please check it before you send me a question about graduate school :) :) i hope it’s useful! xo // updated 02.2020
basic info
what is the PhD and what can you do with it? (+)
what does a literature PhD entail?
should i do a PhD if i have to pay tuition?
is the degree worth it?
does it look bad to take time off between degrees?
what was your timeline like?
what’s the difference between a terminal MA and a PhD? (+)
does getting an MA first help you get into a PhD program?
is it okay to just try grad school out?
application process
how can i prepare for applying early in my undergrad career? (+) (+)
where should i start looking for programs?
should i choose a program based on rank or fit? (+)
how can i find lower-profile programs doing cool stuff?
how many programs should i apply to?
parts of the application
advice on the writing sample
advice on the GRE (+)
how should i ask for letters of recommendation?
how should i write a statement of purpose? (+)
how do i demonstrate my “ability to excel”?
how should i address mental health/family/personal issues that impacted my grades?
should i send in extra materials?
grad school application spreadsheet
how should i email potential advisors? (+) (+)
how can i survive the waiting period? (+)
how should i prepare for an interview or phone call? (+)
what should i ask at open house?
what should i do if i don’t think i can afford my grad school tuition?
what should i do the summer before i start my program?
seminars/coursework
how should i plan for grad seminar presentations? (+)
what should i bring with me to seminars?
what are grad seminars like?
how can i get better at speaking during seminars?
what do you mean grades don’t matter
reading
what should i have read before i start my lit grad program?
how much reading should i expect?
how can i read a lot without getting overwhelmed? (+)
how can i read efficiently? (+) (+)
quals-specific reading advice
how should i take notes on critical articles?
writing
how do i write a lit review?
how do i write an indicative bibliography?
how do i choose a dissertation topic? (+)
how do i plan for a long research paper?
how do i balance all the different kinds of writing i have to do?
money & living
how can i find housing before i move?
how do finances work in grad school?
what is adjuncting and why does it suck?
how can i budget while on a stipend?
should i work while in grad school? (+)
what’s important to a research assistant application?
i’m running out of funding / i’m off normative time
fellowship, postdocs, & job stuff
which websites post US fellowship/postdoc/job ads?
CV writing tips
how do dissertation fellowships work? (+)
tips for grant, award, & fellowship applications
should i share my materials with others?
how does the academic hiring process work?
how do i keep track of all my applications?
how do i think up a second project when i’m not even done with my dissertation?
job materials masterpost
skype interview-specific tips
job talks
negotiating (+)
general tips (+)
what’s up with the professor is in?
how do i stay motivated while getting buried in rejection letters?
misc
will grad school make my mental health issues worse? (+)
how do i survive conferences (abroad)?
how should i deal with burnout? (+)
secret labor
i think i want to quit
my advisor is ghosting me
how do i work with no structured schedule?
how do i get enough sleep?
how do i balance my work & my teaching?
how can i beat imposter syndrome? (+) (+)
how can i excel in grad school?
You know what. I’m starting a new aesthetic, population me.
Romantic Science, AKA Dark Academia for STEM people.
Thrifting a lab coat and embroidering it with your initials and a little insignia, whose significance is known to you and your lab partner only
Watching The Theory of Everything and The Imitation Game and Hidden Figures and basically every movie about historical scientists and mathematicians you can find
Decorating your desk with old slide rules and vintage lab equipment. Your prize possession is a set of vintage lenses you found at a thrift store
Wanting an articulated human skeleton far, far too much
Getting a set of (brand new, NOT thrifted, be safe ppl) beakers to drink from, and putting them directly onto your stovetop to boil water for tea or coffee, because borosilicate glass can survive anything.
Secretly relating far too much to Henry Jekyll and Victor Frankenstein, because you too want to do a gay little science experiment that challenges god.
Thunderstorms and late nights in the lab, the light of the Bunsen burner glistening off of your flasks and scribbled chalkboard equations
Papering your walls with vintage scientific diagrams; even if you know that our understanding of the world has evolved since they were made, looking back at scientific history is amazing
Writing code late at night and feeling, in some metaphysical way, as though Ada Lovelace herself is with you in spirit
Being far, FAR too obsessed with the concept of emergent ai sentience and how it has the potential to be Frankenstein irl
Looking through a telescope on clear nights, whispering the names of the constellations and stars, painting a star chart on your ceiling in a burst of creative inspiration
Collecting and mounting samples from everywhere you can think of to pore over in an antique microscope
Bringing a field journal wherever you go, learning how to draw and label botanical samples, preserving plants and flowers for study later
Dreaming of what undiscovered mysteries lie in the deepest depths of the sea, feeling the thrill of discovery whenever you learn about a new species and one day hoping to discover one yourself
Just. Romanticise STEM.
100 days of productivity | 62/100
First day of spring semester!
I can’t believe past me thought 4 classes in one day would be ok I’m so tired
the physics students
as requested by the wonderful @starferns
the chalkboard at the front of the lecture hall, covered in equations and graphs
visualizing a problem in your mind, step by step
cold water with ice cubes and a slice of lemon
diagrams drawn hastily on the corner of your paper, scribbled lines and half formed thoughts
replicating famous experiments and demonstrations
watching youtube videos late at night, picking apart complex theories
having an instinct for force diagrams and direction of motion
rushed, messy handwriting
finding beauty in motion and calculation and precision
seeing the universe as unimaginably small and unimaginably large at the same time
a well-worn grey sweater, frayed a little at the sleeves
equations scribbled on your arm until you know them by heart
studying newton and meitner and plank, all those who went before
talking with your hands, forming the shapes of arcs and trajectories as you work through a problem
long hallways and cold, sunny days
late night study groups
staring up at the sky, knowing exactly why and how the planets move as they do
trying einstein’s thought experiments
an old grandfather clock, pendulum measuring the passage of time
pages filled with calculations and precise strings of digits
Some illustrations from Astronomy, Explained Upon Sir Isaac Newton's Principles and Made Easy to Those Who Have Not Studied Mathematics by James Ferguson (1799).
Astronomy Lecture Powerpoints
Astronomy Lecture Notes (Textbook-Like)
Astronomy Notes
Astronomy Lecture Notes (Alaska)
Astronomy Lecture Powerpoints (Trinity)
Astronomy Lecture Notes (MIRA)
Astronomy Lecture Powerpoints (Rutten)
Modern Astronomy Lecture Notes
Astronomy Lecture Powerpoints (Wickman)
Solar System Astronomy Lecture Notes
Astronomy Lecture Notes
Astronomy Lecture Notes (Mitchell)
Astronomy Lecture Notes (Rochester)
Time Systems Lecture Notes
Earth and Sky Notes
Galactic Structure and Stellar Populations Lecture Notes
Stars, Galaxies, and the Universe Lecture Notes
Astronomical Techniques
Essential Radio Astronomy
Introduction to Astronomy
Equations and Formulas
Essential Physics Equations
MCAT Physics Equations
Frequently Used Physics Equations
General Physics Notes
Physics Lecture Notes (MIT)
University Physics (Textbook-Like)
General Physics I
Physics Lecture Notes (Colorado)
Physics Lecture Notes (Rochester)
Physics Lecture Notes (Cabrillo)
Physics Lecture Notes (Trinity)
Physics Notes
Physics Videos (Flipping Physics)
Physics Ch 1 to 8 Lecture Notes
Feynman Physics Lecture Notes
Electromagnetism
Electromagnetism Lecture Notes
Feynman Electromagnetism and Matter Lecture Notes
Mechanics
Mechanics (Physics) Lecture Notes
Mechanics (Physics) Powerpoint Slides
Feynman Quantum Mechanics Lecture Notes
Physics and Astronomy
Physics of the Interstellar Medium Lecture Notes
Physics for Astronomy Lecture Notes (Textbook-Like)
Radio Astronomy (Physics 728)
Physics: Astronomy, Astrophysics, and Cosmology
Inorganic Chemistry Chapter Notes
Inorganic Chemistry Lecture Notes
Inorganic Chemistry 2 Lecture Notes
Advanced Inorganic Chemistry Lecture Notes
Formulas and Equations
Calculus Cheat Sheet
AP Calculus Basic Formulas and Properties
Calculus 1 Formulas
Basic Calculus: Rules and Formulas (Video)
Differential Formulas
Integral Calculus Formulas
The Basics
Basic Calculus Refresher
Single Variable Calculus
Multivariable Calculus (Textbook-like)
Basics of Calculus (Textbook-like)
Calculus for Beginners
Calculus 1
Calculus (Textbook-like)
Calculus 1 (Textbook-like)
Calculus 1 Video Lectures
Calculus 1 Lecture Notes
Calculus 1 Lecture Notes (Northern Illinois)
Calculus 1 Lecture Notes (Citadel)
Calculus 1 Compact Lecture Notes
Calculus Lecture Notes (Raz Kupferman)
Introduction to Calculus Lecture Notes
Calculus 2
Calculus 2 Lecture Notes
Calculus 2 Lecture Notes (Northern Illinois)
Calculus 2 Notes (Illinois State)
Calculus 2 Lecture Notes (McClendon)
Calculus 2 Lecture Notes (Textbook-like)
Calculus 2 (Textbook-like) (Dawkins)
Calculus 2 Lecture Videos
Calculus 2 Class Notes
Calculus 2 Materials (Notes, Handouts, Etc.)
Calculus 3
Calculus 3 Lecture Notes (Lamar)
Calculus 3 Lecture Videos
Calculus 3 (Dawkins)
Calculus 3 (Notes, Homework, Quizzes)
Notes for Calculus 3
Calculus 3 Class Notes
Other Calculus
Integral Calculus Lecture Notes
Algebra and Differential Calculus
Differential and Integral Calculus (Textbook)
Differential and Integral Calculus (Lecture Notes & Old Exams)
Computer Science Calculus Lecture Notes
Calculus for Physics C
Analytic Geometry and Calculus 2
Notes on the History of Astronomy
History of Astronomy Powerpoint
Early History of Astronomy
History of Radio Astronomy
NASA History
Neolithic Astronomy
Mesopotamian Astronomy
Islamic Astronomy
Indian Astronomy
Greek Astronomy
Chinese Astronomy
Egyptian Astronomy
Mayan Astronomy
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
South African National Space Agency
Canadian Space Agency
National Space Research and Development Agency
Italian Space Agency
Norwegian Space Center
Korea Aerospace Research Institute
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
UK Space Agency
Australian Space Agency
Sometimes I open this book again every once in a while to just see these. God I miss my shitty handwriting (that's a lie. No I do not.)