190
votes
Accepted
I'm afraid of chemicals. How do I handle my required uni biology class?
To further echo one of the comments:
Seek professional help. This may be a trained psychologist, or even just a general medical practitioner, who may be able to direct you to another institution if ...
- 135k
108
votes
Academic Misconduct with alternate exam? Minimizing damage?
If the facts are as you report them, your "peer" has engaged in academic misconduct.
I have fellow peers who have done the exact same thing and not face a single threat of being reported to the ...
- 26.9k
75
votes
Accepted
Is it possible to be admitted to CS PhD programs (in the US) with scholarship at age 18?
[For context: I am a professor of mathematics at the University of Georgia. I've served on my department's Graduate Committee, which does graduate admissions, for about eight years. From 2016-2019 I ...
- 130k
63
votes
Accepted
Do I have to submit my high school transcript if "transcripts for all current and previous post-secondary study" are required?
No. Secondary refers to grades 7 through 12 in the US; Canada should be similar. It's called secondary because it comes after the primary grades K through 6. Junior high is usually grades 7 and 8. ...
- 30.9k
62
votes
Accepted
Can I claim to have completed my degree on my résumé, prior to convocating and receiving the physical diploma?
You can use the formulation
Degree to be conferred MM/YYYY
to indicate that you have passed all degree requirements, but are waiting for the degree to be officially awarded. This occurs fairly ...
- 173k
60
votes
Will it give a negative impression if a professor mentions that he declined a gift card from me in his reference letter?
Do not use this reference letter.
Depending on the exact information included and the phrasing used, there are two potential interpretations the reader could be left with.
Scenario A is that the ...
- 41.2k
58
votes
Accepted
Should I mention in my statement of purpose that I did not attend lectures in my last two years of undergrad?
I'd shorten and tone it down if I were you. Being a researcher involves a lot of sitting in other people's talks, so we all know that lectures are boring. But we still do it, because those are an ...
- 7,611
49
votes
Can I ask my supervisor how long would it take to complete my PhD before beginning my PhD studies and post getting acceptance letter?
This question doesn't really make sense, the supervisor has relatively little control over how long it takes for a student to produce a thesis. Questions you could ask which do make sense:
How long ...
- 32.6k
48
votes
Is it OK to call a professor by his first name when he/she signs emails by only first name?
If you are a foreigner, then you can just ask. Most academics are used to deal with foreigners and know that such subtle and unwritten rules are hard to know. They recognize that just asking is often ...
- 41.8k
48
votes
Accepted
Do universities prefer not to hire their own PhD graduates in faculty positions?
At my university - or at least in my department - the norm seems to be that they prefer to hire externally for tenure-track jobs (speaking from experience serving on a search committee for a tenure-...
- 2,350
47
votes
How do I get my committee to agree on a defense date?
My visa is going to expire
You need to elevate this outside of "academic" circle and into administrative. Talk to the following people:
student adviser (member of your department)
...
46
votes
Academic Misconduct with alternate exam? Minimizing damage?
Is it not the instructor's responsibility to prepare a different version of the exam for both the individual and rest of the class?
No, it's not a general rule that alternate exams must be different. ...
44
votes
Accepted
What is H18 (Canada)?
H18 stands for Hiver 2018 (Winter 2018), that is, the current semester.
Similarly, E18 is Été 2018 (Summer 2018) and A18 is Automne 2018 (Fall 2018).
Source: I'm from Québec, and I recognize my ...
- 5,734
41
votes
I'm afraid of chemicals. How do I handle my required uni biology class?
(This answer supposed the OP is an American; which turns out to be true, but they are attending school in Canada, so while the general thrust of the answer remains valid some of the US-specific ...
- 4,668
40
votes
What exactly is "campus security"?
Many universities (both public and private) in the US have campus police. These are actual police officers who can carry guns and have the power to arrest someone or write a citation. On a large ...
- 36.5k
39
votes
How could I share my concern about university ranking with a potential supervisor?
It's not a good idea to talk about ranking with a potential supervisor, because it can easily offend (example). This is for a few reasons:
Some professors genuinely hate rankings.
The ranking is not ...
- 122k
34
votes
How do I get my committee to agree on a defense date?
You can try what aaaaa recommends and escalate the issue. Depending on your department structure this may or may not work (it probably wouldn't in our department).
What you can and should do in that ...
- 135k
32
votes
Do newly hired professors have to take a drug test before they start?
Is this a serious question? I would refuse to work anywhere where my employer would require me to do such a test. It is simply none of their business.
I am actually not aware of any (European) ...
- 5,022
31
votes
I'm afraid of chemicals. How do I handle my required uni biology class?
I realize that rational arguments do not help phobias. Dealing with a phobia will require therapy as suggested by the other answers.
Sometimes understanding better the things you fear can help you ...
- 2,984
31
votes
Oral Defense for Hearing Impaired Student
Almost all universities in Canada have a disability support services office. You should contact them. They will discuss the situation with the student and the examining committee and recommend a ...
- 23.2k
30
votes
Do newly hired professors have to take a drug test before they start?
In Germany you will be subjected to a medical examination if you become a civil servant. Full professors (W3) are typically civil servants. The levels below that (W1 and W2), are typically also civil ...
- 41.8k
28
votes
Academic Misconduct with alternate exam? Minimizing damage?
While I agree with most of the answers, I'd like to offer an alternative perspective.
At my university, there used to be a rule that students were allowed to take the exam home after they were ...
- 6,327
26
votes
Will it give a negative impression if a professor mentions that he declined a gift card from me in his reference letter?
Your professor's actions seem very strange.
If he believes that you were trying to bribe him, then he should have refused to write the letter.
If he believes that this was a simple misunderstanding, ...
- 64.7k
25
votes
Do newly hired professors have to take a drug test before they start?
While drug testing is very common in the USA, this is not the case world wide. In the UK it is rare. The uk government advises
Employers should:
limit testing to employees that need to be tested
...
- 480
25
votes
What exactly is "campus security"?
It can be all of the above. For example, UPenn has a legitimate, and accredited, police department, they also use a private security service that monitors the buildings and grounds, a walking escort ...
- 104k
25
votes
Ethics of making students purchase lecture notes
(This answer is based on US university practices. I don't know if it is directly applicable to Canada, but the two systems generally tend to be similar.)
It's hard to be sure, but this might be a ...
- 132k
24
votes
Do universities prefer not to hire their own PhD graduates in faculty positions?
As there is no "US" tag, the German universities have a general and quite strictly enforced policy that no one may be "simply" given a professorship at the same university where they were postdocs. No ...
- 7,212
24
votes
Is it possible to be admitted to CS PhD programs (in the US) with scholarship at age 18?
I strongly recommend that your son (or you) speak with the professor he is working with at his university for guidance on your questions. With that being said...
With regards to funding age ...
- 832
24
votes
Accepted
Should I mention in an email to a professor that they are referred by another one?
The letter is fine, but I'd actually suggest that you replace this:
I have asked prof A about studying with him, but he has kindly refer you to me since he's on leave next year.
with something ...
- 344k
24
votes
Accepted
What would be the best way to convince a professor to waive late submission penalties?
Professors will say no by default to all such requests, but a lot of the time they secretly want to say yes, so you need to help them help you by providing all the relevant context, being logical and ...
- 184k
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