SeriousSillyPutty

Be prepared to explain any blips in your resume, and try to put a good spin on them.
My first job out of college (Teach For America) was an epic fail, but it led to my next job and explained what I was doing for nine months, so had to be listed under the work experience section. Naturally, they wanted to know why I quit mid school year. I tried to present thing diplomatically, putting the responsibility on myself, not my school or the students. I explained what TFA did well and what the didn't do well, and the parts of the job I felt ill prepared for as a consequence. I highlighted the things I learned and the ways I had grown in the time since then.

A med school person said she always asked med school applicants why they wanted to go to med school, and when they answered "because I want to help people", she would push for why they wanted to help people through becoming a doctor, rather than in one of many other "helpful" fields. I think the same can apply to grad school. Make sure you answer why you want to go into THIS field rather than another, and THIS university rather than another.

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

Parking passes at my school are $480 a year! (And this is not downtown NYC/LA/Chicago, where parking everywhere is at a premium.) Fortunately I live just 1.5 miles from campus, so I'm planning to bike.

A few miles is nothing on a bicycle, but I've always been a fair-weather rider: Currently, I'll ride my bike to work (5 miles away) IF it's not too cold and IF it's not raining and IF I don't have to wear anything special and IF I don't have to go anywhere after work and IF I'm not in a rush. (So, like, once a week, during the summer.)

Any tips on bike commuting in less-than-ideal conditions?

I was thinking about keeping a gym bag at my desk, so I can change on days where the ride makes me wet. I could wear gym clothes to school every day then change, but it seems like a short enough trip that I could get a way with regular clothes most of the time. For rainy days, I was thinking about getting one of those rain suits that comes with "rain jacket" pants... is that overkill? And biking through snow just seems like an accident waiting to happen. (I could walk to school, too, I suppose...)

And do you think a backpack will do, or is it worth investing in a rack for my back wheel and a bag that attaches to them. (Saddle bag? See, I'm not even a legit enough cyclist to know what the accessories are called!)

Thanks for the tips!

Parking passes at my school are $480 a year! (And this is not downtown NYC/LA/Chicago, where parking everywhere is at a premium.) Fortunately I live just 1.5 miles from campus, so I'm planning to bike.

A few miles is nothing on a bicycle, but I've always been a fair-weather rider: Currently, I'll ride my bike to work (5 miles away) IF it's not too cold and IF it's not raining and IF I don't have to wear anything special and IF I don't have to go anywhere after work and IF I'm not in a rush. (So, like, once a week, during the summer.)

Any tips on bike commuting in less-than-ideal conditions?

I was thinking about keeping a gym bag at my desk, so I can change on days where the ride makes me wet. I could wear gym clothes to school every day then change, but it seems like a short enough trip that I could get a way with regular clothes most of the time. For rainy days, I was thinking about getting one of those rain suits that comes with "rain jacket" pants... is that overkill? And biking through snow just seems like an accident waiting to happen. (I could walk to school, too, I suppose...)

And do you think a backpack will do, or is it worth investing in a rack for my back wheel and a bag that attaches to them. (Saddle bag? See, I'm not even a legit enough cyclist to know what the accessories are called!)

Thanks for the tips!

Parking passes at my school are $480 a year! (And this is not downtown NYC/LA/Chicago, where parking everywhere is at a premium.) Fortunately I live just 1.5 miles from campus, so I'm planning to bike.

A few miles is nothing on a bicycle, but I've always been a fair-weather rider: Currently, I'll ride my bike to work (5 miles away) IF it's not too cold and IF it's not raining and IF I don't have to wear anything special and IF I don't have to go anywhere after work and IF I'm not in a rush. (So, like, once a week, during the summer.)

Any tips on bike commuting in less-than-ideal conditions?

I was thinking about keeping a gym bag at my desk, so I can change on days where the ride makes me wet. I could wear gym clothes to school every day then change, but it seems like a short enough trip that I could get a way with regular clothes most of the time. For rainy days, I was thinking about getting one of those rain suits that comes with "rain jacket" pants... is that overkill? And biking through snow just seems like an accident waiting to happen. (I could walk to school, too, I suppose...)

And do you think a backpack will do, or is it worth investing in a rack for my back wheel and a bag that attaches to them. (Saddle bag? See, I'm not even a legit enough cyclist to know what the accessories are called!)

Thanks for the tips!

Parking passes at my school are $480 a year! (And this is not downtown NYC/LA/Chicago, where parking everywhere is at a premium.) Fortunately I live just 1.5 miles from campus, so I'm planning to bike.

A few miles is nothing on a bicycle, but I've always been a fair-weather rider: Currently, I'll ride my bike to work (5 miles away) IF it's not too cold and IF it's not raining and IF I don't have to wear anything special and IF I don't have to go anywhere after work and IF I'm not in a rush. (So, like, once a week, during the summer.)

Any tips on bike commuting in less-than-ideal conditions?

I was thinking about keeping a gym bag at my desk, so I can change on days where the ride makes me wet. I could wear gym clothes to school every day then change, but it seems like a short enough trip that I could get a way with regular clothes most of the time. For rainy days, I was thinking about getting one of those rain suits that comes with "rain jacket" pants... is that overkill? And biking through snow just seems like an accident waiting to happen. (I could walk to school, too, I suppose...)

And do you think a backpack will do, or is it worth investing in a rack for my back wheel and a bag that attaches to them. (Saddle bag? See, I'm not even a legit enough cyclist to know what the accessories are called!)

Thanks for the tips!

Parking passes at my school are $480 a year! (And this is not downtown NYC/LA/Chicago, where parking everywhere is at a premium.) Fortunately I live just 1.5 miles from campus, so I'm planning to bike.

A few miles is nothing on a bicycle, but I've always been a fair-weather rider: Currently, I'll ride my bike to work (5 miles away) IF it's not too cold and IF it's not raining and IF I don't have to wear anything special and IF I don't have to go anywhere after work and IF I'm not in a rush. (So, like, once a week, during the summer.)

Any tips on bike commuting in less-than-ideal conditions?

I was thinking about keeping a gym bag at my desk, so I can change on days where the ride makes me wet. I could wear gym clothes to school every day then change, but it seems like a short enough trip that I could get a way with regular clothes most of the time. For rainy days, I was thinking about getting one of those rain suits that comes with "rain jacket" pants... is that overkill? And biking through snow just seems like an accident waiting to happen. (I could walk to school, too, I suppose...)

And do you think a backpack will do, or is it worth investing in a rack for my back wheel and a bag that attaches to them. (Saddle bag? See, I'm not even a legit enough cyclist to know what the accessories are called!)

Thanks for the tips!

Parking passes at my school are $480 a year! (And this is not downtown NYC/LA/Chicago, where parking everywhere is at a premium.) Fortunately I live just 1.5 miles from campus, so I'm planning to bike.

A few miles is nothing on a bicycle, but I've always been a fair-weather rider: Currently, I'll ride my bike to work (5 miles away) IF it's not too cold and IF it's not raining and IF I don't have to wear anything special and IF I don't have to go anywhere after work and IF I'm not in a rush. (So, like, once a week, during the summer.)

Any tips on bike commuting in less-than-ideal conditions?

I was thinking about keeping a gym bag at my desk, so I can change on days where the ride makes me wet. I could wear gym clothes to school every day then change, but it seems like a short enough trip that I could get a way with regular clothes most of the time. For rainy days, I was thinking about getting one of those rain suits that comes with "rain jacket" pants... is that overkill? And biking through snow just seems like an accident waiting to happen. (I could walk to school, too, I suppose...)

And do you think a backpack will do, or is it worth investing in a rack for my back wheel and a bag that attaches to them. (Saddle bag? See, I'm not even a legit enough cyclist to know what the accessories are called!)

Thanks for the tips!

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

Jeenyus, like the others said, the most important thing is to do enough research on the prof that you you can have some good questions to ask. If he/she has a website, you can also scope out some general background (not necessarily related to your research) and think about how any of that relates to something your interested in. (Example: For my school's interview day, one of the people I met with didn't have much in common with me or my research interests. But, she'd worked with kids on poetry slams, and I've done "story slams", so I made a note to put that into the conversation. She'd also done research on new media stuff, so I asked her her thoughts on kids & video games.)
The good news is that this person already LIKES you, which is why you're meeting. We academic types aren't known for our social skills, so I doubt you can do anything that will be new to your supervisor, and doubt even more that a social faux pas would be enough to hurt your relationship.

A while back I noticed that, when making small talk with all but the closest of friends, I had very deliberate thought patterns. I decided to try writing an algorithm of my small talk conversations. Not all of it will apply to your current situation, but I'll include a version of it below, in case some of it is useful and/or amusing to anyone (sorry it's so long -- but conversations are hard!):


Conversation Generator
1. Have you met The Other Person (TOP) before?
I’M NOT SURE – Go to 2.
YES- Go to 3.
NO – Go to 4.

2. Establish past history.
If, given the social context, there's a good chance you might have met TOP before and don't want to make things more awkward by introducing yourself to somebody that already knows you (funny story there...) squint your face like searching your memory and say, "we might have met before, but..." - at which point TOP will usually either say, "no, I just moved to town yesterday," or "yeah, we met at that one thing."
If spontaneous conversation does not occur, return to 1.

3. Ask an introductory question. (Old acquaintance version)
To determine an appropriate question, think about what you know about TOP.
The more recent information the better, as he/she probably has the most (new) to say about current events in his/her life. Example: Thought process- The last time I talked to A, she was going to have a job at a school... but I don't remember what. Now school has been in session for a few weeks. Question - "How's your new job going?"
If you only know general things about TOP, ask about that, or state a fact as a question, as if asking for elaboration. "So, you're a grad student...?" If possible, avoid asking questions with simple yes or no answers, as these only advance the conversation by one syllable, and then you're back to square one. (Or point 5, as the case may be.)
If you've only met once and don't remember anything, it's usually okay to ask something that will hopefully jog your memory, such as, "now what do you do again?" or "remind me: how do you know A?"
Listen for response.
If spontaneous conversation does not occur, proceed to 5.

4. Ask an introductory question. (New acquaintance version)
Although you don't know TOP, still think about what you know, given the context, and create a question from that:
If you meet at your friend's party, there's a good chance TOP knows your friend, too: "How do you know M?"
If you're on an airplane, there's a very good chance TOP is traveling: "Where's your final destination? Work or pleasure?"
Then there's the standard identity questions.
For kids, it's usually, "Where do you go to school?" and for college folks it's "What's your major?"
The standard for adults is, "What do you do for a living?" or "Where do you work?" The trick is that, with so many people in school, out of work, or stuck in a job they'd rather not talk about, this can get a bit awkward. Thus, I've created a variation: "So what do you do when you're not [insert current activity here]." This opens people up to talking about their job or studies, or if they're not in a position to talk about those, they can describe their hobbies, or what they do with their kids, or their favorite tv show, or whatever. I don't actually care about someone's occupation (or lack there of). What I really want to ask is, "What can I ask you about?" but so far that's not socially acceptable.
If you've exhausted all your options, think of potential shared experiences; weather and current events are the classics here: "So what do you think of this heat wave?" or "Have you been watching the playoffs?"
Listen for response.
If TOP asks a question, go to .
If spontaneous conversation does not occur, proceed to 5.


5. Ask a follow up question.
(This is a newish step for me. It’s a keeper, but it can be tricky on the fly.) Think of a question that relates to what TOP just said, ideally connecting what was just said with something else.
Let’s say the introductory question was a less-than exciting, “What do you think of this heat spell?” and TOP responded, “Oh it’s horrible.” Here’s some sample follow ups:
(a) Connect with something known about TOP: “You’re from Minnesota, right? Does it ever get this hot that far north?” Connecting past knowledge with the last part of the conversation reflects a degree of care, since it shows that you were listening to TOP on two separate occasions.
( Connect with something about yourself: “In Michigan, we’d have occasional days in the upper 90s, but they were rarely in series; is this weather normal for you?” By sharing something about yourself, it can give TOP a branching off point to start asking you questions, which can ease pressure.
© Connect with something in the world: “I read that severe enough heat spells can decrease mosquito populations; do you think there are fewer of them this year?” This strategy makes more sense with more personal introductory questions. For instance, I met someone at a party who was doing neuroscience, and had just read an article about these things called mirror neurons, so I could ask him what he thought about that research. It turned out he knew a lot!
If the answer doesn’t lead to spontaneous conversation, repeat.
If you can’t think of a question, proceed to 6.

6. Give follow-up information.
This used to be what I always did, but since it’s not a question, it risks the other person not having a way to respond to it. The advantage is that it’s easier to come up with, because it doesn’t depend at all on knowledge of the other person. For me, it’s like I take a key word in the preceding conversation and do a Google search for it in my head to find related points. These can come in different forms. Instinct is to go with the first thing that comes to mind, but if you can filter for topics that have follow up potential, this will be more likely to spark spontaneous conversation. Let’s say you just learned that TOP is taking a British Literature class, asked what book TOP is reading, and find out it’s Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.
(a) Personal anecdote: “It’s strange – I love the movies based on Jane Austen books, but I’ve only read one book. “ If you can get this far, can you figure out a way to bump this up to 5(, a question that connects something about yourself? Again, the advantage of connect to yourself is that it gives TOP a baseline for asking you questions, so try to give them facts/stories that beg for follow up.
( Current events: “I just heard a story about some of Jane Austen’s personal letters being found in an attic.” (I made that up, BTW.) I used to always start things like this by saying, “I heard on NPR that…” but I listen to public radio so much that all of my conversations became based on NPR, and I was sounding like a broken record. Plus, in some company, you don’t want to advertise right away that you’re an NPR nerd.
© General Trivia: “Did you know that Bridget Jones’ Diary is loosely based on Pride and Prejudice? I never would have noticed, but my mom pointed out that Colin Firth’s character is even named Darcy, just like in P&P.” Some people love trivia (myself included) but some don’t get the point of random facts, so this should usually be saved as a last resort. Plus, it can be hard to respond to trivia, making spontaneous conversation less probable.
Pause to give TOP time to respond. If spontaneous conversation does not occur...
Is it important to keep talking to this person?
YES – Return to 1.
NO – Go to 7.

7. Politely part ways.
If both parties have been trying to strike up a conversation and it’s just not happening, at some point you have to stop beating a dead horse. Instinct may be to just walk away and pretend it never happened, but this is generally frowned upon in our culture. By narrating my way out of a conversation, there is often a subtle opening for them to do the next thing with you, if they really want to, so you’re not abandoning them. Some possibilities:
(a) Food: “Well, I’m going to go see if the snack table still has some goodies.” I like food, and so do most Americans, so food is usually around and can be a good distracter.
( Another person: “Oh, I see John. I should go say hi.” If you’re lucky, someone walks by that you can pull into the conversation, doubling your chances of getting a conversation going.
© To-do list: “Well, I should probably get going. I have a lot of laundry I’ve been putting off.” Use this when it actually makes sense, like after church, not when you’re at a late-night party.
Sometimes, it’s possible to add, “Do you want to come with me?” and get the same effect without actually parting ways. Once you are both on your way to the buffet table, you’re excused from conversation and can put off talking until you can comment on the food, for instance.

Now, am I actually think about steps 2,3, or 4 while talking to people? No, but I do often have to think about what I can say to people. For some people, talking to others is automatic, and like a car with an automatic transmission, they are able to change pace or terrain, and even start on a hill, without thinking about it. While I do have friends that I can talk to quite naturally, conversations in general are more like a manual transmission. I used to not know how to drive the conversation at all, but once I learned the basics I could shift gears and make it around the block.

Prepared with Kleenex and CVs... well played.

This isn't a worst case scenario, but one of my interviews was (fortunately) after my lunch with the current grad students who warned me that the head of the department wouldn't ask me any questions about myself; he would just ask, "what do you want to know?" Fortunately I had made a list of questions for each prof based on their online profile, and I could just review that before meeting with him. However, if I had gone into that situation unprepared, it could have felt awkward.

I had (have) pretty specific interests, so most of the people I met with weren't really related to what I wanted to do. I was glad I was able to look at their profiles ahead of time and find some common ground. Sometimes I had to go beyond the academic: One prof had worked with youth in poetry slams (I'm a science ed person) so I asked her if she'd done anything with the local story slams going on, because I've participated in those. She'd also worked with technology/gaming and education, so I asked her her thoughts on kids spending so much time on video games. She told me about a paper to read, I took note of it (always good to have a notebook on hand) and then had something to talk about when I sent the thank-you email.

The morning of my visit/interview (they never called it an interview, just a visit where I had scheduled meetings with several profs -- which just made it a wee bit more to plan for, but I digress) I put on my suit and realized that the jacket I planned to wear looked kinda dumpy, even though my other suit I knew didn't fit (ah the joys of weight fluctuation). I opted to wear the suit skirt and a sweater at the last minute, and it ended up being fine. I found out from the current students that the girls who tended to tress up had warn suits, while those who tended to dress down hadn't, and it all worked out. Still: Try on your outfit a few days before, just so that you know things fit how you think they do.

Oh: If you're driving to an interview, knowing the closest place to park and having a parking pass is NOT enough. Spots fill up fast, and you don't want that panic of not finding a parking space when you're barely making it on time because of a last minute wardrobe malfunction. (Trust me.) Assume that you will have to circle around the parking and then end up at the farthest possible place from where you want to be and then walk from there.

I don't know this exact situation, but sometimes I think it comes from a defence mechanism related to not having the option (or at least not percieving having the option) of staying in school so long.  It's the idea of, "Yeah, I could have stayed in school forever too, except I don't have parents that will subsidize my education, so I have to work for a living," or "I have a family to support", or "I have responsibilities in my hometown."  Even though this forum is full of people who have gone to grad school in spite of poverty and family responsibilities, these issues really do hinder people from getting a higher education, so I can understand why they would feel a bit resentful towards those of us who have the luxury (and let's be honest -- it IS a luxury, albeit a grueling one) to stay in school so long.
When I was working, I got frustrated sometimes by how little anyone was willing to invest in me -- I couldn't find any scholarships to take masters classes on the side, or income-based discounts to conferenes, or really any other way to better myself.  But: I was generating income, supporting myself, paying taxes, and contributing to the economy.  There is valute in work.  If I had stayed a "working stiff" my whole life, I too might be dissilussioned by those that could go into debt and/or get paid to pursue their passions while I had to keep toiling away to make ends meet.
The other thing I see -- the side with more reverse snobbery perhaps -- is that it can seem flighty or induldgent, like skirting responsibility to be a productive member of society.  Some people go to graduate school because they don't know what they want to do with their lives and, as PHD Comics says, "it seemed better than getting a real job". 
To combat this, it might be best to talk about what your career goals are; most people respect honest work, although with varying standards for what's "honest."  So if you say, "I want to be a professor, so I am going to graduate school," or "My experience working in X field exposed me to problems in Y that I want to help fix, so I am studying Y with intent to work in that field", they may see that you really are trying to become a tax-paying, contributing member of society, and may be more understanding. 
(Oh, and as a side note, I do realize there are ways to contribute to society other than generating income/taxes, but it's a good one, and I assume that this is the most universally valued contribution among those who look down on higher ed.)

I don't know this exact situation, but sometimes I think it comes from a defence mechanism related to not having the option (or at least not percieving having the option) of staying in school so long.  It's the idea of, "Yeah, I could have stayed in school forever too, except I don't have parents that will subsidize my education, so I have to work for a living," or "I have a family to support", or "I have responsibilities in my hometown."  Even though this forum is full of people who have gone to grad school in spite of poverty and family responsibilities, these issues really do hinder people from getting a higher education, so I can understand why they would feel a bit resentful towards those of us who have the luxury (and let's be honest -- it IS a luxury, albeit a grueling one) to stay in school so long.
When I was working, I got frustrated sometimes by how little anyone was willing to invest in me -- I couldn't find any scholarships to take masters classes on the side, or income-based discounts to conferenes, or really any other way to better myself.  But: I was generating income, supporting myself, paying taxes, and contributing to the economy.  There is valute in work.  If I had stayed a "working stiff" my whole life, I too might be dissilussioned by those that could go into debt and/or get paid to pursue their passions while I had to keep toiling away to make ends meet.
The other thing I see -- the side with more reverse snobbery perhaps -- is that it can seem flighty or induldgent, like skirting responsibility to be a productive member of society.  Some people go to graduate school because they don't know what they want to do with their lives and, as PHD Comics says, "it seemed better than getting a real job". 
To combat this, it might be best to talk about what your career goals are; most people respect honest work, although with varying standards for what's "honest."  So if you say, "I want to be a professor, so I am going to graduate school," or "My experience working in X field exposed me to problems in Y that I want to help fix, so I am studying Y with intent to work in that field", they may see that you really are trying to become a tax-paying, contributing member of society, and may be more understanding. 
(Oh, and as a side note, I do realize there are ways to contribute to society other than generating income/taxes, but it's a good one, and I assume that this is the most universally valued contribution among those who look down on higher ed.)

I don't think this "reverse snobbery" comes from a vacuum. I think it is less "arrogance" on the less-educated people's part than a defensive response to a previous or ongoing snub against their lack of education. The best approach to alleviating "reverse snobbery" is surely to treat everybody with equal levels of respect & politeness, whether they are a professor or toilet cleaner? 

If there's nothing like an essay to re-grade, I don't think you'll have much luck... and I don't think one grade will make much of a difference long-term anyway, especially if you're not going to grad school for German.  You could perhaps ask to go over what you were scored down for and then retake the oral, but I don't think you'll get very far.
 
A friend of mine is a TA, and a kid complained that he did better than other people but got a worse grade (he didn't take into account how different portions of the grad were weighted).  When the TA said the grade was legit, he went behind her back and emailed the prof, who of course forwarded the email to the TA, who told him the same thing as before, but was ticked off this time for his bad move.  He then replied that it was "an obvious displace of corruption."  Seriously?  Weighting that was outlined in the syllabus since the beginning of the year is corruption?  What an entitled douche! Don't be that guy.

One of the most important things I learned in my PhD journey is that I have to live my life (personal and professional) for ME.  Not for my SO, or for my PI, or for my classmates, or my funders or the university administration.  A lot of PhD students don't want to leave even when they are miserable because they don't want to let down their PIs, embarrass themselves in front of their classmates, let down their families, or make their funding agencies or university/department look bad.  But they aren't the ones who have to take your exams, write your dissertation and struggle through your academic career - YOU are.  So if you decide that leaving is the best thing for you…then leave.
 
But looking over your post, it doesn't necessarily seem that leaving IS the best thing.  You say you aren't sure you can get to where you want from your PhD; I would have a discussion with your PI about that.  It's never too early.  Explain your goals and motivations and ask him, point-blank, if you can get there from here.  If you have another trusted professor or advisor you can ask who will give you a straight answer, ask them, too.  Since your PI did his postdoc under a foremost expert, he may have a network that can set you up nicely for what you want to do.  If they talk to each other frequently, maybe this expert can be on your dissertation committee.  Or maybe you can do a postdoc in an excellent lab that will help you transcend your program.
 
Other than that, it doesn't seem like there is too much else necessarily recommending you leave.  Nearly half of your classmates may have been on probation, but perhaps this is a program that has weed out classes and exams - that's not uncommon in natural science classes.  You agreed that you weren't prepared for the class you got a C in, but other than that, are you doing poorly?  Is your PI pushing you to stay because he needs a grad student to do his work, or because he thinks that you are overthinking things and can achieve your goals and succeed in this program?
 
I'm not in your field.  In my field, the social sciences, the reputation of your program is very important in hiring - almost as important as your PI, although not as important as the quality of your research.  But that's because in my social science field, research is done much more collaboratively and grad students often work with more than one PI and publish with more than one of them.  Grad students come out of PhD programs with only about 0-5 publications on average, I would say.  So it may very well be that in your field, your PI and your publications are far more important; in my field, going to a not-well-ranked program wouldn't help you get a job at a top ranked program unless you were a superstar.

I imagine it's easier to get the word out if you have a written document as opposed to a patent or product. Linguistics is also a small enough field that it's not too overwhelming to keep up with the latest innovations in our field. It's also established practice to read and cite dissertations, and I don't know if that's necessarily the case in other fields that produce written work (probably not in all, is my guess).
 
Also, this: http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2010/04/alot-is-better-than-you-at-everything.html

SSP, this is going to be a brief reply but I'll come back to this in a few hours and add more information if I remember. If I don't, send me a PM.
 
Okay, so I'm sure I and many others have examples of IRBs. But, the forms are different at each institution (and the ones at my institution have changed 3-4 times in my 5 years here), so I doubt looking at those would be of that much help. What you really need is to look at a recently approved IRB for someone doing similar research (so someone doing participant obsrevation).
 
Some of this is, I think, you not understanding what IRBs really do. Even observation has the potential to be harmful to the participants depending on how that data is used. For example, you're observing in a lab. What happens if you see someone breaking scientific protocols or fudging data? Do you report this to their supervisor or do you just record it in your notes? If you opt for the latter, what happens if/when you go to publish something based on these data and those notes? Do you out the breach of protocol then? And, no matter when you do so, will reporting the breach of protocol cost someone their job? These are the kinds of things IRBs are concerned with and that you have to make clear in the methods section of your proposal. When you say that "no harm will come to participants", you have to offer options for what you'll do in the event that someone reports to you (or, less likely, calls your IRB or department) that they've experienced harm. Do you stop the study? Do you refer them to counseling services? Again, these are the kinds of questions they're looking for answers to.
 
You can absolutely create a procedure without doing interviews. How many hours a day will you be observing? How will you decide who to observe and when? Are you following a person, an experiment, a lab? How often will you record your observations? What types of observational data will you be recording? Are you going to record what people do, make notes on their conversations, write down quotes, take pictures, etc.? Are you going to make the data anonymous and, if so, how? (By which I mean, how will you protect the confidentiality of the people you are observing? You have to think about this in terms of your data collection and any subsequent writing you might do using these data.) I think you might be better off thinking about this in terms of what kinds of research questions are you interested in that could be answered by collecting this data. Then, what kind of data do you need to collect and how?
 
Hopefully this is a decent starting point. Good luck!

I've said this elsewhere on the forum but I'll put it here too: Doing stuff with people who like me regardless of school stuff has kept me sane.  Granted, this was not only easier but unavoidable to some extent because I didn't move for grad school, but I think it is worth being intentional about finding something other than grad school to spend time on.  In my experience, "work expands to fill the space allotted."  So if I say, "I'm going to spend all day Saturday writing this paper", I will truly spend all day at the office, but I will also spend about 3 hours worth of 20-minute chunks checking email, reading news stories, going on facebook, getting snacks etc.  That's three hours I could have spent doing something more intentional.
Do something that you can justify to yourself, and preferably something you can justify to others.  I have no idea what combat athlete training involves (sounds physically exerting, and thus scary to me!), but if you can do it with someone then you can do social time and and a hobby together and kill two birds with one stone.   For me (maybe because I'm naturally an introvert, and have to be intentional about such things) if I do stuff with someone else then I can say, "I was investing in this relationship, and a friendship lasts longer than a semester, so it is as worthy of investment as a class is."  Other things are also worth investing in, I just find people the easiest to justify to myself.
Religious or not, I also support the idea of a "Sabbath" -- a weekly day where you do not do school stuff.  I don't think I would have had the discipline to do it were there not the spiritual component to it and faith that God would "work things out", but I did have a non-religious friend who also declared a day of no school work as part of her mental health strategy.  Once that is a "rule" then you don't have to justify individual activities done on that day.  Granted, for me I still ended up doing exciting things like laundry and grocery shopping, but it also kept me from skirting out of volunteering or avoiding time with friends.  My line of thought would be, "I don't have time for this, I'm really busy with school; I'll just have to call and tell her I can't do it this week. But, self, you promised you wouldn't do school work on Sunday anyway.  If you don't tutor, you'll just be doing laundry, which will end up being Facebook time.  Suck it up. Go be with kids who appreciate you."

I've said this elsewhere on the forum but I'll put it here too: Doing stuff with people who like me regardless of school stuff has kept me sane.  Granted, this was not only easier but unavoidable to some extent because I didn't move for grad school, but I think it is worth being intentional about finding something other than grad school to spend time on.  In my experience, "work expands to fill the space allotted."  So if I say, "I'm going to spend all day Saturday writing this paper", I will truly spend all day at the office, but I will also spend about 3 hours worth of 20-minute chunks checking email, reading news stories, going on facebook, getting snacks etc.  That's three hours I could have spent doing something more intentional.
Do something that you can justify to yourself, and preferably something you can justify to others.  I have no idea what combat athlete training involves (sounds physically exerting, and thus scary to me!), but if you can do it with someone then you can do social time and and a hobby together and kill two birds with one stone.   For me (maybe because I'm naturally an introvert, and have to be intentional about such things) if I do stuff with someone else then I can say, "I was investing in this relationship, and a friendship lasts longer than a semester, so it is as worthy of investment as a class is."  Other things are also worth investing in, I just find people the easiest to justify to myself.
Religious or not, I also support the idea of a "Sabbath" -- a weekly day where you do not do school stuff.  I don't think I would have had the discipline to do it were there not the spiritual component to it and faith that God would "work things out", but I did have a non-religious friend who also declared a day of no school work as part of her mental health strategy.  Once that is a "rule" then you don't have to justify individual activities done on that day.  Granted, for me I still ended up doing exciting things like laundry and grocery shopping, but it also kept me from skirting out of volunteering or avoiding time with friends.  My line of thought would be, "I don't have time for this, I'm really busy with school; I'll just have to call and tell her I can't do it this week. But, self, you promised you wouldn't do school work on Sunday anyway.  If you don't tutor, you'll just be doing laundry, which will end up being Facebook time.  Suck it up. Go be with kids who appreciate you."

Hi Xfigo - if you do decide to continue in your program, or drop-out and come back at some point, I would strongly suggest registering with your university's Office of Disability Services (or whatever the office is called on your campus). Unfortunately the name can stigmatize students from using their services but on my campus, if you have a diagnosed mental illness, you can register with their office. You get your own disability adviser, and they can provide you with additional assistance and make sure that your rights are being protected under the ADA and Section 504. The office is not legally allowed to disclose that you are registered with them to anyone. They aren't even allowed to tell the military if they were to inquire about ROTC students. The only time anyone would know you were registered is if you wanted to self-disclose, or asked the office to intervene with a professor or something to that effect on your behalf.
 
I would really suggest to anyone reading this who may have ADD, ADHD, depression, learning disabilities, bi-polar, etc. that effects their daily functioning sometimes to register. So often folks only think that Disability Services deal with physical disabilities, but they do a lot more than that

Have you thought about maybe taking a leave of absense on medical reasons? Use that time to seek treatment and think over what you truely want to do.

Hello all,
 
I'm about 2 years removed from my time in EL, but I did all 4 years of my undergrad there and can say a few things about the city. Probably nothing ground-breaking, but the perspective of a Spartan may be helpful.
 
Transportation: CATA runs the MSU buses, and connects to a station in the middle of campus. The MSU bus lines are very convenient, and you will become accustomed to taking them. The campus is literally the largest by sheer physical size in the US. Parking can be an issue, passes are expensive, and spots on the interior of campus are hard to come by. Plenty of parking on the outside of the campus, but it is a giant block of a campus. Not spread out over the city. So, taking the bus or biking is often the best solution.
 
Weather: If you're moving to the northern midwest from somewhere warm... I'm sorry. You'll be in MI. Expect below 0 F weather several times December-February. Generally, summer may not be "hot" in terms of raw degrees, but it's going to be humid. The joy of being surrounded by the great lakes. It will still get up to 100 F on occasion in the summer, yes, with high humidity.Generally, it stays below 90 though. Autumn and Spring are wonderful, very comfortable. Winter doesn't bother me, and mid-MI actually gets much less snow than other parts of the state since it's farther inland and gets less "lake effect snow". You'll become familiar with totally unpredictable weather due to the lakes. There's a certain charm to the unpredictability. I'm a Michigander and I'm used to it.
 
Campus: Most of it is tree-covered. Literally, a giant park. You'll love it, I promise.
 
People: Michiganders are kind of odd compared to what preconceptions about midwestern people usually are. Decades of high unemployment and a depressed economy have taken away a lot of "the friendly midwestern feel." We're perhaps a little more "east coast" than you may think. Very much a "what have you done for me lately" sort of feel. EL/Lansing is a pretty liberal area of the state. This doesn't mean that we aren't friendly, just not in the profusely polite sort of way. The students pretty friendly and definitely feel that they share a common bond. The student environment is generally a cooperative one, rather than a competitive one. If you shout "Go Green!" you will always get a "Go White!" back... regardless of where you say it around town. The students have a reputation as crazy partiers. This is only as true as you want it to be. It's a university with 45,000 students. Some are serious about school, some aren't. The same as anywhere else.
 
Sports/Campus Activities: MSU football and basketball is a huge boon to the local economy. The football games usually are sellouts. Basketball ALWAYS is. The fans are diehards. We were always quite mean to the opposing teams as well. Very much standard Big 10 in that respect. They usually get great entertainment at the Wharton Center as well (broadway plays, symphonies, etc.)
 
Nightlife: Most of the campus bars are dives. I like that sort of thing rather than clubs. They have those as well though. Food is affordable, drinks are usually cheap. Michigan has an incredible beer selection.
 
Housing: Rent is cheap, but the nicest places are taken really really early every year. 6 months or so before move-ins. The area north of campus is actually a nice area. As opposed to most "Student ghettos"
 
Lansing has some rough areas, but EL is quite a nice town. I have no complaints from my time there. Loved every minute of it. I can answer any questions you might have.

First of all, congratulations!  I know that this was unplanned, but you plan to keep the baby and so it's a celebration
 
Second of all, this is tricky but I think this is about your comfort level.  Like you, I believe that a pregnancy (and any other health issues) are private and really only the PI's business to the extent that it affects your health.  Personally, I would wait until I arrived on campus, got settled in, and had my first meeting with my advisor.  I would mention it very matter-of-factly.  "Professor X, I just want to let you know that I am pregnant, and due in late December.  I'm just letting you know so we can discuss my plans for spring semester 2014."  And then begin discussing how you plan to handle the spring…don't let the conversation derail from being about how you're going to work your pregnancy around working (unless it turns into positive baby-talk, which is okay if you want!)
 
For what it's worth, I had a woman in my cohort get pregnant in our first year (maybe it was the beginning of our second year, I don't remember, but it was definitely during the coursework phase and our coursework here lasts 2-3 years).  She has since had another baby, and she's still here, trucking along and being awesome.  It can be done, so don't let people discourage you.  Only you can decide what you can and can't handle and do.  Lots of people do PhDs with children.

I concur.
Take as much initiative as possible without being obnoxious. Getting the "F" removed should be something you can handle on your own by talking to the registrar's office, so get that process started. If your adviser has emailed you, it means he already has to "deal" with you, so if you are sending the email proposing a meeting, that keeps him from having to do the same, and shows that you are taking responsibility in spite of your grades.
At this meeting, come prepared with a plan for how next semester can be different.  Don't have a list of excuses, but do analyze what could have been done differently. Can you identify why your grades were low?  If it was from the material being so difficult, maybe you can outline a plan for reviewing material over the summer, or taking one of the free mega online classes (I'm drawing a blank on the acronym) to brush up on what you'll need for the fall classes.  If it was more the general stress of grad school, you can make the case that you are feeling more established now -- or if not, consider signing up for counseling and/or a grad student support group.  Your adviser might not care about your personal life, but it seems like all actions to correct the situation would be appreciated at this point.
Are NSF grants transferable?  (Congrats on that, BTW.) If you don't think that staying in your lab is a possibility, maybe that's something you need to figure out.
I imagine one thing the school might decide is they will let you stay there, but revoke all funding and tuition waivers.  I don't know how the NSF grant would be affected by this, maybe it would help.  You'd have to take out a loan for tuition, but then could use the NSF stipend for income or something.  This is pure speculation on my part, but it might be worthwhile to look at your finances and see what your options are.