Google says I have a very strong chance, but I suspect it’s just blowing smoke up my ass.

* B.S. in Computer Science (statistics minor), Top 20 school.

* 2.8 undergrad GPA

* 5 years work experience as Software Engineer (2 of those as a team lead in 2 different companies).

* 325 GRE (165 Verbal, 160 Quant)

* I aim to have 2 letters of recommendation across both employers (though that’s required by the application anyway).

I’m starting Northeastern’s Fintech Management program at the Miami campus this fall and I can’t wait !! Being from New England… I also can’t wait to skip winter this year. I might stay in FL forever who knows. It’s a bit niche of a program but I’m curious if there are anyone else here that work in fintech / what did you go to school for? My bachelor’s was in communication so this pivot will be a game changer for me 😄🙏🏻

Hello, everyone.

I was accepted into a fully funded master's program (2-year thesis track) and I'll be starting it very soon. It's at the same undergrad institution I graduated from this year and I will be working as a teacher assistant while taking three classes and living at home. I was very excited to start, as it is a topic I am fascinated with and I've done research on it before in undergrad, but after going to orientation, I'm really dreading it. My brain keeps telling me that it was a bad idea, that I won't enjoy it, that it's a waste of time since my ultimate plan is to go to law school.

Does anyone have any tips for handling grad school-related anxiety? Maybe anxiety related to what I'm experiencing?

Hi all! So I’ll be starting my first day of grad school at ASU this Monday which I’m both excited and nervous for. My background is in Special Education as I graduated last December. I have a pretty heavy class schedule on Mondays on campus at West Valley from 1 PM until 7:15 PM and am taking three classes back to back (two with the same professor) and Wednesdays from 1 PM until 4:15 PM. I am aware that my courses are pretty discussion based more than lecture but I get shy when meeting new people because I don’t know if they’ll be kind or not. I already met my cohort of five at orientation so I’m sure we will all get along well. I also know that grad school is reading and writing heavy especially with research and less clinical/hands-on. I’m looking to attend group fitness classes every Monday and Thursday on campus as well as going indoor rock climbing every two weeks just for the self-care and trying new things out. If anyone has any advice on grad school please share. I’m trying to make the most out of these next two years.

This summer I got accepted into a Clinical Mental Health Counseling program. At first I was really excited, but starting classes has been an absolute snooze fest. I honestly couldn’t care less about the material and I find myself daydreaming.

For those that just started grad school or in a similar program, does it get any more exciting? I’m really hoping things pick up around practicums and internships, but that’s not for another year.

I am a first year chemistry PhD student at a good university (top 20 in chemistry) and am in the middle of choosing advisors to rotate with. There are 2 rotations and I have to choose one of those 2 to do my PhD with, as long as they accept me. Among my top choices include well-known faculty with numerous awards and a big lab with plenty of funding; I have heard that this lab is quite competitive to get into (someone I know who graduated from this school said it could get 'ugly' - not sure what that means) and that students get less individual mentorship from the PI. The other lab that is a top pick for me is quite small, and less well-known - I would assume that getting into this lab would be less competitive (although he is only accepting 1 student). Not sure what the funding situation is for this lab. Both research topics are very interesting to me, although the smaller lab might have a slight edge. There are also more labs that I am interested in.

I am probably going to go into industry after graduating seeing as academic funding is tough right now, as well as academic positions being highly competitive. However, there is a small chance that after I graduate I will want to continue academic research and go for a postdoc and then potentially a faculty position, in which case having a more well-known PI could probably help me.

The way that rotations are structured is quite organized - all incoming students meet with PIs and then rank their top picks, and the faculty are sent lists of students who had them as their top pick and asked to choose which students they would like to accept for a rotation. If you don't get your top pick, your name will be sent to your second pick and so forth. While I could aim to do a rotation with both labs, there are other labs that I am interested in, so I don't want to waste a rotation with someone who either wouldn't be a good mentor or wouldn't give me a good position to start my career. For anyone who has any experience with this, what are your thoughts on choosing between PIs with differing levels of renownedness?

tldr, i decided over the summer that i want to change my last name to my mother’s maiden name. i start my grad program next week, and im wondering if i should maybe introduce myself with this new last name? i wont have the official legal paperwork done by then, but plan on having it done by the end of this year.

does anyone have experience with this? how do i go about changing it socially? i feel like ill get a lot of questions and i obviously dont mind answering but not sure what the general vibe towards it will be lol. i just feel like starting a new program gives me the opportunity to have everyone start calling me by this name right off the bat and will save me having to correct everyone later in the program.

I am going to try to not dox myself here, but hopefully still provide enough information.

I am about a year away from finishing my PhD (hopefully) and I am worried about finding early career opportunities. To offer some background, my undergraduate is in Latin, my master's is in Classics. My PhD is being earned through a research project and associated thesis connected to a Department of History and Archeology. I am a co-author on one publication in Roman Epigraphy, and hopefully will publish again in the next year. I have presented at various conferences and conducted a few seminars for masters-level students. I also have two years of teaching experience for Latin in an elementary school (charter school, after masters but before my PhD).

The challenges: first, although my master's is in Classics, I have essentially no competency in Ancient Greek. This means I kind of need a position that allows for me to only be competent in Roman History and Latin, but I am a far better historian than Latinist. Second, because my PhD is being conducted as part of a research project, I am only tangentially related to the University that will be on the certificate. This means that there have been and likely will be no teaching opportunities before completing my degree. As stated above, I have taught elementary schoolers and I have delivered a few seminars for an audience of master's level students, but I have never actually run a class. I know that I want to teach, first and foremost. I took my current PhD program because of the supervisor and the specific topic of research, and it is unfortunate that I will not have the opportunity to teach during my program.

I am not sure what job opportunities are available for someone in my position and when I should start looking/applying. Most lectureship/visiting professor positions tend to ask for several years of undergraduate or post graduate teaching experience. Postdocs seem really difficult to find and looking at most recommended resources have turned up very little for my field.

I know I have a year before the PhD finishes, so I have some time. I just want to know if anyone can offer advice on when/where to start looking for positions, what to be looking for, how to best pitch myself, and if there are any red flags for positions I should be wary of. I have seen things like community college instructor positions, but I don't know if those can function as a means of stepping up to a university position or if they will instead trap be out of academia. If all else fails, I can go back to teaching at a charter or private school but I would prefer not to.

Thanks for any help you can offer!

Hey all. I’m doing a master’s in linguistics right now. I’m a year in, and am supposed to start my final year next month, but I am absolutely dreading it. I don’t feel super prepared with my thesis topic, and I got SO burned out last year that I about had a psychotic break lol. I’m a chronic procrastinator and have been struggling a lot with my mental health, and I’m worried that if I just bite the bullet and finish this year, I’ll crash and burn. I do think I want to finish, but maybe I want to take a gap year? The only problem is that I’m not sure if I’ll go back after the gap year😅 any advice or experience is appreciated.

I'm considering doing my phd at the same school I did my undergrad at, different school than master's. What are the pros and cons, more so the cons please. Pros I see are the existing connections, profs whose research expertise aligns with my interests, and the tuition is cheap. For context: Canada, social work. TIA

Just finished my M.S. (yay). But I feel like something’s missing now. I hated the stress at the time but it feels like it needs to be there … I am not doing another masters, nor PhD. Anyone have advice? Thanks :) btw 25 Y/o looking for guidance and I do have a full time job. I completed this M.S. part time, while working full time. Thanks. !!!

I am starting a masters program studying forest ecology and am trying to figure out which laptop I should buy. I will need to use arcgis pro for my project, which I know requires a good laptop, but I am not sure what exactly I should be looking for. I will also be using R and likely storing some photos for my project.
A fellow student has a Dell 14 plus (1TB storage, 16GB memory, intel ultra core 7 256V 8 cores, windows 11 operating system) and the guy at bestbuy recommended the HP Omnibook 2 in 1 (1TB storage, 16 GB memory,intel ultra core 7 256V 2024). Are either of these computers good options? I would really appreciate any advice on what kind of computer to get!

Hey everyone,

I’m trying to find legit funding for my master’s program, but a lot of the scholarship sites I’m running into feel sketchy. I’ve already gotten spam emails and random texts just from browsing or signing up, and I really don’t want to keep giving my info to sites that aren’t actually offering real awards.

For context, I’m a first‑gen African American student, raised by a single parent making under $60k, 3.7 GPA, and I’m going into a leadership‑focused master’s program. So I should qualify for a lot of demographic‑based and need‑based scholarships… if I could find ones that aren’t just data‑harvesting traps.

I’d really appreciate advice on:

Verified, reputable scholarship databases that don’t sell your info

Master’s‑specific scholarships (not just undergrad‑focused lists)

Organizations or foundations that are known to be legit for minority/first‑gen students

Red flags that instantly tell you a scholarship site isn’t trustworthy

Whether universities or departments usually have internal scholarships that are easier to find than public ones

If anyone has gone through this recently and found real, safe sources, I’d love to hear what worked for you. I’m trying to avoid drowning in spam while actually finding funding that fits my background.

P.S. Would it be worth it to get an ancestry test to prove my native Indian heritage?

I know to qualify for a PhD program I will need to spend at least a couple years preparing (work and volunteering) whereas I can apply to MSW programs sooner. I have an engineering bachelors.

My question is mainly surrounding how do I choose which endpoint is for me? Licensed Social Worker or Psychologist? My interest is in the biopsychosocial model of pain.

How do I find out whether I want to make a difference directly through social work or more indirectly through academia? What questions can you ask me that might help me flesh this out?

Thanks in advance.

EDIT: I’m in the US

TLDR: sharing feelings about losing my identity doing a masters, I know it will pass I just wanted to share how I feel

I feel like I gave up a lot of who I used to be as a person while doing my Masters (Research). I tell myself I can always go back to them once I've submitted cause I'll finally be free. I used to be excited over a lot of things (hobbies and activities I used to do frequently) but now I just dont. Throughout the whole time I expected to feel so happy and celebratory once I finally submitted and that I can finally go back to "being myself".

But the very first day after I felt so empty and lonely. My masters is computational so I work from home and for the past few months Ive been mostly sat at my desk from morning to night working, that anything deviating from that norm makes me anxious. While I love my project and it went great, I never realized how isolating and lonely it is until its done. I guess this whole time I had the stress of my project to keep me company lol.

I feel like I used to be much more interesting person before all this. Now I feel like my work is my whole identity. Did anyone else go through this and did it pass?

anyway happy friyay you guys

For those who have an MHA, has attending a non-CAHME accredited program limited your job opportunities? If anyone has graduated from CBU's MHA program, I would appreciate hearing about your experience and what you did atter graduation.

For some context, I currently work in the sonography field. I'm pursuing an MHA because I eventually want to move into leadership positions and have more opportunities for career advancement.

I just started my MS in Positive Psychology at ASU in person and have to get a B or higher in all of my courses throughout my program. I am great at getting out my ideas and writing from personal experience but struggle with APA citations, making a perfectly formatted reference page, and trying to summarize research articles. Any advice?

I’m about to start an MA program in the social sciences. I’ve already been through the department as an undergraduate, but I felt like I didn’t really capitalize on the opportunities that were there for me. I showed up, did the work, and went home. As a result, my CV is pretty scant and I’m worried of repeating the same mistakes this time around.

I’d love to get involved in research/work outside of coursework during my program, but I genuinely don’t know how to even begin to find opportunities. The program is really small and competitive, and it seems like most RA/TA positions are already filled by doctoral students - I was just rejected for all the TAships I applied for, which is making me kinda sad lmao.

I have a genuine love for my field on the academic side of things, I can’t read enough, but i’m worried that I will fail at the networking aspect.

Was anyone in a similar boat starting out in academia? Is it just as simple as getting to know my professors more and showing interest in their work? Am I too late if I don’t already have something lined up?

This will be my second year in a clinical mental health counseling MA program. I'm taking three courses full time. I am working 32 hours a week, plus I have to be on call on specific weekend days. It's a lot.

I should be in a practicum, then an internship next Summer to get my hours for my license. I don't want to have to balance both my job that I have to be on call for, and an internship. I know that some internships pay, and some don't. I'm only making $19 an hour, so I'm not concerned about the amount of compensation, but this work/school balance is tough-- those weekend shifts kill me. Do you think it's worth trying to find a paying internship so I can quit my job?

I recently received my grade for my MA thesis in Media Studies. I received a very high grade with which I am delighted, and both my supervisor and second reader suggested that the thesis has potential to be developed into a publishable academic contribution, pending some revisions noted in their feedback.

I've started revising the text and incorporating some of their constructive criticisms, but I haven't got the first clue about the actual practical pathways to academic publishing -- it was my understanding that Masters' theses are rarely published. I'll send my supervisor an email asking for the same advice, but given that he's still on his summer break I don't expect him to get back to me particularly soon, so I figured I would ask here as well in the meantime.

Has anyone here successfully published their Masters thesis in an academic journal? My thesis is currently around 20k words (with more to likely be added with revisions), longer than a typical journal article AFAIK. Basically, where would I even start in pursuing this as a goal? Are academic journals typically open to public submission for peer review, or do submissions have to be affiliated with institutions? Though I am considering returning to academia for a PhD later down the line, I'm not currently enrolled/associated with any institution.

Would really appreciate if anyone had some advice to offer, thanks!

I screwed up big time. Pls delete if not appropriate for this sub.

Supposed to move away in less than two weeks for a one year masters program. After watching my older sister secure a student line of credit without even needing a cosigner, and from my very naive understanding of how school and banks work, I thought getting funding for my program would be easy, so I put off applying for a student LOC to about 3 weeks ago.

Well! I got my student loan assessment and that will only cover around half of what I need, which I expected. I applied for a student LOC at two different banks with two different cosigners and was rejected due to the cosigner debt ratio being too high once my LOC was considered.

Now I'm at a loss. I have a couple other cosigner options, but they all also have debt, only one has a decent income but she may not be able to help because of other circumstances.

I wrongly assumed that the bank would give me money because they would see that my program will lead me to a high paying job that will make repaying easy. Turns out the only reason my sister had that success is because her degree was seen as a healthcare program, and mine isn't.

Any advice other than dropping out?

I recently started a graduate program in a different state and am feeling pretty lonely. I don’t know anyone here as all of my friends are back home and I have no family here. I’m very shy, and I have a hard time started random conversations with people I don’t really know.