Questions tagged [graduate-school]
On schools that award advanced academic degrees, such as master's and doctoral degrees. This tag is mainly for questions about the structure and organization of a graduate school or the fundamental experience of being a graduate student. Do not use this tag for questions about research in graduate school (use [research] instead), coursework in graduate school (use [coursework]), gaining admissions to graduate school (use [graduate-admissions]), etc.
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How should I deal with becoming discouraged as a graduate student?
I am a third year (starting fourth year in the fall) PhD student in mathematics. I've passed all qualifying exams and am currently doing research. As far as I can tell, I am not doing poorly. I have ...
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How to effectively deal with Imposter Syndrome and feelings of inadequacy: "I've somehow convinced everyone that I'm actually good at this"
Imposter syndrome is a psychological phenomenon wherein an individual is convinced that they do not deserve the success that they have achieved despite (perhaps extensive) empirical evidence to the ...
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Is transferring to another university an option for an unhappy PhD student?
I've heard of people transferring between graduate schools because of their advisor moving to another school and taking their students with them.
Do students ever transfer for other reasons? If a ...
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Age and Graduate school
I am 33. I live in the US. I am a neither a US citizen, nor a green card holder. I have worked in various jobs as a research assistant (physics, biology, economics) usually involving programming, ...
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Am I reading enough of the scientific literature? Should I read for breadth or depth?
Ever since starting graduate school I've tried to make scientific reading a part of my daily ritual; I track pages read using Beeminder, and the graph doesn't lie. It keeps me honest.
I aim to ...
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Academic dismissal from PhD program. What next?
A couple semesters after beginning my PhD program (in the US), I was dismissed from the program because:
My GPA was slightly below the program's minimum (after being on academic probation for one ...
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Details an applicant should include/exclude in an introductory letter to a prospective grad school adviser?
I'm applying for graduate school (PhD in computer science), and I'm considering writing to faculty whose research areas match with what I intend to pursue, to understand:
Whether they'd be looking ...
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Importance of GPA and GRE scores for grad school admissions
I was reading the following article by Mathew Might. HOWTO: Get into grad school for science, engineering, math and computer science
I saw the following the paragraph
What doesn't matter
GPA? I don't ...
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Why are US PhDs different from European PhDs?
So apparently I heard from here, here and here about the differences in PhDs in the US and in Europe.
To sum up, it takes longer, on average, in the US than in Europe to finish a PhD since US PhD ...
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What are the advantages and disadvantages to completing a Masters program before applying to a Ph. D program?
I've been considering applying to graduate school of some form or another in Mathematics. During my undergraduate years, I did decently on my undergraduate coursework (mostly A-s, some As, a B) but ...
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What are the 'right questions' to ask professors at a visit day for prospective graduate students?
I'm in mathematics, though I don't know if the answers to this will be field-dependent. There have been previous good questions that answer what to ask graduate students here and only somewhat ...
user10060
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Regret after not being able to solve a problem that my supervisor did easily
I'm a first year PhD student and I was asked to think about a problem last week and I tried to work out some examples, did some computations, but I wasn't successful. Basically, I didn't really make ...
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How much detail to include in first email to potential PhD supervisor?
First, I must mention that I found these questions helpful:
Prospective PhD contacts potential supervisor but receives no answer after 2-3 emails, what to do?
What to do when emails to a potential ...
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When is it a good idea to let an academic department (or a professor) know that I have Asperger's (or ADD)?
With Asperger's, the trick is always when to explain it (in a non-awkward situation). I'd like to avoid mentioning it if possible, but it has gotten to the point that I only mention it after ...
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What's more important in choosing a PhD program, advisor or institution?
In terms of judging a doctoral program--and possibly also relevant for postdoc-ships(?)--which is the more important consideration, who your advisor is or the institution at which you study?
...
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How can I enter into the mathematics field at the graduate level when I only took a few math courses as an undergrad?
Background
I was ignorant as an undergraduate and didn't focus heavily in any specific area. I finally graduated with a single math/computer science degree that consisted of 5 math classes beyond ...
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Is generic "thank you" email a waste of time in academia?
A very busy professor just responded my email. He answered my questions, and in the end, he explicitly said something like "Please let me know if you have any questions" or "Please respond if you have ...
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What can I do to recover from a short term burnout?
Over the past few days, my advisor and I had been going really hard. We got a really good idea and the preliminary results looked good, so I started spending long days in the lab, going home only to ...
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How do you build a healthy and productive relationship with your supervisor?
Some graduate students and post-docs have reported serious problems with their advisors and supervisors. Some of the problems are severe enough to be career ending. Not all problems can be avoided but ...
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How to efficiently read mathematically and theoretically dense books in STEM fields?
When it comes to reading, there are literally thousands of methods from Speed Reading to SQ3R to Sequential(Word by Word till the end). My question is regarding reading mathematically/theoretically ...
user107
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What are some good questions to ask current graduate students when visiting schools?
For the record, I'm visiting the University of Chicago as an accepted PhD student (in the geophysical sciences) next week.
In particular, I'd especially appreciate creative questions that few other ...
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In teaching, what are the advantages of using slides over doing board work?
At my university, most lecturers and professors use slides in teaching. This is true for most engineering, mathematics and science courses. I am more comfortable with doing the board work and then ...
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Having the knowledge of a graduate student but not having the degree requirements for graduate school?
Let's say that you're a 27 year old autodidact who has gained enough knowledge in a particular field of the formal sciences - like mathematics, for instance - to be able to take the highest course ...
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What are some good practices for applying to the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program?
Is it possible if I could get 4 letters of recommendation?
How far in advance should I notify those who are writing my letters?
Does activity on sites like Quora, Stack Exchange, and Reddit's ...
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Who should pursue a Ph.D degree?
I am asking myself the question "Should I do PhD or should I leave academia and go for an industrial career?"
My life-goal is being a professor. And I love to do research.
PhD is surely a bite that ...
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What are the goals and benefits of doing a PhD?
I'm a master computer science student in a German university and I will be graduating soon. I'm in a situation between accepting a PhD position or leaving academia to start looking for job. This is a ...
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Switching from one area of graduate study to another?
Is it possible to switch from one area of graduate study to another in US universities? For example, suppose someone has enrolled in a computer science phd program. Can he switch over to math(or ...
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How do pass/fail classes look to PhD admissions committees?
I'm a junior hoping to do a PhD. I'm in a graduate level class right now in a different field. I believe almost all the other students are PhD students. The first couple weeks of the course were just ...
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How to stop feeling guilty about unfinished work?
My biggest challenge as a PhD student is best summarized by the following from PHD Comics:
"Piled Higher and Deeper" by Jorge Cham
www.phdcomics.com
A consequence of working in research is that the ...
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I am currently debating whether to leave my PhD program- any advice?
TL;DR: Young graduate student in his first year of a PhD program who has lost a passion for the academic world. Seriously considering quitting but don't know what to do. Science background.
My ...
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Can one excel in graduate school with a demanding family life?
The essential gist of my question relates to what the real, unvarnished realities are of graduate, post-graduate, research, fellowship, and professorship attainment - when you aren't a single person ...
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Why do many graduate programs in mathematics (United States) still have foreign language requirements today (in 2010s)?
As far as I know, nowadays most of the mathematical literature is written and published in English and mathematicians communicate with each other in English. Although there are certain number of books ...
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How does one keep oneself updated with new research without forgetting older results?
The title is fairly generic in nature, so I'm trying to elaborate in the body. I'm interested in answers pertaining to Theoretical Computer Science (TCS), but I'm certain the question would be equally ...
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Is one spelling mistake in the academic CV a big deal?
Just after submitting my CV to graduate school for masters admission, I realized that there was one spelling mistake on the first page of my CV. I misspelled the word 'merchandising'(missed the h). Is ...
user117353
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Graduate early with average GPA, or later with better GPA?
I've seen similar questions here, and I wish there was a narrower tag than the broad soft-question and career-development.
I am currently a freshman/sophomore-to-be at a top ten math program in US. ...
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Usefulness of prior industry experience before entering grad school?
What impact does prior industry experience (2+ years in a non-trivial functional role in any established organization) lend to the profile of someone who is entering grad school for a Ph.D.? In my ...
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Value of having done applied math research when applying to PhD programs in pure math
I will be a second year math under-grad in September, and currently doing an internship at applied math research institute. Most probably, I will come up with a research paper at the end of the ...
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Should I link my research in my SOP?
I have done some independent research that I wish to mention in my SOP. The full account of what I have done till has been published as an e-print on arxiv.org. Can I give a hyperlink to this e-print ...
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How would a small liberal arts college view a PhD from Germany or the UK? Factors other than teaching ops?
Main concern: I am looking at PhD programs in Germany and the UK (vs US programs). Ideally, I would like to end up at a small liberal arts college (I got my BA from one). So I know I want a program ...
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Would getting a faster MSc instead of just BSc affect admission chances for PhD?
I will try to describe my situation briefly.
The university I'm currently studying at offers a 4-year Bachelor program in mathematics.
I am currently in my 3rd year and the program for the 4th year ...
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Which is preferable, to go to graduate school at same school as undergrad or to go to a lower-ranked school?
I've heard from people that generally, it's a bad idea to go to the same school as your undergrad to get your graduate education.
However, in the situation that you get into only your undergrad ...
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How essential is your GPA for admissions to PhD programs to US universities in Theoretical Physics?
I am a Physics undergrad aspiring to pursue mathematical physics(string theory etc) as a future career. How much importance is given to your GPA by grad schools in the US or Europe for admitting ...
user2734
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Deferring Admission to reapply for some PhD programs next year
This question is related to one of my previous questions:
Changing University in First year of Phd
I just completed my senior year. I have been accepted to a grad school (say University X).
I want ...
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Value of recommendation letters from professors in a different field
I will be a second year math under-grad in September, and currently doing an internship at applied math research institute. However, my interest after my bachelors is to do PhD in pure math at a top ...
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What is common in most PhD application procedures in the UK?
I am almost done with my master's degree in mathematical finance. I'm done with thesis and have one course left to take. I am taking it in a 3rd world country and am interested in applying for a PhD ...
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I have stack-exchanged through my undergrad math program. Am I likely to succeed in mathematics PhD programs?
I'm currently a third-year mathematics student at a top-20 private research university in the US (though mostly known for the humanities). We have a small undergraduate mathematics department, but we ...
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Will my cancer ruin my chances of going to graduate school in math?
I commenced my bachelor of math 8 years ago and at the same time I was diagnosed to have cancer. Because of the treatment process and the emotional state that I was in, I only completed 3 subjects in ...
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How should I deal with discouragement looking at others success?
I'm a master CS student. I had so many troubles in my life. I didn't have proper schooling and were in difficult situations which led to me being not so good compared to my peers now at the graduate ...
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What should a proper email signature look like for graduate students?
So far, what I have is
First and Last Name
Title
Group/Lab Name
School Name
Address and Phone
I'm especially confused about the "title". I'm not sure if it should say "Graduate Student", "Research ...
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How can a new PhD Student objectively evaluate how well they are doing?
I'm a relatively new PhD student, and I'm faced with a new (for me) situation. Before, I always had grades and the likes to tell me how good or bad I was doing: if I was at or near the top/bottom of ...
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