TakeruK

In short, yes, that is where you made the mistake in your answer above. For this particular question and questions like it, i.e. no relationship given between A and B, you can manipulate the expressions if you want but only within each expression. e.g. if A was written as X^2 (1 + X), you could rewrite A to be X^2 + X^3 if that makes it easier for you to plug in the numbers for test cases. Some extra information that might be helpful for other questions: Note that you're not quite correct that you can cross-multiply only when there is equality between the two expressions. You can also cross-multiply inequalities, for example, if you have the expression: 3A / (B+C) > 4 (assume B+C > 0 so that this is a valid expression) It is still correct to rewrite this as: 3A > 4(B+C) However, if you are multiplying by a negative number, you must flip the inequality, so the above action was only valid if B+C is greater than zero. If you know B+C is less than zero, then the expression becomes 3A < 4(B+C).

My strategy was to apply to only top schools, public and private but mostly private. I applied to both Astronomy and Planetary Science programs and I only applied to departments ranked in the top 10 in their field, mostly top 5 schools (although to be fair, there really isn't that much of a difference). My spouse isn't a student but we approached the applications as a partnership and only chose to apply to places that would be good opportunities for me (school/academic wise) and for my spouse (career developement wise). And since we have lived in several different types of places before this, we felt we had a good idea of the geographic locations we would like / not like. So, that helped to narrow down our list of schools. The reason for my strategy was that our ultimate goal is to live in a certain geographical location after grad school and postdocs. It's where we want to raise our family and be close to our own families. Since academic jobs are super hard to get, I figured that limiting myself to a single region means that I better be an awesome candidate, so I only applied to the best programs. The strategy was that if I didn't get into a top 10 program, it would severely diminish my chances at an academic position in this geographical region so there was no point to go to all the way to the USA for grad school---I could just find non-academic work where I want to live, for example. In addition, since Canada (my home country) does have some pretty good schools (equivalent to rank 20-30 schools in the USA) that I know I could get into, there was no point applying to any school in the USA that didn't provide something Canada could already provide to me. The other reason for aiming very high is that these top 10 schools are often well known names to non-academic employers as well, which would improve my chances at a non-academic job where I want to live in the future. As you can see, this strategy was personal to me and my goals, so it might not work for you. I'm a postdoc now and I applied this same strategy and thinking with applying to postdoc positions. So far, it has been working out for me! One thing to note, although looking for trends and knowing that public schools are tough for international students is an important thing to factor in, aberrant makes very good points about the right fit. It ties in with my point too, I think: If a school is limited by funding to only admit 1 or 2 (or fewer!) international students, they are going to try to admit the ones that are the best fit. At this stage, the committees are looking at the "cream of the crop", the "best of the best" candidates that applied, so I think there is no question on whether or not the students they are considering are good. So, a lot of other factors become less important (e.g. GPA, GRE, etc. since a 3.95 GPA and a 3.89 GPA are basically the same) and what matters is how well the student will fit into the program and advance the department's goals. Finally, in the sciences, although some or most of our cost may come from the department, we are also often paid out of grants by our PIs, so there is some "personal" cost to whomever accepts us. This is why having a good connection with (at least one) professor's research is helpful. Sometimes people say to reach out to individual PIs but whether this makes a difference depends a lot on how admission is decided. e.g. at many places, a committee makes the decision and profs who aren't on the committee have no input, while at other places, everyone in the department has some input and of course there are in-betweens (committee makes decision but consults with the profs mentioned by the candidates). But whether or not a PI can advocate for you personally, it is certain that demonstrating good fit with several profs in your application will increase your chances of getting into the program.

In general, private schools admit way more international students than public schools. This is because public schools have a greater fraction of their funding from the government and therefore charge lower tuition rates for in-state students. Although most states will allow American students from other states to gain in-state residency after a year or two, international students will never achieve in-state resident status. This means that at these public schools, an international student often costs 2 or even 3 times as much as a domestic student, over the course of their PhD degree. For example, the U. Wisconsin boasts about having one of the highest international student rates in the country, which is about 12%. However, many private schools have much higher rates. I think if you plot the fraction of international graduate students at each school, you will see all of the private schools clustered at the 30% to 50% level while the public schools cluster around 8% to 10%. For astronomy programs, this also means about 0.5 international students per year. When I was applying to US schools as an international student, my profs all recommended that I aim high and apply to the private schools even though it could be intimidating to apply to. It could be easier for an international student to get into a private school ranked in the top 10 than it is to get into a public school ranked in the top 20. Their advice turned out to be right---I did get offers from many private schools and rejected from most of the public schools I applied to. The school I ended up going to was a private school in California, where almost half of all admitted students are international. Two more things to note: 1. It seems like there are more international students in the sciences and engineering than other fields, but I don't have hard stats on that right now. And there is certainly more international graduate students than undergraduate students (in terms of fraction of students). So, if you are applying to a science program and you can't get the fraction of international students in that dept, you can check the campus-wide number but know that it's probably a little higher. For example, your Harvard BBS number is about 24.9% international while the campus-wide number for Harvard is 4900/22000 which is about 22.3%. This is a small difference though. 2. For science programs, I've found that population is pretty steady over time, so taking the total number of students and dividing it by 6 will get you a good approximation of the number of students admitted per year.

@samman1994: What you describe actually sound very normal for science research positions. (Note: Not saying that it's the majority of situations, I don't know how it's split up, but I know many scientists working on these types of contracts). For example, many of the scientists working at NASA are actually on contracts. The only people directly employed by NASA are actually US government employees, and they do hire many scientists and engineers of course. But a lot of scientists actually work for USRA (Universities Space Research Association) and NASA contracts scientists from USRA to work on NASA projects. This is generally helpful because the US government has pretty strict rules on who it employs but less strict rules on who it contracts to do work. If I had to guess, I would say you are likely to get a W-2 from your recruiting company (i.e. your employer). The 1099 isn't just for any contractor, it's specifically for independent contractors. The relationship you describe between you and the recruiting company sounds like an employment relationship instead of a contractor relationship. You're working as a contractor for the pharma company, but you're not actually contracted by them. The recruiting company has a contract/agreement with the pharma company to provide X workers with Y skills for Z hours, i.e. the recruiting company is actually the contractor, and you're working on behalf of the recruiting company, your employer. So, the shorthand is to say that you're a contractor for the pharma company, but do you see how it's a little different? If you were an independent contractor, you would be setting your own hours and negotiating wages directly with the pharma company. But the only way to find out for sure is to ask your employer (i.e. the recruiting company). So, if the difference between W-2 and 1099 matters to you at this stage, then you should ask the recruiting companies when you apply to them how you will be taxed (i.e. what form you will receive). It might not matter at this stage though, you can (and should) ask again before accepting any contract.

Good luck on getting a resolution!

I'm sorry to hear this, this must be stressful. I have had similar financial issues too, especially for the few years where I was paid in 6 month lump-sum installments from Canada while I was a student in the US....those last few weeks when bills were piling up and waiting for the cheque to arrive were stressful. It sounds like your school is back in session and I would encourage you to talk to your school's financial office / bursar today. Visit in person or give them a call to see what's going on. Maybe the stipend payments are happening in a few days instead.

I came to write exactly what fuzzy said. Also, if it helps to know, you are not alone in having doubts about your decision to begin a PhD program. Maybe this program and/or PhD programs are not the right fit for you, but either way, it's not like whatever you decide to do for the next few months will lock you into a path for the rest of your life. I hope you can find ways to take care of yourself, and give this program some time so that you can make the best decision for yourself!

Job by job. If it's a giant company that regularly offer contract/term positions, you might be able to find information about what are typically offered if you talk to people who have done these things etc. And many of these things are at least vaguely described in the job posting. But even if you do find information, since contracts can be individual, it's still a good idea to do what rising_star said with the actual offer you have.

Definitely use the first three. Let the 4th person know that you are applying and asking #2 (current research PI) for a letter. Ask #4 if she would be willing to talk to #2 about your work since you work most closely with her. Assuming she says yes, when you ask #2 for the letter, you can say that you talked about your application with #4 and that #4 could provide more information about your work if #2 wants/needs it. Also agree with only submitting 3 letters unless an application specifically asks for four.

Every school does this differently. You must consult each school's website to determine this for yourself and if you are not sure, you should ask someone at the department. But before you send an email, you can almost certainly find this information online if you know where to look. Here are some places to check: 1. The Course Catalog (at US schools) or the Course Calendar (Canadian schools). i.e. the document/book that lists every degree and program the school offers as well as their requirements. The name of the degree is often listed here. 2. Find a copy of the school's most recent graduation ceremony, where it may list the names of the degrees that participants marched for. Many schools post this information online. 3. Check the department's website. Note that this can be a little less reliable because the people that write info for department website are generally not the same people that determine what the degrees are called. So the department may use informal names that don't correspond to the degree. That said, the degree name is not very important. The work you do in the degree will be a lot more important. Being in a cross-disciplinary field myself (my PhD says "Planetary Science" but my work might fit into any school's Astronomy or Physics or Planetary Science programs, depending on how each school organizes itself), I paid attention to job requirements when applying to jobs. I found that within academia, I did not see any posting that absolutely required an applicant to have a specific degree name, it always says, "X or related fields". And outside of academia, I see a lot more focus on requirements listing specific skills or experiences rather than degree name.

If you feel that the program director or field instructor did not work with you enough to write you a letter, I think you should first ask the school you're applying to if they will accept a letter from your field supervisor instead. Just to clarify if it is a strict requirement or if they are just suggesting these two people to avoid people getting the wrong idea and sending in letters from personal references etc. If they insist on a program director or field instructor, I would pick the person that knows your field supervisor the best. Then, ask your field supervisor and your chosen person to write you a letter, explaining the application requirements. They probably know what to do, but if not, you could suggest that it's a jointly signed letter or that your field supervisor write the letter for the other person to sign, or that your field supervisor provides the notes so that the other person can write a letter based on their notes to supplement what they know about you. The last case is really common for other fields, not sure about yours. When I supervised an undergrad's research one summer, my own advisor was technically the mentor. I met with the student almost every day and my advisor met with them every 1-2 weeks. But a letter from a grad student won't be very helpful to the undergrad student so at the end of the summer, I wrote a list of notes for my advisor to use to write a reference letter for the student in future years.

As @cowgirlsdontcry said, most US and Canadian PhD programs are indeed fully funded. Depending on your field and the school, having an external scholarship could mean additional funding, extra prestige, or more research freedom/opportunities. But it's certainly not "necessary". Note that these external scholarships are usually limited to citizens only in the US and Canada (with one or two exceptions). Most international students with external scholarships in North America won them from their home country's government (e.g. I took a Canadian fellowship to a US school). I am not about the situation in Europe though, and some countries (e.g. Canada) have a small number of limited scholarships intended to attract the best international students to their country. So, my advice is not that you must get a scholarship, but instead to encourage you to also look at scholarships and to prepare to apply for them earlier than the schools application deadlines (for North American ones). In addition, some of them will require someone at the school you want to go to nominate you (e.g. one of the Canadian ones for international students) so keep that in mind for timelines too!

This is a complicated situation and it is probably best to consult with a legal expert, such as an immigration lawyer. Briefly speaking, in order to maintain permanent residence (green card) status, you must be able to prove that you are primarily living in the US and that you intend to make the US your permanent home. Generally absences for long periods of time will jeopardize your green card status. However, it is not clear whether or not being away due to schooling is an exception. This is where consultation with an immigration lawyer could be really helpful. In addition, if you are male and are between the ages of 18 and 25 (don't have to say here), then I think there is a requirement to register for Selective Service if you are interested in citizenship later on.

My advice is to do both. You should be applying to fully funded programs as well as looking for external scholarships (generally government funded). For most of these programs, especially in the USA and Canada, getting the scholarship and getting admitted to a specific program are independent processes. For example, it is possible for students to win the NSERC/SSHRC/CIHR (in Canada) graduate scholarship or the NSF graduate fellowship (in the USA) but not get accepted into their first choice school. Almost all of these scholarships will have some restrictions. Many are very flexible and basically just require that you attend a school in their country working in the field you applied to. These are easy to handle and you will be applying to them in addition to applying to schools. Many schools, especially in North America, will ask if you are applying to these external fellowships as well and your status. Tell them whatever information you know at the time of application (sometimes there are cutoffs/shortlists so if you have been informed by the scholarship committee that you are on the second or third or whatever stage, put it in your application). The major scholarships of this kind in Canada and the USA release final results in April/May, so it is usually past the decision deadline. However, if you do win such an award and the school you want to go to has not accepted or rejected you yet, let them know! Sometimes these scholarships are meant for specific schools only. For example, the Rhodes Scholarship is meant for students to study at Oxford in the UK. In these cases, I would still recommend applying to these very competitive awards as well as any other schools with funded programs that you are interested in. Pay attention to each of these scholarships to determine whether or not applying for the scholarship is also an application for admission or if you have to be admitted separately. For both general and school-specific external scholarships, sometimes you are expected to work with a prospective advisor in order to write a research statement, or get an endorsement from the school that you plan to take your scholarship to. So, pay attention to the requirements and plan for these extra tasks accordingly. And, if you are contacting any faculty members prior to applying to their school, be sure to note whether you are applying to any of these external scholarships as well. One last thing to note since I think both of you have expressed interest in US and/or Canadian PhD programs: Although it does depend on field, in general, the external fellowship/scholarship deadlines are earlier than the school PhD application deadline. In North America, most fellowships are due in September, October, or November, while school application deadlines are December through February. Many of these scholarship application are as involved/complex as a school application, including requests for test scores, transcripts, and letters of reference. So, if you are planning to apply to these, start your research early so that you know when the earliest deadlines are, so that you can ask for letters, take tests, and order transcripts etc. in time.

Why not do both? It's a feedback loop anyways, for example: 1. Find an article related to your interests. Read abstract / skim paper to determine if it's related to what you want to be doing. If so, note the name of the principal authors. 2. Search for author school + topic 3. Find more names. Look up their papers. Go back to step 1. Keep repeating until you feel that you have a good feel for who's doing what in your field. You'll build a large list of schools and faculty and what they're doing (I summarized their research in 1 sentence or like 4-5 keywords). From there, you can then create shortlist of where you'll be interested in. It's a good idea to get feedback on the shortlist from your undergrad advisors or other mentors. They might ask if you have considered X or Y and if you have but ruled them out for some reason (location, lack of funding, etc.) then that's fine, but if you haven't, then add them to your list and do the above steps to see if you add any more names to consider.

This is a common scenario for interdisciplinary fields. When I was applying to grad schools, I was in a similar situation for the two subfields that I was interested in (outer solar system rocks and exoplanets). The profs/groups that do this work are often in Astronomy or Planetary Science departments, but sometimes in Earth Science, or Physics, or Geology, depending on how each school organizes the fields. So it's far more important to search for the topic rather than the department name. Thinking about your next step: after you find the profs, then it's a good idea to talk to them about whether or not you must apply to the department of their primary affiliation, or if you could still work with them if you are technically a student in a different department. If it's not required to be in their department, or if they are in multiple departments, then you should determine which department is a better fit for you. Some things to consider are: - Does your undergrad degree / experience matter to the department? Example from my PhD dept: You can study Mars either as a geology student or a planetary science student, but far more geology undergrads enter through Geology than Planetary Science and vice-versa for physics/astro undergrads. This is not to say that you can't enter a grad dept without an undergrad degree in the same, but it could make it more difficult. - What are the course requirements of the departments you're considering? It might be better to choose the department with more elective/flexibility in courses so that you can take many courses in the other dept. Also, going back to the above example, a lot of Planetary Science required courses are very math heavy, often using math that isn't typically part of a Geology undergrad degree. Having a non-ideal background might mean you need to take some extra undergrad courses to catch up. - What are your interests beyond your core research interests? Good scientists should be well-rounded and have interests beyond their dissertation. So, what are the kinds of science do you want to think about when you're not thinking about your dissertation? For exoplanets (my current subfield), I chose planetary science because I am interested in the other planets in our solar system, and how we could apply the techniques used to study Earth to study other planets. However, some of my colleagues chose Astronomy because they are interested in learning about how stars form, how galaxies work, etc. - Where are these departments physically located? In some places, related departments are next door or maybe even just different floors of the same building. In others, two similar departments can be on opposite sides of campus (or maybe even in opposite sides of the city if the University is distributed through a city. You might want to be in the same place as your advisor, cohort-mates, classes, etc. Hope these are helpful things to think about!

I think you are right that other POIs are not likely to remember all these details. It's not like profs keep detailed notes of every conversation they have with every person. Also, I do not think the worry that someone won't take you because you're a better fit elsewhere. That's not really how admissions work: every school/prof wants the best fit students they can get. The other POIs have no idea if you are even interested in the other school, or if you will be admitted there, so they aren't going to assume that you will turn them down because of the "better fit prof". In addition, maybe this is not the case in fields where the prof has to come up with funding for every student (not sure if History is a field like this), but in the sciences, sometimes when a prof says, "I'm not planning on taking students next fall" they might really mean, "I'm not planning on taking a student like you this fall", or "I'll only take a student if they are exactly what I am looking for". I've known many profs tell people that their groups are full but then some applicant comes along that fits super well and they end up taking them anyways. If you are still wondering about the best response to other POIs saying, "Have you talked to <best fit prof> yet?", I would suggest saying that yes, you have and thank them for the suggestion. I think the other POIs are saying this not because they want you to talk to best fit prof instead, but because they are trying to be helpful and also good colleagues think about their colleagues work as well as their own.

Oh yeah, forgot about DRDC! Also, if we are thinking of non-military but still public service / Canadian government positions, the other parts of the Canadian government do hire psychologists. You can search for "psychologist" here to see what is available: https://emploisfp-psjobs.cfp-psc.gc.ca/psrs-srfp/applicant/page2440?fromMenu=true&toggleLanguage=en I saw that right now, there are openings for Psychologists in Correctional Service Canada as well as CSIS (Canadian Security Intelligence Service).

No. What would be the purpose?

Hello! A while ago, my spouse and I did some research into very similar questions, although we didn't end up on that path. The short answer is that there are career paths listed on the Canadian Forces website that describe the amount of training you would require (military training as well as speciality training). Depending on the career, sometimes the training is done as part of your military training and sometimes you get your training outside of the military. If you are in the military while in school, they generally pay for school, but you are expected to serve in the Forces for some period of time (approximately the same amount of time they paid for your school, I believe). But I guess it's not super clear to me when you say "work in the military" whether or not you mean "work in the military as an enlisted member or officer" or "work in the military as a civilian contractor". Generally, if you want the Canadian Forces to pay some or all of your educational costs, you will have to join the forces. Here are two Canadian Forces programs: - University (Bachelor) level training (ROTP; Regular Officier Training Plan): https://www.canada.ca/en/department-national-defence/services/caf-jobs/education-benefits/paid-education/university.html - Graduate level training: https://www.canada.ca/en/department-national-defence/services/caf-jobs/education-benefits/paid-education/graduate-programs.html (Note that there are only four career paths where the military will pay for graduate level training right now). When we searched for Canadian Forces jobs/careers in the past, and with a repeated search this year, there does not seem to be a "Psychologist" position within the Forces, which would suggest to me that the Canadian Forces does not directly hire and train their own Psychologists, but would instead hire them as contractors. In this case, it seems like you would want to get your own training and then apply for any contractor openings they might have. Here is a link to the civilian job opportunities info page for the CF: http://www.forces.gc.ca/en/jobs-civilian/civilian-job-opportunities.page That said, we did find that the Canadian Forces does have some military jobs that are related to psychology, depending on what type of work you want to do. Here are some careers that showed up: Social Work Officer: https://www.canada.ca/en/department-national-defence/services/caf-jobs/career-options/fields-work/health-care/social-work-officer.html Medical Officer (includes aspects of psychiarty): https://www.canada.ca/en/department-national-defence/services/caf-jobs/career-options/fields-work/health-care/medical-officer.html Personnel Selection Officer (includes aspects of development psychology): https://www.canada.ca/en/department-national-defence/services/caf-jobs/career-options/fields-work/administration-support/personnel-selection-officer.html To search for other career options in the Forces: https://www.canada.ca/en/department-national-defence/services/caf-jobs/career-options.html These obviously aren't positions that involve being a Psychologist in the military of course, but I included them here since I wasn't sure if you were looking for opportunities in the forces to do work similar to psychology / help people in this way, or if you want to find a way to pursue a Military Psychology career with the forces. If it's the latter, it seems like becoming a psychologist first and then working as a contractor probably fits you better. The above is mostly about the clinical side of psychology but if you are interested in the research side, you probably know that there are many Universities that study military psychology. Also check out the Canadian Institute for Military and Veteran Health Research: http://www.cimvhr.ca/ Finally, this is all non-expert advice from someone who had looked into similar things 5-7 years ago and then refreshing that info with a bit of research after reading your post. So, I hope it gets you a starting point to find the information you want! Definitely talk to a recruiting office if you want more information about what programs/careers the Canadian Forces are actively hiring/recruiting today.

I have not, but my friend did this for all of grad school. Encountered no real problems at all, and it worked really well for him. He mostly worked on the Mac OS but had to use Windows for a few specific software.

Is this the only computer you will be using for ALL of your work? If so, I'd second Eigen's suggestion of getting a big monitor. In addition, I recommend an external hard drive to use as a time machine backup, getting apple-care, an external keyboard and an external mouse. From my experience, working for long periods of time on a laptop at a desk creates very poor posture and tons of ergonomic problems. If you're using it for all of your work, I highly recommend getting everything else so that you can have a proper keyboard/mouse setup and when you're at your desk, you basically just plug your computer into your monitor and turn it into a desktop. I'm assuming you have some budget to spend, so I would say you should first prioritize getting these accessories! I think they will do way more for your quality of life and productivity than the specifics between Pro vs Air, for example. Once you have budgeted for these necessities (in my opinion), then just get the best computer you can get with the leftover funds. There's quite a big price point between Air and Pro, so unless you have a $2000+ budget, you will probably be looking at the Air. (In that case, I'd recommend the higher end Air with a better processor and larger hard drive).

Oh okay. To me, since you also have your work, it sounds like it is much better to just apply abroad and not do the 1-year of PhD preparatory courses. If you have to pay for these preparatory courses, that's even more reason to not do them unless you have to. If you really want to go abroad for your PhD, I think it's best to focus on that. You're not that old so if it doesn't work out and you have to spend an extra year next year for preparatory courses, it's not that much time.

This is a personal choice. How much work would it be to register for a PhD in Egypt? At some points in your post, it seems like you just need to apply, so it doesn't seem like more work than applying to another school abroad. But at other places in your post, it sounds like you might have to write some exams and such in Egypt? Again, this is a personal choice, but if I was in a similar situation, I would choose to apply to schools abroad and within my home country in the same year. However, in my field, there and home country, there is no extra work required to apply to schools at home, i.e. it's just another application, like the ones abroad. If applying at home is a significant amount of extra work and you cannot do it all, I think it's better to focus your energies into doing a smaller amount of things well than to spread out too thinly and do a large number of things not so well. In this case, since you want to go abroad more than you want to stay, I'd apply abroad first and then in Egypt the following year. However, you say you are searching for "scholarships" abroad. I am not sure where you are applying to, but most North American PhD schools don't have separate scholarship applications. You would just apply directly to the PhD program and if there are scholarships available to you, it will be part of your funded offer.

To add to fuzzy's great advice: - For profs you want to work with, one thing that has worked well for me was to let them know at the beginning and then set up a followup meeting to actually start the project. In my PhD program, we are expected to work with 2 profs on 2 projects during the first year. I set up my first project during the admissions process and most students don't begin the second project until January-ish. But I knew who I wanted to work with so in September, I talked to that prof to tell them about my interests. We discussed possible projects and decided on something for me. We also decided that I won't start working on it until December/January so we decided that we will meet again later that year to really start work on the project. I liked this format because it helped me to know I already had something set up and that if I did get some spare time over the next few months, I could start doing some reading on the topic on my own. In addition, profs only have so many places for students, so I wanted to ensure I would be able to work on a project I really wanted to work on. This worked out for me, since this project eventually became my thesis project. - I find that for discussions with faculty members beyond work topics, it's easier and better to let the faculty member take the lead at first. Definitely consult with senior students to see how the program feels. Relationships with your fellow students are different though! Especially with your cohort, it's up to you and your cohort-mates to decide how you want to interact with each other. So even if it's not typical for grad students in your program to hang out with each other after work, if you and your cohort-mates want to do so, you should! The thing with grad student culture is that it has a high turnover rate as people leave and new people arrive. Obviously, as a new first year student, it would be awkward if you tried to change how the 4th and 5th year students socialize, but within your own cohort, you should feel free to find the balance that works for you.