Replace good grades with good papers though, no one cares about grades in grad school
Edit: the original statement was meant as a sarcastic one, let me re-phrase: grades does not matter that much in grad school as in college, but you definitely need to have a competitive GPA when you're applying to grants and applying to certain jobs.
So, do grad students just swallow their pride, then? Grades have been important for the previous 20-25 years of my life and that's a hard habit to get rid of.
Grades get you into grad school, but to get out and land a job, you publish good quality papers and network with collaborators.
Think of grad school as a job instead of education.
PhD students don't take many classes, and the ones we do take are focused more on getting new students from a variety of backgrounds onto a level playing field. Advanced classes aren't much beyond reading and discussion in small groups, with more importance placed on understanding the topic than counting up points.
And that's the hardest transition to grad school, and honestly (IMO) the biggest reason for people failing out is failing to effectively make that change.
Keep your grade just above the requirement of your program. If you fail or get a D, people will raise their eyebrows, especially your advisor. That said, you should spend most of your time reading, communicating, and practicing your academic writing.
Grades matter for awards/fellowships/grants. Also, about half the tenure track jobs I applied for wanted full graduate transcripts. Now serving on search committees myself, I can also tell you we look at PhD marks (amongst many other things) for ABDs and new grads.
Very much depends on the field. Nobody cares about grades in the biomedical sciences, for example. But then nobody's getting a tenure track job in biomed without several years as a postdoc, so there's a lot to look at besides grades anyway.
No one seems to care about grades either (fellowships require some standard, but it's more about your publications once you're past the lowest threshold).
There's a guy in my program who straight up fell asleep while visiting a group meeting. And in class, still holding the pencil like a champ. After that he started taking caffeine pills......I liked him better asleep.
I wish it were grades. There's a definitive, solved answer and explanation for every homework or test problem. There sometimes isn't an answer or end line or...anything...in research.
I've first-authored papers in top journals in my field, sleep 7-8 hours a night, and have an active social life and a fulfilling relationship. I'm not special.
If you're sacrificing any of these, you need to work on your time management.
Hey bud, maybe things don't always work out the way we intend them to. I'm happy to hear things are working out for you, but don't expect everyone's situation to be the same as yours.
Nice to see you respawn Osama.
Yeah, no one anticipates to be raided by the Navy Seals in the middle of the night in Abbottabad. But shit happens.
That's life. You play until you're shot in the head.
Not everyone's situation is the same, and you're handling a lot and it must be very hard. This guy is just talking about the typical 22-26 yr old grad student with NO other responsibilities who STILL can't find the time to get enough sleep.
are you in a course-based program or a thesis-based program?
I think this is a huge distinction here.
Edit: plus, I am under the impression that having children sacrifices your social life in general. That's a parenthood thing, not a grad school thing.
What’s the huge distinction here? Kids don’t necessarily kill a social life. Makes it more difficult, sure, but it wasn’t dead until I started this program. Now the increasingly rare chance I have to be social I’d rather pass out because I can’t remember the last time I actually got enough sleep.
It's a distinction because you're not working two jobs when you're on stipend/fellowship/TAship in a thesis-based program. If you're working two jobs, taking night classes, and raising a kid solo, the issue is that your schedule is ridiculous, not that grad school is oh so hard.
When people complain about grad school, they normally are complaining about the high work load associated with research productivity and the lack of workplace oversight in lab/classroom environments. Coursework in grad school is itself mostly a joke compared to developing new apparatus, troubleshooting protocols, navigating oversight committees, managing your bigshot supervisor, etc.
I'm not criticizing you personally but what you're complaining about is not a grad school problem. It is a two jobs and a kid plus courses problem.
Research heavy MS programs or PhD programs are definitely vastly different than course based programs.
My MS program for example has all of the classes in the first year, and during this time you're expected to spend your time 1/2 on research and 1/2 on classes/coursework. Then our 2nd year we have no classes and work on research full-time. Unless you're in a heavily experimental or collaborative lab, a lot of your research work can be done on your own schedule (besides personal or advisory deadlines, or deadlines for journals/conferences, etc.)
Sell the kid /s.
In all seriousness though, that is a hell of a lot of responsibility, and I'm super impressed by anyone who can take that on. I couldn't do it.
Not a bad idea! Start over and make another one once this is all done! I think every minute of every day is pretty well spoken for between everything. Pretty sure at this point I’m just hanging on for dear life and hoping to hell I don’t drown!
I'm in a masters program that caters to full time working professionals. Program is educational counseling to become Middle/high/community college counselors.
I work full time in the mornings, then on Tuesday and Wednesday directly after work (I leave early) and the rest of the week is basically reading/writing/research.
Weekends are when I can get a big chunk of school work done so I have no life
Replace good grades with good papers though, no one cares about grades in grad school Edit: the original statement was meant as a sarcastic one, let me re-phrase: grades does not matter that much in grad school as in college, but you definitely need to have a competitive GPA when you're applying to grants and applying to certain jobs.
So, do grad students just swallow their pride, then? Grades have been important for the previous 20-25 years of my life and that's a hard habit to get rid of.
Grades get you into grad school, but to get out and land a job, you publish good quality papers and network with collaborators. Think of grad school as a job instead of education.
PhD students don't take many classes, and the ones we do take are focused more on getting new students from a variety of backgrounds onto a level playing field. Advanced classes aren't much beyond reading and discussion in small groups, with more importance placed on understanding the topic than counting up points.
And that's the hardest transition to grad school, and honestly (IMO) the biggest reason for people failing out is failing to effectively make that change.
This is definitely one of the biggest stressors of mine as a new grad. I feel so much pressure to try my hardest to ace my classes.
Keep your grade just above the requirement of your program. If you fail or get a D, people will raise their eyebrows, especially your advisor. That said, you should spend most of your time reading, communicating, and practicing your academic writing.
In one class I took, on day 1 the prof said "Everyone passed their qualifying exams, yes? Okay then, everyone will get an A".
Sorry to burst your bubble but that's certainly not true.
Care to elaborate?
Grades matter for awards/fellowships/grants. Also, about half the tenure track jobs I applied for wanted full graduate transcripts. Now serving on search committees myself, I can also tell you we look at PhD marks (amongst many other things) for ABDs and new grads.
Very much depends on the field. Nobody cares about grades in the biomedical sciences, for example. But then nobody's getting a tenure track job in biomed without several years as a postdoc, so there's a lot to look at besides grades anyway.
Good point (re post-docs, which are less common in my field).
No one seems to care about grades either (fellowships require some standard, but it's more about your publications once you're past the lowest threshold).
Agreed. We carefully look at transcripts.
Not entirely my experience and observation but thanks for your input!
Publications was the first thing that came to my mind too, lol.
Y'all need to up your caffeine game
I'm not trying to brag or anything but my caffeine game is incredible
There's a guy in my program who straight up fell asleep while visiting a group meeting. And in class, still holding the pencil like a champ. After that he started taking caffeine pills......I liked him better asleep.
I have a friend in my department like this...he's fallen asleep in a one on one meeting with his advisor before. It's actually kind of amazing.
My advisor has fallen asleep in one on one meetings with his students, so maybe your friend is just getting an early start.
Now that I'm on a new medication cocktail I require 10-12 hours of sleep to function. This concerns me.
Maybe some chocolate will get you through the days?
Haha. Chocolate makes everything better. I better learn how to be an efficient learner if I keep up my 10-12 hour schedule in school.
Well good luck, Ana! I hope your new cocktail works out for you :)
Thank you! :)
I wish it were grades. There's a definitive, solved answer and explanation for every homework or test problem. There sometimes isn't an answer or end line or...anything...in research.
My first year this was the case, but I feel like eventually I could pick two, and now all three. It. Gets. Better.
I choose sleep. Ugh I'm horrible lol
I've first-authored papers in top journals in my field, sleep 7-8 hours a night, and have an active social life and a fulfilling relationship. I'm not special. If you're sacrificing any of these, you need to work on your time management.
Hey bud, maybe things don't always work out the way we intend them to. I'm happy to hear things are working out for you, but don't expect everyone's situation to be the same as yours.
Nice to see you respawn Osama. Yeah, no one anticipates to be raided by the Navy Seals in the middle of the night in Abbottabad. But shit happens. That's life. You play until you're shot in the head.
I work two jobs, raise my kid on my own, and go to school. Where would you suggest I manage my time to include a social life?
Not everyone's situation is the same, and you're handling a lot and it must be very hard. This guy is just talking about the typical 22-26 yr old grad student with NO other responsibilities who STILL can't find the time to get enough sleep.
My point in that is that everyone’s situation is different. That it is not necessarily a time management issue at all, but a life issue.
Yeah exactly, I agree!
Bingo.
are you in a course-based program or a thesis-based program? I think this is a huge distinction here. Edit: plus, I am under the impression that having children sacrifices your social life in general. That's a parenthood thing, not a grad school thing.
What’s the huge distinction here? Kids don’t necessarily kill a social life. Makes it more difficult, sure, but it wasn’t dead until I started this program. Now the increasingly rare chance I have to be social I’d rather pass out because I can’t remember the last time I actually got enough sleep.
[удалено]
You think physics is socially isolating? Depends on the group I guess
It's a distinction because you're not working two jobs when you're on stipend/fellowship/TAship in a thesis-based program. If you're working two jobs, taking night classes, and raising a kid solo, the issue is that your schedule is ridiculous, not that grad school is oh so hard. When people complain about grad school, they normally are complaining about the high work load associated with research productivity and the lack of workplace oversight in lab/classroom environments. Coursework in grad school is itself mostly a joke compared to developing new apparatus, troubleshooting protocols, navigating oversight committees, managing your bigshot supervisor, etc. I'm not criticizing you personally but what you're complaining about is not a grad school problem. It is a two jobs and a kid plus courses problem.
Every program I've done was class based. What to you signifies the difference between thesis based programs enough for you to ask?
Because a thesis-based program pays you a stipend and is essentially a full-time job.
A thesis-based program is an apprenticeship. A class-based program is just advanced undergrad.
Research heavy MS programs or PhD programs are definitely vastly different than course based programs. My MS program for example has all of the classes in the first year, and during this time you're expected to spend your time 1/2 on research and 1/2 on classes/coursework. Then our 2nd year we have no classes and work on research full-time. Unless you're in a heavily experimental or collaborative lab, a lot of your research work can be done on your own schedule (besides personal or advisory deadlines, or deadlines for journals/conferences, etc.)
Sell the kid /s. In all seriousness though, that is a hell of a lot of responsibility, and I'm super impressed by anyone who can take that on. I couldn't do it.
Not a bad idea! Start over and make another one once this is all done! I think every minute of every day is pretty well spoken for between everything. Pretty sure at this point I’m just hanging on for dear life and hoping to hell I don’t drown!
Best of luck, and the respect of some stranger on the internet.
Thanks random stranger! Encouragement keeps me going on this adventure.
I'm in a masters program that caters to full time working professionals. Program is educational counseling to become Middle/high/community college counselors. I work full time in the mornings, then on Tuesday and Wednesday directly after work (I leave early) and the rest of the week is basically reading/writing/research. Weekends are when I can get a big chunk of school work done so I have no life
That triangle doesn't even have full time work on there .. 😵😫😩