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

[CBclone]

First Exam in the books tonight (online). Wish we would've had one or two quizzes in that class to get a feel for instructor's style of questions, but oh well. Did alright; better than I thought I would considering some of the questions made me question everything I'd been studying. 

Good to get it out of the system.

[sackofcrap]

I'm frustrated with some of the requirements in my program. I am attending a state school and most of the people here are locals. I am from out of state. I feel like some of the program requirements are more tailored towards locals and don't really fit out of state students. It makes things harder for me, I believe. But, I guess I will just have to learn to work around it. Next semester can't come fast enough for me.

[shadowclaw]

I'm frustrated with some of the requirements in my program. I am attending a state school and most of the people here are locals. I am from out of state. I feel like some of the program requirements are more tailored towards locals and don't really fit out of state students. It makes things harder for me, I believe. But, I guess I will just have to learn to work around it. Next semester can't come fast enough for me.

Curious how it is tailored to in-state students. Certainly some of my courses are tailored towards this state. For example, my natural resource law course focuses on federal and Oregon law, and not say California or Washington law. Sometimes professors will make reference to different places and events in the state, but really, this is something I would expect. I'm not sure how a requirement could be tailored to locals, though. Maybe requiring extensive knowledge of local laws, procedures, etc. that differ from other states?

[hippyscientist]

AGh I've forgotten how to read. Well, academic reading anyway. I've had two days of classes and already had 10 journal articles and 2 book chapters assigned for later this week. *Gulp* guess it's time to get off forums and start reading books. Hoping this is good training for the PhD. 

In other news, it seems I'm quite a way ahead of many of my peers in what I already know so hoping that will hold in my favour. 

[ballwera]

Pretty sure I just bombed an exam lovely... 6 weeks worth of lectures by 5 different professors all condensed into 51 Multiple Choice questions. Not sure how that's legal..

[shadowclaw]

Well, I've officially completed my first full week of classes (started Thursday last week). Things are a bit different than they were in my masters program, which is to be expected, but still, it's different. My stats class is overloaded... the course was full and probably 10 people were on the waitlist, and they all come to class. A few people have dropped and some of the waitlist are now in the class, but it's still very crowded and people are very cutthroat when it comes to seating, with good reason. After the first three rows, it's very hard to see the screen with all of the heads in the way.

My other classes are much better. One course has two students enrolled (including myself) and the professor has already told us he will be gone for half the quarter... we will be making up those lost classes with field trips. Another course has four students and does a lot of work online, with class time devoted to discussion and working on a review paper. My fourth course falls on a day where two weeks will be lost to holidays (thanksgiving and veterans day), plus another he is going on vacation. Unlike my other course that falls on the same day, the professor didn't plan around these lost days with take home work or online stuff. Instead, he is having us double up on other weeks or move the class to another day, and we will be voting on what time slot works best for these alternate class periods. Very strange indeed.

I am quite happy with my classes, though. My masters program was small and there weren't too many courses to choose from each semester. Now there is a buffet of courses, and it's hard to choose which ones will best suit me. Looking forward to the rest of this semester!

[quirkycase]

Made it through my first week of classes! So far so good.  I'm happy with my courses, and my cohort seems good as well.  It's a bit hard to get in student mode after being out of school for a few years, but being back in academia feels great. I've really missed it 

The first week was exhausting, though.  I moved to the UK a day before orientation, which didn't allow much time for jet lag to wear off and for me to get settled before everything started.  So now I'm simultaneously getting everything set up and starting classes.  And I have a cold.  Hopefully I can get plenty of rest over the weekend and go into the second week feeling better!

[justanotherlostgrrl]

Exhausted - not just the workload, but physical exhaustion.  5 hour classes....and being an introvert through the whole thing is exhausting me, too.

In general pretty happy, but occasionally frustrated.  There's a class where they just tell us what they want for the assignment, but don't actually print out an assignment sheet, which is pretty frustrating when there are 4 parts to an assignment  We're all just furiously writing down what they say, and then spend a day trying to interpret it.  So inefficient, and not what I had expected.

[hippyscientist]

I've really found my stride. I am in my element and feel like I'm thriving. Other people around me seem to be struggling with content, so I've organised for some study groups to be set up. I've put myself forward for programme rep and I've signed up to two sports clubs and (hopefully) got a job coaching. Yes, there's a lot of work, but my mindset is so different from undergrad and I'm excited to do the reading and extra "optional" work. I know there will be times when I don't feel this positive, but right now, doing my Masters was the best decision I have made and I am definitely in the right field.

Oh and I got my assigned reading for the week and it's all papers from the school I want to do my PhD at! All collaborations with the lead professor for the module - small world! Hoping those contacts might help come December!

[Cheshire_Cat]

I'm half way through my first semester, and I think I've found my stride too.  I actually finished my work for Monday's class before 8 PM for the second week in a row, whereas I had been getting it done a lot later. (Like at 4 AM for a 8 AM class)  and I was able to take all of yesterday off.  (It was wonderful!  I hadn't had a full day off since I started)  School is challenging, but I was thinking today about how I would rather do this for the rest of my life, at my current stipend, rather than go back to my old job making 20k more and working shorter hours.  I know that there will be times when I won't feel this way, but right now I can really tell that this is where I need to be.

[Chai_latte]

I feel as if I'm about to hit my stride.  This semester, two of my classes require a lot of reading and discussion.  I'm not used to this; I'm accustomed to lecture and problem sets.  And, lots of lab work...with a lot more autonomy.  

So, it's an adjustment.  But, things are starting to fall into place.  Next semester, though, I'll only have one discussion-based course (and NONE the semester after).  I'll look forward to that!  Until then, this introvert will start participating more.

[yolk]

Just wondering what the hourly break down of your week is like?

For me, weekly: ~30 hours in lab (rotations), ~3 hours in class, ~6 hours reading + problem sets, ~3 hours seminars, ~5 hours in workshops/MOOC. ~10 hours reading research oriented material, writing for NSF GRFP, and organizing work. That's ~57 hours over 6 days, which is about 9.5 hour days. Seems right. These hours are spread Monday-Saturday. I'm usually starting around 8:30am and finishing around 5pm. Putting in about 2 hours of reading in the evenings. Personally I'm really happy with my program. None of this exam nonsense! I can focus in learning the idiosyncrasies of the lab and research directions.

I'm interested in hearing your schedules. Please share

Edited October 8, 2015 by yolk

[Dedi]

I have a very unconventional schedule (it changes from week to week), but I'll try to break down what I have on "typical" week...

1-4 hours/day in the vivarium working with the rats

3-4 hours/day behavioural coding

2 hours/week class

3-4 hours/week attending workshops

I tend to binge-read and binge-write (once I start I usually don't stop for a while) but I aim to write 3-4 hours/week and read 5-6 hours/week. It does vary from week to week.

I don't have any "wet lab" work, but it'll come up eventually. Same with operant tasks (which may take up to 4-5 hours/day). 

And, of course, I do take breaks and have lunch.

I'm in 8:30-9:00 am and leave 5:00-6:00 pm on weekdays, less than that on the weekends. 

I think I've found my stride as well. My ideas are starting to be implemented into either the current project or future projects. Overall, I'm happy that went through a few bumps to get this far.

Edited October 8, 2015 by Dedi

[hippyscientist]

My schedule's a bit different to those above as I'm taking a taught MSc (but I also have to write a thesis). 

I have roughly 10hrs of lectures, labs and seminars a week (nothing on wednesdays), and then there's approximately 20hrs a week reading, studying and understanding work that goes in to that. I'm also working on a research project (separate to my MSc) that takes up another 20hrs a week. With my sport training on top, it's pretty balanced. I am looking forward to getting stuck into my own research (which happens around Easter) and developing further through to a PhD. 

[Cheshire_Cat]

Well, the professors I am GAing for haven't given me much work, so that is 16 hours that I can spend sleeping.
So far it has been 12-16 hours of class each week (one class is variable), about 24 hours of reading, and another 10 or so of research, plus the occasional workshop.  My schedule varies a lot from day to day.  I only have class on Monday, Thursday, and Friday, (until last Friday) so generally Sunday, Monday, Thursday and Friday are long days, and the others are shorter.

[CBclone]

I GA in an office 20 hours a week and can do a little studying when I don't have work to do, but I'm typically working on my GA project. Actual face to face class time is a little over 4 hrs (for 5 credits) a week between two classes that each meet once in the evening. Plus a 3-credit online course that posts reading/assignments on Tuesdays that are typically due the following Monday, but is otherwise loosely structured time-wise. It took a while to find a system that works but I've given myself a "work schedule" of all my responsibilities that typically breaks down like this, typically with 4 hours of GA time in the middle. Mon & Thurs are class nights. Usually do a bit of reading/catch up on Sundays if I have to, or stay a little longer on campus Tues, Wed, or Friday. I like Saturdays to be school-free when possible. 

Mondays: 8:30 - 6:00 on campus

Tues, Wed, Fri: 8:30 - 4:00 on campus

Thurs: 8:30 - 7:00 on campus

[shadowclaw]

I've only had two weeks of school so far, so it's hard to say how my week will be once things really pick up. I have four courses, amounting to about 10 hours each week in lecture/discussion. For one course, I have about 3 hours of reading and then online discussion and occasional assignments. Every other week I also have to prepare to lead discussion on a paper. For another course, reading and writing takes around 3 hours. My third course involves a somewhat variable amounts of reading writing, and watching videos, but it probably takes about two hours on average. My last class is a statistics course, and I spend 4 to 5 hours working on assignments. 

So that's about 23 hours of regular work each week. Monday, Thursday, and Friday are all short days on campus. Wednesday is a loooong day. I prefer to do my readings and other work at home, though that may change as the semester progresses. Also as the semester progresses, I will be doing more reading and writing for two projects related to my courses, plus hopefully start preparing for my research. I have my first meeting with my advisor on Tuesday. Depending on the project, it may end up entirely field-based (except for analysis of course), or perhaps spending some time in the lab. One of the issues of studying migratory birds is that they're here for a limited time (unless you follow them, of course). So that means an intense field season in spring and summer, but nothing in fall and winter.

 

[sackofcrap]

I am in the middle of the most difficult part of my semester. Once I get through midterms, I think things will get easier for the rest of the semester...until finals!

[Sestrichka_lisichka]

I have my first piece of academic writing due this week (midterm paper, 5 pages, which none of the older grad students seem to be taking seriously).  I am so nervous.  I have just been staring at the piece of writing for hours and am having a hard time feeling "smart" enough to say anything...Not to mention stressing about this has prevented me from being productive in any other way. Just as I felt I was starting to get used to this stuff...sigh

[hippyscientist]

I have one class where I just don't get the professor. He's a genius but can't verbalise anything, so makes gigantic logical leaps and expects you to follow. He then sets homework (which I haven't had since I left school) and the problem sets are only ever so vaguely related to what we've studied so far. He also doesn't allow any "warm up" time, and goes straight into mind boggling, got to wrap my head around every single breakdown step questions. It does my head in, because I know the principles and theories being tested, it's just been a while since I've used them! I've had to dig out old notes from years ago in order to refresh my mind before I can try the work. It's frustrating because it's making me feel stupider than I am (although I did just use stupider...). I'm also struggling with not being told that we have assignments for modules, just the expectation that we will see the time blocked out on the timetable and refer to the online "hub" for instructions. It's okay, but just a different way of doing things.

[justanotherlostgrrl]

I have one class where I just don't get the professor. He's a genius but can't verbalise anything, so makes gigantic logical leaps and expects you to follow. He then sets homework (which I haven't had since I left school) and the problem sets are only ever so vaguely related to what we've studied so far. He also doesn't allow any "warm up" time, and goes straight into mind boggling, got to wrap my head around every single breakdown step questions. It does my head in, because I know the principles and theories being tested, it's just been a while since I've used them! I've had to dig out old notes from years ago in order to refresh my mind before I can try the work. It's frustrating because it's making me feel stupider than I am (although I did just use stupider...). I'm also struggling with not being told that we have assignments for modules, just the expectation that we will see the time blocked out on the timetable and refer to the online "hub" for instructions. It's okay, but just a different way of doing things.

This.  I feel like so many of the professors are brilliant, but have serious problems with verbalizing.  They contradict themselves about what they want from the assignment, and in one of my classes we've basically stopped him as a class and said 'we need more explanation here - this isn't helping us if we don't know what's required, or you contradict yourself within the span of one class'.  Even getting a printed (or emailed) assignment is like pulling teeth.  It feels completely different than the working world, and it's exhausting, to be honest.

[GhostsBeforeBreakfast]

Everything has been really wonderful.
I have been able to handle my courseload while holding down a job.
My professors seem to genuinely be interested in me and they're happy to help me in any way they can.
I've been relatively confident in my writing.
I'm enjoying the readings.
There are so many wonderful resources at my fingertips and I'm so grateful.

The only downside is I'm not really connecting with my cohort and don't have time to attend events because I work.
I am afraid this will hinder me in the future. I have been rather reserved. 

[brown_eyed_girl]

Everything has been really wonderful.
I have been able to handle my courseload while holding down a job.
My professors seem to genuinely be interested in me and they're happy to help me in any way they can.
I've been relatively confident in my writing.
I'm enjoying the readings.
There are so many wonderful resources at my fingertips and I'm so grateful

Yay, glad it's working out for you! 

[Cheshire_Cat]

A little over a month left in the semester. Wow! Time sure flies!  Learning how to do a lit review right now.  So far it is like browsing Wikipedia for 3 days straight, just with an extremely specific topic and really large words.  The papers never end!!

[hippyscientist]

On 10/31/2015, 12:28:34, Cheshire_Cat said:

A little over a month left in the semester. Wow! Time sure flies!  Learning how to do a lit review right now.  So far it is like browsing Wikipedia for 3 days straight, just with an extremely specific topic and really large words.  The papers never end!!

You're learning how to do a lit review in grad school?! Sorry if I sound amazed...that's like first semester of first year of undergrad where I went. Did you not have experience before hand? (I'm international so it might be different...I'm just slightly shocked!)