deci:belle

This thread is giving me so much life.

This thread is giving me so much life.

This thread is giving me so much life.

This thread is giving me so much life.

This thread is giving me so much life.

Without a doubt, Beyonce. 

This little exchange was a gem :
 
 
University Of South Dakota Audiology, Other (F14) Wait listed via E-mail on 28 Feb 2014 ♦ A 1 Mar 2014  
Person 1: "Wait listed, and my stats are better than the person who was accepted and offered a partial tuition scholarship and LEND traineeship. Hmmm, very interesting."
Person 2: "That person with the "worst stats" could have better LOR's, experiences and/or SOP than you did. Applications are more than just statis.. Don't get bitter, get better."
Person 3: "Again to the bitter applicant wait-listed, your 3.0 on the AW writing isn't good enough to be considered for admission into some programs. And with that type of attitude I'm sure you LORs weren't that great either."
 
well, damn!

This thread is giving me so much life.

Without a doubt, Beyonce. 

This thread is giving me so much life.

This department is pathetic. On 20th March they send me official admission offer and on 26th I got email from Jill Fryzowski stating the admission letter was sent out in error. Now on very next day they send me the rejection letter . This is bizarre. Anyway, I have much better offer; so I give damn shit on your face.
 
...
 
Um, what?

Ughh, I hate that I can get into basically all the grad schools I applied for, but I can't land a simple part-time job. What part of the game is that?!

Do you know that they'll really care? They probably have thousands of students every few years. Were you really as big a part in their lives and they were in yours? 

You lied. Now you pay.

nutella

Say Yes to the Dress, Fruit By the Foot, and French Fries all make me happy. And corn dogs. I love corn dogs like nobody knows and it makes me really excited for fair season!

From Accra, Ghana in West Africa (and no, Africa is not a country! it is a continent!  )...............

I feel like at 23 we're in social limbo (It's actually a line to a Blink182 song). You're not like irresponsible college student shit faced drunk on weeknights; they want you to have a job and your own place, but at the same time no one at works takes you that seriously because you're fresh meat. I am literally told everyday I look like a teenager by both teachers and students. And it's like... geez, thanks. 
 
And not like I was doing all of that crazy stuff as an undergrad, I was always ridiculously serious and responsible due to my circumstances (immigrant family, I pretty much wore the pants in the house). But I cannot seem to interact with adults that are 35+ in a manner that does not make me seem like a child. 
 
And when I speak to "adults" who are my colleagues I feel childish because they want to talk about their kids or their back pain and I'm like nopeeee. My only talking points is 1. I'm one hell of a baker, and 2. I am into working out / dieting so we can talk about spin class and calorie counting or something like that.
 
I might get over it soon; I'm slowly learning how to figure out how to stand on my own two feet about this and do realize it's a matter of self-confidence advocating your own agenda / brand instead of regressing and being apologetic. I get a lot less nervous talking to adults now than I did earlier, HOWEVER, I am in the education profession where people are much more nicer overall. HAHAHA 

Everyone is faking it. EVERYONE.
 
That said, it happens in stages. Yesterday, I was bemoaning the fact that I'm no longer a recent graduate (I'm 26), and I'll be older than everyone in my program, and I won't be out of school until I'm 30, and my 401(k) is just sitting there and won't really be growing while I'm going back to school, et cetera. And literally five minutes ago I was Facebook-stalking some people from high school who are now producers and architects and lawyers, and I'm thinking, my parents still buy me groceries?
 
You just filled out your W-4. In three months, you might sign up for health insurance. Then your parents might pay your parking tickets, and you have to hand-make everyone's Christmas gifts that year. And then before you know it, you're hiring your own interns at work, but still eating cereal for dinner because you're lazy.
 
I guess everyone just grows up at different times. And what really is growing up, anyway? What did we expect from adulthood? When I was a kid, I was looking forward to total independence, and the ability to make my own decisions. Currently there are 7 types of ice cream in my freezer. If that's not adulthood, I don't know what is.
 
 
 
My dad always says that when he was dating my mom, that's how he knew he'd get along with her family.

I GOT INTO EASTERN VIRGINIA MEDICAL SCHOOL for my MASTERS IN BIOTECHNOLOGY! I HAD GIVEN UP JUST A FEW DAYS AGO!!!! :) :) we'll see if I get funding, but yeah I'm stoked. 

I have been accepted to a PhD program with full funding just today. My undergraduate GPA, of the first and only bachelor, is 2.30/4.00. This thread helped me hugely while I am searching for my PhD degree, therefore please allow my contribution to the thread with my long long searching story.
 
I completed my first bachelor degree in 2008, the same year Lehman brothers gone bankrupt, exit with 3rd Honor at 2.3/4.0 GPA. I joined the work force in business field, earning a grand each month and suffering with nadir self-esteem. In the middle of 2009, swine flu pandemic hit Hong Kong. Research assistant positions in local University gusted out cause of funding rushing in. I grabbed the chance and, just by absolute luck, joined the WHO reference lab for virology in a global-scale-top-tire University located in Hong Kong, directly under the supervision of a Global known epidemiologist. I served the team for five years, attained my Master's degree in 2012, published 5 publications with 3 first authorship, and another 4 in preparation. In the mean time, I established a strong professional network, joined lab meetings and various courses and workshop, learnt a great deal of scientific knowledge of my research project and methodology, and trained up my English in the multi-national working environment. While I was not given good chances to work on research even though they are more than able to provide, literally my boss wants me to routinely work on his assigned work without any deviations for my whole life, I struggled to get publications myself and learn all I could by myself. 
 
After I graduate from my Master's degree in 2012, I started my searching of PhD position by then. I research Professor of Interest (POI) by checking University website, read their papers and profile and tailor made emails to inquire possible vacancy in their lab. My search didn't restricted to US, but also Canada, UK, Europe, middle east, but not in Asia except Singapore. Concerning my honors, I put my focus in Europe and individual positions, where they don't care about that much, except UK. I got response from them in a rate of roughly 1 in 30, and somehow positive feedback at a rate of around 1 in 200. At the same time, I checked out, daily, various scientific job websites such as naturejob.com, the job vacancy webpages of various research institutions around the world, subscribed job notifications, surf grad cafe and other postgraduate orientated forum. I tailor CV and PS/SoP/LoM for every position. I keep doing this for 2 years. The first positive response for interview was from Germany, a renowned historical University with research focus on virology. And then I received another phone interview followed by face to face interview, asking me to fly to Germany on my own expense, from Germany, near Berlin. I got another interview from Oxford, where the POI is one of the collaborators of my current boss and this is the only reason for his entertainment. I didn't apply to any US school in 2013 Fall. and this is the end for that round.
 
After I virtually get nothing in the last round, my boss asked me to stay and offered me MPhil in his lab. I figured out that is actually not a great idea to spend (waste) two more years for a degree, which focused on a field that I never ever studied, worked or intended to switch to, which is not necessary for my career, I turned down my supervisor and started looking for career advancement else where, since I have proved to myself this is not a place (and supervisor) which worthy to waste even more time. I prepared to apply to US schools, keep looking for individual positions and stopped spamming POI's mail box, which is actually not really totally useful in my POV. I took GRE for 3 times, TOEFL for once, tailored PS with focus on my research background, write separate paragraph to explain, professionally, why I picked the faculty member as my future supervisor, why I picked this University, and never mentioned personal particulates. Please check out my result for 2014 Fall from my signature.
 
To conclude, accumulate real world research experience, publications, improve English writing and speaking in academic manner, keep searching and asking would help. References do count, but not in every case. A strong, well written and positive reference letter weight out the reputation of the Professor, but definitely not vice versa, where it is the best if you can shake out whether he or she would like to write you a very nice one. If he or she is reluctant to let you know whether they are going to give you what, forget about it and move on even if they are the faculty dean of Ivy league. Finally, keep your faith, maintain a preferred attitude and never ever give up if you are determined to get your PhD.
 
Undoubtedly it is a long battle especially for low stat applicants. It is very easy to conclude this long journey by 3 paragraphs or less. However, the personal quality and things that I have improved in the process can never be taken away and I cherish this experience. I would never be the same if I haven't gone through all these. Last but not least, get used to arsehole and I can assure you they are everywhere in any field and any place. Once you confirm you are under such, let go and move on. They are less than benign to remember you right after your departure and once you gained a position which can benefit them, who knows who will approach you with words like "It is because of me." 
 
Best of luck.

I was born and raised in Queens, and there are plenty of neighborhoods to choose from. Personally, I think Forest Hills might be a good option. Apartments are pretty inexpensive, there's a large shopping street that has many different stores, It takes about 25 minutes to get to St. John's via public transportation (about 10-15 minutes by car), and the E,F,R,V and LIRR (all of which go into Manhattan) are there as well as several buses. It's a vibrant neighborhood with lots of community activity and VERY safe. They also have their own community based ambulance service which holds events throughout the year (shameless self promotion since I volunteer with them).
 
There is also Woodside and Flushing, which connect to the 7 train and LIRR and several buses, but are farther away from St. John's than Forest Hills. However both are vibrant neighborhoods close to the city. Flushing has a very vibrant East Asian community, so there is lots of awesome food!
 
If you don't mind being a little further from the city, Bayside is another option. It is about 25-30 minutes by bus to St. John's and the LIRR goes into the city from there. It's a bit more suburban than the other neighborhoods I mention, but there is plenty to do.
 
I hope that helps, PM me if you have any questions!

Yeesh. I think the more important question is, why would you want to work for 5+ years with someone who sounds as unstable as this woman? I would take this as a sign of things to come and decline the offer.

"Oooh I'm coming to visit you in Montreal!!!"

Ummm...when I lived 30 miles from you, I never saw you, but now you're gonna make the effort to see me when I'm living in another country because you want a cheap vacation???

I just got back from spending the last week visiting my top two choices...McGill University it is!
 
Why McGill? Well...
 
1) I couldn't have asked for a better fit.
2) My PI and the students on my future research team are beyond awesome.
3) Montreal is one of the coolest cities on the planet.
4) Getting to experience francophone culture and finally speaking the French my mom made me learn.
5) It has two things a girl needs to get through life...great food and men with accents.
6) I get to live in another country for at least 4 years.
7) Umm...it's McGill University.