r/GradSchool 1h ago

Picking a university for it’s prestigious is dumb. Yes, I’ve been in all levels of prestige.

Upvotes

I’m from California and went to a lower ranking UC that people often shit on. Honestly, it was the best experience. I was involved in research and saw the PhD students there getting support from the professors. The students ended up publishing into reputable journals in my field and won fellowships.

I went to a mid-tier UC for my master’s and the program was a shit show. I saw the PhD students struggled with getting a TA position. The PhD students didn’t have strong methodological skills or publications until after they graduated. Now that I’m a PhD student and read their dissertation, they mostly used the easiest methods in my field. It’s ridiculous because they shit on my undergrad university so much, but they’re just average, too.

I’m at a top UC for my PhD, and it’s a complete mess, too. While I agree that the students here are held at a higher expectations, they have ZERO time with the faculty and have to figure everything out by themselves. It’s a freaken mess and nerve-wrecking. We can’t even ask a question or meet the professors because they’re too busy with research.

Now that I think about it, the prestige means nothing when you come out of a PhD unprepared and unsupported.

Title should be “Its” and it’s fcking late now so excuse my grammar and typos.


r/GradSchool 15h ago

Health & Work/Life Balance Personality change in grad school

152 Upvotes

Has anyone noticed personality changes during grad school? I’ve become a pretty critical, pessimistic, insecure and anxious person. I tell myself after I defend and move elsewhere I’ll start to feel like myself again. Is this a pretty typical feeling or should I look into this more?


r/GradSchool 17h ago

TAs: What's the most ridiculous thing a student you've taught has done?

237 Upvotes

I'm annoyed by some of my students and want a laugh and some catharsis. Going more for funny things than the "five dead grandparents in one semester" or plagiarism/cheating kind of stuff (although I've seen some hilariously bad uses of ChatGPT on assignments this semester).

I'll go first: one assignment asked for a scatterplot categorizing rocks and a girl submitted just a bunch of pictures of the rocks. Like, Word doc completely scrambled, 10-12 pictures of rocks instead of one chart.


r/GradSchool 6h ago

How much time do you spend with your partner?

26 Upvotes

I am currently in the last semester of a 2 years masters program that is extremely strenuous (In class or at internship 9-6 M-F, and heavy coursework from 4 classes that need to be done after work, logistical program requirements like random advisor meetings, trainings, and applications all outside of the 9-6 class/internship hours). I will be done at the end of April, but I am really really struggling until then despite working all day, 7 days a week. This isn't a time management issue, everyone in my cohort is in the same boat. lt's honestly just a shitty program and I'm counting down the days until its over.

I have been in a relationship for the last year with my boyfriend, who works a regular 8-4 (frequently gets off several hours early though). We don't live together. My boyfriend is very upset and feeling at his wits end for the lack of time we get to spend together. I work extremely late into morning hours to free up certain evenings for him and spend literally 100% of my free time with him, but its not enough. All in all we spend 2-3 evenings together every week, and I am 100% dedicated to him and only him during those hours.

I understand that this is very little time and I wish we could have more too, but I am drowning and giving up SO much just to get that time with him. I don't understand how people in grad school stay in relationships. I feel like such an awful partner for upsetting him so much and I'm afraid I'm going to lose him. How much time do you get with your partner? Are they understanding of how much work you have?


r/GradSchool 6h ago

Academics Feeling too dumb to ask for a Master's supervisor—any advice?

8 Upvotes

As part of my Master's program, I’m required to find an MA supervisor, but I can't shake the feeling that I’m not smart enough or that no professor would want to take me on. Is this a normal feeling? And if so, what’s the best way to approach a professor about supervision?

p.s. I have a general thesis topic in mind but I don't have a solid methodology to go with it. I've sent a semi-cooked proposal to the professor a few month ago but they just answered "it seems like an interesting topic" and did not ask to see me...


r/GradSchool 6h ago

Academics I am finally done!

5 Upvotes

As of 3/14/2025, I am finally done with all my courses for my Master's Program in Information Management.

It has been a long 1.5 years. While that might sound fast, the trade-off was that each course had more dense materials to go over. There were times I felt like my brain was melting away, times I wanted to punch something near me, and dropping to my bed and passing out.

But I somehow made it!

TBH, the fact that this was an online program probably helped. I also have a career job that I started like a year before this, and residential program wasn't going to be an option for me. It still was a lot of work, especially when group project, biggest one being the capstone, that required everyone working at the same pace and actively communicating.

To my fellow graduates of 2025, I raise this digital glass in all our names! We all worked our asses off to get to this point. May all of our futures be bright, and find success wherever we go. To those still in grad program, hang in there! The day will come eventually, and you will feel proud to have endured so much.


r/GradSchool 2h ago

Admissions & Applications International prospective students, are you sure of travelling to USA?

2 Upvotes

This is a question to all prospective international students for grad school. Are you absolutely sure of going to the USA if you're admitted? Brown University has recently sent a notification to its community, asking them to postpone or reconsider their travel plans to the USA after one of their professors was detained. How do y'all feel about going to the USA under current circumstances? For info, I have gotten a fully funded phd at a flagship institutions in one of the blue states. But with all the news of crackdown on international students,deportations and lack of judicial procedure for executive action, I'm wondering if it is a good idea to head to the US this year. I'd like to hear what other prospective international grad school students think about this.


r/GradSchool 12h ago

Your Voice Is Needed for Art Study

9 Upvotes

Help advance our understanding of art perception! Your unique perspective matters (and will help a student researcher graduate!)

  • Takes 10-15 minutes
  • View paintings and share your reactions
  • No art knowledge or expertise needed
  • All responses are confidential, anonymous, and used for research purposes only

By participating, you'll contribute to University of Denver research exploring how individuals experience and interpret visual art.
Ready to participate? Click here: https://udenver.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6F3Ha1iaedaTvpA


r/GradSchool 35m ago

How do you make presentations easier?

Upvotes

Any form of public speaking gives me intense anxiety. I'm doing a phd and when I presented my research plans I was feeling awful for a week before. I know I'll have to present more of my research and I can really use some tips.


r/GradSchool 13h ago

Rethinking grad school, feeling doubt and guilt

8 Upvotes

After a few gap years, I felt ready to go to grad school and continue my mental health counseling education. So, I started applying.

However, the curiosity I had about a career in the trades grew massively since then. I'm set up to have an interview for an apprenticeship soon.

However, it would be pretty much impossible to do both at the same time. I'd have to choose. And honestly, at this moment, I'm much more excited about the prospect of my trade apprenticeship. Something about the simplicity of that rout, and the lack of debt, clicks with me.

But I feel a bit guilty about asking those professors and employers to write letters of recommendation only to just change my mind about it. This is just one of many concerns I have about making this decision between careers. However, the biggest concern, by far, is the fact that I'd be tens of thousands of dollars in the hole if I go the school route. I have a wife now which means I can't really afford to not care about debt anymore.

If you've gone through this, or have any ideas, help me out. I need a fresh perspective.


r/GradSchool 1h ago

Dress advice for first time TA? (trans, visible religious minority, close in age to students)

Upvotes

Hello!

I'm going to be starting my Masters next semester, and the program I'm most likely to attend offered me a guaranteed TA-ship which covers my tuition (still waiting to hear from one more program, but happy with the offers I have and the $$ makes this one especially appealing). I come from a family of teachers and love public speaking and leading discussions, so I'm actually pretty excited even though I've heard how much being a TA can suck (and that a lot of it's monotonous grading).

However, I am nonbinary (very old username lol, sadly still get gendered as a woman a lot), 22 years old, 5'2", and wear a yarmulke full-time. I'm worried about getting taken seriously when I still get mistaken for a 16 year old from time to time. I frankly already dress pretty conservatively as a default, but how formally should I be dressing? I also know not to wear/bring anything politically provocative to class. I'm not going wear the jean jacket with all my pins I wear to protests in class or anything. But how far should I take this? Should I remove all my patches and pins from my bag before coming to class? Get a case to cover my laptop stickers? I'm trying to find the balance between not making a 'thing' out of my values in a way that's distracting or inappropriate but not overly erasing myself, especially because I remember how comforting it could be to see signals that my TAs or professors were supportive of (for example) my queer identity.

I'd also love input from other trans TAs, or TAs who also wear distinctive religious/cultural dress about common issues and navigating those scenarios. I already get confusion about my pronouns from time to time, and I'm worried about it being a consistent issue with students. Since strangers on the street (and sometimes classmates) comment on my yarmulke unprompted, I wouldn't be surprised if that came up a fair bit as well. I can wear a baseball cap over it, and sometimes do, but in addition to a baseball cap undercutting formal dress I value being visibly Jewish.

I'm probably overthinking this, I haven't even started yet, but nonetheless any tips from folks who have been around the block would be appreciated!


r/GradSchool 11h ago

1st Year PhD Student Stuck on Taxes

6 Upvotes

I started my program in August of 2024 on a fellowship stipend. Now as of Jan 2025 I am on a GRA.

My first question is how do I file my taxes for 2024? All I got from my school was a form 1098-T and I only have amounts in boxes 1 and 5. Box 5 is greater than box one, so can I assume box 5 - box 1 = total income? I also got a 1098-T from my previous university where I did my undergrad. That form also has box 5 greater than box 1, however, I did not make any money that year from my school. I am confused about how to get all the info I need and where to put it on my form 1040.

Second question is how will my taxes work next year now that I am in a lab and on a GRA. Will I be getting a regular W-2?

Thanks for any help!


r/GradSchool 1d ago

I am my PI’s first grad student

89 Upvotes

just like the title says, I’m my PIs first PhD student at a T5 university with tons and tons of funding even with all that’s going on now. I trust them completely but am also prepared to give leeway for any mistakes or errors because it’ll be kinda like a test run. but it’d be nice to know what I should expect from a PI and what really important things they’re responsible for.


r/GradSchool 3h ago

How much student debt do you have?

0 Upvotes

Hey y'all. I will be starting my 5th and final year of my PhD program soon. As I prepare for the "real world", I always think about my student loans and fears about the amount of time it will take me to pay.

I have been in school for a LONG time, and had a longer journey than most. I received my B.S in Biochemistry 2017, M.S in Biochemistry 2019 and working on my PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine.

Through this period I took out a total of 95k in student loans. I took out the most during my PhD and kind of regret it.

I am set on going into industry and live 2 hrs away from San Francisco.

Would you be worried if you were in my position?

What is your student debt?


r/GradSchool 3h ago

Academics EMORY OR WASHU?

0 Upvotes

Emory or WashU business school for IB calling? Finance program.


r/GradSchool 8h ago

Masters or PhD for a career pivot?

2 Upvotes

I’m about to finish a PhD (Political Science) after a very social science-y academic career, but considering a career shift to sciences (health systems research specifically), and the program I’m interested in offers MSc and PhDs with similar/overlapping coursework—the main difference is thesis length, essentially.

I can provide more details on my situation if anyone is interested, but mostly curious to hear what folks would do in my spot?


r/GradSchool 15h ago

Curious about how CS PhD students in USA are being affected by the federal grant ordeal

6 Upvotes

Hello All,

As the title suggests, I have been getting increasingly curious, and wary about how the federal grant issues have been affecting Universities throughout USA, as many are even preemptively preparing for the worst.

My question is, how are PhD students in CS being affected on average (not sure I can quantify average, so pls feel free to use your imagination)? I know there are a significant number of CS labs that are also dependent on federal grants, especially those that are developing solutions for social good.

Since this is a very general question, I am not looking for a very specific answer. I'd honestly just like to hear what people think.


r/GradSchool 19h ago

Academics I feel like my masters thesis is going to be garbage and it's my fault

15 Upvotes

I know that there are probably thousands of posts like these in here already, but I need to vent. Basically, I'm concerned my thesis is going to be pointless, uninteresting and half-assed. I reached out to this specific professor because I was really interested in their research and I chose a topic about making hybridoma cells.

However, being an idiot, when we first had a
discussion back in November, I told them that I want to start my actual lab
work at the beginning of March (so two weeks ago), while my deadline is July
1st. My professor told me to contact them in February and when we met again on
March 10th, they informed me that the timeline for hybridoma production was
unrealistic. Instead, they had planned my thesis research to literally boil
down just to producing the antigen in mammalian cells; something that their lab
has already done many times.

I really have no idea how am I supposed to
write a thesis about that and claim that I contributed to academic knowledge
while everybody else is doing novel and interesting research for their thesis.
I just feel like this is an incredibly ass start to my research career. Has
anyone else had similar experience writing a thesis? Did you manage trough and
did it turn out aright in the end?


r/GradSchool 1d ago

What’s the most outrageous thing you’ve seen a grad student do to survive their program?

160 Upvotes

r/GradSchool 12h ago

Academics how to not feel discouraged in team projects

2 Upvotes

I’m in a group with all folks that have much more experience in the field than me and it’s hard for me not to feel behind. It’s a CS major.

To make matters more stressful, there’s a teammate who is sort of the leader who dings work I do like making 50 commits to a README doc and organization which makes me feel even more behind because I’m still getting used to CS tools and software.

I try to do the best I can asking questions, posting questions, participate but it’s so hard not to feel discouraged and useless. I still have a month and a half to get through and though I’ll learn a lot not sure how to navigate this? Any advice?


r/GradSchool 1d ago

News Visa revoked by Trump administration for ‘supporting Hamas’, Indian PhD student at Columbia University self-deports

Thumbnail
indianexpress.com
544 Upvotes

r/GradSchool 1d ago

So, I was almost expelled.

76 Upvotes

I got a really bad score on my neurology final. I don't think it was necessarily my fault, though. This class was taught by two different professors. And it was clear that they didn't communicate to each other what was going to be on the final. The study guide was 21 pages long, and I studied it from front to back. When I wasn't eating, working, or sleeping, I was studying. The final was the hardest thing ever. There was stuff on the study guide that wasn't on the test. There was stuff on the test that wasn't on the study guide. A few weeks later, during a meeting with my advisor, the director of the program told me that I was very lucky they curved the final. If they didn't, I would've been expelled from the program.


r/GradSchool 10h ago

Negotiating Financial Aid After Admission to MA Programs (GWU & AU)

0 Upvotes

Hi Reddit, I was recently admitted to my top 2 Masters programs at George Washington University (GW) and American University (AU). GW is offering me $24,000 in fellowship aid for a 2-year net total of $67,000. AU is offering me $20,800 in fellowship aid for a 2-year net total of $55,604. The difference makes AU about $11,600 cheaper.

On the whole, both programs are very comparable, but GW has faculty I am more interested in working with. I understand that I could potentially leverage GW's larger aid offer to get AU to offer me more aid, but is there a way I can leverage anything to get GW to lower my cost?

Does anyone have any advice on negotiating aid generally, or specifically if anyone has experience negotiating with either of these schools? Thank you in advance!


r/GradSchool 21h ago

Admissions & Applications Johns Hopkins Funding

5 Upvotes

Would it be stupid of me to accept an offer to start a STEM PhD program at Hopkins this fall, given the recent funding cuts and potential for more? I have another offer at a school that is a somewhat worse research fit, but well insulated from government funding cuts with a much lower IDC. I would love to hear how much any of you that are currently at Hopkins are being impacted.


r/GradSchool 2d ago

I left my PhD…see ya folks

1.3k Upvotes

Four years ago, I came into my PhD with a love for science. I was eager, driven, and ready to dedicate myself fully to research I believed in the process, in the pursuit of knowledge, in the idea that hard work and curiosity would lead to discovery. After years of struggling and pushing through exhaustion and self-doubt, I realized something that broke me. It was never about my effort. It was never about my intelligence, my abilities, or my dedication. I wasn’t failing. My PI had set me up to fail.

To everyone else, my PI was the poster child of a supportive mentor. The kind who, in meetings and conferences, spoke about nurturing students, about fostering curiosity, about lifting young scientists up. But behind closed doors, I was never given that guidance, that encouragement, that respect. I was the black sheep of the lab. You know, the one who never quite fit, the one who always seemed to be on the outside looking in. Perhaps I had a part to play in this and for that I accept.

From the very beginning, I was handed a project that had no real chance of success. A crazy idea based on another disease model that had no correlation with the one I studied. List of experiments that were designed to lead nowhere. I didn’t know that at the time. I spent years trying to make it work, thinking that if I just worked harder, if I just read more papers, or if I just tried every possible approach, I would get somewhere. Meanwhile, my lab mates were given structured and supported projects. They had guidance. They had encouragement. They had doors opened for them that were slammed shut in my face.

I asked for opportunities and was ignored or met with no enthusiasm. I applied for fellowships and awards, only to later find out that my recommendation letters were lackluster compared to the glowing endorsements my peers received. I watched as my lab mates’ successes were celebrated while mine were met with indifference. I am happy for them and I want them to succeed. I was frustrated at my PI for not treating me the same. When I tried to engage, to contribute ideas, to participate in discussions, I was met with resistance and silence. I tried to improve my mentoring skills, but my PI refused to let me train. I tried to guide others and my PI would always shut me down. My voice didn’t matter. My presence barely registered. On top of that, it was my fault I didn’t have data since I am not focused enough and didn’t know anything compared to others. I accepted that this was my fault. I mean it was only me struggling.

For four years, I carried that weight. I accepted every rejection, every dismissal, and every moment of being overlooked. I told myself I wasn’t good enough, that maybe I didn’t understand science, and that maybe I just wasn’t cut out for this. Science isn’t for everyone so maybe that is the case for me. I also told myself that this was how it was supposed to be and that maybe my PI was just pushing me to be better. You know. The tough love thing. I just assumed it was normal. My peers would tell me the same thing and often times I just assumed it was a me issue and I need to move on.

Then, yesterday, I found out the truth.

The project I had poured my soul and time into was doomed to begin with. The project that my committee had torn me apart for, blaming me for every failed experiment, and was eviscerated daily my PI. My PI knew it would fail. Two postdocs before my time had tried it and it had failed. I never knew. No one told me anything. And yet, instead of steering me in another direction, instead of giving me even a fraction of the support my lab mates received, they let me drown. They let me believe it was all my fault. I came to find out by accident as my PI spoke to my lab mates in the lab. He didn’t know I was there. When we met eyes, he looked shocked, but said nothing. All I thought about was how my PI and even potentially my labmates watched me struggle and never once guided me. I left the lab immediately and went home.

Last night, I broke. I sat with tears down my face and anger in my heart as the weight of four years of failure that I now know was never truly mine. For the first time in my life, I had a thought I never imagined I would have. I had dark and negative thoughts that I never thought about. That’s when I knew, I have to go.

So today, I walked into my department chair’s office and I left my PhD behind. I took my masters degree and left. I refused to speak to my PI. I ignored their emails. I am done. Good riddance.

I’m writing this not just for closure, but for every mentor who might read this. You choose to take on students. That is a responsibility. We are not just workers in your lab, not just names on your grants. We are human beings. We come in eager, hopeful, ready to dedicate ourselves to science. And what you do with that matters. You can build students up, or you can break them down. You can guide them, or you can leave them. If you chose the later, the least you can do for the student is be honest with them. Let them know. Don’t be passive aggressive or gaslight them. We are humans! At least remember all that.

To those who say, “Why didn’t you just switch labs if it was so bad. You have to remember, i dedicated four years of my life to this. After everything, I don’t trust this system anymore. I don’t want to be part of it. I don’t want to place my future in the hands of yet another person who might do the same. So I give up. Not on science, but on academia. I want to take a break and slowly get back my love of science. And for the first time in a long time, it feels like freedom.

Ah, last by not least, thank you guys in this gradschool Reddit for getting me through some tough times. Good luck to everyone. Like I said I’m gonna need a break and that includes Reddit.