Loric

My best reccomendation came from a professor who wrote on my final paper in my final class with him.. "I'm really disappointed in you" and gave me a C. He also wrote on my rec letter about how my other papers were well above what he expected from an undergraduate, that i was well suited for graduate study, and that he admired my designs and work that he saw outside of his class. This is the PhD from beloved Berkeley. The OP has suggested that the person he asked had a good bit of knowledge of him as an applicant and student outside of the one class. It is just one class. A reccomender is not just supposed to talk about your class work. One of my other rec's is the head of the department/college and I never had a "class" wih him but worked with him on various projects. Is he not a valid rec? All he knows is the stuff I did outside of my classes.

It helps if there's actually something unique and interesting that the LOR writer knows to say about you.. something you accomplished, something you wrote that they found interesting. If it's just that you were a vaguely good student.. it'll be just a vaguely good reccomendation. Particular paper topics, projects, etc.. being discussed are good indicators that you actually left an impression.

Uhh... aren't you getting a bit ahead of yourself...? And I do know a neuroscientist (gosh I know a lot of people) she went to my local Major U.

I find intimidation and the threat of my wrath worked wonders for getting compelling letters submitted in a timely manner. Oh, and getting their secretary on my side. That usually works within 48 hours.

Will power...?

There is actually much irony in that I had a friend yesterday ask how to present a directing piece... ..and I replied "Oh I don't care, paint them all in kabuki makeup and give them french period wigs." This was before I even knew this video existed.

Brutally AMAZING.

Why have the conversation if you're not interested in it though? I'm all for starting it for the sake of trying something new.. but why be proud to continue it if it's going nowhere?

And look where her passion to "rectify a grade" got her.. teaching a muddled and lackluster 300-level course that's barely a 100-level at another instituition. How does one convey that upright swirling finger motion and lacksidaisical "whoo.." on a message board? Because that's what I want to convey right now.

1. My mother was the first woman accepted into a prestigious all male school for engineering back in the day. She was also nearly expelled for refusing to stand up for the pledge of allegiance in high school, and that did in fact cost her the title of valedictorian. She only breifly attended college from what I understand - dropping out to work as a photographer and editor for a sewing magazine before getting married and having kids (including me.) Father was a firefighter and then a police officer - at one point a detective for "violent crimes" and "special victims" (yes that department actually exists.) My older sister was some named rank in high school - saluditorian? - and was off to college with a full ride but for whatever reason quit. I think she hated organic chemistry - she had wanted to be a forensic anthropologist. She teaches middle school science now. My other sister had a brief stint in design school. I'm the first to get my BA and the only one to ever even apply to graduate school (attended, dropped out, trying for a new program now.) 2. Lack of family support, and lack of funding since no one works a terribly well paying job. I went to college on my own, found funding on my own, etc.. there was no teary moment of getting dropped off at campus dorms for the first time and getting care packages. Nope, I commuted from home to Major U nearby and had a job for most of my undergrad (until upper level when the department started paying me to hang around.) No one cared about my grades, no one made sure I got to anything on time, no one ever even asked how I was doing. It was all on my own and many times I was asked if it was worth it or if it would really help my job prospects or career. "You could take that management promotion work offered you and drop out, it might be for the best..." 3. I was accepted and funded previously, hoping to do so again. 4. Will power.

Why would being able to hold a conversation in which you have no interest be a good thing...? I'm more concerned as to why you'd put yourself in such situations...

Let's see.. 1. Theme park designer. Work in progress. 2. Author. Technically yes, I am one (royalties pay bills, the Stephen King criteria for being a legit author) but I'd like to write a great/meaingful popular novel and.. not there yet but i'm "qualified." 3. Sculptor/Fine Artist. Nope, i'm actually sort of awful at it. 4. Playwright. I have written some good short works, but I need some training in order to cohesively hold together a longer format.

Gestalt message.

So.. Pink.. just curious.. What makes you good husband bait anyways? One of the things I find most attraction in another person is knowing themself, their desires, their reasons for being, etc... Knowing what they want to do, where they want to go, how to get there.. All of those things you seem not to know.. which suggests if you really want a husband - because I'm pretty sure I'm not alone in this feeling - is that you need to find these answers for yourself before you'll really become high quality husband bait.

Hmm.. chiming in because I would think the sociology area would be the first to take notice of the reasons behind the trend.. The forum goes dead around deadline time because the application process is not mutually beneficial experience - it is a competition. For someone to "win" someone else has to "lose." The rules of decorum dictate that one can not be openly hostile towards your opponents, but that does not stop endless amounts of passive aggression. Think can be tracked by the usage of insulting/demeaning language hidden within otherwise "positive" response posts and the rampant downvoting of posts and topics compared to the number of upvotes. There is very little actual helping of others with the best of intentions going on. There is however a rampant appetite for schadenfreude, hence why the forums has plenty of views but not nearly as many posts.

And what are the repurcussions of bailing on the decision later...? If they're minimal, accept and then see if a better offer presents itself. If nothing does, you have a plan. The school is most certainly doing what is best for it - you need to do what is best for you.

See? People =iz= crazy.

Human interaction... with adcomms admittedly.. but basic human interaction is sufficient evidence that they don't know everyone at every university or college and they don't aspire to and will likely be making many assumptions about the who/what of a LOR based on very limited information. I can show you the software they use to grade LOR's on a rubric if you want, would that make you happy?

Imma rewrite it.. cuz I haz fingers and this is the internetz... As I was performing at the 2010 Olympics no one could see the hardships and struggles I had overcome to bask in that moment. As a child I experienced several illnesses ranging from a compromised immune system to uncontrollable seizures and mental illness; at one point I experienced a grand mal seizure which left me with racked with pain from debilitating physical and mental injuries. However, my desire to perservere was stronger than any convulsion. I was not struck down by my disability, but in fact engenedered with a desire to help others avoid the same pain. Be it ballet or banjo, my life experience has taught me that with the right tools and inner strength one can overcome and accomplish so much. It is this strength I wish to embolden within others and through your institution that I seek to share what I have learned.

I cant help but giggle at seeing the Geography forum asking "Where?" rather than the typical "What schools?"

I contest the notion that "professional reputation" is really a factor in 99.9999999999% of these transactions. The adcomm usually has no idea who the LOR writer is and just guesses based on their school affiliation and title. We could make up names and titles and probably even schools and get it past several of the most selective adcomms.

That you give any weight to their professional reputation as if it were a thing of actual value is really quite telling.

At the same time, there are plenty of profs who expect a lot from their students, have students succeed under those conditions, and then don't bother giving anyone a reccomendation. If you're going to go into teaching you need to accept that you're going to have to write letters of reccomendation for students who put in the effort. It makes you a jerk to not do so.

My current mood regarding my app, SOP, portfolio, resume, transcript... I'm sure it will change again in a few minutes.

While I find the concept of the American education system as an ideal to be applied to lesser cultures a bit nauseating.. he does have a point.