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OP, I once heard that 80% of questions are really statements in disguise. With that said, I can't help but wonder if what you term as "reverse academic snobbery" is in fact your reaction of those people not oohing and aahing over your prestigious affiliations and accolades as you feel they should be. It's almost as if how dare those with 'less formal education' (which is quite the coded language btw) not find value and subtle enviousness of my achievements, smarts and knowledge --- how are you assuming they don't have any of that themselves? I also have a very hard time believing that the main source of your interactions and conversations with these people surround them bashing your education, and if so, perhaps it is time to forcibly remove yourself from interactions with those people at all costs. I think you downplay your attributes, not as a consequence of their 'reverse academic snobbery', but it is because you realize that you cannot use that arsenal in order to make yourself level, or in most ways, feel superior to them as you internally believe you are. 

You have jump to so many conclusions. I doubt you have any data at to support your findings. There is no reason a professor would care enough that you dropped his/her course. They get the same salary whether you are in their class or not. The world is not revolving around you. Leave it alone and move on. You're wasting your time thinking about this.

That was how I approached it as well. When I wasn't helping with current fieldwork, I did a lot of reading and started looking into the relevant forms (not IRB, but something similar for animals). 
 
I felt pressured at first, but in my case it ended up just being what I wanted to make of it and what my advisor thought would be useful. Unless a program or fellowship specifically outlines things that need to be accomplished or produced, then I think it's up to the student and the advisor/PI to decide on the best use of the time. I think building a solid literature base and learning about/taking part in the current projects of a lab are worthwhile starting activities for anyone in a science field. Beyond that will be more field/lab specific.

What i think is that is an excellent recipe for a disaster.

(the following is in no way meant to disparage any previous posters)
 
While I'm sure that on occasion reverse academic snobbery exists, I think more often than not it's a phenomenon much like "reverse racism" - in that the very people who feel they are being wronged are in fact simply worried they will not get the advantage they feel they are owed.  I'm not an anti-intellectual, and there is certainly a strange cultural undertow which sometimes makes me feel as if I'm swimming upstream when I strive to be well informed, articulate, and logical.  For example, the constant need for politicians in America to make a big show of being "plain spoken" and folksy.  So in a broad sense, yes, I think culturally there is an annoying smart vs. "real" perception problem. 
 
But, on an individual basis, I have to assume everyone is trying their best.  I just assume an intentional posture of niavete in order to not become an ass-hat myself.  Because for me it is better to assume if someone boasts to me that they would never be bothered to read a book that perhaps they have an undiagnosed learning disability, or an incredible strength in art, or simply a strong preference for auditory learning but they listen to pod casts religiously - whatever, than to assume they are just a big stupid idiot who hates smart people.
 
I barely graduated high school, I'm the only one of my friends from that period of my life who did finish high school, I married a high school drop out, and I spent much of a decade working in a hair salon.  Many of my clients were college students, graduate students, law students, or scientists from the nearby national lab.  The most articulate, interesting, and accomplished people also tended to be the people who just spoke to me like I was a person and were completely unconcerned with impressing me or impressing upon me the importance of education.  Occasionally I had a jackass in my chair, and it's 50/50 that person thought I was an elitist high brow snob or an uneducated idiot rube.  
 
I have strong feelings about this, because I've been on both sides, and have been perceived as being on both sides the entire time depending on who I was with and what I was doing.  In the end I found that as with anything, you won't change anyone who isn't interested, who has their guard up, and the more you push the more they will build up a defense against you and what you represent.  If you have a jackass in your salon chair, or in your life, treat them well until you get get them out the door and don't let them back.  And if you're dealing with a non-jackass, don't push an agenda or a belief system, and if someone is interested in your views, your beliefs, or your value system (including placing a high value on education) they will see that in your actions and ask you directly if they want to know more.  (All this is, of course, just one blue collar lady's opinion)

Your V and Q are very competitive! Your TOEFL is good too. Don't be too hard on yourself! I'm sure when you practice more, you would get your AWA score up to snuff. My advice is to prepare a General outline for each essay, and fill in your ideas according to the specific tasks, so you don't have to waste any of your precious 60 minutes to figure it out. It might not get you a 6 but a 4.5 to 5 is very doable! Good luck!

I'm reminding myself to upvote you in the morning!
"You have reached your quota of positive votes for the day"
 
Queen of Kale, this post touched my soul!

I'm not in chemistry, so maybe my advice isn't relevant.  I'm working as a RA in my future lab during the summer and while I'll be helping out with a lot of the experiments going on during the summer it also gives me a considerable amount of time to focus on my own project(s).  So I get the whole sense of pressure (which is probably not as bad as I feel it to be).  My plans are just to focus on reading literature and forming a more concrete plan of action on my experiment.  I have a general idea, but I need to break it down and figure out what measures, etc I will want to use.  Maybe if I get so far, I will get to fill out an IRB before Fall comes.  That's my plan.  The ideal situation is that I'd be so prepared that when school starts I may potentially get to start running the experiment.  Now the catch is that I already have a somewhat formed research question and I've already run that by my PI and she likes it (I just have to refine it a bit).  It may be a little harder if you haven't figured out what you want to tackle first and figuring out feasibility. Good luck! I'll be starting around June as well!  It's exciting!

What i think is that is an excellent recipe for a disaster.

Oh man I wish it was three months in my field

Personally, I would have told him a while ago... like, during the application process (something along the lines of "I don't think this is the right place for me, so I'm thinking of applying elsewhere").
 
I don't think there's any real value in waiting until later to tell him... he and the rest of the department are going to find out eventually anyway, so might as well just tell them now. They shouldn't hold it against you; if they get upset about anything, it might be because you waited until now to tell them (they may interpret the fact that you've been applying to another school "behind their backs" as something that's a little underhanded). I'm not saying that this was your intention, but there is the risk of it coming across this way. What you definitely don't want to just leave without telling your advisor and committee at all! I'd let them know your plans right away, especially if you think that your advisor will need time to find another assistant for his fieldwork. Also, why take the qualifying exams if you're not going to stick around at School A? It seems like a waste of time (for you and the people administering it).
 
If you explain it in terms of doing what's best for your career, they should be understanding about the whole situation. I doubt that they would let this influence how they grade your work in the class that you are taking. Good luck!

I have the Q backpack
http://www.timbuk2.com/tb2/products/q-backpack/2503651

I really like it. It's a good size, not too big not too small, and fits my macbook air, gym clothes and shoes, and some small books.

Hey I never said I read more than you do. Nor did I say that my reading was limited to my field. Nor did I ever say that I ignore badly-written works, just that I can dismiss them if I want.


Look at the "maybes" you threw at me:
can choose to ignore works that don't suit your literary aesthetics
trust that others will summarize them for you
work on very mainstream issues


While in your field:

you can't make that assumption
you also can't draw any link between writing and content
field moves fast and I need to keep up with current publications
don't work on problems where I can expect everything to be summarized in the first place



WOW.

Anyway, what's your take on this part of my post:

As for problems that have already been solved, why wouldn't the good writers also study the unsolved problems? Why would I only have to suffer the bad writers to find out about them? Especially if they are important problems?


Are there many cases of important research being done only by bad writers?

I feel like I carry everything I own everyday...
 
Bag 1: Normally my old MEC backpack
-Wallet
-Cell
-Laptop (cord and mouse)
-Headphones
-5lbs of keys
-Lip gloss
-Textbooks (1-2)
-Notebooks (1-2)
-Note cards
-Agenda
-Pens/highlighters
-Lunch & afternoon snack & a snack for emergencie
-Coffee mug
-Water bottle
-Costco sized bottle of Advil (not joking...it goes everywhere with me!)
 
Bag 2: Tote
-Sneaks
-Gym clothes
-Makeup / deodorant
-Hat for post-gym hair
-Towel
-Yoga Mat (occasionally)

For those whose home countries are faaar away and air tickets cost an arm and a leg (like mine), keep an eye out for conferences in the area. It's much more doable that way ;-)

Since you mention "research abilities", I'm assuming you're applying to doctoral programs or research intensive masters programs. This post is going to seem harsh, because it seems as if you're going about your preparation in the wrong way.
 
 
Just remember that the GRE is much less important than you think. It's good to do as well as you can, but it's generally not considered all that much when it comes to the actual decision makes. That said, you want to at least be in the ballpark of the schools you're applying to so you're applications aren't thrown out by administrative staff.
 
 
Complete and utter waste of time. A blog will not "reflect your research abilities". Admissions committees will not consider a blog as evidence of such, and will likely find it humorous that you think it is if you ever list it as a thing in your applications. What you need to demonstrate your research abilities is actual research experience. Research experience that will allow you to get strong letters of recommendation and that you can write about in your statement of purpose.
 
 
I'm not in the history field, but "extra-curriculars", volunteering etc. generally isn't considered at all for the graduate level. Can you get this museum to officially designate you as being part of an internship program? Are there PhD level respected researchers working at this museum? Would you be working closely enough with them that they could write you a letter of recommendation? Can you actively participate in research work that can be written about in your letters and statement of purpose? If the answer to any of these questions is no, it's also a waste of time.
 
 
Strengthening your base application (the people giving you recommendations, your actual research experience, published papers, your statement of purpose etc) is much more important than the things you're mentioning. The blog thing in particular would likely be a net negative against your application. It says you're passionate enough to have written thoughts on various topics, but not good enough to have had those thoughts published. It's also so unusual that they'll think you aren't a serious applicant if only because you thought it was a good idea.

For those whose home countries are faaar away and air tickets cost an arm and a leg (like mine), keep an eye out for conferences in the area. It's much more doable that way ;-)

Ah lab websites... The poorest-managed websites in existence.
 
I should know. I was put in charge of updating my lab's website, and it took me a year just to figure out how to edit a webpage. That's what happens when overworked graduate students are given the task of updating a lab website.

I strongly second whirldpeas13's advice and encourage you to take her up on her offer. Career services offices can really suck sometimes and smart friends/family/acquaintances etc. can be a lot more helpful. I've been flat broke and on the verge of homelessness before, there are ways to get ahead. Look past the immediate circumstances, think really hard about what you can do week by week to try to get ahead, be open to suggestions both large and small, and above all remember that you are not alone in life, people here and in your life want you to succeed.
 
I hope this might be of some comfort: - I also have a sub-3.0 GPA (2.7-8) and an D- on my transcript in a relevant course. I hope my advice above wasn't too blunt, but you would do well to think big plan even if it seems foolish in the moment. A lot things may be a crapshoot, but there are things you can do to learn to be a good craps player.
 
One final thing I'm going to offer up and without knowing what your family situation is (housing is obviously one of the most important things in life) is to look into both Federal and local programs to help improve your housing situation: http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/topics/avoiding_foreclosure

You actually would qualify as a first-generation student -- your parents would have to have a 4-year degree. It sounds like you really have some soul searching to do, but you really don't have to go it alone. Truly look into the McNair Scholars Program. Be honest. They are in the business of helping people. I am a Caucasian female, my mom has a beauty degree, but I am a McNair Scholar. You need some support right now, which is nothing to be ashamed of! I had many mini-crises in the past few years. You just need to learn the language of higher Ed and the job market, it is very bureaucratic! I would be happy to look over cover letters or your resume for you. I failed a lot at first, not because of who I was or what my potential was, but because I didn't know how to represent myself in the appropriate way. Now, I am going to Harvard with a full ride. It really is possible. Please don't be too discouraged. Feel free to contact me here or via a message.

Some friends are asking how to give condolences and support for the spirit of Lu Lingzi and for her family.
 
Thinking of lining the street in Boston when the hearse goes to the airport to be sent back to her family in China ?

I read that it is traditional for chinese to have white flowers such as Irises for funerals , so they are thinking to hold up a white Iris as a mark of respect and support as the hearse drives past . ( can anyone confirm if this is correct ? )

Does anyone know the word used to describe when you line up in a street to show support and respect for someone as the hearse drives past ?

Its not a funeral procession because really the body is being taken to an airport.

any thoughts to share people ?

they want to share this around campus and for anyone else.

People want to show support for the grieving family , this woman came here as a guest of the American public really  , and there is a bit of responsibility feeling because we are supposed to look after our guests and keep them safe.

We dont know what date she is being taken back to China yet . any ideas peeps ?

A memorial service for LU Lingzi will be held on Monday, April 22, at 7 p.m. in the George Sherman Union Metcalf Ballroom beginning at 7 p.m.

thankyou kindly

love n light

Here's a list of what I think will be your costs:
 
1) Preparation for GRE + TOEFL: depending on your level of English, you might need courses
 
2) GRE + TOEFL: check the cost at the ETS representative in your country
 
3) Sending GRE + TOEFL scores: Before the exam you mention 4 institutions where your scores will be sent. If you pick them correctly, you will only have to pay for any extra university (I think its 25 $ for the TOEFL and 17 for the GRE or vice versa)
 
4) Transcripts + translations: You will need some copies of your transcript and/or diploma, as well as translations if they're not in English
 
5) Applications: In most universities you pay a fee. Mine were 50 - 125 $
 
6) Sending documents with traditional mail: Some universities require some documents in hard copies, so you have to mail them
 
7) Interviews: Usually international applicants are interviewed by phone or Skype. In the rare case that they need to have an interview in person, they will cover some of the expenses
 
8) Passport + Visa: To travel to the US you will need a valid passport and a student visa. You also have to pay for the cost of mailing/receiving the required documentation from the university
 
9) Ticket
 
10) Housing: Depending on your contract, you might have a make a deposit.
 
11) Initial expenses to get settled until your first paycheck: This varies greatly, depending on whether your apartment is furnished/unfurnished and the area you'll be living in. There are sites that compare the cost of living in different places in the US that you can check out for this.

About your dog: I think that depends entirely on you and your program. I am in a social science program where the majority of my analysis and writing can be done from home, and I prefer to work from home or from a library (as opposed to my cube in the windowless cube farm). When I was taking classes I was generally there from 9-6 or so, but now that my coursework is finished I am rarely at the school itself. I go for meetings, seminars, interesting kinds of things and I do most of my work remotely. My time is verrry flexible, and if my building didn't prohibit it I would get a dog in a heartbeat. Another thing to keep in mind: a dog can be a great comfort when you're all stressed out over graduate school.

Advice?

Age:
-Don't feel like you have nothing to offer just because you are younger. I was 22 when I started graduate school. You got accepted to the program for a reason, and chances are you are just as equipped as any older students are to successfully complete the program, just in a different way.

-Your older classmates may be just as terrified as you. Talk to them. You have a lot in common. You are, after all, in the same place.

-You will feel like an imposter, like you don't belong, or like you are constantly behind. Or all three. It's normal. It will pass. (Well, sort of.) People of all ages go through this.

Adviser related:
-If you are lucky enough to get both research interest fit and personality fit perfect, congratulations! But sometimes, personality fit is more important than research interest fit as long as the research isn't too different. A great adviser is interested in your career development, likes you as a person, advocates for you, and wants to hear your ideas. Even if his or her research is quite different from yours, they may give you the autonomy to work on your own projects and just supervise you. A bad personality fit will drive you nuts, even if you love his or her research. Consider that when evaluating your adviser fit. (This will vary by field: research fit may be less important in the humanities, more important in the natural and physical sciences. Social sciences are somewhere in-between.)

-Don't be afraid to be straight up blunt with your adviser when it comes to asking about your progress. Ask if you are where you should be both academic program wise and getting-a-job-after-this-mess-wise.

-Be proactive. Advisers love when you draw up an agenda for your one-on-one meetings, come with talking points and progress to share, have concrete questions to ask, and have overall shown that you have been thoughtful and taken control of your own program. Of course, this won't immediately come easily to you, but in time you will work up to it. Every semester I type up my semester goals, and at the beginning of the year I type up annual goals. I show them to my adviser and we talk about whether they are too ambitious, or whether I need to revise them, and how I can meet them.

-Don't expect your adviser to actually know what courses you have to take to graduate. They will know about comprehensive exams and the dissertation, but a lot of professors don't really keep up with the course requirements, especially if their program is in flux. Get you a student handbook, and find out what you need to take. Map it out in a grid, and check off things when you finish them. Show this to your adviser every semester. You may have to explain how such and such class fills a requirement.

-Nobody loves you as much as you, except your mother. Keep this in mind as you take in advice from all sources, including your adviser. Your adviser is there to guide you, but that doesn't mean you have to do everything he says.

Studying:
-You will have to read more than you ever did before, in less time than you ever have before, and you will be expected to retain more than you ever have before. The way that you studied in undergrad may need some tweaking. Be prepared for this.

-Corollary: you may find that your methods change with age or interests or time. I preferred to study alone in college, but in grad school, I prefer to study in groups. It keeps me on task and the socialization keeps me motivated. You may find that you shift from being a more auditory learner to a visual learner or whatever.

-You will feel behind at first. This is normal.

-At some point you will realize that your professors don't actually expect you to read everything they assign you. This, of course, will vary by program, but there will be at least one class where the reading is actually impossible to do in one week. The point is to read enough that you know the major themes and can talk intelligently about them, and then pick some of the readings to really dig into and think more deeply about.

-For most programs, don't worry so much about grades. If you stay on top of your work and do what you're supposed to, you will probably get an A. How much grades matter varies from program to program. In some programs, a B is a signal that you are not up to par, and more than a few Bs will warrant a discussion with your adviser or the DGS. My program isn't like that - A, B, it's all meaningless. My adviser doesn't even know what my grades are. But at almost all programs, a C means you need to retake the course, and two Cs means you have to convince the DGS not to kick you out.

Extracurricular activity: What's that? No, seriously:
-A lot of your time will be unstructured. You will have coursework, but most grad classes meet once a week for two hours and you may have three classes. You may have meetings with your adviser every so often and some seminars or things to catch (like we have grand rounds and colloquia that are required), but a lot of time will be unstructured. However, since you have so much more work than you had in undergrad, you actually will have less free time than you had in undergrad. This may initially cause you great anxiety. It did for me. Some people love unstructured time, though. (I don't.)

-Because of this, you'll have to be planful about your non-grad school related stuff.

-TAKE TIME OFF. DO it. It's important for your mental health. However you do it doesn't matter. Some people work it like a 9-5 job. Some people take a day off per week (me) and maybe a few hours spread across the week. Some people work half days 7 days a week. However you do it, there needs to be a time when you say "f this, I'm going to the movies."

-Find your happy place, something that keeps you the you you were when you came in. I love working out. It gives me energy and I feel good. I stay healthy. I also love reading fiction, so sometimes I just curl up with a good book, work be damned. You have to give yourself permission to not think about work, at least for a couple of hours a week. You may also discover new hobbies! (I never worked out before I came to graduate school.)

-Your work will creep into all aspects of your life, if you let it. This is why I hate unstructured time. You will feel guilty for not doing something, because in graduate school, there is ALWAYS something you can do. ALWAYS. But since there will always be more work, there's no harm in putting it aside for tomorrow, as long as you don't have a deadline.

-You may need to reach outside of your cohort for a social life. None of my close friends are in my doctoral cohort. I've met master's students in my program, master's students in other programs, and I know a few non-graduate students I hang out with, too. Go to graduate student mixers. (If your university doesn't have any, organize some, if you like planning parties.) Join a student group that doesn't take up too much time. I had a doctoral acquaintance who kinda laughed at me because I joined some student groups other than the doctoral student one, and I was usually the only doctoral student in those groups, but I met some close friends (and future job contacts) and had a good time.

-DO NOT FEEL GUILTY FOR WANTING A LIFE OUTSIDE OF GRADUATE SCHOOL. This is paramount. This is important. You are a well-rounded, complex, multifaceted human being. NEVER feel bad for this. Everybody wants some kind of life outside of work. Yes, you may loooove your field, but that doesn't mean you want to do it all day long. Some other doctoral students, and perhaps professors, may make you feel bad about this. Don't let them. Just smile and nod. Then disappear when you need to.

Career:
-This is job preparation. Remember that from Day One. Always be looking for ways to enhance your skills. Read job ads and find out what's hot in your field, what's necessary, what's in demand. For example, in my field statistics and methods are a hot commodity, and they're not a passing fad. I happen to really like statistics and methods, so I have pursued that as a concentration of mine.

-Don't be afraid to take on volunteer work and part-time gigs that will give you skills that will be useful both inside academia and out, as long as it's not against your contract. Your adviser may be against it, but he doesn't have to know as long as it doesn't interfere with your work.

-If you want to work outside of academia - if you are even *considering* the possibility - please please definitely do the above. Even if you aren't considering it, consider the possibility that you won't get a tenure-track job out the box and that you may need to support yourself doing something else for a while. You will have to prove to employers that you have developed usable, useful skills and this is one of the easiest ways to do it. But don't overdo it - get the degree done.

-For more academic related ones - always look for opportunities to present and publish. Presentations look good on your CV. Publications look better. When you write seminar papers, wonder if you can publish them with some revision. Write your seminar papers on what you maybe think you may want to do your dissertation on. Even if you look at them three years later and think "these suck," you can at least glean some useful references and pieces from them. Discuss publication with your adviser early and often, and if you have the time and desire, seek out publication options with other professors and researchers. But if you commit to a project, COMMIT. You don't want to leave a bad impression.

-If you can afford it, occasionally go to conferences even if you aren't presenting. You can network, and you can hear some interesting talks, and you may think about new directions for your own research. You can also meet people who may tell you about jobs, money, opportunities, etc.

-Always try to get someone else to pay for conference travel before you come out of pocket. Including your adviser. Do not be shy about asking if he or she can pay. If he can't, he'll just say no. Usually the department has a travel fund for students, but often it's only if you are presenting.

-If you are interested in academia, you should get some teaching experience. There are two traditional ways to do this: TAing a course, and teaching as a sole instructor. If you can help it, I wouldn't recommend doing a sole instructor position until you are finished with coursework. Teaching takes a LOT of time to do right. You should definitely TA at least one course, and probably a few different ones. But don't overdo it, if you can help it, because again, it takes a LOT of time. More than you expect at the outset. If you are in the humanities, I think sole instructor positions are very important for nabbing jobs so when you are in the exam/ABD phase, you may want to try at least one. If your own university has none, look at adjuncting for nearby colleges, including community colleges. (I would wager that the majority of natural science/physical science students, and most social science students, have never sole taught a class before they get an assistant professor job. At least, it's not that common n my field, which straddles the social and natural sciences.)

-Always look for money. Money is awesome. If you can fund yourself you can do what you want, within reason. Your university will be thrilled, your adviser will be happy, and you can put it on your CV. It's win-win-win! Don't put yourself out of the running before anyone else has a chance to. Apply even if you think you won't get it or the odds are against you (they always are), as long as you are eligible. Apply often. Apply even if it's only $500. (That's conference travel!) Money begets money. The more awards you get, the more awards you will get. They will get bigger over time. If you are in the sciences and social sciences, you should get practice writing at least one grant. You don't have to write the whole thing, but at least get in on the process so that you can see how it's done. Grant-writing is very valuable both in and outside of graduate school.

-Revise your CV every so often. Then look and decide what you want to add to it. Then go get that thing, so you can add it.

-The career office at big universities is often not just for undergrads. I was surprised to learn that my career center offers help on CV organization and the academic job search, as well as alternative/non-academic career searches for doctoral students. In fact, there are two people whose sole purpose it is to help PhD students find nonacademic careers, and they both have PhDs. This will vary by university - some universities will have very little for grad students. Find out before you write the office off.

-It's never too early to go to seminars/workshops like "the academic job search inside and out", "creating the perfect CV," "getting the job," etc. NEVER. Often the leader will share tips that are more aimed towards early graduate students, or tidbits that are kind of too late for more advanced students to take care of. This will also help you keep a pulse on what's hot in your field. It'll help you know what lines you need to add to your CV. And they're interesting.

Other:

-Decide ahead of time what you are NOT willing to sacrifice on the altar of academia. Then stick to it.
I'm serious. If you decide that you do NOT want to sacrifice your relationship, don't. If it's your geographical mobility, don't. I mean, be realistic, and realize that there will always be trade-offs. But you have to think about what's important to you for your quality of life, and realize that there is always more to you than graduate school.

-If you don't want to be a professor, do not feel guilty about this. At all. Zero. However, you will have to do things differently than most doctoral students. Your adviser will probably never have worked outside of the academy (although this may vary depending on the field) so he may or may not be able to help you. But you have a special mission to seek out the kinds of experiences that will help you find a non-academic job. Test the waters with your adviser before you tell him this. My adviser was quite amenable to it, but that's because I told him that my goal was to still do research and policy work in my field just not at a university, AND because it's quite common in my field for doctoral students to do non-academic work. If you're in a field where it's not common (or where your professors refuse to believe it's common, or it's not supposed to be common)…well, you may be a little more on your own.

-Every so often, you will need to reflect on the reasons you came to graduate school. Sometimes, just sit and think quietly. Why are you doing this to yourself? Do you love your field? Do you need this degree to do what you want to do? Usually the answer is yes and yes, and usually you'll keep on trucking. But sometimes when the chips are down you will need to reevaluate why you put yourself through this in the first place.

-To my great dismay, depression is quite common in doctoral students. Graduate work can be isolating and stressful. Luckily your health insurance usually includes counseling sessions. TAKE THEM if you need them. Do not be ashamed. You may be surprised with who else is getting them. (I found out that everyone in my cohort, including me, was getting mental health counseling at a certain point.) Exercise can help, as can taking that mental health day once a week and just chilling. Don't be surprised if you get the blues…

-…but be self-aware and able to recognize when the depression is clouding your ability to function. Doctoral programs have a 50% attrition rate, and this is rarely because that 50% is less intelligent than, less motivated than, less driven than, or less ambitious than the other 50% that stays. Often they realize that they are ridiculously unhappy in the field, or that they don't need the degree anymore, or that they'd rather focus on other things in life, or their interests have changed. All of this is okay!

-You will, at some point, be like "eff this, I'm leaving." I think almost every doctoral student has thought about dropping out and just kicking this all to the curb. You need to listen to yourself, and find out whether it is idle thought (nothing to worry about, very normal) or whether you are truly unhappy to the point that you need to leave. Counseling can help you figure this out.

-Don't be afraid to take a semester or a year off if you need to. That's what leaves of absence are for.

Lastly, and positively…

…graduate school is great! Seriously, when else will you ever have the time to study what you want for hours on end, talk to just as interested others about it, and live in an intellectual community of scholars and intellectuals? And occasionally wake up at 11 am and go to the bank at 2 pm? Sometimes you will want to pull out all of your hair but most of the time, you will feel fulfilled and wonderfully encouraged and edified. So enjoy this time!

You can find a prof's h-index very easily with Web of Science database. 
Simply do a search with author name. From the results list, choose "Create citation report" link.  You will get a lot of useful data including: published items/ # of citations in each year, and of course the h-index.
Just be sure to remove the wrong articles from the results list, if that author has a common name.

Why I would:

1) Autonomy/independence.  I get to determine what I work on, when I want to.
2) Flexibility of schedule.  I may have to work 80 hours a week, but they're any 80 hours I want!
3) Intellectually stimulating environment of the university.
4) Shaping young minds, I guess.  Helping to influence the future of my field.  I'd like to advise pre-health undergrads in their careers, and maybe advise new doctoral students one day.

Why I wouldn't:

1) I don't really like teaching.  Every time I get involved in it, I always think it's just distracting from my research, so I think that's a sign.
2) I would prefer some geographic mobility.  I don't want a job in a place I hate just for the opportunity to be an academic.
3) I prefer a more medium-stress lifestyle, and I don't want to fight for tenure.
4) Tenure doesn't appeal to me.  I don't want to be tied to one institution for my career; I want the freedom to move if I want to.  I know it's a bit harder to move on in academia when you're an associate or full professor unless you are prolific.
5) I don't want to pay my own salary through grants.  I would prefer a guaranteed salary.
6) Academia moves too slowly for me.  I want my research to go towards applied programs that will solve problems in the more immediate future.  I want to work on very applied issues and help people in the more proximal future.
7) I really don't want to run my own research lab.  It's not that I'm not a good manager, but I would prefer the structure of an established company rather than being, essentially, the proprietor of a small business.  I just want to worry about the science and not the money or the equipment or the space.  I would rather work on a team with other researchers at my level, all of whom have a particular skill set they bring to the problem at hand.  And I want to work for a corporation that hires other people to worry about the money and the equipment and the space and leave me to play with data and write papers.
8) I hate committees, and I hate meetings.  I realize that those happen in corporate, too, but from my (admittedly limited) experience, academia = endless pointless meetings whereas corporate seems to have mastered them a little better.
9) I like routines and predictability.  I know that I enjoy the flexibility of academia, but I also would not mind one bit working a 9-5 and knowing that at 5 or 6 or 7 pm I can drop everything and go home and not think about work the next day.
10) I like juggling multiple research projects at once, but I don't like juggling multiple tasks at once.  I want to be a researcher working on a variety of projects, but not a teacher, adviser, and researcher all at once.  I'm not really good at segmenting my time properly, and I've found that I waste a lot of time transitioning my brain from one task to the next.
11) I like to call myself a "research mercenary."  I am more broadly interested in public health research, but there are a wide variety of fields within that area that I am interested in.  I feel like if I became an academic, I'd be expected to dig a specialized niche within a particular area and burrow into that niche for the next 20 years.  But that's not what I really want.  I'd much rather be a semi-generalist, and know a little about a lot and a lot about one particular area of that lot.
12) Again, I have limited experience, but I find corporate bullshit more understandable than academic bullshit.  Corporations want to make money, and people in corporations work together to make money somehow.  Even in think tanks and policy institutes, the goal is to compete for government contracts and produce good end goals so that more agencies want to contract with you.  Government agencies and institutes produce research for the national good (theoretically) to serve priority areas.  But academic politics drive me nuts.  I always feel a little bit alienated around other grad students who really, really want to be academics.
13) I don't like conferences.  I know I will still go if I am in non-academic research, but they'll be less critical to my career (somewhat) and so maybe I will go to fewer.

Now I sound like a misanthropic academic, lol.