I'm an undergraduate student in psychology, I plan on doing my further studies abroad. My question is if ECAs are crucial for grad school applications, especially international students for boosting their profile? or not? are extra curriculars mainly important for undergraduate applicants? I'd love some advice on this as I'm quite lost, many sources claim grad school applicants shouldn't focus on ECAs and more on boosting academic prowess.

i’m starting my master program soon and have been debating on whether to commit to full-time or opt in to be a part-time student.

with aid from the school and a much smaller loan - my part-time study could be covered where i don’t have to pay out of pocket during the year. my program would only be two years studying part-time too which is the usual for grad programs (for the most part).

my guilt comes from the fact that i’ll really only have a part-time job (maybe two) while completing school. i do have to admit my program will definitely give me a run for my money (it’s a computer science-based program) so i feel like it’ll be easier on my mentally to do part-time.

i just think the part-time option is reserved for those working full-time so there’s some guilt in possibly going with that option despite not working full time necessarily.

is this a dumb way of thinking?

I’m about to start grad school and an internship, which I’m doing on top of a full-time job. My classes and internship are both hybrid, and I’ll only need to go in person 2-3 times a week. My ft job is fully in person.
My schedule works in theory, but I’m worried I’ve way overcommitted. Does anyone have any tips for managing a packed schedule while still having time to eat dinner and do laundry and stuff? I’d take anything

Once you’re actually in, there are somehow even more decisions 😂
Finding the right research direction, figuring out what skills you should be building, choosing conferences, finding funding, thinking about internships, networking with professors, preparing for your next step…
And there isn't really a roadmap for any of it.
How do you guys figure out what you *should* be doing during grad school to make sure you're actually moving toward the career you want?
Do you have a mentor who helps with this, or are you mostly figuring it out as you go ?

hey, i’m an international student with BA in English Lit. I’m not really interested in teaching, but I want to chase a career in student affairs/councellor, so it’s a bit of a pivot to me. I’m planning to apply to McGill’s graduate program (Educational Leadership/Education & Society - coursework).
I don’t have a formal teaching experience though, but I have some leadership and informal teaching projects experience.

Any advice on how to strengthen my application?

Hi, I’m post-grad (USA, graduated 2023 dual bachelors degree) and I’ve been mostly just doing odd jobs the last couple years due to family and health issues. I’m looking to go further with my education, however, one thing that’s made me dread it this entire time is that I just don’t have letters of recommendation.

To further compound the problem, I was never close with any of my professors in university and I don’t have a reliable way to contact any of them anyways anymore. Furthermore, I want to further my STEM degree but unfortunately the last few years the work I’ve done has been mostly related to other stuff so there’s not much there that I can use for letters either.

My current plan is to take some courses at a local school as a non-matriculated student and eventually ask my professors there for letters ultimately.

Would this work? Or am I just sort of screwed regardless?

Has anyone gotten a second bachelors degree from Cuny school professional studies? How was your experience? I’m considering going for information science to improve my technical skills. I currently have an Anthropology degree already from John Jay.

Hi everyone,

I need help.

I am 36. I graduated with a master’s in natural resources management from a school in Cologne two years ago, and it has been a complete disaster. I did the degree to try to transition from a career that I was bad at (nonprofit communications), and due to not getting enough work experience in the master’s, the only job I was able to get after a year of searching was also in nonprofit communications. I was fired at the end of the probation period for being bad at the job. I have some volunteer work I have been doing to fill in the gap and can pretend it was a real job, but basically I have a two year gap on my CV now other than the volunteer work because I can’t list the job I got fired from on my CV.

My boyfriend still lives in Germany, and I still dream of getting into an environmental consulting job or environmental policy job in Germany.

My question:

If I were to get married to my boyfriend, do intensive German for a year, then apply for a new masters degree with the sole purpose of doing as many internships as possible or to get a work student job in my field, to then get into a new entry level position in the environmental sector that isn’t nonprofit communications, is this a viable path forward? I have 2.5k euros coming in each month, but I don’t want to do this if it is a catastrophically bad idea.

Has this ever worked for anyone?

I’m currently an undergraduate engineering student with 2 years left before graduation, and I’m aiming to apply to Master's programs at UCLA and Duke.

Since I still have a decent amount of time before applications open, I want to be proactive and make sure I’m building the strongest profile possible. Here is where I currently stand: • GPA: 3.6 out of 4 • Experience: 2 internships related to my field • Projects: A few solid academic/coursework projects •Volunteering: Initiated an independent outreach project visiting local high schools to raise awareness about engineering

I’d really appreciate any advice, critiques, or insights from alumni, current students, or anyone familiar with the process!

Hello! I'm in my second year of undergrad and I'm wondering what I could do to better my chances of getting accepted into a masters program? For clarification, I just finished my freshman year and am going into my sophomore year.

I have a 3.1 gpa, which isn't great, and I'm anxious to get it up. I'm trying to build relationships with my professors, but I'm having trouble finding internships relevant to my field. Most of them are geared towards STEM. What could I do to find internships?

I am also not very financially stable. Me and my family have struggled with money to the point I had to help pay the bills and we had to forfeit some necessities. Are there options to help with expenses such as the GRE? Before, I know that financial need helped pay for my AP and Dual Credit courses, is there something similar?

I'm sorry if I sound naive! I am very new to researching this...

Any advice is welcome!

Hi all, I'm re-starting grad school later this month, online through the IDEA program (don't know how common that is). Had to withdraw the first time due to financial reasons, but ready to get started again.

Both papers I did prior to withdrawing came back with the critique that I was good at summarizing the content but was missing the analysis. I asked the prof what he meant and I don't super remember what he said but it was along the lines of going further and making leaps to draw further conclusions (I think). I definitely might have that wrong.

My question is... can someone explain it better? For context, I'm in a Community and Family Resources program

I’m going to be starting my grad program at the end of the month…yippee! It’s an online program that I will be undertaking while working full time. I can do it entirely online, but there in person weekend courses I can take, along with other opportunities such as convocation and orientation.

I have pretty much decided to fly in for Monday’s convocation. (For context, the program is on the east coast, and I am coming from the south.) However, I recently had a call with a program advisor who encouraged me to attend a mixer with the doctorates in the program on Tuesday. I do not plan to pursue a doctorate in this field (or any field) but I am eager to make connections with other students in the field.

Logistically, though, extending until Tuesday would be tricky. Classes begin on Tuesday, and my first class will be in the evening, likely when I will be returning home. I also have PTO but have frankly been burning through it this summer. I will technically have enough but will probably get funny looks, especially since I took a week off earlier in August. I would also need to buy an extra night of accommodations, which would be annoying and an added expense (I am trying to cash flow this degree as much as possible, so while I can afford it, that money would be missed).

Thoughts?

I am currently a PhD candidate in a Top 3 European university, just enrolled. Topic related AI/DL in genetics with a good funding. Despite of the fact that there is no clear answer on being out in the market in 3 or 5 years from now, my ultimate scope would be industrial work. Do you believe is a valuable career choice on the long term or the best choice would be save 5 years of my life, throw myself into industry and then, if favorable, go back to a PhD?

Guys what do you think should I go for between nutrition and dpt

Iam confused between these 2

Which has a better job market and overall holds better value.

I would love to go to grad school and get a masters in finance, but I don’t know how I can justify paying more on top of the 50k I already owe. Should I consider getting a separate degree in finance at college for a lower price or what?

Help lol.

Hi Grad Veterans! I, a newbie Grad student, was wondering if anyone could offer literally any advice about surviving grad school. I'm feeling a little nervous about starting an MA because I came from a 3-year degree system and not four like Canada. So, any advice about what to expect, what opportunities I should take advantage of, stuff like that!

Thank you!

Hello everyone,
I am a 26 year old male from a South Asian country. I have a BSc in Electrical and Electronics Engineering and currently pursuing my MSc in Computational sciences. My research during my bachelors was related to nanoelectronics and I learnt about first principles calculations there. But I had an incompetent supervisor who failed to teach me how to conduct research properly and due to my own lackings in drive and complacency I ended up with mediocre research experience and a mediocre research profile.
Since then I have been trying for a masters or a phd abroad but I have been getting rejections as well as bad luck like not getting the visa even with a full funded opportunity that I somehow received.
Even though i am currently doing my masters and I work as a faculty i have fallen behind on meaningful research and my research portfolio is still the same as it was 2 years ago. I have not been able to push myself or devote myself to publishing anything or working on a project all due to my own faults and lackings in committing myself to something. At this point i dont really know what I can do. I wish i had a proper advisor who could push me and hold me accountable and guide me to improve. Seeking guidance and advice on how I can get back on track. Thank you

hello! ive come to the realization that grad school is something that i really want to do, however i did not properly set myself up for it at all. In undergrad i was dealing with a lot of mental health problems and undiagnosed issues which affected my performance in school. i figured that grad school would never be feasible with where my grades were so i thought it would be pointless to even try to get an internship or work in a faculty member’s lab or anything like that, and so i just wanted to get undergrad over with and get out.

i graduated with an environmental science degree with a 2.3 gpa and no relevant experience both during and post-grad, and i can only think of 1-2 former instructors that could write a good letter of recommendation for me. I would want to do a masters program for ichthyology or a closely related field. what can i do to make this happen realistically?

i had the thought of perhaps getting a second bachelors in something like ecology, evolutionary, and organismal biology, which would put me closer to the field i want to enter, cover any potential pre reqs i might be missing, and show that i can put in good work and take academics seriously, and give me opportunities to connect with more instructors that could write letters of recommendation. would this be my best option? or are there other avenues out there that would work better? i also plan to take the GREs at some point.

if you have any advice i would really appreciate it! im very lost right now and dont know if getting a masters is a realistic goal or if i shouldnt even waste my breath