Who has been going through PhD interviews over the last month or so? What will you field of study be...

if you aren't good enough to get free tuition + enough stipend to live off of, in exchange for a little teaching, then don't bother. If you tried really hard and made stupid financial sacrifices you could get a shitty phd that will never get you a good job. But don't, because it's clear that you suck already. Take it as a sign to do something else.

How common are interviews, or is it just field specific? When I did this all last year, I was never interviewed. I just sent in an application, and they accepted/rejected me.

Why? Everyone in my department is fully funded for five years. Sounds like you just go to a bad school, I'd never do this if I wasn't being paid.

>undergrad detected

Have fun working for unimportant bullshit you waste of space

I'm sorry dude, but getting accepted to a PhD without funding is basically getting rejected.

Been accepted to Penn State for Machine Learning with funding

I'm actually an EngD student. Its like a phd but the stipend is 50% larger and I don't have to do teaching. Plus guaranteed job at the end.

I just completed a master's in genetics.
My original plan was to go into industry, but I enjoyed my classes and research so much that I applied to 13 different programs in microbiology, genetics, and cell biology. I was rejected from all the microbiology programs and got invited to interview at 5 cell bio and genetics programs. I was rejected from two of these programs after the interview, and didn't hear back from one, but got an acceptance from Duke's genetics program, which was my first choice. I have an interview coming up at UNC. I think the reason I was rejected was poor social skills. Thankfully at Duke one of the current students who was having lunch with us got really REALLY drunk which distracted from my awkwardness.

You could literally use that as an argument against anything, other than going to the moon or something.

got interviewed by lsgnt but I think it went pretty bad (i was stressed out so I slept like 2 hours the night before and wasn't very responsive)

Well it's easy to get funded as an engineer. It's harder for pure mathematics, by ex.

either non stem major or shit school desu senpai

There's only national funding for my field. And it's not very popular. So only the very very best can get a funding. However, whoever gets a funding has serious chances for a place in academia, after a postdoc.

Don't work in maths or physics.

The market is saturated. All the talk about a "skill shortage" is a lie. If you have the brains to excel in those fields, then don't waste them on a dead end career.

Or if you screwed up enter as a postbac and retake courses + get research experience. If you aren't willing to do that then you don't deserve a second chance. Your comment is a bit off.

I attended both UNC and Duke. When will you hear back about a decision?

I heard back from Duke on Monday, two days after the interview weekend ended.
I haven't gone to the UNC weekend yet. I may cancel it.

I wouldn't cancel the UNC one. Both are excellent programs. Congrats on your acceptance. The program I'm interested in UNC-Duke are considered equals. UNC may be the better choice for my specific area. Still looking into it.

Sounds like you'll attend Duke? Keep me up-to-date... I'm in the area.

Duke is a nice school. Durham is a cool place. Don't let people scare you about downtown Durham.

I am not scared. Looking at the actual crime stats, it seems like it's just people who lived in the suburbs and never have lived in a city with an actual crime problem. I might go to the UNC weekend, but either way I want to go to that area, since I have family there. I would keep you up to date but I don't know to contact you. What program are you looking to attend? Are you also in biology? The UNC program I was invited to interview for is their biology umbrella program.

I just submitted an application for a PhD program. I wasn't originally planning on applying for grad school, but surprisingly enough the first school I reached out to was perfectly happy to let me apply two months late.

I'm a little doubtful about whether it's even close to being worth it for chemical engineering. I guess if I get offered with funding and it seems better than any of the bullshit boring jobs I keep interviewing for then it might be a nice backup plan. The program I'm applying for isn't really top ranked but it seems pretty good and it's a reasonably prestigious school.

Computer Science. The sub-field of interest may have a stronger program than Duke's. I'll be monitoring this thread, and as slow as Veeky Forums is I doubt it'll 404 anytime soon. I may make a kik or whatever.

I like Carrboro if you ever been there.

Durham has a few cool bars,

ponysaurusbrewing.com/
fullsteam.ag/
motorcomusic.com/

Carrboro has a cool music venue:
catscradle.com/

I'm very familiar with this area.

I meant to say UNC's sub-field of CS may be stronger than Duke's* I'm still looking into everything. ***

What to do then? I only like maths because it gives me joy. I could go for dentistry and make some easy bucks, but I'm no hedonistic enough to do that.
CS is a joke too, I don't see many options for mathematics lovers nowadays.

Get into coding and start working on some math packages

CS is so large you can easily find areas of research to apply your mathematics skills. Plus, nothing prevents you from having a comfy CS related job and doing research in mathematics that may "relate" to CS. I did pure math research with """""applications""" to CS.

Oh, cool. About half the people in the Duke genetics department are from math or computer background. My training is in bench science, and I'm kind of a noob when it comes to computers, though I'm trying to get better at R so I can at least interpret and manipulate RNA seq data and the like, since that's a useful skill for people working with cell culture to have. Are you involved in bioinformatics work at all, or do you do something different?

I do something completely different, although I have a friend in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology department at UNC.

UNC has courses like:

Comp790: Machine Learning
BCB720: Introduction to Statistical Modeling
BCB712: Sequence Analysis
BCB712: Mathematical Modeling of Signaling and Regulatory Pathways
BCB722: Population Genomics

That may or may not be of interest to you. I don't know what Duke has.

My interest is more in Computer Systems.

R is good to know and has great statistical libraries. I would supplement this knowledge with Python since it is also big in the data science field. Basic programming in R and Python isn't hard to pick up. You shouldn't have a problem with it.

IIRC there is another dude on Veeky Forums that is a similar department (or same one as you) at UNC, Maybe he'll see this thread / these comments and can tell you more since he is closer to your field.

brainlets detected

I have full funding for a couple years so for me, the problem is choosing advisor, like 4-5 have said they'll take me on
Don't know how to pick, should it be based on my field? or which one i personally like most? amount of funding they get? # of students they have (is more better?), or quality of publications / citation count, etc?

In my field (HEP) in the UK interviews are essential. Little to no selection seem to be done before the interview stage (depending on unis, some get more applications than others so won't be able to interview everyone).

I got a place at Oxford which I will probably accept, have no idea what to expect though. Does anyone here go there/has done a PhD there?

From looking through this thread it looks like funding isn't too common in the US, I know I wouldn't dream of doing a PhD if it wasn't funded (also I wouldn't be able to afford it in the first place)

>I got a place at Oxford which I will probably accept, have no idea what to expect though. Does anyone here go there/has done a PhD there?

Finished mine last year. I don't know how much what I say applies across the university or just to the CS department, but what I found striking was how segregated the place is. Basically the university is not a thing, rather it's a collection of more or less independent labs across the city. Every building is locked by keycard, and your card only opens the doors you're supposed to go in to. So if, say, you want to see what the mathematicians are up to you have to go to reception and call someone up. You can't just waltz into a lecture room, let alone knock on someone's door.

Even within a department, every research group is doing its own thing with no idea what's going on down the hallway. As a result there is a comical amount of "quantum" groups across the university, all apparently doing quantum physics, yet if they were to meet each other they would have no idea what they're talking about.

That sounds lame. Getting to hear about other peoples' work firsthand is a big part of what makes grad school enjoyable.

Won't argue with you there. Worst 3.5 years of my life.

Never thought I'd say that after high school.

Do you know why it's structured like that? Are the professors and students just too busy/autistic to enjoy doing a weekly seminar where everyone shares their work? I mean, surely they see the value of staying up-to-date what's going on in your field, and possibly having the opportunity to collaborate with someone for a project.

>it seems better than any of the bullshit boring jobs I keep interviewing for
no, that's wrong. my undergrad, and currently my phd are both in mechanical engineering, but the phd work i do is more closely related to chemical engineering.

if you are going to work in an experimental lab it's going to be utter shit. you'll be doing menial tasks majority of the time, and wasting time trying to troubleshoot and fix equipment that was barely maintained by previous students. all this wile getting paid a third of what you'd be making in the industry.

if you are a US citizen, getting a phd in engineering is about the dumbest thing you can do unless you already come from wealthy background.

I think a large part of it is historical baggage. The university was essentially a trade union for lecturers, where they would meet to discuss vital affairs like how best to persecute Catholics. Teaching was the responsibility of the colleges.

As far as undergrads go, this is still how it works today. You live in your college, and your main point of contact is your college tutor. You and your tutor hash out your plan of studies and enrol you in some courses. You go to the lectures in your department, but then you come back to your college for your tutorials, class work, and really all actual study. Your department is never your home, and separate departments don't need to communicate with each other, but only with the colleges.

Officially, the same system applies to postgrads. You are supposed to have an office in your college (you don't) where you meet with your research group (realistically, just you). The department is just a place you visit for teaching, to use the library, or whatever. Of course, even the powers that be tacitly realise that this isn't going to work, so in practice they push the postgrads out of the college and into their department. Then the department is stuck with all these students it has no idea what to do with. There is no office space, or research structure, or cross-departmental links, so they just throw the students in there and hope that something happens. Because of Oxford's undeserved reputation, the students tend to be somewhat bright, and figure out a way to scrape through, keep publishing, and graduate. The administration then looks at the statistics, concludes that there is no problem, and keeps sailing as is.

I'm looking to go back to academia this coming application cycle, I hate the working world so much. How harshly do admissions committees look down on people for not going into a PhD program directly out of undergrad?

An engineering department offered me an RA position for a MS but I turned them down because I wanted to go part time. desu part of me feels it was a mistake but the other part of me knows it was right.

That's actually preferred for most fields.

Oh, that's nice to know. I had worried it would be seen as insufficient commitment. Just need to get my physics GRE up to 990 then.

Why college in general is bullshit.
>my counselor is a sociology major
>my advisor is a business major
>my degree was chemistry.

I'm not the guy you're replying to... But he's right.
Know how I got funded for my PhD? I applied for a funded programme. Then got accepted.

Same here dude! It's pretty neat, right?
The title would be "Doctor of Engineering in X"... You don't actually have to be studying engineering. I'm doing computer science (with physics background), and there's many EngDs in optics / photonics, too. They're still quite niche, so I couldn't tell you all the fields.

what's the difference between engD and Ph.D.?

Yup. I'm doing mine in photonics.

EngD is like a phd but with a company. Lasts 4 years, in my one at least you get 1 year of masters level classes then 3 years at the company. You get paid fairly well, more than the average graduate salary. The work is generally geared around taking the latest concepts from academia and applying them to real world. Its pretty cool.

Shit, I was considering oxford for phd. Not worth then?

Depends what you're after. It will still look good on your CV for what it's worth (not a lot), and more importantly if you're a social butterfly it will give you the chance to mingle with the rich and famous. But if your main concern is a good research environment, then Oxford is not it.

>your boss will still be a business studies major
Don't remind me I don't need to bust a gasket today.

>It will still look good on your CV for what it's worth (not a lot),

That was pretty much my primary driver.

Wait what. I thought your adviser was always someone in your major. My first physics prof was my adviser and I built quite the relationship with her over the years.

But thats not true at all you retard. R&D is managed by scientists and engineers who have worked their way up, not buisness majors.

That's sad, I wanted to go to Oxford because it's meant to be the best particle physics department in the UK. I've heard people saying that it's not all it's cracked up to be but I just presumed they were jelly.

Well you should probably speak to a student in particle physics. Maybe they're having a great time. Who knows. (Not me. That's kinda the point).

I got accepted to a few programs without having to go through an interview process.

maybe im biased because Ive only been in my PhD program for a few months, but im having a blast because I wasnt a retard about choosing a project that I didnt like / working with boring people. Besides that, a graduate from our lab just landed a 6 figure job starting. We're in inorganic chemistry.

Its not a bad deal at all, its just stressful until you pass your qualifying exams.

if you didn't get a 6 figure, or near six figure, job after a phd then you really wasted your time. not sure why you're pointing it out as if it were some sort of accomplishment.

Because most people don't get that?

>if you are going to work in an experimental lab it's going to be utter shit

pretty much this, also, those who can't get a phd in theoretical stuff are probably bad in the first place (if physics). Lots of experimental proposals are slave proposals to do shit no one wants to do.

If you don't get funding for a math PhD then it's basically a rejection. Like all math PhD's get TAships.

I got a TAship for $24k/year + tuition + health. all i have to do is teach morons how to take derivatives of shit.

Then type in a shit lab. Why the fuck would you agree to piss away 5 years of your life, in your 20s at that, earning less than half of what your starting pay in the industry would be if you won't make 100k or close to it when you graduate?

What are you talking about?

The majority of phd graduates do not get 6 figure jobs.

Switch to an engineering field. Virtually all engineering graduate programs are paid for.

So don't do it. You're being willingly exploited.

You're an idiot. You asked why people act like its an achievement to get a 6 figure job on graduating. It is an achievement because most people don't get that.

Did you fuck her?

don't listen to this retard.

He is a "hater"

>inb4 normie get out

How?

I'm not him, but he did it by applying for a funded position, applying for a fellowship/assitantship, approaching his advisor to see if he had funding, or by applying for funding from a funding body.

Anyone doing a PhD in the UK? In a statistical field (stats, ML, Econ, social science)? All I see are yank opinions which seem very crazy, stuff like over the top marking, fighting for funding all that. Whereas the Europeans seem to have it more like a job (and it doesn't go on for 5-7 years).

Often UK education is somewhere in the middle of the two.

The reason I ask about stats is because it's so easily applicable I was wondering how/if you can get extra funding from industry if possible.

>get paid money in graduate school
>get no debt
>enjoy doing what i do despite being hard
>in the end, still get paid more

stop.

>after 5 years in academia getting paid peanuts get paid less than my peers that worked in industry for 5 years
ftfy

nobody does a PhD for simple pay metrics.

As others have mentioned, look at EngD positions.