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geodrake

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    New Mexico
  • Program
    Geography

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  1. RH7, I believe you're absolutely right, even down to the reading books part. And talking to him only makes it worse. Now he's to the point where he just needs to get his thesis proposal accepted (version 4 ro 5 now). Instead, he's building model airplanes over break. Oy!
  2. Too cool to pass up. I wonder if including the Wordle at the bottom of our apps would have counted towards the SoP page count or not . Too late for me, my apps are in. Ah well =)
  3. As I've had many professors tell me, it's unusual to find a Geography professor who went straight Geography. Most have a mixed background in there somewhere. Our department has a number of grad students who have their undergrads in History, Biology, Philosophy, Anthropology, etc. I'm sure it differs by school, but usually it's a matter of taking the core undergrad classes to get "caught up". Given the vastness of integration with other disciplines, I'd say Geography tends to draw people from other disciplines who finally realize a spatial component matters in the equation
  4. I know we inherently seem to have a need to quantify things. We like straight-forward numbers/ratings so we know where we rank. The truth is, it comes down to writing an awesome Broader Impact and Scientific Merit, showing that you're doing independent research that is "transformative", and being able to convey all of this is two pages. Of course, YMMV depending on the degree. I know my LoRs were stellar (I've read most of them), I had a publication & presentation at the time, and I'm in a grad program. But the reviewers were absolutely right in their assessment, I did not convey how expanding on my advisor's research was going to improve society. Could I word it differently now almost a year since I started working on my thesis? You bet. Could I write a proposal now that would increase my chances? Sure. But it would all come down to clearly and concisely explaining why this research is important and how it's going to help people, not just explaining what it is and how it's going to be done. Even then, I still wouldn't get the award because the reviewers just don't see developing standardized methodology and consistently implemented field verification to be transformative, and that's ok. So please don't think "if only my GPA had been 0.1 higher" or "if I'd only gotten a 1600 instead of 1590 on my GRE I would have won". It comes down to how well you expressed yourself, and who the other bastards were who explained themselves more convincingly than you Love to all who didn't get the award, and hi-5s to those who did =)
  5. Congratulations to everyone who received an award or a HM! Hell, congratulations to everyone with 3 ratings sheets! (I didn't make it past the first round). You guys are great, and now the stress is done! BIG HUGS TO ALL!!!
  6. Wouldn't that just be cruel if they changed the URL so that those of us who use a bookmark or the autocomplete in our address bar to go to the ratings sheets won't see the awards appear? Even crueller would be if somehow the redirect to "page not found" gets cached on our machines so we go to the evil Page of Taunting in perpetuity... glad I'm not their SysAdmin... might be tempting
  7. Wouldn't it be nice if somehow you could work into an essay how waiting for NSF to post results has a negative impact on submittees' neurobiology?
  8. It's been 404 for the last week confusedChicken. Geez, you'd think they'd like increasing traffic flow to their site. I mean, how many banner-ad revenue-generating websites would KILL to have as many clicks on their pages as we're giving NSF? And they go and 404 us... sheesh!
  9. I try not to tell him when I get an opportunity, since he keeps getting upset (boggles the mind, one would think funding's a good thing). I actually made a point of not telling him about this one for a week or two. However, when I got confirmation of the interview time, I let him know that I wouldn't be able to have lunch with him between our classes because I needed to go to the interview, hence the response. I did bring it up today though, and after a bit of back and forth, he settled on "what I meant to say was what are the prerequisites for the award, since I think of leadership as Student Government". Fair enough, I'll go with the semantics, since I had the same thought when I read the title vs. the requirements (the reason I even looked at it in the first place was to pass it on to two other students I thought would be a good fit, but it turned out the award was for a full year and they're graduating next term). It's still irritating though. If he was getting awards or interviews or whatever I'd be thrilled for him! =/
  10. Stupid question, but the situation is really irritating me. My hubby and I are both Masters students. I apply for all sorts of grants and scholarships in my "free time" while he reads "fun" books instead of working on assignments (to let his mind "rest"). I come up with side research projects while I'm waiting for field season to start up (because, well, I'm insane) and work on writing articles. He reads "fun" books (to let his mind "rest"). I take care of our daughter 90% of the time, and he usually grumbles if I ask him to take her to school. Whatever. Irritating, but I can deal because while he works at a slower pace, he tends to be more thoughtful and comprehensive in his schoolwork (when he cares about it). Different personalities, I get that. What bothers me is that when I inform him that I get received a scholarship, he grunts acknowledgement and maybe a half-hearted "that's nice". Now I'm a finalist for a leadership award and he had the audacity to ask me "what the hell kind of leadership experience do YOU have?!?". I pointed out all the organizations I'm an officer in/helped start, the lab coordinator responsibilities I have + TAing, conference presentations, publications, etc. and he actually said "that's not leadership, it doesn't count". *BLINK* I'm sorry? WHAT? Clearly it counts if I'm a finalist. Seriously, WTH? Why can't a guy be happy for a wife that's excelling? If I see something, I go for it (I'm not about to leave it up to chance that a professor might submit my name for something). He takes the attitude that it's not right to ask, or why bother, he has other things to work on. It's not like he's even trying for these things and I'm receiving the awards instead of him, I could understand that... is he being that unsupportive or is he jealous he's not getting awards/acknowledgments? I'd appreciate a guy's perspective, as I do NOT understand the male species at all... they make NO sense. Thanks!
  11. I had paranoia about my transcripts getting their late and called ahead of time. The lady I spoke with said they're used to getting the transcripts late, up to a week, and to not worry about it. Same is true for GRE scores, since NSF is pulling them, not us sending them. Though, since I didn't try very hard on my GREs to get into a Masters program, I'm thinking I probably shouldn't have sent them =P
  12. I'll go with April 1st because, well, it just seems appropriate
  13. My hubby and I moved from one of the areas hardest hit by the housing market decline to attend Grad School, and have been renting our place out. The rent doesn't cover the whole mortgage (forget about the HOA fees) and went unrented for 4 months. Thankfully someone's back in there now. Even though we both TA, we're having to take out student loans (especially when the place wasn't rented out). All this after leaving a 6-figure job. But, it's better to do what you love then hate going to work so.... Renting is always an option. Hopefully you didn't buy at the top of the market as we did, and should be able to cover your mortgage amount. One thing to consider though is renter's rights. Where we live now, I've been told that the renter has more rights than the owner, so it's something to look in to -Anna
  14. Just curious if any other GradCafe-ers will be attending the AAG meeting in Washington, D.C. this year...
  15. Is it April yet? (patience is NOT one of my virtues )
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