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bosanbo

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Everything posted by bosanbo

  1. Thank you all VERY much! I've located the person "in charge" of the graduate program, and all of you who said it were right: not my PI. I've also found the FB page for my department; maybe FB will actually prove of some use to me, finally. Really appreciating all the advice, thanks again.
  2. Thank you! For the advice, of course, and also for uttering the phrase "you're not alone." No matter how much we know it, it's nice to hear it, isn't it?
  3. We are moving cross-country and really looking forward to it. The family consists of me, the man, and a dog. We found a place in Ithaca via Craig's List last month, and my aunt and uncle drove over from Buffalo to check it out for us. We are mostly purging stuff at this point, because we're moving from a three bedroom house into a one bedroom apartment. The dog has been accepted. We took this apartment because it was a reliable landing pad and got the worry of housing off our plate. If we hate it, the lease is only a year, and then we'll be "on site" to look for new housing in a less stressful way. The house was purchased as an investment and will be rented out when we leave. We're minimalists, so we haven't filled the house much, but we still have loads of things we don't need. I find it very liberating to donate them. Honestly, this fits nicely into our life plan of being more mobile and having less in general. Right now, work is the scary part. We have a savings cushion and the income from the house (renting out for several hundred more than our rent will be at the apartment), but other than that... The man is taking the plunge with me. He's got a very specific skill set and there's a place in Ithaca that looks tailor-made for him, so he's contacted them to "warn" them of his arrival and interest in working there. We'll need a new bed, couch, and dishes when we arrive. Other than that, we own everything we need. We're ditching the big furniture so we don't have to use a moving truck, and all clothing will be stored in closets - no dresser. Dishes are ones we aren't attached to, so it's better to give them to someone here and not worry about them breaking. I am most looking forward to a couch. We've had a horrid, uncomfortable couch for over a year now, and we didn't buy a new one because we knew we were moving (grad school or not). I'm so, so ready for a comfortable couch that doesn't look like something you'd find in a garage... It's intimidating, but we're treating it like an adventure. We're both adventurous people, and this feels really right to us. It's nice to rid myself of most of my unnecessary things. Books are another story...
  4. I'm an "alternative" student, or whatever it is called these days. I graduated high school in 2000, but did not start my B.A. until 2004. I worked and served a year in AmeriCorps in between. I worked full-time while attending community college, then transferred to a state university. Throughout the entire six years it took to get my B.A. (see: working full time), I felt singularly unsupported. Advisers didn't advise, guidance counselors didn't guide, despite my frequent requests. I mainly got pre-printed checklists that I then ticked off by myself, hoping I was meeting all requirements. As a student with no family support, I also didn't really understand financial aid my first few years. I paid a lot of money out of pocket that I didn't have to. The school I graduated from had a bit of a reputation for making students feel this way, but I attended it because it was where I lived, and not out of choice. Basically, I fumbled around. I graduated in 2010 and took two years to figure out my next step, which turned out to be graduate school. I don't know if my experience is common or not. But now I fear my lack of guidance is working against me, or that it's just making me paranoid. I've chosen to attend a M.S. program at Cornell and... well, I feel like I'm supposed to know everything already. Everything about funding, grants, and how to "be" a graduate student, that is. I don't want to contact my POI too much, because I feel like I'm being a pest. I'd rather she not see me as an insecure person before I even arrive, if that makes sense. I'm really, really happy to have gotten in to Cornell, since the program is exactly what I'm after. I'm also very proud, coming from a poorer family and having no family support, to finally have a choice in my education, instead of just going to the school that is in my town, etc. Some of this is just venting, but also... I'd really like to hear if other people have been through this. How did you learn to navigate course requirements and optional classes, grants and funding, etc.? How did you learn to not look like a completely nervous person who was just so overwhelmingly happy to be there, and starting looking like... a grad student? Sorry for my neurosis! Like I said, this is the first time I've had an actual choice about my path. Whew. OK. I think that's it.
  5. I don't know about admittance, but my school was very clear on GPA during the program: it says smack-dab at the bottom of the program description that all coursework in the major must be 3.5 or higher. I like that clarity! I understand the frustration with wanting to "protect your GPA." I took an interesting-sounding class (that shall remain nameless) during my senior year as an undergrad. Unfortunately, it was a bad match; the class was very different than the description and the professor and I had friction. Despite doing what I (and classmates) felt was very good work, I couldn't seem to get anything over a B on assignments. Pride be damned, I wound up busting my ass for someone I didn't really respect to get extra credit and salvage my 4.0. It was brutal and uncomfortable. I even knowingly answered a test question wrong, because it was the correct answer according to information provided in that class. That was extremely hard for me. I was home-schooled and then attended a weirdo alternative private prep school, and this was the very first time in my life I saw taking a class as a calculated risk instead of a learning experience. It really, really put things in perspective for me. I intend to stick with the program in grad school and get my "learning experiments" from clubs, volunteering, etc., instead of taking a class that could torpedo me. Sad, but true.
  6. Headed for Cornell's Department of Design and Environmental Analysis this Fall. Anyone else? We're moving across the country (myself, the man, the dog) and really hoping to actually meet people when we arrive. Our city is... socially difficult.
  7. bosanbo

    Ithaca, NY

    I'm heading to Ithaca (dog and man in tow) from California this year, going into Cornell's DEA department. Curious to meet new people, so... hello! Went to visit Ithaca last November. I was raised in the PacNW and it reminded me a lot of home, with a twist. I'm a cold-weather gal, so I'm looking forward to it a lot. No more 90 degree April days for this girl.
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