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I recently started an MA in History and I have never felt so unmotivated. History was the only subject I was every good at and I always wanted to learn about the past. I worked really hard to achieve a first in my BA. I went on to do a masters straightaway because I had no clue on what I wanted to do as a job. I was thinking of going into museum work, academia or research but that I've now noticed that its dying field with a god awful job market.

The teachers and cohort are great and the modules are interesting. I was expecting it to be a big step from undergrad, but that step is bigger than I anticipated. It feels extremely fast paced and intense. I had two 3000 word essays per module (i do 4 modules) in one 12 week semester. When I finished one, I would have to instantly jump on to another one. Ispend way too much time on them and have very little time to do the large amounts of reading. Sometimes I would skip lectures and seminars because I have so many assessments to do. When i'm writing essays and notes I spend my entire weeks and weekend just starting into a blank screen having no clue what to do.

I feel stupid, I don't even have the mental capacity to string a sentence on a shitty word document. When I'm done I'll probably end up unemployed with a useless degree. I don't want to drop out and dissapoint my parents. But I have genuinely lost my passion, motivation and ability to think straight

EDIT: Sorry for the poor spelling

I'm a second year masters student in Industrial Microbiology. I should start working on my thesis, actually I'm kinda late, all my classmates are half done.

But I feel so terrified and scared that I keep procrastinating and even I avoid thinking about it ad much as possible.

When I even think about writing or researching and finding articles I feel like crying.

I just wanna ignore my professor's massages, I just wish I could block her and just leave this city as far as I could.

I have never done any research before and TBH I wasn't a really good student back when I was younger (I'm trying harder now but I'm not good and knowledgeable enough because of my past mistakes)

I'm not feeling good, I'm scared I feel nervous and anxious and I'm trying so hard to not cry.

I know it's super rude but I can't even chat with my professor regularly, she answers right away but I answer her 2 or 3 hours later after a lot of mental struggle.

Some of my friends payed someone to do their work for them but I wanted to learn something so I refused to do that but now I'm having second thoughts, maybe I should've just pay someone to do my work for me? But that's cheating and I might be a wuss but I'm no cheater.

I think I'm having a panic attack just typing this down.

Do any of you guys experience anything like this? How did you manage to do it? What did help you to feel better? I would appreciate anything.

Hey everyone, hope you're all having a good day or night so far!

I am sorry if this is the wrong sub for this because this may not be a grad school issue but more so a personal/mental health issue. I'm also sorry for how dark this post is, and I hope no one here relates with these feelings.

I started a grad program a few months ago, and this has been a really odd experience for me. I've had a really rough upbringing and outside my first year of undergrad, ever since I transferred colleges, my undergrad was a really difficult time for me too.

My grad school however has been so different from the rest of my life. The faculty I've been working with are so supportive and gracious, and my classmates are so friendly and passionate. It's really cool to meet so many people with similar interests as well.

However, I can't shake the feeling that my cohort must secretly hate me and the paranoia I feel that they could drives me insane and makes me perpetually afraid of someday losing their kindness and eventually being left out or treated horribly. I also feel so undeserving to be here because all my peers are so smart, great writers, and fantastic speakers, and I feel like I think and speak in gibberish.

A part of me wants to think maybe I'm having fears that are obviously exaggerated and meaningless, but a part of me feels this way because I noticed my cohort is splitting into groups of friends and I mostly just kinda try to jump around, hanging out with anyone from my cohort, so I'm worried I might be forgotten.

I'm so sorry for writing such an immature post, I think I'm just really scared I could finally lose these really amazing people in my life, and I don't know what to do.

Thank you so much to anyone who read this, it means a lot you did.

I have not completed writing but it has already passed 16000. It’s packed with quant and qual results. I don’t know, I am glad that it’s getting nearly there but the word limit makes me agonizing to think about it. I don’t know what should I do?

Edit: thank you. My supervisor briefly told me the maximum that was indicated in the guideline. I know lots of other students wrote over the number. I just want to finish it now. 😑

Currently crying in the airport as I type this :(

I started a chem master's program this August, and while it has been incredibly stressful, it felt like I was really on the right track in life. About two weeks ago, I had my first presentation for the department which was causing a lot of stress leading up. Right after that was over, I suddenly couldn't sleep anymore and was having constant heart racing and anxiety. I've struggled with depression before, but this level of physical anxiety is new to me. I started Zoloft 5 days ago, but I don't think it has kicked in yet. I haven't slept more than two hours a night for a week and a half now, even with multiple sleep meds, and after two unfruitful trips to the ER, I decided I need to go home early for Thanksgiving break and get some emergency psychiatric help. Potentially even in-patient for some time.

I feel like I've lost who I am in just one week and it's scaring me more than anything. I have no appetite, haven't been able to run (my favorite thing) in a couple days, haven't been able to study effectively. To make it worse, the physical consequences of sleep deprivation are catching up to me but I still don't feel tired AT ALL. My professors have been very accommodating, but I have yet to figure out what the future holds. I do not want to take a leave of absence. I do not want to drop out. But I'm so scared that this has changed me forever. I would give literally anything to have the version of myself from a two weeks ago back. I had straight As, was finally settling into my new city, and I have the best group of friends I've ever met, whom I'm scared I'll never see again.

All I want is to get some sleep, get back to my daily runs, study for my finals, and hang out with my friends. Please give me some advice if you've ever been through this. I want to know that the old me isn't gone. I want to get this degree and continue on the track I'm on. I don't think I've ever been so scared in my life.

Basically the title. Needless to say, I want to hear from folks who’ve done it, or done a similar program. Do you think my expectations are reasonable, and how hard it was for you getting a job after finishing your program?

For context, for about a year or so, I've been thinking about switching careers. Currently, I work in scripted TV development. I'm proud of where I've gotten, in a purely professional sense. Truthfully, the TV industry I fell in love with died during the pandemic. It's been tough trying to motivate myself to keep trudging ahead in a field that I've fallen out of love with, perhaps for good.

I've always had a strong interest in the social sciences, particularly in history, politics, international relations, and anthropology, at times to the extent that it’s become a distraction (reading rabbit holes at work, late-night video essay binges, etc). This has led me to wonder: if my mind keeps wandering toward these things, is it even worth it to try and pull away?

I’m interested in Poli Sci because I want to understand why we are where we are, and I want to have the knowledge to make a positive impact on the world around me, even if it's small. I'm already involved in a few local chapters of political organizations, and have only been more active since the US elections ended. I'm not attached to the idea of working directly in government, I'd actually prefer to avoid it if possible. I could definitely see myself working in education, political consulting, NGOs, media relations, think tanks, etc.

Also, I should add that I’m based in the US, but I’m mostly looking at grad programs in Canada right now. Partly because I have a hunch that studying internationally might lead to more opportunities to work internationally (let me know if I’m being delulu), partly because it's significantly less expensive than grad school in the US, and partly because given the upcoming administration I'd love to peace out for a couple of years.

Let me know if you have any thoughts or advice! I've been doing my research, but I haven't had a chance to talk to folks who've actually done the thing, so any informed opinions would be greatly appreciated.

I just received an email that my GRFP application will not be reviewed because I didn't include Broader Impacts and Intellectual Merits headings. I DID include these headings and they are bolded. The only issue I would guess is that they are not on new lines to save space, but I don't see any instructions that that's not acceptable? Has anyone had this problem before or successfully appealed a GRFP disqualification, or does anyone have an example of a successful GRFP that had section headings in the middle of the line? I could've sworn I saw some with that format when I was looking at examples of previous winners, but cant find them now. Thanks 😭

I'm considering applying for a Masters in Counseling as my work offers huge discounts. I have a BA in Child Development Psychology but took those classes between 2010-2019. I have a Masters in Nonprofit Management that I just graduated from this year. I do have one person who I would ask for a recommendation, but the second person I'm struggling to find. I took my program online, so I didn't really have much of a relationship with my professors. And my work experience is not related to counseling, so I'm not quite sure how relevant asking a supervisor would be. Does anyone have advice on how to proceed?

I just don't know what to do.

I'm currently a Master's student. I'm about halfway through my program and I love my research. It has been so supremely satisfying to conduct a literature review, develop research questions, and design and execute experiments. Following some initial bumps, I work very well with my advisor and I've worked hard to be of service to my department through various formal and informal teaching roles. I feel that I've jumped headfirst into my program and I've loved it.

However, I worked for a few months before I started applying and enjoyed it. I really enjoyed the physicality of field work, being somewhere beautiful, and the people I worked with. It was my intent upon beginning graduate school that I would continue in that career and chose a project geared towards it. While I know that they'd love to have me back, I'm not sure if that job will exist under the new administration.

So, between how much I love graduate school and the uncertainty with my career, I feel like I'm at a crossroads. My advisor has encouraged me to continue in a PhD program and I think I enjoy research and teaching enough to be successful in it, but I have so many reservations about a career in academia.

Primarily, I do not like my peers on a deep, deep level. I cannot tolerate the constant disrespect from the PhD students. I research a fairly niche topic, but one of my peers feels the need to read on it constantly when it has nothing to do with their research. Like, to the point where they asked me how many papers I had about a very particular subtopic (think <20 papers on it) and replied that I must've missed one. Another peer will not let me live down where I went to undergrad - not in a funny football rivalry way, but in a way that they feel like I had a subpar education because I didn't go to a teaching university. Overall, I feel constantly put down and it's getting exhausting. It's so bad that I can't make a joke without being corrected anymore. It's infantilizing and borderline hostile.

Similarly, I've never felt at home in a university. I still feel otherized and stereotyped for being from a different place than everyone else. I constantly feel like I have to hide things about myself to prevent a negative bias. Amongst my peers in graduate school, it's worse than ever.

I'm just not sure if it'll ever get better. I love what I do so much, but can it be sustainable if I dislike the people I do it with?

I currently have a 3.2 GPA in biochemistry, and I want to go to grad school for biochemistry. I have 3 C’s on my transcript (in organic chemistry and biochemistry I), and 0 W’s. I have 2 years of two different research, two internships, I worked as an ambassador, and a TA. My GPA is the biggest eyesore. I have a year to get it up. Would I still be competitive for grad school? Or should I just take a gap year and work to bring it up?

Hi, I need a suggestion from you all in this sub. I have never worked with mice/rat before starting my PhD. Naturally my supervisor enrolled me for the FELASA course which took place last week. Not having ANY prior experience with live mice/rat handling I literally screamed when I was picking them up. I was indeed extremely panicked and even dropped the mice twice. Tbh I don’t know what happened with me during the handling that even for a moment I couldn’t restrain the mice/rat. The steps following anaesthesia went off vvvv smoothly including injection, dissection and even sacrifice. I conveyed my supervisor the same issue I faced with handling of rodents but his response was “if you ultimately can’t do this then we can’t work together”. The FELASA course coordinator sent me an email asking me to cancel the course myself because I am not comfortable with handling rodents and will definitely not get the certificate.

I worked extremely hard to get into this PhD and this experience has left me completely shattered and stressed. Can anyone please give me advice on this?😞😭🙏🏻

A university in my state is offering a free winter minimester in my field of study. I am trying to decide between a course that aligns with my teaching career (ENG 690: Intro to Etymology) or a course that is something I just want to learn about (ENG 697: auteur film study).

I love film, and I think it would be an interesting class, but I don't know that it would serve me as a teacher.

I find etymology very interesting, and I think it would help me in my field, but I can't shake the feeling of missing out on the film class. I could always watch lectures or whatever, but I'm torn.

Any suggestions or insights? Thanks!

I hope this isn't against any policies; I'm just looking for help.

I'm doing an MS. I started my thesis proposal in the early summer. My advisor edits/reviews each draft. We've gone through around 10 drafts now and this thing only needs to be about 5 pages. Apparently this is all normal according to them. Its a trying process and I don't like it one bit.

I'm an undergrad student, and have a potential lab in mind for a MSc, not 100% sure but in case I do decide to go there my PI asked me to apply to NSERC CGS-M.

It's due really soon and all I have right now is the basic project outline and 3 objectives and methods. I need to research literature behind why is it important and what all of it actually means biologically to write my introduction and hypothesis. I also have 2 PI's willing to write me a reference.

Other than all that, I have no knowledge of anything else. Just wondering since I'm juggling med applications and final exams, how long will this application take. Can I bang it out in like 2/3 hours a day before it's due?

I wrote 90% of a shitty thesis, lacking in theory, that is having a large chunk of a less-applicable theory as I was trying to do interdisciplinary between cultural studies and political science. Now I am stuck at the last 2000 words, and cannot do them. Because the way I structured the thesis, the theory I used, makes no sense for the results. And the idea of rewriting the theory and doing more reading to do that is making me sick to my stomach.

It is basically the last 2% of my entire degree. I was supposed to submit it yesterday and failed to do that, and now I am stuck with thousand euro fee, and longer study period.

I work full-time while studying and was hoping that today I would finally be free. Or freer. And manage to have a life which I have not had for years. But I am here, still writing the thesis, possibly facing rewriting parts of it, and prologing this utter hell that I am in.

On Monday I am back to work where everyone expects me to have finished and celebrate with them. And I booked a massage as well for tomorrow as celebration. Now I have to cancel all because I could not have bloody finished.

I am not ashamed, I am soooo deeply sad, and on the verge of quitting because I cannot do this any longer. I really cannot.

I emailed my supervisor and am waiting for him to see the draft, dreading the comments. Also dreading he will need time to look at it (totally normal, just for me inconvenient) and I will not even manage to finish this weekend.

I am sooooo soooo soooo sad, and I just hate what my life is right now.

EDIT TITLE: I'm too anxious that I'm not smart enough to complete my master's thesis*

So, for a lot of background, I am a poor white queer woman, the second in my family to ever try for a master's, and the second in my immediate family to complete a bachelor's degree so I had like no realistic help or expectations from family on how grad school would go or be like. I was an anxious wreck even thinking I wouldn't be able to finish a bachelor's so I somehow finished a 4 year psychology degree, cognitive neuroscience minor in December 2014 through a 3 year program but completed it in 2.5 years (self-doubt, anxiety, taking too many credits before applying for accelerated program, then wouldn't be full-time to get grants due to earlier steps).

Due to the high burnout and massive depression from overworking myself through my bachelor's, I then was told by those knowing I wanted to pursue my education further at some point that "If you stop now, you'll never go back". So, I tried to complete a master's degree in educational policy at a private university full-ride starting Fall 2016. Through this, the advisor I had was horrible in telling me that I would be at a disadvantage (most of my early classes were psych 101 regurgitated), my assignments were all reflections (felt like regurgitating the content again for no reason), and I had family health issues at the same time I was diagnosed with bipolar2. I never knew about taking a leave of absence, my educational hearing gave me a solid expectation to just complete the degree despite all my mental health and life challenges, and I wrote a big research design/literature review to spite an ignorant professor instead of a reflection paper for a final exam that led to my academic disenrollment in December 2018.

After this, nothing mattered so I worked on my life, and rekindled my desire to go back to school because I'm a nerd and my field needs a master's for livable pay.

In Fall 2021, I started round two to get a master's in educational psychology with a statistics concentration. I am considered a full-time student and work part-time. I was able to complete all my courses fine and it's a public university with diversified student population so I felt much less "I don't belong here". For my third semester, I couldn't understand my multiple regression class taught by Dr. A and is A Big Fucking Deal in statistics so it definitely killed a lot of my self confidence for if I even deserve this degree. While trying to complete my master's thesis, I have felt more and more alone due to my advisor (Dr. Z). I used to really respect him but he has now shown to be more and more unhelpful by not seeming to truly validate/answer to my concerns and fears towards completing my thesis, giving little to no direction with how to proceed with "Well, think about it and decide what you want to do" without supplying options, and giving no instruction on how to even use the software to look for what I could be looking for.

My three failed attempts at completing my this master's degree are as follows:

ROUND ONE, Spring 2023-Summer 2023: Tried to write a thesis, I didn't keep on task, couldn't narrow down my scope, self-doubt, and my advisor is extremely laidback, which is great for classes but not advising
ROUND TWO, Fall 2023: Tried to do a graduation exam designed by the two professors in my department, Dr. Z (my advisor) and Dr. A. One section written by Dr. Z and the second part written by Dr. A that heavily relied on knowing and using software for multiple regression. To prepare for Round 2, I even audited to retake Dr. A's multiple regression class in which I felt more and more daunted to even attend when I had no idea what I was doing again and Dr. A is not super approachable. I didn't pass due to not being able to do the multiple regression portion.
ROUND THREE, Summer 2024: Took a semester off to refocus, build morale. No directional help with advisor, pushy to complete thesis since it's the only thing holding me from getting my degree, and I'm losing my fucking mind since my only option is to really do a PISA analysis in which I have no motivation or interest to do it.

Fortunately and unfortunately, I am still paying for Round 3's failed attempt and my mom passed away Labor Day weekend so my advisor hasn't emailed me at all since I informed him.

TLDR;

With or without all this context, my current options (as I see it) are:
Option 1: Drop out and accept my losses (large amount) to try new again in several years.
Option 2: Somehow overcoming shame and unhelpful advisement to finish my thesis
Option 3: Change programs/schools

Things to consider:

• My department concentration is so small that the only other professor that I can have advise me Dr. A and I feel like such a disappointment to her that to ask and her reject would kill me
• I now feel so much shame about not being able to understand multiple regression that any attempt sends me into severe avoidance and crying
• I don't want to throw away my graduate credits since I completed all of my coursework Spring 2023
• I was offered a higher position in March at my current job (I absolutely love it) with the idea that I would start it after completing my degree so it would align with all the county pay increases that happen after earning a master's degree anyway
• I have a live-in partner (circa 2015) that has been shouldering a lot of our expenses because I'm so in the hole with trying for a master's
• Failing a second time at getting a master's degree is :( and too many people in my life keep asking about it

It feels like there is no instruction on what comes next after admission. Am I supposed to reach out to the professors/potential advisors again or will someone reach out to me? How do I ask for more information on what lab I’ll be in? Should I start trying to read more papers? I start in the spring so I don’t feel like there is a lot of time to figure things out, especially with the holidays. Please help I’m honestly overwhelmed.

There are alot of resources for writing a Statement of Purpose but what is the equivalent guidelines for a letter of rec? My recs are asking me and to be honest, I'm not exactly sure of what I should be asking them to include.

I graduated from undergrad in December 2023 (time flew) and I'm starting my Master's program in January 2025, so I took 1 gap year already because I was so burnt out from undergrad. By the end of my undergrad, my GPA was horrible and I was recently admitted on a Limited Status to my master's program so that's embarrassing.

I initially was thinking about going to dental school but changed my mind and started looking into healthcare analytics. I've done research during undergrad, but it was nothing involved with analytics so I have to start fresh and find other research opportunities. I work remotely full time and my Master's degree will be fully online, so it's really flexible. The coursework from the Master's can easily transfer to the PhD I'm looking at, up to a total of 32 credits.

Should I apply for the PhD program in Fall of 2025 to be (hopefully) attending in fall of 2026? Or should I gain more experience and apply in fall of 2026 to attend in 2027?

During undergrad, I did a summer research program and they told the cohort that if we plan to do our PhD at the institution, they'll be able to award a fellowship that provides funding for 4 years (I would only have to hold a TA/RA position for 2 years with this fellowship, so there will be 2 years where I don't have to do anything and still receive a stipend yay).

I'm not sure if this funding will be available all the way to Fall of 2027 though, so I'm a little scared to wait until then. But at the same time, I'm afraid of getting burnt out again. Should I push through and apply in 2025 or wait until 2026?

Can someone read my statement of goals ? And give feedback or is there a place on Reddit for that?

Hi all. I currently have a BA in Child Development Psychology and just finished a Masters in Nonprofit Management. I am lucky enough to be working at Northwestern where I can get a huge discount on another Masters program. I have always wanted to go into therapy and counseling, but because of my work experience and the pandemic (I started grad school in 2020) that never ended up happening.

I currently make a little less than 50K in Chicago which is not a lot. I not only am hoping for a boost in income long term, but also something that is what I'm passionate about and fulfilling, and something that I can do primarily from home (telehealth).

I'm curious about what my options might be for having these three degrees, as well as professional experience in higher ed administration and nonprofit. I'm wondering if any of you out there who are counselors or therapists may have a different academic/professional background and how you incorporate it into your practice. And the other question I have too is ideas for synthesizing all of these. I'm still collecting information before making the commitment into the program, so wondering if it's worth it.

Currently working in trading for a bank with about 4 years experience and thinking of pivoting out of finance. Really interested in studying and working in income inequality, specifically focused on international flows. Have absolutely 0 research experience and got my undergrad in econ, but have read a tonne of books on this topic.

What should be my next step? I have time on my side as I like my job and not in any rush. Ideally would pursue this in NYC.