SeriousSillyPutty

Yeah I've been bombing the midterms too. I just got a 48% on a Thermodynamics test that is about a third of my grade. And it was a fair test, half of it was directly from homework or worked class problems. And I studied. Then in another class that had 4 essay questions, one of them was to list 4 things out of an article, and I didn't remember the four things. Then in my stats class I knew what I was doing, but used the wrong number (no idea why -- brain fart) for one of the big multi-part problems. So yeah. I wish I could say, "Gee, I guess I shouldn't have gone to so many keggers that week" or something, because then I would know what to change. But, I'm hoping that I will get more used to professors and the swing of things. I can say with confidence that I am trying my hardest, and so then it's up to the professors. And I have other things in my life (volunteering and such) and that helps me to keep a little perspective. Good luck!

I'll put in a biased plug, because, hey, why not? It might be interesting to go to cities with a large refugee population, and as I understand it, those tend to be medium-sized cities... Albany, NY, Columbus, OH, and my personal favorite, St. Louis, MO. Here in StL, we have a lot of west African refugees, and our International Center is important for helping all refugees (and perhaps other immigrants?) get on their feet. WUSTL has a really small program, but they're really flexible with what you study, and I know there's one prof (whom I don't reall know) who does international comparative stuff, I believe comparing urban education issues. I did my undergrad at Michigan State (not in education) and Lansing also has a decent immigrant population, and a respectable ed grad school. I really liked the environment up there, but I'm an easy mark for greenery and ice cream. Good luck!

I dont' really know, so I'm just guessing here. At my school many of the education faculty have dual appointments with other departments (psych, African American Studies, Urban Studies, maybe some others) and actually spend more time in the offices of their other departments, yet the seem well respected within the ed dept. I don't know what their degrees were in... hm, that could be something to compare. Education has become so interdiciplinary, that it doesn't seem that strange to me. Good luck!

I can't help you much, but here's a few things to check out: This is a good blog post with some information on determining how good your chances are with the program: And you may already know about this, but U.S. News & World Report (a weekly news magazine) publishes rankings of schools. Here's their page for grad school education programs: http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-education-schools I would recommend reading up on some professors at the schools you're interested in whose fields seem similar to yours, and seeing if it aligned. Many department websites list graduate students (well, at least PhD students) so there might be students you could contact for their perspective. Good luck!

First off: NO. NO Teach for America. Absolutely not that. Not only because it's a two-year commitment (starting a year from now), but also because it's not something to go into unless you want to be involved in urban education for the long haul. Being passionate about one's subject and having a deep concern for the well-being of our nation's young people is simply not enough to be successful. (Yes, I know they market it to pre med/pre law people, but it's not that simple.) Moving on... I second the suggestions about tutoring and/or teaching ESL. Getting out of the country -- and even just working with people from other cultures -- is rewarding in its own right, but also gives lots to think and write about. Italy hires people to teach ESL camps during the summer through an organization called the ACLE. That was a neet experience, though I don't know that it would have been financially practical if I hadn't already been in Europe at the time. Ad agencies might have internships that would put you in contact with industrial writers and other creative types, as well as give actual writing experience. I bet lots of non profits would love to have someone write copy for them, but I doubt that would be paid. Or, of course, you could just win the lotto. That makes everything better, right? As a side not, have you heard of Write or Die? It's a website where set a goal and then have to keep writing until your goal gets met, and if you stop too long it starts making really annoying noices. Great motivator for just getting ideas down on "paper". Good luck!

3.14.15. Ha! That's great. I approve, though I want to get married enough that I personally would let two decimal points suffice. Anyway, Mole Day (10^23) is next Tuesday, so I say you wish the couple 6.02*10^23 lifetimes of love and happiness together, but explain your concerns. If she's half as geeky as you claim, she wouldn't want you to alter long term doctor plans, would she? Two years is PLENTY of time for her to find someone else. Or, you can just say that you wouldn't know for sure until a year before the wedding (or whatever your schedule would be), which gives her enough heads up to find someone early if she wants, or to wait and ask you again closer to the time.

Yeah, the tricky thing with SOPs is that you want to address the holes they may see in your experience, but pointing out the holes yourself can make things look bad. Sometimes a difference in tone can help: Instead of a tone that presents your experience as a substitute for what they're looking for, ("I haven't done biostats research, but I've done some economics and that's the same thing, right?") shoot for a tone that presents your experience as a confirmation of what you'd like to do moving forward: "My thesis on the Japanese economy taught me [all the stuff you said] and introduced me to how fascinating and insightful numbers can become once properly analyzed." Not that you would ever say the first version, but you get the idea, I hope. In the second way you're still communicating to them that you have some experience with data analysis, and if they recognize the utility of that, great! But, if somebody doesn't think it's at all relevant, then your point still holds; people can argue about how much an experience "counts" but it's hard to argue about what you learned from it. Good luck!

If you haven't yet, you should re-post this in the chemistry forum, as they may have more subject-specific insight as far as the timeline of things. On the one hand, I think you should stay at least a semester, but I would recommend letting an advisor know some of your concerns now, so that it makes it easier to drop the news later. Is there someone to whom you can say, "Hey, I'm not having the reaction to this I thought I would; how common is this situation? What can you recommend?" You want to burn as few bridges possible, and if there's a professor/advisor who is invested in you, they probably don't want to feel like they got "played" for a free master's, but, at some level, they probably do care about the general health & wellbeing of the people around them. Getting them on your side now will make them more sympathetic to whatever you decide. I went through a bad bout right after college, teaching when I was ill-prepared to, was not doing a good job teaching, and got clinically depressed. I didn't go into details with him, but I did try to get some advice from the principal and share that I was having some issues in my class. That led to my eventually leaving mid school-year more of a mutual decision, as opposed to me for "abandoning" them, and them being upset over it. Naturally those weren't the people I would seek out for recommendations anyway, but since that was my only job out of college, they were still the kind of place future employers would want to check in on (plus this city can be a small world), and so I'm glad I didn't leave on a totally bad note. Now, I ask the following as someone who loved my undergrad major (physics) and yet has no desire at all to be a physicist, so I don't think it's crazy that someone might study chem and not want to be a chemist: If you were to get a master’s degree in chemistry, would you want to use it? What did you like about chemistry before that made you want to study it? Why does it not interest you now? If nothing seems as interesting any more, it might be worth considering that all the stress of transitioning to grad school has put you in a funk, in which case student health services might have some insights and/or someone to talk to. If you just don't get to focus on what made you like it as an undergrad, then maybe there is some other field that can channel your interests more (chemical engineering? pharmaceutical sales? science journalist?). Good luck!

San Jose? What a great city! I was there in 2008 when they had a bunch of cow sculptures around the city. Anyway... In the description of the job, it will probably be obvious that it is part time, and if you give dates it will be obvious that it is at the same time as your primary job, I don't know where you're applying, but I have another note about wording -- hopefully others can comment on if my concern is culturally specific: Here, the title "Professor" is usually reserved for tenured, experienced people with doctorates, while newer professors are "Associate Professor" or "Assistant Professor". The term used for professionals who also teach a class is usually "Adjuct Frofessor". You may want to use this term, as my first thought was, "But why would a professor be applying to grad school?" Again, just a thought, and others may have other experiences.

Hopefully someone else can comment more directly on this, but here's a little food for thought: The further along one is in life, the more direction one should have, I think. I worked for five years between undergrad and now, and even though I didn't do anything on the job that helps me with my "job" as a student, that experence very much informs my attitude about what I'm studying and why I'm studying it. I also think, becuase I'm a bit older, I am more concerned with what happens after the PhD, even though it's such a long ways off. So, I'm trying to reverse engineer what I should be doing no to end up where I want to be... because, frankly, while I'm excited to be a student now, the fact that I'm going to still be at student at 32 when peers are a DECADE into their careers makes me a little uncomfortable. (And yes, I know there are plenty of folks older that me on here... not trying to project on anyone, just sharing a my neurosis.) So if this cohort member seems to be scheming and networking a lot,it would make sense that someone who has been a student for that much longer also feels that much more imperitive to make sure round 4 of secondary education gets her where she wants to go. Or look at it this way: Aruguably, you could both graduate at the same time, then you could go watch TV for four(?) years, and then still be where she was at your age. If she's like me, she doesn't want the time before this program to have been wasted, wich means mustering all the experience and professionalism and networking skills and whatever else one gains with time, and putting it to her advantage. So I wouldn't worry about it. Instead, think about how much more you would worry if you felt you were getting a late start. (And keep recreationally reading; it's good for the soul.)

The good news: My classes in education are fine so far. The bad news: As part of my program, I'm supposed to earn the equivalent of a master's degree in physics (which was my major, five years ago) and physics is kicking my butt. I thought that it would get easier as I got into the swing of things, or that I was just spending too much time on my other classes and once I put more time into physics I would make sense of things, but no. Can't do any of the homework, with notes and book and sometimes even answers, and I won't have any of that come exam time. I know I wouldn't have been accepted into the PhD program in physics, so it's not exactly imposter syndrome because I'm not fooling anybody. The more good news: Everyone is nice. Nobody is trying to make me feel stupid or give me a hard time about taking classes with them. But I'm still failing, so... now what? :-/

After I moved to this city for work, I'd say it took me a good two years to feel really "established" socially -- to have people I could ask favors without feeling guilty, to have a couple close friends and a bigger ring of people I knew and could hang out with, etc. Hopefully in grad school there is a higher percentage of people newish to the area and looking to form friendships, so it won't take as long, but don't be discouraged if it does take awhile -- it WILL come. I second (third?) the idea of getting to know people outside the department, and doing activities even if you don't feel you have time for them. (After all, you can't do go school work if you're not healthy, and that starts with being emotionally healthy.) And I don't like the phrase "overly bubbly". I mean, compared to ice tea, Sprite is "overly" bubbly, but it's perfectly bubbly for what it is. While I guess one should be respectful of, say, office mates who prefer quiet to chit-chat while they're working, you shouldn't have to curb your personality just to fit in. Good luck!

I am very thankful that the transition to grad school was made SO much easier by the fact I didn't have to move. I am especially thankful that I get to keep my support network and don't have to start my social life from scratch. But. <rant> All of my community involvement stuff is KILLING me this past few weeks. It's crunch time for a community thing I'm a coordinator for, and I've been slacking on getting it together. There's a family I hang out with and kids I mentor, who I would usually try to see every week but haven't seen for three. I'm a "Big Sister", and my "Little" is great, but spending time with her eats up my entire Sunday. And then there are the things where others aren't neccessarily depending on me, but I know are important if I want to stay emotionally healthy: I don't want to ditch my friend who I used to hang out with once a week, and it's important to me to stay involved in my church so that I can keep perspective on things (and, again, maintain my support network). I'm stressing out over spending time on events I care about and often people I love because I'm running out of time to all I need to for class. </rant> I've warned the kids that we won't get to spend as much time together, and once I've taken the older ones to the library so we could ALL work on homework/reading. One of the committees I'm on I can bow out of at the end of the semester. Church and friends I can always bail on if neccessary, I just don't want to get into that habit. Is anyone else having trouble turning down everything else in their life as they ramp up grad school?

Yeah, I was trying to reference a previous post that used that term, and was hessitant about it myself. It can suggest (erroniously) that the only positve role models for kids in low-income areas are wealthy/educated/privileged outsiders, which is far from true. In my (only mildly informed) opinion, low income neighborhoods aren't usually short on positive role models, they're short on kind of privilege that comes just from knowing people who have applied to college, filled out FAFSA formed, traveled abroad on the cheep, have connections to good employers etc., because it's easier to pick up information from them. If these people also have good character, they can be useful role models.

Interesting. Okay, I'm a first year who hasn't published a lick, so hopefully more informed voices will chime in. But for now... A lot of departments have some version of an independent study, or a "research methods" course, or at least some thing that they enroll the PhD students for when they're working on their thesis. If something like this is on the books, then to me it wouldn't seem out of line to say, "Hey, for this independent study course, could my project be to work on a paper with intent to publish?" If you're not trying to get out of other requirements so much as trying to document your experience on your transcript, I don't think that would look bad. (Of course, if you have to pay per credit hour, I'd just go for the free mentoring, if that's an option.) I'm sure it all depends on the vibe of the professor. Maybe after you meet with the prof again you'll get a better sense of things. Good luck!

Ooh I was just reading about this! In George C. Galster's paper, "Urban Opportunity Structure and Racial/Ethinic Polarization", he introduces a model of "life choices" within the context of (you guessed it) urban opportunity structure. This is part of what he says: "Central to this model is the notion that decisions are made rationally, but with imperfect information, in the context of the constraints and payoffs percieved by the decision-maker.... Thus, observed behaviors that contribute to current and future socioeconimic achievements (for example, bearing children out of wedlock as a teen, acquiring more education, committing a crime, or participating in the labor force) are shaped not only by personal characteristics but also by the geographic context in which those decisions are made. Unfortunately, low-incom racial/ethnic minorities often occupy residential niches wherein they encounter an inferior set of choices and associated payoffs. Just as space is warped in an Einsteinian universe, so urban space is warped in its structure of opportunities, to the disadvantage of poor minorities typically residing in core neighborhoods." The examples are things like, if your only schooling option isn't a good one and it won't prepare you for college anyway, the percieved pros & cons balance of a low-quality high school education or just entering the labor force shifts. Based on this, the post about kids making "bad decisions" is not neccearily mutually exclussive to what everyone else is saying, if it is understood that "bad" implies "not conducive to long-term financial success" (or some such thing), and that there often aren't "good" alternatives. Of course, blaming the victim or preaching pure meritocracy can and should be countered at depth; I just don't know if that was necessarily the implication. And as for having good role models... the article talks a bit about that, too. With two identical families who, say, value education equally and have raised their kids with equal work ethic, the family who lives in a neighborhood where the other families have more education is more likely to go to college, just because they are exposed to more of those options, whereas in tougher neighborhoods the easiest path to money that they are exposed to probably does not involve education.. So even if both have postive role models in the home, simply being in poorer neighborhoods can make the path trickier. Regardless of role models is the concept of networking/ developing "soft skills". Going to integrated schools gives children from minority cultures a chance to learn majority culture norms, which are helpful in the majority culture controlled labor market. Spending time with people who have good jobs means you are more likely to hear about good job openings, for instance. So, to return to the OP, while most grad students don't have diamonds on the soles of their shoes (Paul Simon anyone?), it's certainly easier to make it to a position where grad school is an option if one has had the privilege of good local school system, minimal financial influences on college choice, etc. Based on that, it seems there's destined to be more "priveleged" people there. But, like others have said, different priorities can also help to explain a difference in backgrounds. Maybe two people with parents of the same middle-class income, one opted for a more expensive house in a better school district, one opted for a cheeper house/less impressive district and saved the money toward a trip to Europe. Wow, sorry this is so long. I'm taking a class called "The Political Economy of Urban Education", so this stuff is on my mind a lot.

How much hunting have you done so far? I'm not in that field, so I can only speak in genalities: Most departments will say on their website which exams they want/expect you to take. Have you already checked U.S. News & World Report grad school listings? I don't know how specific their program rankings get, but they have a lot of them, and their rankings are pretty respected (or at least heavily referenced) here in the U.S. If you really don't know where to start, my friend is in an industrial-organizational psychology program at the University of Missouri - St. Louis, and you might find something useful on their department website by seeking who they collaborate with. Good luck!

I think that would be a reasonable thing to tell them: You'll share an online you made for you, but you don't have the time to make a study guide so complete that anyone can follow it. (Or, if you decide you don't want to share, just tell them the second half of the sentence.) That being said, teaching other people is the best way to learn, so hopefully it will help you out! If it doesn't, then "I'm too busy" is almost always a plausible and acceptable excuse in grad school, right? It's kind of funny you brought this up, because I just started a seminar style class where everyon reads everything, but each week one student is assigned (by the prof) to create a summary of each article read and present it to the class.

Thanks! I haven't heard in person of that happening. FWIW, this is what the author of "Getting What You Came For" says about application essays: "Avoid stylistic flourishes, slang, and the temptation to make yourself sound more sensitive than everyone else. Aviod references to childhood formative experiences.... Avoid attempts at the profound.... Avoid humor -- it is too easy to sound sophomoric.... "Your essay will be most readable if you answer essay questions truthfully and simply, without trying to impress the committee." Now, granted, this book was written in 1992, and it's just written by one guy, so it's not the gospel, but probably generally good advice. My concern about doing something really out there is that there's no way of knowing if something similar has been tried before -- if it will be looked at as a pleasant surprise, or a gimmick by someone who didn't want to write an essay. Maybe the compromise is an addendum? Write the whole SOP straight like you would if it was to stand alone, then do an alternative SOP that's more creative (commic, YouTube video, or what have you.) That way they can still compare you evenly with other candidates, but then you also have something more memorable. ... But again, what do I know? :-)

Thanks!

I inspired myself. If I had to re-write my SoP, it would be: There once was a science gal who Found her current job just wouldn't do But her big concern: Physics is hard to learn! So a PhD she must pursue

I haven't talked to the profs to find out exactly what they did or didn't like in my SoP, but I did get in, so let's assume for now that the SoP wasn't a turn-off: I didn't use humor, but I did provide a light visual. (This was easier because of the nature of my interests, but might apply to others.) This was in the first paragraph of my SoP: "As an outreach educator, I wear a tie-dye lab coat and make a lot of silly putty. But silly putty is serious business: It can illustrate the power of polymers to middle-schoolers, or enable the scientific method for third-graders, or be the kindergarten culmination of primary color mixing." Now, like I said, I don't know what their impression was, but my goal was to give a good mental image of who I was, so that, if they were talking about all the apps, they could say, "ya know, that one girl in the tie-dye lab coat." So, I would say focus on something that makes you unique that will put a clear mental image in their head. Things are more memorably if they are more unusual. Maybe you're wearing a hockey jersey at a Read Wings game but thinking about physics. Maybe you were the exchange student who managed to interact with the locals in between extensive periods sunblock application. At the gym, I read "The Economist" on the stationary bike and jam out to NPR while jogging. This can be completely sincere (so no fear of a wise-crack going wrong) but show some you have some personality. That, or maybe your entire SoP should be a series of Limericks?

Related question: How does applying for research grants work when you know you'll be spending most of your time in classes? Because of the interdisciplinary nature of what I'm doing, I anticipate three years of full-time classes before I can go into "thesis mode". So, if I want to apply for an NSF grant, should I wait until fall of my third year, or do people get the grants while they're still taking classes? (I may just be confused because the NSF grants are mostly designed for grad students who are doubling as RAs in a lab, whereas I would be applying for the STEM Ed strand, which is a bit different.) Any general guidelines would be appreciated!

What surprised me the most the first week was how much of a work-from-home atmosphere my department has. In the whole hallway where are department is, there tend to be two, maybe three profs on any given day. Six of us grad students share an office, and most only come in when they have time to kill in between classes. That's nice, I think, that there is so much flexibility. For instance, the other new PhD student has kids, and I'm glad for her that she can go home when she needs to without anyone thinking worse of her. But... it's still weird to me. As an undergrad I worked in a physics lab where much of the work had to be done on-site, so the grad students spent a lot of time in the lab office space. I come from a work environment that seemed very flexible to me, but everyone still put in 40 hours a week at the office. I know I'm not productive at home, and my plan before I started was to treat grad school like a job, and put in office time. I still think that's the best plan for me, but I didn't expect that to be so unusual. (Example: Yesterday, the dept.secretary saw me and said, "What? You're hear on the Friday before a long weekend?") What are other people's office time experiences/expectations?

Okay, this was my strategy for orientation day: -Actually tried to tame hair using curling iron to get most of the ends pointing the same direction. (This may happen again the first week of class, then never again.) Then, of course, threw it in a ponytail for the (short) bike ride to campus. - As other have suggested, I wanted to hedge my bets with being over/under dressed, so I wore a dressier-cut jersey (stretchy t-shirt material) top and skirt with pockets. Then, because I was riding, I wore below-the knee leggings too. HINT: Our lecture hall orientation room was was very air-conditioned, so I was doubly glad for the leggings. - For shoes, praciticality wins out, and I love my Mary Janes with the thick rubber sole and elastic strap. I've had them for a few years and they're wearing out. I hope I can get another pair, because they're great for things like this! At orientation, most of guys wore t-shirts and jeans or cargo shorts, while some did khakis and polos. The girls I noticed mostly wore nice jeans and tops or light dresses or skirts. Nobody seemed put-off by what anyone else was wearing. Next trick: On Friday is my department orientation, and Monday is the first day of class, and re-using my white leggings would be overkill, so I'll need another strategy for summer-business-casual-bike-riding wear. Hmm...