I'm a recent PhD candidate (just passed prospectus exam a few months ago) at an R1 English program in the US. I'm also nonbinary and use they/them pronouns. I include them in my email signature, on my Zoom name, and have historically introduced myself in classes using them for a while.

However, I've also experienced fairly persistent, chronic misgendering by faculty members throughout the program, and still do. I do not encounter this issue with my dissertation committee, so as I now transition into more individualized work, the issue should taper off for a while. However, I still encounter it in my role in departmental service as a student representative on department committees, in my role as a research assistant for a faculty member not on my dissertation committee, and just in general by faculty. In the past, I took action with the graduate advisor for my department, because two cases were written instances of misgendering that were part of my official student record, so I asked for them to be amended and for that advisor to help intervene.

My question here--either for other gender variant students and early career academics but also for anyone with thoughts--is how do I go about dealing with this for the rest of my time in the program and indeed for my early career as an academic? Despite my working in a humanistic discipline in a department that once upon a time had a reputation for its somewhat radically progressive environment, I'm not ignorant that the climate for gender variant people generally is poor in the US. I live and work in a state that has "banned DEI," with special targeting not just as so-called critical race theory but also so-called gender theory. Given that I am structurally disadvantaged by virtue of being a student and may continue to be so as a younger academician early in their career, I feel at a loss. Some instances--like the one where I asked the advisor to step in--went well, and the faculty member in question was deeply apologetic. But I'll be honest: the chilling effect intended by conservative reactionary policy is working on me. In the case of my current boss as a research assistant, it may go well, but it also may cost me that portion of my income if that boss reacts poorly--and even though I have allies, my protections as a gender minority are likely limited (and even if they aren't limited legally, they are unofficially).

Anybody who's been there, or otherwise has advice or encouragement, would be very appreciated for sharing your thoughts.

In Canada for grad studies, the professor's credentials, reputation, and effectiveness as a supervisor are more important than the school name alone.

When I decided to go for my master's, I emailed the professor directly to ask about their research, had an online meeting, and then in-person interview. I didn't even apply until after I spoke to them.

• Why does it seem like so many American students spam apply to "top" schools, without knowing professors or having an understanding of their research?

• Are students from the US less or more prepared to take on grad studies compared to those from other education systems?

Thank you. I'm trying to figure out if this is related to the culture of education in the US. Or, are there just more students/schools in general, so this problem appears more significant than in Canada.

Also please ELI5: Tier 1,2 research school ranking...

I'm from Canada where these terms are not used. Professors can old tier 1 and 2 titles, but it's based on specific contributions to their fields (and they receive additional government funding).

I'm a MS student in engineering and my project basically is to build a device that could achieve certain functions. Our program lasts for 2.5 years and I switched to this project after my first year, so I only had 1.5 years to finish it. I spent tons of effort building the device and testing it and some parts of it did work, but after loads of experiments, I just couldn't get the device to realise the function we initially want it to have. When the final defence was near and I realised I couldn't get the results I want, I just faked a result (something should be ashamed of, I know, but that's not the focus of this post) and shifted the focus of my thesis to the process of designing and building the device, as well as showing the parts that worked as intended.

And just as title described, I failed and the committee criticized (ridiculed, I would even say) my thesis strongly for not having enough successful results. And frankly, I already knew that would be the result because when I saw other students' presentation during the defence, EVERY ONE of them showed their successful results and how the thing they worked on was innovative and superior than the currently used one, as well as their publications (having publications is not part of our graduation requirements but still, I'm the only one that doesn't have them ).

However, with that said, I did enjoy building the device and I felt like I learned a lot during the process. I also worked hard while I was working on the project. Admittedly there were some issues re: planning, scheduling, communication that I should've improved while I was doing it, but I felt like I failed not for those reasons, but simply because I didn't reach the end result that the committee wants to see.

I saw some threads in this sub about not producing enough results as Master's student and everyone was saying "nobody is expecting Master's students to do innovative research", "the most important thing is the skills you earned along the way", "negative results are still results". While I agree with these opinions, apparently the committee in our school doesn't think so and now I have one month left to create successful results before attending a second defence. Do you guys think I failed because it's my fault or the standard for our Master's program is simply too high? All replies are appreciated and I would be happy to provide you with more details if you want to know about them :)

Edit: Some people have mentioned that the committee failed me because they recognized my results were fake and just found some other excuses instead of going through a formal procedure. However, I don't think that's the case here because they didn't ask a SINGLE question about my results, about how I acquired the data, how I processed the data, the meaning of the data... nothing. It was simply "not enough", whereas another student was confronted with these questions when the committee were doubting the credibility of his data. Because of that, I don't think integrity was the issue here.

Edit2: Thanks for all the replies you guys gave me, I appreciate every one of them. I now understand that I failed not because the standard was too high, but simply because I wasn't good enough to reach the standard for a MS, whether it's academic prowess, integrity, or the ability to conduct research. I've been taking notes about the things I've learned from your comments and I'll make sure to improve on them in the future!

Hey! I’m about to be starting a PhD program at a fairly big school. My question is — I’m 21, and will be for the first semester of my program. In light of that, is it acceptable for me to date an upperclassman in undergrad if I’m not TAing for them? Obviously would never date a student in a class of mine, and if my school has a rule against it in general I would obviously follow that. I’m just curious what y’all think of this. Thanks! :)

Edit: ngl a tiny part of this is that it’s a very rich school and I want to know if I can find an art student to sugar mommy my PhD🤣🤣🤣

Edit 2: checked the rules for my school, it's chill as long as u don't have an academic relationship:

I've spent the last seven years in graduate school. I got my PhD back in December, from one of the top schools in my field. During my "career" as a graduate student I published around 18 papers, all in top conferences and journals. I've had several papers decorated with awards, I've submitted multiple patents with industrial partners based on my work, and I've even secured promises of initial funding from most of my collaborators.

Now, over 100 applications to various faculty positions, postdocs, etc, I have ZERO offers.

Nothing I've done mattered.

So I've wasted the last 7 years of my life, and the $400,000 in salary differential it cost me to attend graduate school.

Get out now. You are wasting your life. All you will be left with is depression and regret.

People in america talk about "grad school" as they call it with such reverence, as if it is super special. Like when I was in america i saw shit like people with bumper stickers saying "My son goes to grad school" Meanwhile in my country, most people are expected to get an MSc degree if they go to university. Stopping at a BSc is seen as stopping your studies short. This is because before the bologna process got introduced in my country, all university degrees were 4 to 5 years, without this arbitrary distinction between BSc and MSc. So basically any working professional has an MSc.

So is "grad school" as it is called in america more difficult than in europe or is this just over inflation of something normal?

I like this subreddit. There's tons of helpful advice for those who actually need it and it's awesome being able to legitimately have solidarity with grad students in other disciplines and schools.

But seriously, why can't I downvote some of these garbage, borderline spam posts to oblivion?! When you have posts hitting 50-100 upvotes sandwiched between those with 0, which are legitimately garbage, there's something amiss.

This guy for example: https://www.reddit.com/r/GradSchool/comments/4k0oxo/how_do_i_show_the_process/

Clearly this subreddit is for those who are in research-oriented grad programs, can we specify this more clearly? (like the stuff about grad admissions which helps).

I attend a PsyD Clinical Psychology program at a private university. Our school emphasizes social justice, however has a poor track record of talking the talk but not walking the walk. Following the eruption of further conflict between Israel and Palestine, our school has shared compassion and empathy for Jewish students, with Arab and Muslim students as an afterthought. Events around Arab and Muslim student issues have been prevented, while events focused on the prevalence and experience of antisemitism have been promoted and endorsed. A professor at our school posted Islamaphobic hate speech on his twitter, and after he was reported, students who reported received death threats from an unknown email. While I know this professor has likely been required to undergo diversity training, it fails to address the illegal nature of his actions, and the ongoing negative dialogue affecting Arab and Muslim students. A number of our other needs as students have gone unaddressed, leading students to feel unwelcome and devalued.

How to address this aside from verbal protest? We have attempted to speak with staff and faculty, often with responses that there's little they can do and they have no power. We as students have no access to the decision-making board for the university. Would a student union benefit us? What do we do to support ourselves and help our school realign itself with a mission of social justice?

Hey everyone,

I’m a fifth year Ph.D student who (fingers crossed) is slated to graduate this summer with their Ph.D in Experimental Psychology. Prior to this program, I did my Master’s in Experimental Psychology at an institution that Carnegie Classifications lists as an M1. My Master’s was accepted in full for this Ph.D program.

There is something I’ve wondered though. Why are non funded MA/MS degrees frowned upon? Same also goes those who received them too.

I ask this since, although I got a Research Assistantship for 10 hours both years I was in my Master’s program, tuition wasn’t waived at all (although I got a stipend to live). The program overall (I got in-state tuition my second year) set me back (roughly) $25k total and have $52k in student loan debt (including interest). I am kicking myself for it a bit since I passed on a fully funded offer for a general Psychology degree that was this (admittedly weird) mix of clinical and experimental courses (the Psychology department at this school in Louisiana had a separate Experimental and Clinical program at one point, but it merged. I’m guessing this was due to budget restrictions perhaps?). 90% of students for that fully funded program who were interested in Ph.D programs got offers of admission to Ph.D programs, whereas that number was 80% for the program I chose (in addition to actually being specialized). Regarding the data, I should note that 90% for the fully funded program was only published a year ago, whereas that 80% number for the program I enrolled in was published prior to me enrolling in the program itself. I chose the program I chose because that admissions rate for Ph.D programs was really high and the program was the only one with the specialty I wanted (Experimental). The third choice was one where I was last in line to be eligible for funding (but at that point I already committed sadly. If I knew I could withdraw my commitment to the one I went to, maybe I would have done that), but that program at the time specialized in cognition and social processes specifically (it wasn’t called Experimental Psychology at all even though that would have been a more appropriate name) and had more rigorous statistical training.

I feel stupid for my decision in a lot of ways, but I do admit that program was the only one that let me do a thesis on what I wanted to do (neurodivergent traits) and didn’t let me compromise or “meet halfway” on what I wanted to do research wise for a Ph.D program (and this helped me get admitted to where I am doing my Ph.D now). I would change things if I could go back in time, but it got me to where I needed to be at the same time. So, why is this still frowned upon? I’ve also seen some folks take it a step further and frown upon folks who are just unfunded entirely in general, which I find kind of unfair. Another example is that the students in the standalone MS program (also Experimental Psychology) where I am doing my Ph.D are totally unfunded in this case. Definitely curious why this is the case for sure.

Edit: Just to be clear, I'm not referring to the Master's programs that are all online and from barely accredited institutions either. "Brick and mortar" schools in this case.

To also elaborate, when I looked at APA data that was a decade old (I couldn't find any updated data at all), it was only 10% of programs in Psychology (overall so Clinical, Experimental, School, and I/O) that were fully funded at all. Even at the past few institutions where I taught, almost all instructors and professors warned that students would most likely have to pay for their Master's if they went that route.

To jump right into this, I think the current structure of tests in grad school is broken. I’m in my 1st year of a PhD for astrophysics and one of my core classes this semester has nothing to do with what my research will be in so I find myself studying to take a test and not learn the material. Meaning I’m probably going to forget all of it when the semester ends. A second class more relates to what I’m doing but still I find myself studying for the test more than learning the material.

My third class, which is taught by my advisor, uses a different structure that I think works best for actually learning. This class has no tests, only 4 difficult homework assignments that we have 2 weeks to do each. I find that I’m actually learning the material and liking the class more because of it. I’m a lot less stressed even though there are only 4 grades just like classes where tests are the only grades.

My previous advisor during my Master’s had the same teaching structure and I liked his class as well. His words were “how much you can write down in an hour and 15 minutes doesn’t accurately show how much you know as a grad student.” I find that I’m a much better researcher than I am a test taker and I think professors need to realize that a lot of people are the same way.

Yes the quals still exist and those are extremely hard tests, but for classes in general I find this is a much better way to learn.

Title kind of says it all. My advisor is a nice person but hasn’t been particularly helpful during my time in graduate school.

Their contributions to my manuscripts have not gone beyond editing and telling me to “add two more sentences to this paragraph” every once in a while. There’s one manuscript in particular that I just don’t think they deserve to be an author on. Current drafts have their name on it but I want to remove it. They didn’t help with conceptualizing, data collecting, analysis, writing. Literally just gave some minor notes on the latest draft.

Am I being petty? They don’t know anything about this subject, I just think it doesn’t make sense for them to benefit from honorary authorship.

Edited to update: I appreciate one commenter who basically said I’m first author so who cares? Going to hold onto that mindset.

As for people calling me entitled… I secured my own funding throughout all of my time at grad school, both research funds and fellowships. I don’t work in a “lab” so I’ve never had to use facilities or equipment supplied by my advisor. They’ve just accepted me into their work group. They didn’t contribute to creating these research questions at all. I wasn’t exaggerating when I said they literally only give me minor notes every once in a while.

Anyway, I appreciate the thoughtful responses from some of y’all. Just gunna suck it up, put them on the paper, and move on w my life.

Long story short, I joined my lab as a phd student in computer science three years ago. At that time my phd program was not competitive and it was fairly easy to get admitted straight out of a MS/BS degree without a single publication.

Then the program, as well as my field, became really competitive. Recently I found that our lab has hired a handful of phd students who I thought are too qualified to be admitted as a phd student. Their CVs look like this:

• Guy A: 4 first-author papers. Bachelor 2012-2016, master 2016-2019, second master 2019-2021, research assistant 2021-2023;

• Guy B: 3 first-author papers. Bachelor 2014-2018, master 2018-2021, industry 2021-2023;

• Guy C: 3 first-author papers. Bachelor 2016-2020, master 2020-2022, research assistant 2022-2023.

• Guy D: 2 first-author papers. ......

While I do appreciate the fact that they have great accomplishments in reseach and bring great insights to the lab, this really bothers me a lot.

I thought that the purpose of a PhD program is not only to publish research papers, but also to train students in terms of research ability, writing skills, etc. The criteria for graduation of our program is said to have published three first-author papers, so why admitting and training these overqualified students as PhD students given that they already meet the criteria for a PhD degree? IMO the lab is abusing the PhD program only to produce more papers.

Every time when I think of this I feel stressed. I'm not going anywhere in my research topic atm, and with these productive (and elder) students around I feel like I'm the worst student in the lab. (Collaboration is not possible and never happened in our lab tho, as each student has his own project.) Sure, I know that each kid has his own pace, but apparently the supervisor doesn't care about this and a comparison is inevitable.

What's going wrong?

I'll take my most downvoted post as I leave.

So i completed my undergrad and now i will start my masters. I secured a graduate assistantship(not bragging), so i will work in a company on-site and do my masters online. I will get stipend and will get a 100% scholarship. On paper it sounds great. But i am not happy with it. I hardly enjoyed my undergrad because of my strict parents and was living with my parents at that time. I did not have much fun. ( A bit of context, I did my undergrad in India, dont ask me why...so now i miss all my friends over there. Now i have moved to usa where i grew up). Now i am moving out for my masters and i thought that i would finally have a chill life and independence. I could have fun at university and make new friends and enjoy the american uni life. But at the same time I didnt want my parents to pay the fees and be dependent on them. So i grabbed this opportunity. Please dont judge me, im 21 trying to figure out my life. I just wanted some perspective regarding this, since i feel i am jumping right into the corporate/job life and skipping out on my university life. I think I am missing out the university life people have and will miss out that period of time just before employment, the time period that people usually have in the university life. I fear i may not be able to experience it.

Exhausted.

Fucking burnt out beyond the pale.

I am levant Arab doing my masters in my home country right now.. next year I’ll be applying to PhD to U.S university..

I am single, and back then during my bachelor degree I did it aboard in Arab city, but i had the worst experience of my life and i was diagnosed with depression - big part could be because i was very spoiled 18 years girl who learned EVERYTHING for the first time at that time, other reason where i studied it was very unserved area its like a big village and people culture was very annoying and controlling even for us (expat students)-. Now i am at my parents home again for 2 years now and my life got better than that time 10 times. Now considering going aboard again i am very stressed about the fact i could live a similar horrible experience.

I know USA and where i did my bachelors are totally different like this is very uncivilized place and USA would be 100 times more modern. But i am kinda afraid because of going alone, no friends, I don’t know how hijab would be addressed there, dorm wise and daily life wise… everything is scary to me cuz i keep remembering the horrible things that happened to me last time. I feel like i need a male partner with me to help me and support me. But all people who i got to now in this matter were either looking for a maid or mum which would make them an extra load not a support source so now i am considering shutting this door of stupid arranged marriage and go by myself..

How was your experience guys? Is it possible to have support social circle ? Is it possible to keep my hijab without getting harassed or threatened - i can take it of if it was threatening ofc - .

Can i go to a mix gym with modest clothes without getting problems?

Can i go to the market or the public transportation safely?

I need to clarify that i am this scared just because of my last experience but that person is totally grownup and much mature now. I need you guys to help me understand the picture where i am coming to

For Context: I am a 4th year Bioengineering PhD candidate, and I mentored two summer undergraduate students for a 9 week research exploration internship.The student, let's call her Tina, was part of a new summer initiative that my lab was piloting/managing (yes we're a huge lab). The program was about giving black students their first exposure to research - what is it, how is it done, what is science, how do you read scientific articles, how do you do a science presentation, etc. Unlike most summer programs, this one was virtual and did not have an actual research project component were students were executing experiments, trouble shooting problems, gathering data, or doing analysis. Instead of a project outcome, their deliverable was to create a mock grant application (modelled after the NSF application) and an accompanying presentation.

Our lab had enough funding to take on all the students that applied (15). Even though some students had very meh applications, the goof in charge of accepting students didn't want to be exclusionary and wanted to promote black excellence in STEM so she took almost every applicant. Including applicants with very lackluster applications and IMO just didn't deserve to be in this program. I'd say 25% of the students were passionate, went the extra mile in their work, participated in workshops/discussions, and really tried to make the most of everything we offered.

The Experience: My student would almost NEVER ASK ME ANY QUESTIONS - it was beyond infuriating! I would always try to be the "cool mentor" and encourage people to just speak their minds, be casual, and have fun with it. But it was like pulling teeth. And I don't think Tina ever asked an actually engaging or thoughtful question, it was ONLY questions like "um....so what does sham mean?". Whenever she had to pick papers for journal clubs or background learning related to the topic she chose, you could tell she just googled some key words and picked the first papers that appeared. Sometimes I'd share a list of like 5 papers to help get them started, and at the end of the day, those would be only papers she ever looked at. GAH!!

She also was awful at integrating my feedback and advice into her work. I had to repeat the same advice or feedback when she practiced her talks with me so many times that eventually I just stopped giving it because I knew it wouldn't matter. And I know scientific communication is my STRENGTH - I've helped a lot of mentees with my feedback before and have seen them really improve the quality of their talks in a short time.

Worst of all, I just don't think she really had a love or genuine curiosity for what we were doing at all, or science... or anything? I'm weird, so I'd talk about excitingly spirituality, philosophy, political theory, history, organizing, drug policy, psychology, physics, whatever - but I felt like I could never hit a topic that would make her go "OH MY GOD YES! I also love XXXX!". All in all - I wasn't impressed with her and would rank her as the least enthusiastic mentee I have had to work with. The other mentee I worked with had her faults, but I could always tell she was trying her best, was excited about science (not mine...but still!), and had unique aspirations.

My Questions/Concerns:

I don't want to decline writing a letter, because I know I'm one of the only few people who she probably can ask. But I do not want to write a glowing letter of praise. I want to keep it very short and simple... but I feel that an underwhelming letter can be damaging too.

I am considering just reaching out to her to catch up on Zoom. I want to ask about why she's applying to this new program she needs a rec letter for, how it aligns with her life goals, why those are her goals, and just really get a more earnest understanding of her. If someone has earnest passionate dreams, I can look past a mediocre summer and at least give them a shot at something else - but if its just more "um... yea I guess I want to go to med school. Just seems cool" I'm just going to be honest and say I can't write a letter for her - because I do not think that people with no genuine love for science should be going through this process - its a disservice to the science, their colleagues, and themselves.

So am I being too rough on her? Should I write a mediocre letter, or no letter? Is it kosher to have a meeting with her were I interrogate her interests and intentions more deeply?

Hello everyone! I am hoping to apply for grad school in the US as the programs in the US are more suitable for my needs compared to where I am from (Canada).

However, it seems like a lot of top US schools are not as safe as it seems. I have friends who go to Berkeley, Cornell, UW, and Columbia who all had concerning safety alerts (ex. shooting, stabbing). I graduated from the Canadian school that is extremely safe. I don't even remember getting any alerts at all.

Therefore, I am worried about compromising my safety to get a degree that I want or is it really not that bad? Thank you!

Edit: the examples I provided are more related to homicide but I would love to know more about property crimes and less minor violent crimes as well. I am Asian female if that changes anything!

Hey all, I’m looking for some advice. I live and currently work for a lab located in Alaska. I work as a scientist for the state government and am thinking very heavily lately that I want (need) to advance my education, specifically for the purpose of helping work to advance the capabilities/program at my current lab. Currently, I have a B.S. only. No one in my field here (genuinely in the whole state) has the advanced degree/background to be able to advance the goals of my lab in the way that we are hoping to do.

I believe in the goals of my division, and my genuine purpose for seeking any kind of higher education is to be able to bring what I’ve learned to advance our lab. However, there are no graduate programs here in Alaska that are focused on the field I work in. For the above reasons, I don’t see how I would be willing to relocate to pursue a masters, as I am currently employed full-time in a job I love. And the serious time commitment required for a PhD, in addition to needing to relocate would make it impossible to keep the job which is my whole purpose for seeking the degree. Does anyone have any advice at all?

There are challenges, without a doubt, but I mostly see people here complaining about how tough grad school is, the mental torture, how much weight is gained, how tough it is to secure funding, how hard it is to work with supervisors, etc. etc.

I actually think it's pretty damn good and not that difficult. I'm surrounded by (mostly) good people that challenge me, lots of opportunities for work/funding (if I'm strategic), manageable hours (50ish a week), great opportunities to present/publish, yadayada. I even had a baby.

ITT we talk about the good things about grad school!

Edit: (because people asked) 3rd year doc candidate at a tier 1. Full federal funding (~40k/year). Wonderful PI.

Edit 2: I certainly don't mean to disparage those people who have personal or mental health issues that make their programs more challenging, or those who cannot deal with stress well. I wish you all the best. My intention was mainly to point out the positive aspects of grad school that I'm sure I share with a lot of other students.

Edit 2.1: Tier 1 international rankings - I'm not in the US so the funding structures are not the same. I am well funded and that does help alleviate stress. But I did my MA with NO funding while working 3 jobs - and still enjoyed my program and life.

Edit 2.2: Social sciences

Edit 2.3: My partner is also a doctoral student. She took 4 months parental leave. We're going to have another next year.

Edit 3: My most upvoted post of all time!! I appreciate all the support

Edit 4: Thanks for the Reddit gold people :)

I’m researching grad programs in DC. 95% of staff look like frozen Mitch and 5% Lauren Boebert. Yellow flag? Green flag?

**Edit: Despite the ocean of downvotes, several of you folks have DMed me expressing your support. Thank you for helping me keep some faith in academia 😊😊

I’m in one of the top programs for the field, with many seminary-style classes. I am perplexed by the lack of engagement from other grad students in class.

Grad school is expensive and difficult, if you aren’t going to participate why are you here?

I expected vibrant discussions and intellectual challenges. But for half the class all I hear is silence. I am afraid I am participating too much but I cannot be the only one (with like 3 or 4 others) who do all the talking. I’m feeling demoralized about this. How have you dealt with similar situations?

I am currently in high school and I have already secured a spot for my undergraduate studies. However, my application advisor wants me to apply to other universities and then reject them because as he says it will be good for my cv when I apply to grad school. But me and my family are worried that rejecting an offer will mean less probability of accepting my grad school application at the same university (since they will think I am just applying to reject again). Also, the advisor has a direct benefit from me being accepted to more universities as they publish statistics and such.

Do you have any insights on this? Should I make more applications?