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Want to get back in touch with professor so he won't forget me but don't know what to say
I want to get back in touch with professor so he won't forget me but don't know what to say! I took a class with him, but that's about it. I would like to keep in touch, so that he will remember me in the future but it's already been a few months, I just have no idea what to say, as I do not have anything to say really (Haven't been able to catch up with any research or so due to work). Any advice?

Can you clarify why is it important to you that he remembers you?

I would like to do a PhD in 3-4 years and will either need a reference or I would also like studying with him. However, it's all quite unclear as of now and I would like to build the relationship first. I just don't know how to get more on his radar, as it were.

I enjoy it when former students let me know what they are working on and how what they learned in my course is assisting them in their career.
I would suggest an email sharing this information and thanking the professor for teaching such a useful course.


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How much can a Professor influence admittance of his/her PhD students? (UK)
I was wondering how much influence a professor at a competitive university in the UK has in PhD admissions, when he/she really wants to work with somebody.
I am mentioning UK specifically, since the PhDs here are shorter and its maybe clearer what exactly the student will want to work on for his PhD.

To give a counterpoint to astronat's view, in Computer Science funding usually, but not always, comes (in one way or another) from a budget of the prospective advisor (e.g., her/his grants, startup package, etc.). So if (s)he really wants to work with you and funding is available (not all professors have funding to start with), you will likely be offered funding.  This is often formally independent of admission into the PhD school (i.e., a professor promising you funding does not formally guarantee admission), but in all places I am aware of the de facto rule is that candidates that professors wish to spend money on are also admitted as long as they fulfill the formal admission requirements.
Note that in many places in Europe the inverse is also true - candidates that no professor agrees to fund are often not admitted, independent of CV and letters.
So to answer your specific question:

I was wondering how much influence a professor at a competitive university in the UK has in PhD admissions, when he/she really wants to work with somebody.

Assuming it's computer science, I would assume that the professor has a very large influence on admission.

Circumstantial: from what I gather from conversations with my prospective supervisor, this is more-or-less how it works in (at least one area of) mathematics in the UK.

This answer seems US-specific, whereas the question asks about the UK.

I'm in physics in the UK and as far as I can tell if a professor wants to work with you, you are generally admitted as long as you fulfil the formal minimum requirements.

No professor can reasonably be forced to take a PhD student they don't want. So there are only two sides/aspects to this question.

Does the potential supervisor want to supervise the particular candidate?
Can the potential supervisor obtain permission/funding to take on this candidate as a(nother) PhD student?

Surely, for (1) the decision is all with the professor, but not with (2). There are various reasons for why this will not work out, such as

there are not funds
there may be legal issues (student visa for international students)
colleagues competing for departmental funds: it's not the professor's turn this year to have a(nother) PhD student
the candidate is not deemed good enough by an admissions panel

A professor may have a small influence on the admission of a candidate, but the way admissions decisions are made will vary across departments.
I think, in general, if an applicant is already known to a member of the department and they would be happy to take them on as student, that applicant's chance of an offer of a PhD place is increased. However, I would still expect that a formal application, satisfactory references and an interview with other faculty members would be required before an offer was made concrete.
I don't know what field you are in, but in mine (physics), funding for a PhD generally comes either from a research council (i.e. the government) or from the university itself. A single professor will have almost no influence on where that money goes. Funding decisions may be made after admission decisions and completely separately to that process, unless the candidates are applying for a specific funded project.
Speaking from my own experience, I was made an informal offer of a place at a university where I know one of the professors very well. However, funding in that department was scarce and the money ultimately went to another, stronger candidate (as decided by a committee that my supervisor had no influence on). Consequently, I interviewed elsewhere, and was fortunate to be made a fully funded offer at another university.
To summarise, if a professor really wants you on board, they may be able to offer you admission, but the funding decision is likely to be made by someone else. (This of course changes if the professor has some grant money of their own by which they can fund a student, or if the student is self-funded.)

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How do I get a professor at a different institution to read my essay draft?
I would like to send a draft of mine to a specific professor. I would be very interested in his comments, however, I am not a student at the moment, so I am not at his institution nor at any other.
Is there any way for me to send him my draft in an email and introduce myself, without sounding rude & incredibly in love with myself? I believe that asking s.o. to read a 5.000 - 10.000 word essay is maybe a bit much? I have no idea how to phrase this or not come across as very demanding and arrogant and I am incredibly concerned.

He might read it if he has time/interest, but chances are he won't since he has other students and research to prioritize.

To clarify, is this essay for a journal or book or is it just an a university assignment? I.e., it makes more sense for a professor at another institution to assist you if the work is going to contribute something to public knowledge.

This is far too long for a cold call paper that's not a review request for a journal. You can ask for an abstract, or, at best, 1-2 pages to be read, and perhaps, if they find this interesting, for 20-30 minutes phone conversation. Take it from there.

Submit it to a conference or journal; in this case, you will get multiple people reading your draft instead of just one.  Moreover, you will likely get a response.

This is a classic example of what’s been dubbed the “XY problem.” You have some actual problem to which you’ve decided that emailing this professor is the solution and you’re asking about your solution.  But I’m quite confident that getting a professor at another school to read a draft of an essay is not the correct solution to any problem.  You should not be emailing your draft to a professor at another school and no advice we can give on how to email this person is going to make your plan work.  Instead, you should ask a new question about your actual problem.  What kind of essay is this? What kind of problems are you having with writing it?  What kind of help are you looking for?

My approach would be a bit different. I'll assume you have done the background check and have reason to believe he/she would be interested in helping you with it.
I would, myself, send a letter, maybe better than email, introducing myself and my interests. A few sentences only. I would mention what I was working on and ask if he/she would have any interest in giving feedback. But I would only include a short abstract of the longer work. Include email contact information.
If If I get a positive feedback I could feel comfortable enough to send the whole thing. At some point you can mention your longer term goals, but it need not be in the initial contact. Keep that pretty short.

First of all, visit the official website of famous university and get the details of professors working there.
After reading their profiles, choose the most appropriate professor who can help you out for your topic. Quite often, there will be email address or telephone number of the professor. You can straightly contact him/her asking your need. If there is no contact detail of the particular professor, you can contact the university and collect the details.
No professor would reject your request because professors have social commitment to extend help to all who seek it.

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How Long Should I Wait After a "I’ll be in touch soon" reply, to follow Up?
After writing to a potential postdoc advisor in the US, I got replied like;
"... will follow up soon.
....................
...new project is matching with your profile.
....................
Again, I’ll be in touch soon. "

I genuinely like this research group's work. This is one of my best choices among those that I still have a chance for.
Just for the cultural differences and curiosity, I would like to know,
How to politely follow up?
Because waiting longer makes my other chances fade away. So I want to make sure if I am In or OUT.

I'd suggest removing the first two questions, since nobody except the potential advisor can answer these questions. I don't see a reason to doubt him being genuine, but again, only he knows.

From your question it seems that you haven’t interviewed. He/she may be waiting for a deadline before starting interviews, or for a certain number of candidates. In my experience, this stage took for days to months. Asking after a few days about the next steps won’t hurt you.

A reply is appropriate after a few days. Say you are (very) interested in the position and ask if there are other actions you should take at this time.
Asking for something specific is more likely to result in a follow up reply than just the "thanks".
If you have specific time constraints, not just worries, you should probably mention them. But academic time can have a very slow clock at times. This is one of those times.

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How to avoid letters while searching pubmed portal?
I am retrieving disease related articles from pPMC. Some of the articles contain letters starting with "Dear friends" , "Dear Editor", etc. Can these be considered valid articles? How to filter the search results so as to avoid letters while searching for research articles?
PS: I have tried filtering by publication type. Options include 'letter' and 'comment' etc. but they don't seem to be working.

You are really asking two questions, a technical and a principal. As for the technical, let us assume your search is #1, then you can exclude letters by searching:
#1 NOT (letter[PT] OR comment*[PT])

Note the asterisk to also include the commentary publication type.
As to the other question; "Can these be considered valid articles?" - yes, they can! And in some cases, the information provided in comments can be as important or perhaps even more important than what is provided in the article commented on. So whether you should include them in your search highly depends on what the purpose of your search is. Are you getting a rough idea of the available literature? Then fine, exclude them. Are you doing a systematic literature review? Include them! There might be crucial information regarding data or conflicting findings. It should be possible to quickly (manually) exclude irrelevant letters.


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How much of a grad-school dissertation fellowship should I personally keep?
I've recently been awarded a graduate school dissertation fellowship which (unlike many other fellowships) is awarded directly to me personally rather than to my institution. Normally, when fellowships are awarded through my institution, the amount of the fellowship is deducted from the stipend that my lab pays me. For example, when I received an NRSA (National Research Service Award) Fellowship, my actual take-home pay didn't change -- the NRSA money was used to cover my tuition, and to pay my stipend, instead of my lab paying it.
In this case, since the fellowship is being awarded directly to me, I have the option of asking my PI whether I can keep some or all of it -- in effect, giving myself a raise. The fellowship is $20,000 annually, and I was considering asking for $10,000 of it, and allowing the other $10,000 to be applied against my tuition. Does that sound reasonable to you? I haven't heard of other people doing it, so I'm not really sure what the rules around this are. I also don't want to annoy my boss.
I'm a graduate student in biology.

I'm confused.  Your institution presumably has a fixed tuition rate.  It sounds like that rate is more than $10,000 per year, so if you are not going to pay the difference, who is?

@NateEldredge The fellowship I'm getting specifies that it may be used for tuition, but also that it may be used for a bunch of other things including living expenses, travel, etc. If I didn't have any fellowships, my tuition would be paid entirely by my lab. Since this fellowship is allowed to be used for non-tuition expenses, I'm trying to figure out if I'm obligated to use 100% of it on tuition anyway.

@user37208 Prestige, basically. Helps with finding a good job later.

I think you have left out important details here.  Why do you have to ask your PI anything?

If money is awarded to you personally as a gift, you may do what ever you want with all of it.  You should consult with the awarding agency to determine if the award is a gift or if it comes with contractual obligations.

Don't let them get one thin copper more than you legally or contractually are required to turn over to them. They are NOT your friends, they are a business who pay you the absolute minimum they can get away with.


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Should technical research papers contain a 'Proposed solution' in them?
I want to publish a paper for the literature study that I have performed instead of the way I have implemented it (Planning to do this in another research paper). I have, however, evaluated different approaches that we can take to do this kind of work (Sentiment analysis). But when I submitted it to a workshop, it was rejected with the following,

"However, the paper does not provide any detailed information, either
  theoretical or technical, regarding their proposed approach, how they would
  seek to evaluate this approach and the strengths and weaknesses of this
  approach as a set of interlinked concepts." and "doesn't have any experimental comparison of the methods being reviewed."

Can you please explain?

Why do you want to publish the literature study and the implementation separately?

Should technical research papers contain a 'Proposed solution' in them?

In general, and particularly for a workshop, the answer to your title question would be "yes". The basic principle behind a workshop is that participants go there with some work-in-progress, discuss their ideas and next steps, and get early outside feedback. If you don't even tell what your ideas are, what is there to discuss? "Here is what others have tried, end of story" isn't really a great discussion starter.
Of course, survey papers exist, but a publishable survey is not just the Related Work section of a regular paper. Good surveys, such as those published in ACM Computing Surveys, are lengthy and comprehensive treatments of a subject. Workshops are not the right venue for such papers.
There is also the added problem that your approach of publishing the state of the art report first, and then writing another paper about your actual idea, sounds a lot like finding the Least Publishable Unit, a practice that many take offence with.


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Is it a problem that my CV rounded-up my GPA while my transcript shows more digits?
I recently applied to a PhD program, now accepted and planning  to attend, in my CV I entered my GPA as 3.8 although the true value is 3.78.
Will that be a problem when I send the hardcopy transcripts to school?

This seems like a rounding issue. Saying a 3.51 gpa is a 4 would be odd and calling it a 4.0 would be lying. You rounded to one decimal place and only reported one decimal. Don't see an issue

I would be very surprised if your GPA is exactly 378/1000, as opposed to 464⅔/123 or something similar.

Plot twist:  It's later revealed that your true true GPA is a 3.778, and you get in trouble for calling it a 3.78.  But then after correcting that, it turns out you actually had a 3.7778, and you again get in trouble...

As pointed out in the comments, you didn't lie.  Your actual GPA was a 3.8.  By contrast, it'd have been a lie if you claimed a 3.80.
I suspect that reviewers who see this may have one of three reactions:

No concern.  They'll see this as entirely correct rounding and not bother thinking about it any further.
Concern about fudging.  They'll wonder why you chose to report your GPA on your CV to just 1 decimal place, as this is a bit atypical, and coupled with the fact that it resulted in a round-up, it may come off as a bit of fudging.
Think it dishonest.  Committees in STEM fields should really understand that a 3.78 is a 3.8; that's basic numeric literacy.  However, if you're applying to a field that doesn't use math, they may perceive it as dishonest.

Personally, if I read a 3.8, I'd have taken it as implying anything from a 3.75 to a 3.84999..., such that the revelation of a 3.78 would be entirely expected.  I'd have found your decision to report only 1 decimal place to be dubious, but I'd have already judged you for that upon seeing your CV.  Seeing the transcript confirm that the GPA was on the lower end of the spectrum would strengthen the suspicion of intentionally trying to fudge the numbers, but since I'd already have been suspicious of that, it wouldn't really change much.

I would never have thought a self-reported "3.8" actually meant a 3.84. There's simply no reason for an applicant to report a less impressive number. If I read 3.8, I understand it to be within (3.795, 3.805) such that their transcript would read "3.80" as two decimal points is typical.

It depends on why the GPA on your CV reads "3.8" as opposed to "3.78".
If the committee decides the discrepancy is due to you willfully "puffing up" your resume, then they would be justified in rescinding your offer of admission. If, instead, you simply missed the "7" key on the keyboard while entering it and didn't catch it while proofreading, you might be able to convince them of your honesty by proactively pointing out the issue and asking for forgiveness. Even if they believe you, they might still decide to rescind the offer because you have a responsibility to ensure that everything on your CV is accurate.
On the other hand, they might not see that 0.02 difference as qualitatively different, and maybe they'll overlook it. But at the very least, it will leave a bad taste in their mouths. You would not be well-served by letting them discover that issue on their own.

I think the accuracies of GPA’s are generally overreported. My school uses a 4/3/2/1/0 scale. For the most part, reporting more than one decimal place is pointless and doesn’t tell me all that much.

Being a professor, I will not supervise any student who lie to me in his/her resume. So, yes you may face problem from supervisor side, and probably from admission committee as well.


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How valuable are publications in lower-ranked conferences for MS admission applications?
I have finished my undergraduate in Computer Science and am currently looking for admissions to top US universities for doing my MS.
I have a publication in the IEEE International Conference on Computational Intelligence and Computing Research, to be published in IEEE XPLORE. The conference has a h5-index of 13 and a h5 median of 17 in Google Scholar.
I am unsure about the value of this publication and what impact it would have on my MS applications for top US universities. Would it impact negatively or positively and if it does impact positively, how far would it help in the admissions?
I am querying about the value of the specific conference mentioned above and its potential impact on my MS application.

You asked the question yesterday. Patience. If you want to give the question extra visibility, than ask and answer questions to get reputation, and set a bounty on the question. Don't make spurious edits.

When applying for grad school, the biggest thing is to demonstrate aptitude in research. You do not need to have a paper in a top-ranked conference to get into a good grad school. The fact that you have a conference paper is significant enough as it is.
Will a top-ranked conference paper improve your chances over a paper in a lower-ranked conference? Yes, of course. But having a conference paper in a reputable conference should never hurt your standing.

Thanks a lot aeismail. I also wanted to know how good the specific conference mentioned above actually is and how suitable it would be for my admissions.

Not my area, so I can't really judge.


text:
Can a Master's program be continued at a university in another country?
I am working on my Master's in Norway as an international student.  Unfortunately, international students aren't allowed more than 3 years for a Master's in Norway, but I've only completed 60 of the required 120 credit hours.
Since I can't finish the degree in Norway, I'm trying to see if I could continue working on a Master's in another country without losing current degree progress.  In particular, I still need to complete a thesis.
Would it be possible to finish up the Master's degree program in another country given Norway's limitation on international students?

The question was unclear, so I applied a speculative edit.  Please feel free to edit it to match your intent!

Looking back at this, did you mean that your'e a PhD student rather than a Master's?  I mean the original question explicitly said it was a Master's and used the "[tag:masters]" tag, but this would make a lot more sense if it were about a PhD.  At least in the US, 60 credits tends to be sufficient for a Master's, while 120 is closer to a PhD, where the difference is typically filled with research credit hours during which a student does a dissertation (or perhaps "thesis" in the above?).  That said, it'd be weird if students were allowed a maximum of 3 years for a PhD.

In all universities I've ever had acquaintance with: No. A Master's program at another university cannot be continued. I believe this is almost universally true, but that's speculation.
On the other hand, there is a chance you might be allowed to start a Master's program, get credit for many of the courses you've already taken (for some definition of "many"...), and continue the same research you've worked on - so that the duplicate work you would do would be reduced. This is much more likely if you find a prospective advisor/supervisor who would be willing to take you on and promote your admission and requests.


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How to avoid authorship drama in this situation?
There are so many posts regarding authorship disputes on this site.  How can my friend, A, avoid such a drama in the following situation?

A and another graduate student, B, are in the same PhD program in the US.
Even though B has just started the program, he completed a MSc program in Europe with research experiences, and he has a de-facto advisor C, who also supervises A.
A while ago, C wrote to A suggesting that A work on a project P, adding that B would work on another project Q.  P and Q are of the same nature but on different objects.  Q builds on B's MSc thesis.
A wished that C assigned him Q instead because Q was about the same object about which A's other project R was.  After working on P, A found that P has a rather trivial answer.
A realized that Q, if solved, gives some progress on R.  Upon telling this to C, A gets a recommendation from C that A talk about Q with B.
After being told about the idea, B told A that he had not completed Q and that he was happy to talk about Q with A.
A realized that his previous idea about the relationship between Q and R was wrong, but instead he came up with an another idea, which would solve Q.  A sent C an email explaining this idea.
While waiting an answer from C, A gets bored and wants to work on his idea.

Obviously, A does not want to be in the center of an authorship disputes.  How should he proceed?

I'm confused and couldn't follow in detail, but authorship and what it is, is very well definied. As far as your story goes, there is no authorship or controvery about authorship of a publication involved so far. There is not even a publication at all. So why is your question about authorship? It's unclear what you're asking.

Has A considered the possibility of working with B to write a joint first-author paper (based on A's idea for solving B's problem) that benefits both of them, thus gaining both a first-author publication and a friend? If A was feeling generous, a project with an intended author list of the form B*, A*, C might ultimately make sense; failing which, I suspect that A*, B*, C would cause far fewer interpersonal problems than A, C (which could look like A sticking it to B for personal gain). YMMV.

As a separate question - if A had an idea that would solve Q, whilst working with B on Q (after B had offered to do that), why didn't A initially talk to B about it rather than emailing C without involving B?

Voting to close just because this is a mess. The suggested edit seems like a much better way to present the question (if that is indeed what's being asked -- I don't understand this post well enough to guarantee that it matches).

The explanation is quite convoluted but this looks like a rather common situation: A and B work on closely related topics, both supervised by C.
First an observation:

While waiting an answer from C, A gets bored and wants to work on his idea.

If the waiting is a couple of days that's completely fine to start exploring the idea. But if it's more like a couple of months there's a communication problem that needs to be solved.
As long as there's no conflict between these three persons, there's no reason why this should lead to authorship dispute. The key is to maintain clear and regular communication, and apparently the three persons involved are aware of that. A is right to seek their supervisor's advice, ultimately the supervisor decides who works on what. But in general there's absolutely no problem for A and B to work on the same idea and write papers together, as long as roles are clearly defined beforehand. In particular the question of who is first author for a particular paper should be clarified from the start. If relevant, the authors could target two distinct papers, one focusing on A's part and the other on B's part.
Note: this might depend on the domain, but I think most academics would agree that an idea by itself doesn't belong to anybody. What matters is the effort put into developing the idea into a proper scientific contribution, usually in the form of a paper: that's authorship. Of course, the person who had the idea should normally be the one developing it, but it's more a matter of common courtesy than of intellectual property.

My best suggestion is that the three of them have a sit down and work out the best research focus of both students, leading to successful completion for both of them. I'm assuming, of course, that you are one of the three.
As students, I suggest that every student's primary goal should be to earn their degree, not necessarily, at this point, to seek primacy in any way over another student. There may be plenty of room for results of value for both of them and the advisor may be able to suggest that each of them work on a primary focus. When their interests touch, they could try to work cooperatively, giving hints/advice, rather than to try to overcome the other person.
Some departments in which I was a student had continuing advanced seminars in which people working on very similar topics would share ideas that would be further developed by one of the members, under the guidance of one of the (member) faculty members. It was something of a free for all in which even the faculty members of the seminar got advice on their own research from other members. This can work, but only if everyone agrees that the goal is to (a) produce good science (mathematics in my case) and (b) get all the students well situated.


text:
Community college transcript
A while ago I messed up my community college transcript with withdrawing from classes frequently due to certain circumstances. But I actually do enjoy school, learning, and want to rectify what has been done etc- yet this transcript is pretty messed up from the past and I don’t know what to do going forward.
I did well in all my classes I did stay in getting a Bs or As
BUT these Ws are killing me.
I’m moving to a new state soon and need to continue school out there.
I know there’s not necessarily a way to “start fresh” but any advice would help as to how I can try to clean up my mess I’ve made in the past with my withdrawals.
I know I can apply for academic forgiveness - but don’t know how much that could help me.

Sorry, I don't follow. What problem are you trying to "rectify" (i.e., why are the Ws a problem for you)? What is "academic forgiveness"? Are you in the US? Is the problem that you are applying for undergraduate admission and keep getting denied?

Haha sorry, I must have been almost half asleep trying to condense a lifetime of words. I want to try and rectify my transcript- I know there is not a way to officially do that In the US where I’m based- but I know I can apply for academic forgiveness and “remove” some bad terms I had. I’m doing better moving forward, but have a few hiccups on my records which I think could hinder my chances of getting in anywhere if I were to apply which I have not done yet. I need to finish a few more classes - but the classes I did stay in those few terms I did well in other than my Ws

OK, so it sounds like you are applying to another institution where you can finish your undergraduate work. We don't take questions on undergrad admissions, just because admissions officers are not "academic staff" and so we don't really have any expertise to offer in that area. But, a few reactions: (1) there is no such concept of "academic forgiveness." Maybe your institution has a policy of removing bad grades from transcripts under certain circumstances, and that's great if so. But this is unusual.

(2) If you have mostly As and Bs, I wouldn't worry too much about withdrawals. Just explain the circumstances behind the withdrawals in your admissions materials.  Getting into the top colleges is always a challenge, but I seriously doubt you won't be able to get into college at all. (3) Bad grades also have a way of "aging out." If your transcript has Ws or bad grades from 5+ years ago, that will count a lot less than more recent activities. But, you should explain in your application what you've been doing recently. Good luck.


text:
What are the Do's and Don'ts of Computer Science PhD viva?
Going into ones viva, there are obvious do's and don'ts. For example, do not try to show off, do be prepared to go into an in-depth discussion...
What, in your experience as either the PhD candidate or the examiner, would you consider the do's and don'ts to be for a candidate in a Computer Science PhD viva?
I am a PhD student in the UK.

Some obvious points that come to mind. In my view there is nothing special about a Computer Science Phd Viva that would differentiate it from another subject. There are minor differences between countries in the conduct of a viva so some of the answers are may be UK specific and some general to all Phd defence. For example, in some places the viva is in public and anyone can ask questions. In the UK it is usually held in private and often the research supervisor does not attend and you have a different internal examiner and also an independent chair who sometimes comes from another subject. The external examiner would usually be a national or international subject expert, but there is a degree of variability of panel makeup and regulations.
Yes; you can show off, as if your Phd is very good that would perhaps make you one of the countries or subjects experts in the topic of your Phd. It may be something you can be proud about. However, attempting to show off when the external examiner (another subject expert) thinks you are wrong may be a mistake. You have to read the social cues to ascertain which it is!
Certainly there be be some very in depth discussions. They want to know what you know.
Some do's and don'ts:
Do

Come prepared, Bring notepaper, pens. Take notes when appropriate. Bring a rough copy of the thesis you can write all over if they suggest a change, or use to show them where in the thesis is the answer to their question.
Sleep beforehand. Be rested and alert so you can clearly understand what you are being asked.
Remember the independent chair will be on your side. Their role is to ensure fair play. If you want to take a break, ask for one. Ask for refreshments if you need them.
Try to attend in person. Even if a remote viva is offered, like with Skype or Facetime this is never as satisfactory as talking across a table. If the viva goes badly you will regret saving a few pounds on that airfare.

Don't

Get into a philosophical fight with the external examiner, or imply the external is an ignorant nincompoop for not understanding your research. It will not go down well, as the external is the representatives of the subject experts. They are expected to know what they are talking about. They outrank you on every scale.
Expect your supervisor to come running to your aid, speak for you, or tell you the answers to hard questions. They are usually not invited anyway. If you got this far with your supervisors hand-holding you will now find yourself alone and on thin ice. This is you test that you make the grade alone.
Assume that critical questions mean that they don't like your work or think it not worthy. They just might be testing how fully you understand the implications of your work. Handling critical questions well is a sign of a good candidate.
Don't take it too personally, which is often very hard. Being critical of your writing does not mean that you or your conclusions are in some way lacking. It is their job to examine in detail and they are only doing their job.

Some general point, which I hope are somehow helpful. Best of luck.
(I answer as an experienced examiner and independent chair).

Excellent answer, I'll add: Make sure the examiners are comfortable (have refreshments available, make sure the heating/lighting is appropriate), equally, make sure you are too (and, as mentioned, suggests breaks -- rather than asking for refreshments, have a plan to replenish them yourself, e.g., using building facilities or rushing to a cafe that's very close); make sure the room has any necessary equipment (e.g., whiteboard with working pens and an eraser, a projector maybe, ...); basically, be ready!

Beyond that, expect some points not to be understood, be prepared to explain them and do not (or, at least, try your best not) to get frustrated if you still aren't understood. Be patient, take your time, try another approach, make use of whiteboards, protectors, whatever.

@BrianTompsett Thank you very much, Brian (again!). My thesis submission is due at the end of January and you have helped with some of the anxiety I am feeling.


text:
Is it bizarre that a professor asks every student for a 3 inch by 5 inch photograph?
The professor asks this of every student. It's 2 points on an introductory assignment worth 10. Does anyone think this is bizarre? I'm against it to the point that I think it should not be allowed by the university.
addendum
It's an online class, by the way. A Senior Communications class is required that most have taken by now. Within that communications class it is required to upload a photo of yourself to the online university system which all classes can see, like in class rosters and private messaging. The professor also asked us to call him (it's explicitly advised at my university not to give your professor your phone number). What really annoyed me was when he then asked permission to share our email among the class. The class already has a messaging system and it can be tied into the university email. This instructor was too pathetic for me, so I dropped the course within a few days.
addendum 2
USA school. top 50 USNews. After seeing these comments I actually find them helpful, because the only reasons I see are to learn the students name, but in this case the professor already has photos of a strong majority of the students. What I'm getting at is the professor is really showing some incompetence and its annoying to a significant extent.

It's not common, but it's not bizarre.  Dr. [redacted] lined us up and took pictures of me and every other student in his excruciating course on compression algorithms.  By mid-term, he could match names to faces.  In many schools, the learning management system now presents pictures taken for student IDs to the instructor.

2 points out of how many? What percentage of the final grade does the introductory assignment get weighted as?

I don't think this question gives enough information for us to answer.  Discuss this directly with the professor.

Provided it's a mugshot, where's the problem? First person to ask about it, surely, is the prof. himself. Were it herself would that make a difference?

It's bizarre indeed. I could imagine that with much younger pupils (though it would pose much problems) to be differently addressed and called up by a teacher with legions of pupils. Anyway s/he is 99.99% innocent, that is not my point.

A paper photo? Who ever prints them anymore? Millennial students probably think they are something from last century.

@FedericoPoloni Your point may be valid, but you might need to review your terminology. https://xkcd.com/2165/

The situation could be made radically more bizarre by replacing the word "photograph" with "doll". (Sorry, couldn't resist.)

State your country, please. There might be certain privacy laws.

@lighthousekeeper "Every time I procrastinate doing my homework for that class, I feel a burning sensation under my feet or a sharp pain like somebody stuck a needle in a part of my body!"

@Thomas What would be the problem? I'm curious, since the professor obviously knows the names of who is in their class and what they look like.

@AzorAhai I don’t know if there’d be a problem, but there’s a difference between “the professor can see students while they’re in their class,” “the professor has the ability to view photos of their students in university databases while the students are in the professor’s class,” and “the professor has their own collection of student photographs that they control.”

@cpast But what would be the crime? I'm just wondering what privacy laws would prevent this

purpose of the photo is 2 points on an intro assignment worth 10. what the professor does with the photo is up to his judgment. hopefully it doesnt involve a bottle of lotion. "...it puts the lotion on the skin..." seriously seeing it.

cyber stalking is a crime. it can include repeatedly annoying someone. intimidation can be shown by such blatant abuse of power.

@Anon2019 Whether cyber stalking is a crime, depends on the country. As others have said, if you don't specify the country where this is happening, the question may be virtually impossible to answer properly and may be closed.

It did happen at my university, where we found out that all photos of male students were dumped immediately, followed by all photos of female students who were deemed not attractive enough. Of course that wouldn't happen today anymore. They would keep some goodlooking male students as well.

I remember fairly quickly the names of the famous and the infamous...

My father was a teaching lecturer at a UK university and had on his office wall (or a common staff space wall) a photo roster of the present 4 undergraduate years and the post-graduate masters years students.  Some of these behaviours are from long before the prevelance of digital photos and are the founding idea of "The Facebook" as a digital equivalent.  Could the OP clarify if they are being asked for a physical glossy photo and a digital image as the addendum makes this unclear?

I would be interested to know why the professor wants these. I can suggest a completely innocent reason, even a reasonable one. But, I realize there are other possible interpretations. I wonder if you are brave enough to go and ask why.
But the innocent reason might be that the prof just needs a crutch to try to learn to match the names and faces of students to make interactions easier. A typical student only has a few professors so it is easy to remember names. But a professor might have tens or even hundreds of students. Some will try to remember the names and a picture can help.
To extend this, a professor might be thinking long term about students and might actually keep a file on each student, with notes about their accomplishments so that if the student asks for a LoR in the future there is something on record other than grades on which to base it. A picture in such a file could be a helpful reminder of who the student is, making such things easier.
I used to keep an index card for each of my students. No picture, though. But it served as a place to keep notes about that individual's needs and what I might need to do to serve them well. It also helped me keep track of who was asking and answering questions in class and who was more passive. Then, I could try to bring the passive ones more into the discussions.
Some professors, who teach large classes, assign specific seats to students and have a sheet of the names of the students, with pictures, in the same arrangement as the seats. Then if a hand goes up, the prof can address the student by name.
There are lots of possible positive reasons along with the ones you might be worried about. But you might want to ask. You could also, possibly, ask students who previously took classes from the prof. Or, you could go to the department office and express discomfort. You might learn the actual reason, and it might make the practice seem OK, or not.
The 2 points is immaterial (unless the max is 5). It is just a nudge. A bribe, perhaps.

In addition to the innocent reason you mention: At my institution, we require students to bring ID to every exam; it's possible the professor would rather know students by name than rely on IDs (which a truly desperate student could surely fake).

My wife used to teach intro calculus -- 4 sections of 100 students each. She asked every student to bring a picture glued to a note card with a little blurb about the student, for a minimal credit. She then learned all 400 names within the next couple of weeks. It seems like a reasonable request to be a better teacher!

In some universities a list of names and photos of the students in a class is even provided to the instructor by the administration, exactly to help the professor learn the names...

Honestly, as an adult, I'd much rather sit where I please and be addressed as "Yes, you" than be told where to sit and addressed as "David".

@DavidRicherby except in practice it works out more like "how about you answer this one? no not you I mean you. No him. With the hat. Yes you. What was I saying?"

2 points are not immaterial.

@BoatyMcboatface, yes, out of 5, but not out of 1000. Also, any sensible grading system wouldn't be so sensitive that two points has a material effect on the overall grade. So, I need to assume that this is a very small thing to the professor.

@ASimpleAlgorithm I still vastly prefer that to being told where to sit, like I'm a six-year-old.

@DavidRicherby Yes, "Mr. Richerby" is much preferred. However, as an adult student, I prefer to take such issues with humour. It is not in my power to change other people, all I should do is live in a situation that exists... and influence it in ways that discrimination and tact allow.

I collected pictures this term as part of an optional pre-semester get-to-know-you survey and it made a big difference in how quickly I learned the names.  I used to use the ID photo roster exclusively, but many international (I am in the US) students have ID photos that look like passport photos: no glasses or earrings, neutral expression, hair pulled back behind the ears.  They look much different in their normal setting.  Plus, my students have carried a portable camera (in their phone) since they were less than 10 years old.  They are used to being photographed.

My mother, who is a teacher, does this. She uses it to build a document with the name and face of each of her students.
When you teach several large classes, it's virtually impossible to make the link between the student you see in the classroom and the names in the listings (unless you have a very good memory and are deeply dedicated to remember more than a hundred new names a year).
This document is archived for a few years, as long as she needs an archive of the reports she graded for a class, and then destroyed.
It is called a trombinoscope in French and is fairly common.

I don't really think you can do this in the EU without a lot of GDPR red tape. She is just lucky nobody complained yet.

@Federico GDPR only regulates digital data stored or manipulated on computers (or more generally, what they call "automated means"). If anyone complains about good old paper+pen+glue files in the name of GDPR, the lawyers are going to laugh.

@dim: GDPR only regulates digital data stored or manipulated on computers ←  what you are saying is completely incorrect. The medium does not matter. See https://www.cnil.fr/fr/rgpd-de-quoi-parle-t-on (the authoritative body on GDRP in France) → they specifically mention that paper documents are in scope (les fichiers papier sont également concernés et doivent être protégés dans les mêmes conditions)

@WoJ in this specific case, where is the automated mean, though?

@dim: See Article 2, point 1 of the GDPR. For the French version (emphasis mine) Le présent règlement s'applique au traitement de données à caractère personnel, automatisé en tout ou en partie, ainsi qu'au traitement non automatisé de données à caractère personnel contenues ou appelées à figurer dans un fichier. → it does not have to be automated.

@dim: BTW, Article 4 point 2 restates that it does not have to be automated: "«traitement», toute opération ou tout ensemble d'opérations effectuées ou non à l'aide de procédés automatisés (...)

@FedericoPoloni Why wouldn't a private archive that is destroyed when no longer needed be GPRD compliant? My understanding of the law is that storing PII is fine as long as it is for an acceptable reason (and learning the students' name certainly qualifies!).

@DenisNardin It is OK, but you need to ask for explicit consent and keep it on record, give an option to opt out if the data processing is not necessary to perform your service, and provide the students with a note that details by whom, how and when their data will be used. And it's not "private use", it's within the activities of a university.

@FedericoPoloni And if you lose two points by not consenting then the consent isn't voluntary and doesn't count.

@FedericoPoloni of course, someone would have to sue the university to enforce their rights first. Just because there's a law doesn't mean it's followed religiously.

There are several reasons photographs might be helpful to a professor:

To try to learn your names. This is a nice gesture, and you should be thankful that your professor is going to the effort
To prevent cheating. The professor can check the photographs of students match the person submitting the exam. This may not be obvious; the professor may recognize many students, but can double-check a few less familiar faces immediately after the exam is turned in.
To track student interactions. This actually seems like the most likely reason to me. While learning names a nice gesture, grading class participation, noting who is absent, and identifying problematic behaviors is crucial. The professor doesn't need to memorize your name for this, but does need to be able to go look up the name associated with a face under various circumstances.

You shouldn't feel uncomfortable with this; the professor already sees you regularly and many schools already provide student ID photographs with the roster. If anything, the fact that your professor doesn't already have your photograph is unusual.

There are a couple issues here.

It might not be allowed by privacy laws, or at least require explicit student consent.  Personally I think it’s ok for the instructor to ask but not right to make this mandatory.
I strongly feel that it’s wrong to have part of your course evaluation (however small) tied to this; I fail to see the link between the academic performance in a course and submitting a picture.

Where I work students agree when the register in a course to give access to their student ID picture to the instructor of the course.  I’m pretty sure there is an opt out feature but I could be wrong.
I usually use the picture roster to help me recognize students who send me emails or to whom I would like to speak at the start or the end of a class.

I agree, there's no academic value in submitting a photo—it seems almost unethical to require it.  I know some faculty who ask students to take a selfie outside their office door to prove they know how to get there.  They say more students come to office hours for help that way.

I agree with you.
He should not be allowed to force students to submit their picture. It should be voluntary. Where I live it would legally not be possible to demand this.
BUT
I certainly understand why he would be asking for these pictures. We had a teacher ask if anyone was fine with him photographing the class, so he could learn everyone's name and seating. Everyone agreed to the photograph(s).

What this professor does would be illegal under EU GDPR regulations, but of course you did not specify if your University is in EU. It violates EU privacy regulation in so many ways that is impossible to describe, so I will point out just the most obvious:

Proportionality criteria. He/she does not need your pictures to enforce rules. He/she is fully entitled to ask any of the students for valid trustworthy personal ID when you sit the exam or join the lab (anything that involves grading) and refuse your participation if you don't provide one.
Securing the private data. Your image is very personal information. If the images are seen by default by other students (this implies, since this is electronic system, that they can be downloaded), this is serious breach. Additionally, to build even a database of such info, you need to have valid reason (see 1: you don't), and you need to secure it properly. Extremely high burden.

So in EU, if you report him/her to information commisioner (each country has his own) he/she will be found in violation of GDPR and University can incur heavy fine.
Now, my opinion is that the reason why he/she does this may be totally innocuous. Like the professor has prosopagnosia (difficulty in recognizing faces) and tries to remember the students faces this way. But I think it that behaviour is highly unusual and perhaps creepy (I am a man, and still creeps me out).
I do have big problems with recognizing students (and I don't have that many) but I simply require them to show me the ID card when I am unsure whether something fishy is going on. I always ask them to show their ID before I finalize their grade. Problem solved.


text:
Accused of cheating
I had my finals for mg chemistry lecture. When I was starting my examination my professor went to my side and picked up a piece of paper then I realized it was the formula card that one of my classmate created.
Then after the exam my professor talked to me. First he was saying that I keep on looking at my seatmate but I defended that I it was just a glance because of the noise created by my seatmate and that because it distracted me. After that he show the card hand asked me to explain about it. I told him that I didn't see it and that it is not mine but he kept on saying that it would be impossible for me to not see it. I called for my classmate, who is the owner of the card, and she was asked if it was hers. She said that I must've fallen of her bag. But my professor keep on insisting that I tried to cheat with the use of that card.
I am so frustrated because if you would try to look at it on my view you cannot see the formula card. I swear that I really did not see it and I didn't even thought of cheating. I don't know what would I do to prove my innocence especially that I'm just a student and the staffs of our college would not believe me. Can you give an advice? And also it would not be the end of my studying right? I would be able to continue my studies even though of what happened?

You need to resolve this locally. But it looks pretty bad.

You see, so many students try to cheat that having a card with a cheat solution on your table/side is pretty much making it very difficult to prove the opposite. Especially since many students keep lying even after proof is piled on proof that they have been cheating. Let's assume you say the truth, how is the professor going to be able to distinguish that from a cheat sheet prepared for you? How is the professor going to be able to be convinced that this card was not set out for your use by your friend? That's why it is not only essential to not cheat, but also to not seem to be cheating.

You're in trouble. Based on the description the evidence against you is strong. Just about the only thing you can do is cast doubt on the evidence.

First he was saying that I keep on looking at my seatmate but I defended that I it was just a glance because of the noise created by my seatmate and that because it distracted me.

You could conceivably find others seated nearby who were also distracted. However, this isn't a good defense in any case: if it's distracting you could've told the invigilator. Repeatedly looking at other students during an exam is inexcusable.

After that he show the card hand asked me to explain about it. I told him that I didn't see it and that it is not mine but he kept on saying that it would be impossible for me to not see it.

You need to prove it: given the location of the card and your seating posture, you could not have seen it. Offer to re-enact the exam, sit at the same seat, and place the card where the professor picked it up. Warning, this can go the other way; it can easily prove that it is indeed impossible for you not to see it.

I called for my classmate, who is the owner of the card, and she was asked if it was hers. She said that I must've fallen of her bag.

Again you need to prove it: prove by re-enacting it that it's possible for the card to fall out of the bag. Again, fair warning, this can go the other way; it can easily prove that unless the card was literally not stored, it cannot have fallen out of the bag.
Because the evidence against you is strong, weak defenses (such as "I don't remember where I sat" or plain denials) is not likely to work. If you can refute the last two points then you could apologize for the first and argue it's not enough to prove you're guilty.

My worry is that "proof" is impossible here. The professor sees two strikes.

what would I do to prove my innocence

What is your schools procedures? You should read the entire rule book right now. Common sense dictates they should use "innocent unless proven guilty". Normally I would say the acusing party should be worried about proving anything.
With that said, depending on the school or disciplinary commitee you might actually be required to prove your innocence. Your best bet I would say is to take a written statement of your classmate (if they can join the hearing it is better) and prepare your statement in line with what I have discussed with the proctor. It is quite hard to prove you are innocent even if you are. I think your best bet is to reflect what has happened clearly, without hessitation to the deciding party and hope decide there is not sufficent evidence to imply you have cheated.

yes. sorry. I'm editing it.

Actually, "presumed innocent until proven guilty" is a US legal concept that isn't shared worldwide, or even outside the criminal justice system in the US. While it makes sense, it may not apply.

@Buffy it is not shared world wide but as far as I am aware it is very much common.

It very well might be “preponderance of evidence” rather than “beyond a reasonable doubt”, because that’d be the standard of evidence that the court would apply if he were to sue the university over a wrongful punishment.


text:
The feeling of inferiority entering a PhD program due to one's undergraduate school rank
According to Stanford's Computer Science graduate admissions department this year:

110 students were accepted. Nearly all accepted applicants were from Stanford (BS/MS), MIT, Berkeley, Princeton, Michigan, Texas, Washington, Tsinghua, and the other ivy leagues. About 10-20 were from non-top schools.

I am one of these 10-20. I go to a state college and our curriculum is imaginably not up to par with the elite schools.  I'm scared.  Did anyone experience the similar situation?  How would I prepare myself to hang with the smartest people in this Ph.D. process?
If you're a professor, how much does this affect you in choosing a Ph.D. student?

I doubt undergraduate institution is a very good predictor of success in a PhD program.  The main difference is that elite institutions are able to offer advanced courses other places cannot.  I think it looks bad for a department to imply that they select students based on pedigree, rather than achievements.

As an observation, there is a bias toward pretentiousness.  And despite that bias - despite the fact that they'd have preferred to have selected a student from an Ivy - they still picked you.

Kinda odd phrasing "the other ivy leagues" following a list of a bunch of schools of which only one is an Ivy League school

no need to feel inferior. I know an IMO medalist, Putnam top 100 guy from elite school and there are at least a dozen students with less stellar undergrad background that are doing much better than him in our department. Work rate and resilience and good advisor are everything in PhD.

Why do you think your curriculum is not up to par?  Those larger schools might be able to offer more electives (many of which seem to be available on-line), but the basic courses are pretty much the same.  Being good at the fundamentals is more important than spreading oneself across a wide range of subjects, none of which you master.

See also: impostor syndrome

This is anecdotal and thus just a comment but during my stint as a postdoc in Cambridge, it was common knowledge that summer students who were University of Cambridge undergraduates systematically performed worse than their peers from less prestigious Universities: they were less knowledgeable, less experienced and less willing to work hard. I urge not to generalise from this but it should show you that you should not be scared for not coming from an “ivy league” Uni.

@Azor-Ahai “ivy league” (when used in a non-sports context, and especially with lower caps, as here) often refers to fairly generic elite Universities, not necessarily the actual Ivy League.

Even if the other studends were smarter this could be a plus. "'If you are the smartest person in the room, then you are in the wrong room."

Why would you have an sense of inferiority over which school you attended? You should have a feeling of inferiority over how incomprehensibly better than you the demigods are.

This post shows that the performance of students on technical interviews does not have a direct relation to the tier of university they attended: http://blog.interviewing.io/we-looked-at-how-a-thousand-college-students-performed-in-technical-interviews-to-see-if-where-they-went-to-school-mattered-it-didnt/

@konrad I've never seen the unqualified term "ivy league" refer to anything but the actual Ivy Leagues and I work for one is those schools. But maybe, I guess

@Azor-Ahai There’s always a first time for everything. Today’s your lucky day. :-) (And I’m not surprised that such a bastardisation would be uncommon at an actual Ivy League school.)

@konrad well, I don't work for Princeton haha I work for one of the lower case ivies

Maybe you are the smartest person in this PhD process! Stanford must think you're pretty smart or they wouldn't have offered you the place. Best wishes for your studies!

Everyone's path to Stanford was different but you're all at Stanford now and therefore peers. Or if you prefer, your colleagues, even with all the advantages of their prestigious undergrad institutions, could only do as well as someone from a state college such as <your_college_name>.

I could not find a single website to verify this quote - other than a gradschool forum, where it's also presented without sources. I'm 99% certain the quote is fake. I'm very surprised (and disappointed) with the academia.stackexchange community that no one has yet bothered to ask, verify or comment upon the veracity of this quote.

Don't trust ranks so much... Just work hard and do your best.

According to Stanford's Computer Science graduate admissions — [citation needed]

I am from one of Stanford (BS/MS), MIT, Berkeley, Princeton, Michigan, Texas, Washington, Tsinghua, and the other ivy leagues. And now in a non-top school stucked with a crazy advisor. Life sucks lol.

(Source: I am a math professor at Stanford, with connections to the CS department and many former students in the CS Master's program, and experience with graduate admissions.)
Nothing about this situation suggests that you are any less intelligent than your classmates. The admissions committee isn't running a charity: if they thought you weren't prepared to excel, they would have admitted another student from MIT instead of you. They invest a lot of effort into determining which students are positioned to be successful; it's not a perfect system by any means, but I think they know better than you do whether you're prepared.
I have never considered undergraduate institution or background when considering who to work with, and I haven't heard of any colleague doing so either. As a grad student you get better and better at learning, so it's easy to patch any holes in your background.
If you are concerned that you haven't had the opportunity to take all the classes that the CS undergrads at Stanford have: well good news, the majority of CS courses are online, including all the lectures, slides, and homeworks. And you have 7 months before you'll start grad school this fall -- that is plenty of time to complete all the courses you're worried you've missed, if you really feel that's the best use of your time.

By the way, welcome to the university! Feel free to come by the math building and introduce yourself when you get to campus this fall.

One of my friends was literally kicked out of undergrad for poor marks. Went back later and completed, got into a top-20 program, got PhD, is very successful. Undergrad performance is a poor predictor of overall ability and success.

As a side note, what might be  the purpose of admission's department original note, if nobody considers undergraduate institution.

@HEITZ was going to post a similar comment. I went to a university considered among the top bases for my subject and my tutor there was the most cited-professor on the whole campus, He confided in me that he'd graduated with third class honours.

Can you confirm that the OP's quote is correct? Seems more like fake news to me.

Thanks for the great input Prof. Church!  I'm much more confident now.  I have already started reviewing the online CS courses.  Best of luck!! :)  Btw, per @resu's request, I'd also like to know the validity of this admission statistics.  Thanks

I'm afraid I don't have access to other departments' admissions statistics (and I'm not sure I'd be in a position to disclose them publicly if I did). But you might be able to approximate this by taking a random sample of current PhD students and checking their CVs.

This was me years ago! Tom Church's answer is a good one, but here's my idiot opinion: yes it's super intimidating and my first year I was sure I would get kicked out. Part of it was undeniably the fact that my lower ranked institution really didn't offer the same/as many classes as what my colleagues from MIT and Caltech got, and I really was less prepared. But part of it was also that those colleagues were extremely confident, having come from those top ranked institutions (and also had some of the garden variety arrogance that seems to come standard with STEM majors, which amplifies that confidence). What's more, the grad classes were extremely difficult and some of my colleagues weren't as used to having to struggle to understand things. But annnnnyway- most of us did fine and graduated (including me yay).  Some- including some ivy leaguers- dropped/failed out. The main difference was in work ethic, determination, and being a personable non-asshole (you'd be surprised how far that last one will get you).

The last sentence is most enlightening.

Not many want to work with a smart asshole, they prefer smart, non-asshole. :)

I don't mean to simply +1 this answer with a comment, but I think this is very common at top tier graduate institutions.  I got great advice, being one of the less prepared in a top tier math grad program.  Incoming first years have a wide array of preparedness, but somewhere in the second year this levels out and more important people start specializing and everyone is more expert in at least one subject that everyone else.  By the time we graduated, the original ordering was irrelevant.

I did undergrad at a non-R1 private university that does well but not excellent in national rankings. I did my Ph.D. at the top school in my discipline, and almost all of my classmates had undergrads from R1 public schools or Ivy-caliber private ones.
If anything, my experience showed me that the fever surrounding admissions to undergraduate institutions is way overblown. I was well-equipped and never felt out of my league. The difference between a Harvard or decent public school undergraduate degree is less than you think.

You are looking this the opposite way.
You're a success story.
Indeed, comparing yourself with students from top schools can be intimidating. However, to some extend (1), graduating from a top school can be a ticket to a PhD program by itself. On the contrary, you managed to get into this program without having this advantage.
This wasn't luck. You were accepted because you're capable, even more so, since you don't have this advantage.
It's going to be ok. Relax, work hard, and enjoy the ride. And congrats!
(1) I'm not in any way diminishing the abilities of students graduating from these schools.

I did my undergrad at a state school; it is a huge R1 research university and I got a lot of experience, but its ranking in some lists is anywhere from 20-60 globally.
I did my PhD in a top 10 ranked university and I worked with people who did their undergrads/masters/PhDs at these universities as well.
I was a bit nervous before I went, but frankly I found very little difference in the capabilities of the students. In fact, many people I worked with in undergrad could run rings around the PhD students I worked with as a grad student. I'm working in a different field, but I assume there's not much difference across fields.
What makes a difference more so than your background, previous experience, and certainly the rank of the school you went to is your interest in your subject. Deficits, should they exist, can easily be overcome if you are passionate about your project and are willing to put in the time.


text:
Is the usage of "vice versa" appropriate in academic writing?
I have written:

In an oil-water system, if the particle contact angle is larger than 90°, showing greater affinity for the oil phase, then the system is likely to be a W/O emulsion and vice versa.

Does this convey "if the particle contact angle is lower than 90°, that the system is more likely to be O/W emulsion", in a more professional way, or does it seem lazy?
I hate writing repeating sentences, with a few different words.

"W/O" seems a bit close to the common shorthand for "without", "w/o".

Not my field, but IMHO that's not clear. In particular, it seems not clear whether the "vice versa" relates to the angle, the affinity, or the oil-water (water/oil) part.

@tobias_k: Good point. Also, for some readers, it will not be clear whether "showing greater affinity for the oil phase" is AN ADDITIONAL ASSUMPTION that is to be included with the contact angle assumption, or this is simply pointing out a A CONSEQUENCE of the contact angle assumption. A possible fix: (1) If this is an additional assumption, then replace "larger than 90°, showing" with "larger than 90° and the system shows". (2) If a consequence of the contact angle assumption, then replace "larger than 90°, showing" with "larger than 90°, and hence the system shows".

No. The viceversa in the block sentence does not reverse W/O. It just means that if you have W/O than likely the contact angle is larger than 90 deg. In academy and outside. And adding a comma changes nothing, in this regard.

I think there should be a comma before "and vice versa".
While a person with more subject area knowledge might have taken your intended meaning, I read it as "In an oil-water system, if the particle contact angle is larger than 90°, showing greater affinity for the oil phase, then the system is likely to be a W/O emulsion, and if the system is a W/O emulsion, then it is likely that the particle contact angle is larger than 90°". The term "vice versa' generally refers to reversing between the terms, not reversing within the terms. So I think it's not so much that "vice versa" in general is inappropriate in academic writing as that you are not using the term correctly.
A correct formulation would be "An oil-water system with a particle contact angle larger than 90°, and one with angle less than 90°, are, respectively, likely to be a W/O emulsion, and an O/W emulsion". Or "In an oil-water system, larger contact angles show greater affinity for the oil phase, and crossing from less than 90° to greater than marks a transition from O/W emulsion being more likely to W/O being so."

I would make the position completely clear:

Conversely, if the angle is …

technical writing is not a good place to leave people guessing or admitting the possibility of ambiguity: for a few extra words it is worth it IMHO...

I would think that this does not rule out the possibility of using 'vice versa' in good technical writing when the point can be made clearly (which seems quite doable in a less complicated sentence structure). But I fully agree that much time and effort should be spent making your point clear to a reader (not yourself).


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Inconsistent advice on PhD wordcount
Shortly before I viva'd I was informed about my universities wordcount policy 70,000 words (this is nowhere on their website). At my viva, I was advised to resubmit and hundreds of pages of additional write up were requested (my thesis is very interdisciplinary so there is a huge amount of background in maths, medicine, bio chemistry and engineering that needs to be covered),  I told my examiners that this would put me over the word count, they told me it doesn't matter.
8 months into my year of rewrites, and after 8 months of ignoring emails my supervisor has started rereading my corrected chapters. Of course its easier to find a reason not to read a thesis than it is to read it, so he has been complaining that its over the word count- and more particularly he has told me that my internal examiner is also concerned about wordcounts. I am not sure if this is true, but I am worried that my examiners might have changed their mind on this issue.
This would be especially frustrating as the graduate school does not check the wordcount, leaving it to the examiners.
Also my supervisor doesn't want me speaking to my internal examiner. What on earth do I do?

I've never heard of a word (or page) restriction for a graduate thesis (Masters or Ph.D. or Habilitation), so you might want to specify your country, unless this might compromise your anonymity. However, I suspect this is an issue best dealt with by talking to someone local than here (e.g. other students in your program, a sympathetic faculty member, etc.).

You were informed about the 70,000 word count policy and it is nowhere on the university website. Please explain how was you informed of this policy? Your supervisor? Your examiner? A student? Why are you convinced this 70,000 word policy is official? How do you know it's not a rumor? How do you know it's not a joke?

I was informed by my supervisor, briefly before I submitted. I have subsequently emailed the graduate school. Confusingly although they say there is a word count, they also told me they don't have software that checks your word count - so presumably they take the examiners word for it.

If its "nowhere in the website", why are you that worried?

Because it's my supervisors current way of not reading my thesis - and it may be used against me by my examiners

@DaveLRenfro, word limits are pretty standard in UK universities: 80,000 words seems typical, or sometimes 200 double-spaced pages.

@Abijah What happens if you google something like "[your university name] + thesis word limit" or "[your university name] thesis requirements"?

I get the details for the physics department and a broken link to the rules for the university

I suggest that you need as a matter of urgency to extract from the administration of your university a copy of the regulations for your PhD programme. (I am surprised that you were  not given these at the outset of your course; most universities claim to provide that information to their students. It's probably part of "good practice" that universities have to sign up to.)
I suggest that you also need to write down exactly who said exactly what to you about the word limit not mattering.
I suggest that you need to address the issue of the supervisor not responding to emails: have you a record of 8 months' non-response? Have you had regular meetings? How frequently?
Does your university have a system of "graduate advisers", or is there someone who is "in charge of" the programme -- I don't mean your academic supervisor? Is so, I suggest that you take this whole sorry tale to them (in confidence) and get help in dealing with what seems to an outsider to be a very unsatisfactory state of affairs.


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Master's student without internship or publications in final semester; how to accomplish something worth putting on my resume?
I am a 3rd-year Masters CSE student. Since I am a 3rd-year student, my advisor has asked me to work on my thesis since 1st year. I picked a problem and worked very hard for around 1.5 years only to realise that nothing new could be done out of it. I have asked my advisor multiple times to let me go for some internships, but he doesn't allow it, telling me that I should get some research output first.
The problem is that he doesn't really have a good problem statement to work on. I am in my final semester now and I have no accomplishments like a research paper or any internship experience. He doesn't have any collaborations either. I am very depressed because I worked so hard reading multiple research papers but now I have nothing on my resume.
Question:  What could I do to avoid graduating at the end of the semester without accomplishing anything worth putting on my resume?

What is your location? This sounds very different to how a masters works where I did it, so I suspect good answers would be based on knowing the system you are currently in.

To the OP, please use your account to sign in and specify your location. To the user who suggested the edit, please do not guess the OP's location. We need the OP to tell us his/her location. Thanks.

I want to be anonymous, so I have changed my original name. I am from India.

Tag added based on new info given by OP in an answer

See I accidentally created two accounts; how do I merge them? - please merge your accounts so that you can edit your question and respond to comments.

Talk to your department chair.


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Should I just move on if a professor doesn't answer my emails requesting a letter of recommendation?
I've asked a professor who I did research with over the summer to write me a letter a recommendation for graduate programs, but he hasn't responded for over a week. I've resent him an email and have received no answer, but a peer who also worked in his lab over summer got an almost immediate response when asking for a letter. We have both done the same research in his lab and known him for the same amount of time. I don't mind if he declines, but I haven't received any word from him. Should I just move on and ask another professor?

Stop by his office (if in town) or pick up the phone.  Just ask him directly if he'll do it or not.  A lot of people are not so email/text centric.  He'll either say yes or no, but at least you'll know the answer.  (And if he says no, just drop it and move on--don't argue.)
Personally, I wouldn't cross off and move on, just because of not responding to email.  Especially if he's the best one.  He is probably just busy.  Or a procrastinator.
Voice or face to face are direct.  An email is like a letter.  Easy to ignore, to get to it later (which becomes never), etc.
When you do confront him if he says, he's unsure of what you did, offer to give him some bullet points and a BRIEF explanation of what you're going after and key features to emphasize.  (In the nature of making his job easier.)

No, contact him again. You gain nothing by "moving on", and you deserve a response.
But let me paint a picture for you.
I'm that professor. I'm very busy and get lots of enquires, both IRL and virtual. I try to answer mails as they arrive, but can't always do so. Busy. Interruptions. Classes. Exams to write. Exams and homework to grade. Lost in thought for a day over a nasty research issue. Busy office hours. So, some thing slip. And the new mails keep coming in - piling up, 30 or more per day. And I don't really have the time or mental energy to scan older mails. So, there are gaps. Or maybe I get a chance to scan it, but your email header doesn't wake me up enough to deal with it.
I also don't think to check my junk box in case a stray word in a valuable mail has triggered the mail bot.
Well, I try to get it right, but I'm not perfect and don't have an assistant to remind me about stuff. Also I'm old and so my mind wanders and my kids have issues of their own that I need to deal with.
But, I'm not a monster, just a human. If you ping me again I'll probably say to myself "oh crap, I shoulda done this last week". And likely deal with it.
If you pop into my office (lucky to catch me) I'll think the same thing and probably apologize. I'm not avoiding you and my job is to help you, even if I'm unwilling to write that letter for you. But I realize you need a definite answer.
If you don't ping me then maybe (just maybe) I'll remember that I "shoulda done that" and catch up, but maybe not.
Ping me. It's ok. Let's see how we can fix it. I owe you that. It's part of why they pay me for this wonderful position.


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Under which circumstances (if ever) should a prospective post-doc apply for a position advertised for a PhD student?
Many academic positions are advertised for PhD students. Does it make sense to apply for such a position even if you already have a PhD, in the hope that they might also consider a post-doc instead? Why would the hiring institution not want a post-doc instead of a PhD student? Why would a prospective post-doc not want such a position?
In case somebody wonders why I'm asking:

Often, there are many more projects advertised for prospective PhD students than for prospective post-docs.
Many of the projects seem to be scientifically challenging enough to be interesting also for a post-doc, especially if one is switching fields or completing the project in a shorter time frame.
I cannot see why institutions would be opposed to hiring post-docs instead of PhD students, considering the much higher qualification they bring. I can imagine that there are some limitations attached to funding, though.

For context, I am in an engineering / computer science field in Europe, where PhD and post-doc positions offer comparable salaries.

Often the positions are paid with different colors of money - they are not fungible.

They might have to pay you more as a postdoc

While it might sometimes be possible to convert the funding from a PhD to a postdoc position, in general I don't think it's a good idea to apply as a postdoc for a PhD position. That being said, you can always contact the PI and ask whether they would have another position for a postdoc.

Often, there are many more projects advertised for prospective PhD students than for prospective post-docs.

This is due to several reasons:

First not every PhD student continues as a postdoc: a lot of them go to industry, some of them quit or fail... and some of them achieve a mediocre PhD which doesn't allow them to get a postdoc job. So mathematically there must be more PhD positions than postdoc positions: if say only 20% of PhDs continue as postdocs, there must be roughly 5 times more PhD positions offered than postdoc ones.
Universities have a duty to teach students, they don't have a duty to hire temporary research staff. The number of PhD students taught is an important target indicator for an institution, whereas the number of postdocs is more a result of their success at grant applications.

Many of the projects seem to be scientifically challenging enough to be interesting also for a post-doc, especially if one is switching fields or completing the project in a shorter time frame.
I cannot see why institutions would be opposed to hiring post-docs instead of PhD students, considering the much higher qualification they bring. I can imagine that there are some limitations attached to funding, though.

I've heard the very vague estimation that one year of postdoc is equivalent to 3 years of PhD in terms of research productivity (incidentally, they are often paid around 3 times more in countries where the PhD is a grant). There's some truth to the idea that a postdoc can do the same job as a PhD faster.
However there are also important differences which can make a PI choose a PhD rather than a postdoc:

a PhD topic can be more prospective and evolve over time.
the PI might want the PhD to test their own research ideas, so they want to supervise the work closely. On the contrary, a postdoc is usually more independent.
supervising PhDs is a must to advance their career.
co-supervising a PhD student is a common way to start a collaboration with a colleague, whereas a postdoc doesn't need much supervision (if any).

It's important to understand that universities are not like companies, they are not looking for the best quality/price ratio for a task. The goal of funding a PhD is not only to answer a research question, it's also to teach somebody how to do research so that they can contribute to society later. This is why the main reason for an institution to hire PhD students is simply that it's an essential part of their mission, that's why they receive public money. This is also why there are indeed very often limitations on the funding, simply because a lot of PhD funding comes from national or international programs meant to increase research capacity by training researchers.

Agree. Don't 'apply' for the PhD position, this just looks weird. But there's no harm in sending an email saying "I saw this PhD ad, which looks really interesting, are there any opportunities for a postdoc in this area?".

"if say only 20% of PhDs continue as postdocs" At my university, it's more like 10%.

Does it make sense to apply for such a position even if you already have a PhD, in the hope that they might also consider a post-doc instead?

Yes, in general, this makes sense, because there is a chance that the position can be converted into a postdoc position. Whether that's indeed the case will depend on the nature of the funding. In some cases it will be possible, in others not.
Therefore, before you apply, it's best to contact the PI and ask them if such conversion is possible.
Benefits:

You are now already on the PI's radar, which is a positive thing if you're a good candidate.

The PI might appreciate that you proactively sought contact. That's a good behavior pattern.

If the particular position cannot be turned into a postdoc, you will know it earlier and save time for applying and waiting.

Drawbacks:

Apparently none.

Why would the hiring institution not want a post-doc instead of a PhD student?

There can be rules, for example, if dedicated funding is allocated for PhD students. I know that this is the case for some positions in Germany. Beyond rules, there can be some benefits in hiring a PhD student. For example, graduated PhD students is a success metric in hiring decisions.

Why would a prospective post-doc not want such a position?

From the perspective of the post-doc, I don't see how the position (if a conversion is possible) would be different than any other post-doc position. This assumes that the institution not tries to lowball your salary somehow because the position was initially meant for a PhD student (which would be a red flag).

A second drawback for hiring a postdoc on a PhD position in Germany is that the postdoc is more expensive: not directly because of having a PhD, but because the PhD time counts as professional experience which will put a "fresh" postdoc immediately two steps(TVL 13/3 instead of 13/1) higher than the fresh PhD student - that's roughly 75 k€ vs. 66 k€ annually for the employer. Plus, or rather, minus of course that the PhD student may be working full time for a part time wage. The only possibility to low-ball by the emplyoer would be to deny professional experience, but that would clearly ...

... violate the tariff rules unless the PhD was in a different field.

@cbeleitesunhappywithSX True, but it might be possible to hire the postdoc for a shorter duration. Lowballing like that indeed wouldn't work in Germany, I was thinking about other countries that do not have fixed tariff rules.

Thanks for this answer, which is very helpful! I had to accept one, so I chose Erwan's answer, because it goes into more detail about the intrinsic motivation for institutions to prefer PhD students to post-docs (which I was not really aware of).

@jhin Thanks! In any case, I still recommend to ask the PI because they might see more benefits in hiring a postdoc, despite the objective motivations for hiring a PhD student.

Things are going to differ country to country, field to field and situation to situation but often PhD studentships are funded by outside funding bodies (this is not the case in the US interestingly). Those funding bodies are not primarily interested in the research that is produced from a PhD project, but in the education provided. All those PhD students that don't go on to become Postdocs? Many of them go and use their PhD in industry, which is an economic boost.
Most PIs I know would indeed rather have a postdoc than a student, but in the end its not the PI that controls the money or the priorities, its whoever is providing the funding.
That said sometimes a PI might have a non-externally funded position, or funding from a more fungible source. Normally they would aleady be advertising a postdoc positions, but I have known a PI convert 3 years of a PhD student into 1 year of postdoc (postdocs cost 3x as much as PhDs here) before.

It does not make any sense, at least in Europe. Do not know, maybe it is different somewhere else. Do not waste the paper on such an application, protect the planet.
While it is possible to have a very naive view that more competence and experience always makes the better candidate, scientific world also has many other restrictions directed against "professional PhD students". I remember trying this really hard out of desperation, many years ago. At that time I already had post doctoral positions in leading universities, publications in good journals, but eventually was forced to yield and go to the industry, like everybody does. At the same time, people right from my university (same master degree, same specialty, very comparable grades) where finding PhD positions no problem.
The only way how it could possibly work is if the professor has multiple options and can convert a PhD grant into something that suits for you. But I have never seen this happening.

General answer: Where there's a will there's a way. If the PI/lab is interested in your talent or proposal, there is a chance they will make it work.
I think you are correct noticing that advertisement for position means they need something. And you as postdoc can fill the gap. The issues is that PhD positions often seems to be funded from different sources than postdoc positions.
That being said, you can only try to reach out. There is nothing you can lose.

No, it's : "Where there's a will there's a hidden relative"...


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Advice on choosing recommenders
Currently applying for master programs in US and UK, in the track of media and communications / marketing. I don’t have many connections with Professors and here and my options:

The project coordinator, who is a graduate student in my lab. The lab is huge with 50+ people so I didn’t interact with the PI. But I have worked with this coordinator for 4 semesters.
The PI of the lab mentioned above - I also took her seminar class and was doing well, participating a lot. I’m thinking to have both 1 and 2 write my letters, the former detailing work ethic and latter detailing academic performance.
A part-time lecturer, who’s not a PhD, that taught a summer design class. Her class was very hands-on, project-based, and I really loved her class and went to a lot of office hours. A lot of group work and communication skills were involved in the class. I’m just not sure how her titles might impact the letter.
A professor who taught an exam-based class, no projects whatsoever. I sat in her front rows for the entire semester but didn’t go to her office hour or interact with her. I got an A+ in the class.

Basically I need three letters and was thinking to ask #1,#2,#3 but some people suggested that #3 might not be a good option. I’m wondering if I should go with #4 instead.

This seems rather similar to a recent question and others. Have you read them? How is your question distinct?

I have looked into the website but didn’t find any information on asking recommendation from a non-PhD lecturer.

Is your question about whether to ask a non-PhD lecturer for a letter for recommendation vs. a PhD lecturer? (If so, maybe edit your question to make that clearer.) More generally, see https://academia.stackexchange.com/search?tab=newest&q=recommendation%20letters, the question came up during the last month-or-so.

Possibly helpful: https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/156001/who-to-ask-for-letters-of-recommendations/156003#156003

In your specific case, I would rank them 1, 3, 2, 4, with 4 not actually being a real option if you can avoid it.
My reasoning is that a truly good letter from an individual familiar with your work will always outweigh a mediocre letter from someone who doesn't.  Given that, it then becomes more important who exactly is writing the letter.  A letter from a famous faculty member with decades of experience and awards that just says "this person came to class and did their homework" is not going to help you stand out, even assuming that person would agree to write such a letter.
Number 4 doesn't know your work, and probably doesn't really know you either.  It doesn't matter how influential they might be; they simply can't write a letter recommending you in anything more than generic terms.
Number 2 sounds like it could be the most important writer, and while the degree of exposure you've had to them helps, the lack of a close working relationship probably hurts a bit, which is why I would rank them after number 1.
Number 3 lacks the prestige, if you will, of the others, but as one who worked closely with you and saw your work ethic up close, they should be able to write a very good, very specific, letter.

Agree that #3 is a good choice, not a poor one.


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Can I ask BOTH the lab manager and the professor for a recommendation letter?
I am gathering letters of recommendation for my masters graduate program application. Basically, I have been in a lab for 2+ years - the lab is huge, has 50+ research assistants, and is separated into several projects - I was mostly involved with one project. As a result, I was mainly working and interacting with the project manager, not the professor of the lab.
On the other hand, I took a seminar class taught by this same professor of the lab, and was doing very well in the class. I was wondering if I could ask BOTH of them for two separate letters of recommendation, one detailing my work ethics and the other detailing my academic performance?
I don't really have other professors I'm close with. Just want to see if this is possible at all. Thank you!

Yes, you can ask and will probably be successful at it. You want people who know you well enough to give an honest (and positive) assessment of the likelihood of your success in graduate work, and possibly research, depending on the degree.
Think though about getting letters from a fairly wide range of people if that is possible. But in your case, suggesting to them that they each focus on different things seems like a good plan.

Thank you! For the third reference, I’m deciding between a lecturer and a professor. The lecturer is part-time and not a PhD; the class is a hands-on and project-based design class. I went to lots of office hour, and a huge amount of group work and communication was shown. I’m just worried the titles might be an issue. The other professor teaches an exam-based class, no projects, and I sat in her front rows for the entire semester but didn’t really interact with her. I got A+s in both classes. Could you advice which one I should ask for a letter?


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How to ask for excused absences or switching to online class
I am a junior at a large state university. Lately, as you all have probably heard, the coronavirus is spreading like a wildfire and we all should be scared.
My instructor is from China, and my school is also filled with Asian students. How do I ask for excused absences so that I can stay at home for the lectures so that I won't get the virus from my instructor or my Asian classmates? Do I contact the chair of the department that's offering the course or the dean of the school? Would it be better if I ask to switch to an online class instead (it's already after the add/drop period)
Some suggestion would be helpful.

The chance to be infected by this new corona virus outside the mainly affected regions are still very small. It is probably more likely to be run over by a car or to get the 'ordinary' influenza. And these two things are also not exactly something you should be scared about to an extent which influences your life like you are suggesting. So for the moment: Relax. And by the way, it is not like Asians will transmit the disease just because they are Asians. Your question could be read like that, so you might want to edit for clarity.

You are not going to catch coronavirus just because your classmates are Asian.

How scared are you of getting the flu? It has a similar death rate. If you've been fine going to class during flu season (especially if you skip flu shots) then you shouldn't have a problem with this one.

In case this is not clear to you: The virus started in the city of Wuhan in a badly cleaned markets. The only reason there are more Chinese people affected is because well, Wuhan is in China, there is absolutely nothing intrinsic of Chinese people/biology/culture that makes them carry the virus more. It could have started in a badly cleaned market in L.A., Paris, or Antananarivo. Unless this university you attend to is in Wuhan, these people have equal chance to infect you as your local coffee barista: almost zero.

You should do none of these things and we should not all be scared. This would be panic reaction.
You have not said in which country you are studying, but the Health authorities of most governments have issued official advice to their citizens which you should follow. Most institutions, such as universities, will also have issued official advice which you should also read and follow.
If you are in the UK the Department of Health has provided advice to UK universities.
If you wanted personal action, using hand cleansing gel dispensers provided by the university will reduce incidents of cross contamination and ensure regular hand-washing is your best defence.

If you have a special need, such as an immune deficiency, and must avoid all potential sources of infection, then your university will probably have some procedures to accommodate you. If you have deep psychological fears of disease then your university may have a counseling office to help you deal with your fears.
Otherwise, the other answers here, counseling you to relax should be considered as good advice.
Note, of course, that authorities are dealing with the problems of international travel by isolating travelers who might have become infected so that the problem is contained. It isn't Asians you need to be concerned with in any case. It is those frequent international travelers who don't comply with quarantine guidelines.

"We should all be scared" [citation needed]
However, some concern is reasonable. For this reason it is likely that your university has developed policies around this topic. Ask your contact point at the university (e.g. a student service centre or similar). Please be careful to avoid racism against people who look Asian.