MonkeyDr

Cool cards!

I've had mixed reviews on this. Seems like grad students think this is a great idea but non-grad students don't. I really wouldn't want to risk as coming across too full of myself. Afterall, I am just a student. 
 
What do you all think? 

I just got this gem yesterday: "Oh, so it's like, doing a second undergrad, right?"
*facepalm*

My business cards have been invaluable at conferences and seem to garner a lot of positive response.  I tried to make the design reflect my love for math, but still keep things useful for a non-math recipient of the card.  The printed cards have rounded corners, and what looks grey on the screen is actually a metallic silver ink.  As pears suggested, I keep enough room that I can jot down other information if needed.  I like to think that when I'm handing someone a business card, it's not just a list of contact info, but rather a 2" x 3.5" sample of my personality.
 
   

I have them, and they're very useful.  That being said,  when I hand them out, I always say, "I know this is really pretentious, but...."

I was preparing for a festival at work till 10pm, and thinking to myself on the way home that it didn't matter if I got in or not because I have a wonderful life. It was the first moment I had exhaled in MONTHS. Then I got home and sitting on the dinning room table was the offer letter from my top choice. I cried, and laughed and jumped for joy. 
 
Mind you the next day at the festival my future advisor was scheduled to be our key speaker, so it was a very joyous weekend to say the least. 

I was preparing for a festival at work till 10pm, and thinking to myself on the way home that it didn't matter if I got in or not because I have a wonderful life. It was the first moment I had exhaled in MONTHS. Then I got home and sitting on the dinning room table was the offer letter from my top choice. I cried, and laughed and jumped for joy. 
 
Mind you the next day at the festival my future advisor was scheduled to be our key speaker, so it was a very joyous weekend to say the least. 

my SO is being a jerk and I'm pretty sure we'll break up before we leave. We're going on almost 5 years and me moving only 5 hours away is making him leave. Oh well, I'll have a new city at my fingertips and school work to make me forget... Plus I'm probably better off, right?

When I got the unofficial notification I was sitting in a cafe upset about just being rejected by another program.

Someone posted elsewhere on the site-- I wish I remember where, probably in "Waiting it Out" -- about the "science of being happy" and how, when we have limited choices (some of them not very good), we tend to make ourselves happier anyways with the option we've been given. This is probably what's happening to you -- you've gotten into a great program (congrats, by the way!) and so you are mentally going over all of its strengths in your mind "just in case" you don't get into any other programs. Not to psychoanalyze you or anything -- the exact same thing happened to me a couple weeks ago when I got into my last choice a few hours before getting into my top choice in the same day. I rationalized myself as happy at the last choice school for several hours, and then was over the moon about my top choice afterwards But, all the same points I used to rationalize the last choice are now still legitimate arguments in my head as to why I should go there....
 
I say stick it out unless you know for sure that you would go to this school even if all the other schools offered you equivalent or better offers. And definitely try to get a feel for the program and department before settling on it without having heard back from the other programs first!

Hi there!

I'm in a different discipline and had my sights set on different schools, but I did do the "time off for NGO" thing, which I leveraged during my app season to get in to a top program/institution in Canada.

First, I think your inquiry might be better served in the Professional Programs forum, specifically, I think, in Governmental Affairs... just a thought, you might want to do some reading there to inform your expectations.

As well, I think that the utility of the experience depends on what your doing and what your goal programs are receptive to. In the two years that I've been doing work for NGOs, I worked on only two projects that, specifically, generated interest with prospective supervisors with regards to the content/scope of the projects. Mostly, however, I used my NGO experience very generally as pragmatic experience in the social justice realm; some program people just enjoyed hearing about the fact that I was PAID to conduct research in a sector that, by design, must be very tight and scrupulous with their money, which I guess spoke to the bank-able-ness of my research potential.

As well, I would be concerned about your plan if you don't already have something lined up that's a sure thing. It can take quite a bit of time to "break into" the NGO realm, especially if you don't have a degree in hand! After 2 months of looking, I secured a 4-month, part-time, UNPAID internship with an NGO. It was only after proving my gumption there that I secured something with a prominent international NGO; and even THEN, I've been working on no-benefit 3 to 6 month contract arrangements (which, I hear, is largely the norm these days). Consider, as well, that I had an honours BA and an MA in hand when I started looking...

This is just my experience, and I don't want to give the impression that I didn't enjoy my time working with NGOs but, man, it's tough out here! I was only able to make the job hunt/internship thing work because I was juggling a handful of other contracts related to my degrees. I wonder about the wisdom of taking time in the middle of your program to get this experience... Could you not volunteer with an organization during the school year, and then hit them up for structured 3-month positions in your remaining summers? (I'm being presumtuous and imposing a Western-style college scheduling, sorry if this is not apt).

Anyway, I would suggest hunting on the Professional Programs/Government Affairs forum, it might give you some discipline -specific ideas! I would definitely suggest more research on your part before taking a leave from school! Those gaps can be very tough to come back from!

The gap between unofficial acceptance, e-mailed acceptance, mailed acceptance, and all those extra random post acceptance emails about your new student ID or checking your new email, etc - it all seems really variable.  I sometimes have gotten everything within 24 hours and sometimes there is an excruciating gap where you hear you've been accepted but you have no idea what the details are (funding, student visit, if it's real or if it's a grad application induced fantasy) and you begin to descend into madness.  That's where I'm at now, so I totally feel your pain.  I think the more you care about the particular school, the longer the wait until you get the information you crave.  It's without a doubt a massive anti-overachiever conspiracy.

Also I recently took a weekend vacation (I suggest this to all) where I actually managed to sleep and feel like a normal person again who was more interested in the best kayak/hike spots then grad school...
 
However, that was short lived....but worth it! I felt sane again. 

Also I recently took a weekend vacation (I suggest this to all) where I actually managed to sleep and feel like a normal person again who was more interested in the best kayak/hike spots then grad school...
 
However, that was short lived....but worth it! I felt sane again. 

Is anyone else dreaming of grad school? This happens to me every night. 
 
I'm figuring it's either a good sign or a sign I'll be in a mental hospital soon. Either way, a sign.