graduate school (phd ) - Page 3

Originally Posted by TAKEaPillChill

When you say "id" do you mean they were giving you a hard time issuing you a school id?! Or does it have to do with GRE? Just thinking about all the official exams that require me to show some id makes me want to just avoid things.

Originally Posted by Ali

i'm doing a masters, failed my first test today methinks....

Originally Posted by gebodupa

These topics usually make me really sad....

I was trying to go for a PhD in Physics, and every school I got accepted to could do nothing for me as far as living expenses. Some schools flat out told me that they no longer can offer my a spot once I told them of my status. Some schools offered tuition assistance but moving away to go for a PhD in any science, working in a lab/teaching for free as a requirement, and then working on the side to support yourself is truly impossible. There just aren't enough hours in the day and a PhD program is exhausting enough, and it's not even like med school where you can expect to make some serious money after you finish.

I personally decided to stay at home, was unable to matriculate at a state university close to home and had to pay a pretty high tuition out of pocket to take the necessary courses, and the help the university offered was pretty much negligible. So now I am at candidacy level but I cannot take the oral exam and at least leave with my masters because I am not matriculated, and even thinking about it makes my head hurt. God, whoever invented American bureaucracy should be burnt at the stake.

On a lighter note, I truly wish you the best of luck.

Originally Posted by marcos

Yes I meant a school ID. This was problematic because I could not check out books, but it was mostly because of ignorance from the staff rather than having something against AB540 students. In terms of GRE tests or anything else, obtain a passport from your country. There will be no other document they will accept that we can obtain. They are very strict on the list of what they constitute a valid ID. So no matricula, no school IDs no nothing. I learned the hard way.