Rating: 
Summary: I Loved It!
Review: Although I received my Ph.D. several years ago, I very much enjoyed reading this book. It definitely provoked a lot of memories! Although prospective and current graduate students certainly will value the book, I think it also is of value to current graduate student mentors. Professors too often "forget" what life is like as a graduate student, and what their role should be in fostering learning in their students. This book does a great job of putting the professor/student relationship in perspective.
Rating:
Summary: Honest assessment of the joys (and pains) of graduate school
Review: Although I received my Ph.D. several years ago, I very much enjoyed reading this book. It definitely provoked a lot of memories! Although prospective and current graduate students certainly will value the book, I think it also is of value to current graduate student mentors. Professors too often "forget" what life is like as a graduate student, and what their role should be in fostering learning in their students. This book does a great job of putting the professor/student relationship in perspective.
Rating:
Summary: This book is like a mentor in a manual.
Review: I am a person who has successfully gone through a doctoral program. However, I did this without the forewarnings about the pitfalls, disclosures about the traps, and inadequate information about the hazzards of graduate school. Happily, this book covers not only practically all of these problems, but gives very helpful advice about how to deal with them. A large fraction of the book quotes material written by other graduate students as well as many PhD holders that offered stories about their own real experiences. I strongly recommend it. by Arthur E. Sowers
Rating:
Summary: Great Introduction to Graduate School
Review: I am a senior in college and I've just finished the graduate school application process. Although I have been exposed to graduate school life at my university, I just bought this book to get a complete review of the whole process. I think this book does a great job explaining every step from chosing a school to writing a dissertation. It was nice to read this book before I go to graduate school because now I know exactly what to expect.
The quotes from students are very helpful and you get an honest opinion of what students are thinking about graduate school. It might have been nice to have a longer chapter about the application process itself, how the schools notify you if you'ce been accpeted, how long you should wait before you can assume you didn't get in etc. All in all though, this is a very informative book. Although I haven't actually started graduate school yet, I would reccomend this book to anyone considering applying.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic Book
Review: I will refer to this source often as I go through graduate school. It's packed with insightful tips. I enjoyed all the quotes from those who have or are now getting their Ph.D.s.
Rating: 
Summary: For Bio Kids
Review: I'm only a senior, starting grad school in the fall. Clearly written and well organised, and the advice in this book certainly seems sound - grad students and profs have told me much the same things. However, although it claims to be for the sciences, what they really mean is biological sciences. It was a bit difficult, starting to read this book thinking it's for everyone and then realising that it has an enormous bio slant and that you have to weed out 'irrelevant for physicists' bits all the time. There's a few token physicist quotations, but so what? That's why it's getting 4 starts. Otherwise, quite good....
Rating:
Summary: En route to a PHD
Review: Science is synonymous with learning and knowledge. 'The PHD Process - A Students Guide to Graduate School in the Sciences' by Dale F. Bloom and two co-authors has just been published by the Oxford University Press, New York. Dr Bloom performed her doctoral studies at UCLA in the Behavioural Neuroscience division of the Department of Psychology and the Brain Research Institute, and is a full-time author. Her accumulated experiences has led to reliable conclusions instead of unverified conjectures. Every phenomena to gain a PHD is extensively investigated and explains clearly and intelligibly the preoccupation required for growth and development from the seed to the embryo.
The 'PHD Process' is a treasure of undisputed supremecy. Numerous scientists and graduate students have been interviewed and responded to questionaires. This entailed years of research and analysis formulating a profoundly interesting encyclopedia for science students. Dr Bloom emphasises, "This book is for the graduate students of the future, from the graduate students of the past." She describes compellingly the fears, courage and convictions which ultimately brings the student and PHD closer together. Every chapter has its salient points offering practical advice, exhaustively exploited and logically explained. It unites, inspires and passionately advocates its subject.
'The PHD Process' gives real meaning with lasting effect. It is a masterly, well ordered treatise, a science student's Bible. The Index and References ensure that the book is easy to navigate.
There is no better guide. If there is a more important item by item book for graduate students of science, it has yet to be written.
Rating:
Summary: A Nuts & Bolts Description of Life as a Science Grad Student
Review: Students will be very thankful that they have read this book. I have not seen anything else like it on the market. There's very valuable advice on all sorts of things science grad students have to deal with over five years. In today's job market a grad student can't afford to go down a "wrong path", even though that's easy to do. This book tells you how to avoid those mistakes.
Other books on grad school are much too general to apply to students of science (and issues of hands-on research). This book specifically addresses this population. Undergraduates can use this book to learn what life as a grad student is like, thus helping them to prepare and make career decisions (there is a chapter with good tips on the application process). Enjoyable to read.
Rating:
Summary: For Science, Engineering, and Computer Science Grad Students
Review: The following was copied from another website's review of The Ph.D. Process, and I think it describes the book perfectly:
Graduate school in science is not an experiential extension of undergraduate education, where the passing of a sufficient number of courses usually guarantees one a degree; nor is it medical school or law school, where there is a delineated and set curriculum. Ph.D students are actually pretty much on their own--and they will sink or swim depending upon their own interpretation of how the system works.
The purpose of this book is to provide students with some insight into this unusual system. The authors--each a Ph.D. in the sciences--reveal the generally unspoken "rules" of the game. They offer the secrets of survival and success: What should you discuss in your application essay? What types of research advisors should you avoid? What kinds of research projects should you never undertake? How hard do you have to work? Are grades important? What steps should you take now to make yourself "employable" when you finish? What decisions can make or break your career? How can you network in the scientific community? What goes on at the oral defense, and how can you prepare?
Described also is the daily experience itself: research life, classes, seminars, journal clubs, lab meetings, interactions with peers and professors, qualifying exams, professional meetings, oral exams, dissertation preparation, etc. Anxiety, frustration, and joy-- all normal responses to a grad student's life--are also examined. (In quotes sprinkled throughout the text, numerous past and present grad students relate their individual experiences and emotions during their doctoral training.) A separate chapter is devoted to the special problems of foreign students, strangers to our culture and educational system.
There are many intellectual and emotional challenges inherent to becoming a scientist. This book prepares students for each stage of the experience. They will learn what to expect--socially, psychologically, and academically!
