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determined13

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Everything posted by determined13

  1. Thanks geologizer and fuzzy logician. Want to clarify I definitely am not seeking help from him in any form on this issue. I don't feel that's inapproriate in this case and as mentioned have and am getting help through health/professional means. I do hope to work with this professor in the future academically, and leave an excellent impression on him as he is prominent and does great work in my field of interest. He has given me excellent marks on my written work in the class. But I have gotten the distinct impression that he wants me to speak up more and contribute. So a good impression is very important to me professionally, moving forward, and that's the primary reason I am considering communicating with him about it. Secondly, as I mentioned, it's engrained in me from the work world that it's critical to have proactive accountability when performance is not up to par in some way. Again, that's just from my work worl/professional background, not academic. Maybe that's misplaced in academia, but it's a secondary reason for me. I'm going to weigh all of this, pros and cons, this weekend. fuzzylogician, many thanks for your insightful comments. I really appreciate your feedback, more than you can know. It's been very difficult to fuss out how to seek similar advice directly within academia about such issues so I am very grateful for the existence of this board and the opportunity to tap your wisdom. THank you all -geologician, threading the niedl, and fuzzy logician -and have a great weekend.
  2. Thanks so much, threading_the_neidl. Really appreciate it. I am pursuing therapy already and that is helping, but as you say takes time. I will aim harder to speak up. Toastmasters is also a good idea. Good advice about telling the professor. Outside of academia, I would normally tell my supervisor such a thing if it was affecting my work, as It seems professional, natural and right for me to apologize for not constributing more. But that's the non-academic in me speaking. Clearly there are other considerations in academia, and other things at play Am wondering if besides confidentiality, there are any other downsides to revealing this to a professor. Thank you again.
  3. Thanks Geologizer. I think some of your advice applies and is good. Some of your charactarizations are not. As I mentioned, the reason I cannot speak up is trauma related to imprisonment which the course is about. So I can articulate that to the professor. Secondly, I am not "star-struck" rather I have a very strong interest in the subject matter and it took a lot to get into the class. Your final words, are helpful. Although I have really practiced and tried hard and it conitnues to be extremly difficult. Thus the point is right now do I tell the prof. or not. Thanks again for taking the time to answer.
  4. Hi, Am having a problem that concerns me a lot and thought someone might have some advice. I am taking a phD sociology seminar class at a very elite school. I tried very hard for months to get into the class. Have enormous respect for the professor and the readings are fantastic. The topic however is very concrete in my personal background, having to do with imprisonment which I have experienced. To my surprise I simply cannot speak in the class. While I am super-engaged and riveted by the discussion, I seem to have a paralyzing fear of speaking and get completely choked up when I try. So instead I stay quiet. I do try and make it a goal every single class to getover this and contribute, but as much as I struggle to try, over six class sessions I have only been able to utter something once. I don't know whether to approach the professor, who is quite high-ranking and very well-known to apologize and/or attempt to explain my silence. Should I? I should add the course is not at my own school, but at another local (consortium) school. So I don't know the culture well in terms of these issues, and do not feel comfortable asking advice from my classmates, whom I barely know. Any advice about whether to approach the professor would be very appreciated. Thanks.
  5. Post-it Poet, Thank you for your comment. I definitely do think my age is an advantage and a strength. To clarify: I have no doubts about my own strengths and my life experiences. Don't feel I really have to spin it even, it stands alone as great work. (That's not to say I didn't struggle and work long and hard on my SOPs, lol !) However, and while I agree there are many people out there who are not swayed by appearance or age, I think there are some that are. I should note I am about 9 years older than you. I have had the experience of being an older AmeriCorp and VISTA member in health corps for example, where MDs in the public health field routinely pick younger colleagues than myself for mentoring/internship possibilities. I have seen ageism come into play expressedly and overtly in those circumstances. A comment I have gotten many times, for example, from several MDs is: You're great, but we want to givve the opporuntiy to someone who is really young and ambitious." Just like that. When I actually have busted my ass twice as much on the job. It almost seems as if they see the grey hair and you're out of the paradigm of what's comfortable for them. Commenter epistudent above's point that some adcomms want students who are like them, does resonate with me. I have no doubt that the public health field is much more open than others to diversity, but the medical field (in my experience) seems to have a much narrower outlook, and more tied to a view of a rigid and linear professional trajectory. So that's where I'm coming from. Again, I believe in myself and indeed am proud of my age. I also think it's helpful to identify forms of discrimination in order to dismantle that dynamic, and rise above it. Thank you again for your comment and good luck to you as well!
  6. Thanks Uromastyx. Am very disappointed, but I am a comparatively non-traditional candidate and probably too unusual for what they have in mind. Graduate admissions is quite a game isnt it...
  7. Anyone know if COPHP has notified broadly of acceptances? I saw on the Results page that someone got an acceptance by phone... yet I got an email 2 days ago saying "applicants will be notified at the end of February/beginning of March"?? Alas, am concerned this may mean bad news for me...
  8. Thanks cptdelorean - I did indeed, but unfortunately there's very little pertaining to the MPP program. Still searching..
  9. Am anxiously seeking any Heller admission stats - GRE/GPA- from any current MPP students or grads willing to post them. I've looked around elsewhere, and unfortunately the results on this site for Heller are few (and not too recent), and the Petersons site also appears dated. Thanks in advance!
  10. Thanks oneam that's valuable advice. (And thanks Wicked previously). Advice like yours does really help as to what schools are conservative or critical. John Jay is probably - eventually - my ideal school, for a Phd, although I am aiming for a Masters first. It's strange to me that, as you say, "not a lot of the discipline is open to it - meaning conditions of confinement. I don't doubt that at all, but I don't understand why, nor do I understand the origins of that reluctance in academia. Prison conditions are/have been at the forefront of criminal justice policy/debate especially in the past decade, and have a lot of relevance to prisoner reentry programming, etc.. Anyway, I appreciate your thoughts; Thanks also for the tip to look at smaller schools. All helpful!
  11. Thanks VBD, that's good feedback, and encouraging to me as I have a huge passion for public health and several years experience as a health educator in my community. That said, I am a very non-traditional candidate in other respects. I am hoping that adcomms will value the importance of having mph students who come from the communities they wish to serve... Alas nothing to do but wait at this point.. Best of luck to you as well in your PhD apps.
  12. Thanks very much - that's great to hear, and I appreciate your responses. It may be more of an issue in other disciplines.
  13. As an older applicant, am wondering if mph adcomms often tend to view older age as a negative, a positive, or a non-issue? I certainly know ageism is an issue with PhD prgrams, and wonder if that also is evident in some mph programs. I have been hoping that my age/life experience will add to a program's diversity in its student body, but since schools may not always see it the same way :-), want to be able to prepare for that and if need be, countervail that as much as I can. Thanks in advance for any perspectives on this issue.
  14. Thanks, Gradschoolalibi, that's helpful. I know Professor Blumenstein's work, and have been impressed as well by some CMU alumni's work in criminal justice policy. UCLA also has a strong faculty, but it's very focused on drug policy. It's a narrow specialty but I'm very passionate about it.... Thanks again and good luck...
  15. Hi, My research interest is primarily conditions of confinement in prisons and jails, and resulting effects on former prisoners in reentry and their communities. Do any current students or applicants have opinions as to graduate programs that are particularly strong in this area? I'd be very grateful for any/all opinions....... Thanks!
  16. Any opinions on the strongest MPP programs in Criminal Justice Policy in the US or elsewhere..(aside from Harvard/Kennedy)? Would appreciate any feedback -- thanks!
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