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avflinsch

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Everything posted by avflinsch

  1. There used to be a 'Caution - Random Student Crossing' sign here on one of the main roads thru the downtown campus, but sadly it has vanished.
  2. My oldest son works at the local Amazon distribution center. He loves it there - 4 day work week (10 hrs each day), plus an additional discount on orders thru Amazon. The local center is actually paying a little bit higher than anywhere else in the area, so they are attracting workers from other facilities. Which basically forces other companies to upgrade wages also so they can get workers. I know a few other folks that work there also, they seem to like it also.
  3. I would send both sets of scores, the school may be looking at the 'best of' for each category
  4. You would most likely be filling out form 1040EZ - it takes about 10 minutes if you are really slow.
  5. This is probably your best bet. Get at least one academic recommendation (2 might be better), and one of the professional recommendations. The MLIS is mostly a professional degree, not an academic one, so having at least one letter from a current or former work supervisor is a good idea.
  6. It is probably school dependent, but I know that Rutgers takes the best of for each score (I wrote most of the database load program).
  7. What kind of car? 50k seems a bit low for a clutch replacement, unless you are really abusing it. What was the additional problem? Is it something that typically needs replacement around the same mileage point? Probably not all that much that you can do at this point other than requesting the used other part and getting it evaluated at another mechanic after you get it back. If there is a scam of some sort you might be able to file a claim with your state consumer board.
  8. Older student here - somewhat different experience. I started out as a traditional aged college student (way back in 1979). switched majors, switched schools - several times. What I was doing was learning enough along the way to keep getting better and better jobs - in the early 80's only talent and the ability to learn was required to do software development back then. In the late 80's real life intervened - family, kids, homes etc... In 2002, the consulting position I had was off-shored, and I was having problems getting a new position (no degree). I eventually landed a decent (but much lower paying) development position at Rutgers. Since 100% tuition remission was part of the employee benefit package, I figured that I would go back to school and finally finish my undergrad degree as soon as possible. Life intervened again - another kid, medical issues with the in-laws, so the going back to school plan got put on hold for a few years longer than expected. In 2007, I started going back to school again. I was able to transfer enough credits from the previous century, to fill most of the basic education requirements. I finally finished my undergrad in 2014, but I also knew that I really wanted to get a PhD eventually. The PhD program I am interested in, requires a specific masters in order to apply, so right now I am finishing up the MI/MLIS degree before applying to the next program (Fall 2017, the application is in progress, I just need to verify some LORs and tweak the personal statement before pressing the final submit button) Like you, I have all of the marriage/family stuff out of the way, and a decent paying position where I am supported in going back to school (working for a university certainly helps in that matter). The negatives are the same too, I can't get a regular GA position since the full time job takes precedence, but I have been offered a adjunct faculty position which will start as soon as a course opens which fits my schedule. I can't easily relocate either, since I am relying on tuition benefits to pay for this (unfortunately I passed the salary cap on the 100% tuition and have been downgraded to 50%, so I really need that adjunct position to help pay for things). I am also fortunate enough to have a wife who tolerates me being out late several nights a week for classes. I have the same feelings - scary and liberating at the same time. Scary since there are times where I find it difficult to keep up, liberating because the industry experience means I know how to tolerate corporate/academic BS. Like you, I am doing this because I want to, but it is also a plan for something to do after I eventually retire. I can easily see myself teaching at a small college somewhere in the future. I think one of the best things is that I now have a better relationship with my daughter - she is also a grad student at the same university (different school & subject area), but being around younger students who are about the same age as her gives me a better perspective on what her life is about. She is also planning on applying to a PhD program after finishing her master's - and we are both scheduled to graduate in May 2017.
  9. tire gauge
  10. I'm in the same boat, but on a different cruise.... I am currently finishing a master's in Info & Library Science, and I am planning on applying to a PhD program in Communication, Information and Library Studies which requires a MLIS or MCIS in order to be eligible to apply. The PhD guidebook for the program states that up to x credits can be transferred from the Master's to the PhD coursework (actual value of x depends on which PhD track you are applying to... it is either 12 or 18 credits). This works out to be between 1/2 and 1/3 of the required coursework. The guidebook also states that you need to apply for the transfer credits after the first year in the program, and make an argument as to why the courses should be transferred. My assumption is that courses from the same institution would be easier to argue as being equivalent or near equivalent. In my case, it will be the same institution for the Master’s and PhD programs, as I will only be applying to a single school (I am a full time employee, going to school part time – taking advantage of employee tuition benefits).
  11. Typical conversation -- Q: Will you get paid more after you graduate? A: No, the average salary in the field is probably around half of what I get paid now. Q: Why do it then? A: Because the PhD program I want to apply to requires this (or a slightly different) master's degree in order to be accepted. Q: Will you get paid more after that degree? A: Nope, I already get paid more than what that would pay. Q: Why do it then? A: Because I want to. Q: ??????
  12. That's what I figured after looking at what subforum I was in. IR is short for way too many things.
  13. Arrgh - I hate the IR abbreviation, I just realized this is the History subforum Is IR short for Infrared - which is what IR would have meant in my first undergrad years. International Relations - for my daughter's Political Science background or Information Research - my current area????
  14. Same here - applying to IR PhD for Fall 2017 soon. I will only be applying to a single school (need to take advantage of employee tuition benefits), but I am pretty sure that I will be accepted.
  15. Having lived/worked in both cities I agree. NYC - great transit system, fairly easy to get around even all 5 boroughs (except Staten Island) Boston - better transit system (in my opinion) and easy to walk to places also, but it could be difficult if you live in the suburbs and are not that close to a transit station.
  16. It could be 'freshman' as in first year college student, but not 'fresh out of high school'. Is it possible that they are setting you up with folks that may be going to school after military service, or just starting at a slightly older age? Checking your potential roomies on Facebook or LinkedIn would be a good idea. It would also be a good idea to fire off an email to them once you get their contact info.
  17. I don't know much about the grad housing situation in the area, I am a very non-traditional student (finished my undergrad when I was 52), and own a house about 35 miles from the campus. My daughter lived in the undergrad housing on the Cook/Douglass campus and loved it there. Her first year as a grad student she lived at home and commuted with me, but she is trying to get a grad apartment for the fall on either the Busch campus or the Cook campus. She said the apartments were fairly nice. The grad apartments on the Busch campus are near my office, they look pretty good from the outside, but I have never been inside any of them. The undergrad dorms my daughter was in were cramped, but clean.
  18. Absolutely - the ability to be in multiple places at the same time would be extremely beneficial.
  19. #3 is a definite - you are doing research with them, and it is good to have someone from outside of your field to show that you are well rounded #2 is probably a better choice over #1, even if you did not take a course with them. They served as a mentor, and probably know you better than #1. If you are not restricted to 3 letters then I would also ask #4, a professional in the field could be a valuable asset If you are applying to the same university as your undergrad, you could also ask #1 to give you a mention to the admissions team, without an official letter.
  20. I would agree with @emmm above - RU looks like a better fit from what you described. While the fellowship at GWU may have some impact on a future PhD application, I think RU's higher ranking and name recognition may have a greater overall impact. You also didn't specify which subfield of chemistry, but I think that RU may have better interdepartmental connections with related sub disciplines. One additional thing to consider - have you visited either campus? You will be spending a considerable amount of time there, and it would really suck if you did not like being stuck in an environment that you did not like. I am assuming that you are talking about RU - New Brunswick (and not Newark or Camden), chem would be on the New Brunswick Busch campus (actually in Piscataway). It is a pretty nice campus, and has easy access to downtown New Brunswick (small city) on the RU bus system, and you can easily get to NYC from downtown New Brunswick via NJ Transit. That being said, GWU is pretty nice for a urban setting, and it is an easy walk to most of the things to do in DC. Disclaimer - I am biased towards Rutgers - I am a fulltime employee there, I finished my undergrad there, I am currently 2/3 of the way thru my masters there, and plan to apply to a PhD program there for Fall 2017.
  21. MS Word - As much as I dislike the program, it seems to be the standard for sending documents between individuals and potential publishers. Google Docs on the other hand is better for exactly what you describe - access from multiple computers, and it is easier to share documents when there are multiple people working on it.
  22. ^ this exactly. Final papers for both of my classes this semester were absolute crap (at least I thought so), still managed 2 A's anyway. My strategy for this is to put as much effort in the class at the beginning, this way I already have a somewhat decent grade when it comes to the finish line, and I can slack off a bit if needed. Why are the final papers for every class due on exactly the same day & time anyway? Is there some sort of conspiracy going on that I don't know about?
  23. family feud
  24. extended family
  25. vernal pool
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