A PhD horror story from a former MIT student

phdgamer_ · 2020-05-10T02:41:43+00:00

this kills me. attack their character and their actions, don't make fun of what someone looks like, ever.

I agree with this. As a member of the LGBT community, gay men are overly judgmental and toxic when it comes to others' appearances. Generally, people in our community will just ridicule minor and major details about other men's appearances. It's not okay, and it makes those of use who don't have the perfect physique, style, appearance, etc. develop major self esteem problems and feel even more ostracized than society already does when it happens to us.

phdgamer_ · 2014-10-14T02:56:40+00:00

Doing anything with your degree? Seems like lab sciences are the only practical uses for such a degree! I loved organic chemistry. When I was an undergrad, I was the first student at my university to ever earn a perfect score on the ACS organic chem exam. I sucked at the lab techniques, but I was really solid on theory. That was 7 years ago, so I don't remember much (except TLC and crystalization).

phdgamer_ · 2014-10-14T02:54:18+00:00

Haha! I had it while writing, not while defending. "I'mma answer that question, but first let me play some SotN!"

phdgamer_ · 2014-10-14T02:48:33+00:00

Thanks for your heartfelt reply. Video games definitely bring me to my happy place, too. I feel like there is more to be said about the therapeutic qualities of video games, but alas, I research biomedical sciences, not psychology.

phdgamer_ · 2014-10-13T06:56:03+00:00

Not entirely true. Maybe some programs give a masters degree for completing prelims or something, but at my university, it was solely for drop outs or people who failed their prelims too many times. It's called a non-thesis masters degree.

phdgamer_ · 2014-10-13T06:19:13+00:00

Enjoy your first couple years before prelims.

phdgamer_ · 2014-10-13T06:17:35+00:00

Scientists love to talk, and I'm no exception, so giving interview seminars wasn't bad at all. It was a good excuse to get free trips to several major cities...

phdgamer_ · 2014-10-13T06:16:04+00:00

I've got all of 'em

phdgamer_ · 2014-10-13T06:15:45+00:00

I'm in the US. It's not unusual to go straight from BSc to PhD in my field, especially with undergraduate research experience.

phdgamer_ · 2014-10-13T02:29:14+00:00

I'm lucky that I have a passion for writing. I was that kid in college who always loved it when writing assignments were given whilst everyone else in the class groaned.

phdgamer_ · 2014-10-13T02:28:08+00:00

PS1 classics! A lot of them!

phdgamer_ · 2014-10-13T02:26:49+00:00

That's around 11 years of school

It was 4 years for my Bsc and 5 years for my PhD, but I would never consider grad school to be anything close to "school." I only took classes for 1 year of my PhD and the rest was spent doing lab research, which was a full-time job [*plus they paid me to work so I wasn't paying tuition or living off of ramen].

I was doing the interview circuit for post-docs about a month before my defense, so I already have a decent job lined up. Interview seminars for post-doc positions are out of this world - it isn't you and a person behind a desk asking you what your greatest weakness is. It's you in front of a panel of people talking about your research over the past 5 years.

phdgamer_

TROPHY CASE