/r/GradSchool
Discussion forum for current, past, and future students of any discipline completing post-graduate studies - taught or research.
Welcome to /r/GradSchool!
Discussion forum for current, past, and future students of any discipline completing post-graduate studies - taught or research.
Users may add their own flair to indicate their educational status, e.g. PhD*, Philosophy.
The format should take the general form of Degree, Specialisation. An asterisk (*) after the degree denotes active candidacy or study.
Users who do not follow the general form may have their flair privileges removed.
/r/GradSchool
Disclaimer: I am not in grad school... yet, but I am on the track to getting there.
I am at a crossroads with my bachelors program where I have a choice to keep my minor or to drop it. My major is Medieval Studies and my minor is History. I primarily want to drop my minor so I can take more classes with a prof I really like. The way his classes are structured would help with my academic skills and I feel the area he teaches (Greek and Roman Studies) would benefit my major more than my current minor does.
The question I have is how much does having a minor matter when it comes to grad school applications?
Right now I am an A level student, I am set to go into an honours program, I am in the process of learning Latin (this part has been difficult), and I am on the executive for my program's course union. In the context of all that.... would it hurt my application for grad school if I dropped my minor? Or could I drop it without worrying about it it hurting my chances at grad school?
Has anyone with an ITT Tech degree succesfully entered into a Masters Program? And if so, where?
I graduated with an EE degree from ITT in 2012. At which point I learned it wasn't accredited. I contacted a local university back then, and was told my credits weren't eligible for their masters program and I would need to start over with a new undergrad.
Now that I have 10+ years of working experience, I'm wondering if there are any legitimate programs I can sign up for.
I'm intrigued by how schools in other countries deal with associations.
Currently, I'm in perhaps the school with the best community life in the country. There's about 150 clubs and associations, and they shape the life of the school.
Personally I'm reasonably active in about 12 of those (don't do that) - that's an outlier, as in general we have half the students in association and in only a few in general.
How do your university have it?
I am currently a first year computer science master student at a top 50 school in the US.
I am thinking of doing a PhD in machine learning (have no research experience yet) and was thinking of taking some math classes in the next semester. I was thinking of taking Computational Complexity and Stochastic Processes. I think I will be fine with Computational Complexity but I am not sure whether I can handle Stochastic Processes to be honest. I do not want to take it and get a bad grade in it.
Should I risk taking Stochastic Processes?
Hi everyone! I'm currently applying to graduate school programs in Psychology. These are mixed M.S. and pre-doctoral programs. I'm a senior about to get my B.A. in Psychology, and so far l've managed to have a great balance of the three mentioned in the title. However, I know that Psychology graduate programs are intensive, especially since I'm going the research-oriented path (s), and I see a lot of PhD candidates straight up borderline living in their labs. Is this common? How hard is/was it for you to maintain a good balance? Is it going to be challenging? Are there any theoretical changes I should be making before admissions? I have a great life, and I'm very fortunate to not have any financial issues and such, but I refuse to back away from higher education. I'm dedicated and set on receiving (at least) an M.A. or M.S. I'm highly interested in developing research and research proposals, as well as contributing to academia and alternative sciences/approaches/medicine.
If it helps I am 22M living in their US, but I have a dual (French) citizenship and applying to schools in Europe, fluent in both languages, and starting to learn German.
I am currently enrolled in a Masters Program for Applied Statistics. I completed my first semester with two As and one B. Although I enjoy learning, I have not felt that I enjoy this program. I have applied to many jobs/internships and just get rejected. Also, in my masters program, I feel that I am not learning enough things to be able to stand out on a job application. For example, many data jobs require knowledge of SQL. I have not found a stats course in my program that teaches this. I am paying out of pocket for this program, but I was employed as a TA. So it felt like it was free. If anything I made more money from being a TA than the cost of the program. I am also currently enrolled for the next semester and will also be employed as a TA. I am just not sure if I want to continue this program as I feel that I am not progressing enough or learning enough things. The commute is also pretty far as it is about an hour to two hours one way depending on traffic, but I would only be going three times out of the week. If I were to take a leave of absence or drop out, I fear that I would not be able to find a good job with just my bachelors. If I continue to attend grad school, I fear that I would not enjoy it as well. I am stuck on what to do. Any advice or guidance would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Hi! I’m a junior undergraduate student majoring in Biochemistry. My current GPA is 3.73 and my science GPA is 3.71. For research experience, I only have one summer internship that I did in a microbiology lab last summer. I would like to apply to graduate schools for a Biology or Biochemistry Ph.D. program during this summer. How likely would I be to get into a Ph.D. program? I have made a C in Economics, a B in General Biology 1, a B in Intro to Psychological Statistics, a B in Calculus, a B in Genetics, and a B in Biochemistry 1. I have made A’s in all my other courses.
I was a TA last semester and got along well with a student of mine who was around the same age as me (22). To get it out of the way, yes, I’m attracted to her and I’m almost positive she’s into me as she would stay after class to talk to me, sent me a kind thank-you email after the semester, and would blush whenever I called on her in class. My talks with her while she was my student were entirely professional and academic and I did not grade her any differently. Now, that she’s no longer my student and she never will be again because she’s graduating this coming semester, I was thinking of asking her to get coffee once school starts back up. I checked my school’s handbook and relationships with students are ok as long as they are not your current student, which she is not any longer. I’m also not worried about it affecting my academic relationships with other grad students and professors because we really don’t talk about our personal lives together and there’s really no way they’d find out. Would it be appropriate to ask her to get coffee with me? If so, what’s the correct way to go about it? If not, explain to me why it’s not appropriate to do so.
A bit of background, I am currently a final year econ student at a mid school. I am planning to do a masters's degree in statistics and am looking for research opportunities. I have reached out to the math department at my school and two of the professors agreed to have a chat with me. What questions and topics should I discuss with them in general? Any help would be appreciated.
Hey, I’m from Ireland and graduated with a BSc in 2023. I’ve been working in a graduate program since then, which will finish in September. I’ve been looking into applying for a master’s in the US, but I have a few questions that I was hoping to get some help with. 1. Is it difficult for international students to get accepted? 2. Is there an application fee for every application? 3. Will my graduate program experience help with my application, or are they primarily looking for academic achievements, etc.?
At the ripe old age of 22 I have sprouted my first white hair after my first semester of my masters. I used to joke that this program was taking years off my life, but now it’s serious. Who else first started getting their grays/whites during grad school 🙋🏻♀️?
So I have a 173 lsat and I want to go to grad school but want to get as much of it paid for as possible. Of course I pursued the law school route but I’m not sure if I want to go through with it. I’m wondering if I wanted to go to do an mba or masters program would I be able to use the lsat? and could I get a scholarship or do I need to take the gre/gmat. I have a 3.6mid gpa from the university of michigan if that changes anything
TL;DR My cat died a couple weeks ago, feeling sad and unmotivated. Struggling with time management. I need to prepare for my first committee meeting but I haven't made any progress the past few days.
I'm a masters student, I've been here a year now and haven't had my first committee meeting. My field season went poorly. The "spark" I had for my research topic has gone away and I have been feeling extremely unmotivated... honestly not even just about my research but about life in general. I moved out of state to go to school and have been feeling really isolated. I've finally made some friends the past few months but I still feel so lonely every day. I've been struggling with mental health and time management since starting graduate school. My cat just died.
I need to prepare for my first committee meeting this month and haven't made any progress over the past several days. When I open up my research proposal and look at the comments my advsior made my eyes just start to glaze over and my mind shuts down. What should I do?
I graduated with my Bachelors in criminal justice and have been working jobs related to criminal justice/psychology/social work since. I've been looking to go back for my Masters and am leaning toward social work to become a LSW. My doubts come in when I think about possibly going for a PhD. I've always wanted my end goal to be forensic psychology however most jobs I've found require the PhD, but I don't know if I'll have the time and money to fully pursue a PhD later on. Would getting my Masters in social work put me at a disadvantage for a forensic psychology PhD? I don't know if I'll be able to pursue a PhD, but if I'm able to forensic psychology has always been my goal. Thanks for any input, I don't really have people around me to help with this.
Ever since I’ve started grad school I’ve been hit with a wave of anxiety. I am constantly feeling anxious about everything and anything. It’s impacting my sleep. I am exhausted but cannot sleep. I don’t eat properly (I’m either undereating or overeating). I carry so much tension that my neck and shoulders always hurt.
I feel like my brain can never turn off and at this point I think I need medication to shut it off. Has anyone found anxiolytics or antidepressants helpful in managing your anxiety?
Hi,
I graduated in 2023 with a degree in engineering, but in a different field than the field of engineering I work in now (Civil vs Mech).
I'd really like to know whether I should pursue an MBA or a Master's in Engineering in the field I work in now (assuming I stay in this field forever). And, more importantly, how do I ask my employer to pay for this?
Do I apply first and then have them pay for it? Or is it employer-dependent?
The reason for wanting to pursue an MBA is just to be able to potentially climb higher up the ladder. I also think it might be more manageable than an engineering course-load as I don't think it will be as intensive (no offence to business majors).
The reason for wanting to pursue an engineering master's is just the attempt to future-proof myself (I know this doesn't always work) and also have the ability to cement my ability to stay in the industry, despite the different background in undergrad studies. I also just feel like it'll be a challenge I want to pursue. I don't often feel like a good engineer and I think by doing this, I may be able to earn that feeling?
But, of course, most importantly, I can't pay for it all on my own. I'd just really like for my employer to pay for this. The university that they have ties with is fairly good though, so I worry about having to apply independently and not being able to make the cut because my undergrad GPA is not competitive enough.
I'd appreciate any advice. Thank you for reading :)
Hi everyone! I graduated with my bachelors in 2023 and took a year off from school. I went undergrad for elementary education and decided to work for a year before getting a masters. In that year, I began working in education and long story short had my first episode of major depression. I got great mental healthcare and decided going to school for counseling psychology, while I still work in the field of education.
Okay so here is the dilemma: I am now a building substitute in a great school district and I could see myself working at my current school if an opening were to pop up and if I were to get the position. I would like to apply to more teaching jobs but I am about to also start my second semester of grad school for counseling. I am having such a hard time picking between the 2 careers, and feel stuck in my counseling psych program. My next semester starts on the 21st (January ) and I have not paid yet because I am so nervous about regretting the choice to go to school for counseling.
I will note here that I have really enjoyed the coursework in the counseling psych program, but I am just not sure what to do. Is it possible to change programs at the same school? What should I do? I will eventually need a masters in education to continue teaching in my state (MA) and I don't want to waste any time or money.
hey all, i'm applying to a US school and i did my undergraduate studies outside of the US. i went back and forth applying to this school because of how bad its admissions dept. is / the quality of the communication i had with the committee .. but the programme is still really good and i decided in the end to apply, but need to have a transcript evaluation by WES. i cannot find information *anywhere* about if this evaluation needs to be *complete* before submitting the application, or if it just needs to be requested? has anyone dealt with this before?
honestly the amount i like the programme is being overshadowed by being asked to shell out 300 USD on this evaluation anyway, which is why i didn't start the evaluation earlier.
morning,
What accreditation is required for an online math master's degree to be seen as reputable? And, I am considering John Hopkins Applied Math, having recently finished my B.A. Does anyone have comments on this program? Is it worth the money?
*I am a teacher working full-time. I aim to teach at the community college level (Math) when I retire and possibly pursue a Ph.D.
Please tell me your thoughts/experiences.
Is there an app that provides the following? Good quality text to speech Notes/highlights in text Manage citations Compatible with Microsoft and Apple Usable across devices
Long post. So I graduated with a degree in international relations which I’ve later come to regret because after graduating in 2019 with my bachelor’s I’ve found no career path with that degree where I live and the competition to even get a good government job with it is next impossible. I am friends with a professor I enjoyed taking classes with at my university and he’s a professor emeritus and cool guy. Unfortunately, I failed a major course that was crucial to me graduating and I had to get mental health counseling because I was on the verge of dropping out and the councilor helped me. Yet I went from a 3.0 something to 2.73 when I graduated and so I felt like there’s no chance I will ever be accepted into grad school if I plan on. My university I went to was not a state university like say LSU, University of Georgia; more of a lower level university. Am I gonna have to do way more than most others to even get accepted besides strong letters of recommendation, a compelling argument, and work history which I’m trying to get a full time job right that’s been impossible for me. This all seems so prohibiting and unfair, but I guess that’s the way it is. I’m just wondering if at 32 turning 33 this month with no idea what to even purse in, is there no point if my GPA was that when I graduated; I don’t know where I’ll get letters of recommendation that will get me accepted anywhere; funds; the list goes on. Any useful advice that will help me as in helping me legitimately I accept.
Hi there! So I applied to a grad program for film, and sadly the grad program themselves don't offer any assistantships for it's students yet because it's a very new program. I was advised to apply for assistantship positions within the school's Department of Student Affairs. The application process was a bit odd, as they had a ton of different jobs available but only one application, resume, and cover letter for them all. We had to rank the positions on a scale of Very Interested to Not at all Interested. I marked Very Interested for a few different positions, but some of them were very different so I had to make my cover letter cover my skills for all the positions, which I'm worried made the letter too broad and bland.
My question is, would it be a good or bad idea to call the department and follow up on my application? I've worked as a Student Assistant at my current undergrad school and I was talking to my former boss (who I listed as a reference on the application) and she said that showing interest in a position and ambition matters a lot to her. I'm convinced that I can do a good job and potentially get a position if I'm able to make it to the interview stage, but Im worried my broad resume and cover letter will prevent me from getting there. So I was thinking of calling as a way to reinforce my interest, but I don't know if that would be in good taste or not. I know that they will be conducting interviews early February, so if I were to call I would do it towards late January.
Thanks in advance for any advice!
Also posted on r/Libraries
I apologize if this is the wrong platform to post this question; I wasn't sure where to go.
I am looking to apply for a Master's of Library Science in Canada and just wanted to ask a question about choosing courses and what looks good on an application. I am currently in my last semester and only need three classes. Would taking one third-year and two second-year courses look bad on my application?
I'm not taking the two second-year courses because I think they'll be easier but because they genuinely interest me. Due to budget cuts, my university isn't offering many classes. I also took two fourth-year seminars last semester and one the year before and participated in an archaeological excavation that counted for fourth-year credits. Additionally, I usually only take one lower-year class a semester and took several upper-year courses in my second year.
I am asking this because I was told it looks better on application to take more upper-year courses, but I wasn't sure if this is the same for non-researched-based programs. I also volunteer for a local library and work for a non-profit where I forged connections between it and the library.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated as I really do not know what to do and do not want to jeopardize my chances of acceptance. Thank you!
Curious if this is the case for anyone else? I study the Byzantine Empire, but there are few 'Byzantine Studies' programs in the US or even abroad. Usually, a trained Byzantine scholar ends up in an Art History, History, Religion/Theology, or Classical Studies/Ancient History/Classics department!
I'm technically a trained classicist who got an Art History and Ancient History degree (+ Medieval Studies minor) in undergraduate to now getting an MA in Art History. I would love to continue on to my PhD with my MA advisor but unfortunately he is technically a 'professor of practice' and therefore can't be a PhD advisor (major bummer). My options for PhD programs are all over the place - schools of Divinity, Art History programs, Classics programs, etc.
Wondering if anyone else's program is like this? Or is Byzantium really just adrift in the ocean of academia?
I’m currently applying to Master’s programs. One of my original recommenders ghosted me, and it was getting very close to my deadline, so I reached out to a few other people hoping one of them would be willing to write me a letter. One of them (let’s call him Professor A), said he would be happy to write me a letter, but since he hasn’t worked with me closely, he thought it would be more beneficial for me to get a letter from someone who knows me well. After not hearing back from anyone else for several days, I asked him to go ahead and submit a letter on my behalf anyway. TWENTY MINUTES after he submitted the letters, I finally heard back from Professor B, who has worked with me closely, and said he was happy to write me a letter.
I have no doubts that Professor B’s letter will be more beneficial to me than Professor A’s letter, but I don’t want to offend Professor A by excluding his letters after he already took the time to write them. Will he be able to see that I excluded his letter? What do I do?
Also, would this affect my chances of getting in? Would schools see it as a red flag?
Any advice or insight would be much appreciated.
Obviously "professional", but some specific examples would help a lot.
For example - is a blazer/dress coat totally necessary, or will a nice button down/blouse suffice?
I'm on the spectrum and am worried about the sensory experience of "fancy" professional clothes making my recruitment weekends miserable.
I am interviewing for social psychology programs, in case that matters.
Thank y'all :)
For the online MSW program, are the classes synchronous or asynchronous, or both? If it is synchronous, do they expect students to turn their cameras on? Are the classes recorded with participation from students?
For the on campus MSW program, are the online classes synchronous or asynchronous? Are the classes video recorded with participation from students?
A while ago, I saw a post on LinkedIn by a professor looking for master’s students to join his bioinformatics-related lab team. I sent him an email, and after asking for my CV, he invited me to a Zoom meeting. The meeting went well, and he mentioned that I was a good match and could list him as one of my references.
Of course, his reference alone isn’t enough since he is not involved in the final decision-making process for selecting new students into the program. I applied to the program about 1.5 weeks ago, and one of my other references has already submitted their letter. There’s still about a month left for him to send his recommendation. However, I’m deeply worried that he might forget, as he doesn’t know me very well and likely has many other responsibilities.
When would be the appropriate time to reach out and remind him about the letter? What would be the best way to approach him without seeming pushy? This process has been causing me a lot of stress, and I would truly appreciate your guidance.
I'm currently doing UG at a state school and want to apply ML PhD. I'm trying to maintain my 4.0 while also accumulating research experience. Is 4.0 a significant difference in PhD admission? Aside from GPA and research, what else should I do to boost my application? Thank you guys
Hello guys, i would like to ask if can LPR graduated abroad get into medschool?
What do you guys think about that kind of application? Is that too hard to be accepted?
Anyway, would one need to have the EC's, research, internships and everything from his graduation country?
Would one always need to have the previous course in biology or chemistry? Couldn't it be any other course tined to the field?
I'm gratefull for all the answers.
PS: LPR = green card holder.