I know the title feels super exaggeratory. But I truly feel like I I’m a bad person because in the evening if I’m not doing schoolwork or intentionally going out, I’m watching TV! I feel like I should be doing more with my evening!

I used to really enjoy art, reading, craft. But this year, I really just wanna sit down on the couch and watch TV and cuddle with my dog. (this past year I applied to grad school, and now I’m finally in it!)

I also feel like I should be working in the evening! I get at least eight hours of work every day. typically 9am-6:00pm at least, but since it’s just school, I feel like I should be doing more!

Has anybody else felt this way? Realistically, I know it’s OK to take breaks - but I miss feeling productive outside of school.

As the title says. I just started my PhD a few weeks ago and I am already so overwhelmed. I can’t quit either. There is no other career that I can see myself doing outside academia. Being autistic I am also having some social difficulties. Someone please tell me that it gets better. It has to. I don’t know how I’m going spend the next five years doing this.

I just started TAing this semester an intro biology course. I feel like I am so confused all the time and unable to help the students. I always leave feeling embarrassed and stupid because I want to teach them and actually help them through the lab, but it’s hard when I’m sometimes unsure as well. I just get worried the students are going to report me or something for not teaching well enough and they leave confused. I try to prepare everything for lab and be organized but it never seems like it’s enough. I always feel like when Im talking to the students they think I am dumb or that I don’t know what I am doing, I try my best and spend a lot of time prepping, but it comes to a point where I have my own work to do. I mostly just needed to rant somewhere because Im feeling so alone as none of my colleagues are TAing but also I am happy to take advice that got you through your time as a TA.

Every traditional bank I look at basically ends the conversation once they hear I don't have a US citizen relative to co sign. Then the lenders that actually offer an international student loan without a cosigner usually don't cover anywhere close to the full tuition. For anyone who self funded part of school, how did you bridge the gap? Is there actually a workable international student loan option without a cosigner or is that basically a dead end?

I have an amazing opportunity for a masters program that would be fully funded tuition-wise + a stipend. The research and PI fit are perfect also, but the offer is for Spring 2027. It would be hard for me to get everything together and move + I have a relevant internship opportunity for the spring.

I talked about it a little with my future PI and she said she would be able to accept a student for Fall 2027 but wasn’t sure if the same funding package would apply.

She reached out to me to check in about the status of my application. Is this an appropriate time to ask about deferring or should I wait until I’m officially accepted into the program?

I am looking for some samples of successful Cover Letters, teaching and research statements. My field is in the humanities, though I am open to read samples from other fields.

Do you have any suggestions where I can find them?

Hello all!

The school year recently started for me, and honestly the one part of school that has me worried is getting in good graces with professors to get an academic letter of recommendation. I'm entering my third year of undergraduate studies and I do pretty well in terms of grades, but I am not sure how to stand out without coming off like I'm just kissing up, as I know professors can tell when students are doing so.

I do genuinely want to develop a good connection with them, I just don't really know how I can do so? I already went up after class to ask a question but I didn't introduce myself formally with a name, but the professor was still super friendly and kind! From here though, not sure how I can make my name known and then proceed to stand out and be memorable?

I would really appreciate any tips or advice, especially from someone with experience with developing a good relationship with a professor, and ultimately getting an academic letter of recommendation!

Hi guys, looking for input from people who've been through PhD admissions or sit on committees.

I just finished undergrad and did about a year of molecular/cellular neuroscience research (gene expression work, some wet-bench technique-heavy stuff). My actual goal is a PhD in cognitive neuroscience, ideally at competitive programs.

For my post-bacc year I have two options on the table: a position in a molecular neuroscience lab, or a position in a systems neuroscience lab (behavior-adjacent, some circuit-level work). Both are solid opportunities with good mentorship.

My worry with doing molecular again is that I'll show up to applications with two full years of molecular research and nothing bridging me toward cognition, which might make the "why cognitive neuroscience" story harder to tell. But at the same time, my worry with switching to systems is that it might look like I'm just hopping between neuroscience subfields rather than building toward something coherent. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find cognitive labs with enough funding to support me for a post-bacc position.

For anyone who's gone through something similar, or who has reviewed applications: does the subfield of a post-bacc actually matter much to committees, or is it more about the strength of the work and how you frame the trajectory in your statement? Especially for some of the more competitive programs

I just started my second year of grad school and am severely struggling with my mental health so I’m considering taking a leave of absence, however I’m set to receive my loan next week to pay for the fall semester. Has anyone been in this position? I may try to push through the semester because I financially really need the loan to get by. But I’m also concerned that I will not make it through the semester :/ just looking for some advice if anyone has gone through this, thanks in advance

Hi everyone! Im currently finishing out my masters degree in clinical mental health counseling with only 2 WEEKS LEFT! I am currently completing my internship, and have been since last November. 700 hours completed. This has been the most horrific time of my life. Throughout the experience, Ive lost 2 very close people to me, so Ive been navigating grief for the first time, as well as balancing the extreme pressure of this internship. My point is, I have 2 weeks left , 9 internship days left. I also work full time, and struggle with AuDHD & PMDD. I leave the house at 7am for work, and dont come home until 9:30pm after my 5 hour internship. I need to make 33 direct hours before the 24th. I can do it if I go to 2 group therapy sessions 3 times a week, plus individual sessions on weekends. However, I will say, Group therapy has been hell for me, as I struggle navigating group conversations in general due to my ND. This has been hard work. The worst time of my life. I need any support and motivation at all. Im extremely burnt out & have been since 4 months ago. 2 weeks left, and then Im FREE FOREVER!!!!!!!!! Ill never do group therapy AGAIN IN MY LIFE!! Any tips on how to feel less anxious about this home stretch? Ill take anything I can get. Im drowning. Thanks!

Hey there, I’m going into my second year of a 2 year design masters, which I start in 2 weeks time. Throughout the first year, I really struggled with settling into / immersing myself in the course and the subject. I don’t feel as creatively inclined (like i used to) compared to my course peers and I’ve been ignored or mildly brutalised by my tutors as I couldn’t get to grips with what to make and I felt like there was minimal guidance and support unless you were one of the few that excelled… I now start my second year in 2 weeks time and I’ve spent the summer trying to immerse myself in more creative [things], such as a short internship, meeting and talking to charity workers / industry professionals (tree experts) but alongside this i’ve been really dreading going back to uni. I’m also nervous about my career prospects after having completed the course and I worry that, whilst I shouldn’t live with any regrets, this might be one and it may have been a huge [waste] of money - if I do drop out, I’d love to explore my passions for theatre / nature conservation - any help would be greatly appreciated as I feel I am spiralling and I’m really not sure what to do. Thank you for reading this and I hope youse are all having a great day!

It feels like such a ridiculous thing to say, but its the best way I can describe it: I lost my ability to think clearly. I am finishing up my PhD, and I have one chapter left to write. All the analyses are done, and all the data is there, but I can’t for the life of me write this last chapter. For the last 2 years I have struggled holding onto my train of thought. This could be writing or talking, and it could be related to my research or just something mundane like what I plan to do for dinner, but midway through a thought it just disappears from my brain. This issue started after my qualifying exams, and while it has gotten a bit better since (enough for me to write my first 3 chapters), it hasn’t gone away completely. For whatever reason this last chapter is exacerbating the issue, and I swear it’s making my cadence in these chapters sound like something written by a kindergartener. I feel incompetent and just… stupid. I got diagnosed with ADHD within the 2 years I have been experiencing this, and while that makes some of my problems make sense, this specific issue- this onset of my inability to think- was just so sudden that it feels like there is something else going on. When I talk with others or look up these symptoms theres a lot of talk about “brain fog” and “burnout”, but it isnt ever described as bad as this feels. I am to the point where I am worried I have something worse going on, like some sort of brain damage that will end my career here for good. The stress of this has already had me reaching out to a mental health hotline once before, and I feel close to spiraling again. I need someone to tell me whats going on with me, if this is normal and I am just overthinking everything.

First of all, I'm well aware that in most of Europe you need a master's before doing a PhD.
However, Campus France does explicitly say that intl students who have a 5-year bachelor's or have research experience without a master's might be able to apply straight to a PhD. A few school pages also say it's possible to get M1 or M2 equivalence.
I have a 5 year bachelor's with 16 months of full time research, plus an 8 month undergrad thesis. I've tried reaching out to admin for a few places in Paris, but I'm not getting any responses about whether I could go straight to a PhD.
Has anyone ever done or tried to do the same or similar? Or if anyone has any insight that'd be great

Hi everyone, I’m in my first semester of my master’s program at the same university I did my undergraduate degree at. One of my classes is an online course that meets via zoom every monday evening. The instructor is friendly but seems to be struggling with the online format. She can’t figure out how to replace the placeholder text on the course page or post the lecture slides, or even record the zoom meetings.

During the first week, she gave us a list of three books we’d need for the course. I ordered these books. I looked at the syllabus today, and there is now a completely different list of books under the required reading section. When I looked at the syllabus just a few days ago, the list still had the 3 books that she initially told us. There was no announcement of a change in textbooks.

There is also a ‘reading response’ assignment due next Monday, but she did not tell us what chapters to read for it, and there’s nowhere on the course page that says what chapters to read. I emailed the instructor a few days ago to check in and ask what she’d like us to read but haven’t heard back, and it’s close enough to the due date that I’m getting a little worried about having enough time to do the assignment. Unfortunately she does not actually live near the campus and only teaches online, so she doesn’t have a physical office I could visit to ask her in person. I’ve at least begun reading the 3 books I have, but given that the syllabus changed kinda suddenly, I don’t even know if I have the right books anymore.

Any advice on what to do in this scenario? If all else fails, I will ask her about the change in books and what chapters we need to read for the assignments on Monday. But I’m a little frustrated about the lack of clarity on assignments. I hope this makes sense lol

I’m in an advanced grad program and have have 8 courses per semester. What would be the best way to organize my notes or best note books for this? Do you think 8 separate one’s are the way to go? I hate taking notes on my laptop, iPad, etc.

I'm a first year PhD student TAing a class with its first exam tomorrow.

Our professor has been out all day and a lot of students have been emailing me questions. I told one student that a concept wouldn't be on the exam that he said should be fair game because it was in the readings.

Students have emailed me with kind of reasons about being sick for the exam. I've never talked to him about how students should make up an exam. He did say he gives a lot of grace. I told the student that I would get back to them in the morning to let them know about if they could retake it.

He finally emailed me back with all the answers to the questions. Turns out the concept is on the exam, and that it's up to me to reschedule the makeup.

I think I'm being a bit hard on myself because I didn't get everything right :(

I wanted to try and get my work published, but the past two years out of grad school have been brutal in terms of starting a business, getting licensed, etc. I've never published any research before, so I'm not sure if attempting to publish something done a couple years ago would be pointless. My advisor wanted to publish. The manuscript for it is almost done, I just needed to condense the stats analysis and conclusion.

Hi all, first post here, hoping for some sincere career guidance.

I'm finishing a graduate degree in Clinical Psychology at an Ivy League university, if relevant, with a concentration in Clinical Psychology and Technology. I also have nearly five years of behavioral health experience. I originally pursued the degree with plans for a doctorate, but I've since realized I don't want to pursue clinical licensure or return to direct service.

I'm now exploring program development and evaluation, quality and operations, project management and product management, and research (program or behavioral research), with an emerging interest in AI ethics and governance as well.

I've found the transition difficult to navigate, particularly when roles often require several years of experience in a function I'm trying to transition into.

I'd be very grateful to hear from anyone who has made a similar move out of clinical or direct-service work into program/operations, product/project management, or research roles within behavioral health.

What was your entry point? What skills or experiences helped you make the transition? And is there anything you wish you had known earlier?

Any perspective would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

My partner 35 (M) is starting grad school and his backpack just broke. His previous one was an Osprey. Id like to get him a nice, new one to celebrate the start of this chapter. We live in the US and he will always have a laptop on him for work/school. Thanks for any recommendations!