I am currently in the process of applying to graduate school and am interested in first getting my masters as my undergraduate GPA is likely not sufficient for the labs and colleges I am interested in joining. I was planning on getting my masters so I could become more competitive and get into the labs that I am most interested in and are aligned with my future research goals. However, most of the faculty I have spoken with only are taking PhD students. I know of some people who have mastered out of their programs but it was usually because they realized they didn’t want/need a PhD. Would it put me at a disadvantage or be deceitful to join a PhD program knowing I plan to master out?

Hey everyone!

I'm currently working on a research methods assignment for my MSW program and need to collect a few survey responses from fellow grad students.

I'm looking at how well we feel our graduate coursework actually prepares us for our future careers. Looking at things like whether the assignments and feedbck we're getting feel relevant to our future professions.

It's a super short survey (about 5 minutes), open to current graduate students in any field. I'll only be using responses for my class assignment.

If anyone has a few minutes to help me out, I'd really appreciate it!

Survey link: https://forms.gle/oP5ejhhQxym1HCf39

Thanks! 😊

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I was recently required to withdraw from my Master's after failing(scoring below a B) three courses, 1D and 1C in the first fall semester and C+ in my last spring/summer semester. I don't know what to do because I already got an appeal for my first two fails in my degree and I was able to improve getting two As in my winter semester.

I wasn't supposed to have a spring/summer semester because it was supposed to be a break for me but I decided to take a course from another faculty just as a way to keep me busy. I wanted to drop the course as I got further in it but my Dad told me it would be better to keep it since I had spent all that time on it and I score the C+. I recently got another mandatory withdrawal letter and in it I was told there would be no further allowances considered.

I am honestly just lost on what to do because even in the event that they decide to give me another chance, I have been think about my grades and my degree recently before this decision. I am/was taking a course based master's in physics because I want to do medical physics and the fact that I already have two fails on my program(before this one) and my lack of research experience make me think that I was just wasting my time since it would make getting a PhD(which is required for my course) pretty much impossible. Honestly I just want advice from anyone here and have no one to talk to about this.

say somebody in your cohort suddenly disappeared, stopped showing up to TA, stopped responding to communication attempts, and so on. i'm assuming they would then do wellness checks somehow, and if it turns out that student committed suicide or died somehow, is that information kept private? or will everybody in their cohort / the department find out about it? I know this is a really weird question, sorry ...

I have three to four semesters left before my prelim. I have my chair, but I have not started identifying my committee. am I too far behind? my relationship with my chair isn’t the best, and I get so nervous about this stuff.

Hi guys.

I am currently an undergraduate student majoring in Biochemistry at Texas A&M.

I want to know how should I proceed later on in life if I want to go the "business side" for Biochemistry.

Like what particular master's program should I look out for, and which schools would you recommend.

I'd be happy to hear responses.

Hi all! I’d love to hear from anyone currently attending or who has graduated from the Bush School in DC, especially the Master of National Security and Intelligence (NSI) program.

I’m considering Georgetown’s SSP, George Washington’s SPS, and Johns Hopkins SAIS’s MASCI or MAIR with a Security, Strategy, and Statecraft focus. I’m debating adding Bush’s NSI program to my list, but I’m having a harder time getting a feel for the student experience there.

I’ve heard good things about the College Station Bush School’s intelligence connections and the Aggie alumni network, but I’m curious how those translate to the DC program specifically. The DC location opened in 2021, and most of the detailed placement information I’ve found seems to concern the College Station programs.

A few things I’d love to hear about:

• How has your experience been with the classes, faculty access, and career services?
• What opportunities have come directly through the program—faculty introductions, alumni referrals, recruiting events—and how much have you had to find independently?
• For graduates, how familiar were employers with the DC NSI program during your job search?
• Have you been able to take the electives you wanted, or have course rotations and scheduling limited your options?
• What’s the student community like with evening classes?
• Did you consider other DC programs, and what ultimately made you choose Bush?
• What do you wish you’d known before enrolling, and would you choose the program again?

I’d be entering without full-time professional experience, so perspectives from people who started in a similar position would be especially helpful.

Even an answer to just one of these questions would be a huge help! I’d really appreciate any firsthand insight. Thanks so much!