pears

eBrary is sometimes a helpful resource, as is the book-searching feature of Google; it's kind of like Scholar, but it will occasionally yield introductory textbooks that have previews available. academia.edu can also be a useful resource for papers, but I find it's the most useful when I have a particular person in mind whose work I want to read; they often have at least a CV or some titles of their work posted, if not .pdfs of the pieces themselves. If you're a current student, plonking your buns in a chair on campus in the library will often yield the best results, in terms of both hard copy materials and access to .pdfs. That said, we're in totally opposite fields, so YMMV.

I constantly crave Japanese food, from sushi to soba. NYC is home for me, and I literally lived on top of a sushi restaurant (with dangerously good lunch specials), so I always had access to my favorites: Japanese curry, red bean buns, melon pan, onigiri, dango, takoyaki, ramen, etc. Also, I had a mall full of Japanese specialty food shops (each specialized in a type of noodle, plus other izakaya-style snacks or baked goods) near where I did my undergrad, so that only made my addiction worse, and reinforced the idea that "oh, I never have to learn how to make this stuff, because it's all right here, ready to buy!" Now, it's really hard to find the right ingredients to make what I'm craving, and it's expensive to get it online + have it shipped all the way out here. :/ Sad times.

I have a MacBook Pro, mostly because I grew up using Macs (they're the standard in my mom's field of work, and have been since for years & years), so the OS is familiar to me. Also, my mom gets steep discounts on Macs through her job, so I can pay less than half the normal amount for a MBP; otherwise, I think they'd be so far out of my price range that I would've switched to PCs years ago. Also, it's a pain to not be able to readily use ESRI software (namely, ArcMap/ArcGIS), and I recently learned firsthand that MBPs are super susceptible to water damage. Derp. In sum, unless you can get a Mac at a steep discount and are a long time user, it seems a bit silly to go the Mac route instead of the more affordable, versatile PC route — and I'm saying that as a classic pain-in-the-rump Apple fangirl who knows little to nothing about computers.

Heh, I remember losing virtually all my work willpower in March and April last year. I had been at that job for a relatively long time — by my own standards, at least — and was in the middle of slogging through a monstrosity of a report, complete with dry data tables and "we ain't found sh**" results, so I was already low on motivation. I had my head in the clouds daydreaming about grad school every day, even when I was doing fieldwork. I started a new regular season job that May, though, so I think the excitement of moving to a new place with better pay helped rev the motivation engine again.

I have a big soft spot for the American Paleoindian (11 kya and earlier), namely because we're barely crawling towards beginning to understand how and when people first arrived here.. and yet, their descendents seem to have a better grasp on it all than we non-Native scientists and researchers do. If you want your brain to melt, look up Haida stories that explain how Haida Gwaii separated from the mainland. They have a way of explaining a series of major geologic events that happened thousands of years ago in a manner consistent with their traditional worldview. Also, a colleague of mine recently co-authored a huge paper; the primary author sequenced the DNA of the only confirmed Clovis individual — Clovis being one of the earliest "cultures" (technologies?) in the Americas — and, in short, found that he is related to contemporary Native and First Nations groups. It's just amazing to me that we have only the foggiest "scientific" understanding of human migration in the last 25k years, yet we have so many "unscientific" explanations for it all. Also, the mid- to late 1800s and the 1920s. Dem foofy dresses and saloons.

This is awesome! Very cool to see how my POIs, nerd idols, et al are interconnected. It's also interesting (to me, at least ) to see how much variation there is as far as really big name professors, e.g. Larsen or Buikstra, advising up-and-coming folks now, or even considering the year gaps between the peaks of a given advisor's advisees. I know what I'm doing for the next half-hour!

totally agreed. if either of y'all have looked into the king in yellow connections, it makes me wonder whether the daughters are cassilda and camilla, the twin suns, or something else entirely. super stoked for tonight's episode! i wonder if what rust found was his own grave, someone else's, a whorl of a portal to carcosa…

My dollar wager is on the guv-nah! Also, Carcosa: what all even? What an awesome show!

It's not unheard of for students to get assistantships to different departments. There are a few threads in the Teaching forum about people studying one language who end up being told to TA for another language's intro class, etc.; also, some people in my program are in, say, archaeology, but got TA positions for forensics classes. What respective fields are the two professors in? It may not be a total mistake on the department's part. Either way, you should call or email your program's chair to ask about it.

If you would be working with Dr. Martin, that is NOT a "low" tier school. She has a very good reputation! I'm actually making a point of seeing her talk at a conference in the spring. Just because it's not a "name brand" program doesn't mean attending isn't worth it. Grad school is what you make of it, anyhow.

hollaaa at my fellow INFJs. i sometimes test as an INFP, but that's when i'm being moody & mother nature/estrogen is winning. -__- Edit: does anyone know their OCEAN/Big 5 scores? i know i score moderately high on openness, & rather high on conscientiousness, but i can't remember the rest.

At least Subarus have a pretty good reputation! Especially in MA; I did my undergrad there, and we always relied on friends with Suburas for weekend trips up to NH, VA, and ME in the wintertime. I've also made trips in CA (north Sierras) in the winter, and they handle nicely in the black ice over there, too. I imagine you'll get more money out of selling it now, even at 207k miles, than fixing it again… and again… and again… although you may want to get quoted on the current fix, at least. Also, AAA is totally worth the investments. Discounts on all the things! And the reliable car help is nice, too, I guess.

I ran out of upvotes, dangit! Congrats

Very well said! "Orienting myself" to readings is probably my most commonly encountered issue, in terms of both orienting myself with regards to the "conversation"(who said what, and when? Has anyone responded?) and orienting myself to the "jargon" and relevant terms (what does a [insert mouthful of a theory name here] perspective entail? How is/isn't it compatible with [other theoretical perspective]?). Google is my best friend when it comes to dense readings. Also, if I'm seriously struggling, I'll shut myself in a quiet room and read the piece out loud as slowly as possible, sometimes scribbling notes along the way in the margins. When the most opaque, dense, borderline illegible papers are getting the best of me, I "translate" them from oldoverlyscholarlybritishguyinthe1970s-ese to the way I would try to paraphrase it if someone wanted a play-by-play of each sentence.

I think it's probably a mix of these. No sense in investing all the effort (plus time and money) to recruit, set up funding packages, etc., for a candidate who will likely not commit. I also wouldn't be surprised if people who regard any graduate program as a "safety school" — if there even is such a thing! — have a tendency to rub interviewers and POIs the wrong way, i.e., seem self absorbed or overly confident in a way that would make them a poor fit for a given cohort, lab, department, or professor. Not that I have any real experience in this sort of thing, but if I had the option of being extremely selective when picking candidates, admitting someone who came off as cocky would give me pause, especially if there were other applicants with more pleasant personalities, even if they had, say, one fewer publication.

I feel ya! Although we don't see eye to eye on many things — seriously, it's funny how different 2 people who share the same age, gender, and life status (read: grad school/lolwut/help/20-something flailing) can be — you seem like a good person, so good things are bound to come your way.

DigDeep just about said it all — maybe it's an archaeo thing? Personally, I've always had horrible outcomes with long distance relationships.. until my present one. Previously, issues were mostly borne out of my own naïve optimism, poor to nonexistent communication, and a lack of openness and honesty that made trust virtually impossible. What has made my present relationship much, much healthier, regardless of distance, is the fact that we have always been extremely open with each other about everything. Seriously, not even bodily functions get held back when we have meals at home. Not much goes unmentioned between us. But, for me, trust is a tricky thing; it does or doesn't exist from the start, and it's a finicky thing. I've never felt judged, nor remorseful for having shared something with my S.O. He's a levelheaded guy, and although I vent at him sometimes, I always want to hear what he has to say: if I'm being ridiculous, he'll say so, without coming off as flippant. In short, whether near or far, the keys to success are indeed "respect, honesty, trust, [and] communication" as DigDeep said. Basically, communication. Communication. More communication. ALL of the communication! Skyping and calling or texting regularly is helpful, of course, but don't be afraid to talk out the good, the bad, and the ugly about being far apart while you're still cohabitating. Sitting down and planning when you'll see each other in person, and for how long each time, is extremely important; otherwise, things will likely feel even more uncertain. A very real perk of taking the time to plan visits is that it's a good exercise in discussing budgets, scheduling, and traveling together in a productive and fair manner, if any/all of those are unfamiliar territory. When you're apart, surrounding yourself with friends — regardless of whether some, all, or non are also in LDRs — is really important; it's easy to slip into the abyss of "holy ****, I really miss them a lot," and making a point of hanging out with other people at least once a week outside of school, be it for drinks or the gym or something else entirely, lightens the blues. Wishing you all kinds of luck and happiness. Hopefully it all goes smoothly I'll be in the same boat for a while, too, so feel free to PM me if you ever want to vent!

You have a father who cares enough to send you a gift, and you got accepted by every program to which you applied (and, holy whoa, that is an accomplishment worth being proud of). Happiness is a perspective and a state of mind, not a fact or state of being. I'll leave you with this:

Also spot-on for University of Montana, aka the U, or U (of) M.

Layers are your friend! You'll probably be spending a fair bit of time indoors with A/C, so you can get away with early fall or springtime East Coast clothes no problem-o (speaking from experience), as long as you have a cardigan or somesuch that's easily removed when going from point A to point B outside. Forever 21, H&M, and similar shops have really nice sleeveless and short-sleeved chiffon shirts that I wear for teaching, and would consider to be appropriate for academic and office settings. You can dress them up easily with nice earrings and a longer necklace; the latter is especially nice if you're worried about the chiffon seeming immodest. Depending on the shirt, a high-waisted skirt might be a nice option, or dark jeans with flats. Cotton dresses that fall about knee-high are also nice with flats or low heels.

I've heard good things about Mint, although I don't use it myself; it's a free app for keeping track of your personal finances. Savings: if you're near a bigger city or a university with a pleasantly plump funding pocket for all things psychology, nutrition, medical, etc., there are almost always paid research studies happening. Also, focus groups are the greatest. When I was an undergrad in Boston, I could make anywhere between fifty and a few hundred dollars extra monthly. Donating plasma is another option that pays nicely. Social life: potlucks. Potlucks are excellent! Tell guests to bring a six-pack of their favorite beer to do a beer exchange. If you're inviting mostly underfunded students, it's nice to add a regional or ingredient theme, so you feel like you're eating fancy food.

Undergrad: 0. I "paid" for half with a 4-year scholarship; my parents each paid the remaining two quarters. Grad: $19,000 this year. I have about $10,000 available for use, although that's mostly going toward rent and food right now, since my summer wages are all but drained. If I get a paid TAship for next year, I should end up with another $5000, tops. All in all, not too bad, although it puts a major damper on my ability to attend a PhD program within the few years after I finish up my MA.