RunnerGrad

Asimov. All his stuff is great. L.E. Modesitt Jr. also has some great sci-if.

For lunches, Packit lunch cooler bags are great. Fenigo also has a wide variety of lunch containers available: http://www.fenigo.com/

I like Noteability for taking notes or annotating articles on my iPad. I also like Evernote, Dropbox, and Google Drive. For to do lists and a calendar, I still use pen and paper. I couldn't live without my Moleskin daytimer.

That sounds very similar to what I made as an undergraduate RA and TA (in Ontario, Canada). For my RA position, I was making $12/hour, and could only work a maximum of 10 hours/week. For my TA position, I was making $20/hour. Invigilating exams was also paid at $20/hour. It's funny that my RA position paid less than invigilating, since invigilating was a lot less work, but the RA had the advantage of providing me with research experience. As an undergraduate TA, I was a member of a union.

Let's see. I'm a Worgen Shadow Priest and a Draenei Holy Paladin. Alternatively, I'm Vulcan. Or maybe I'm Barbara Gordon (either BatGirl or Oracle). I'm a geek who also teaches group fitness (aerobics) and runs marathons. For some reason people don't expect geeks to also be athletic!

One of my references I worked with very closely, and I knew she enjoys wine, so I gave her a bottle of wine. For my other references, I'm having a hard time, because our relationship was much more professional. One of them was my thesis advisor, but we never socialized outside of the university (unlike my reference who received the bottle of wine). I'm debating either a Starbacks or Chapters (book store) small gift card. I could also crochet a coffee cup/mug cozy/holder (to use instead of those cardboard ones). So hard to know what is appropriate for the more reserved references!

I teach group fitness (aerobics) - step, Zumba, aquafit, stability ball, BOSU, group cycle (spin), group strength training, etc. I run, swim, and bike. I train for half-marathons, marathons and triathlons. I lift weights/strength train. I read a lot of fantasy and historical fiction. I show Sphynx cats. I crochet.

UofT, at least in the Community Nutrition concentration, is 20 months (5 semesters). We do two semesters of coursework, then a semester of practica, then a semester of coursework, then a semester of practica. That's with 5 courses/semester.

I've lived in several Canadian provinces (Manitoba, Ontario, Alberta), as well as in Germany. I've visited all of the Canadian provinces, with the exception of PEI, and I've also visited the Yukon territory. Countries I've visited include: the United States, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, the Netherlands, France, Belgium, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Czech Republic, Greece, Turkey, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Romania, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Vatican City. I think that covers everything.

UofT is sending out letters to students who received entance scholarships. I received one yesterday! So check your mailboxes. (No, I didn't receive any notification via email, only by post).

I'll be commuting two or three days a week (it will depend on the semester) and my commute is about 60 to 75 minutes each way. It's no big deal - I've had longer commutes than that before. I read, listen to my notes or ebooks, or just relax, depending on how much work I have to do.

You could do #4 if you really wanted to. You just need to have a passion for fitness and dance, get your group fitness certification, and then your Zumba B1 license. I'm a Zumba instructor and a certified group fitness instructor, and I'm far from the best dancer out there, and I certainly don't look like the models for Zumba wear. But I deliver a fun, safe, effective class, and that's all that matters!

A lot of those messenger bags look nice, but I can't imagine carrying them around all day, or commuting with them. My neck and back would be killing me! But kudos to those of you who can manage them. Considering I see women in suits and dresses carrying nice backpacks (and I carried one myself when working full time and wearing a suit to work), I'll stick with my backpack! As long as it is clean, neat, and professional looking, I don't see the problem with carrying a backpack. Like I said, I see lots of professional women commuting with them, and I did so myself. Maybe it's because I'm a non-traditional student, and so I'm older than the typical grad student, but my back and neck would not be able to deal with a messenger-type bag, especially when having to stand on a train, bus, or subway, for significant periods of time during my commute.

Why not work for a couple of years, save up some money, and then return to school to complete a master's degree? I know lots of professionals (usually registered dietitians or engineers) who have done exactly that. Or take out students loans, apply for whatever funding you are eligible for (NSERC, CIHR, SSHRC, university-specific awards), or apply for TA/RA positions at your university of choice. Good luck!

*the math team - my school didn't have this *Chess team - my school didn't have this *band geek *took all AP/IB classes - my city didn't have these (they are common now in Canada, but not when I was in high school) *did research - no opportunities available *tutored *spent summers interning - nope *involved in academic extracurriculars *competed in a Spelling Bee - not past grade school *spent years studying for the SAT/ACT - not required in Canada *dreamed about getting into college - not college, college in Canada is community college (so diploma/certificate programs, not university) so I definitely didn't dream of "only" going to college - that was for people who wanted to get into the trades, etc. *dreamed about getting into grad school - nope - as the first person in my family to even go to university, grad school definitely wasn't even on my radar *took college classes - this kind of opportunity wasn't available in my city, however there was a week of classes at universities every year (during the university reading weeks) for strong students - we didn't get credit for it though *took classes for college credit - this kind of opportunity wasn't available in my city *studied a few hours every day *studied on weekends

You are cherry-picking information to support what you are saying. The program I will be attending is both a professional and an academic program. It does, in fact, mention research. In fact, this is why it says: "Preparation for Doctoral Studies The MPH program in Community Nutrition and its Advanced Standing Option does not require students to complete a thesis. However, students have the opportunity to complete research practica and research papers, and are eligible for most PhD programs. Applicants wishing to pursue doctoral studies should familiarize themselves with the specific admission requirements of doctoral programs of interest." As someone who is in nutrition/dietetics, I think I know more about nutrition/dietetics programs than someone studying political science. As I said, Canada is not the U.S. Most PhD programs in Canada require a Master's degree. Most PhD programs in the U.S. do not. That is one major difference, right there. The fact of the matter is that it would be impossible to apply for 10 programs, in my field, in Canada. Both at the master's and the PhD level, there are simply not 10 programs out there. In the U.S., there are considerably more programs. I don't care how many programs there are in other fields. Those are irrelevant to me. So I think the advice to apply to 10 programs depends both on the country and the field of interest. I wouldn't apply to 10 programs just for the sake of applying to 10. And no, my situation is not vastly different from that of the rest of the people on these forums. I hope to pursue a PhD after I complete my Master's degree. I plan on being involved in research. The only difference is that I cannot go straight from undergrad to PhD. That simply doesn't happen (except in very, very rare cases) in Canada, and most of the time, when it happens, it happens to a strong student during their master's program - they are allowed to proceed directly to the PhD without completing the master's as such. I have chosen a Master's program that, in addition to preparing me for PhD studies, allows me to complete the internships required to become a registered dietitians because I don't want to have to spend yet another year completing a dietetic internship on top of a more typical master's degree. So please, if you don't understand how dietetics works in Canada, don't comment. The fact of the matter is that I need a master's to apply for dietetic PhD programs in Canada. I can't be admitted straight out of undergrad. I also need to complete an internship in order to become a registered dietitian. The UofT program allows me to complete both a master's degree and a dietetic internship at the same time, while still providing me with the background necessary to apply for PhD programs when I am finished (see the appropriate quote above from the Dalla Lana website, not the cherry-picked information you copied). Since the master's program I will be attending prepares me for Doctoral Studies, it is just as academic as any other master's program. It simply doesn't require a thesis, but that doesn't mean it isn't academic. Or else your definition of "academic" is greatly different from mine. (I was also admited to a pure academic MSc program, so I would say my experiences applying to that program, and being accepted to that program, are no different for anyone else applying to either a master's, from Canada, or a PhD, in the U.S., as I still had to have research experience, an appropriate letter of intent, strong letters of recommendation, etc. Again, there simply aren't 10 programs in my field, in Canada, even when looking at "pure" academic programs (i.e. master's that require a thesis). So again, how many programs you "should" apply to depends on your field of interest, and where you are located.)

It just means that people are saying that they are about average. There are plenty of people who can get by on less sleep (or fewer calories) and plenty of people who need more sleep (or more calories) in order to be healthy. I don't see anything funny in people stating that they match up with the average.

During my undergrad, I worked one summer in a lab with a fair number of master's and PhD students. Now maybe it's because it was the summer, but a large group of us would go out fairly regularly (say once a week), to a restaurant, to a pub, or to some type of event.

So back on topic. Things that helped me: - Taking my resume/CV and statement(s) of intent to Co-operative Education and Career Services. Despite the name, they also offer help with preparing materials for graduate school, so were able to provide some feedback on how to best structure my resume, CV, and statement(s) of intent, especially as I was/am a non-traditional student with two different undergraduate degrees. - Having a back-up plan in place. For me, that was an MSc with the professor who supervised my fourth year honours thesis. The professor had mentioned that I would do well in an MSc program, and that they would be happy to supervise my master's degree, so I knew I had one "guaranteed" acceptance (provided nothing weird happened). This really helped to relieve a lot of the stress and worry, as I had a sold back-up in place. - Having contact with the programs that were of interest, either through their open house days, their information sessions, etc. I was able to talk directly with the individuals in charge of the programs, as well as with current students in the programs, and that helped to solididy my decisions and my choices. It also provided me with a way to introduce myself to the program directors, who would then hopefully remember me when they reviewed my applications (especially given that I have a rather unique background, so would likely be easy to remember). - Having faith in myself. I had one senior professor and advisor for my major tell me that I would be lucky to get any interviews, due to my non-traditional background. They told me it would appear that I wasn't as committed as someone who went straight through from highschool, to undergrad, to a master's program. My opinion differed, as I thought it would be clear that I now had discovered exactly what I wanted, having been in the work world for many years, and having had some success. I was right, as I interviewed everywhere that I applied, and ended up eventually being accepted everywhere as well (although for my #2 program my acceptance was off the waitlist).

Not really. If I go on to do a PhD afterwards, there are only 9 universities in Canada, accredited by the Dietitians of Canada, that offer PhD programs in English. The other Dietitians of Canada accredited universities are either in French, or undergraduate only. So it would be totally impossible for me to apply to 10 schools, not to mention financially difficult (I've never heard of universities in Canada waiving the admission fees, unlike in the U.S.) So I think it really does come down to the difference between Canada and the U.S. Besides, my chosen program is both an academic and a professional program. Yes, it allows me to complete the internships required to become a registered dietitan, but it also prepares me for a PhD program. In Canada, you just don't go straight from undergrad to PhD - most PhD programs (and all PhD programs in my field) require a Master's degree. Without a Master's degree you simply won't be accepted to a PhD program.

Did you read my post? I said that I did my undergrad at Guelph and here, honours normally refers to any four year degree. General degrees are three years. So email the graduate secretary and clarify what they mean by honours. You may be fine. Also, I've never heard of a prof giving extra credit. Never. So the fact that yours won't give any doesn't surprise me. If you ever have trouble during a semester in the future, the time to get help is when things are happening. Profs, counselling, and student services can generally help you if you are struggling during the sesester. They can't do a whole lot after the fact. Good luck.

10 schools? I guess that's the difference between the U.S. And Canada. There aren't even 10 schools that offer my program. Only 7 offer my general program (combined masters-dietetic internship) and only 2 my specific area of interest (combined public health-dietetic internship).

Exactly. I did my undergraduate studies at Guelph, in Ontario, and here, all four year degrees are automatically honours degrees. General degrees are three year degrees. For that reason, the OP should email the graduate program and ask them exact what they mean by honours. It may just mean a four year degree.

My experience: insertion was very painful, but no worse than my endometriosis pain. I only had really bad pain for 48 hours after, again, no worse than my endo pain. In the interests of full disclosure, however, I have to say I have a fairly high pain tolerance. When I fractured a vertebra in my back falling off a horse, I finished the riding lesson, untacked and groomed the horse, cleaned the tack, and drove myself home. Only went to the hospital a couple of hours later, who I was still in a bit of pain, and did not believe I had fractured a vertebra. Then spent four months on bed rest. So, if you have a lower pain tolerance, the IUD insertion might seem like a lot of pain. But it was certainly no worse than my endo pain, and a lot less pain than I had after my two surgeries for endometriosis.

I was on continuous BCPs (no break and no placebo/sugar pills) to control my endometriosis until I was 38. I was otherwise healthy, so my family doctor has no worries about stroke, etc. Then, because I was having a lot of breakthrough bleeding, we decided to try the Mirena IUD. It's been wonderful. Other than the first 48 hours after insertion (very painful) I haven't had any problems, and I stopped having a period altogether after a couple of months. It has definitely helped with my endo symptoms. I've never been on birth control for contraceptive reasons (my husband has had a vasectomy) and even with my endometriosis, doctors have never agreed to "tie my tubes" or perform a hyst. Fortunately the Mirena has really made my endo pain tolerable, instead of having me curled up in the fetal position for days at a time, even while on strong painkillers, and unable to function.