Not sure what to say to my M.S. thesis adviser (formerly my Ph.D advisor) or prospective interviewers on when I can leave academia and start a real job.
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posted by permiechickie
on May 13, 2013 -
10 answers
Considering dropping out of 1st year humanities PhD program. Terrified of starving on the streets. Help?
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posted by anonymous
on May 12, 2013 -
21 answers
So, now I've got a PhD. But I'm crippled by zero self-confidence as I start applying to industry jobs. Did you rebuild your self-confidence after a PhD?
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posted by zeek321
on May 9, 2013 -
17 answers
Do I need professional help or just time? I've been feeling anxious and stressed for the past three months, and I'm having a hard time parsing if this is due to this being an exceptionally...erm...challenging point in my life or if some sort of anxiety or depression has settled on me.
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posted by brambory
on May 6, 2013 -
8 answers
I'm a PhD student and a typical day involves downloading and reading through lots of journal articles and eBooks. I store these locally on a MacBook. I am looking for something akin to the native Finder app, but which offers separate columns for "Author", "Title", "Year" and so on, as well as tags (very important). I have dabbled with Papers2 and Endnote, and a couple of "Finder"alternatives, but these either (A) duplicate the PDF files and save them elsewhere, or (B) don't offer the author/title/year etc. columns. Is there anything that will do what I'm looking for?
posted by FuckingAwesome
on May 1, 2013 -
19 answers
I am in the final year of my PhD. I suffered from many months of depression and an inability to get my writing done in a timely fashion. I am now playing catch-up. I have a telephone appointment with my supervisor next week, and wonder if and how I should disclose the difficulty I faced, and am still facing. I don't want to burden her with my personal issues. How do I, or should I, discuss this? How do I regain her faith in me?
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posted by anonymous
on Apr 28, 2013 -
11 answers
Just got a PhD, don't have a new position lined up, meeting a prof, no obvious goal for conversation, have questions.
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posted by zeek321
on Apr 22, 2013 -
8 answers
I'm dropping out of a PhD program in a social science with only a masters degree. I need a real job.
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posted by anonymous
on Apr 17, 2013 -
15 answers
This Fall I will be starting a PhD in the social sciences. Because of my research interests/subfield, I will have to know the ins and outs of statistical software like R, Stata, and SAS. Can this knowledge enable me to freelance for some supplemental income or should I being learning another programming language?
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posted by MisantropicPainforest
on Mar 19, 2013 -
13 answers
I'm wondering if anyone can shed some light on the daily experience of a university researcher in either psychology or the basic sciences as well as a meta-review of the job as a whole.
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posted by marsbar77
on Mar 14, 2013 -
5 answers
There seems to be huge number of online work/project tracking/logging programs out there, but they are mostly designed for small businesses and freelancers (e.g. focussed on invoicing) and charge by the month. I've seen a few that look OK like Toggl and Slimtimer but none that seems ideal for my needs yet. Can anyone recommend ones (ideally free and with the ability to track different tasks & share that tracking/logging) that are easy to use, have decent functionality, and would be good for 2 friends working on writing their PhD theses and would like to try and help each other keep track of how much work they're doing?
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posted by zresearch
on Mar 10, 2013 -
6 answers
I am a 5th year PhD student in Pharmacology. In two years or less I (universe willing) will graduate, with a good handful of first author papers. I also have an MS in biochemistry and two years of lab manager/technician experience in a university setting. I want to know (exactly) what jobs are available to me post graduation that meet the following requirements: 1.) 45 hours a week or less; 2.) 65k a year or more; 3) health benefits and reasonable vacation time. Please respond with as much detail as possible.
posted by corn_bread
on Mar 7, 2013 -
8 answers
What are my chances of getting into a decent economics grad program with a math degree with a "meh" GPA (3.2ish), a law degree with a pretty good GPA (3.7+), and a high GRE quantitative score (790)? Also, how much does the prestige (rank) of grad program matter in the economics field?
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posted by Geppp
on Mar 7, 2013 -
11 answers
Did you do a PhD that you are proud of? That you loved working on? That has helped you in your career going forward?
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posted by carolinaherrera
on Feb 6, 2013 -
24 answers
Two years into a Ph.D. program in the biological science (in the US) and I am in a lab doing research. The lab I'm in takes a hand-off approach to our research, so much of the motivation to do projects must come from me. Unfortunately I'm the kind of person who needs deadlines and strong guidance, and without these two things I've begun to drift a little. Any tips for keeping my eyes on the prize and staying immersed in my field?
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posted by Archibald Edmund Binns
on Feb 1, 2013 -
8 answers
About a decade ago, I had a quarter-life crisis and decided to drop out of grad school in science... how do I deal with that now?
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posted by lostguy
on Jan 31, 2013 -
18 answers
Everyone says "get out while you can!" RE: Ph.D.s in the humanities. But really, what else can I do? Difficulty level: somewhat debilitating emotional dysregulation & student debt. Snowflakes inside.
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posted by munyeca
on Jan 28, 2013 -
17 answers
What possible avenues are there to get 'back' on an academic career path in your late 30s? Are there any unusual paths that I have not considered?
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posted by mary8nne
on Jan 28, 2013 -
6 answers
Defending and depositing my engineering dissertation by end of April. Strained relations with advisor and distant relations with committee. What next, and how? Please advise.
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posted by anonymous
on Jan 22, 2013 -
10 answers
In March I will be starting my PhD (humanities - gender, fan culture and writing) but I have been out of academia for a long time. I finished my Honours in 2002, completed a Masters but since it was coursework (librarian coursework at that) it doesn't really count as far as the rigours or the demands of a PhD goes. I've started trawling Jstor and a couple of other databases I can access through the State library while I ease into it all and I was wondering:
what are some of the crucial humanities texts that I've probably forgotten/missed in the past ten years?. The ones that are expected to be referred to in any thesis about gender, writing and identity, or humanities in general. I'm building my reading list/book list but don't have uni library privileges yet so I'm stuck with online/non-academic library access - unless it's something I should buy (aka Strunk and White, Judith Butler etc).
posted by geek anachronism
on Jan 11, 2013 -
10 answers
Are there ways for a federal research scientist to attend law school and remain a government employee after graduating?
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posted by anonymous
on Jan 2, 2013 -
9 answers
I know I want to study genetics but I don't know where to go from there. What kind of things in genetics did Professor X and the Drs. Suresh on
Heroes study? I want to study that.
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posted by acthelight
on Dec 14, 2012 -
10 answers
Having trouble figuring out what I want and committing to a career path and figuring out how to decide 'what I am', and crippled by perfectionism. About to finish a PhD and could use guidance on now to navigate the next step.
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posted by anybodys
on Dec 7, 2012 -
10 answers
How can I become better at remembering references to cite in my academic writing? I know how to use APA style, but when I need to write I can remember theories and details, but not where I actually READ those theories. HALP!
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posted by MultiFaceted
on Dec 5, 2012 -
14 answers
PhD application time: I'm applyling to PhD programs in the social sciences after completing my Master's. My grad school GPA is very good. My undergraduate GPA isn't. Will this matter? Should I address this in my personal statements?
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posted by mcmile
on Dec 4, 2012 -
12 answers
Researchers, Writers, Grad Students, and Professors: Tell me about your technical setup (hardware and software). What do you use, and what couldn't you live without?
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posted by NotMyselfRightNow
on Nov 2, 2012 -
25 answers
New to PhD candidacy and tanking fast - academics of MeFi, help me figure out how to get through this mess.
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posted by SNWidget
on Oct 17, 2012 -
21 answers
Law academia: tell me about entering it and what it's like when you're there! How similar is it to humanities academia? How difficult are the jobs to get, compared both to academia and to law firms?
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posted by UniversityNomad
on Oct 8, 2012 -
3 answers
So, I just started my PhD program. Are my feelings normal? I'm worried that I'm not working enough and that my ideas are bad.
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posted by anonymous
on Oct 4, 2012 -
21 answers
I was recently contacted by a recruiter and in the last month have been through several interviews, the last taking place today. Now, the recruiter's called to ask if I am ready to take the next step and has asked about my salary expectations. What?
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posted by anonymous
on Oct 3, 2012 -
15 answers
How difficult is it, really, to get a post-doctoral fellowship? I'm kind of panicking about it, so any reassurance would be helpful; that said, it would also be helpful to know if this is a totally unrealistic pipe-dream at this point, so I can start to think about other options.
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posted by UniversityNomad
on Sep 30, 2012 -
16 answers
How much should I charge for consulting, when it's about something (grad school admissions) where consulting is uncommon? I've never done this, so I'm not sure what a reasonable hourly rate would be.
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posted by Beardman
on Aug 20, 2012 -
18 answers
I am in a cohort of a few PhD fellows who, at the time we could really use each other for support, find ourselves scattered to various corners of New England. How can we motivate each other when we don't see each other on a regular basis?
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posted by absquatulate
on Aug 15, 2012 -
5 answers
Need specific advice on finding motivation for work in a PhD program. Snowflakey background information included of course.
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posted by blue_bicycle
on Aug 3, 2012 -
10 answers
How can I write my dissertation as a mom of a young child with so much on my plate? How can I prioritize over the next year to GET IT DONE?
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posted by white_magnolia
on Aug 1, 2012 -
23 answers
Help me to make a great leap forward in my PhD in the next six weeks. I am in the last year of my PhD (philosophy) so the thesis has to be finished by December, however, I am also full time university lecturer, so when the term starts my ability to write every day is drastically compromised. By selling part of my soul I negotiated almost complete freedom for the next six weeks and I want to use them to make massive progress with writing the thesis. I already have about 40,000 words written and I am hoping to write another 40,000 over the next 6 weeks. The challenge is to stick to the daily quota of 1,000 words, as some days it is possible, even fun, other days it is very very hard.
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posted by slimeline
on Jul 31, 2012 -
23 answers
Wondering whether I should go for the PhD that I wanted when I went back to school, or whether it's more sensible to stay where I am and do a Master's first.
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posted by Scientist
on Jul 1, 2012 -
18 answers
I have a big, messy question about anxiety, student debt, grad school, loneliness, and employment. Here’s the crux of it: Should I go back to my PhD next year? If not, what should my plan for the next few months be?
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posted by The Art of Sockpuppetry
on Jun 17, 2012 -
17 answers
Applying for graduate school (PhD) in applied maths. Questions about personal statement. Relevant details within.
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posted by dragonfruit
on Jun 16, 2012 -
4 answers
Another Ph.D quit-or-stay question: I'm really unhappy in my particular lab, and maybe unhappy with the whole idea of the Ph.D. I still like the idea of research - just want to work on a project that I'm interested in. What is the best way for me to be able to work on things that I like, possibly outside of a Ph.D degree program, but still in an academic lab? Looong snowflake details inside, summary at end.
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posted by permiechickie
on Jun 13, 2012 -
16 answers
I'm an advanced PhD student and I've decided I want to make a professional website, including a research/analysis/commentary blog about my work and my field. I'm looking for general advice about the blog.
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posted by PercussivePaul
on Jun 11, 2012 -
9 answers
I'm a PhD student, and I'd like to do more academic networking over email. How does this work, and what should the emails sound like?
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posted by anonymous
on May 16, 2012 -
14 answers
After years of escapism, how to anchor life to meaning (or vice versa?) when almost four years of research hasn't amounted to anything?
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posted by anonymous
on May 10, 2012 -
21 answers
