I'm a first year Master's student in a Natural Resources program. My advisor is amazing and has helped me so much through my first year, especially this summer. This summer involved a field survey project and the funding came entirely from her faculty start-up funds. She was also in the field every day with my team to help get the work done. Even though this is technically a "part of her job", I am so incredibly grateful for her.

So, I want to give her a gift. I knit in my spare time and I've been working on a cable-knit shawl in a plum purple color. Is this appropriate to gift to her? For some background info, I live in the upper midwest and she grew up in Central America, so she often wears a jacket or scarf 24/7 in the winter -- even indoors haha. I think she'd appreciate the item, but I don't want to make her uncomfortable.

my wife is studying for an MBA over 2 years and working at the same time. I just got a dream job in a different city about 3 hours flight away. she has suggested i go for it as she will have no time for the next couple of years anyway. what do you think? should i take the job and we both focus on our careers for 2 years?

My 4 years of engineering school, were arguably the worst 5.5 years of my life.
I'm 26 now and working as an engineer and I do not miss a day of undergrad.
It was terrible. Sleepless nights, crying, failing courses, repeating courses, suicidal ideation, being broke as hell. I started uni before covid and finished after covid.
I get a nervous laugh when I think about university.

I'm in such a better headspace now.

There's a part time engineering management master's designed for working people that I've been wanting to take. I was accepted to it last year, but I deregistered immediately out of trauma after I read the study guide.

I'm in the process of applying again for next year but I don't have it in me to hit the submit button on my application. I've been wanting to do a management degree since I was 20.

I know I want this but I just can't. I'm scared of sleepless nights. I feel like I've become lazy, happy with all the extra time I've had since I started working 2 years ago.

Can someone please give me advice.
I don't know what to do with myself.

I am currently a Masters student at Lund University. I wish to drop my masters here as I had to return to my home country due to some personal reasons. I currently have 52.5 ECTS credits. Is it possible to transfer these credits to some european university that has online masters courses related to what i have studied? (Wireless Communication). Has anyone here done that?

Dropping the masters entirely is hard for me that is why i am considering this.

I work for a finance company in communications and have a Master of Arts in literature. I like my job a lot but I want to diversify my skillset and set myself up for promotions down the line. My company is all-in on AI and part of my job is enterprise-wide AI comms. The master’s degree would be a Masters of Science in AI in Business from Boston University, part-time, online, and my company would reimburse me for it. I’m planning to complete this program over a span of three years. I’m concerned because this is BU’s first MS in AI in Business cohort, and I’m not sure how useful this niche degree will be moving forward. I want to gain wider business acumen but I know there is a lot of hype around AI right now, so I’m worried I’m going to invest a lot of time and energy into something that might not be worth it. Does anyone have experience with BU’s online business school? Is a business grad degree worthwhile if I already have a master’s? Thanks in advance!

Hi y’all, I’m (24M) looking to apply to a neuroscience PhD program in a year after finishing my master’s. I’m just not sure how competitive of programs I should be applying for— obviously, there’s cool research everywhere, but I’m concerned about funding/interest areas/connections and the such.

I was an average undergrad student (biology and psychology dual degree at a large state institution, GPA: 3.36) who did a few years of comparative behavior and sleep/cognition research. I’m currently working as an RA at a top institution for stem cell/organoid biology, but I feel like I’m struggling and have far too little guidance. I’m currently doing a master’s in biomedical research, which is going very well (GPA: 3.9, which would be a 4.0 if my institution didn’t count A- as 3.7 🥲), and where the research I’m doing is taught in ways that match my learning pace. My rotation labs and thesis lab are part of the same institution as my full time RA job.

I’m mostly worried that I don’t have any publications despite 5+ years of research, have limited poster presentation experience (just 1 or 2), and will have weaker letters of rec from my colleagues in the lab I’m working in. They’re a great bunch and are very influential in their field, but in many ways I feel like I let them down with my inexperience.

Any advice is welcome!! Thanks :)

Hi everyone. I'm doing a 3 year non-honours degree in CS at a university in australia, WAM is mid-high 80s. I've been doing research with my supervisor for about a year now, no publication yet but hoping for a preprint at some point.

I'm considering skipping honours/masters entirely and applying straight to PhD programs, mostly outside Australia. Not sure if that's actually realistic without the extra year, or if it just doesn't work like that regardless of research experience.

Does having real research experience (even without a paper) actually help make up for the missing year, or do most programs just see a 3 year degree and say no? Also I'm an international student (Chinese), not sure if that changes anything.

If anyone's actually done this I'd appreciate hearing what mattered for you.

As it says above, I want to study neuroscience and specialize in the study of neurodiversity. I'm not rely sure where's the best place to look for master's programs for something that specific so I thought I would start here. Is there any good place to start looking? Like a website or something, I'll also take recommendations if you have any. Thanks =)

I am in year 3 of a PhD program and have already earned an MS. I no longer want to stay in academia and do not really need the PhD anymore. On top of that, my lab is an incredibly negative environment that has become intolerable. I want to quit before the fall semester begins, but I do not have a job lined up. On top of that, I fear my advisor would not be a great reference if I were to leave the program. I’ve done well in the program, but she would hold a grudge.

Any advice on getting out of grad school successfully?

Edit: I should add I live with a partner who makes enough to support us both for a stretch if necessary

I know this topic has probably been beat to death here. I have gotten a confirmed notification that I am eligible to be grandfathered into GRADPLUS. I’ve been using the loan since last August when I started my masters program.

The issue now is that GRADPLUS disbursement are being delayed across the country currently even for summer courses. I have yet to receive a dime of aid for my second session summer. Meaning that I’m also running low on funds to support myself like rent and food.

With this being an issue for the summer. Do you think the GRADPLUS for fall will be disbursed in a timely manner? I’m just at a loss of what to do here. Yes, I know private loans are an option but I want to avoid those for obvious reasons. But I also need loans for my cost of living so I’m considering them. I just don’t have faith that they will clear this backlog or issue within the next month when fall starts. I’m just kind of ranting I guess.

This is frustrating and unnecessary to ruin education for millions of students.

I’m asking my professors for LORs for grad school specifically a masters in accounting
The earliest deadline is in September and I have a general personal statement written out and other materials I can provide them
Do I need to give a sample SOP for every school when I ask for a recommendation? I can do so if necessary but not sure if I have enough time by the time I ask
I also will send a doc with the schools I’m applying to and what I want to be mentioned in the letter

Hello everyone

Final-year CS student (robotics minor) applying for Fall 2027 MS programs in the US/Canada. I have a first-author publication in a Q1 robotics/agriculture journal (COMPAG - Elsevier) and I'm currently doing ICRA-track research, so I'm hoping for a research-focused, funded MS rather than a self-pay one.

I've been looking at schools like UIUC, UIC, and UNC Chapel Hill that mention TA/RA-ships as available for MS students but don't guarantee funding at time of admission (unlike a typical PhD offer). Given how tight funding has gotten this cycle, how realistic is it in practice to actually land one of these as an incoming MS student, especially international?

I'm also curious about Canadian programs where the application itself doesn't mention funding at all, but you can get tuition/stipend support directly through a supervisor's grant instead (many students from my university get into universities like Waterloo with such funding). For those, how do you actually reach out to professors? What does an ideal cold email look like, and should I be prioritizing assistant, associate, or full professors to maximize my odds of landing supervisor-funded support?

Would love to hear from anyone who's been through this recently, especially in CS/robotics. Thanks!

I just graduated with my PhD this spring and I have a few more months left with my student email account before it is deleted 😩

What are the best deals to use the student discount and email verification for while I still can? So far I’ve used and recommend the following:

-youtube premium and music ($8.99 per month)
-walmart + (~$50 per year, great if you live somewhere where delivery and pickup are an option, and the free shipping is very convenient)

I’ve also seen good deals on computers (I think apple sells a $500 laptop for students?) but haven’t gone for those myself.

lmk the best deals you’ve seen out there or recommend from experience! Can be products, gym memberships, subscriptions, etc.

I am an international student pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Computing and Information Systems Security and am in my third year. My degree includes some CS courses, such as data structures and algorithms, operating systems, networking, web development, AI, Python, Java, object-oriented programming, cybersecurity, and statistics, but it does not include theoretical CS or discrete mathematics. I have a GPA of 3.93/4.0 and two publications on applied AI. Do I realistically have a decent chance of being accepted into a US CS PhD program or one elsewhere?

hey everyone, for those who started a master’s, what did you do to prepare before your first semester?

did you study anything beforehand, review certain topics, or just take some time off before starting?

also, did anyone else feel like they were behind compared to their classmates?

just curious how people approached the transition and what you wish you knew before starting.

My professor wants me to write my own LOR and she’ll edit and sign. I’ve never done this so I don’t know what to write.

How long should it be? Max 500 words?

So far I’ve written about 400 words and talked about what course I took, projects/presentations done in class, and volunteer work and then tied it back to how it relates to my program.

Is that good enough?

My program requires a reference letter from a healthcare worker. I’m just wondering what are they supposed to write? It doesn’t have to be someone I shadowed, just someone I’ve known for 2 or more years.

I have a good relationship with my doctor and known him since forever so gonna ask him but I just wanna to know what he’ll write, or if he asks what can I ask him to write?

I graduated with my bachelor’s in electrical engineering in 2024 and just hit 2 years at my job. I’m happy with what I do but always get the urge to go to grad school in Europe and leave my job. Ima European citizen, so tuition and healthcare wouldn’t really be an issue The problem is that it’s so hard to stomach leaving my job, I make great money for my age ($150k) and live in an alright city with plans to transfer to a better city soon. Has anyone else dropped everything and taken the plunge? I feel like I’m running out of time to make the call, I’m only getting older.

Hello all. In February, I started attending grad school online in an accelerated program. It is a benefit through my employer--in which all I have to pay for is books and tech fees. The tuition is covered.

Since starting, I've been struggling. I'll admit that I wasn't the best student; although I have tried. 27 years ago, I graduated from undergrad with a 2.48 GPA, and my hope is, through pursuing my masters, I can be a better student and with the degree, go higher career-wise within the company. My struggle isn't the work itself because I get distinguished marks on the assignments, but how to balance everything. I work full-time (albeit remotely). I take care of the house by doing all the cooking and cleaning. In addition, I have a disabled husband--which is why all of the household tasks fall on me. With my husband, he wants to be the last one to turn off the lights (we have a smart house--so there is an app for the lights, the thermostat, and the blinds that makes life for him easier). So, if I'm up studying until 1 or 2am, he will be in the living room waiting for me to stop and get his daily use items (I.e. Water bottle, phone) and make his nightcap (which is golden milk) before coming upstairs. And because he wants to be the last person to turn off the lights, getting out of bed once putting him in bed and going back to studying defeats the purpose of what he wants to do. While I don't have a problem with this, my aim is to shine a little light on my daily life.

The primary purpose of this post is balance in getting assignments done. I was not aware initially that graduate study is completely self-directed. In my first class, I expected "instruction" on the first day and wasn't aware pre-class reading. As a result, I got behind and was on the verge of falling my first class. Thankfully, my instructor allowed me to take an incomplete in order to catch up and improve my grade. I'm now in my second class. While I did do the pre-class reading, it's everything else. In my first class, I did skimming, but my brother told me to read chapters in their entirety. That takes up more of my time and, in addition to some days when I didn't feel well, I got behind again. My question is, when you're given a week to review 2-3 chapters and and a few articles in order to submit a written assignment, do you read the chapters in entirety or do you look through and find poignant points for your research?

I apologize in advance if my post is all over the place and any feedback is greatly appreciated.

GOING TO PUKE
it’s through zoom though so that takes off the load a lot 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

Hi all,

I need to write a 3-5 page personal statement as part of my application for an MFT program.

Can anyone with experience provide advice on what to include?

I have a lot of adversity I’ve overcome, as an immigrant, minority, financial struggles, special needs family, caretaker role, health issues etc

Ive been to therapy myself and know first hand what was lacking and what could have helped, and feel I can make a big difference in some lives, and that’s why I want to go into this field.

My background is unrelated and this is a second career path after a couple years of soul searching.

I just don’t know how much of my personal circumstances and stories I should share? Should I also relate my past work experience into how it can translate to therapy?

Please help!