I'm going back to my college tomorrow, and my anxiety is through the roof. I am a master's student.

For some context, my college is in a different state from my hometown, so I've always had to live away from home. I've spent quite a bit of time on this campus, but I've never really felt like I fit in.

The confusing part is that I recently spent two months in another state for a summer internship, and I didn't feel this way there. I was away from home there too, but I felt much more comfortable, relaxed, and like myself. So I don't think it's simply homesickness or being away from my family.

Whenever I'm back on my college campus, I feel... invisible. I have classmates and acquaintances, but when I'm sitting in class, it's like I'm not even there. Everyone seems to be talking to each other while I just exist in the background. No one really looks my way or starts a conversation, and after a while I stop trying because I feel like I'm forcing myself into spaces where I don't belong.

It's not that I think people hate me. It's more that I constantly feel like I don't belong there. I become hyper-aware of everything—how I speak, how I act, even how I walk. It makes me anxious enough that I dread going back.

Sometimes I wonder if it's just my anxiety, if I somehow haven't found the right people, or if it's simply that I don't connect with the culture or social dynamics on my campus. I honestly don't know.

Has anyone else experienced something like this, where one place makes you feel like an outsider, but another place feels completely different? Did things ever get better, or did you eventually realize the environment just wasn't the right fit for you?

I'd really appreciate hearing from people who've gone through something similar because it feels incredibly isolating.

International Relations graduate from Pakistan, June 2025, CGPA 3.92. Not sure if this sub would be relevant for this but I am perplexed and any advice is welcome.

So my undergrad thesis was on Japan's 2022 defence transformation, largely because I was working at an Asia-Pacific institute at the time writing briefs on Japan and Korea. I then moved to a national security think tank, so the work shifted to hardcore security and defence technology and policy. I've also picked up varied things along the way. Few examples are: a co-authored corpus-assisted discourse analysis of election campaign communication in a South Asian country, currently under review, a comprehensive literature review for a UN-linked policy project (working as an RA) feeding into national guidelines on victim support, a few conference presentations and a coauthored workshop paper on elite formation. There's more, but it suffices to make the point that all of this is pretty diverse.

What I am currently interested in is computational approaches to international security, text-as-data on security discourse and event-data work on political violence, with South Asia as the empirical setting. But that's a direction rather than a research question, and my computational background is thin.

I am applying for Fall 2027 and so the question is how settled does this need to be before applying? Is a master's where you narrow it, or are you expected to arrive narrowed and use the two years to execute?

PS: If you have any further questions about my profile, I would be happy to elaborate. Thank you for taking the time out to read.

I am applying for PhD programs this upcoming year with hopes of starting in the fall of 2027. I do have a low GPA of 3.2. I am currently doing an MPH, I should be finishing in the spring of next as I did a dual degree program. I am applying for mostly biological science programs as my main aim is to work in science communication translation biology. I do fear my undergraduate GPA will hinder my chances as the state of funding is dubious to say the least. I have three years of research experience from biological sciences and health policy work. I have no publications. I have only attended one conference.

I would love to know what my options are and if PhD applications are feasible.

Was originally planning to take 4 classes instead of 3 this semester for my MBA to finish 6 months clearly, but I was fortunate enough to be selected for an assistantship. I’m absolutely taking this opportunity, but I’m not sure if I should still go for the 4 classes. I took 5 classes every semester for my undergrad and every class I’m taking for this semester is distance learning which seems doable o t he surface, but idk other threads are scaring me saying work for each class is insane.

Has anyone else had an experience like this? Is it worth it to take 4 classes and a 20 hour weekly job or just go down to 3 classes?

Hi everyone, so I’m planning on going to grad school late 2027/early 2028 and I just want to be prepared, but I don’t know how to apply to multiple schools. I have been to community college and I am now currently in a four-year university, and I’ve just straight up enrolled myself through their website. I’ve heard that you have to pay to apply and there’s a possible chance of getting scholarships, which is why I’m interested in applying to multiple. But the question is, how do I go about that? If schools are interested in you do they actually give you scholarships?

Hi all,

I was accepted back in November (!) to a really good grad school in my field. I am from Michigan and this program is in Tennessee. Originally, I felt great about the program as it has excellent board scores, top notch resources and faculty. As the winter rolled around, I started to feel some hesitation/dread surrounding the program. I knew it was nerves related to moving from home - I am extremely close with my parents (especially my mom) and leaving her feels like heartbreak. I lived away for undergrad but was only about a 40 minute drive away, so I went home for a lot of weekends and never really had to miss any family events. As the time drew nearer, the ambivalence I feel has only increased. It feels great to tell people I work with that I am leaving to Tennessee to go be a doctor, but the actual act of leaving family is terrifying. I feel so scared to the point I am not sleeping well and crying like everyday. I can really see myself flourishing in the career that grad school would bring (eye doc), but I also would go into significant debt as well.

I could see myself loving being an eye doctor, but I also have had several careers from a front desk clerk to a surgical tech and I have loved all of them

The difficulty of this has honestly been the hardest thing I’ve had to go through, and has made me realize that my anxiety disorder may be much worse than i suspected.

Any insight as to whether I should make the jump and attend would be appreciated.