First Year Students - Fall 2015 - How's It Going?

[FreddyDoug]

I am starting this thread so those of us who are starting our programs this fall can post progress, frustrations, and updates. Hope everyone is having a great summer!

[Dr. Old Bill]

Great thread topic!

So far, so good for me. I was able to start a GAship in my department two months ago, which has really helped me to become familiar with faculty, staff, and the office politics of the place. I don't officially start classes until the 31st, but I feel that having a couple of months of daily work, not to mention having my own office, has given me a bit of a leg up.

I've been debating with myself whether I'm more sad about summer coming to a close, or more excited about classes (and, by extension, the next phase of my academic career) beginning. It's a close race, but I think the latter is winning by a nose.

[Cheshire_Cat]

Orientation was yesterday and today.  The professor still doesn't know who I will GA for because there have been some changes and my advisor wants to put me with someone who can utilize my audit experience.  I hope that is true and they aren't just holding off because no one wants me, haha.  On the plus side, I met my cohort, and they all seem nice.  I was put in an separate office from them, with two students further along in the program.  I'm kind of disappointed because I want to develop relationships with them, but it is probably a good thing, because I can ask the more senior students for help easier, and they have more expertise than I.   Classes start Monday.  I'm looking forward to it.  I'm used to a busy life, and the past two weeks I've hardly done anything.  It's been nice and refreshing, but I'm ready to be busy again and to be back on a regular schedule.

[dr. t]

Ugh, I don't wanna pack to move and you can't make me.

[Adelantero]

Starting classes monday. The class I'm TAing has more students in it than my entire undergrad institution's students, staff, and faculty combined. Culture shock. Otherwise awesome.

[shadowclaw]

Moving across the country in a week and a half. I'm kind of glad that my school has such a late start date, because it has meant more time with my family and friends before the big move. However, that time is quickly drawing to a close. I'm really not into packing, and I essentially have to move my stuff twice. We're getting a relocube to transport our belongings to Oregon, and it was $1200 cheaper to do a terminal to terminal move than a door to door move. So we have to pack up a uhaul, drive it 45 minutes away, and then transfer everything to the cube. Same deal at the other end.

Apartment hunting has been a massive pain. I was trying to find something nice that wasn't managed by the big real estate companies, but everyone said they were uncomfortable renting to someone so far away. Even some of the real estate companies wanted a walk-through before we could even apply for an apartment. Ended up getting something with higher rent than we wanted to pay, but it does have a garage and a small fenced yard. It's also a short walk to the bus stop and the mall. I will also have no money, because there is an abundance of Asian restaurants in town, and I just love sushi and pho.

Orientation starts on the 14th I believe. I'm looking forward to getting to know my new campus and program. I'm a bit anxious about meeting my advisor. I don't know why.

[bsharpe269]

I started my first research rotation about 6 weeks ago and start classes Monday. I've gotten to know the cohort 1 year ahead of me fairly well this summer and my cohort has slowly been arriving. Everyone is great but I haven't bonded with them deeper than a superficial level. Its difficult for me as a female in a male dominated field. I'm used to being the only woman in the lab and am fine with that but I still like to have some close girlfriends. There is one other woman in the entire program (as in, spanning all years) and luckily she seems great so I think we will become friends. I've also started dating someone here and really like him. He's new to the area too and having someone to go through the adjustment with has made it easier.

My first rotation is going really well! Its similar to my MS work so I was able to jump into a fun project. The PI is terrific. He is new/untenured but already has a rockstar reputation in the field. He approaches me weekly to check that I'm still happy with that project and asks whether we meeting frequently enough/too frequently for my liking, etc. He seems to be a genuinely great guy who wants his students to be happy and feel supported. My next rotation is with a more established professor. The 2nd prof actually emailed me before I could email him, asking that I consider rotating with him. He has a reputation for being strict, formal, and very selective of students but also supportive of his students once they are in the lab. None of the older students had heard of him ever contacting students before (in fact, its known to be a bit difficult to get into his lab) so I feel super happy about that and excited to start that rotation.

shadowclaw, I know you had struggled with limited funding in your field. Were you able to get the TA at your new school?

Edited August 22, 2015 by bsharpe269

[jujubea]

Classes don't start for another month for me, but I've already been advised by a couple professors that my foreign language skills aren't quite up to snuff, so I'm trying to study that a bit - on top of trying to pre-read for a class that is generally taken second year, so that I can at least understand what's being said in the class.

My wedding, honeymoon, first-time home purchase, and extremely rough family issues are behind me, so that feels good.

I'm kind of chomping at the bit to get started at school.

My commute will be an hour+ and I'll be doing it on a motorcycle, so I'm going to have to start (woe is me) getting my endurance up to handle sustained 70mph winds at my body for two hours every day.... But I am SO HAPPY to have a moto to commute with   

I am registered for classes, only taking three this quarter (supposedly the normal load?), and beefing up my foreign language on my own as an unofficial "fourth class".

I already met all my cohort at the visit day, with the exception of one or two people. We are a class of about 7 I believe. I really like two of the people in particular that I met (they were all cool) and I've been in touch with both of them over the summer, so that feels good, especially because we'll be in the same foundation classes all year. 

I have wide interests and I'm worried I'll get pigeonholed early on (by influential faculty) into a specialty that I don't want. My likely adviser (they don't get officially assigned til the second year) pretty apparently opposes one of the emphases that I want to pursue, and I'm nervous about navigating office politics already...

Overall super eager to get started though!!!

[FantasticalDevPsych]

Glad someone made this thread for us!

I started my RAship in July and classes start Monday so I've already made my move (well more like 3 of them). Lab wise everything's been going very well. I already have an accepted conference poster presentation (my undergrad thesis) which I am going to with my lab in a few months. My advisor has already found me my first project (an excellent match to my background from undergrad but also to my research interests) and we are at work developing and revising my NSF proposal (from last year) which is also going to be my first experiment! My advisor has been great so far, had some great ideas, been supportive of me, and responsive (even while going for tenure). Very happy they found me, even if it was late. 

My cohort has all been here since July and we have bonded enough for our DCT to point it out at grad school orientation (in front of everyone - not just our department)...

I've been working on finding a work-life balance now so I have joined MeetUp and found ways to continue some of my other hobbies. 

Housing search was awful. I found a place I loved but it wasn't available until August... so I had to find temporary housing. I am in my apartment now and think the wait was worth it. 

Unfortunately I've recently been in a car accident (no injuries and not totaled) and really banged one of my toes to where it's badly bruised and painful (but not broken)... and I had to spend the first 6 weeks in temporary housing... other than these I think everything's gone well so far!

[shadowclaw]

shadowclaw, I know you had struggled with limited funding in your field. Were you able to get the TA at your new school?

TA positions still haven't been assigned yet, which is very annoying, but a reality I was prepared for. I did receive a fellowship that covers part of tuition (would cover most of it if I was a resident) in the event that I don't receive one. It's not ideal, but it works.

My commute will be an hour+ and I'll be doing it on a motorcycle, so I'm going to have to start (woe is me) getting my endurance up to handle sustained 70mph winds at my body for two hours every day.... But I am SO HAPPY to have a moto to commute with

I did a long commute for my masters (1 hour 20 min each way). It was rough some semesters when instead of spending 3.5 hours per week on the road like I did in undergrad, I was spending up to 14 hours. That was a lot of time I could have spent working on things or even just sleeping  I wish I could commute to my PhD program. There are a lot of towns 1/2 hour away with great rental opportunities. However, my husband and I have become a 1 car family, so I needed to be in either Corvallis (where the school is) or the neighbouring town of Albany, which has a bus that goes to campus.

 

[Ashlée]

I've reached the last week.  I've been in Kentucky with my mom and sister for the past three weeks, kind of living in limbo after I finished up my job on my undergrad university campus and now as I wait to fly up north to Montréal, which happens on the 28th.  Luckily, I'll be living in grad student housing, so I won't have to worry about trying to find an apartment, roommate, and all that fun stuff.  But classes don't start until September 8th, so I'll have some time to get acclimated to Montréal, figure out the transit system, and all that fun stuff.  I'm painfully excited, but also painfully apprehensive.

[Dedi]

I've had an RAship since June. Everything seems so tumultuous. I'll go from having a calm demeanor to panicking about the "what if.."s. I still don't know if I have the psychological capacity to continue on to graduate school. My mom complains about getting stress-related illness after 14 hours of work/week. What if I become like that (she used to be able to work full time, I don't know what changed)? Imposter syndrome is running high.

I have signed my first lease as of July. I'm getting used to getting in the swing of things like last summer, when I volunteered in the same lab I'm working in as a graduate student.

I have met no one in my cohort besides someone on gradcafe in the psychology department. I'll probably meet more people in the orientations, which comes up in about 2 weeks. Courses start mid-September.

The research project I'm involved with seems to be going well. I think the most nerve-wracking part of it is the decision if I'll have to take over the project completely is still up in the air. That decision needs to be made by August 31. I'm sure I'll be fine with taking it over, just anticipatory anxiety. My advisor wants me to also overlook some undergraduates while they do their thesis projects. He usually does not do this to first year students, but he thinks that I'm advanced enough to handle it. Did I mention imposter syndrome is running high?

[SocialPsychYear2]

Class doesn't start until next week but I've been here  since 7/20. We (my husband and I) needed to sell our house and make sure that was taken care of before moving here, so we were okay selling it early and moving me out here before he was fully finished with work, which just meant we had to spend some time apart while he transitioned from Job A to Job B.

I've met many of the other students in my area including the only other first year student. Everyone has been very nice. I've been invited to happy hours with the other students to get to know everyone. The faculty have all been very friendly as well.

I'm a little nervous about my TAship since I've gotten very little info on it. I'm someone who likes to know things in advance so that I can planner. I am a HUGE planner. My advisor is in his first year as a professor. He was a post-doc last year (at the same school, so he knows the other faculty really well already). So I'm definitely interested in getting to help set up the culture of our lab, but also nervous about his lack of experience advising PhD students. We've met quite a bit already, and things seem to be going pretty well so far, so I'm optimistic.

[shadowclaw]

My husband has been away all weekend and my parents went to the beach. It's just me, the cats, and my parents' dog. It was the perfect opportunity to get a lot of packing done. There's really not that much to do, as I packed a lot of stuff earlier in the month. Yet I spent much of Friday and Saturday watching Star Trek and the Big Bang Theory while wasting time on the internet. Oh, and I watched Silver Linings Playbook, too. To be fair, I filled 2 boxes with DVDs and threw out some stuff, but I just hate packing. I go so slow and everything distracts me. I even stopped packing to go make some fudge today.

I'm also concerned about my cats being sick while traveling. They both got goopy eyes and some kind of respiratory infection. I took them to a new vet (they used to go near where my husband used to live) who informed me that the likely reason they get sick every so often with the same symptoms is that they probably got herpes when they were strays. The respiratory infection is responding to antibiotics, but not their eyes. It they don't improve soon, they'll have to get a stronger antibiotic and an antiviral, which I'm certain will make them vomit through the whole car trip. My boy gets sick as it is from the medicine and has puked a few times. I just want my kitties to have a comfortable ride to Oregon

[jujubea]

 

TA positions still haven't been assigned yet, which is very annoying, but a reality I was prepared for. I did receive a fellowship that covers part of tuition (would cover most of it if I was a resident) in the event that I don't receive one. It's not ideal, but it works.

I did a long commute for my masters (1 hour 20 min each way). It was rough some semesters when instead of spending 3.5 hours per week on the road like I did in undergrad, I was spending up to 14 hours. That was a lot of time I could have spent working on things or even just sleeping  I wish I could commute to my PhD program. There are a lot of towns 1/2 hour away with great rental opportunities. However, my husband and I have become a 1 car family, so I needed to be in either Corvallis (where the school is) or the neighbouring town of Albany, which has a bus that goes to campus.

 

ah! We're a one car family now too  

The whole fam (three kids) moved out here for me, so our pick of living location was limited to where we could afford to buy a home that also had good public schools.

Otherwise my hub and I would just be in a little grad apartment on campus!

[Garyon]

Hi everyone!

For me, classes start tomorrow. I am super excited.

The last two weeks have been kinda tough between moving to the US, finding an house (Long Island is terrible for that regard!!) and getting adjusted to this place they call "suburbs"

Now that I have  a place to sleep, I cannot wait for tomorrow. I'm taking 3 classes plus auditing 2 seminars and I was a bit cocnernet about the workload. But I talked to the Grad Director and he thinks I'll have a tough semester but worth of it. Also,I met all my cohort a couple of days ago at the Department orientation and I think we are an interesting group. Plus, I got to TA for the Prof. I'll probably choose as my advisor so... Things look good.

Let's keep each other posted and see how this first semester goes.

[Chiqui74]

Ugh, I don't wanna pack to move and you can't make me.

You have a short move, no?

[dr. t]

It's never the actual driving the truck, just the whole putting things into boxes, putting the boxes into the truck, and then taking the boxes back out of the truck because I have pasty, noodley humanities arms and boxes are heavy.

[Dr. Old Bill]

It's never the actual driving the truck, just the whole putting things into boxes, putting the boxes into the truck, and then taking the boxes back out of the truck because I have pasty, noodley humanities arms and boxes are heavy.

That's exactly it. My move was only 70 miles, and yet of all the moves I've made in life (around ten, all told), this one was the worst...even though virtually ALL of the factors of the move (close to school, close to my wife's job, closer to the city, far better neighborhood etc.) were positive. I was miserable for three or four weeks on either side of the move...largely because moving plain sucks. And I'm built like a tank! Honestly, moving across country was far easier, because I had to pick and choose what to bring with me, and what to either sell or put in storage. Completely uprooting everything and replanting is literally one of the most stressful events someone can undertake.

Fortunately the end result is usually a good one!

[attackonthedoctor]

It's going well on my end.  We don't start classes until the 31st but I was able to start in the lab a little earlier than I thought I could.

I agree that moving is a drain.  For me, it was the driving because the car doesn't have AC and I had to drive it for 500 miles on one of the hottest days of August.  Thank heavens I can tolerate the heat!

[CBclone]

I start classes next Monday, have an orientation for my GA position at the end of this week. Finished a 9-day cross country move (w/ a stop in the middle at home for multiple days)yesterday with all of my things and spent yesterday and today unpacking and trying to organize...and will do more in the next couple days. It sucks. So much stuff. Moved 2000+ miles and had been living by myself in a 1-bed apartment and moved into a smaller 1-bed apartment here. I purged quite a bit, but I know exactly how my things work best for me and didn't want to re-adjust to new "systems" or furniture, so I moved it with the help of my parents. On that note, making a 2000+ mile cross country move with your parents can be an awful decision...I was beyond ready for them to leave this morning. But that's another topic for another day...

I'm incredibly nervous to start. Haven't been in a real classroom in 4.5 years and I was a less than stellar undergrad student. But I've matured and have organizational systems and know what I need to do...just need to continue to stay on track. It helps that I have a defined end-goal this time around. 

[Yuanyang]

Taking all the easy intro classes and requirements for first semester.

But also got recruited into doing research for a lab. Mostly behavioral research and programming; both Im familiar with.

[isilya]

Great so far!!! I moved across the country a couple weeks ago and I've been getting acquainted with the city and my labmates. I also have some new projects going that I'm very excited about!! For some reason almost everyone in my cohort isn't arriving until this week even though our orientation is already on Thursday. I'm excited to meet them all (I know a couple of them from interview weekend but for the most part I don't know anyone). Excited and scared for classes to start next Monday!!

[shadowclaw]

After filling a trash bag full of ripped old clothes and two big trash bags full of good clothes to go to the salvation army, I have successfully fit all of the clothes from my closet and dresser into just my dresser and a suitcase. Confronting my inner hoarder was difficult. There were so many cool shirts that don't fit anymore or were beyond repair that I needed to let go. I've packed up all the DVDs, CDs, and most of the books, plus video and board games and various household things like crockpots and baking dishes. I'm down to a few things still left in my closet, and going through some junk in the cabinet in my desk. I have a bunch of stuffed animals (despite being 30) and I need to decide if I really want to bring them with me or give them to my niece and nephew. I'm quite fond of the pillow pets, and I don't want to relinquish the giant Gizmo I won at the fair last year.

[eeee1923]

Started my first rotation a little over a month ago and was finally getting used to my routine then the monkey wrench of classes was added to my schedule. One class will cover some topics from my BS and MS degrees but not to the same level of detail (which was a pleasant surprise). My other class had an exhaustively long "leveling" exam but I managed to pass with a B+ (though I now have a better idea of the areas I'll need to brush up on). But, I'm liking my cohort and making some friends in the other med school departments so I can't complain too much.