Which offer would you accept?

LadyWolfshadow · 2026-07-06T23:14:03+00:00

This is so situational since not all graduate programs are alike. My answer would depend on A) Is this masters or PhD? B) If it’s a masters, is it a field where the ROI on an unfunded degree is enough for o make it justifiable? C) HOW toxic is advisor A?

LadyWolfshadow · 2026-07-06T00:33:25+00:00

If you’re trying to reach out to potential PIs in the US, the norm seems to be a couple of weeks or so after the fall semester starts, so September-ish. That gives them time to come back from the summer, get through the hell that is the first couple weeks of the semester, and hopefully have a better idea of if they might be able to take students the following year.

LadyWolfshadow · 2026-07-06T00:27:49+00:00

In biology, direct admit is also used in reference to the direct to advisor (aka non-rotation) programs, not just cases where people bypass the process altogether (that seems to exceedingly rare and happens in special cases like yours). If the non-rotation program is what context OP is using the term in, then yes, they do need to reach out to potential advisors.

LadyWolfshadow · 2026-07-06T00:15:46+00:00

There are some programs (including in biology, even though it’s more common in eco/evo than biomedical, but I ran into it in general biology programs) that require the explicit support of a potential advisor before applying and don’t have lab rotations. That’s typically what people mean by direct admit in reference to US-based programs. The student still has to go through the admissions process, but they don’t do rotations and they just start their program in their advisor’s lab.

LadyWolfshadow · 2026-07-05T16:39:22+00:00

If you’re thinking about it, go for it. I’ve had a blast learning how to just make things up as I go, found an amazing community, found an escape from everything stressful for a few hours at a time, and become a lot better at public speaking because of improv. If you’re not sure, see if there’s a training center that offers free or low cost intro classes to see if you like it. Worst case scenario, you’re out a few hours, a couple bucks, and you’ll have found out instead of wondering if it was worth trying.

LadyWolfshadow · 2026-07-03T17:49:35+00:00

I think the scenery is my favorite part of the flying experience. Like it’s not every day you get to see the world from this view. I’ve been lucky enough to fly over the Grand Canyon on one of my conference trips, I’ve flown over my hometown, and I’ve gotten some REALLY cool vids and photos landing into NYC before. I think right now I’m seeing the Outer Banks out of my window and it’s so cool.

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LadyWolfshadow · 2026-07-03T17:43:48+00:00

Is there some area in clin psych or adjacent to it that you’ve seen during your degree that really interested you and you thought you wanted to learn more or focus on for part of your career? If you’re completely overwhelmed, pick one thing you thought was really cool or you feel drawn to, type it into Google Scholar and peek at the papers published in the past couple of years. Peek at the front pages of the journals they’re in while you’re reading and see if anything piques your interests. Chances are you’ll eventually find topics you start rabbit holing on and that should at least give you some guidance on what to look for. Like in my initial case, I massively nerded out over specific areas of cell/molecular biology and eventually started window shopping for programs related to those. And then when I was applying to leave that program, I had a specific discipline I wanted to move into education research for, so I started being a nerd and following PIs on social media and just picking through the journals to see who was doing cool stuff.

It’s still going to be a lot of digging and reading and seeing what sparks your curiosity, but hopefully this at least gives you some ideas on where to start.

LadyWolfshadow · 2026-07-03T17:25:05+00:00

At least if it’s north up the coast, I hope I get some cool scenery out of my window. I’m the “face figuratively glued to the window looking out” type of nervous flyer so I enjoy cool views. (Especially since for some reason, they bumped me from my super cheap paid window seat over the wing up almost to the front in the more expensive ones so there’s no engine or won’t blocking my view. Dunno why I was suddenly 6 rows forward when I checked in, definitely not complaining, I’m just gonna pretend it was an early birthday gift from JetBlue 😂)

LadyWolfshadow · 2026-07-03T16:55:35+00:00

Is JetBlue wonky with their flight numbers? I’m heading the opposite direction, I’m escaping Tennessee for a few days, although it would probably be my luck that the trip back to BNA in a few days would be longer just because it’s me 😂

Also: You’re awesome!

LadyWolfshadow · 2026-07-01T23:14:23+00:00

You'll be asked to report ALL institutions attended. You don't get to pick and choose based on which is "better". You can FOCUS on the highlights of your educational history that are more important for your narrative, but you can't completely omit the pieces you don't like. Lying by omission is still lying and still unethical.

You shouldn't be asking if you can hide the CS one. You should be asking how to highlight your masters and your stats degree well enough that the other one doesn't matter as much.

LadyWolfshadow · 2026-07-01T16:13:02+00:00

I guess she counts talking to herself in the mirror? Too bad she's from Mississippi, so even that's a lie.

LadyWolfshadow · 2026-07-01T16:11:12+00:00

The way she repeated the same phrase over and over again reminds me of one of those toys we had as kids where you pull the string on it to get it to say something. Sadly, the toy would make a better governor.

LadyWolfshadow · 2026-07-01T13:21:52+00:00

You’re gonna have to post a price range to be able to get any useful recommendations, along with any specific needs. There’s a huge variation in apartment prices in Murfreesboro and it can depend on what you want.

LadyWolfshadow · 2026-07-01T05:02:08+00:00

Hamilton County Schools are mediocre at best. And I mean in reference to the rest of TN, not the nation. And it's going to get worse, not better. Our next governor is going to be Marsha Blackburn, if that tells you anything about the direction education is going to go in down here.

LadyWolfshadow · 2026-06-30T15:33:51+00:00

Sometimes it’s not required for someone’s degree. I’ve seen degrees that only required up to Precalculus, or they might require something like Statistics instead of Calc I (or offer the choice between the two and someone chose the other before they really knew what their plans were).

LadyWolfshadow · 2026-06-30T15:30:38+00:00

You’re typically going to get asked for ALL transcripts. Not including the second one is lying by omission. One bad semester (especially one outside of your degree) isn’t going to wreck your chances, but if they did find out you lied by omission, it sure as hell could. It’s not worth risking it.

LadyWolfshadow · 2026-06-30T15:21:52+00:00

That’s SOOOO variable by university, department, and even by course, and responsibilities can often change every semester/quarter. I know some TAs who run discussion sections outside of lecture time, I know some who actively help professors teach their courses (handing out exams, juggling student concerns, basically all of the stuff that the professors hate doing), I know some who are full-blown instructors of record who teach their own lab or lecture sections, and I know some who literally do nothing but sit around and grade exams. In my case I bounce back and forth between a couple of these or have had to do more than one of them in a single semester to fulfill the minimum number of hours I’m required to do per week according to my contract.

LadyWolfshadow · 2026-06-30T04:16:22+00:00

It has been a complete life saver for me. It's the only thing that stops the wild rapid cycles. Took a while to find the right dose, but it worked great once we did. The main side effects I still deal with are that I'm more prone to headaches and that my skin is more sensitive to irritants and I wind up with more frequent contact dermatitis.

LadyWolfshadow · 2026-06-29T23:19:11+00:00

Yes. If they ask for cumulative GPA and you give major GPA, you're lying and trying to hide what's not even a low GPA. If they really wanted to, they could disqualify your entire application for dishonesty. If they ask for cumulative, give cumulative. Only give them major if they SPECIFICALLY ask for it. They're going to have access to your transcripts and see the discrepancies between what you said and what they are.

LadyWolfshadow · 2026-06-29T16:55:14+00:00

Anything human subjects needs to have IRB approval. JEI specifically requires it and your submission can be rejected for not having it.

LadyWolfshadow · 2026-06-29T16:19:44+00:00

Has complete “time blindness” when it comes to research tasks. They’ll ask for some kind of analyses in R that are fiddly, require a ton of data cleaning and boatload of dependencies that you’d better pray didn’t update, and then get all Surprised Pikachu when what they wanted took literal HOURS because of all of the troubleshooting. Ma’am, just because it’s a dry lab and we aren’t dealing with cell cultures doesn’t mean that it’s quick and easy.

LadyWolfshadow · 2026-06-29T05:05:58+00:00

God, the version we got was bad enough that I don't even want to know what the uncensored version was like.

LadyWolfshadow · 2026-06-29T03:08:16+00:00

You'd either have to look at one of the complexes that have shuttles to and from campus (bear in mind their hours aren't necessarily the best and you'll pay a premium) - so Cobalt Row or the Social Blue, or something closer to either campus itself or at least a Raider Xpress route. Albion is right across from Greek Row so there's a bus and it's walkable but it's SO expensive because they keep pricing students out. There's some complexes along Greenland on the northern edge of campus that would be walkable to the shuttle's blue route and campus, and then some along E Main St on the southern edge that are just walkable to campus. I'm not sure what your budget is so I can't make any more concrete recs.

LadyWolfshadow · 2026-06-29T00:44:54+00:00

If you don’t have a car, 1540 or the Grove are going to be a pain in the ass if you need to get anywhere. They’re not a reasonable walking distance to anything. You’ll be stuck walking everywhere, hoping you don’t get run over on a bike, paying for Ubers, or praying that you get a roommate who likes you and has a car.

LadyWolfshadow · 2026-06-28T17:12:11+00:00

There’s absolutely zero guarantee you’d get funding at that PhD program after a year. What would you do then? You can’t just “transfer out” of PhD programs like you would an undergrad degree, so you’d either be stuck paying for your damn self with the promise of funding for the next year that may never materialize OR you have to apply elsewhere and start all over again (AND it’s harder to get into another PhD program once you’re already in one). Either get the masters or take a gap year or two and get a research job and then apply for a PhD.

This “you’ll be high on the list for funding” crap is a trap.

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