Hi everyone. Idk, any stories of similar things happening right now would be awesome.
I’ve been planning for the past year and a half to completely master this fall. I have been legitimately working myself to the fucking bone to get it done and I’m done too is the thing. I’m on the last step of my thesis and it’s truly a matter of writing it all down which I’ve done already. My professor/chair just called me and said I can only do my proposal and defense that this semester and I have to continue enrollment next semester because there’s not enough time to defend a PROPOSAL, take in feedback, and defend my thesis. I have been telling him this semesters end was my timeline and working on it so that I could make it to that. I’m at the END.
I bought my grad regalia, paid the application fee, etc. I haven’t even had an academic advisor this entire time either because she doesn’t know anything about any of the processes and when I ask her questions she doesn’t know/takes so long to respond.
No one in my family has done this and so I have no frame of reference. I am at my max loan withdrawal so I can take another 12k out and I can’t go any further. I don’t know what to do. I have been working two jobs this entire time and barely hanging on.
i was wanting to apply for a PhD but I just don’t think I want to do higher education anymore.
This university sucks and is literally robbing me, this city sucks, my department sucks. I hate that I went to this illegitimate school.

Ok the stupidest of stupid questions. Just started grad school. In undergrad I could get away with just bringing my tote bag to campus because I was just carrying my laptop + water bottle. But now I’m on campus all day so I need laptop + water bottle + lunchbox + bag of little hygiene items like concealer and tampons etc + book to read on the bus + notebook for class. Too much to fit in my silly little tote bag. So I’m thinking backpack. But I’m a vain motherfucker, I don’t want a basic black Jansport. I love the look of messenger bags, but I haven’t seen any big enough. Actually, I did see one big enough on Facebook Marketplace, but the seller ghosted me. Tragedy!! Anyways. I would like a cute backpack or bag of some sort that can fit my laptop, lunch box, water bottle, etc and all the miscellaneous accoutrement that naturally collects in a bag. Seeking suggestions, links, ideas, and pictures of your cute bags.

This is my first semester and the least busy and every day I feel like I’m gonna rip all my hair out and have a stroke.

I have an assignment due in 1 hr that I don’t even know how to do and I don’t want to look stupid by asking the other grad students. I was good at organic chemistry in undergrad now that I’m in advanced organic synthesis I know nothing and fail every time (grades below 70%).

I wish someone would walk up behind me and shoot me in the back of the head so at least I could say it wasn’t my fault I gave up. I used to have passion for chemistry now within a few months all I can think is that I should’ve just majored in business and gotten a good paying job.

Being “smart” by undergraduate standards means FUCK ALL in grad school. Literally nothing. Every single day you will be asked questions that people of 30 years of experience are the only people on earth that understand it and I’m tired of feeling like I don’t belong. But if I drop out I’ll be disappointed with myself and I’ll constantly think all my mentors think of me as a failure. And I’ll think of myself as a failure too.

I've been applying to grad school for masters in CS. Dumb idea, I know, don't @ me.
anyways. i have a 2.75 GPA.
and I see 3 categories of universities:
- universities that auto-reject based on my gpa - universities with small CS departments - universities with big CS departments, but considerably more expensive

is this accurate

Edit: these comments are pretty alarming I could really use some specific advice, I don't wanna be in over my head, please

I'm a second year master's student in a two year program. I can admit that I'm far from the "perfect" graduate student. Last semester, my mental health declined significantly and negatively affected my academics. I ended up getting a C+ (which is considered failing) in one of my classes, dropping my GPA to a 2.95. I'm now on academic probation and only need to raise my GPA by 0.05 to meet the 3.0 requirement. I'm doing better mentally and am determined to improve and earn my degree.

Anyways, this semester I'm taking another class with the same professor whose class I failed. I've been trying really hard to improve by participating more, asking questions, and attending office hours. Since exams are where I struggle the most, I scheduled a meeting with her to discuss how I could improve my studying strategies and perform better on our upcoming midterm.

During our meeting, she provided some pretty vague advice, which unfortunately wasn't very helpful. Unprompted, she brought up my poor exam performance from last semester and reminded me of one of my biggest mistakes on the midterm.

Immediately afterward, she said "grad school isn't for everyone."

That comment really hurt me. I know I'm not the strongest student in my program, but I was meeting with her specifically because I wanted to improve, so hearing that felt incredibly discouraging.

It's been a few weeks, and that comment is still stuck in my head. I'll sit down to study, remember what she said, and wonder, "why even bother?" Rather than motivating me to improve and prove her wrong, it's honestly destroyed whatever little confidence I had left.

Is that an appropriate thing to say to a student who was actively seeking advice on how to improve? Am I taking the comment too personally, or was it inappropriate? If you were in my position, would you do anything about it?

Have you ever heard of a discontinued graduate program being reinstated due to popular demand/backlash from the cancellation?

Everyone wants to “stand out”, I know that. I’d like to go to grad school for environmental science and the personal statement is by far the worst part of applying. I want an intriguing hook, and tbh I’ve thought about starting off with referencing my love for the movie “AVATAR”, specifically how in the movie the fall of Home Tree inevitably ignited my interest in protecting nature and stopping humans from destroying the planet. I was 6 years old when the movie came out and at this point have the script memorized, to this day it (and the second and third movies) inspire me to work in conservation and restoration. Is this too far of a reach for a hook at the start of a personal statement?

Hi! I'm kind of just hoping to hear from other folks who are currently working full time, going to school part time through tution remisison. I'll be honest and say it is NOT what I expected. It's actually costing me a lot more than I realized and am barely making ends meet (if at all). BU is taxing me more than half of my paycheck for tuition remission weekly. I'm searching through the internet but I can't seem to find anyone going through the same thing.

What do others do to survive? I'm thinking of picking up a second job or taking out loans. With this administration though, I'd like to avoid loans as much as possible.