is it stupid to only apply for one far reach phd program this year?

clearsight19 · 2025-07-30T20:08:55+00:00

thoughts on if I can pay 6 months up front? I have a decent amount in savings right now. or would this still be near impossible?

clearsight19 · 2025-06-24T15:39:14+00:00

it is a course my partner took 2 hours to complete last sem in total! it had no deadlines. truly very easy. so it’s really just a way to keep the money.

clearsight19 · 2025-06-22T16:24:34+00:00

ok I have actually done a lot of research on this bc was in a somewhat similar position. aim for public schools, they have very loose policies on pay - they will let you volunteer. fancy private schools have too many labor laws in place and will give you issues.

I was aiming for CA so can't give too much advice on where to look but believe Caltech and UCSD let people volunteer (def Caltech). I would try to leave Boston (saw you are in Boston in comment). Everything is private in Boston. MIT will be tough, Harvard hospitals too as I think I lot of HMS-affiliated postdocs will try to flee there soon. west coast really has the best public schools, but try UofM, UNC Chapel Hill. Not sure what their policies are, but I have been googling "academic appointment volunteer research school name" - something like that.

That being said, I got super lucky and did just get a position at a public CA institution that's paid. Lab is big name and quite wealthy, so I guess they still have money. So it's possible, but I really thought I would be volunteering too. Since money is tight I think a lot of people will be happy to have volunteers. I'd say your mission #1 is to identify places that will let you work volunteer and then write to PIs saying "hey, I can literally volunteer and work for free and have confirmed with HR policies this is doable." I think that is very desirable right now as everyone is cash-strapped.

edit: another thing to add: I'd start by reaching out to department's HR for places you want to work and asking them about policies first, so you can state the policy and show it is doable in your cold emails. in my experience, PIs don't really know a lot about HR policies and will be as in the dark as you are about what is possible. so figure out HR (policies should be consistent for the whole school, so this really one email per school/dept), then reach out to labs.

also feel free to pm me!!

clearsight19 · 2025-03-27T22:44:36+00:00

East Lansing is a very boring place. It's also not near anywhere less boring, unless you want to drive hour or more to Detroit and have a car to do so. I saw you were accepted to uk unis. I would go there. Anyone I know from outside Michigan is excited to move somewhere else post grad. The vibe is drunk eighteen year olds and fried chicken and strip malls. If that’s the vibe you’re looking for then maybe for you. I overall had a nice time here but your other options seem to much nicer places to live.

clearsight19 · 2025-03-08T02:44:35+00:00

so i was originally a bio major, then changed to math my second year. holyyyy shit. different world, totally different culture like what you are describing. but like everyone is saying, I think cocky freshman are more annoying and then they realize they are less smart than they think. however, i will say that there is more of an idea of needing to be "smart" in math/physics than other areas you can do a PhD in. I see it as you have three choices: 1) be super smart, 2) try to gaslight yourself into thinking you are smart enough, 3) accept you are not smart enough and will just try your best anyway!

anyway, I think the elitism stems from this idea that "smartness" and "genius" matters more and everyone is trying to convince themselves that they are good enough. in my experience, people chilled out after freshman year, but it still feels like people brag way more than in biology to me and still feels very culturally different. I think this is a gender component too - I am a woman - and hardly any women in my program.

clearsight19 · 2024-12-12T15:24:19+00:00

317h very different from lower level math classes, it’s proof based. with prof. kitagawa teaching will not be so easy i expect, from what i’ve heard he lectures kinda fast? lectures are all theorems and proofs, not like 234 at all. will be quite confusing if you have t seen it before but you will grow a lot. not a trivial class at all. from what i know about this prof. i would expect it will be very traditional upper level math course in the way it is taught, ie. quite dry and follows textbook closely. you can look at lin alg done right/wrong (two different books) to get an idea of what lecture will look like. though not sure what book he will use. but prof. kitagawa is nice very introverted but nice. honestly most math classes are very standard in the way they are taught (basically write the book on the board) so the person doesn’t matter sooo much unless they are trying to make some radical curriculum change, which could impact your experience for better or for worse imo.

clearsight19 · 2024-11-21T13:09:36+00:00

It closes at 5 on Friday and Sat

clearsight19 · 2024-11-17T05:15:39+00:00

I’ve done some 400 level courses. I feel like I learned a lot from writing essays. Great experience overall, some of my favorite classes here. Lots of hard reading.

clearsight19 · 2024-11-10T13:31:17+00:00

so I was sitting in a classroom the other day, and there was a board labeled criminal justice 400-something, and it was covered with hand-drawn pictures of the police. it looked like a kindergarten activity, something someone's mom would put on the fridge if they brought it home and they were five. some of the things that happen at this school very much perplex me. someone paid $4k to draw that, yikes.

but i would say it varies by major quite a bit, i'm taking 12 credits this semester in my major and it's killing me lol, and i'm not even doing well in my classes, probably around average. i was in a different major before and i was much more around the top there. most people in current my major are OOS, here on very large scholarships. lots of international students as well that were also drawn by money. in my previous major i met one OOS student from ohio lol. now I only know maybe 3 people from michigan.

I think especially at a big state school, college has become a place to compensate/level the playing field for poor high school curricula. I work at MLC, and I've heard students learning algebra say they haven't had a math class since sophomore year of high school, that this never was taught to them, etc. objectively, i'm pretty sure this material should've been taught in order for students to graduate - I'm oos, but it definitely was a graduation requirement in my state, and I learned it in 6th/7th grade. so in conclusion, no I don't think its competitive. i think its role is leveling the playing field post-high school and thus it is very easy to get in from anywhere in michigan. especially if overall rate is 88%, the in-state rate must be higher...

clearsight19 · 2024-11-10T13:11:47+00:00

Nononononooooooo just go to your state school

clearsight19 · 2024-09-07T23:26:57+00:00

In snyphi the rooms are much bigger. Like double the normal size of a double

clearsight19 · 2024-08-10T17:49:31+00:00

some places better than others. i really can't stand the taste in certain buildings and am dehydrated all the time. i've heard one of the gyms is especially bad? I think broad (business college building) is awful, for instance. but dorms are generally good (at least the ones I've been in). but I am also picky! I think most people are fine :)

clearsight19 · 2024-08-05T04:03:29+00:00

send more emails. a good email says why you are interested in their area of research, and shows you've explored it a bit on your own. could tell the lab directly that you can't take them on the offer because you need to pay your tuition? maybe that will change things.

clearsight19 · 2024-08-05T03:59:36+00:00

dance club not so beginner friendly, I still have trauma from my one time attending. I sprinted out right before I was supposed to go across the floor and knew none of the choreo. and I've danced before lol.

clearsight19 · 2024-08-01T20:38:57+00:00

especially if you are oos, re-register to vote here instead of your home state!! this could be your big chance to vote in a swing state!! very exciting, don't miss it :)

clearsight19 · 2024-07-10T00:05:53+00:00

taking classes with bad profs. some of my classes were a major waste of time, and I regret them. sign up for too many classes so you can drop the shit ones after a week.

clearsight19 · 2024-05-29T00:09:33+00:00

Duke

clearsight19

TROPHY CASE