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A compilation of stories, telescopes, internship resources, and other things radio astronomy.

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Graduate School: Applying, Living, Thesising

The Professional Student is a blog about everything grad school from the application process to my experiences living as a grad student, being a parent in grad school, and researching the role of chemistry in the evolution of our universe.

Relearning how to read

Olivia Wilkins

As an undergraduate, I learned the hard way that I needed to relearn how to read. After reading several scientific journal articles front-to-back, word-by-word, I was bored out of my mind and found that I was unable to recall any of the information (I thought) I had just taken in.

Here's an overview of the mindset you should have when tackling just about any (but specifically scientific) type of journal article.

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categories Research, Coursework
tags Writing, Reading

Making that connection

Olivia Wilkins

If there is a most understated key to success, it would have to be networking. Networking might just be a buzzword overused by your undergrad institution's career center, or it might be something more. And, it isn't just for business majors or for those savvy at wining and dining. Networking also comes in the form of chance meetings, emails, and letting others do the work for you.

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categories Applying to grad school, Fellowships, Research
tags Application materials, Summer research, Email, Networking, Careers

Road Trip to Grad School: Day 1

Olivia Wilkins

Total distance on Day 1: 316.3 miles
Total distance so far: 316.3 miles

Greetings from Snowshoe, West Virginia! Alex, Günther, and I are about to go to bed in preparation of a long day of driving tomorrow. This is the first of (hopefully only) five nights on our road trip, and it is the only strictly planned day; we're leaving the rest of our trip flexible in case we are feeling especially energetic or in need of an early night.

Our day started with breakfast with my parents in New Oxford, after which we headed back to their place to do some last-minute packing. Around 10:00, we were finally ready to hit the road!

After saying our good-byes to my dad, mom, and sister (my brother was conveniently at college, avoiding the waterworks), we made a pit stop in New Oxford square to say goodbye to Alex's parents.

The first stop on our trip was Starbucks in Chambersburg at the Route 30/I-81 junction. This particular Starbucks is perhaps the most inconvenient stop to make. The building and lot look like they must have belonged to a used car business, and getting back on to 30 before proceeding to 81 can be a real pain. Nevertheless, this stop is tradition.

To our dismay, Starbucks was no longer Starbucks; the used car lot site was now the future home of a Daily Grind. We still had to make the irritating turn-around to get back to 81. We proceeded to Sheetz for coffee instead. Of course, as soon as we pulled out of Sheetz, Güni woke from his nap. Thankfully, he was happily chatting until we got to the West Virginia welcome center along 81 south of Hagerstown, Maryland, where we stopped for him to eat.

We continued down 81 to Staunton, Virginia, where we stopped for "lunch" (at 3:00 p.m.) at The Depot Grille. They have awesome iced tea—which was most refreshing—and some of the best burgers. I recommend the bacon and cheddar bison burger; it is mouth-watering good!

Bonus: tables at The Depot have paper table coverings and handfuls of crayons for coloring entertainment pre-food.

After Staunton, we headed west on Route 250 through the mountains and into West Virginia. Turning south at Bartow, we headed to Green Bank. As the Green Bank Telescope can into view, I could not help but grin. Naturally, we stopped at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, where my journey in astrochemistry began 17 years ago when I saw my first radio telescope.

After dropping our bag off at the Inn at Snowshoe, we headed up to Foxfire Grille for some pulled pork sandwiches (while Güni chomped on his blanket).

Now, we sleep, in the heart of the National Radio Quiet Zone (NRQZ), where cell phone service and WiFi are hard to come by (at least legally). Tomorrow, we leave the NRQZ and head west!

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categories Student life
tags RT2GS, Travel

Applying to the NSF GRFP

Olivia Wilkins

In research, having an external source of funding definitely has its perks, something I found out while at the Universität zu Köln on a Fulbright research grant. While I have yet to learn more about the extent of the benefits from the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program (NSF GRFP), it is already clear that being an NSF Graduate Research Fellow will do more for me than give me another line on my CV.

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categories Applying to grad school, Research, Fellowships
tags NSF GRFP

Factors that should (not) influence where you go to grad school

Olivia Wilkins

Over the past couple of months, I've been struggling with where to go to graduate school. I had no "safety schools," so narrowing down my list of schools was virtually impossible. I only applied to schools where I could pursue my research interests (astrochemistry) under people for whom I wanted to work. Trying to decide over research that all sounded interesting and people who all seemed supportive and excited about what they did made choosing where to decline more difficult than where to accept. In the end, I decided to accept where my heart told me to go (cheesy, I know).

But first, I had to consider some non-academic factors.

  1. Location of the nearest Taco Bell(s). My husband and I love ourselves some late night Taco Bell with our video games.
  2. Likelihood of snow days. Northeast: brutally cold all winter; Southwest: very warm all winter; South: Flurries = snow day!; Midwest: Everywhere else in the country is wimpy when it comes to snow.
  3. Number of smileys in emails from PIs... because nothing says good advisor like a smiley face.
  4. School mascot, because even though you don't care about sports in grad school, family will still probably buy you T-shirts branded with some cartoon animal.
  5. Local "exoctic" (?) cuisine. Sushi burritos anyone?
  6. Likelihood of seeing your favorite band/artist perform. Especially if they are a local or regional artist.
  7. Available internet services. Will you be stuck with Comcast or do you get to upgrade to Google Fiber?
  8. Whose office might be down the hall. Can you catch someone else's genius if you shake their hand enough times (which I definitely need because I had to look up "geniusness" to learn that it is not a real word...)?
  9. Proximity of conventions. And I mean conventions like BlizzCon or ComicCon.
  10. Chance of your residence or department catching on fire/crumbling in an earthquake/breaking off into the ocean/being ravaged by some other natural disaster. Okay, for places like southern California, maybe this should be an actual concern.


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categories Applying to grad school, Student life

My academic life on paper: my annotated CV

Olivia Wilkins

Submitting a CV with your graduate school application is an important part for the admissions committee to get a sense of your accomplishments and interests. In an earlier post, I described the functionality of a CV, what to include, and some formatting tips. Here, I've included an annotated copy of the CV I included in my own applications to give a concrete example of what you may want to include and how to present it.

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categories Applying to grad school
tags Application materials

Your academic life on paper: the CV

Olivia Wilkins

In addition to copies of your transcripts and personal statement, graduate admissions often also require a resumé or curriculum vitae (CV). Your resumé or CV is an important component of your application materials; it is an opportunity for you, the applicant, to list for the admissions review committee what you've accomplished. It is also a great place to list things like service or work experience that won't fit into the application form itself or the personal statement. But when preparing this document, you have to decide which document will be most conducive to your application. More importantly, you have to think about what to include and how to present this information.

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categories Applying to grad school
tags Application materials

So you think you want to go to grad school

Olivia Wilkins

  The decision to go to graduate school is perhaps one of the biggest decisions in a student's life. Choosing a graduate education is fraught with a number of challenges much greater than those encountered when applying to college at the end of high school. Some of the questions you'll have will remain the same at the core, but are often much more complicated.

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categories Applying to grad school