You know you're in your first year grad school when

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the experiences and stereotypes associated with being a first-year graduate student, particularly in STEM fields. Participants share anecdotes about their daily lives, study habits, and the challenges they face, including coursework and funding issues.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Meta-discussion

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants mention common stereotypes about graduate students, such as reliance on coffee and ramen, while others challenge these stereotypes by sharing their own dietary preferences.
  • A participant expresses frustration with a heavy topology assignment, indicating a sense of isolation in their understanding compared to peers.
  • Concerns about graduate school funding in the US are raised, with some participants describing it as inadequate unless attending a unionized school.
  • Another participant contrasts the funding situation in the UK, noting that master's students often do not receive stipends, while some US institutions provide stipends for Ph.D. students.
  • Discussions about the nature of stipends versus salaries occur, with varying opinions on the adequacy of financial support for graduate students.
  • One participant mentions the demanding nature of TA work and questions the perceived value of their compensation when factoring in workload.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express a mix of agreement and disagreement regarding stereotypes, funding issues, and the nature of graduate student life. There is no clear consensus on the adequacy of funding or the validity of stereotypes.

Contextual Notes

Some statements reflect personal experiences and assumptions about funding structures, which may vary widely across institutions and countries. The discussion includes unresolved questions about the financial realities of graduate education.

Who May Find This Useful

Current and prospective graduate students, educators, and those interested in the dynamics of graduate education funding and student life in STEM fields.

SonOfOle
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These are a part of your daily life.

2955926088_202fc033ef.jpg



(couldn't find the best forum to post this in, but wanted to share it)
 
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Haha, so true man.

I guess for math students, just replace Jackson with Munkres or Dummit and Foote.
 
:smile:
 
Not me. I don't drink coffee and prefer oatmeal over ramen.
 
Fair trade organic coffee? Back to the lab! They're paying you too much to be sitting around drinking coffee if you can afford better than Folgers or Maxwell House! :biggrin:
 
JasonJo said:
Haha, so true man.

I guess for math students, just replace Jackson with Munkres or Dummit and Foote.

Haha, I have the Munkres book right now on my desk. Just been working on my Topology assignment like 2 minutes ago.

Almost done too! And it's due Nov. 4th! Hope to get it done this weekend, which would be very nice.

I complained about this before. We have like 20 questions and my assignment is 8 pages of LaTeX, so far and I have like 2 questions left! It sucks even more because I feel like I'm the only one knowing what's going on. All the other students struggled to get 3-4 of them. I feel like my help is only giving them answers so I just avoid them now
 
SonOfOle said:
These are a part of your daily life.

2955926088_202fc033ef.jpg



(couldn't find the best forum to post this in, but wanted to share it)


Not conducive to brain fitness ...
 
I'm in first year grad school and have none of those things..
you're stereotyping..

I eat rice, have three books on fluid dynamics and I drink chocolate milk.
 
Depends what field of study you are in ... if it's physics, Jackson is practically a given.
 
  • #10
Moonbear said:
Fair trade organic coffee? Back to the lab! They're paying you too much to be sitting around drinking coffee if you can afford better than Folgers or Maxwell House! :biggrin:

Ugh. Isnt' that the truth?
 
  • #11
Oh, I hate you Jackson!

I'm in my second year, but I skipped the second semester of Jackson E&M to take statistical mechanics instead (the classes were at the same time). So now I'm going to have to do more Jackson this Spring. Life will suck.
 
  • #12
I have a question... is graduate school funding in the US that bad?

I hope it's all for jokes and giggles.
 
  • #13
I don't eat Ramen or drink coffee, but Jackson is surely a part of my daily life. At the moment I'm really hating dispersion relations...
 
  • #14
I have a question... is graduate school funding in the US that bad?

Yes it is. I find it terrible actually unless you are going to a school that has a union. I know for what I make, it isn't nearly enough to make ends meet. This will change once I start my PhD and get payed double what I do now but for my masters I need to dip into my savings to pay for things like health insurance, car insurance,...basically all of my (worthless) insurance comes out of my savings.
 
  • #15
Topher925 said:
Yes it is. I find it terrible actually unless you are going to a school that has a union. I know for what I make, it isn't nearly enough to make ends meet. This will change once I start my PhD and get payed double what I do now but for my masters I need to dip into my savings to pay for things like health insurance, car insurance,...basically all of my (worthless) insurance comes out of my savings.

Count yourself lucky: you don't get paid anything to do a master's degree here in the UK.
 
  • #16
cristo said:
Count yourself lucky: you don't get paid anything to do a master's degree here in the UK.

Actually, many institutions in the US don't pay for master's students either. Only Ph.D. students get guaranteed stipends. It's NOT a salary, it's a stipend. It HELPS with living expenses. I always thought it was a pretty good deal to get paid anything to go to school, so I don't know why people spend so much time complaining about it not being enough when we could be making them pay for their education, not paying them for it. Our students get $23000 a year plus health insurance and tuition waivers, and they aren't even asked to teach for it! That's more than some of our staff earns a year. If you factor in the free travel when you go to conferences, you're making more than a lot of people get as a starting salary out of college.
 
  • #17
Our students get $23000 a year plus health insurance and tuition waivers, and they aren't even asked to teach for it!

WHAT!? How does that even work? And its not like I'm getting paid just to go to school. My TA work takes up about 20 hours a week of my time and can be very demanding. I think after you crunch the numbers for tuition and actually hours work we only make about $20 an hour.
 
  • #18
I'm getting $23000 and it's like tax free. And the government is giving me an extra $3000.
Health insurance and dental insurance is paid for.

I wouldn't do it if I didn't get paid a decent wage.
 
  • #19
Moonbear said:
Fair trade organic coffee? Back to the lab! They're paying you too much to be sitting around drinking coffee if you can afford better than Folgers or Maxwell House! :biggrin:

Ah, but you forget the fundamental rule of graduate students. Don't pay for what you can get for free. My parents own and run a coffee roasting business.
 

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