excel

And oh yeah, now you are talking of hypocrites are you??? You have been talking of professionalism and consistently using vulgar language...and you talk of hypocrites?????

I did not push my views on anybody, unless supported by reasons... I do not authoritatively tell them what is and what isnt...or do you not understand the difference? Would you like to provide an example of where I have authoritatively tried to impose my views on another person???

And, by the way, Minnesotan, it struck me during your first post in the other thread that you are not all that concerned about deciding between your grad school options. I am curious, am I right or wrong? And, if I am right, may I know why you are not concerned about the important matter of deciding between graduate school options?

Minnesotan, first of all I did not use that example though I highly approve of the example. You consistently use vulgar language in your posts (should I provide examples??) and then talk about emulating the rules of the Chronicle??? You write stuff like this against a member here: "That's okay, though. It's always the people like you who leave after their first year, and go brood for a living at the trendy coffee shops, downtown. Make sure you hold up that copy of Kafka high enough for the chicks to see. They just love the intense, angst-ridden grad school dropout types." ...and you talk about rules emulating the Chronicle??? You are talking of professionalism??? Several of your posts here are highly offensive and unprofessional. You say things like that in the professional community, and see where you end up. You are so arrogant that you do not get a simple point, do you??? You are Not any authority. You have absolutely no right to presumptuously decide what is appropriate or inappropriate. You do not have any right to say what is communicating in the manner of a twelve year old etc etc. If you think so, fine, go ahead and think so, and get lost...It is not for you to decide how we communicate, and I do not care what you think unless you can give any good reasons.

If you say that it is because of a desire for "clear communication", I think you very clearly bring the question of understanding into the discussion. And, I think that is the only relevant variable here or in any communication. I have already said that I believe the context of the communication is important in my previous post (3rd point). In fact, my previous post indirectly contains the response to your first two paragraphs. I suggest you reread it and try to understand it. I would also urge you to think deeply about why we in academia use formal language in most of our communication. Dont just think: "people in academia use formal language because that is what is appropriate, so we should too." One more thing: if someone does not consider the content of a text with seriousness because there are a few instances of the use of "u" in place of "you", that person has an attitude problem. I do not respect such a person. If someone does not like textspeak, that is a different matter. By the way, you will not find name-calling, swearing, and insults being tolerated in The Chronicle of Higher Education either...not that I believe the Chronicle's policies are relevant to this discussion or forum.

@historygirl, since you brought up the matter of spelling, here's something for you: "i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!"

I will respond to you because you, unlike Minnesotan, have tried to present a reason and in a civil manner. First of all, there is much debate among literacy scholars on whether proper spelling and many grammatical rules are worth any real value. I do not remember the details of the debate; I took my courses on literacy some time back . You will have to look up the references yourself if you want to, but this debate does exist. Second, many (including myself) do not respect people who make a fuss of such trivial matters, instead of focussing on the content. We may or may not like textspeak personally, but most of us would certainly think lowly of the people who insult the writer. For evidence of this, you dont have to look any further than the reaction to Minnesotan's offensive comment in this thread and in the original thread. Third, the context of the textspeak and the extent of its use are important too. Be assured that I did not use textspeak in any of my publications! However, when the context is providing helpful information in a free forum for which the writer expects no personal benefit, then it is absolutely the writer's prerogative to decide on whether to use textspeak or not. A reader may at best politely request the writer not to do so, but it is the writer's call. In general, it is presumptuous and arrogant to demand that other people do things according to your personal biases. Furthermore, If anyone has a problem understanding simple things like "u" used instead of "you", then it is his/her problem and it does not reflect well on that person's intelligence either. If s/he has a problem understanding full-blown textspeak, that may be a different matter.

I consider a "discussion" initiated by your insulting my method of writing prior to any conclusion is reached and calling my reply "anti-intellectual" not a discussion at all; I find your posts to be decidedly offensive. Therefore, I find it below my dignity to discuss this matter (or indeed any matter) with you. I should further note that this issue of texting is a trivial matter to me, and I would prefer to spend the time that I do on this forum on matters of significant content. "While I'd rather you swore than wrote in idiotspeak, that's your call." Exactly. It is my call. End of story.

Minnesotan, i do not know what ur problem is...i did not use any swear word, and i can see no reason for ur objection. Since u r a moderator, I will gladly stop posting if u so desire...especially, as i am only tring to help and have nothing to gain from this...however, i will not tolerate any nonsense from u or anyone else here.

tomsmith, maybe u can call up the univ that has given u an offer, and frankly discuss the situation with them. If you have already received your official letter of admission & support in postal mail, they cant take that away from you. See if they let you accept their offer on the provision that you may withdraw it 2-3 days after April 15. One program that has given me an offer has explicitly urged me to contact them if replying by April 15 presents a problem. I shud think that they were referring to the kind of situation u r in. euges, in ur place too, i ud call the canadian school and frankly discuss the matter with them. If u r transparent in ur dealings with the school, they probably wont hold any grudge against u. By the way, if what u said abt Indiana University's offer is true, then they unambiguously violated the resolution on April 15 deadline...the resolution refers to the financial offer, not just the admission. I hope someone exposes them or takes them to task.

yet to decide...havent visited all the programs yet.

The only two BME programs in my list are U. Virginia and U. Rochester. There are also a bunch of biomedical sciences program. Brown is neither.

It sounds like U.Utah has a very pleasant location. Somehow, I feel that hoppingforfunding would have loved this location for its ski resorts. Now, I wonder why I feel that way :? Must be sixth sense!

That agrees with what several admission directors have told me. All domestically trained students, intl or not, are treated equally with regards to evaluation, except in several public universities that have constraints on how much funding can be provided to F-1 visa students. Crossedfingers, did you get your undergrad degree from outside of the U.S.?

Did you say this based on the number of intl students you saw on your visit? If so, dont you think most intl students who live outside the U.S. would not have come to on-campus interviews? By the way, Phds.org has some legit but slightly dated data on the intl student population at various programs, among other things.

Since hoppingforfunding has referred to BU's BME graduate program, here are some concrete stats from Peterson's: Student Population: 144 full-time (52 women), 6 part-time; includes 16 minority (1 African American, 9 Asian Americans or Pacific Islanders, 6 Hispanic Americans), 44 international. :arrow: less than 1/3rd of department=intl students...dont think that's above the norm...but dont know for sure though. Admission Statistics: 468 applicants, 21% accepted, 33 enrolled. Source: http://www.petersons.com/GradChannel/co ... &sponsor=1

Regarding BU bme, I recently saw an acceptance posted by an international student in a forum at a different site. BU has offered him a Dean's fellowship.

I called Harvard SEAS graduate admissions about applied mathematics specifically. They told me that there is a meeting on March 4. So, other applicants to Harvard's applied math...hold on tight for the next two weeks!

Some folks have reported acceptances from Applied Physics and a couple of other fields in SEAS (check out the "Harvard SEAS" thread). I myself applied to Applied Math in Harvard SEAS, but am yet to hear back--which is a nuisance because it is the only place that I have not heard back from yet. However, you seem to have received an offer from MIT, so why worry about Harvard? Isnt MIT applied physics better than Harvard's?

Anyone hear back from Harvard SEAS yet? If so, which field? I saw someone post an acceptance in Applied Physics in the results section. I am not too sure if that is correct because he/ she claims that he/ she is an American who received an e-mail on Feb 20 (but it is Feb 19 in the U.S. ). Also, I am not sure if all fields have made their decisions yet.

...sure

haha. On a more serious note... I recently withdrew my application from a program. I e-mailed the director of admissions, and basically wrote that I have decided to accept one of the offers that I have already received, so I dont want the other applicants to face unnnecessary competition from me. The director politely congratulated me on my offers, and thanked me for letting him know. So, I think it would be fine for you to withdraw your application if you do it politely. The committee may even appreciate your letting them know early that you do not intend to enroll there.

miketakena, being an international student (F-1 student visa) will not restrict you from being a RA...a prof can use his/ her NSF or NIH research grant to suppport an intl student just as easily he can support an American.