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

[shadowclaw]

Ugh, I got some midterm grades this past week. These two classes took forever to grade the midterms, one of which is my stats class (which I've been getting my grades for painfully slow. The TA takes forever to grade assignments, which is crap because they build off of each other). These two midterms are worth hardly anything for our grades, but I feel so awful about them. I got the lowest grade in the class on the stats midterm, and it was a pretty shitty grade, too. I don't know how it happened. I get perfect or almost perfect grades on the assignments. Even with the crappy grade, I'm still going to get an A, but I'm so mad about it.

My other midterm was also crap. My only consolation is that my grade was pretty close to the class average and it's also worth very little. The test was so subjective and the TA told us not to feel too bad about our grades because the professor's tests are normal really difficult. I hate exams like that. Why make a test so hard that your students struggle to get a B?

[mb712]

The first three months were total hell, but I honestly feel pretty good right now. In undergrad this is about the time in the semester when my panic set in so I'm pretty excited about finally feeling decent. Three more weeks and I can say I survived semester one.

[Dedi]

Tomorrow's my first committee meeting for my PhD.

I'm not sure why I'm not feeling panicky, probably because I was a week ago when creating my report. 

Just reassuring myself that it's okay not to know everything seems to help, too...

[shadowclaw]

Finally making some publication headway! I've been having several issues with getting part of my masters thesis published... I keep getting shot down by editors. I've finally gotten over that hurdle and I can sit back and wait for reviewer comments. 

However, what's more exciting right now is that a manuscript from my senior project in undergrad just came back from review and I only need to make some small revisions. I had initially pursued publishing it after graduation, but it ended up falling through the cracks when I started my masters program and I didn't really have much time to devote to it until this summer. So excited!

[katsharki3]

On 11/21/2015, 9:20:38, shadowclaw said:

My other midterm was also crap. My only consolation is that my grade was pretty close to the class average and it's also worth very little. The test was so subjective and the TA told us not to feel too bad about our grades because the professor's tests are normal really difficult. I hate exams like that. Why make a test so hard that your students struggle to get a B?

We also at my school have one teacher who seems to enjoy giving graduate students Bs and Cs. ...Well,  maybe not enjoy exactly, but he's the only professor who consistently gives students Bs and Cs in classes, by making his exams hard, not wording his own questions well, and being very picky about what answers he wants in essay type questions--no full points if you don't use the exact right wording that he wants (even if your answer is otherwise correct)! This is generally known and accepted, but yeah, I definitely don't understand it. All of the students who do poorly in his class do well in their other classes, so it's clearly not all down to their intelligence (though part of it might be that he teaches the required genetics classes which are often harder for people). Why would you make your class so hard that so many grad students get Cs? And thus make it hard for them to get fellowships, keep funding, etc? 

Edited November 25, 2015 by katsharki3

[hippyscientist]

I find the whole subject of graduate grades being inflated fascinating. It just doesn't happen here. I recently scored an 87% which was the highest grade in the class (well over the top grade boundary of 70%). But on a recent test our grading spread from 7% - 92%. We just don't have the same grading as the US and I feel like it's going to be held against me when I apply. My percentage scores are significantly lower than American grad students, and even some students in the UK, because I went to such a comprehensive, competitive programme.  A 60% at my undergrad was of publishable standard in a good journal. At my MSc university, the average grades are roughly 60-70%, but I'm constantly scoring higher because my undergrad was so rigorous. I have no idea how the admissions committees make sense of the mess that is international grading!

[Gvh]

25 minutes ago, piglet33 said:

I find the whole subject of graduate grades being inflated fascinating. It just doesn't happen here. I recently scored an 87% which was the highest grade in the class (well over the top grade boundary of 70%). But on a recent test our grading spread from 7% - 92%. We just don't have the same grading as the US and I feel like it's going to be held against me when I apply. My percentage scores are significantly lower than American grad students, and even some students in the UK, because I went to such a comprehensive, competitive programme.  A 60% at my undergrad was of publishable standard in a good journal. At my MSc university, the average grades are roughly 60-70%, but I'm constantly scoring higher because my undergrad was so rigorous. I have no idea how the admissions committees make sense of the mess that is international grading!

@piglet33, I feel your pain. I went to undergrad in the UK and applied to Masters and now PhDs in the US. For my Masters' I had to have my transcripts "translated" by this super pretentious and expensive agency. Fortunately, it seems they don't really ask people to do this anymore, but I remember being so disappointed when I found out my 1st class honors degree, graduating in the top 5% of my class turned out to be a 3.78 GPA in the U.S. Talk about an anti-climax. 

[shadowclaw]

On 11/25/2015, 8:27:46, katsharki3 said:

We also at my school have one teacher who seems to enjoy giving graduate students Bs and Cs. ...Well,  maybe not enjoy exactly, but he's the only professor who consistently gives students Bs and Cs in classes, by making his exams hard, not wording his own questions well, and being very picky about what answers he wants in essay type questions--no full points if you don't use the exact right wording that he wants (even if your answer is otherwise correct)! This is generally known and accepted, but yeah, I definitely don't understand it. All of the students who do poorly in his class do well in their other classes, so it's clearly not all down to their intelligence (though part of it might be that he teaches the required genetics classes which are often harder for people). Why would you make your class so hard that so many grad students get Cs? And thus make it hard for them to get fellowships, keep funding, etc? 

I had this very problem on the exam... on one question I didn't use a specific word even though I was describing it correctly, and I lost half the points. Most of the points were lost because one section of the test was set up with a certain scenario with several stakeholders (it was an environmental policy class). The question was to apply the law to these stakeholders to meet a certain goal, and each aspect of the law could only be used on one stakeholder. So basically if the professor thought the part of the law you applied to one stakeholder would have been better suited to another, you lost most of the points for that part of the question. It was very frustrating getting that exam back, but the whole class did pretty poorly .

 

On 11/25/2015, 8:43:34, piglet33 said:

I find the whole subject of graduate grades being inflated fascinating. It just doesn't happen here. I recently scored an 87% which was the highest grade in the class (well over the top grade boundary of 70%). But on a recent test our grading spread from 7% - 92%. We just don't have the same grading as the US and I feel like it's going to be held against me when I apply. My percentage scores are significantly lower than American grad students, and even some students in the UK, because I went to such a comprehensive, competitive programme.  A 60% at my undergrad was of publishable standard in a good journal. At my MSc university, the average grades are roughly 60-70%, but I'm constantly scoring higher because my undergrad was so rigorous. I have no idea how the admissions committees make sense of the mess that is international grading!

I don't think the inflation is the same across all fields. Based on things I've read here on the cafe, the humanities tend to be the most inflated - essentially if you don't get an A, you're a failure. I've read a few people comment that some funding in certain humanities fields require a 4.0 to continue funding. That's pretty insane if you ask me. STEM fields don't seem to have that same level of inflation, but it's probably field and school dependent. There isn't an expectation of a 4.0, but they do of course expect you to maintain at least a 3.0 (some places higher than that), although consistently getting B's in everything probably isn't a good thing. I also find it interesting that some professors choose to alter their grading scales to ensure enough students get A's, while others don't really care.

[Chiqui74]

It's the homestretch and I have SOOOO work to do, but I'm so utterly overwhelmed that I'm just surfing the web instead.  I have a long historiographical essay due in two weeks (the first of three), and I haven't even read all the books yet.  I wonder if this is where I get off the PhD train.

Edited November 28, 2015 by Chiqui74

[Chiqui74]

On 11/1/2015, 7:33:12, ashiepoo72 said:

I never learned how to do a lit review in undergrad, even in the capstone historiography courses (and historiography is literally about how the literature has changed and is changing soooo...). It wasn't until I did an MA that professors began hammering home the importance of lit reviews. Everyone has different experiences in undergrad, but from what I've heard the first year or two of coursework in the PhD gets those coming in with a BA and/or little experience at the same "level" as those with an MA and/or more experience.

It's funny, I've had professors who HATED the lit review aspect of scholarship, but I'm kind of obsessed. I love me some primary sources, but reading the more contentious debates in the literature (and some of them are straight up nasty and personal) is fun.

I didn't do any lit review as an undergrad either.  I'm paying the price now.  I have three to write this semester and I have no effing clue what I'm doing.  My professors assume we all do.  Most of my cohort has MAs so they probably know; I'm lost.

[happy little pill]

I'm seriously wondering if I made a mistake in picking my institution. I ADORE my advisor and they are helpful on so many levels but the institution itself has shown me no support. I was promised things by the old GPD, but the new GPD is... frankly, useless. This has resulted in me never feeling like I have answers to questions - some things aren't in the range of things that my advisor can/should be required to answer - and every time I have a question, I get passed around like a hot potato of "go to grad studies, go to your department, no go to grad studies, no go to your department." The institution that I am at offered me a better funding package and my advisor was the main draw, but I'm honestly wondering if I shouldn't have just gone with the "lesser" school - not by much tbh - that was actually excited to have me and even when I sent them a decline of my offer called me twice to try to get me to reconsider because they really believed in my project and thought that I'd bring a lot to their department just like they could add to my development. I know that every institution obviously has problems, but I'm having serious buyer's remorse right now and I'm a little lost as to what to do.

[eeee1923]

One term paper and one grant proposal stand between me and winter break. Just gotta make it through 1 more week. 

[shadowclaw]

I had a very specific attack plan for this last week of school, and it's quickly going downhill. The very last thing due for any classes is an annotated bibliography due Friday morning. I have a partner for it, and even though it was due more than a week away, my partner started freaking out two days ago and demanded that I finish my half before this weekend. So a good chunk of the time that I had allotted for a project due Monday got devoted to something due Friday. Still, that wasn't so bad. Then today I was offered a TA position for next term... score! My tuition scholarship is great, but I really need a stipend. So naturally I accepted. Only problem is that there is an orientation next week and it's going to be either Monday or Friday depending on everyone's availability... Friday would be amazing, but Monday would really throw everything off. To top everything off, the TA for one of my classes sent me a scan of a paper draft with the professor's comments (which was supposed to be handed back last week). She was so kind to let me know in the e-mail that the comments were basically unreadable but if I zoom in really far I might be able to make them out and the professor is giving the class an extra day to put together our final drafts. I gave myself a headache trying to read the comments.

[sackofcrap]

My semester is over and my grades finally posted today. Somehow I managed to pull off straight As, so I'm happy with that. My plan for next semester is to pretty much do what I have been doing this semester. Next year, I am hoping I can get a TA position so I can get a significant cut in my tuition! I also have already started to apply for scholarships.

[CBclone]

Took my final exam tonight, now just have two pretty easy days of work and then 5 weeks of freeeeeeeedom! I felt pretty good going into the final, then 2nd guessed a lot of my MC answers (but stuck with my gut on all of them). One essay I nailed, the other is kinda meh. I kept blanking on names of assessments so while I could give descriptions, it seems a little vague without the title IMO. 

Oh well. It's done. Next semester looks like hell though so I'll just enjoy break for now.

[xolo]

Is anyone else teaching? THAT was a major time commitment. I'm a grad student but I'm the only "professor" in front of a class of 40 students. I also grade all the papers.  

[Kinetic Isotope Defect]

I'm still in a bit of shock in regards to how well this semester went. I haven't gotten my grades back yet, but the evaluation from my rotation advisor was full marks for everything, I got nothing but positive feedback in my grant-writing course, and haven't scored below a 90% in the intro course they make everyone in my program take. And just now, I got an email from the professor for my one elective class, which was a very difficult class conceptually (most of my cohort thought I was crazy for taking it), and apparently I have done better than any other student in any of the graduate courses he has taught before.

I hope this doesn't come across as bragging, I'm mostly just surprised at myself for doing so well! Hopefully this continues into next semester, I'm taking a course that my next rotation advisor described to me as "legendary" for its difficulty.

[Chiqui74]

The semester is finally over and I know all my grades except for one class.  The last stretch, with all the final assignments, was HARD. I was a stress ball and wasn't sure I was going to make it.  I'm soooo glad it's over. One of my professors told me that the worst periods of grad school are the end of the first semester and then finishing the dissertation, so I'm glad I survived this bit.  That said, I get to write my big research paper next semester so I'm not counting my chickens just yet!

[CBclone]

Now that final grades are in, I did two things in my first semester that I never did in any semester as an undergrad: Attended every single class and got all A's, including an A+ (which I wasn't aware my school awarded). I'm over the top excited about it, as I wasn't sure if I could truly "buckle down" after being out of undergrad for five years and having a very poor undergrad track record. 

Meanwhile, I've been binge watching Netflix over break. On season 3 of Prison Break right now. I've heard it was a little too drawn out by the time season 4 rolls around, and I can already feel that. But fantastic show regardless.

[shadowclaw]

One of my professors finally put in our final grades yesterday (grades were due about 2 weeks ago). It was the class in which the professors makes very difficult tests that I bombed the midterm in. When final grades were actually due, he gave us all an incomplete and the grade for the work he had graded up to that point, and I had a B. I was completely bummed out about it, because he said that the only thing left to grade for everyone was a paper, and it wasn't worth a particularly large portion of our grade. So I figured the best I would be getting was a B+, and that was if I got a perfect score on the paper. I thought I aced the final and an A on it would have meant a higher grade, so I assumed that I must not have done as well as I thought, which put me into an even worse mood. Turns out that he didn't actually grade all of the finals so my B didn't reflect it. I ended up with an A- for the course, which was amazing because my midterm grade was so awful. He also told me that I did an amazing job in the course and he hoped I would take his spring course. I feel so triumphant now.

[Saman]

Seems like I'm a little late to chime in the group. Anyways, talking about my experience, being an international student at the first semester was a real challenge for me, but somehow managed to get two A- and one A+ at the end. In the beginning of the semester I experienced the real pain of being a single international student in the whole program, had to work really hard to form relationships with fellow students and especially professors. Even my professor got pissed off of me initially when I didn't turn out to be as good performer as other students especially with those lengthy Lit. Reviews, but somehow I managed to have them done on time and subsequently ended up receiving pretty good grades.

Hope to perform better in the coming semester, best of luck to everyone here for their next semesters

[isilya]

How's the new semester starting out for everyone?

I'm writing a conference paper with my undergrad PI which I'm super excited about, but I'm also feeling pretty stressed because it means I've been neglecting the projects with my advisor here :/

[birchleaf]

Our semester hasn't started yet, but we've got thesis proposals due soon and I have a significant amount of language work to make up between here and the first day of class. I resigned from a job I'd had for a few years, to give myself more time to do work during the week, only to unexpectedly be granted a TAship and appointed at a low-stress research position. So much for free time this semester!

[hippyscientist]

Oh man I'm envious of you guys who haven't started yet. I'm already on my 3rd week of the semester.On the plus side I really like my new classes, this is more what I was expecting this year to be like. On the other hand, I'm really nervous about my grades, I got an assignment back and it was my lowest grade yet. I just need to figure out what I did wrong.

Somewhere this semester I have to figure out where I'll be going for PhDs, sort moving out of the country, take my classes, find some paid work so I can afford to move, train, and juggle my research project. I think food and sleep will have to wait.

[ron_swanson]

So, about grades... I honestly don't understand why it's still a big deal in grad school.  Isn't grad school more about research?  Pass classes, pass quals... getting A's is for undergrad

Plus, this semester is starting off with me scheduling appointments with the counseling center.  Fun.

I got my third paper submitted in Sep., but haven't respond to referee reports.  Got a book deal and have to produce something by Dec. 2016, but work has diminished to 10-20 hours a week.

We'll see how this plays out.