iowaguy

I have been reading journal articles in my subfield, particularly all of the articles of the profs I'm interested in working with. Have read 100 so far, hope to read couple hundred more before late Aug (1 or 2 each day). This is good mental exercise and will hopefully let me hit the ground running...

What are you guys expecting to pay for a relatively nice place within 2 miles of campus?

Another biking question: if I bought a house in Old West Durham, is it fairly easy to get to campus via bike? Looking at a map, I don't see any bike lanes that would take me all the way there... Do many people bike to campus from there? Is the highway and railroad crossing safe/easy? Hoping I can leave my car parked for most of the year and only use it on out-of-town trips!

Ask these programs about the placement of their graduates - they probably have a list of companies that their grads have gone to work for. They might have average starting wages (or at least an idea) as well. You could also ask them if there are any grads you could contact. You could also find some grads on your own and approach them (nicely) via email.

Trying to decide between a couple of different programs/POI's. I'm a (slightly) older PhD candidate, very self-motivated, accustomed to working for a board that I meet with monthly (otherwise I'm the boss on a day-to-day basis). I'm looking for an advisor that's not a micromanager; one that can give me the autonomy to pursue the research I'm most interested in and let me set my own daily schedule so as to maximize my productivity/lifestyle. Anyway, a POI at one of my top choices has the reputation of giving students "lots of freedom", yet a couple of his previous grad students that I talked with complained that they didn't get enough face time with him & that sometimes his feedback is slow on papers/research due to other commitments (he is an older "famous" prof in his field and travels a lot for conferences, consulting, boards/commissions, etc). He has a talented lab manager, a talented statistician, and a talented field researcher under him; these are folks I would likely be working with on a daily/weekly basis. How often do you think a PhD student should ideally meet with their advisor? How "hands-off" is too infrequent of interaction? Thanks in advance for any advice!!!

Why not just take the summer off and travel to Europe, South America, Asia, the Carribbean, etc. If you can't recharge mentally with 3 or 4 months of foreign travel I'm not sure what will recharge you...

One of my POI's said the sequester is hampering his ability to offer me RA funding (I have not been accepted yet to that program). He's waiting to hear back on funding from a federal grant source, which according to him is in a holding pattern and apparently not committing funds right now with the sequester...

This trick has more than doubled my productivity: at the beginning of each day (before you check email, Facebook, text your friends, etc) make a 3-item to-do list. Do not do anything "fun" until you complete all 3 of these items (I block off around 3 hours first thing in the morning to work on my to-do list). For me, it helps me stay focused/organized on my most important tasks and guarantees that I make progress every single day on my "big picture" projects. YMMV.

As I stare out of my office window looking at a foot of snow right now, the NC climate sounds pretty nice

Back in high school I made some pretty good money working for a temp agency using my computer skills. Short-term assignments (from a few days to a few weeks at a time) and pretty decent pay for temp work. If you have some modern computer skills (database mgmt, spreadsheets, graphic design, GIS, whatever) it might be something to look into... If you did well on your standardized tests, you might also look into tutoring. Many students will be studying hard for GRE's, SAT's, ACT's, etc during this summer...

Thanks for the input guys! I'm having a hard time deciding between these 2 programs/POI's. They are very close on many different decision variables. Sounds like prestige is pretty close as well, with Cornell perhaps being a shade higher in overall prestige...

In my sub-field, the programs of Duke & Cornell are roughly of equal ranking. What is the general consensus of the difference between the pedigree of a PhD from Duke vs Cornell? How would you say each ranks on a scale of 1-10? Long-term impact of pedigree on academic career vs. career in consulting? Thanks in advance!

What is a "typical" TA load? TA for 1 class? 2 classes? Thanks in advance!

Sculptress - how long and how doable is a bike ride from Carborro to Duke? Do you know anyone that commutes via bike from Carborro to the West Campus of Duke?

Many people from "up north" wonder just the opposite - why would anyone want to live so far south that it never snows?

Has anyone rented out a spare room in your house/apt? I'm considering doing so during grad school as a way to make some extra spending money... Any tips or cautionary tales? Specifics to put into a lease? Thanks in advance!

In general, what are the job prospects for a PhD from a top U.S. university working abroad as a professor? (I'm personally thinking Latin America or Canada) Is a post-doc still a necessity if one looks for employement abroad? Any stories from anyone who has worked abroad as a prof (or knows someone who has)? Thanks in advance!

I think this is excellent advice. Then, if your Masters goes well & you enjoy the field, you could apply for a PhD from a much stronger position...

Any tips on how to word such a letter/email, so as not to burn any bridges or create hard feelings? For one POI, I could see myself possibly working with him down the road even if I don't end up at his program... Also, you never know if you might have a post-doc opportunity at one of those universities that you're turning down!

If it's only for one year, I personally wouldn't give much weight to the city (you can live anywhere for one year, IMHO). Best to focus on the program/POI and which school fits best with your long-term goals.

Well, if indeed universities are churning out too many PhD students, might this thin the herd a bit? (less $ for RA's so fewer PhD students admitted to the program, fewer NSF fellowships, etc) Which would actually be good for us in the long term, no? i.e. fewer people graduating with PhD's means less competition for professorships...

Durham - how loud is the train that goes through Durham? I am a light sleeper and made the mistake a few years ago of living somewhat near train tracks in another town which was miserable... I notice that the tracks run on the south end of Old West Durham (which I'm looking at for a potential home). Can you hear the train horn/rumble very far from the tracks? Thanks in advance!

Have you taken any "basic" math & science classes? (chemistry, physics, biology, etc) If not, you might want to check the school pre-requisites, often they will require a background in some basic sciences (at least for most top programs that I'm familiar with)... You might also want to get some volunteer experience or other non-classroom experience in forestry before applying, to show that you're truly interested in this area and it's not just a passing whim... Best of luck!

I think this very well could be the case. I specifically asked a POI at a school I've been accepted at (haven't decided whether to attend there or not) how this would affect the RA that I've been offered. Prof seemed a little nervous, the RA research is state-funded but as we all know, federal cuts (or even the perception of future federal cuts) can trickle down to states and affect state budgets... Anyway, yes, IMHO admissions will be more competitive in the future. And possibly fewer federally-funded opportunities for post-docs...

You have great stats (minus the GRE) and should be a strong candidate at a UC Davis/Cornell/Columbia-type programs if you have a good fit with a POI there. With your current GRE's you might not make the minimum cut-off at those highly competitive programs. You will need to bump your V/Q GRE score into the 80th percentile or so to be competitive there, IMHO. Your advantage is that you have many months ahead of you to prepare for the GRE... Best of luck!