eklavya

unfortunately, wedding and the life after adds more expenses, my friend! however, i do agree with folks above. marrying her is the best option i see.

paint proof

Usually, F1 lasts for 5 years these days. But as long as your I20 is valid and you haven't done anything to jeopardize your SEVIS agreement, you can stay in the US as long as it takes to graduate. After you graduate, I believe you are given 60 days grace period to pack your things and leave the country. As for working off campus on F1, you certainly can - as people discussed about CPT and OPT above. For example, if you find a job off campus which is related to your field of study, and if your prof is cool with you working outside, you can certainly make some money that way. However, you do need approval from the international services at your school.

are you still at school? then hit the gym, go swimming, sauna, run. if outside school, go to public places where you can people watch. or get involved in something that takes time... video games, music, movies. the goal is to take your mind off the application process, and the best way to do so is by engaging in something else. just hang on.. it's almost over!

great idea. will definitely try this!

in most cases, failure in grad school is the function of the student's interest in, and desire to finish the grad work. sure, the school, professors, weather and other factors play in, but as long as the student is determined to graduate with a degree, the failure shouldn't be anywhere close. failure might also be common for those who go to grad school because they thought it would be a nice way to stay in school, and enjoy the 'extension' of undergrad years. and of course, there are other causes like grad work requiring physical work but the person is physically challenged, professor ditching the school, funding source drying out, and so on.

golden guitar

poor lover

about what? scholarships/funding or admissions? what program? MS? PhD? please ask clearer questions so you can be helped better.

interesting... never heard of that term before. my guess is that there's another student who they've offered the position, and this student declines the offer, you will be given that offer. this might mean that you have better chances of getting in as you will get your turn as soon as the first student declines the offer. so, it seems like a 'better' waitlist, because you aren't on an official waitlist, and you don't have to wait for a slew of other waitlisters to reject the offer. but again, just my guess. i suggest that you inquire the program and find out what exactly it means. good luck!

I can feel your pain, although I share none of it. I have seen people in my lab and others who have lost interest in their research, fight hard to maintain a balance between social and academic life, and feel lost in general stuff. Their life is not totally miserable, but they certainly are not enjoying what they are doing. In my opinion, the problem is that most of these students (and perhaps you as well... sorry for pointing fingers at you though) jump into the grad ship without knowing where they want to go. Sure, grad school sounds cool, nerdy and full of promises, but not knowing the destination means losing control of the voyage, no matter how good you are at navigating. But trust me, it gets better. Right now, you are at the stage which most, if not all grad students (of all programs) have been through. If they made it, so can you. But take one step at a time. Do your research. Go to your classes. Breathe. Discuss with your peers. Look current literature. Revise your methods. Orient yourself. Build a network so that you can land a job once you are done. As for the weather, treat it as an adventure. You hate it right now because you seem to lose focus of your goal. My request is that dedicate yourself to your work (of course, be socially active as well), and keep in mind that you want to get out with good publications and a solid network. You will not know how fast time will pass by. After you are done, you will have the ultimate freedom to work wherever you want. So, just hang in there buddy! Also, I recommend you to read the following article. It's written by a CS guy, but is applicable for grad students in any field. If you've already read it, go through it again. It really is a morale booster. http://www.cs.unc.edu/~azuma/hitch4.html

butterfly wings

round house

fwiw, one of my friends (engineering major) scored 740 in his GRE, and i think he hasn't heard back from any schools. not saying that GRE is the only thing, as overall fit and funding matter more, it might be in your best interests to reconsider taking it. ETA: 740 in quant, of course

just like Bukharan, i too have my doubts about what you just said being a taboo. in fact, this is the first time i am ever hearing it. i am doing my masters where i finished my undergrad, and if i were to do it over again, i would not do it anywhere else but here. wherever you do your masters, take it as a really nice springboard that vaults you into bigshot schools/programs/labs. but you said UIUC is the best in your program.. so there you go, taboo or not, you are making the right choice by deciding to go there. again.

plant seed

gas mask

private jet

wheat rust

the best way to organize things is by making folders, sub-folders, sub-sub-folders and so on to segregate everything (pdfs, powerpoints, research papers, etc) so that you can easily keep track of where things are. if your pdfs are all over, you can use iFilter (free to download on adobe's site) to search for the pdfs. after this is installed, you can search for the pdfs using windows search, using some keywords that are used in the pdf anywhere. mendeley does things similarly to endnote, but for some reason, i like endnote better.

prime offer

pollen burst

magic fingers

big brother

whip lash