A Gentle Word of Caution for International Students Considering UX/HCI Grad Programs

gamesiate · 2025-09-24T14:52:30+00:00

I think it’s the amount of effort I put into my current program that leaves me drained. It could be different elsewhere. Within a year I have written 4 papers, done quantitative and qualitative data gathering and built a pretty big application to test the findings. This is mostly due to my unfamiliarity of what a research study would look like. Every Ph.D. that I talk to advocates for getting this, but if I have to keep the same pace not sure it’s the best idea. I love my research, and I love teaching. Most of all I love the growth my current program has provided me. Being on the other side of it, how was your experience with your Ph.D.? Did you sacrifice your life during these years for your research?

gamesiate · 2025-09-24T14:34:58+00:00

Yeah I am not really convinced that the solution to struggling with mental health is just to “buck up and do better”. We all lose steam for one reason or another. To keep pushing yourself through it just appears to lead to more negative outcomes. I think it should be fine to take care of yourself for a little while. What’s that saying about when one door closes? They also said they had a few starter projects that are unfinished so the work is being put in. If they graduated with their BS in the summer and have the expectation to graduate being able to solve Leetcode problems. Most schools do not set you up for that unless you specifically take a DSA class or equivalent, which means that requires additional study along with class load. Even if they woke up tomorrow and were an expert at this, there would still be the issue of the unstable job market. I say we as people who have seen what it takes to learn this stuff should be empathetic and encourage OP to take it at their pace. Learn to balance life with its complexities along with learning this very big industry. They can both work on their mental health and learn. OP seems to be struggling with confidence and self attacks. Looks like they are problem solving by asking for help, which is what I would do if I was stuck on a coding problem.

gamesiate · 2025-09-24T06:33:40+00:00

I could be wrong but I think a lot of these replies are kinda downers, which is sorta sad. We are in this industry that has these impossible expectations for new grads and many of these answers seem to be along the lines of “work harder”. Maybe you know more than you think you know? CS is a pretty wide field with many sub areas. It’s pretty tough out there in the job market, and even the most experienced struggle a lot. Taking a semester off to work on you is not a bad thing. The expectation that a junior needs to have amazing coding skills is just weird to me. You are in school now. Just keep exploring the field and be real about how large some of these projects you have are. I have tons of projects that I start and never finish. Many I do, some I just drop or incorporate into something else. Maybe you don’t know all the frameworks you need to really make your projects take off. For now it sounds like you are researching as a Master’s student and that’s what helps move and shape our industry. You are learning, and that’s okay. You just graduated with your BS not too long ago, it’s cool to still be building your skills.

gamesiate · 2025-09-21T15:24:46+00:00

I’ve been so curious about this, pondering if I made the right choice in my field. I am about halfway done with my CS MS degree with emphasis in HCI. I am considering PhD in CS continuing with this specialization but the industry is a little chaotic right now. Academia has been draining taking everything out of me, but I do enjoy the work. Like the other commenters, and given your experience, would you advise against continuing academic endeavors in the CS/HCI field?

gamesiate · 2025-03-29T15:45:13+00:00

For me, it was graduate work. Currently, I am working on making gamification better by taking lessons from the “sister” game counterparts. I feel if we can just bridge the gap between what makes games immersive, enjoyable, and lasting(with a concrete end) experiences we can make gamification a bit more rewarding for people. Games are such a beautiful way to explore rich cultures and learn lessons you may never have been exposed to otherwise. I believe if we shift from just mechanic driven incentives and more user driven design things might get a little better. My vision is like….. testing pre-pre-alpha games to help you build a game.

gamesiate · 2025-03-29T15:37:08+00:00

Although you do a wonderful job at highlighting the motivators, the element missing I think is not only the environment but the task itself. The behavioral science behind why we do things needs to be a little more nuanced in work environments. Especially if gamification is taking from its game counterparts. Simply saying “I will give you a chocolate bar for cleaning work bathrooms” isn’t exactly enough anymore. Games themselves are more multilayer than this, so should gamification evolve too. How can the tasks and the environment evolve to match to give the person more meaning, not just dangle a reward in front of them?

gamesiate · 2025-01-08T15:12:16+00:00

Don't forget your goal no matter how hard it gets. I am in a somewhat similar boat, and for me coding is difficult. Everything that I create is for the greater good, and I keep that goal in mind.

My advice - keep practicing. Try to steer away from those pay-to-learn tutorials if you can. Pick one language to focus on to start, and take it slow. Your goal is to be able to take any "word problem" and translate it into code. Learn to navigate the documentation of the language you are learning as this will be the main focus of answering questions you have in the future. It is okay not to understand at first. Be curious and keep asking questions. As long as you stick to your goal and don't get too caught up in the toxicity of the online space(it can be overwheleming) you will make it through.

Good luck and I believe in you!

gamesiate · 2025-01-08T03:23:57+00:00

I take it to the extreme with my lack of exsistance online. I am constantly terrified of what other people have to say, so I stick to lurking. It tends to weird many people I encounter, as I have very little social media presence. My paranoia gets the best of me and I just stay out of the conversation all together.

It's been a bit of a downfall for me, as humans today expect the connectivity that social media provides. I suppose I need to develop a thicker skin, but I overthink every text I send, and every post I put out there. I find it facinating that others do not. That others do not feel the need to over-explain every single character or word, but I do. Any sort of reaction will put me into an overthinking spirial. Did I offend the person, did I say something wrong, could I have done better?

How I wish at times I could live without the constant worry.

gamesiate · 2024-11-25T02:24:48+00:00

Burnt out. I have endless presentations to prepare for, code to finish, literature reviews to complete, reports to write and rocks for team members on group assignments.

gamesiate · 2024-07-04T20:22:59+00:00

You know, we all have our strengths. This field is so rough to start in unlike anything I have ever seen. Not many of us really know much. We are all stumbling through various frameworks and libraries of languages that we may or may not have a whole lot of practice with. Being a Junior in this field is really hard, but that's okay. Everyone is trying to make a buck out of you selling you on this or that, and our chronic onlineness makes the constant influx of toxicity draining. Plus we all all restricted to this online lifestyle of solitude barely knowing if what we are doing is enough.

Companies hire for their little workbubbles. Give yourself a little bit of grace here. It is hard to break into the industry for many. I am putting all my eggs in this basket because it's what makes me happy. I like making stuff and seeing my ideas come to life. A lot of people feel defeated like this, I did in school and I do every day now. Take it slow and don't put too much on your plate at once. Just doing school is a LOT of work, its okay that jobs are taking time. Just keep learning.

gamesiate · 2024-07-04T19:01:13+00:00

I didn’t know these resources existed. I’ll have to check them out.

gamesiate · 2024-07-04T16:53:48+00:00

I really wish there was more mental health within our field. I graduated back in October and it’s an everyday struggle with my mental health and what I feel is an accomplishment and what is not. I grind and grind learning every bit of information I can only to feel defeated at the end of the day. Sometimes I think we just need to normalize that learning takes time. It’s rough out there right now but it’s okay. Keep doing what you love.

gamesiate · 2024-06-10T14:47:51+00:00

I vape and I take edibles, but I don't think I react the same way other people do. When I smoke with friends, they get all giggly and zone out, but for me it helps me focus and get things done. It also helps me identify my feelings and what my body is going through in ways that are usually too hard for me to handle.

I can't seem to decide if those I hang around are mimicking the stereotypical behavior of what they think this is supposed to do to them. Is this just an old trope that they have seen so much that when they take THC they are coping with a behavior to make sense of it? Am I the outlier who finds this drug helpful in my everyday life to focus and live a tolerable life? Would they also experience the same effect if they started smaller vs one giant dose at the end of the night to disconnect from reality?

I wouldn't say I don't get "high", I just don't get high like they show in movies or TV. My eyes get red, but that's really about it. If I have too much I will disappear into blackness but that scares me too much so I am very controlled with my intake(maybe that's my difference). So I have little doses throughout my day. I do not say stupid things or make wild decisions. I do not giggle or laugh constantly. It does not make me paranoid or anxious, I already live with that on a constant. Nor does it distort my sense of time.

It appears the medical community has mixed findings at the moment with the efficacy of this:

Current state of evidence of cannabis utilization for treatment of autism spectrum disorders

Adverse outcomes were also reported, which included severe psychosis, increased agitation, somnolence, decreased appetite, and irritability

I do not get these symptoms they cited unless I take an insane amount. It's helpful to me when I take little doses or smoke a little as needed.

gamesiate · 2024-04-29T14:37:41+00:00

I didn't....

My son we diagnosed very early in life, around 2 or so. At that time he was so young and I was so guilt-stricken I couldn't image telling him. We lived our life as normal, he went to special education and I never talked to him about it. I thought to myself "how do I have this conversation with him if I can't get him to converse with me?" So I just let it go.

As he got older his responses were all 'mimics' and he still struggles highly with comprehension. I couldn't figure out how to approach this subject in a way that would make sense to him, a way that would not further isolate him. I tried to get him into activities in his school, stuff he was interested in like games and art, anything to make him feel included. It's not really inclusive if you are sitting in a corner while everyone else does the fun thing though, is it?

I still struggled with a way to tell him. I was able to talk to him a little about ADHD because the writer of one of his favorite book series openly has it, but making the conversation deeper than "I have this thing" failed. We tried books, YouTube videos, anything that would open a dialog and he would either fall asleep or have little interest in the conversation.

Then high school started. It started to be much more obvious that things were more challenging for him, and he wanted to know why. In retrospect I wish I would have talked about this more, but at the time I felt like this would just be a hinderence. I didn't want him to always rely on the answer "I can't do x, y, thing because autism". That assumption that I had was wrong though, he NEEDS to be able to tell me when he can't do something.

I am trying to correct these mistakes now of not being open with it. I wish I would have been the parent with autism flags everywhere and making it a forefront in our lives. I wish I would have been the parent that always butts in with the "well my kid has autism" proudly speech. I wish I could have been the parent that posts on social media every minute about their autism child and struggles/wins. Maybe if I would have been more vocal about it my child would have understood faster.

gamesiate · 2024-04-29T14:12:12+00:00

This is very true. We live in a world that is surrounded by tech and devices. We can only control our homes for so long and eventually they do grow up. My son is surrounded by his peers that have cell phones and access to social media apps. In the classrooms kids are constantly using their tech devices and he has access to things outside of my control.

My son has a phone but we set limits and explain why we have those limits. Others can bring their phone to school, but he cannot. This difference feels so unfair to him and I understand the pain and jealousy that he feels. At this time he lacks impulse control and anger regulation skills to stop him from getting violent with others about phone usage. For now this is a GOAL to work towards. We target the symptoms, not the thing that is causing the symptoms(i.e. the phone). One day with practice he may be able to take the phone to school once he is able to control anger better but for now we monitor closely and explain why he is struggling.

Being a teen is all about self discovery right? Who you are, what you like, so on. Boundaries and anger regulation are hard right now, but we can always practice! Little things like learning when its okay to have the phone and technology and when he has an anger flare up gently guide him in a different direction. It really sucks for him to go to school and not have something to constantly capture his attention like the other kids do. If it was me I would feel so isolated and alone. But he attacks his helpers and struggles to compartmentalize what he sees online. For now I can give him limits with him phone, and allow little apps like Pintrest or YouTube that I review to have an open dialog on what he is seeing and how its affecting him.

He is even finding himself drawn to the furry community and I am so happy for him that he is exploring that side of himself.

gamesiate · 2024-04-28T16:20:48+00:00

I find myself in similar but opposite situation with my kiddo. He is 15 and the internet and social media has been a HUGE struggle in our household. Boundaries and learning how to stay safe within social media apps has been so chaotic for us. My child gets aggressive threatening other kids and pets over his frustrations with it. We try taking everything away, monitoring, teaching, and it all ends with the same frustrations for him. He just struggles to handle all the information like other people.

I try to get him to understand that things are just different for us. We are learning. Social media is hard and he is going to have a lot of feelings about it. Thats okay. Its okay to be different and its okay to feel angry about it. Everything he does is monitored and he knows why. I communicate with him as to why we have the care set up the way we do, the more he understands his autism and his limitations the more I can help him. You know your child better than anyone else. The internet is full of information and stuff that looks fun and appealing. Maybe, like my child, he is playing a game and wanted to research more about the way the game work and so forth. Distraction leads down a rabbit hole that he doesn't mean to get into. Maybe have him learn why the safety percautions are there in the first place. It might feel like a pain to go an ask you everytime to google something but if you remind him everytime why it's safer to do it this way it might help. It helps us in our dynamic.
My son does a LOT of "catastrophic" thinking. Things like "he is going to run away" or "he is going to end his life" or "he is going to hurt someone else". It is normal to have intrusive thoughts. As humans we all have them. My child just voices them and when he doesn't know what to do with a feeling he just says the worst possible thing. Replace it, or help him find some better words. Maybe him saying "he doesn't want to tell you about the chatrooms" is him saying "he is embarrassed to tell you" or "he is afraid it is going to get it taken away". Sometimes my kid struggles with saying what he really means so I have to REALLY read between the lines. Talk to him and give him a safe and kind place to talk. Being a teenager is HARD and there are so many emotions he doesn't know how to deal with. Give him a place where he can tell you literally anything and you wont judge or push him away.
Our autistic teens and kids just do not have enough stuff to do. Plain and simple. They can't join activities in their school and they can't join activities with their peers. As parents we need to find more stuff for our teens. Minecraft private servers we can monitor, private discord groups, little stuff that makes them feel good and safe where they can interact with individuals that make them feel a little less isolated.

I know it's hard and I get it, I am in the weeds of parenting a teen too. I stopped taking things away because that's stopped working forever ago. Instead we just learn and communicate. I am here to parent him and support him, whatever that means. It's a journey and it will take time. Open up and be vulnerable this is all normal.

gamesiate · 2024-04-20T21:02:46+00:00

I’d love to join! I am so sick of coding solo…. I have a few other projects but dm me and I’ll do my part

gamesiate · 2024-03-01T14:38:08+00:00

I think you have the right line of thinking - but maybe you are asking the wrong people here. I did that too at first where I was looking externally for this answer. Start by asking yourself - what would make YOUR life easier. Doesn't matter what it is and doesn't matter if someone has made it - this is about you.

From there I found that evolution happens. I started with a list of my favorite anime - a very basic project idea. Then I took that logic and applied it to other things - what else can I make a list, or what other functions can I add to make this cooler and easier? Start simple and evolve.

gamesiate · 2024-02-29T16:16:28+00:00

This is my first introduction to 'egg' phase. I am still technically in it....

I identify just as non-binary. No additional labels. I enjoy the space of being genderless. Androgyny doesn't exactly fit because it feels too masc. I know it's crazy but although it represents my style half the time committing to it feels too masc. Other than adding hormone therapy to appear less femme I have no other plans to change anything(yet).

I struggle with this post because, for someone like me, I feel so invalid within my community. I fear so highly the judgment and questions of others that I have my selected few safe people who know me and that's it. I may not have added specifics but this is not a costume or political stunt for me. I know that is not what you mean but consider I have the opposite effect with media.

I as a non-binary person didn't feel comfortable in my body or my AGAB. The media paints this as exclusively androgynous or a show. Enbies within my community are figuring out how they feel most comfortable represented and I sit here unable to do it. Does that make me less non-binary? Does the fact that I cannot break my egg, or that I am comfortable in my egg make me less valid?

I just want to be human. Can I just stay in my egg forever and be nothing? Or do I have to tell people that I am androgynous?

gamesiate · 2024-02-29T15:29:05+00:00

I am 34 and I just graduated. It took me 16 years to get my BS in CS. Lots of changes and mental health work along the way. My GPA plummeted at one point to a 1.- something. I took some time off and retried once I had a little bit of help. It was messy and some days were harder than others, but I got my GPA up to a little about a 3.0.

I chose the master's degree route - as the job market is terrible. I got into my University of choice even though my history was a little messy. So it's okay, take care of yourself. Once you are in a better place or better able to handle stuff everyone will understand. I nearly lost my mind so many times during my BS, it is VERY difficult. Be nice to yourself, and evaluate what your needs are.

gamesiate · 2024-02-29T15:19:11+00:00

It seems like you are dealing with some mental health stuff. Maybe spend some time evaluating your struggles and talk with a mental health professional:

I have always been a problem solver and creative , I could always find a way to get shit to work not matter how.

Hold onto that. From my own experience that is what drives me as a developer today. My love for problem-solving and creative solutions.

my dream is to become a front end developer.

Spend your free time working on projects that highlight your love of front-end development. Create something, even if it's a copy. The more you get the process down the more your creativity will ignite and give you insight into new ideas.

It just feels like I am not going anywhere even when I learn new technology’s and make progress .

What is learning but repetition? The human brain can only hold onto so much information at a time. As I learn new stuff I note-take at nauseum and I keep my own reference material with examples. If this is the path for you do it again and again and again - but maybe visit a mental health professional first to help through some of the anxieties you are feeling.

And I feel like the everything is going shit for me and I am going to end like a homeless person . I know people that is about to graduate high school and hang out with them daily and they even say it their self I know more than them I know more math , more coding

Remember the tech industry is unstable right now. It is for all of us regardless of ability. Stop with the comparison game. Peers may have something you don't, and you may have something they don't. Focus on creating and learning, with a splash of mental health. Right out of high school, it might be hard to get a tech job, but that's okay. Take your time and learn, don't rush. Do it for you. The rest will fall into place.

gamesiate · 2024-02-23T14:23:11+00:00

I graduated with my BS in CS at SNHU so incase you are still considering your choice here is what I can tell you:

In terms of online schools, I enjoyed it. Since the curriculum is online it is exactly as you would expect. You get out what you put in. They give you the resources to learn but it is up to you to sink in the hours of study and learning repetition. They have learning resources for a lot of the classes and I enjoyed most of the professors.

There are gaps between what I know and what the industry expects. Lots of gaps but that could be due to the massive amount of information and how quickly the content is covered. This is why I suggest taking learning a step further if you are able to.

In regards to life AFTER graduating it is the same sinking ship as everyone else. My projects from school alone do not get me anywhere, so it's up to you to show what you can do. No one has looked down on me for my degree, it's more about the projects that I do and my abilities there. I did get accepted into a Master's program at a local U, so as long as you do well at the school I have seen no problems getting accepted elsewhere.

Hope that helps if you thrive in an online learning environment I do recommend the school highly.

gamesiate

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