Andean Pat

I agree with many things said. I understand that being a foreigner is more exciting and you probably did not realize that you were wrongdoing. I also sense that there is some exaggeration in your reaction (do not worry, we are girls and we overreact sometimes) so be careful not to see ghosts everywhere. Besides, you are leaving later on. However, as you've said, you are both adults. If you feel you should talk to this man, go to his office, knock on his door and tell him that he inspired you but you feel things are awkward. If he takes it the wrong way, he is the child. 

Dear future applicants and current GRE candidates,
 
I was thinking how terrible the world looked like when I was preparing for GRE and now that my application process is over and I am starting a graduate program in the fall, I wanted to give you my humble advice, the same way another student gave it to me. 
 
GRE is not the end of the world. Believe me, it is not. However, you should behave as it is because although it is not (in my opinion) the decisive factor in your application, it is used to compare you to other students and, as many people in this forum have explained to me, it helps to cut off a pool of candidates. So do take it seriously.
 
You will probably need to sit for it twice. Many people don't, but the majority does. I know many bright people who had to do it twice, including myself hahaha  . No, seriously, bearing in mind that you have another chance is a good option. It helps you plan ahead (so that you have your results on time) and it helps you learn from your mistakes. So, just in case, plan to sit for it early enough just in case you need a second time, and save the money for that. If you do well on the first sitting, excellent!!! then you can spend that money on something more interesting
 
Address the AWA section. Now, this is from my own experience so forgive me if it is not general enough. Apparently, students tend to devote more time to Q and V because it is what most POIs look at. I have learned from an excellent teacher that AWA is as important. If you address AWA properly, you will be addressing V as well. All sections are aimed at testing your ability to analyse, reason, present an argument, etc. I was trained in the AWA section so effectively that my V score was higher than I expected. If you can write it, you can read it. NOTE: She was American (I am international) and so maybe this is something current in the US, it was not here, that's why I point it out.
 
Make a plan and study with someone. I did exercises everyday. I bought the books (the official guide, a kaplan activity book and another one full of exams) and I read a lot from the official guide, went to private lessons and got together at least once a week to study with other students. In fact, they were preparing GMAT, but getting together implied that I was going to spend 4 hours studying. 
 
It costs money. do not pretend to sit for it without expending a penny. This is a business. Now, maybe you can buy used books or have a private tutor for no money, that's great. However, if you get used to the idea that you need X amount of money, the same way you plan you applications, then it won't hurt that much when you pay for it. Now, if you can save some of that money, great!!!
 
Celebrate. Sit for the exam and then go out!!! You made a lot of effort so you deserve to relax!!!
 
This is my experience: I began a course on June 2012. The maths section was OK but the V was a complete disaster and I did terrible in the AWA, I sat for it in early September. I went to another institute where the approach was completely different, more professional (and expensive) and sat the second time in late Novemember. 
 
In conclusion, you can't fight it, you need and you need to do your best. Go for it!!!! :D
 

I agree with many things said. I understand that being a foreigner is more exciting and you probably did not realize that you were wrongdoing. I also sense that there is some exaggeration in your reaction (do not worry, we are girls and we overreact sometimes) so be careful not to see ghosts everywhere. Besides, you are leaving later on. However, as you've said, you are both adults. If you feel you should talk to this man, go to his office, knock on his door and tell him that he inspired you but you feel things are awkward. If he takes it the wrong way, he is the child. 

Seriously, you said can commute to the UK from that other country, how far away will you be from your family if you moved? 
 
And besides, do you really want to work with an advisor that supports such unethical, illegal, dishonest strategy?
 
Finally, if you do not intend to properly attend and graduate at the UK institution, be a man and reject that offer. You can't have it both ways. 

Thanks for the comment, Andean Pat! Yeah scoring sounds like a good idea...
 
This has been the weirdest week of my life.

Yeah, I thought of that. Moreover, sports equipment do not count towards luggage allowance so I thought of taking racquet, stick, shin protectors, etc in my hockey bag. But, honestly, they are SO OLD that it wouldn't hurt buy a new one in the States.  
 
Yeah, I want new tech too. They will have to wait though....
 
 
Since I am buying everything new, I am making some lists on Amazon: urgent, not so urgent, nice clothes, etc. It's so fun!!!! :D 
 
In my urgent stuff I included (besides what I told you earlier):
Bathroom curtain + rug set
dish set service 4
drinking glasses
cutlery
 
What am I forgetting?

OK, I'm on a Mac, so I'm really just interested in Apple software, but I didn't want to deprive you PeeCee's from offering your own insights (plus, a lot of software is cross-platform).

So, here are the "rules"...
1. What's your degree "level" (i.e. masters, doctoral, etc)
2. What do you use the software for (be as brief as you want)
3. Free or $? ("$" < $30, "$$" <$50, "$$$" > $50)
4. Heard of anything cool that you haven't tried yet?

Software I use (Advanced Masters, soon to be doctoral)
The usual (MS Office, iWorks '08) plus...
Bookends- Citation software for Mac ($$)
Evernote- note organizer, stored online (cross-platform) (Free)
MacJournal- Mac journalling software (for notes, etc) ($)
Mellel- Word processor (Mac, handles large documents (i.e. 60,70+ pages) better than Word/Pages) ($)
Omnifocus- Mac task organizer ($$)
Papers- PDF organizer for Mac ($$)
Scrivener- Word processor with a creative system for arranging papers & thoughts ($$)
World of Warcraft- (How else would I keep my sanity?)


I'm interested in DEVONthink, but at a going price of $60, I'm waiting for a Macheist to get me the hookup.
I'm also interested in something that's tailor-made for research notes, etc (especially at the dissertation level)

REALLY though choice! 
 
It is obvious that the decision is not easy. Because of this, you will feel your are giving away something wonderful. However, if you choose one over the other, you should also feel that you've made the right choice. What I would do is to make a list of everything that might influence that choice, from the big factors to the little ones. For example:
 
Department fit
Courses offered
TA load
Funding
Weather
Moving expenses
Travelling grants
Placement
Housing
Extracurricular activities
etc etc etc
 
You can then give a score to each category per university, the highest scores wins. Moreover, you can weigh different categories with different percentages, according to their importance. So maybe department fit for you is worth 30% of the total score and weather only 3% (Tip: if you are not satisfied with the decision, then you choose the other one and that's it )
 
It's just an idea, I hope it helps!

Hello everyone,
 
I was wondering how do you people take notes? This is a question primarily to those of you who are in humanities/ social science disciplines. 

When I read scholarly articles/ books I come across with a lot of factual info (names of important historical figures, names of scholars who work in my field, dates), I think I have a trouble taking notes so that I could go back to my notes when necessary to use this info for my work...Any idea how to fix it? Is their any software, for instance, that you can recommend? Also, how do you keep record of ideas/ concepts of other historians/ political scientists/ social thinkers, etc that are relevant to your work? 

Thanks everyone for your input!

 

HI! I don't think I completely understood. You are saying that you want to enter the US on your connection place? I don't think that's possible, but you should check. 
 
I my experience, Delta Airlines had a very cheap flight to NY via Atlanta, but I wanted to go to Atlanta. A direct flight was more expensive! So I asked the agency if I could buy my ticket to NY but check my bags to Atlanta. They said they couldn't be sure that was possible. 
 
If your final destination is the UK but you want to enter the US, I don't know, after all you have a valid visa. The problem is not where you come from but rather why you don't complete the flight. Besides, I don't know how are US officers with British citizens. Check with the International student office, the DHS website and you can even call the US embassy in the UK, just to be sure. 
 
Have you been to Rio?

So, here's another one for you:
 
http://www.slate.com/articles/life/culturebox/2013/04/there_are_no_academic_jobs_and_getting_a_ph_d_will_make_you_into_a_horrible.html
 
Thoughts? Although my initial instinct is always to be annoyed at such articles, I do think they're valuable. You really do have to know what you're getting into, or at least what the potential (and very possible) downsides are. Though I'm always irked by the generalizations that are made (e.g., "you won't have any friends outside academia", "you'll be an emotional trainwreck"): these seem to me to be highly individually idiosyncratic. 

I would advise you to find research opportunities (unpaid, at university research labs), to have a feel for what it's like doing research.  As zabius said, taking science classes is nothing like doing scientific research.  Doing well in those classes doesn't necessarily mean you will be great at research.
 
And what is it exactly that you are interested in, science wise?  Saying you love science is like saying you love everything (which doesn't mean anything, really).
 
And no, never too late to follow your dream

Thanks a lot for all your help. To clarify: Yes, a return flight UK-NYC-Rio seems to be cheaper than booking one-way UK-NYC-Rio and one-way Rio-NYC. Weird enough, costs of air travel hardly ever reflect the distance traveled.

Random17, thanks for pointing out that I'll have to immigrate anyway. I wasn't aware of that. So I clearly would be able to enter the US, the question is just whether not completing my trip would cause any problems in the long run. I'll need to find out, asking the US embassy is probably best.

More generally, I'm wondering how non-citizens do stopovers at US airports? Do they need to register with SEVIS (i.e., properly immigrate, including passport stamp), or is there a special exemption for transit passengers? In the former case, I guess my plan should work. In the latter, probably not, as it would require explaining my situation to the immigration officer -- not exactly a desirable situation

If you have more ideas, please share them. I'll post an update when I know more.

PS: Andean Pat, I haven't been to Brazil before. But I'm excited to go!

hahaha I thought the same!!!
 
Now, really, please DO NOT it. I know you feel tempted and you needed someone to tell you it's OK but the truth is such an universal value that it is very difficult to dodge. Honestly, I thought I had not completely grasped what you meant to do... Making a decision necessarily implies leaving something behind, that's life. So even if you skip through this one, you may have to choose at some point. Since you are applying for graduate school, you are mature enough to make an adult choice and bearing the consequences. Take your time to think about it, but clearly you will be happy in both places  

Oh. No need to apologize. I wasn't horrendously offended or upset by your post; if anything, I was being facetious.
 
Although I indeed haven't studied either writer/historian in-depth, I recognize that I'm still learning, and have gotten used to the idea that there are historians, writers, and concepts that I still need to explore.

(ammmm didn't we all read these as undergrads?)

Wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
This must be sooooo interesting!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Great news! I'm glad you've decided. Congratulations! And bonus, now there's a spot open at UCSB (from whom I still have not heard - sigh.) Enjoy Arizona   

Are you serious?

If you create a blog or website with contents about the topics of your interest that catches the eyes of certain professor could that trump bad GPA and make possible getting into a good PhD program with low GPA? Even if you do have a bad GPA could they might see passion and ingenuity on your blog?

Don't skip through this one.  Make the choice.  You are basically talking about theft, and I don't think it's unreasonable to assume that you would be making yourself vulnerable to having to reimburse the school for your funding, or even possibly a lawsuit once they realize that you were fraudulently enrolled and accepting funding. This financial "shortcut" could end up costing you a lot of money.

hahaha I thought the same!!!
 
Now, really, please DO NOT it. I know you feel tempted and you needed someone to tell you it's OK but the truth is such an universal value that it is very difficult to dodge. Honestly, I thought I had not completely grasped what you meant to do... Making a decision necessarily implies leaving something behind, that's life. So even if you skip through this one, you may have to choose at some point. Since you are applying for graduate school, you are mature enough to make an adult choice and bearing the consequences. Take your time to think about it, but clearly you will be happy in both places  

hahaha I thought the same!!!
 
Now, really, please DO NOT it. I know you feel tempted and you needed someone to tell you it's OK but the truth is such an universal value that it is very difficult to dodge. Honestly, I thought I had not completely grasped what you meant to do... Making a decision necessarily implies leaving something behind, that's life. So even if you skip through this one, you may have to choose at some point. Since you are applying for graduate school, you are mature enough to make an adult choice and bearing the consequences. Take your time to think about it, but clearly you will be happy in both places  

hahaha I thought the same!!!
 
Now, really, please DO NOT it. I know you feel tempted and you needed someone to tell you it's OK but the truth is such an universal value that it is very difficult to dodge. Honestly, I thought I had not completely grasped what you meant to do... Making a decision necessarily implies leaving something behind, that's life. So even if you skip through this one, you may have to choose at some point. Since you are applying for graduate school, you are mature enough to make an adult choice and bearing the consequences. Take your time to think about it, but clearly you will be happy in both places  

Still waiting on UCR right now, but it's looking more and more like UConn will be my final destination, and I have no problem with that