About Dave G. Mumby, Ph.D.
Dave G. Mumby, Ph.D.
Here’s a bit of my biography, with emphasis on those aspects of my experience that are most relevant to this blog:
I am an professor at a major University in Montreal, Canada. I am an academic advisor for undergraduate Psychology students, as well as a graduate supervisor for Master’s and Ph.D. students who share my interests in behavioural neuroscience. I have been on many selection committees in my department, and I am a regular contributer to the MyGraduateSchool.com web site, which features advice from experts on applying to graduate or professional school.
I just finished writing the second edition of my book on getting into grad school successfully. It’s called: Graduate School: Winning Strategies For Getting In. This book is full of advice on how to properly use your time as an undergraduate student so that when you are ready to apply to graduate school you have the background necessary to get into the right school and the right program for you. The book also takes you through the entire application process, step-by-step. Readers learn how deal effectively with each component of the application, and how to avoid making mistakes that keep so many other deserving students out of grad school.
You can preview it at amazon or order it directly from the publisher – Proto Press Publications. Just send them an email at protopress@mygraduateschool.com. It is also available in some University and College bookstores across North America. If you can’t find it at your bookstore, don’t be shy to let them know! You can also download the eBook right now at MyGraduateSchool.com. Amazon sells both a paperback and kindle version.
Here are a few other links that describe a bit more about who I am and what I do:
http://mygraduateschool.com/author
Hi Dr. Mumby,
Thank you so much for this very insightful blog. This truly helps build my confidence and allows me to realize that I do have what it takes to not only apply to graduate school but also survive through it. This blog is truly a great read. Thanks once again!
-Farzana L Ali
Farzana,
Thanks so much for your comments on the myGradSchool blog. I am glad to hear that the advice is boosting your confidence and helping you tackle the challenges ahead. Our readers and I too would love to get updates as things progress for you throughout the application process. So, don’t be shy to send in your questions as they come! Thanks again.
There are schools that automatically give funding once you get accepted. Others will advertise available sources of funding on their websites and its up to you to apply for those (competitive). Still, there are some that have funding but don’t advertise and it is not automatic and you end up having to broach the subject with the department or advisor. In some cases, they ask you about your financial capability even before you mention it.
How do you tackle the funding issue with your prospective advisor/department without burning oneself in the process or ruining your chances at admissions? Do you have bargaining tips (especially where some universities offer funding openly and with others you have to go fish? Do you play a little russian roulette? Do you tell them flat out that you’re broke and need funding?
Thank-you for your comments and questions.
It’s certainly difficult to know how to bring up financial matters, but I always recommend that grad school applicants be completely open and honest about such things when they do come up. There is really nothing to be gained by fooling a potential graduate supervisor into believing that you have the financial means to cover your costs of going to grad school, when you really don’t. They need to know what your situation is so they can help find ways for you to get the support you need. If some of your funding will come from the supervisor’s research grant, then he or she must know this will be the case before deciding whether or not to accept you. If the truth only comes to light after you have applied and been accepted, then the consequences might be worse than if you hadn’t applied in the first place. I can imagine to potential scenarios, neither of which is good: First, it’s possible that you will decide to get a part-time job to support yourself while your in grad school. That’s not a good plan, as most grad students, especially those in doctorate programs, do not have time for work outside of their graduate studies. Performance will almost certainly suffer if a student secretly works at a part-time job, and the graduate supervisor is likely to become disappointed in the student’s performance. As discussed in previous posts, the graduate supervisor is the most important person, besides the student, in determining how successful the student will be in graduate school and during the first few years of a post-doctoral career. So, you don’t want your supervisor to think you are a mediocre grad student. The second possible scenario is that instead of taking a job, you confess to your supervisor that you really need some financial support, and that you’re not as self-sufficient as you made yourself out to be when you were applying. This might cause your supervisor to resent you for the lack of honesty, and they might come to distrust you about other things. And to make matters worse, it might be too late by then for your supervisor to help you get some of the support available for graduate students in their program. So, keep in mind that its really important to your graduate supervisor that you have the necessary financial resources, and you will not be better off in the long run by keeping them in the dark about what you have and what you need.
One of your questions is about “bargaining tips” for dealing with programs that make open offers of financial support. I’ve discussed this in a previous blog post, at least with respect to choosing between multiple offers from different schools. My general advice is not to try bargaining, but instead put all of your effort into showing the potential supervisor or admissions committee how they will benefit by having you as a graduate student in their program.
Thank you so much for this blog. I have often encountered “academic advisors” who have provided little to no information and advised me to do my own research. Upon doing this, I have simply found more vague answers. Thank you for making this site comprehensive and informative. It definitely instills a sense of confidence.
Thank-you for your kind words of appreciation! That’s the stuff that keeps me going!
– Dave
I have a question that no one has been able to answer very well. Due to my work schedule and the fact that I have 2 small children, I am getting an online bachelors degree from a very respected and accredited university…not one of these degree mills. I won’t be applying to grad school until my husband is done with his degree which would enable me to attend in person. But I’ve heard rumors (some from the faculty AT the school I am getting my bachelors from AND hopefully my masters) that online bachelors degrees really hurt your chances of getting into grad school. Even if I kill it on the GMAT and have an excellent GPA… No one can tell me definitively if this is true of not. Do you know if it is?
I’m sorry to say, but it is generally true. And there are several reasons why, which actually make sense once you understand how the graduate admissions process generally works at most universities (it’s not the way most people assume it works). I can’t explain it all in this reply, Marilyn, but there are several other posts on my blog that discuss much of what you need to understand to appreciate why the online bachelors can hurt your chances of getting into grad school. A few of them are here, here, and here . – Dave