Best advice in the thread.
Getting a graduate degree
- Thread starter FUCK THE POLICE
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FUCK THE POLICE
911 EVERY DAY
I don't think it would be reasonable to expect to get my graduate degree at Mississippi State. I'm probably going to have to move to another school for it.
evince
Truthmatters
Mott the Hoople
Sweet Jane
Dude if you can make a 3.4 GPA in a science/math curriculum score 800 average or better on the GRE and intern in related programs as an undergrad (and get some good letters of reference from respected Profs) and show you have diverse interest outside your field (i.e. extracurricular activities such as arts, music, athletics) I'm sure you can find what you're looking for. It may not be MIT or Cornell but you'll get into a good program.
Several pitt falls. A lot of students kill their topic on the GRE but then bomb the oral/written part. You have to be able to do more then math or physics. You have to be able to communicate with human beings.
Failing to network. DO INTERNSHIPS ON YOUR SUMMERS AND WORK LIKE A DOG AND WITH PASSION!!!! Network with your profs.
Have a life outside of school. If your life is presently nothing but math and physics and GPA and GRE.....you're not ready for grad school.
Here's the problem with Grad school. It's not the same as undergrad. Being able to pass a class with a high GPA don't mean shit in grad school cause everyone can do that. Grad school is about competing with your peers to come up with the best research ideas and then working your ever loving ass off to execute those ideas. In some cases you will be treated like cheap, expendable labor by your profs who could care less if you succeed or fail. Ultimately success harbors more on how competitive your work is then how well you master the subject because it's expected you'll master the subject your studying.
If you do get excepted and you sound like a solid candidate to me, then watch out for your peers. Don't be niave about your class mates. There not there to be collegial they are there to compete with you and many will do anything that is neccessary to get the upper hand and that includes sabotaging your work. Network well with your classmates but don't get to close. Be suspicious of their intent.
Most importantly having a balanced, interesting and meaningful life is faaaaaar more important then a graduate degree. If your life becomes nothing but about your studies and your research, well you'll have a graduate degree but you don't have a life then. Time to move on at that point. Become a cat herder or the bouncer at a Mexican whore house or get a job on a tramp steamer to Asia.
In the long run, it's all about living well.
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Mott the Hoople
Sweet Jane
That would be advisable. Most schools want their undergrads to move on to another school for their graduate degree. Staying inside the same system indicates lack of competitiveness.....but.....their's nothing wrong with Mississippi State. Granted it's no MIT but if an Arkansas Hillbilly can become one of the richest men in the world with out a Harvard MBA.......
DamnYankee
Loyal to the end
What Kate said. I met a guy last night who graduated college 30 years ago, was "downsized", so is now in grad school, and he nets a small positive income by being a teacher's assistant.
When I was senior I was offered a similar deal at Johns Hopkis but had my undergrad debt to pay off and wanted to get on with my life.
Of course if you're not an excellent student then you'll be out of luck.
Cancel 2018. 3
<-- sched 2, MJ sched 1
i figured that out when he said that later...usually phd or doctorate are not considered 'graduate' degrees.....they are considered 'post' graduate
FUCK THE POLICE
911 EVERY DAY
I think I'll have to break this up to respond. You're giving a lot of good advice here, though, thanks.
The problem is that my grades are mainly kept up by my non-math classes. If you just put in the math and science classes it would be a straight 3.0.
I'm better at writing than I am at math. What's the oral part?
I'm trying to get an internship at NASA, but they are apparently half a freaking month late in sending out the e-offers and rejections.
Thanks, Mott.
The problem is that my grades are mainly kept up by my non-math classes. If you just put in the math and science classes it would be a straight 3.0.
I'm better at writing than I am at math. What's the oral part?
I'm trying to get an internship at NASA, but they are apparently half a freaking month late in sending out the e-offers and rejections.
Have a life outside of school. If your life is presently nothing but math and physics and GPA and GRE.....you're not ready for grad school.
Here's the problem with Grad school. It's not the same as undergrad. Being able to pass a class with a high GPA don't mean shit in grad school cause everyone can do that. Grad school is about competing with your peers to come up with the best research ideas and then working your ever loving ass off to execute those ideas. In some cases you will be treated like cheap, expendable labor by your profs who could care less if you succeed or fail. Ultimately success harbors more on how competitive your work is then how well you master the subject because it's expected you'll master the subject your studying.
If you do get excepted and you sound like a solid candidate to me, then watch out for your peers. Don't be niave about your class mates. There not there to be collegial they are there to compete with you and many will do anything that is neccessary to get the upper hand and that includes sabotaging your work. Network well with your classmates but don't get to close. Be suspicious of their intent.
Most importantly having a balanced, interesting and meaningful life is faaaaaar more important then a graduate degree. If your life becomes nothing but about your studies and your research, well you'll have a graduate degree but you don't have a life then. Time to move on at that point. Become a cat herder or the bouncer at a Mexican whore house or get a job on a tramp steamer to Asia.
In the long run, it's all about living well.
Thanks, Mott.
FUCK THE POLICE
911 EVERY DAY
I'm not even really sure if they have an astronomy program. But they're the best in-state school for math and engineering. I don't have the money or grades to justify going out of state. If I don't make the grades and don't get high enough on the GRE to get substantial scholarships to afford an out-of-state school, then I don't see any reason in bothering. I'll just have to try my hand in the private sector.
I've always wanted to be a researcher, though.
you don't need scholarships to get out-of-state tuition waived. And you don't need a 3.8 GPA to get an RA or TA stipend.
Desh is right, you should talk to actual astronomy professors. And, like I said, talk to grad students in astronomy programs. They're going to be way more hip than us message board hacks.
Desh is right, you should talk to actual astronomy professors. And, like I said, talk to grad students in astronomy programs. They're going to be way more hip than us message board hacks.
Mott the Hoople
Sweet Jane
Personally I'd rather be a bouncer in a Mexican whore house!
I did research for 2.5 years at OSU and at times it was more about minutia and politics then it was about getting anything substantive accomplished.
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KingCondanomation
New member
I know people who worked starting in their 20's and got their PhD on the side in their 30's. It can be done.
But I wouldn't do it, try and remember what so many forget - that the main point of an education is to get a job. IF you can get the job you want without bothering with anything beyond what you need, then why bother?
Don't get sucked into thinking others think that titles matter that much, when you think about it honestly, usually you realize that it was mainly you that cared about the title.
Nor should you think that school is their to enrich you or whatever, too often (and it's getting more that way) schools are like a seperate bubble from the real world, I've learned far more on my own with real experience.
Save your time and money for what really counts, starting a life, your relationship, your family, a home.
KingCondanomation
New member
You may be able to argue that people with higher levels of education end up with higher salaries but that may well be because they are simply the type to end up there regardless (ie: qualities of perseverance, intelligence). They could be there if they started from the bottom and America is full of stories of people who have.
From what I've observed in high-tech, I can't honestly remember a single instance of a person automatically getting a higher salary or assumed position based on their education status. So long as whatever you got is good enough to get your foot in the door, the rest is really going to be up to you.
My Dad has a PhD, he's remarked to me before that he is the only one in his company that has one and that it was really unneeded (though he is proud to have it).
KingCondanomation
New member
And I'm not arguing against education, obviously you need some but just don't lose sight of the fact that the reason you are there is to train to get a job.
Mott the Hoople
Sweet Jane
I have to disagree with Dano. A graduate degree is about doing what YOU want to do for a living. Not about getting a job. It's about developing your educational potential to it's fullest. You do that and the job thing takes care of it self.
KingCondanomation
New member
Well that's what I ultimately meant, I mean getting the job you want doing what you want to do. I didn't mean getting a job anywhere, I would think that was obvious.
I don't think the job thing takes care of itself at all. It depends much more on the market and ultimately the labor market. Let me give an example.
Back in the late 90's, in high-tech we were hiring just about anybody, some of the resumes were so sad yet employers were desperate, I knew guys getting hired in manufacturing with no previous experience, guys hired as programmers with minimal programming education.
Then from about late 2001 to 2003, after the big tech crash, there were people graduating with masters degrees in computing and they were just not getting hired because with so many layoffs those few that were hiring had their pick of experienced people.
Or a little different example, I know a guy with a PhD in history, he is like 40 something now, still looking for a job.
The number one important thing is trying to pick a subject you like but being realistic and looking at the market and the labor market and asking yourself "What are the chances of me finding a job doing this?". Don't blindly get as much education as you can and assume it will all just work out.
Topspin
Verified User
sorry to own you like this kid, not might be able to. It's a fact, college grads earn more than HS, graduate earn more than bachelor's. PERIOD
KingCondanomation
New member
I already agreed with you on this, I am just saying correlation does not equal causation.
Have you ever seen a manager promote someone exclusively because they have a higher degree?
Have you ever seen a manager give a salary increase to someone exclusively because they have a higher degree?
Those come from competence and working hard.
To me I view education as what it takes to get your foot in the door, where you go from there has very little to do with prior education.
Sometimes I've found too much education makes you oblivious to business realities. I knew a guy with a masters degree and I always found his approach to programming was almost like trying to score 100% on quality like you would try and score a 100% on a test. But in the real world, that isn't always realistic, sometimes you need to sacrifice a little to get your product out in time to market, or because a customer is too small and either doesn't care that much or is not worth that level of caring or because the level of profit is not worth it compared to something else.
He was more obsessed with how neat his code was rather than meeting deadlines.
Topspin
Verified User
that's retarded King, maybe you should be burger king. So you can point out examples, thanks captain obvious. There are not quarantees, and an advanced degree doesn't get you the same difference that a 4yr does over the hs. I don't think my MBA helped me much at work but I focused on professional investment management. I have zero doubt the MBA made me a much better investor.