eklavya

sweet revenge

busted door

grilled apple

yak cheese

you will meet all kinds of people. don't get offended very often as there will be some ignorants in the bunch. talking about cutthroats, there aren't very many in my field because we try to help each other. but every once in a while, you do bump into one. if they ask for help, help. otherwise, don't get involved in their lives/research, because when time comes, they will back-stab you. also, you will see plenty of dumbs who don't even know that there is a right click in the mouse (trust me, i've seen some). or the types who pay (yes sir, pay a third party) to do their lab AND class work. (see, we are nice, and therefore don't report this to the teachers... mainly because we know that these kind of students will most probably end up flunking their PhD/jobs/whatever and end up doing miserably in their lives). but it is very pathetic that they can't even do their own work. there are also types who think the whole university and grad school thing is about memorizing. they don't think like scientists or philosophers or inventors - for example, their presentation slides (showcasing their research or lab work) will be full of info copied from journals/wikipedia/google, and all they will say during their presentation is 'i am not going to go through all these. i will email my slides to everyone in the class, and you can go through them'. really? that's how you go about publicizing your research? there will also be types who need attention. a LOT of it. if you don't say hi to them (because you are busy doing your work or something), they will stop communication with you whatsoever. there will also be the types who like to play loud music on their ipod and laptops, in front of the group. they think what they watch is funny and awesome, and your opinions don't count - you have to watch/listen to the crap. if not, communications halted. phew. that looked like a rant! i assure you, it isn't.. just my recollections of some 'precious' moments in my lab. anyways, in a nutshell, be yourself, watch the view, and enjoy the ride.

some schools i know of emphasize more on the depth of your knowledge on the subject you will be TAing for, compared to your TOEFL score. but i am sure that it certainly has a role to play in the whole process. i recommend going through their websites, or contacting the school where you are planning on applying. if they declare that XX is the bare minimum speaking score they require from an international student, then it's easy to check off that school from your list. good luck! - they had no speaking section when i took my TOEFL - but again, that was quite some years ago.

nuclear silo

dirty jobs

chrome wheels

annoying problem

yea, she is dumb and ignorant, that's proven. and people would've not cared about this 'rant' at all, had it not been the timing. she released the video what, 3-4 days after the tsunami broke in? hundreds of thousands of people, of all nationality and races (not just asians) took an offense because they thought it was a horrible thing to do... being insensitive towards one of the biggest disasters humanity has ever seen. and that too, coming from a college student. am not saying she deserved it, but she should have seen it coming, given this age of media transfer and publicity. that said, i do feel bad for her, and her family. i heard she withdrew from school last week.

only one

eel skin

beauty bones

right now

not yet. sorry! i will definitely watch the final games though. my pick for the final: uconn vs stanford, with uconn winning

Pitt is down!! is Butler in for another cinderella season!?

in most cases, this means you are in (or almost in), and all they want to make sure is talk to you, gauge your interest in their program and then find you some money so that you can contribute to the development of your intellect as well to the program's reputation. this is great news, so congrats!

fat mama

do you want to do MCBB or biochemistry? once you know that answer, the choice is really simple.

it means your professor writes you a letter, puts it inside an envelope and signs (or stamps the school/department's logo) across the flap. basically, the school you are applying to wants to make sure that you haven't accessed/tampered with the letter, and that it remains confidential till it reaches the school.

those were mentioned to introduce some humor in the thread. we all know why we want to do a phd. if we didn't and weren't serious about this whole thing, we wouldn't be doing this here on the first place.

return home

i think i have found my future place to stay! - i know it's a little early, but at least i'm done with the search now. so, feels good. check this site guys (am sure most of you already know) - www.padmapper.com - shows available housings by their locations, so you can search for areas around the U or uptown or wherever you want to stay.