imonedaful

The writing portion on the GMAT is not calculated in the final score. I know that was more than 8 words but you should be aware of that if you are helping students. It does not matter if you get a perfect score on the writing section, they never ask to see your writing scores just the composite score is used for admissions purposes.

I concur. Most schools want all of your transcripts. I took a few community college classes when I was in high school years ago and the school where I was applying for a PhD still wanted a transcript for those classes. It sucked because the school made me pay for the transcripts. The good thing was that the institution in which I completed my undergraduate degree does not make us pay for transcripts up to a certain number. My advice to you is to pick the schools you are going to apply to wisely (you can only attend 1) and try to find the cheapest way to send transcripts (sometimes you can send them through the Clearinghouse online as an electronic copy for cheaper) to keep your costs down in the application process.

Sometimes I think it is best to avoid outside sources for some application help. For basics things such as sending tests scores and deadlines you can look it up but when it comes to the fuzzy part of the application process I think you should do it your own way. When I was writing my personal statement I had looked at some writing samples from online sources and for the most part, I thought they were horrendous. I decided to write my personal statement exactly how I think a personal statement should look and added my own touches. I know many of us think that people in the application process do not read or read in-depth personal statements but as soon as I got to the campus of the university I was admitted to the program coordinator told me how impressive part of my essay was and remembered almost exactly what I wrote. I think it helped me a lot to get in. Being that I am a social sciences field, I think it helped to think outside the box and be different. It helped leave an impression.

There is a possibility that they will have you do a "job talk" where you do a brief presentation on a topic to show your ability to teach. If they do not ask for one, consider offering one to show your abilities to be in front of a classroom.

That is great that you guys get summer funding. The other day somebody in my college that is in a different department told me that they taught at another school for the summers and told me they were looking for somebody to teach a course in my field. It is a 4 year college, but it is an arts school. It is more or less a trade school (fashion design, culinary arts, etc.) that is not very prestigious. So I am curious, do you think that teaching at a school like this and putting it on your CV would be beneficial or harmful? My university is a balance school (professors teach a 2-2 load and do some research) and want to place their graduating PhD students in a similar university system. Do you think having taught at a small arts school would hurt my credibility with universities that value research?

I think it is weird that you read for fun too... Just kidding. This is an interesting topic. It is funny to me that some people have this over romanticized idea in their head that academicians are super intellectuals. In reality, it is just a career choice. It may involve a different kind of thinking, require different training, etc. from different occupations but ultimately is a job that somebody chooses. It is not necessary to downplay or overplay your accomplishments. Just act like a normal person (I know normal can be a tough word to tackle for some academics ). If somebody has no interest in, or has no respect for what you do, that is not your problem. It is their problem for being close-minded. You should also be respectful and equally interested in what other people do. The kindergarten rule of treat others how you want to be treated can go a long way. People trying to downplay something you take pride in (whatever it may be) is a personality issue. Somebody who says something along the lines of what you do doesn't matter, everything you have accomplished is easy, or calls you an idiot has a complex that makes them for whatever reason want to feel superior to you. The only reason they say things like this to you is because they are trying to counteract their own problems with feeling inadequate. Do not take it personal because it is not about you or what you do. However, whatever you do, do not stoop to their level. I have experienced this same type of issue in a different realm. I competed athletics collegiately as an undergrad and master's student. Often times, people have the same expectations of you to downplay being successful as an athlete. For instance, I went on a date with this guy once (it never made it past date one for good reason) and we were having a conversation about competing sports in college. He had never participated in a competitive sport in his life (on a high school level) yet told me that he believed that if he had just decided to compete sports in high school he could have gotten a college scholarship. I asked him why and he said "I am athletic, of course somebody would want me." It is quite frequently I hear somebody who was an average high school athlete tell me they could've gotten a scholarship to go to college but decided not to. I am not a fan of "could'ves" and assumptions but I generally ignore these people. However, this guy had taken it to a completely different level. Getting a college scholarship as an athlete is not easy, it is hard work (just like getting a PhD) and I feel like he was severely trying to downplay something I had spent a lot of time working towards. So I politely gave him a statistical example of how many people get recruited athletically to compete in college and how even fewer are rewarded scholarships (it is probably around 5% or less who even participate and only a portion are awarded scholarships... about the same for getting published in a great research journal). He was much quieter after our discussion. Fortunately for me, I never saw him again. So, I wouldn't worry too much about people attempting to belittle your field. You have the right to defend what you love doing, but always be respectful. Sometimes people dislike what they do not understand. Having a discussion with somebody about what your job actually entails can help people gain better perspective and build a mutually respectful relationship.

At my university, we work with a different advisor each year. The advisor I have had for my first year was a great guy but I don't feel like I got a whole lot out of working for him. He just did not include me enough in the research process which is completely against what our department does. Most students in our department submit conference papers and coauthor journal publications with their advisors. It just did not happen for me in my first year. I was expected to be taught by my advisor about the research process and included in all the steps. It seems like he expected me to have all my own ideas and projects already (which as a first year student, I didn't). I had a tough pairing. I was put with a brand new, just hired, just finished a PhD Assistant Professor. He was new to the university, the process and being an advisor. He may not have known what was to be expected of him. My recommendation is to try to avoid being paired with a new professor your first year. I think if you are farther along in the process, and have a better idea of what you are doing, then it will not be as much as a struggle. Since I don't feel like I benefited as much as a should have from my first advisor (just not the best fit) I am going to try something different this year. I am going to try to pick my advisor. Another student in my department said if I meet with someone and they are interested in working with them, I can request to be assigned to them via my coordinator. So I asked students about their experiences with different professors and will meet next week with the professor I think would be the best fit. Hopefully it works out.

It is normal to get tired and bored... with just about anything. If you want a very honest account of the PhD experience read this book online: http://pgbovine.net/PhD-memoir.htm <-- The PhD grind The author goes through their experience of aimlessness. It is very important to take breaks. If you take a break for a week that can motivate you to work more efficiently for the next two months it is better than continuously working and getting little accomplished. Try to pick up some other hobbies that frees your mind from whatever you working on and you will feel much better. So of the PhD students in my college joined a beach volleyball league that plays on the weekends. It helps everybody relax and enjoy their experience as a grad student a little more. Furthermore, the painful reality about research is that, most likely, very few people will read or care about what we are researching. Most of us make these small incremental contributions to an expansive field that seems only like a drop of rain in a lake. However, you do it for a reason. Maybe you need to take a break and think about what is your exact motivation? For me, I really like teaching. I think being a professor is an admirable and important job. I wanted to do a PhD so I could teach at the university level. However, part of that process is learning about research. Our program coordinator gave us some very useful advice. He said that learning about how to become a successful researcher is an important part of the process. You should try to be as successful as you can in research as a graduate student but if you decide that you hate the research process there is nothing wrong with not doing it the rest of your life and working at a school that focuses primarily on teaching. So, in short, my advice to you is to take a break and do something completely non-graduate school related and then take some time to thing about your original motivation for doing the degree in the first place. Do not try to think too far into the future.

I wouldn't, unless it something purely professional like LinkedIn as others have mentioned. Or if your department/ college has a Facebook page (I believe my department has but I have never actually looked at it haha) you can leave a link for that. Whatever you want people to know about you from your website you can put directly on your website.

I would be interested in receiving some input from all of you guys about what you do over the summer as doctoral students. At the University I am attending we only have a 9 month assistantship and the 3 summer months are open and unpaid. When I asked different students in our college how they spent their summers a lot of them said they don't work and either live off of their savings or their family. I understand that for some people this is a viable option. Most of the students in our area are international and may go home for awhile in the summer or have their parents helping them financially. For me, this is not an option. So for the summer, I requested to teach a course. Apparently this is not normal for a first going on second year student but they gave me a section. I also picked up a part time job working in the afternoons. This allows me to earn some income over the summer so I don't end up homeless! I am also continuing to research, of course. So let me ask you... what are you doing this summer?

Something similar to this happened at a college where I was an administrator. What the school decided to do was fail all the students who were plagiarizing and they lost their sponsorships. Therefore, they had to pay, financially, to stay in the program. You should not feel awful; it is not your fault.

A good GPA for grad student is enough to keep your funding/ assistantship/ grant and not get kicked out. If you are a PhD program, probably nobody will ever ask to see your GPA. In a Master's program the only reason to care about your GPA is if you plan on applying to a PhD program.

It depends on how you work as an individual. Some people are more productive with a full schedule. If you are going to school, working and studying you only have a certain amount of time to devote to each and will properly budget your time. Often this is much easier than having too much time on your hands to overthink things. However, if you are a person you cannot handle time constraints then you should reconsider. But, not having to take out any student loans and be able to cover your living expenses will definitely ease your mind. And peace of mind can be quite valuable. Plus, as the poster above me said, you can always take the job and resign in the future if it does not work with your schedule.

This is probably the easiest option. If a family member is helping you move, just ask them to cosign. I have done this before when moving. However, if not a good rental history can go a long way. Getting a reference from your last residence will help.

A good place to compare credit card options is www.nerdwallet.com You can enter in what you are looking for (low APR, cash back, rewards, etc.) and it will give you some different options. They also do promotions such as, if you spend $500 in the first week you can earn $100 cash back. I have a couple different cash back credit cards that I like. The Chase Freedom card which has 5% rotating cash back categories (6 months out of the year it is gas) and great deals for online shopping. Also the American Express Blue Cash card which gives 3% back on groceries. I figured I should get cards that give the most money back for things I am going to buy anyway. Also, there are no annual fees and if you pay it off every month it is definitely worth it.

I need say something interesting about transaction cost economics, when it isn't interesting. Haha. My favorite justification for procrastination is "it is sunny outside, I should be outside, not inside reading!" The best procrastination avoidance is to procrastinate... in small increments. A little here... a little there, never harmed anyone right?

I too feel the need to compete. Graduate school is competitive. It was a competitive process to get in. It is competitive to get published, go to conferences, win accolades. It is competitive to get a job. So naturally, we always want to be the best. I have always been very independent in my collegiate studies. I would not even have someone else edit my English and research papers (unless it was the professor). I figured that if I learned it on my own I would learn it better. Collaboration at times can undercut your personal process. However, I will try, just not burn any bridges too soon in my career. The head of my department is encouraging everybody in our program to get on facebook and link up to our department site on there. All the students are wary because they don't want the head of the department looking at all their facebook activity. It is funny to me. Facebook use to be a safe space for students, now it has to be kept fairly professional since employers will look at it. Adding somebody on facebook is no major commitment. Go ahead and add them.

Great post. I whole heartedly agree. I was a substitute teacher in a large school district for a year that where in a wide array of socioeconomic settings. Just in that short time it was easy to see how drastically different the learning environments are at different schools. In some of these schools the kids had to worry if they came to school with a new backpack or pair of shoes that they would get stolen or jumped in the hallway. A lot of the schools lacked funding and did not have the basic supplies for students to learn. Many of the high school students worked full time jobs during the school year because they had to help support their families. None of these children chose to be in that environment, it was the circumstances they were given. I am sure some do make bad choices (as everybody does) but often they are not given the tools to make the best choices. On the other end of the spectrum are the priveleged kids. Some of them really seize their opportunities and work hard and are thankful for what they are given but there are a large portion that just feel entitled. I must add, when I was subbing, the nicer the school the messier the kids were. They would just throw stuff on the ground and expect somebody else to pick it up. It was terrible. But, with those priveleges they have a lot more room to make bad choices. Unfortunately, a child from a low income family does not have that same room for error.

That is hilarous. haha. During my first week as a PhD student one of my professors told us that "graduate school involves a lot of people telling you that your work sucks, get used to it." He went on to talk about how everybody still gets rejections from papers they submit to conferences and everybody has been told they are wrong or are not the best at something but it is all apart of the learning process. I know it stings a little bit when you actually hear you are not fantastic at everything (haha) but in the long haul it will make you better.

Ohhh, how untrue this is. I have an MBA from a decent state school. We have graduates that go on to do great things. One of my professors was an MBA graduate from our school and became the CEO of a fairly large corporation. Getting a degree from Harvard or Yale does not guarantee you anything. From what I know, schools with hard admissions standards are hard to get into, but easy to get out of. Furthermore, jobs do not really look at your grades so do not stress about it that much. As far as everything being more difficult, you are just going to have to work harder. YOU were the one who decided to get a masters degree, so do not be upset with your friends or family that they do not understand it. It is your choice, and your burden. However, I believe there is absolutely no reason to be unhappy about graduate school. It is far better than sitting in a cubicle being bored out of your mind. Make what you do fun. I used to take a box of crayons and redraw graphs and diagrams of stuff I had to know and make them colorful. I am sure I looked ridiculous being a graduate student in the libraby with crayons, but I had a good time. haha

I am going to give it a try. Graduate school is all about trying new things right? haha. One of my concerns is that when I write notes about an article and compose a summary I write it in a way that I understand it. Somebody else might read it and it is useless to them. I don't compose classnotes for an audience. But I don't want to hinder everybody else's learning process by being the only student abstaining.

You both bring up good points. I guess abherrant's "complicated" suggestion is a pretty good idea. Just contribute my basic summary to the group each week and continue keeping my own notes. If I don't like somebody's summary, I suppose I don't have to use it. Hmmm...

I received an e-mail today from a second year student in my program addressed to our entire class. He proposed that when we are assigned articles to read (5 each week) we split them up amongst oursleves and each write a summary and share it with eachother. He did not say it was a way not to read the other articles, but having indepth summaries when coming to class is a better way to be prepared. Other students seem to think that is a good idea. I however, am not very comfortable with it. I believed this kind of information hinders the learning experience as a whole. Here are my reasons: (1) I do not like sharing my work with other students. If I write a summary of an article to study later, it is for my own use on my own terms and not specified for anyone else's use. (2) The process of understanding and figuring things out in your own way will help you out just not in a specific class but how you learn for the rest of your life. (3) It is boring if everybody comes to class with the same ideas. (4) How somebody else outlines something may be of little use, because I do not understand it the same way I do. (5) It feels like cheating. I do understand the other side. Sometimes working together can be beneficial for everybody. However, it is a seminar style class where we discuss the articles each week. That is when we are supposed to collectively come up with good ideas. I feel like that would be harder to do when everybody has the same ideas in front of them. So, I would like to obstain from this collective summary idea, but I am may be the only student in my class against that idea. I don't know if it would be a good idea to give the other students a reason to dislike me. I don't care about popularity, but ultimately I want to be successful in my program. What do you guys think?

It is going to be tough to get a correct answer on this unless somebody has done a research paper analyzing the socioeconomic status of graduate students families. Actually, I am pretty sure papers have been written about it. http://www.springerlink.com/content/x5707h7p23p20513/ That link will direct you to a whole book about it. It was written in 1985, and even at that time, there was no direct correlation of background and the choice of going to graduate school. The summary tells you that income of one's family does effect where they may choose to go to school at the undergraduate level, but becomes nonsignificant as students progress through college because it is purely dependent upon their unique experience once in college. This makes sense, since the longer you are in college the more you break away from your family background. You start becoming established in your own right. One of the great things about being a graduate student is that you get the opportunity to meet students from diverse sets of background. And, I agree that you cannot judge people on their spending habits. Most graduate students are spending their own money, not their parents. As for the person who imports Olive Oil from Italy, it might actually be cheaper. Sometimes buying something directly from where it is made can be cheaper than paying the mark up once it makes it here. I am not sure, but I know have bought some consumer goods directly from China where they are manufactured and they were cheaper than buying the same items here.

I will agree that there is a stigma attached to online degrees, even ones at reputable institutions. A number of my past business professor who either run a business or work in management told us that they would not hire someone with an online degree. When I got my masters degree I did some of my classes online since that is how they were offered when I wanted to take them. Some subjects are fine to take online, such as finance which is mostly numbers and understanding rules and formats. However, a lot of subjects should have interaction with other people which will be required in a professional environment. Marketing, to me, is one of those subjects you could not fully learn in an online setting. Have you visited the schools that are near by and talked to anybody in the program? Sometimes schools will let you mold your own program in a sense. You can a set of classes that interests you, do independent study projects or research in an area of your interest. It wouldn't hurt to look into it. Just a suggestion!