What If I Am Not Accepted Into a PhD Program (U.S.)?
Today we explore how to handle grad school rejection, with different career paths and anecdotes from similar experiences.
Postponing the Next Step: a Decision to Defer
Gabriele Betancourt-Martinez is a first year graduate student at the astronomy department of the University of Maryland, College Park. Here, she discusses her decision to defer grad school for a year and the adventures she had.
Links: Astro Perception Survey, Applying to Grad School
A new survey investigates social perceptions of astronomy and our sister site Chembites has an article about the grad school application process.
Applying to Graduate School Part II: Submitting your Application
Making the grad application time easier and clearer.
Careers, Like Space Missions, are Tricky: How a Master’s Degree Can Help
At the same time that many in the astronomy community are scrambling to save the James Webb Space Telescope, young astronomers may be just as antsy about their own futures. Some students choose a terminal Master’s degree as a means to better compete in the Ph.D. applicant pool, to qualify for teaching credentials that require a master’s degree, to find positions at research facilities, museums, planetariums, and science publications … or just ‘test the water’ in a graduate school environment.
Why I Chose Grad School
For some people, the decision to go to graduate school is straightforward. They know that they are cut out for a life in academia, often aiming for a faculty position at an R1 institution.* I am not and never was one of those people, and the decision to go to grad school was far from straightforward. I know I am just one of many who struggled with what seemed a formidable choice. I want to share my story of realization that grad school was still right for me.