First Year Students Fall 2014 How's It Going

[gellert]

I'm probably the mental breakdown person in my cohort.     Well, not really, but I've definitely been much more irritable the past few weeks and easily-frustrated.  I'll be glad to finish this last paper.  Still have some research stuff to do for my adviser before I go on a brief week-long vacation in June, but I can handle that just as soon as I don't have this last project hanging over my head.

[Threeboysmom]

I'm probably the mental breakdown person in my cohort.     Well, not really, but I've definitely been much more irritable the past few weeks and easily-frustrated.  I'll be glad to finish this last paper.  Still have some research stuff to do for my adviser before I go on a brief week-long vacation in June, but I can handle that just as soon as I don't have this last project hanging over my head.

Wishing you the best with your last paper.  I hope you enjoy your vacation in June. 

[Threeboysmom]

My first year is officially over.  Yay!!  Since I am attending part time I still have three years left to go however I survived the first year and I am so proud of myself that I have made it this far.  I have a three week break before my summer session begins.  I'm looking forward to binge watching Netflix and a short getaway just me myself and I.  

[seeingeyeduck]

I'm done! I can't believe a year has passed. It feels pretty good, and near the end there I forgot that there were grades to worry about.

 

I'm excited about summer too - I'm hoping to get a lot of research, reading and planning done before the next year. And maybe a roadtrip!

[ecm07e]

Finished with 2 A-'s. So much better compared to my first semester!!

[Threeboysmom]

Finished with 2 A-'s. So much better compared to my first semester!!

Congratulations on making A's, I'm hoping for two A's. Still waiting for my final grades.

[avflinsch]

Done with the first year -

Fall - A,A,Pass

Spring A,(B or B+ my guess anyway)

[avflinsch]

Update - A,A for Spring - my final paper was better than I thought it was.

[Threeboysmom]

Update - A,A for Spring - my final paper was better than I thought it was.

Awesome! Way to go for doing better than you thought.  

[RunnerGrad]

Grades are finally posted!  I ended up with two passes (these were pass/fail courses), two As (in courses where the prof said an "A" was for meeting graduate-level expectations and an A+ only if you absolutely wowed her/blew her away - same prof for these two courses), and two A+s.  I'm very happy, especially considering I've been struggling with post-concussion syndrome all year.

 

Now I'm completing my first summer practicum, part-time (again, thanks to post-concussion syndrome).  I'm loving my practicum!  I have great preceptors, interesting projects, and I'm learning a lot.  My preceptors also have a great deal of faith in me, and threw me right into projects that I said were within my skills and comfort zone.

 

In other news, my undergraduate thesis research looks like it will finally be published.  I'll be third author, but we should get two publications out of it.  First author is the grad student I was working with, second our advisor, and I'm third!  Very excited, even if it isn't in a super-high impact journal (impact factor about 2.5).

[Threeboysmom]

Grades posted today. I made two A's. I can't believe it. Now preparing for my two classes this summer. I'm so excited! !

[RunnerGrad]

Grades posted today. I made two A's. I can't believe it. Now preparing for my two classes this summer. I'm so excited! !

Congrats!

[avflinsch]

This is Just Crazy --
 
I am registered for a class in data visualization for the fall, with a great professor - I had him for an undergrad class several years ago, and have a pretty good idea of what to expect.
 
I got a notification from my employer late last week - I am scheduled to take a 1 week training crash course in - (take a guess) data visualization. Great, it will give me a head start in September. I have had this happen before while an undergrad, professional training in a subject before taking an academic course in the same or similar area.
 
Get another email today, from the company providing the training which includes the instructors name and contact info – same person who is teaching the class in the fall (different email address though).
 
Now for the real kicker – my full time employer is the same as the university that I am attending part time (tangentially related field). Doesn’t anyone talk to anyone here?

[sqxz]

Woo! Final grades are finally in! I ended up with 4 A+'s, 3 A's, and 3 S's for the year. I haven't had a 4.0 GPA or the opportunity to earn A+'s since high school! Also, I passed my qualifying exam, presented a poster and gave a talk at two conferences, and I'm working on my first publication. It was definitely a great first year, I'd say!

[ss2player]

Woo! Final grades are finally in! I ended up with 4 A+'s, 3 A's, and 3 S's for the year. I haven't had a 4.0 GPA or the opportunity to earn A+'s since high school! Also, I passed my qualifying exam, presented a poster and gave a talk at two conferences, and I'm working on my first publication. It was definitely a great first year, I'd say!

 

Wowza, that's really impressive! Can computational labs really pump out data that fast (i.e. ~6 months) for a poster/talk/full publication?

 

I chose the wrong field! 

[Threeboysmom]

Woo! Final grades are finally in! I ended up with 4 A+'s, 3 A's, and 3 S's for the year. I haven't had a 4.0 GPA or the opportunity to earn A+'s since high school! Also, I passed my qualifying exam, presented a poster and gave a talk at two conferences, and I'm working on my first publication. It was definitely a great first year, I'd say!

Way to go!  Keep up the good work.  Your first year was incredible!

[sqxz]

Wowza, that's really impressive! Can computational labs really pump out data that fast (i.e. ~6 months) for a poster/talk/full publication?

 

I chose the wrong field! 

 

The short answer is yes, we can! In my case, though, the poster for the first conference was only made because my advisor wanted me to go to that conference, and, as a rule, he does not allow his students to attend conferences unless they have something to present. So, that poster really just contains some preliminary results that are of limited interest. However, the talk for the second conference was on an interesting result, and that result is also the subject of my publication. I was able to obtain this result so quickly basically because I got lucky, and the first thing I tried to obtain the result worked. It's usually not that simple.

[ss2player]

The short answer is yes, we can! In my case, though, the poster for the first conference was only made because my advisor wanted me to go to that conference, and, as a rule, he does not allow his students to attend conferences unless they have something to present. So, that poster really just contains some preliminary results that are of limited interest. However, the talk for the second conference was on an interesting result, and that result is also the subject of my publication. I was able to obtain this result so quickly basically because I got lucky, and the first thing I tried to obtain the result worked. It's usually not that simple.

 

Thanks for the explanation, still pretty awesome! It also seems like your program has a faster timeline than mine, as I only just finished my last rotation 2 weeks ago. But now that I'm in my thesis lab, I can actually get this thing going. I hope I get as lucky as you!

[sqxz]

Thanks for the explanation, still pretty awesome! It also seems like your program has a faster timeline than mine, as I only just finished my last rotation 2 weeks ago. But now that I'm in my thesis lab, I can actually get this thing going. I hope I get as lucky as you!

 

Yep, it's been great! And you're right. We do three five-week rotations in the fall and join our thesis lab at the end of the semester, unless we need an extra rotation (or, very rarely, two), in which case joining our thesis lab is pushed back a few weeks. Good luck with your research!