r/GradSchoolAdvice

Basically I was accepted to my master’s program as a conditional student, long story short I did not pass. I could give the excuses of the things I was going through that caused me to fail but honestly it doesn’t even matter. I just don’t know what to do, that school was my dream and I ruined it. I loved my professors, I showed up to every class and was always part of class discussions. It’s not like I’m worried about not being able to find a job, I managed perfectly fine with my bachelors and I will again. I’m just so disappointed in myself and the people I’m going to let down. I might submit an appeal but idk. I feel like i’m the only one going through this right now, i feel like the biggest loser in the world, i feel horrible

Update: so apparently I ended with a 2.85 GPA rather than the 3.0 required to pass. My graduate coordinator just emailed me and told me she wanted to help write my appeal because she believes a 2.85 is pretty close to a 3.0 and it’s worth fighting for, I think I’m going to go ahead and appeal

I’m graduating soon with a Mechanical Engineering Technology degree and I’m trying to figure out the smartest next move for my career.

My long-term goal is to either go into mechanical/aerospace engineering roles and eventually pursue licensure and higher-level opportunities. I’m interested in both grad school (MS in Mechanical or Aerospace Engineering) and taking the FE Mechanical exam.

Would you guys recommend:

1. Taking the FE exam first, then applying to grad school
2. Going straight into grad school and taking the FE later
3. Doing both around the same time

For context:
- GPA around 3.4
- Recently graduated / graduating
- Strong interest in aerospace/mechanical field
- Not currently working, so I have time to study
- I’m better with projects/concepts than timed exams honestly

I’d really appreciate advice from people who already went through this path or work in the industry. Which route helped you the most career-wise?

I know a balanced perspective is important, but it seems like every time I see something positive about a PhD, it's immediately followed by a "but" and a list of ten negatives - making the perspective overwhelmingly negative.

Today I’m feeling pretty overwhelmed and discouraged with the application preparation, so I’d really appreciate hearing the good (and only the good) about a PhD. I'm looking for a positive thread to bookmark for when things feel tough.

If you’re currently doing a PhD or have already finished one - especially in STEM/biology - can you share ONLY the good parts?

*What made the process meaningful, exciting, fulfilling, or worth it?*

and

*What changed in your life after graduating?* Thank you

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Hello,

I’m a rising senior at a small liberal arts college majoring in biochemistry. I came in undecided about whether I wanted to pursue the PhD or MD route, and it appears I’m leaving that way too!

I had a research internship at my college last summer, and I had so much fun working in the lab. I loved designing experiments and pursuing my own curiosities, despite the monotonies and “hiccups” that come with research projects. I’m passionate about problem-solving and applying techniques developed in molecular biology and biochemistry to further investigate living systems. I’ve also enjoyed my coursework in biochemistry, molecular biology, genetics, and orgo (well, just Orgo I though). I’m going to pursue a senior thesis in the same lab and will likely take a gap year or two devoted to research.

However, I’m not sure to what extent I enjoy research itself versus this particular lab environment. The people in this lab have been very sweet and collaborative, especially compared to the pre-med community at my school. I took an EMT course during our J-term and absolutely despised the competitive nature of the course, as well as the fast-paced, hands-on nature of the work. I passed the psychomotor exam but was ambivalent about taking the NREMT for years. I finally took it and failed—oops. I didn’t enjoy learning about much besides pharmacology, and even that felt fairly superficial. I also took an animal physiology course at school but ended up taking it pass/fail because I couldn’t motivate myself to study. I’m much more interested in molecular mechanisms of disease than in anatomy.

That said, I love taking care of people, and I think direct patient interaction could be an invaluable aspect of my career. My dad is in remission now, but he previously had stage III Non-Hodgkin lymphoma, so he frequently saw his hematologist-oncologist. I found it fascinating that he improved through a clinical trial involving a new immunotherapy, and it made me think about how cool it would be to work in translational medicine. I’ve also spoken with a pediatric hematologist-oncologist, and I could picture myself in her shoes: applying principles of basic science to help kids feel better. I also love working with kids, so I think I could enjoy her job despite the immense hardships.

If I worked in medicine, I think I’d want to pursue academic medicine because of the protected research time. I spent time shadowing a family medicine physician and an endocrinologist in community practice, and I was honestly pretty bored (sorry). However, I’m not sure whether pursuing an MD is worth it if I’d ultimately want to devote most of my time to researching or developing novel therapies, especially given the time and money required to obtain the degree. At the same time, I worry about waking up one day and realizing I made the wrong decision by pursuing a PhD—that I sacrificed the clinical aspect of my career and lost the ability to directly treat patients.

What attracts me to the MD is the breadth of options: you can do research as an MD, but you can’t treat patients with only a PhD. There’s also the job security. That said, I think a PhD aligns more closely with my values of autonomy and creativity. I also hate waking up early (before 9 a.m.), and I think the residency lifestyle and long hours in medicine might wreck me. If I pursued the PhD route, I’d be interested in roles in biotech or pharma. I also think teaching is fun—I enjoyed my years TAing and tutoring—but the competitive nature of academia scares me.

I care a lot about maintaining a happy, healthy lifestyle where I have time to travel, hike, read recreationally, and raise a family, so I’m wondering whether the PhD route might be more conducive to that than the MD route.

Apologies for the long-ass post, but I’d love to hear from anyone who faced a similar dilemma and how they ultimately decided what path to pursue. MD-PhD could potentially be an option, but spending so many additional years in school doesn’t sound especially appealing, particularly if most MD-PhDs end up primarily using one degree more than the other.

What questions should I be asking myself?
What should my next steps be?
Is it normal not to know what I want?
What is the lifestyle like in biotech/pharma?
Any career regrets?

Thank you :)

Hello all,

I am currently a Macquarie University student studying a double degree in Electronics Engineering and Applied Physics. I am interested in applying for a master’s program at Imperial College London after I graduate, but I had a question regarding academic transcripts and previous study.

Before starting my current degree, I was enrolled in another degree program where my academic performance was not as strong. In my current degree, however, I am performing very well. I wanted to ask whether my previous degree would appear on my transcript or be considered when applying for postgraduate study. If so, would it negatively affect my application, even if my current academic performance is strong?

Additionally, if I were to transfer to another university and complete my degree there, would my previous academic record still appear on the transcript for my new degree, or would only the units completed at the new university be shown?

Thank you for your time and assistance.

Hello! I am soon to attend graduate school to get my PhD in Physics. I had a successful graduate school application cycle and want to pass on the knowledge I gained through the process. I culminated all of my advice into a GitHub website, linked below.

Check it out, and maybe pass it on to people who might benefit! Additionally, there is a feedback form at the bottom of the page for any changes or additions you might suggest. I want this guide to be as thorough as possible.

https://white3792.github.io/rachels-complete-guide-to-graduate-school-applications/

I am graduating with a degree in astrophysics and recently received a Physics PhD offer, though the astronomy groups are not taking any more students so I would be doing something completely unrelated. The research sounds interesting but I am not sure that I will enjoy it, since it is a very new area to me, though I am open to trying it out. However, I am worried that after a year I will decide that I don't like it, and will have committed myself to many years in a research group I am not passionate about.

I don't want to wait for the next admission cycle and risk losing the offer because I am an international student and am worried I will not be able to come back to the US if I decline this opportunity, and don't want another year of uncertainty.

I would appreciate any advice.

It’s called Zotero.

Barely anyone seems to know about it and more people should because it genuinely carried me through undergrad, publishing research, and now grad school. It’s the best tool I’ve ever used.

I was introduced to Zotero by my PI during undergrad to help me write APA papers for school and papers for my research.

Eventually I ended up using it while I was working on my (now) published manuscript during undergrad and it lifted off so much stress because everything was already organized and easy to access.

It’s basically a free research and citation tool plus browser extension that lets you save journal articles, books, PDFs, websites, and sources directly from your browser into organized folders for different classes, projects, and papers.

And when I say free I mean actually free. No weird hidden fees. (Edit: they give you a certain amount of storage that’s free but over that is $20 a year. The storage seems pretty big since I personally haven’t run out myself!)

What makes it so much better than a lot of other citation generators or extensions is that it is not just a quick citation website. It actually helps you organize your entire academic life long term.

You can save sources directly from databases and websites in one click, organize all your research into folders, store and annotate PDFs, automatically generate citations and bibliographies, insert citations directly into Word or Google Docs while writing, and instantly switch citation styles. It does all the hard work for you.

I still use it constantly now in grad school and it has genuinely saved me an embarrassing amount of time and stress.

I hope someone finds this tool helpful as well! I wanted to share because I genuinely do not think tools like this should be gate kept, especially when so many students are already overwhelmed and struggling through papers and research.

Knowledge should always be shared!

Yay, I got an admit from NEU for MSIS program for fall ‘26. Looking forward to connect with fellow students coming in this year.

I am choosing between two schools. One uses 8‑week terms and the other uses standard 14–16‑week semesters. I work full time and have a family, so I plan to take only one course at a time during my first few semesters. On average, how many hours per week should I expect for a single course in a normal semester versus an 8‑week semester, especially for communication, HR, and organizational leadership courses?

Hey all very new to this subreddit…Quick background. I come from a pretty standard conservatory musician lifestyle, but moved to SF to understand how tech interfaces with music. As a result I’ve also found an affinity of music copyright, content recognition, and metadata- now working in a music tech startup up as low level legal admin role. Working with technical people such as the data, software, and ML eng gave me an insight a world that i did not know about…Music information retrieval and fell in love with the concepts - and it all ties to my niche realm of humanities, musician ship and copyright law- especially with rise of AI.

That said last year I was fortunate enough to get into Georgia Institute of Technology (MS Music Technology) and NYU (MM Music Technology) with a plan to be in research groups relating to music cognition perception, audio content analysis/Music Info Reterival, and finally for my own personal practice creative technology sectors interfacing with music- say sound design, application design, systems designs. I had to let go of NYU..they were stubborn. But Ga tech allowed me to defer due to cost…and agreed to let me attend part time if i could find a full time remote or atl based role. now a year later my situation hasn’t gotten better- My job is REFUSING to let me move to Atlanta (im hybrid…even though my whole team is nYC) and no luck finding additional roles. I still can’t afford to go..which is heart breaking. Being SF i see the changes happening in all sectors and now I feel stuck..im giving myself a month to decide- do i take out loans or just let the opportunity go and see what else can be done…

Im reaching out to see if you all have any insight on what to do next if you were in my position? Are there alternative education route..should i just give up? TBH For the roles I want i don’t see any other alternative way to break into to the realm of real technical music technology that changes the world- think Dolby, apple, some streaming services that utilize music in everyday life…even med tech. They all seem to require advanced degrees…and very specific technical knowledge or at least to be able to speak the language…

Oh also I have undergrad loans..a lot..my family is/was not wealthy. Some people said maybe consider Europe..but is that any better? Particularly for my niche field.

Thanks all getting pretty desperate and sad here..i work incredibly hard to essentially pivot (albeit i have an advantage of the conservatory music background)

I have one F which is mentioned but credit is not counted which I later passed and credit score is assigned in next semester in mphil

I have 3.5 in MPhil and 3.9 BS. What are t

Everyone told me grad school would be hard. Nobody told me specifically why the writing would feel so different from anything I'd done before.

It's not that the sentences are harder to write. It's the scale. A seminar paper is one thing. A thesis chapter is something else entirely. You have months of reading behind you, a complex argument to make, a committee with different expectations, and somehow you have to sit down and produce coherent prose from all of it on a regular basis.

What broke down for me early on was the gap between my research and my actual writing. My notes were in one place, my annotated sources somewhere else, my argument outline in a doc I'd written and half-forgotten, and the draft itself in a completely separate file. Every writing session started with thirty minutes of archaeology before I wrote a single sentence. By the time I was oriented enough to actually work, the energy was already partially gone.

The shift that helped most was collapsing that gap. I stopped treating research and writing as separate phases that happened in separate places and switched to a Skrib writing studio where everything notes, sources, structure, and draft lives in one workspace.. The difference in how I move from a pile of sources to an actual written argument has been significant. Sessions that used to start with thirty minutes of re-orientation now just start with writing.

The other thing that helped was accepting that first drafts of academic writing are supposed to be bad. The goal of a first draft is not good writing. It's having something to revise. That sounds obvious but it took me an embarrassingly long time to actually believe it.

What do you wish someone had told you before you started writing seriously in grad school?

I recently got in touch with a supervisor, as I was unable to arrange for an informal chat to discuss suitability, as the submission button seemed to not be working. He said that they were inundated with requests and would not hold any further appointments. I replied back to him and thought I would try and ask about things (lab skills, experience etc.) he'd like to see in potential students, to which he had replied back to me.

I am unsure about the level of communication that I should have with him, given that he's probably busy and what not however, I am a little concerned about the requirement for the level of communication required to be had between students and potential supervisors, to be able to apply for and be considered for this position, as stated in the programme description.

Should I continue to email him and see what develops from there, or should I leave him alone? All other supervisors for previous projects were free for chats and as such I have never been in this predicament before. If anyone has any advice, it would be greatly appreciated

EDIT: Corrected the last paragraph for clarity. Apologies :)

Basically the title. I just left a meeting with a very nice professor. He explained the project to me and I thought it was amazing, I was really excited, but when I opened my mouth to answer, practically nothing came out and what came out was 'very interesting but... yeah!'. I feel ridiculous and terrible. I realize that I get into a looping of thoughts and start focusing on what to answer while the professor is still talking. I don't know how to solve it, and I accept tips.

p.s.: English isn't my first language (and I already do therapy!)

Hello everyone! I am a software engineer with almost 2+ years of experience. To give you a background -
I completed my masters in software engineering in 2020. During my study, I did my thesis and published 5 research papers in well known international journals/education societies (this is not something every masters student does. Mostly phd students do research and publications). After that, I transitioned to corporate jobs until 2023. I worked for great companies like Cerner and Disney. Starting 2024, I took a career break to look after my babies. Now I am ready and want to get back. But this time, I am thinking about transitioning to academia. I do not hold a phd degree yet but want to work as a lecturer or assistant prof at a university or community college. I was always passionate about teaching and research. I always envisioned myself as a professor and always wanted to go that route. Considering how the job market is, I am a little skeptical.

How’s the job market coming to academia?
Is it easier to get hired or just like the tech jobs (apply, apply and no reply)?
What should be my starting point if I want to get started?

I know that I do need phd for becoming a professor but that I am thinking that would only be after a couple of years.

Please read the post, as the situation is a difficult one.

I have been working with my PI's research group for 3 years now. I am kind of the "do it all" in it - I schedule meetings, I take notes, I set up the software for others etc.

I have been doing an internship in another institution to learn a specific technique that is related to my group's field of work, but it is not my advisor's expertise - in fact, the reason for me to be here is to bring back the knowledge to the group.

On one of the meetings, people had questions about the methodology I am learning here. My PI didn't know, so I volunteered to explain.

Later that my PI told me that I was disrespectful for explaining that, that the research group was hers, that she was the teacher and I was the student and that I should know my place otherwise I would regret it (I.e. she would hurt my career).

The problem is, she always made me feel welcome before, and as a scientist I believe in sharing knowledge and discussing things. I have extreme low self esteem and I used to kiss the floor she walked on, so I can assure you I was nothing but polite. This interaction with her was so out of nowhere that I must confess it broke me. I don't feel the same passion to do research with them as before. I don't know how to cope.

What should I do? What do you recommend?

so i’m in going into my 4th year and plan to try and apply for a masters program in MEd psyc. i realized we needed 3 letters of reference however i never had the guts to go talk to profs or build a connection with them or get into a research lab yet so i feel like im so screwed (ik it’s my fault for not getting the courage to talk to these profs). i currently would only be able to get 2 references, 1 from my part time job at a restaurant and 1 at my current child psychology internship (which would be my saving grace) but i don’t think 2 of the 3 references being a professional working experience is good enough since they’d prefer 2 academic ones.

Does anyone have any advice on what I could possibly do in this case? I’m still gonna try rlly hard to get into some research labs for the fall and pray even after just a month or 2 of being a lab helper the supervisor is nice enough to write a letter since deadlines are Dec 1. But this is only even if i get in a lab… I’m also taking 1 psyc online course for summer but its all asynchronous and i don’t think there’s even office hours so I’m wondering how I can build a strong enough connection to earn and ask a reference letter from that course. am i screwed or can someone give me some advice on what i should do next😭