what the fuck am i getting myself into with this grad school stuff

this one final paper should be so easy - only 1,500 words (about 5 pages double-spaced) and WE ASSIGN OUR OWN FINAL GRADE. but it's fucking "self-reflection" about how we will "move forward" with what we learned this semester. gag, i'd rather write a research paper. it's taking me forever to write some bullshit about my self-development re: community engagement bleurgh

with those kind of self-reflection things that i can't draw from any kind of external material like i can with research papers, i usually try to just start writing whatever i can, w/o regard to how it flows or works as an actual paper that i'm gonna hand in. i can fix that stuff up later. i just write as if i'm talking to someone casually in a conversation, just to get ideas going and just to get words on the screen. those kinds of papers are usually the hardest to actually get going and write something, so i do whatever i can to make the ideas flow more freely. pretending i'm just talking casually to someone usually helps me produce some material, which i can edit later to make it sound more formally written. dunno know if any of this would you help tho.

that's what i've been doing, i'm just getting to the point where i'm running out of stuff to say and i've only got about half the words i need

is there a section or a part you've already written that you can pull out and extend the BS? like a part where you summarize and you can give an anecdote or something? (sorry i don't mean to call your paper BS, just trying to help.)

ha it's totally b.s.

i think i just need to get away from it for a little bit. it's not due for a couple of weeks, just trying to get it over with so i can concentrate on my more challenging finals

prelims... suck...

oh, time away from it, that's always a good idea.

Correct me if I'm wrong but all this paper really is is "how am I going to use what I learned in this class in a future situation"? Can't you, like, pick 3 or 4 major topics from the class and extrapolate a real-life scenario around them, or is it fluffier/fuzzier than that?

I mean, you mention community engagement; isn't this paper really just a pretext on the teacher's part to get you to make plans for how you're going to try to proceed with this outside of school with a side helping of sadistic "SEE MY CLASS IS SUPER IMPORTANT" tacked on?

Ooh I just signed up to do the GRE

Dec. 21

which is actually kind of the perfect day
but I just spent my grocery money signing up for it

oops?

the darkest day of the year! Also my birthday.

I'll do the essay portion on how it's your birthday for $$$EXTRA LU¢K$$$

that is a lie, sorry

I'm sure you will kick arse at it. If you don't have it already the Princeton Review Book is very good.

I still have no idea what the value of the GRE other than being a money spinner for the people that administer it.

yea i'm pretty happy my program didn't require it, was so great not to have to take that test

the general test (didn't have to take any subject exams) were easier than the SAT

the value of the GRE is, it's a pre-req for most grad schools so you gotta take it

i took it on saturday

The semester ends Dec. 5, and I don't work over the winter break, so I have those two weeks just to study. Plus I have this freaky talent for taking tests, it's like the only thing I'm good at besides falling over in comical ways, so I'm not too worried. Thx for yr kind words tho Ed & others!

The GRE made my life miserable for awhile (Math score kept me out of library school).

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2009/10/22/an-inside-look-at-the-physics-gre/

on the other hand, i look at physics GREs and i kind of amazed that a university admissions would give a shit one way or the other.

grad school is for monkeys

the GREs can be tricky, if they start you out with a couple of hard questions it can really have a big impact on your score.

ha! thought my thesis was due Nov. 30th. I looked this morning, it's due Nov. 23rd. which is Monday. i'll be fine--my last round of revisions with my advisor was just some minor tweaks and stuff, but still: LOL.

Good thing you looked!

Ugh – I feel you, n/a. Thanks to reaccreditation, my university must attach "self-reflections" to almost every writing assignment, undergraduate and grad.

GREs are such a crock, and ETS is a pretty incompetent organization (which doesn't really matter for them, given the total monopoly)...last year one of my roommates had an impossible time sending his scores because the company misspelled his name, for instance. But hey, apparently they count for something anyway...my school has a minimum score cutoff.

Grad school is not a lot of fun right now. I have a horrible final paper that's taken over my life and is preventing me from writing my OTHER THREE.

A couple of naive questions as i consider this grad school stuff (finishing my BA in Spanish w/ minor in journalism this semester):

Is it important to know what you want to do career-wise before applying?

Is it vv difficult to get into a program in a different, but related, area of study than you got yr bachelor's in? i.e. linguistics if you studied Spanish?

Will w33d smoking get in the way?

Does it get in the way of other parts of yr life?

not really. a little cloudiness in the mornings sometimes.

a) not definitively but i think u need more of a goal/plan than "not having to get a real job" or w/e
b) it depends on the program and the program requirements ldo
c) nah i smoke alla time and im in a p demanding program

a) not definitively but i think u need more of a goal/plan than "not having to get a real job" or w/e

this was basically why i went into grad school. it turns out academia is where i want to be, but this is basically luck. i couldn't have told you why i was doing a phd early on, and the lack of direction for the first year or two led to a v. slow start/changing projects/advisors, etc.

so yeah, my number one tip for anyone considering grad school is: think through exactly what field you want to end up working in and whether grad school helps. because if it's not helping there, it's a complete waste of time, money and the best years of your life, and i mean that in all seriousness.

i don't care how much you enjoy your subject for its own sake (as distinct from an academic career in your subject, which is a different thing). the fun you'll have while doing a phd is just not worth the bother if you're not going to get something out of it career-wise.

yah also it may seem like a drag but a couple of years of white collar work w/ a decent salary can make your early twenties a lot of fun and also help give u a clearer picture of what u dont want, what your skills are, what excites u in the day 2 day grind

^^^ i did this. summer in parliament. year in publishing. had a blast, but knew from that i wanted to go back to academia, probably for good.

[uk phds are done from a standing start, and i didn't spend quite enough time working out the details of what to study, hence me being finishing two years late, but i don't that would not be such a big deal in U.S. grad school.]

dope article: http://chronicle.com/article/Understanding-Academe/46531/

"I have one standard piece of advice: The best thing that a future academic can do is to take a "gap year" between college and graduate school and work in publishing."

reality check (there are no shortage of these, esp. for people considering the humanities):

http://chronicle.com/article/Graduate-School-in-the/44846

As things stand, I can only identify a few circumstances under which one might reasonably consider going to graduate school in the humanities:

* You are independently wealthy, and you have no need to earn a living for yourself or provide for anyone else.
* You come from that small class of well-connected people in academe who will be able to find a place for you somewhere.
* You can rely on a partner to provide all of the income and benefits needed by your household.
* You are earning a credential for a position that you already hold — such as a high-school teacher — and your employer is paying for it.

Those are the only people who can safely undertake doctoral education in the humanities. Everyone else who does so is taking an enormous personal risk, the full consequences of which they cannot assess because they do not understand how the academic-labor system works and will not listen to people who try to tell them.

having said all this, i am having a great time, and very happy with my profession now. i will be disappointed if i have to leave for whatever reason.

ha reading your job application thread has made me much more apprehensive about what im going to do with a phd in the sciences

I'm getting some feelers from some grad programs but yeah I need to ~find myself~ some more before even thinking about applying

i also support taking a gap year or two or several. i think it helps a lot in figuring out what you want to do, what your possible career paths actually look like, and just feeling like you know what your alternative options are if you don't go through with the phd.

job prospects are an issue, but i think it's best to go in thinking about how to get skills and experience that will allow you to market yourself outside of academia as well. in my field, you need at least an ma to do any work that isn't literally hard physical labor with no advancement potential, so i am hoping that another 5-6 years in school will pay off by allowing me to have a career related to the area...if not, i'll basically be several years behind my peers, which reduces lifetime earning potential but in a moment-to-moment way isn't catastrophic.

ps i realize how that comment comes off, but i am totally talking out of hope and not experience here

lol @ seeing this thread-title every so often

reminded me of the group project stuff upthread:

http://mcsweeneys.net/2009/11/12schmidt.html

Lamp just out of curiosity how old are you?

This thread is so depressing.

well, no, reading caek's link from last week is depressing. never mind i will stay in my one-step-above-minimum-wage job instead that has far more prospects oh wait

EXACTLY. i feel like yeah, there's a lot of opportunity cost for people with successful fulfilling careers, but for some of us...honestly, what do we have to lose?

Last (non-exam) day of grad school tomorrow and I am sad that I am leaving. That said I have a great job that if it succeeds with allow me to come back a millionaire dilettante Phd. student and if it fails will give me a fantastic thesis topic. In the intervening period I will be working on some collaborative research between the company and the university which should hopefully lead to some publications and being listed as key personnel on an NSF grant.

oh, you are leaving!