#advice for grad students

[smart-macademia]

the key to surviving grad school (also maybe life but definitely grad school) is to pick a side quest every few months or so. something that brings you joy and that you can get better at over time, independent of whether or not your research or classes are going well. put your need for academic validation to use in a non-academic setting and everything will feel less dire and you will learn you are more than your work

[honeesblog]

a lot of people in my program really only do their studies and to my other PHD's I urge you: make sure you have other things going on! I have a near endless list of weird hobbies and sports and other interests and I just want you to know that you don't need to eat, sleep, and breathe only your topic and subject! Read a fiction book for fun, paint something badly, find a nice shop to browse in, go for a walk in a green area, take a break and don't rush through it. Pleasure and relaxation are valuable and worth your time. The point of a PhD/Masters is not to work in a hard and unsustainable way until you are done but instead to learn how to be an academic, what type of academic you are, and how you want to live your life/balance your academics and everything else!

When you are studying/working, don't be afraid of being wrong or doing things messily or poorly. On hard days, give yourself leeway, add an extra scoop of sugar to your coffee or tea, and listen to the rocky theme!

[tranquilstudy]

April 29 /25

So, I got into MScSLP. About a week ago, I got confirmation that they had a spot open for me and I was taken off of the waitlist! Not for my hometown, but about an hour away. At first I was happy, but overwhelmed at the thought of it. I think my mind so quickly goes into “we have to think of every possible angle to make this plan work”, instead of actually sitting in what a great achievement this is. I got put on a waitlist to get into my hometown campus, and was told that the chances are “pretty low” of getting in there, but I thought I’d try. I think my biggest worry in this whole thing was losing connections with my friends back home. But I’m realizing now, slowly, slowly slowly that everything will work out how it’s meant to. I’m trying my best to take it one day at a time. First, loans. Then, housing. Then, something else I’m sure.

I’m nervous to start this journey, but I know I wouldn’t have been given this opportunity in life if I wasn’t ready for it. So, here I am. Celebrating.

🎧: BLOOM — doechii

📖: pride and prejudice

🎮: ace attorney — apollo justice (turnabout corner)

((Also if you didn’t vote you’re a big time loser womp womp winners exercise their rights))

[tanumaskoipond]

everyone loves sending me things

[katiajewelbox]

Dear people with PhDs, I would greatly appreciate your insights...

Now that my thesis has been submitted, I am awaiting the viva voce exam. For those not familiar with the terminology, a viva voce is the UK equivalent of the PhD defence in the USA, but it is a less formal affair featuring a private meeting between the PhD candidate and two experts in their field selected by their supervisor.

My viva isn't until April 30th, 2025, but I'm interested in being as prepared as possible for this meeting.

If you have done a viva voce as part of your PhD, I would like to know about your experience. In particular, I'm curious about the types of questions asked and the level of detail expected in discussions. If your PhD was in biology I would be very interested in hearing about your viva impressions.

You can PM me or write your thoughts in the comments, either works for me.

Many thanks in advance!

(Art: My original AI generated art from 2023 made with DALL E 3)

[writingislife20]

I want a book about post-apocalyptic world, it starts out with these four survivors, who are all in their early to mid twenties, with the oldest being 25. They are trying to find other survivors/find out what started the apocalypse. I want them to be traveling, getting close to where they think the apocalypse started and surrounded by a group of creatures (I’m thinking zombies, but if you can be more original, let me know.)

Just when they are starting to despair, a car horn sounds. A minivan careens into the circle, killing several of the horde of creatures. A door is thrown open, and a preteen girl pitches her head out and screams at the top of her lungs “ GET IN!!!”

They start scrambling into the minivan, while the monster shuffle at them. When the last person gets in, the girl throws the door closed and yells, ” Step on it, Rosie, and don’t hit another building!”

They turned to see a nine-year-old girl in the driver seat, with a 13-year-old boy looking like he was about to hurl. They drive so fast that one of the passengers definitely gets close to sickness. The nine-year-old keeps giggling, and whoever’s point of view it is is death scared of this little girl.

They get driven to this camp area that has obviously been turned into a hideout, with a gate enclosing it. There, they are greeted with a gaggle of kids, ranging from 7 to 16, with two elderly women, and a girl who stands out as being the oldest and probably the leader. She seems to be a lot older, and is very confident, giving directions to everyone. She takes the four of them to a side room, and shuts the door. All four of them are preparing for some sort of shovel talk. None of them are expecting to see this girl to sigh, lean against the wall and ask “Are any of you homophobic? because I am not willing to deal with that during this whole thing.”

Turns out, this place used to be a conversion camp that flew under the radar, and this girl had been breaking her little sister out of it when this whole thing started. Most of the kids have been fine, as they’ve been on lockdown due to her entering, almost all the faculty was dead or had abandoned the kids when everything started. The only adults who were left were the lunch ladies and the grandmother of one of the kids, who had been there visiting her grandson.

This 19-year-old had been put in charge of a gaggle of kids, and three older women who did not know how to take care of that many children. She asked the team for help dealing with the kids, crying that she needed an adult.

The group of four look at each other. Only one of them has experienced with children, and that is with a few kids from daycare, who are arguably younger than these ones. All of them are grad students, who barely survived the apocalypse due to sheer dumb luck, antisocial behavior, and their ability to dodge people attempting to bite them (grad students get crazy and cranky when you tried to wake them up or take them away from their work). All four of them are human disasters, then they look at this kid, who didn’t even get the chance to go to college, who is begging for help, and looks like she’ll cry if they refused to help.

They all collectively decide that They will be the responsible one. all of their other friends are human disasters, so they have to clean up their behavior and take care of this girl and the many children she has under her care. They know they’re going to need to help.

The problem is, they are all human disasters, who barely know how to cook. They are trying to be responsible, but they only have one brain cell, and it passes between them with no warning.

The rest of the story should be a mixture of comedy(these 20 year old trying to take care of a bunch of kids) and apocalyptic drama (these old ladies, trying to figure out why the apocalypse started, with a few appearances from Timmy, the grandson, who is seven years old and was sent there without the grandmother’s knowledge.)

Just, let the responsible grandparents figure out how the apocalypse started and why, while the grad students try to be responsible for 20 to 30 kids.

[quaalussy]

hi beautiful ppl on tumblr dot com do u have any advice about navigating life after college when u are soso scared

[literaturenerdy]

أذكر أنّي عندما قُبل مقترح بحثي، ووُجّهت لأبدأ في كتابة الرّسالة، كنت وقتئذٍ أشرف على امتحانات نهاية الفصل لقسمي، فاستغللت الفرصة وأخذت أطلب النّصيحة من أساتذة الموادّ ممّن أقضي وقت الإشراف معهم.

فكنت أسألهم: ما النّصيحة الّتي تنصحني بها في هذه المرحلة من خلال تجربتك الّتي سبق أن مررت بها؟

وقد كان بعضهم يفرح بالسّؤال، وآخرون يُفاجؤون به، وقد يبعثهم ذلك على الارتباك! ولن أكذبَك الحديث إن قلت أنّني لم أصب بطلبي النّصيحة من الجميع، بل كان يجب أن أقصر السّؤال على من توسّمتُ فيه الخير والحكمة فقط؛ ذلك أنّ بعضهم كان يستغلّ الفرصة ليحكي لي قصّة ابتعاثه، وما مرّ به أثناء دراسته، وتعامله مع مشرفه، والزّواج الّذي ربّما رافق تلك الرّحلة، بل كان بعض هذه القصص مدخلًا يتّخذونه لطرح الأسئلة الشّخصيّة! وكذلك كان بعض تلك النّصائح لا يعدو أن يكون زخرفًا لا طائل من ورائه نحو أن أستعمل الدّفاتر بدلًا من الجزازات في اقتباس النّصوص، أو أن بأن ألوّن اقتباساتي وأن أكثر من استخدام الألوان المبهرجة المختلفة، كما أنّ منهم من كان يسألني عن موضوع البحث؛ ليدلّني ثمّة على مراجع لا صلة لها بموضوعي سوى تشابه العنوانات! وكلّ ما كتبت حتّى الآن أيّها القارئ العزيز ليس بشرّ من تلك النّصيحة التي أخذتها دون تمحيص، ودون أن أراجع فيها عقلي، فأثّرت فيّ أيّما أثر، وزلزلت ثقتي بنفسي! وهي أنّ أحد أولئك الأساتذة -سامحه الله!- قال لي: لا تغرنّك نفسك، فتظنّين أنّك قد جئتِ بما لم يسبقك إليه أحد! ولا تدخلي المناقشة وأنت على تلك الثّقة من نفسك! وما قيل لك من قبل المناقشين فخُذيه، ولا تسألي فبأيديهم مصيرك!

وقد كان من مآلات هذه النّصيحة أن فقدتُ الثّقة بما يمليه عليّ عقلي، وأنّ أستصعب ما أنا مقدمة عليه فأهرب منه، ��ما كان الهاجس الّذي يشغلني إن جلست إلى كتبي ماذا سيقول المناقش، وكيف سأردّ عليه! ونتيجةَ لكلّ ذلك لم أنجز حتّى ضُيّق عليّ أيّما تضييق!!

ولا تحسبنّي أيّها القارئ العزيز أعلّق ما آل إليه حالي اليوم على سيّء النّصح ممّا أطلعتك عليه، إذ أقرّ كلّ الإقرار بأنّي كنت السّبب الرّئيس في كلّ هذا، وأنّ تكاسلي، وتمهّلي، وقلّة استشارتي لمشرفي هو مردّ ما أنا فيه اليوم.

ولكنّني أمهد لك لأمحّض لك نصحي ولأريك ما وقعت فيه فتتجنّبَه. ولتعلم أنّ ما سأطلعك عليه الآن لم أكن لأصل إليه من غير نصيحة، ولكنّ هذه النّصيحة كانت ممّن هو أهل لها.

وهذه النّصيحة كانت وُجّهت لي من قبل أستاذ عالم جليل في فترة دراستي لموادّ الماجستير، وهي أن أجعل لنفسي مذكّرة أدوّن فيها كلّ ما يطرأ عليّ من أفكار فور أن تخطر ببالي من غير تأجيل لتدوينها. كما نصحني أن أجعل للكتابة نصيبًا من يومي ولو لنصف ساعة! وقد عملت بالنّصيحة الأولى فورًا، منذ ذلك الحين إلى الآن؛ ولكنّي لم أعمل بالنّصيحة الثّانية حتّى بداية هذه السّنة، وما زلت أجاهد نفسي لأعمل بها يوميًّا فتغلبني تارة وأغلبها أخرى!

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.الصّور بعدستي والكلمات بقلمي، لا أسمح بالنّسخ، ولا بالتّرجمة، ولا بالنّشر على منصّات أخرى ©

©All rights belong to the me. Do not copy, translate or modify my work.

[adventuresinneuropharm]

Does anybody have any advice on postgrad applications?

When to start thinking about certain stages or what sort of activity looks really good on them? Who should I be talking to? What should I be looking at when applying for postgrad courses? Are they any helpful resources to make this all a bit clearer?

Basically, I am starting to stress as my tutor wants to meet once I'm back at uni and has asked me to have a plan to show him. I know what area I'm interested in (take a wild guess!) and therefore what unis might be possibilities but I'm overthinking everything passed that. Most my friends are thinking of doing taught postgrad if they can get in but I'm leaning towards research, however I don't know if that's like a realistic goal?

I'm pretty sure I'm overthinking (thank you neurodivergence) as I seem to be several steps ahead of my friends and peers, but some reassurance and guidance would be greatly appreciated.

[smart-macademia]

here's another thing they don't tell you about grad school - it's not about how smart you are, it's about what you can do when you're exhausted, scared, unsure, and fighting a losing battle.

[rollercoasterwords]

hihi i was wondering what you’re studying in grad school? i’m debating going LOL

i’m currently in a master’s program 4 a gender studies degree! my experience has been. pretty good so far but if ur located in the u.s. my honest advice is don’t go 2 grad school unless u can get it fully funded…or unless ur rich enough 2 just eat the cost of paying 4 a program in which case u can probably do whatever u want lol

[intomybubble]

And here's my 4th depiction of Saint Germain in Japanese media lmao I was not expecting him to show up in this series considering the others take place around late 1800s Europe

Edit: hoping for another ikemen to add to the list lmao 🤞🤞

Edit 2:

There he is

[fairyhagmother]

and what if. I made ukrainian honey cake for (redacted). what then

[college-hacks]

Make sure your laptop is CHARGED and UPDATED and TESTED Before your first class. Anyway on an unrelated note I opened up my laptop for class and it's not working 😒 my advice is from experience I promise

[grouchydairy]

If you’re like me, the supportive words above won’t cut it. You’ll still feel the sting of the cringe. It’s extra horrendous if a professor asks you to write your own letter of recommendation. Pretend you’re writing about your best friend.

#AcademicChatter

[lunaticlabs]

So you want a PhD: A how-to guide

Observe as the new student enters the PhD maze… You get a PhD, and you get a PhD; you ALL get a PhD!!!! Okay, it’s not quite that easy, and while the journey is tough (speaking from experience), it doesn’t have to be as overwhelming as it sometimes is for people. So how do you get a PhD, you may ask? Well, there’s no set path, and frankly, my advice is mostly tailored to the sciences in the…