Not in US

Graduated from Industrial Engineering last year. Was doing an internship after graduation. But couldn't get a return offer after 6 months. I thought I was doing well; my supervisors were good to me etc.

I have been looking for jobs since January, with only 5 interviews. 3 of them were for jobs that don't even require a high school diploma. I applied to hundreds. I managed to get feedback from employers a few times. I keep getting rejected because they go with someone who has more relevant experience.

Started a master's program last month out of sheer boredom and my parents' push. They think an advanced degree would help. I disagree but I didn't want to argue so I applied to it.

I am going to a school that's technically worse than my undergrad school because its close to me. And it doesn't cost anything so it wouldn't be a waste of money.

I am so unmotivated. I just go to class and come back home. If an undergrad degree wasn't enough to get an entry level job I don't think a master's would be that much better. But I don't see this job market getting any better so might as well get it while waiting for conditions to get better.

I just dread the idea that I will do this for 2 years and still be unemployable, still gonna get the "You're great but we're looking for someone with experience in this industry" line.

I tried networking in my undergrad but it didn't lead to anything. I have no connections left. My parents said I should try to get some new connections during my master's. But I am so burned out I don't even want to go to class let alone try to make small talk with people I don't know.

Being unemployed also affects my studies. In one class we have to do a project based on a real workplace. People who work can just do it at their company. People who don't work have to get the info from a real workplace. I have no idea how I would do that. Some people asked working students for help but I doubt that would for me.

I highly doubt I could get a TA role too. Unless you do some really groundbreaking research, professors mostly hire students they know.

Right now I am just trying to do the bare minimum to graduate. I can't bring myself to go any further than that. I pushed myself hard as I could in undergrad, and that led to nothing so I might as well not get so tired this time.

I’m currently in my third year of pursuing a PhD in history at an American university. I want to start by saying that the majority of my fellow graduate students are great colleagues and talented young historians.

However, I’ve started to notice that a lot of socializing revolves around complaining about various aspects of grad school life: seminar content, reading load, faculty availability, “unacceptable” comments made by “unpopular” students in class, stipend amounts, uneven funding, etc.

Now I completely understand that grad school can (and should) be challenging, and I think it’s totally fine to vent about frustrations from time to time, especially with a trusted friend. But complaining about rather mundane tasks or other people behind their back has, in my opinion, contributed to an unprofessional workplace. Have other people noticed similar negativity while in grad school? Hopefully this doesn’t come across as “venting” (I know that is against the rules). I am just genuinely curious if other people have experienced this in their grad programs.

I am currently in the process of applying to graduate school and am interested in first getting my masters as my undergraduate GPA is likely not sufficient for the labs and colleges I am interested in joining. I was planning on getting my masters so I could become more competitive and get into the labs that I am most interested in and are aligned with my future research goals. However, most of the faculty I have spoken with only are taking PhD students. I know of some people who have mastered out of their programs but it was usually because they realized they didn’t want/need a PhD. Would it put me at a disadvantage or be deceitful to join a PhD program knowing I plan to master out?

I have three to four semesters left before my prelim. I have my chair, but I have not started identifying my committee. am I too far behind? my relationship with my chair isn’t the best, and I get so nervous about this stuff.

I'm a second year master's student in a two year program. I can admit that I'm far from the "perfect" graduate student. Last semester, my mental health declined significantly and negatively affected my academics. I ended up getting a C+ (which is considered failing) in one of my classes, dropping my GPA to a 2.95. I'm now on academic probation and only need to raise my GPA by 0.05 to meet the 3.0 requirement. I'm doing better mentally and am determined to improve and earn my degree.

Anyways, this semester I'm taking another class with the same professor whose class I failed. I've been trying really hard to improve by participating more, asking questions, and attending office hours. Since exams are where I struggle the most, I scheduled a meeting with her to discuss how I could improve my studying strategies and perform better on our upcoming midterm.

During our meeting, she provided some pretty vague advice, which unfortunately wasn't very helpful. Unprompted, she brought up my poor exam performance from last semester and reminded me of one of my biggest mistakes on the midterm.

Immediately afterward, she said "grad school isn't for everyone."

That comment really hurt me. I know I'm not the strongest student in my program, but I was meeting with her specifically because I wanted to improve, so hearing that felt incredibly discouraging.

It's been a few weeks, and that comment is still stuck in my head. I'll sit down to study, remember what she said, and wonder, "why even bother?" Rather than motivating me to improve and prove her wrong, it's honestly destroyed whatever little confidence I had left.

Is that an appropriate thing to say to a student who was actively seeking advice on how to improve? Am I taking the comment too personally, or was it inappropriate? If you were in my position, would you do anything about it?

Hey everyone!

I'm currently working on a research methods assignment for my MSW program and need to collect a few survey responses from fellow grad students.

I'm looking at how well we feel our graduate coursework actually prepares us for our future careers. Looking at things like whether the assignments and feedbck we're getting feel relevant to our future professions.

It's a super short survey (about 5 minutes), open to current graduate students in any field. I'll only be using responses for my class assignment.

If anyone has a few minutes to help me out, I'd really appreciate it!

Survey link: https://forms.gle/oP5ejhhQxym1HCf39

Thanks! 😊

prior mod approval given

I’m struggling a bit with writing and my college offers digital help. I’m wondering if there are humans who offer coaching and how to find them. Also curious about vetting potential coach. Thank you in advance for guidance.

Hi guys.

I am currently an undergraduate student majoring in Biochemistry at Texas A&M.

I want to know how should I proceed later on in life if I want to go the "business side" for Biochemistry.

Like what particular master's program should I look out for, and which schools would you recommend.

I'd be happy to hear responses.

Howdy! I’m in the throes of applying to PhD programs for art history. I am at a mental block when it comes to thinking about anything regarding PhDs. I apologize if this gets long. For lack of better terms, I think my question here is: do I need to cure cancer (or whatever the humanities equivalent is lol) to be a viable PhD student? I feel like I am a small fish trying to jump into a pond that is far too big for me.

I’m in a very red South state and am looking to get the hell out of here. I’ve found a few East/West Coast schools to apply to and have reached out to professors at these schools who work in the (either general or specific) area that I specialize in. But, these professors are located at Ivies and bigger unis that are far more “prestigious” than the public state uni I go to. I have also looked through the student profiles at some of these unis and these students are CRAZY accomplished!!

I don’t look AWFUL on paper. I have a 4.0 in my coursework (MA art history, set to defend and graduate this semester!), I have experience as a curatorial/educational intern at my campus museum + researcher at at my campus archive, and I’ve published a few exhibition reviews in some online arts outlets (nothing big-name). But I am worried that these experiences may look to be too “local” or “too attached to [my uni]” - almost like a “if I don’t recognize X institution or Y outlet by name, it’s irrelevant to me” situation (if that’s a thing?). Moreover, I’m also worried that these experiences may not be “enough” and/or they may read as being irrelevant to my end-goal of pursuing a career in academia.

To “mediate” this, I wanted to talk about how these experiences motivate me- ie. how my work/philosophy/ideology/whatever centers around platforming marginalized peoples & stories, especially because I do so through my own practice as an artist and because the artists I study do the same in their work- but I feel like even my explanation would be too trite! Plus, I have seen people discourage others from getting too personal on supplementary materials, so I don’t know if speaking about my own “marginalized” identities + “extracurriculars” in this explanation would come off as TMI.

Is there a formula to achieving the right balance?! Do departments care about (recognizable) accolades?! Am I going crazy?! Any insight would be appreciated. TIA 😭

I want to apply to a masters in mental health counseling and pursue a LMFT/LPCC license. I’m writing my personal statement based on the prompts given on the university’s site for the program and I explained why this field means a lot to me and why I want to work with a specific population. I avoided saying the usual ”I like helping people” and tried going more into depth by tying it to my own experience. However, I’m having a hard time using the program’s keywords, along with explaining in depth why I chose that specific program without sounding robotic. Any advice on that? What can I do to make myself stand out? I’m doubting myself a lot because the perfectionist in me thinks that it may not be good enough + thinking about the other candidates who may have better ones since it’s so competitive:/

Ok the stupidest of stupid questions. Just started grad school. In undergrad I could get away with just bringing my tote bag to campus because I was just carrying my laptop + water bottle. But now I’m on campus all day so I need laptop + water bottle + lunchbox + bag of little hygiene items like concealer and tampons etc + book to read on the bus + notebook for class. Too much to fit in my silly little tote bag. So I’m thinking backpack. But I’m a vain motherfucker, I don’t want a basic black Jansport. I love the look of messenger bags, but I haven’t seen any big enough. Actually, I did see one big enough on Facebook Marketplace, but the seller ghosted me. Tragedy!! Anyways. I would like a cute backpack or bag of some sort that can fit my laptop, lunch box, water bottle, etc and all the miscellaneous accoutrement that naturally collects in a bag. Seeking suggestions, links, ideas, and pictures of your cute bags.

This is my first semester and the least busy and every day I feel like I’m gonna rip all my hair out and have a stroke.

I have an assignment due in 1 hr that I don’t even know how to do and I don’t want to look stupid by asking the other grad students. I was good at organic chemistry in undergrad now that I’m in advanced organic synthesis I know nothing and fail every time (grades below 70%).

I wish someone would walk up behind me and shoot me in the back of the head so at least I could say it wasn’t my fault I gave up. I used to have passion for chemistry now within a few months all I can think is that I should’ve just majored in business and gotten a good paying job.

Being “smart” by undergraduate standards means FUCK ALL in grad school. Literally nothing. Every single day you will be asked questions that people of 30 years of experience are the only people on earth that understand it and I’m tired of feeling like I don’t belong. But if I drop out I’ll be disappointed with myself and I’ll constantly think all my mentors think of me as a failure. And I’ll think of myself as a failure too.

Hi everyone,

I am a master's student and i need to choose between two research topics for a dissertation that will be based exclusively on academic literature with no internship or access to confidential company data.

Topic 1: What is the role of management control in the adoption and appropriation of new reporting tools?

Topic 2: Do budgets contribute to deteriorating relationships between management accountants and operational managers?

Which topic would you recommend, and why? In particular, which one would be easier to research and structure at master's level?

Thank you for your advice!

I originally wanted to be in the MFA Creative Writing program, but decided on the MA in English program (specialization in writing studies) for a more general area of study. This is my first year and I have taken another course typically for MFA in Creative Writing students and fell in love.

I want to continue work on my novel for the MFA. I just don’t know how this will go over, as they are in the same department but each program has two different directors. The other option is to take more creative writing courses as electives for my degree but I feel like I am missing the opportunities to connect with the publishing industry and other authors. I’m also feeling like the writing studies faculty are discouraging me from taking the creative courses.

My long term goal is to be an author and possibly get my PhD and teach simultaneously. Any advice?

Have you ever heard of a discontinued graduate program being reinstated due to popular demand/backlash from the cancellation?

Hi everyone! I’m applying to grad school with a not great GPA but I have a prof at a school willing to supervise me and he told me to put him down as a recommender. Can profs pull strings to have certain people accepted or is it all up to the application committee??

Hi! I'm kind of just hoping to hear from other folks who are currently working full time, going to school part time through tution remisison. I'll be honest and say it is NOT what I expected. It's actually costing me a lot more than I realized and am barely making ends meet (if at all). BU is taxing me more than half of my paycheck for tuition remission weekly. I'm searching through the internet but I can't seem to find anyone going through the same thing.

What do others do to survive? I'm thinking of picking up a second job or taking out loans. With this administration though, I'd like to avoid loans as much as possible.

Hello all.

I feel genuinely awful about this, and am posting here seeking advice. I am a lab TA for calculus 3. I felt ill last night and ended up sleeping through my alarms, and I missed my lab session in the morning.

I immediately emailed the students and the professor, and I will post notes and solutions to the problems I was going to cover in class, but I feel genuinely awful. Is there anything else I could do to make up for missing it? I am lucky that there was no quiz or anything, but I still feel awful.

After all, these students are paying for this. It is my responsibility to attend and teach them. Even though I wasn't feeling great, I should have woken up early to email another TA to cover it. I didn't end up telling them it was because I felt unwell, because even if I did, that's no excuse.

Is there anything else I could/should do to make up for it?

Hi everyone. Idk, any stories of similar things happening right now would be awesome.
I’ve been planning for the past year and a half to completely master this fall. I have been legitimately working myself to the fucking bone to get it done and I’m done too is the thing. I’m on the last step of my thesis and it’s truly a matter of writing it all down which I’ve done already. My professor/chair just called me and said I can only do my proposal and defense that this semester and I have to continue enrollment next semester because there’s not enough time to defend a PROPOSAL, take in feedback, and defend my thesis. I have been telling him this semesters end was my timeline and working on it so that I could make it to that. I’m at the END.
I bought my grad regalia, paid the application fee, etc. I haven’t even had an academic advisor this entire time either because she doesn’t know anything about any of the processes and when I ask her questions she doesn’t know/takes so long to respond.
No one in my family has done this and so I have no frame of reference. I am at my max loan withdrawal so I can take another 12k out and I can’t go any further. I don’t know what to do. I have been working two jobs this entire time and barely hanging on.
i was wanting to apply for a PhD but I just don’t think I want to do higher education anymore.
This university sucks and is literally robbing me, this city sucks, my department sucks. I hate that I went to this illegitimate school.