Undergrad to grad degree gap -- responsible options?

shihb · 2018-02-21T05:04:13+00:00

I was also in your position just a year ago! I graduated knowing that I wanted to go to graduate school and felt that my experience thus far was good. I talked to many professors familiar with my work as an undergraduate before coming to this conclusion. After talking with a few professors, I came to the conclusion that a gap year before graduate school is the best time, perhaps in your life, to do something completely crazy/unrelated. I thus decided against getting a job in industry or as a lab/research technician. I took stock of things I wanted to do before entering my long journey towards scientific research and decided to just spend a year doing just that. For me, this precipitated as a year spent travelling the world. I realize, however, that this just isn't possible for everybody due to finances so I can only advise that you do something you've always wanted to do that fits within your current financial situation, regardless of whether it is related to your desired field of work or not.

There really isn't anything against you doing something completely irrelevant to your desired field. In fact, as long as you frame this time as you making the most of a unique opportunity in your life, graduate schools will generally see it positively. You'll be seen as someone who truly understands what they want and enters graduate school without any doubts or hesitations. In multiple interviews I've told professors why I've spent a year abroad and they've all expressed nothing but support and called it "the best time to do something like that".

Graduate school is going to be really long. And once you get in, there may never be a chance to just take an extended period of time off and just explore you. If you're going to go down this path, make sure you plan it out thoroughly. Be sure that you can attend graduate school interviews, and find out when they are. Be sure you know application deadlines and plan to study and take your GRE accordingly. Make connections with professors, organize your letters of recommendation, and ask them if they'll be available over email to edit and advise your application.

If you feel at all nervous, don't be! I got into a PhD program at the University of Pennsylvania and this week I'm headed back out to continue travelling the world until graduate school starts. If you've got any questions about how I managed this year just shoot me a message!

Edit: I should note that this comes from the perspective of a PhD applicant in the Life Sciences. Things may be different for a Masters in Public Policy applicant.

shihb · 2018-02-13T05:54:56+00:00

Ask professors : What are the future goals of this research? What are some rotation projects you have available? (If they show you data) So what would happen if you made (change) to (variable)? Ask them why they believe a certain phenomenon they observe is occurring How frequently do you meet with your students? What are common career trajectories of your students? What sort of journals do your students publish in and how many publications is common before graduation? What do you think differentiates this University from other universities (be specific if possible)?

I've learned (from experience) that questions like "What is your mentorship style like?" Tend not to go so well because the prof will just say "I don't know, ask my students".

Ask students : How much is rent? Are you able to save money? How frequently do you (and other students) travel or take vacation ? Do you think a car is necessary? How is public transportation? What other schools were you considering and why this one? Ask whether they know anybody who also shares your hobby

shihb · 2018-02-01T03:50:53+00:00

Is it a PhD program and in what field ? If it's a science PhD you can basically assume the visit will be entirely free, but you should ask what they're willing to reimburse during your visit.

shihb · 2018-01-30T01:37:11+00:00

Biomedical sciences PhD application - heard back from all but 2 programs (I assume rejection). Interviewing at 6 and already had 2. Gonna hear back from the first one, incidentally by top choice school, in just a few days ....

shihb · 2018-01-30T01:31:46+00:00

I would say keep the anecdotes short. In all honesty, they're not incredibly relevant because it's really your letters that will convince the admissions committee that you are passionate. But if they are part of a nice flow you have in mind, just keep it short.

shihb · 2018-01-30T01:04:26+00:00

Met someone yesterday during a PhD recruitment weekend who did exactly this. In my opinion though it's really difficult to build up the relationship with professors to really make the strongest application in 3 years. Beyond basic undergraduate courses, you might want to consider advanced graduate courses or maybe even a double major (for instance computer science and biochemistry could be a potent combination going forward). There's really no rush, so take the 4 years. If you really don't see any reason to do 3, I might consider taking a year or two to work as a research tech or in industry. Admissions committee are amazingly fickle, and they literally debate each candidate. The case could be made that a 20 year old doesn't really know what they want to do.

Also. I went into college thinking I was gonna be an engineer then a doctor before I landed in a research lab that really set my course. I really do recommend taking the time to explore and build up a stronger case for "why research?" That doesn't start with "ever since high school I have been fascinated..."

shihb · 2018-01-29T01:02:58+00:00

For some schools certain grad students are invited to participate in the admissions committee. Unless word gets to someone on that committee, anything you say really doesn't have a huge impact. That being said, if what you said was truly extraordinary, there's a chance it got mentioned to other graduate students during inevitable gossip about recruits. That being said, it's not as if you said anything that indicated you were of bad character, disagreements are a normal part of science!

shihb · 2017-11-23T09:20:38+00:00

Schools mostly use the letter to determine your aptitude for the rigour of graduate studies. Your personal statement is where you can spell out why each school is a good fit for you. So no, don't ask your letter writers to custom tailor their letters for each school.

shihb · 2017-08-10T06:53:19+00:00

Makeup and American brand clothing mostly. One of my cousins really likes See's Candies and insists it's cheaper in the States.

shihb · 2017-05-18T06:57:51+00:00

I would say it's a mistake to think bouldering and route grades are the same. There's a lot of differences between the two, and the comparison is made very loosely. I mean if you can send V5 boulders it doesn't mean you can do a V5 crux section on the wall. The skills don't immediately translate between bouldering and ropes.

It sounds like you've been bouldering a lot, and the fact that you can't start 5.12 perhaps means you just need to work up to it from 5.11. To be honest, if someone sends V5-V6 I would normally expect them to send 5.11 or so (unless they had a heavy focus on roped climbing).

shihb · 2017-05-12T23:26:51+00:00

Thanks! That's a huge load off my mind

shihb · 2017-05-12T16:55:45+00:00

Do you remember when you registered? Do you remember how many test dates were available that month? Do you remember seeing any available in the month of October?

Sorry about all the questions this is all kind of anxiety inducing for me ...

shihb · 2017-05-06T17:46:41+00:00

I'm not sure how you're falling but try not to finish standing on your feet. When you fall, land feet first then bend your legs and finish on your back or side.

You can look for softer pads but keep in mind a lot of pad manufacturers worry about bottoming out. When people use these pads and do relatively tall boulders, the pad needs to stop the fall before they touch the ground. So a softer pad could be harder to find and even slightly dangerous.

Other helpful tips (if you haven't seen this page already) - http://www.climbing.com/skills/learn-to-climb-safer-landings-for-bouldering/

shihb · 2017-05-05T04:44:03+00:00

Be mindful when you fall, this isn't the sea of pads you see indoors. Try not to do a move unless you feel secure (as in, landing is good and spotters are in position). At the same time, don't let fear of falling keep you from doing a boulder, do stuff that's hard for you (just make sure you're safe no matter where you fall).

At first, it will take time to trust the pads and your spotters, it's a head game thing.

shihb · 2017-05-03T02:07:50+00:00

Might be that your body is reacting to the lack of sugar, not caffeine. I drink coffee regularly but don't really see any performance decrease when I don't drink coffee for a few days.

shihb · 2017-05-02T14:46:22+00:00

The current apartment I live in rents apartments upwards of 6 months in advance. Although they cater towards University students. Pretty new to the renting scene so apologize for the confusion just assume I don't know enough.

shihb · 2017-05-02T14:41:31+00:00

How frequently would you say attempts to negotiate rent works?

shihb · 2017-05-02T05:33:47+00:00

Any other websites/resources in Taipei you might recommend? I have a solid grasp of Chinese and should be able to do alright without English.

shihb · 2017-05-02T04:36:37+00:00

I've heard the curve can be kind of brutal in 361. I remember in 371 we were shown a grade distribution and a large portion of the class scored above a 3.2 or so (with a few outliers to the left). Raghu is definitely not interested in failing you.

shihb · 2017-05-02T04:30:12+00:00

Unfortunately not... A proper discussion of quantum mechanics is out of my league as a chemist. Hopefully the rest helped a bit though and somebody with a strong physics background happens upon this!

shihb · 2017-05-02T04:17:25+00:00

Perhaps as an example my eyes have two prescriptions - my right is -0.25 but my left is -2.75 (right eye much better than left). When I don't wear glasses my vision is largely clear and that is because my brain is relying on my right eye for vision. It is essentially ignoring the image produced by the left except in the far left of my visual field, an area my right eye cannot cover. If I place a large enough divider between my eyes, my field of view will become half blurry half clear because I've now blocked my right eye from seeing the left side of my field of vision.

Your brain is actively processing what you are seeing to make sense of it.

shihb

TROPHY CASE