What is Reddit's opinion of Getting What You Came For: The Smart Student's Guide to Earning a Master's or a Ph.D.?

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I don't think this is a good reason to go for a Ph.D. You can do everything you want on your own, technically. Do you already work at an academic institution with a grad program? You can grab syllabi of interesting classes, and then just work your way though the reading lists. You can do this without the pressure of assignments, comprehensive exams, writing a dissertation, etc.

If you have broad interests within Lib & Info Sci, then a Ph.D. makes less sense because you'll be forced to narrow your idea down to that one small topic you are to become an "expert" in and write your dissertation on.

Unless you are in a job that needs a Ph.D., or unless you want to be an "academic" and either teach and do research full time, I think based on what you've said here a Ph.D. might not be for you.

Again, you can gain the knowledge you see by sending out some friendly emails to the right people, and doing the reading, without all the loneliness and stress that comes with a Ph.D.

This is, of course, my $.02 and YMMV.

Oh yeah, ANYONE thinking about graduate school really should read this excellent book. It will help you think about why and where to go (if that is your path).

Disadvantaged how? To get into grad school? I assume a high GPA and recommendation letters from your professors would be a higher priority.

I recommend this book if you are serious about grad school:

Getting What You Came For: The Smart Student's Guide to Earning an M.A. or a Ph.D. https://www.amazon.ca/dp/0374524777/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_i_QPCZ4ZY4ZYR4HX6EE3YV

Unclassified students get lowest priority for course registration but I typically got into the classes I wanted in science even the waitlisted ones. I don’t think profs care what program you are in. I thought about grad school but after reading this book and living in Acadia Park (grad student housing), I decided against it. I felt I did not have the fortitude to survive that journey: Getting What You Came For: The Smart Student's Guide to Earning an M.A. or a Ph.D. https://www.amazon.ca/dp/0374524777/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_i_XE5NGX6522RFM4MGVKM5

By being persistent... oh wow I never thought a day would come when I get to say these words! But yeah, persistence, and of course, proper treatment of ADHD symptoms.

I put about 10~20% of my time and resource into managing ADHD. This includes maintenance of current coping systems, reading up on related topics, trial and errors of new systems and medications... Currently, I am mostly working on self-awareness and social skills. (I was forced to, because I got sucked into department politics and suffered big time for being naive and unaware.) My diagnosis was less than a year ago. I hope to decrease the time and energy sucked into ADHD management soon.

If you are there, you belong there. Period. The program accepted you because they saw that you are capable of it. You know how grad school admissions work, right? Also, even those few hotties in theoretical astrophysics and cosmology - those who get right into tenure-track faculty positions at top research universities right after just one postdoc - used to be told "you are incapable and stupid, your research doesn't work, you do not fit here" during their graduate school years, repeatedly.

I recommend you to:

• Make an appointment at the student mental health center at school if you don't have individual sessions with psychologists yet.
  
• It's probably the impostor syndrome. So read up on it.
• Even if it is the impostor syndrome, there must be something you can work on to improve. There are always those little things you can give a simple tweak to see improvements. Be it ADHD symptom management, time management, better eating, new supplement... locate them and fix them one by one.
• Read books like Getting What You Came For

Not kidding, get a book on the process. This one is great: http://www.amazon.com/Getting-What-You-Came-For/dp/0374524777

But the first question you need to ask yourself is "what do you expect to get from it?" That will shape the entire conversation to follow.

Once you figure that out, If you have more specific questions (how to choose a school, etc) then ask away.

Try to find a 12 to 16 month internship, ASAP. You need the work experience and perspective (you don't get deep into a project in 4 months).

I am just wrapping up my thesis for my MSEE. I worked for a few years after my BSEE before going back to school (seemed like a good idea in the recession).

I would say that if your end goal is to work in industry, try to get experience in a good job. If that doesn't work, go to grad school. It took me a few working years to get the perspective of why I should do grad school, and what I wanted to study. It's not like undergrad, it's not structured as well and all the motivation has to come from you.

Also, read this book (it's the best one of half a dozen that I read):

http://www.amazon.com/Getting-What-You-Came-Students/dp/0374524777/

I fucking love it! (I just started though, so my viewpoint might change in a few years, haha.) I finally get to be around people who share the same passion and interests as I do. Are there moments where I hate my life? Sure, but stress in life is a given. All I know it that I'd rather be doing this than anything else (housewife, office job, retail, etc.). Here's a book I recommend that helped me conceptualize grad school better before I committed: https://www.amazon.com/Getting-What-You-Came-Students/dp/0374524777

• A Field Guide to Grad School - This book just came out fairly recently and I have heard great things. It came out while I was already deep in grad school, but I have heard great things from other grad students on twitter and the author is a good twitter follow as well.
• Getting What You Came For - This book is OLD, but the tips are very helpful if you have no clue on where to start. This is what I initially read when I applied 3-4 years ago.

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Good book on all aspects of grad school, including choosing a school, getting in, etc: https://www.amazon.com/Getting-What-You-Came-Students/dp/0374524777

Plug https://www.amazon.com/Getting-What-You-Came-Students/dp/0374524777/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1486958682&sr=8-1&keywords=getting+what+you+came+for

You need to get and read the book "Getting What You Came For." -- http://www.amazon.com/Getting-What-You-Came-Students/dp/0374524777

This is a great resource on all things grad school and your consideration of the graduate school life.

As far as graduate school goes - you need to contact the department that offered you the admission - and ask about the other things that come with that. First off - is there a tuition waiver and stipend? Generally, with many Ph.D. programs, there is with an expectation that you will work as a Research Assistant or Teaching Assistant during your graduate school timeframes.

Many STEM Masters degree programs do NOT offer this, as the expectation is that you are improving your employability rather than pursuing an academic career.

However, you said you're interested in coding rather than engineering. Have you considered the Penn State IST Ph.D. program? I'm not saying you're a great fit for it -- but it's something you might consider looking into for the future.

Also, consider the online MPS programs. An MPS is a different kind of degree than an MS or MA. It's more geared toward professionals.

So that gets down to the "real" question -- why is it that you want to do graduate school? If you're in it for "More Sh*t" and you're thinking it's just more school that will help you get employed later -- then skip it. Don't do it. You'll suffer and you'll hate it. Instead, once you figure out work and what you want to do in life -- THEN come back for a Masters degree -- if that's what you want.

If you're considering a further academic career - then the Ph.D. programs are what you want -- earning a Masters along the way.

Otherwise -- go get a job and figure out some things in life. Take the coding academy things -- online tutorials for whatever you want. You don't need a degree is something to do that thing (well, for a lot of things you don't). Just having SOME degree checks off that box... and a degree in a technical field is good -- but if you want to work in a different technical field - you just need to find someone to hire you who knows you'll be able to ramp up a bit.

Now, in terms of your transcript - many places don't know or care what was on your transcript - what grade you got in this or that class - doesn't matter as much as you FINISHED. Yeah, some places do care, but you'll figure out who that is. For everyone else - at this stage, it's about "I finished" and "I got an OK GPA." and "It was a technical program." That proves you can learn and do technical stuff. Civil engineering ain't a cakewalk. However, if that kind of work isn't really your calling -- then go do something else... whatever you want to set your mind and time to. You're an engineer dammit.... you can do it.

My first instinct was to scream "OH GOD, WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT." But I was once like you too, and I should know that wouldn't be helpful. So instead, I'll recommend that if you're going to choose this, you'd better get your head in the game. When I hear, "I'll work hard; I think it'll work itself out," that gets me worried. There's more to succeeding in grad school and beyond than just getting into the most prestigious school that you can and grinding away in lab, and I'd rather you realize and prepare for that now rather than at the end of your PhD like a lot of my former colleagues.

To start, these books may be helpful to you: http://www.amazon.com/Getting-What-You-Came-Students/dp/0374524777/ http://www.amazon.com/PhD-Not-Enough-Survival-Science-ebook/dp/B004EHZDE8/

I'm going to reiterate what randoguy_16 says below. Be careful when you choose a lab and PI. Google tells me a lot has been written about the subject in general, so I won't get into this long topic. But regarding employment and since your long term goal seems to be getting into industry, I think his specific advice is spot on. Again, I saw and am seeing a lot of my former colleagues trying to get non-postdoc jobs, with PI essentially saying, "oh, that's nice, good luck!" Most of PI's connections (and interest) is in academia. Now to be fair, I don't have much data on how common that attitude/situation is, but I'd be wary of it.

This is a super short reply, but I hope it helps you out. Good luck.