r/GradSchool

This professor is also my academic advisor, and unfortunately is the only professor in my tiny, niche program at a large public university. Final grades were due yesterday, and I saw today that they posted my final grade, at 2.98, two points away from good academic standing of 3.0. However, grades have still not been posted for five point-heavy assignments on Canvas. I did well on past assignments, so it is surprising that this would occur based on the work I've put into this semester, though this professor has acted in bad faith before.

I just emailed this professor and cc'd the chair, requesting them to consider a grade change submission.

What are my rights as a student in terms of receiving grades in a timely manner? I did not have an opportunity to review feedback on my grades or appeal them before my final grade was posted, and still don't have feedback. If I don't hear back from the professor or chair today, should I reach out to the registrar, and what should I ask them?

I'm finishing this program come hell or high water, but it is frustrating when professors make it difficult.

Once papers, lecture PDFs, screenshots, references, notes, and citations start piling up across semesters, finding older information becomes difficult really fast.
Especially when files are spread across laptops, cloud storage, downloads, and note apps.
What systems are people here using to keep research material organized and easy to retrieve 
Later?

I graduated this past year with my bachelor's degree from a T20 US school. I did research (STEM) for a few years there on a subject I really liked a lot. I've been offered the opportunity to return for a PhD. I'm conflicted and not sure how to proceed, though. I know ultimately only I can make the decision for me, but I would appreciate some input. Here's some details and what I'm thinking:

- Pros of staying: well-ranked program (T25ish grad program), school is particularly good for the subfield, PI is quite well-known in the topic, I already know I love the school and city, already familiar with the work, would most likely collaborate/be coadvised by another institute

- Cons of staying: optics of getting multiple degrees from one place, limiting myself from going somewhere "better," PI's mentoring style is quite hands off and distant so current students tell me to go somewhere else, topic is not the "hottest" right now (I enjoy the work and find it impactful, but it's not the best pick if the goal is to publish a whole bunch)

On getting multiple degrees from one place: I see this get mentioned as a negative because you are limiting your academic network, less diverse experiences, etc. But I don't really see this in practice. I've seen multiple professors and my university's president do this. Multiple professors I've interacted with don't seem to view it negatively. Additionally, as mentioned before, I would probably spend a considerable portion of this PhD in collaboration at another institute. Would it still be better to go elsewhere? 

On current students telling me to go elsewhere and the PI's mentoring style: I do want to take these concerns into consideration. The PI can be sometimes difficult to reach and is comparatively hands off. For these reasons, some of the students have complained about lack of guidance. On the other hand, the PI does not demand that students work any number of hours, demand publications, etc. It's a low mentorship but low pressure environment. This has me conflicted. I may benefit from finding another PI at another school who is more involved. But, I could also risk finding a lab/PI that's high pressure, toxic, etc. So, I'm either safely choosing the fine/decent PI or taking the gamble on finding a great PI. Additionally, as mentioned before, I would likely be coadvised by another PI elsewhere who I know to be a good advisor and could fill this role.

For context: my post-PhD goal is industry or national labs. I'm not currently planning on academia but may change my mind. 

Any input is appreciated!

My friend and I are both 26 and in our master's program. She is having a super hard time. We are done classes and are working on our theses and honestly she has had so many obstacles that I wont get into but rightfully, her morale is depleted. She is having a hard time keeping a schedule or being motivated. I think she's depressed as she is having a hard time getting out of bed some days, and even with her laptop in front of her she is just struggling to actually focus.

I want to help her. I am lucky enough that I have had no mental health problems in my life, I have a hard time comprehending not being able to work even though you have a deadline approaching but I can understand it and I don't blame her. As much as i can, i understand the difficulty.

How can i help her? We go have dance class together twice a week but that is coming to an end. I want to find a way to encourage her to start sleeping on a regular schedule, find motivation to actually work, but also encourage meaningful rest. Because even days she doesnt work, i can understand that deadlines looming over you doesnt allow you to take an actual break.

I know its not my responsibility but i care about her a lot and don't want her to struggle with this degree. I want to help her finish strong so we can graduate together and start working.

I feel like I don’t know how to think. In fact, I feel like I’ve never really thought deeply before in my life.

I always try to prepare for things, but if a question comes up that I haven’t prepared for, I just go blank and have nothing to say. I also feel like I don’t have opinions of my own because of this.

Whenever there is something I don’t know, I immediately start reading about it instead of trying to think through it myself first. Because of this, I also usually don’t have many questions when I’m learning a new topic.

How do I learn to think for myself?

I'm a postdoc in physics, and I've been thinking a lot about why the pipeline loses so many people who are good at research. Not because they weren't productive enough, but because the system assumes one kind of person at every stage: someone young, unattached, willing to move anywhere, subsidized by sources the system prefers not to name. Everything else is your problem.

There's a study from 1950 that captures this perfectly. The Air Force measured 4,063 pilots across 10 body dimensions to design the ideal cockpit. The number who were "average" on all ten was zero. The more dimensions you measure, the less likely anyone is to be average on all of them at once. The center is empty.

The academic pipeline works the same way. Publications, h-index, grants: those are the dimensions the cockpit was built for. Whether you have a partner whose career exists, a family, a need for stability? Outside the spec.

The Air Force fixed this in the 1950s by making the seats adjustable. Academia is still building fixed cockpits. I wrote a longer version of this connecting the cockpit study to the two-body problem, supervisor power dynamics, and the "leaky pipeline": https://ergosphere.blog/posts/the-loneliest-point/

Anyone else feel like they're sitting in someone else's cockpit?

I guess the point of this post is to help me organize my thoughts but hopefully, (maybe) my ruminations on my experience can help someone else.

I am 5 years into a PhD in a biology related field in the US. When I first got into my program, I was so happy. I was working hard, and although it was early on, by coming in on weekends and staying late I was able to generate some pretty interesting data. I guess the point of this is to say that I was excited and I cared about the work. When my PI asked me why I joined, i told him what i believed, that i thought our work could help improve food security.

Things shifted after the first year. I moved to a remote research station and started working on a related but different project. Then a family member fell and after a lot of trial and error, the cause of the fall was determined to be an ALS related disease called PLS.

I had always been a pretty good student and a diligent worker but that has completely changed. I miss deadlines, I can’t concentrate, my sleep schedule is fucked. I recognize that maybe this is indicative of mental health issues, but I’m not sure how it can be fixed. I think my problems stem from not being able to assist my family as I’m alone and about 20 hours driving from them.

I just feel lost. My advisors are rightfully upset with my declining performance, and when one asked on how I plan to change, I didn’t have an answer. The only change I think is actionable is to remove myself from the situation.

I feel lost right now. On one hand, I have just wasted 5 years of my life for a masters degree, that I don’t intend to use and this isn’t a great time to be out of a job. On the other, I no longer see any future in research for me. (This is a little jaded and I hope that this is just my experience) it’s not like PhD’s make a ton of money. And it’s not like the US treats its scientists with loads of respect.

So I think I am making the best decision for myself in leaving to go spend some time with family and be a bit more available to help.

If you’ve made it this far, any comments about opportunities for someone with a BS in plant science or general advice on how to proceed would be greatly appreciated.

TLDR: I’m leaving my PhD 5 years in to go be closer to family and be able to assist them. I am scared and feel lost, but I think this is the best decision for me.

I am in TX and am about to graduate in winter w an architecture bachelors. I am looking to go out of state and find some programs that consider the environment more closely than my undergraduate program did. I also want to find a state that I want to live in outside of grad school.
The problem is that my parents pay for grad school (not a problem I know haha) and they want me to find a plce in state bc of in state tuition. Has anyone been able to combat out of state tuition? Or is in-state my only option?

I have had a toxic PI since last year and it's definitely taking a toll on my mental health. In the last 6-7 months, I have constantly heard things like "People of my stature shouldn't even talk to someone like you", "you are so stupid and dumb, you don't understand anything", "you can get out/walk out of the group", "I will not give you good references". A lot of times I go to his office, he makes me feel like a complete loser who has zero abilities to do anything. I think he treats everyone in our group the same way. I have been told by a few students to not take his things personally but then how do you deal with this toxicity on a regular basis? I cannot wait to graduate and leave this group.

Did anyone else have a toxic and mean PI who impacted their mental health? And did it change after you left the group? I wanted to listen to some success stories. I am in the US and studying engineering.

Just got into a program that's in another part of the state I live in. My fiancé and I have decided to move. We are looking for a place that has a decent commute for me, and for her (for work). We found an apartment in the town she works in, but the commute for me would be a bit rough. I'd be going in twice a week in the evenings. By car it'd be anywhere from 45 min to 1.5 hrs there, and 45 min back. By public transportation it'd be around 1.5 hrs there, and 1 hr back. For context, we love the apartment. It's close to the public transportation (train), a grocery store, and some lovely conservation land.

I'd love to get some takes on what other people have been able to do. I get that my sanity is important. Thanks!

I'm curious to know what gpa did you graduate with your undergrad or more how were you able to be accepted into a program?

Were you able to get into because of who you know, know what you know?

If you had prior experiences do you think it helped with your application?

I ask because I'm a little worried that my GPA dropped due to one of my classes and although I'm taking a year off since I graduated undergrad I'm still determined to apply come this fall for the following cohort.

At the moment the only thing that's giving me hope that I will be able to get into a program is my internship with the district attorneys office (getting some experience). My supervisor said she's more than happy to write me a letter of recommendation but I plan on staying with them for next 6 months just so I can get my foot in the door for a county or government job.

I'm just worried and if I have to go back to retake this class, I think I might as bad as I don't want to.

Thanks in advance

Hello,

I need at least 100 more people to complete this survey to complete my dissertation.
Will only take 5-10 minutes.
Please help.

Thank you all!

https://grenoble.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV\_aX0V3onoPkUNTmK

A 1 year Master’s degree at my school costs:

$70K tuition
$1K in fees
$1200 books and supplies
$16K housing and food
$4K misc
so about $92K total.

However I get 25% off tuition since I am an undergraduate at my institution, meaning that tuition would be $52,500 instead of $70,000.

That would still be $74,500 for a year.

FAFSA loans only cover $20,500 a year at most.

How do people pay for a masters nowadays?

*edit: it is for a degree in humanities

First semester of grad school (international student), just wrapped my first collaborative paper. I was told an asterisk (*) after a name indicates co-first authorship. The final author order is:

•	Person A\*  
•	Person B\*  
•	Person C  
•	Person D  
•	Me\* (at the very bottom)  
•	Advisor

So three of us have the asterisk, but I’m listed last among the students, and it’s not alphabetical. The initial three of us did the bulk of the work, with two additional collaborators and our advisor.

Is this normal? Am I overreacting, or is it reasonable to ask about this on Overleaf? Could be something small I’m misreading, but I’m also wondering if it was intentional. Did they think I was useless?

Any experience with this?

I’m a grad student with a remaining tuition balance of about $15–16k. Loans aren’t an option, and with the federal loan limit changes coming in 2026, I’m trying to figure out alternatives now.

Where are grad students finding scholarships, grants, or other funding sources that actually pay out? Any databases, foundations, or programs you’d recommend?

Would appreciate any leads.

I studied Electrical Engineering as an undergraduate. Top 20 EE program in the country if it matters. Due to several factors (more detail below) I did not do as well as I would have wanted. I applied for grad school over a decade ago but never went.

As for why, there are several challenges, the biggest of which were, general lack of confidence, (unmedicated) ADHD, having a "people pleasing" attitude with relatives who were not encouraging (so I just accepted the criticisms and bashing), being a transfer student (no gen ed buffers), and poor academic advice in terms of course selection (at my school, you can't register until your faculty advisor signs you off, and my advisor routinely was delinquent resulting in classes filling up, etc). I also took classes out of order to "get out as fast as you can".

I always wanted to go to grad school. As luck would have it, I was accepted to a school but my paperwork was lost in the mail (I received it weeks later).

One of the criticisms my family has told me is "you wouldn't make it anyways", "people need to know their limitations", etc.

I did well in classes I enjoyed. I also did better in classes in areas I was interested in (not ones that my relatives said I should take even if I am uninterested).

I am over a decade out of school, and know I can't manage graduate school while working full time. While I do know people who have left work for grad school, I am not one of them (kids to feed).

However - I always wonder - is grad school harder than undergrad? Or is it just different? I wonder if I would have done better had I taken classes (or even a concentration) that I was more interested in.

I graduated undergrad in 2023 with a degree adjacent to biological sciences. I had applied for PhD programs my senior year, but didn’t get in anywhere so I took a job in industry to get more research experience to beef my app.

Even though I was ultimately interested in pursuing bench/wet lab work, I took a research assistant position at a think-tank because it paid substantially better (I’m talking roughly 15k+ more annually than any lab tech position).

Now nearly 3 years later after applying again, I’m 2 months into a new bench lab tech position at the same University that accepted me into their PhD program this fall. I’m so grateful, however the problem is so far in my new position I’ve noticed I don’t just feel rusty after being out of academia for 3 years, I feel utterly incompetent. It’s like somehow I’ve forgotten all my undergrad curriculum and critical thinking skills since spending the past 3 years in a job I didn’t enjoy.

I’m extremely worried for when classes start in the fall. I also feel like something’s wrong with me that in 3 years I’ve lost all I learned. For those who were forced to take a significant gap in between undergrad and graduate school, did you feel this? If so, how did you cope?

I’m worried even though I’m now “better on paper” in terms of experience to get into a PhD program, I’m actually less qualified than before given I can’t remember stuff from basic intro courses. Any thoughts/advice would be appreciated.

I deliberate on specific aspects of my project for days at a time, and I probably exhaust my PI and waste their time by asking minute questions and getting stuck on the small details. I can’t help but to obsess over everything because…what if I’m wrong? It’s difficult to handle the uncertainty and anxiety over making the wrong decision. For example, what if I’m wrong in my statistical approach, and I report fraudulent results, and I misinform people? It’s something I struggle with in all aspects of my life, and it can be debilitating.

I need help in how to make improvements because this is time and labor costly. I also am aware it makes me a bad scientist. If you had a grad student like this, would you also doubt their abilities, or their aptitude for the research world? I’m really struggling 😞.

I am pursuing my masters this year in the area of digital transformation, AI both from a technical and leadership perspective and this course, though one of the least technical ones stood out- especially as I aim to do my PhD afterward.
However, apart from the rankings and Russel group info- I don’t hear/see much more about this university.
I am from the Caribbean and will be remote, can anyone advise on the reputation of the university and if it’s recommended? Any pros/cons I should be aware of before accepting their offer?

I've a PhD student in my department whose first language isn't English and who did his undergrad in another language and field altogether. So his writing skills are....kind of not there. I edited his abstract for a conference and it took nearly half a day (so many questions "do you mean X or do you mean Y" "A means B, is that what you wanted to say?"). The poster wasn't so bad as it was mostly bullet points. Now he's working on a full paper and I really don't have time to babysit him through it. Can I just tell him to find an editor to do it? I was thinking of Editage because they work a lot with non-native speakers or Wordvice.

PS: Don't suggest Grammarly or any AI tool. He uses it already for his IMs and sometimes he sounds just weird when it's a technical topic because he just clicks on whatever the tool suggests.