
  7. I've mentioned this in previous threads, but I have concerns about the health of my department. My field is life sciences and I'm in my 1st year, but I won't go into any more detail than that. So what do I do now? Do I just have to pray that I finish a PhD before my department does belly up, or do I have to just write off ever getting one since applying to other programs now would look flakey? Basically, what are the options if, for whatever reason, you find after starting that you aren't happy with the school you decided on?
  8. I think that what you should do is if there's a program that does start before your official graduation, talk to the people in the department. Explain your situation and ask what the rules are. If you explain that you are done, have passed everything it's just that commencement isn't official until a certain date in August they may make an exception for you. I wouldn't let it stop you from applying somewhere because of when their program starts. Don't assume it'll preclude you unless you are actually told by the program "There's no way that will be possible."
  9. I may get some blowback for this response, but here's what I think: You may not mean it this way but from what you said it sounded like you actually want to go to a different school and are just applying with the hope that you'll be accepted for the sake of a stroking your ego. If that's the case I'd say you might need to grow up a bit. Is it really worth the money you'll spend on taking the tests and paying the application fee to able to spend the rest of your life congratulating yourself on being accepted to John's Hopkins eventhough you never planned to go there? However, if you'd really like to go to John's Hopkins then yes apply. I wouldn't recommend doing so without all of the requirements, though. So if they require the subject test, then take it.
  10. @dif, Glad I'm not alone in this, although I'm not sure that's the smart way to go about it. Mainly because the people in your program, or at least mine are bound to find out! It isn't even that I want to leave but if I don't get in anywhere I'll 'stick it out' in the one I'm in now. Staying would be best for me! There's just so much uncertainty about what lab you're going to end up in and if there will be enough for all the grad students admitted.
  11. I won't lie I am afraid to bring the issue up. However, I don't know what I'm supposed to do if I can't find a lab with funding. I do need someone who can pay me because I have to be able to support myself, not to mention if you have to pay for your own PhD program in science...it's not common at all. It'd make your program and advisor look pathetic if they don't even have the funding to pay their grad students. It is about nothing else other than that. I'm not trying to skirt any issue. I just don't know what will and won't upset people.
  12. There's also other factors that can go into the decision how many schools to apply to. When I was interviewing there was a guy who was interviewing at 10 schools because the person he was actually married to was trying to get into graduate school too, so they needed to end up at the same school or at least the same city. He was a biologist and she was an opera singer!
  13. I'm a first year PhD student in life sciences (prefer not to go into more detail than that). Well there's some anxiety among the first year students because of the people whom they said in interview had funding, about half have now said they do not. I haven't heard much about transfering in graduate school other than people who move because their advisor is. One older student said that it's sometimes better to do so after you qualify because if you do before, they might make you start all over again and take a bunch of course work you've already had. So my question is, if I have trouble finding a lab that can afford new graduate student can I go to another school without just dropping out? If the people in my department find out that I'm considering going some where else, would it be considered a faux pas? Would they be offended and then have it out for me if I don't leave after all or if I ask them for recommendation letters?
  14. Well the first one wasn't the one I really wanted to work with. The one I'm in now I would like to. Most of all, though, I'm just afraid that at the end of all 3 no one will take me. I've been told by some grad students that it's basically never an issue, but if it is they'll just stick you somewhere because, as long as you're in good academic standing, they don't want to kick you out after paying for you for a year. I hope that's true.
  15. I'm doing the second research rotation as part of my program, and it's not going well. I've never felt like such an incompetent idiot. My first rotation ended up going well in the end, but I asked my advisor if he'd be willing to take me as a PhD student at the end of the year and the response was "I'd have to think about it" which means 'NO!' I just feel like at the end everyone's going to end up asking why in the hell anyone let me in.
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