aginath

It will depend highly on your field. I spent 8 years working at a state agency between my Master's and PhD. I worked in a capacity that developed curriculum delivered via continuing education to a global community. I was salaried and the expectation was 40 hours per week. In reality, this averaged to 50 hours a week. There were nights and weekends where I brought work home or went in to the office. Before I left, I had taken a second job teaching a Business Communication class at a local community college. That added another 15-20 hours/week. I honestly work less overall now (but read a helluva lot more).

Depending upon the bank and the type of account, monthly maintenance fees are not all that out of the ordinary (my current bank has a $15/month fee, but it is waived, because my husband is employed by the city and uses direct deposit for his paycheck). Pay attention when you select both the bank and the type of account you open. Ask to see a schedule of all fees.

Tread carefully with this topic and when in doubt, check with the school's "about" or "info" page. Other examples that come to mind are The Ohio State University. However, while I received a B.S. from Texas A&M University, it is a member of The Texas A&M University System.

Benefits such as paid maternity leave likely depend quite a bit on multiple policies in place at your school. One is the type of employment you have. Also consider that at some institutions, not all assistantships are created equal (work hour obligations, reimbursment, etc.). At the very least, there is most likely a Leave of Absence policy that allows you remain enrolled without having to register (here's an example). I can understand not feeling comfortable approaching your advisor or department staff, but don't hesitate about contacting the Graduate School/College. That's what they're there for...

Writing samples are very common in admissions applications and some competitions. This may be why the woman at the embassy responded to your question in such a simplistic manner. I would suggest that any time you're unclear about a requirement and/or you receive a response from the organization that doesn't completely answer your question, seek an alternate source (as you did here) or re-phrase your question for the organization before you submit your final application materials.

Not all LORs are created equally and not all LOR writers are the same. I've had some who insist I write the letter first and then they review it and sign it/forward it. I've had some who copy me on the submission or ask that I read it before they seal it. In general, however, there is a level of trust involved. If you insist on seeing the letters and disagree with something that was said, there is an expectation that you may retaliate. There does seem to be a negative stigma attached to those who insist on seeing the letters. I've personally always waived the right. But it seems to me the online system would allow you access to review submitted letters if you don't waive your right.

I was invited/inducted as a Master's student. I got to wear a pretty cord at graduation. Umm, yay? I paid my monthly dues for about 8 or so years and finally stopped. I really didn't get anything out of it. There were no events other than the annual induction and I really never read the website or magazine.

Look at the CVs of a few of the faculty in the programs to which you're thinking of applying. This will give you a better idea of what sections are typically expected in your field.

UGA also has the New Media Institute http://nmiuga.weebly.com/

Depending upon type of degree and field, you could be completely normal or plain out of luck. For example, my program (specifically within my department) rarely has spring admissions for doctoral programs. However, our Master's program accepts students year round (preference on fall and summer for cohort purposes).

I'll preface this post by saying that not all schools and fields are created equally. Where I did my undergrad and Masters, there was no difference in GPA weighting. I had a 2.6 as a undergrad. Lackluster and unfocused would barely begin to describe my performance. I got into grad school and found myself. I did a thesis, internship, and professional study in 15 months, graduating with a 4.0. They grade on a straight A-F scale with the traditional breakdown. My doctoral school is on a +/- grading scale where my 2.6 is just shy of a B-. While we're at it, a C+ is a 2.3 here. I'm not a personal fan of +/- grading scales, but it seems that numerical scores generally tell the story (at least in my field). What Medievalmaniac posted is great advice. I would go one step further and suggest talking to prospective schools and ask if it'll be a problem.

I can think of only one reason why I would audit a class as opposed to enrolling in it and that's if I've already taken it, but need a refresher. For example, I've taken Analysis of Variance (this past summer, actually). I even got an A in the class. However, I had a terrible instructor who really didn't teach me anything. I honestly can't tell you ANYTHING about the research method. Yet, I'll likely need to use it when conducting my dissertation research. As such, I'm considering auditing the class from another instructor.

Ed Psych Doc student, 2nd year. First and second years in my program are required to take 3-one hour courses each of their first four semesters. These hours are for working on research with our advisor, assigned readings, and a seminar that meets every other week. For my research/reading hours, I'm the student lead on the research team with four other students. I've scheduled weekly one-hour meetings and often assign outside work to prep for the meeting. In addition to this, I take two other 3-hour courses. I did this my first year while many of my class mates took three. They always wind up now complaining of burn out and not having enough time to do anything. With an assistantship, we're required to carry a 12-hour load. I meet the last 3 hours by taking a 3-hour filler that is graded based upon my assistantship performance. Since my assistantship is with the Graduate School, managing the website, my work is fairly visible. To recap, that's 12 hours, with only 7 of those being actually classes that meet plus another 1 hour meeting. My assistantship is 16 hours of work/week. I'm also the President of my department student organization and VP of my program student organization. Those last two roles take at least an additional 10-12 hours of work/week. That's about 36/hours per week. Throw in another 16 hours for reading (one class is a special topics seminar with 6 research articles to review/week and the other is qualitative research with book readings and 2-3 articles to review/week). Up to 52 hours/week. I'm pretty adamant about getting 7-8 hours of sleep a night. I also do the C25K running program three mornings a week.

If you find yourself in Anaheim for AECT this October or Jacksonville next year, let me know. I'll be at both.

UGA's orientation (Graduate School) was held on the Wednesday before classes started. The International Student Orientation was held the week prior to that. However, communication about these events went out approximately four to six weeks in advance. If you have questions, call/email your department. They'll be able to help. Personally, I had scoured the university, graduate school, and department websites months in advance so that as soon as I got to town I was figuring out bus routes, looking at what to register for, and getting my student ID. Depending on the school, they might have something handy like a New Student To Do list (http://grad.uga.edu/orientation/to-do.html) to help with some of these questions.

The most significant discount is free two-day shipping. They also run other student discounts, but I haven't looked at those recently. When I was pricing my textbooks this semester, both were brand new publications. So, used (my first stop is Valore and occasionally half.com) wasn't an option. For the new price, some were slightly cheaper than Amazon, but after I paid $10 for 5 day shipping, it was cheaper and faster to get it from Amazon.

I use Amazon and Valore.com to order most of my books. I just searched Biblio for one of my current textbooks and they had it for $30 higher than campus bookstores did. One of the tricks I've learned is that more often than not, International editions work just fine and are substantially cheaper. The other trick (found here on TGC.com) is that students (.edu email address) are eligible for free Amazon Prime accounts. I can't tell you how much money I've saved in the last month on shipping from Amazon (seriously it's at least $50).

My motto is "the more, the merrier." Seriously, for all of our events, I tell folks to bring friends and family (kids when appropriate).

Look into IVLA & AECT. Regionally, SERA might work for New Mexico (it's like a baby AERA). If you dabble in teacher ed, SITE (AACE) might be of interest, too.

I managed to find myself president of our department's graduate student association this year. As a resident social butterfly and general lover of all things outdoors, I tend to drag others into the wilderness kicking and screaming. It only takes a half an hour before they get over the technology withdrawal and begin to enjoy the fresh air. I figured first thing out of the gate for the semester was my one shot to do things autonomously before we elect the rest of the executive council and the faculty get involved. So...kayaking it is! Before it gets too cold in November, my husband will help me plan an overnight backpacking/camping trip likely near Tallulah Gorge. The rest of our social events will be more urban (monthly happy hours and brown bag lunches in the building maybe a night bowling or a baseball game in the spring).

I struggled with what to generically call the Classic Center. In Houston, it'd be a far cry from a civic center, but in my hometown in East Texas, it would be the thing. "place where conferences and concerts are held" just gets a bit wordy. Speaking of...Tony Bennett is playing in a few months. I nearly spit water all over my computer screen when I read that the other day. Really? Tony Bennett?! Wow. Now that's a new kind of low, unless of course they have it set for Halloween. And then a would-be zombie concert would be kind of cool. PM incoming.

Keep in mind that scores typically take 10-15 days after you take the test to be received by your designated recipients. The only rush is the deadlines of your prospective programs.

The UGA Graduate School Orientation is held at a local civic center in a large hall. You get the full gamut of dress styles (from business professional to slacker torn jeans and tshirt). We don't dictate a dress for the event. Our department orientation was in one of the classrooms and casual with snacks and home baked goods. Never make assumptions about what the event will be like. Ask another student in your program. ETA: Our welcome back social will actually be an afternoon of kayaking and cooking out. So, yeah...casual.

I picked my hell month this summer to prove to myself that I could be active under stress. I was taking ANOVA in a short summer term along with another class (thru term) and working a summer assistantship. I still managed to get in my EA Sports Active workouts when scheduled (30-day challenge; 2 days on, 1 day off). I did two challenges back to back this summer (June and July). Now I'm on the C25K. I run in the mornings when it's cool and usually pass a few others since it's normally around 7AM. I use the app on my iPhone to help me with the intervals and I post my daily runs on Facebook. Believe it or not, that keeps me in line. As school is starting back, I've had classmates, colleagues, and friends comment on the posts. Ergo, they keep me accountable.

No need to list the school, GPA, or years attended. If you've gotten this far, then odds are good you actually went to and graduated from high school. If you really want to list any awards, place them with other awards and simply indicate the year received.