ohgoodness

Note that I placed a baseline of 6 hours for the exercise exemplified. IF a student puts in double the time then I would expect a A-level grade in 90% of the cases. This might differ depending on how you assign grades (i.e. only 2As no matter what but still). If not then I think the teacher has failed and should think about why this is. I am not saying that you should grade a student on the amount of work put in but if the amount of work is not reflected in the quality of the work (for your perspective on understanding) then one must seriously question the quality of the teaching. One should also remember that my discussion is based on the "why do students whine"-attitude in which people question the grade they receive despite feeling that they had reached a higher level...

I see absolutely no difference in the grading process and the teaching/mentoring process but I do understand your point. My reservation was merely about the use of words and the tone it communicated. Regarding the hours put in - yet again I might be looking at things differently - if someone puts in 12 hours on a project which could take 6hrs yet still only recieves a poor grade then either one has failed in instructing them, teaching them or they just spend the time making nice graphs.. If the latter then it would be easy to let them know that they should be spending their time with the material rather than the production without dragging in feelings at all. If the former then I blame the teacher. This may feel like a high horse to get up on but I do feel that I, myself, have these issues and that they must be addressed. For example - I teach a courses on welfare states where the syllabus states that an A requires thestudent to make a "significant contribution to the field of study" through their 12 page final essay. Obviously - the problems are many.

My comment omitted agreement to your basic idea since I felt that there was a certain tone/mood here that I do not agree with and see as a serious issue. If someone actually gets upset about a mark then yes they might be spoilt and silly but also they could be in doubt about the grading process as such. Like TakeruK states - some people actually voice that they put in hours into a project yet did not get a grade that they felt was proper. If people voice this then there must a lapse in communicationbetween the teacher and the student. To me - this is a failure on the part of the instructor rather than of the student. "What shocks me is that they think we actually care about their feelings." is a very strange sentiment. Just look at our forum here - neurotic beyond belief and I would clearly link that to the power structure of a colleges. Students lack trust in those at power and vice versa.

I have, yet, never had a complaint about my grading but as a student - I always felt that the instructor was a complete moron if they failed to communicate the reasons behind a certain grade. You give me an A- then please do let me know why and how it should havebeen improved. That old assymetrical teacher-student power structure needs to be revised and updated. It would be nice if students could grade teachers - more than a couple faling grades as an instructor and one should be forced to revise one's whole onset. Students not doing the assigned reading for seminars that however... deduct 10 points of any mark I say.

Heard the same thing over and over again. I'm not entirely sure I understand the argument about a steeper hill for graduates than bachelors but yeah

Old School is not graduate but it seems like many people do romantize it in that light. Old School and Evelyn Waugh-books

I've heard this echoed by so many professors. It is the way it is in Europe (Northern atleast) and it works great. Some of it should be related to outside funding possibilities, i.e. having "competitive" students with excellent grades, but still silly. No need to put extra pressure on people who obviously want to be there and have shown that they are capable (i.e. the application process). Failing = you're out. Pass = you're golden so now concentrate on developing your research. and p.s. if A- was an issue then 99% of Euros would be dead in the water - significantly harder to score an A in ECTS and most professors here think C (B+) is an excellent grade.

I'm doing mine in demography/sociology and am extremely pleased but I know that it does vary by department. Uppsala still far outpaces Stockholm when it comes to a MA in Pol Sci but that does not mean that Stockholm is poor. I'd go to Stockholm if I was looking for a MA to build off. You would have to do a rather heavy MA thesis, six months work striving for a published paper, but would be able to take courses in most social sciences and enjoy a nice city (with a horrible housing market). Sweden is cheap when it comes to studying so that's a plus as well.

I have 3 terms of IR/Pol Sci from Stockholm and would say that the quality is 2ish when it comes to training/education and 3-4 when it comes to research. It's hard to give a rating since it all depends on which cluster you would enter, since stockholm works alot with inter-departmental research networks etc. Obviously you should know that Swedish phd's are offered as "jobs" posted twice a year for applicants - usually 1-2 positions are open where one is geared toward a research project and one is more open-ended. Stockholm would, however, take a second place to Uppsala and, depending on your interests, Gothenburg. The positions, however, are highly sought-after seeing the job-safety, funding in the Swedish system so I would not see it as an easy route. In my department - we have many Americans who wanted away from the stress of the U.S and love the Swedish system. If you are interested in working in Europe then you should look into European University Institute as well.

This lets you know that it is informal. A nice easy talk about things. Be prepared, well-read and take it as an opportunity to speak about something you are really interested in.

Everything in! All the recommendations done, Scores registered, Now to apply for the European schools..... :/

Ditto! (assuming we are talking pet detective..)

goodreads at your service; http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/4309.Campus_Days http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2269.Favorite_Novels_About_Professors_or_Academics

Yeah take the quant. methods in social sciences classes and then any data modeling, survival analysis/event-history and basic regression course you can find. You can really separate yourself from the pack by understanding the basics of statistics in social science. After awhile you will come to the understanding that most quantitative projects are poorly constructed, horribly performed and full of errors but have fun

I dont mean to be a bummer but 2008? My feeling is that if you have had zero contact since 2008 then I would be careful in using her/him as a reference. She is bound to have an outdated knowledge of you and your skills and all your other assets should be well-represented by your other LORs. A key advice when it comes to LOR has always been to chose them carefully and refrain from simply going by "fame factor". Unless she holds mighty sway over the adcom then I would go for someone else.

Yeah I second the previous poster. Research plan and being able to attach an already finished thesis/work with the application. Much more focused on the research than the education in Europe, or atleast for Sweden and Germany.

Gaming and the curse of tab - playing 20 minutes - tab out to check mail, grad forum, application sites..

Gaming.. Civilization and blinds drawn - no days, just waiting.

This still sounds like you are putting in 10-12 hours a day + 8ish on a weekend. If you live in a city where you have to commute for more than 30 minutes (any big city that is) then you would be at 12-14 hours for work. An hour at the gym and then an hour for dinner and you are down to your 6-7 hours of sleep. And this is your baseline - any deviation from this would most likely increase the time at work thus meaning that you will have to cut into your hobbies to make it all go around. Being able to spend 8-10 hours in a lab on weekdays sounds like something very specific to natural sciences; I do RA/graduate studies (MA in sweden in a phd program) and I rarely manage to put more than 2-3 hours at one single activity before having to go to a colloquim (networking and required for all in the department), teach a class, work meetings etc etc. My department is very very "connected" and there is no such thing as an isolated researcher here. Doing quality research here, i.e. putting in 8 hours straight, either means coming in at weekends or staying late after office hours. ps. I used 24/7 as a loose measure of being in work mode constantly. ds

From my perspective (social sciences) this is such a simplified way of looking at things. Most people in academia should be actively involved in several things, i.e. research, teaching, tutoring, socializing, engaging in "civil society" (pushing your research), and this means that, at any time, you can be completely taken over by work. Most days you might work 8-10 hours and then have time for the hobby and a good dinner but certainly there will be long stretches of time where you will be there, working 24/7 or in contact with work 24/7. Sure it helps to be good at planning and taking care of stuff but at the same time - a lot of your work relies on other people. A good thing to ask is - do you ignore your e-mail after working hours?

Know the school, know the faculty, know the research speciality, know yourself. I meet with two of my POIs and both were extremely easy and helpful! This is a good thing so just enjoy it and see where it goes

i did not apply to the JDP but I did list in my SOP that I was most interested in transferring into it after a year or two, if things feel right. I, even, went as far as to list Alicia Adsera as a POI despite her only being involved in the population/wws. I felt that the SOP gave me the opportunity to really declare why I wanted to go to princeton and her professorship is a main reason. If you have a situation as mine but still feel that the JDP is a better fit than any other program then just make sure they understand your reasoning and go with it.

Ten seconds of breathing exercises and then just let it all fade away. Get that stuff off your shoulder and just don't let it get to you. ps. Alberta?! ds.

Sweden but my program is very American/German but I know nothing about preferences. Neither my advisors nor POI/Faculty that I have had informal meetings with has mentioned anything about this. My main professor, from UW-Madison, has really pushed me towards private schools since their financial set-up is different but that is the only thing I've identified as different for internationals.. Obviously if your country of citizenship has a good nice set-up for helping students financially during phds then that could be a plus in the future. I did, however, list EUI (European University Institute) and Max Planck Institute in the list of schools of application to let them know that I am applying to rich European schools. Figured it would lead them to offering me the funding I need

I work for Social Politics and can only say that in my field(s) then 2-3 months is all good. 1 year - no no..