avflinsch

One thing to remember is that the deadline is for things that you have control over. The schools usually don't start looking at everything until a few weeks later, they know that sometimes that it takes a while for things like letters, test scores and transcripts to arrive. It is also not unheard of for you to be conditionally admitted upon receipt of some final documentation. That is what happened to my daughter, she was invited to apply to a specific program that she had not considered late (early August), submitted everything she could, and had 2 of the 3 required letters uploaded. She was notified about the conditional admit a few days before classes started and the department registered her for courses, but she was not officially admitted until the final letter came in a month later. In other words - get everything in that you have some control over CV/Statement/Writing Samples, and make sure that you have requested things like transcripts/test sores/letters from wherever they need to be requested from.

I have been running Windows under Parallels for a specific app where there is no decent Mac equivalent for the past 8 or so years. The only real issue is that the function keys that are used in the app require pressing the fn key on the keyboard in addition to the function key when using them. I only do this on my iMac, for the few times that I need the app on my MacBook, I just suffer with the crappy software that is available for OSX. FWIW - there is no decent 3270 terminal emulator for a Mac, plenty of good ones for Windows,

In general all office politics suck. It is not limited to the graduate student office.

There is only one reason to apply early, and that would be if the program has some sort of rolling admissions policy. This is more likely to happen when applying for professional master's programs rather than academic ones.

his is what worked for me - note that I am a very nontraditional student (finished my undergrad @52, masters @55), and I took a somewhat risky approach to the personal statements. For my master's application it was a brief description of how my varied academic and professional paths let me to point where I was applying for admission. At most there was a single sentence relating to my first exposure to the subject of interest 35 years earlier. This was followed by a detailed description, of how my professional life related to area of study that I was applying to. The final section referenced how my future goals were changing and slowly changing towards education others. The intro to the PhD application statement stated the trigger for applying to the program by referencing a conversation with a trusted friend (who does hold a PhD) stating that there were only 3 reasons for doing so, the final reason being that I can't get enough school, and that I still had questions - questions that did not yet have answers. This was followed by how my professional and educational experience would be a great asset to the program. The next section referenced the work 2 of the current researchers in the department, and how my intended area of research ran parallel to and overlapped theirs. The final section was somewhat risky - I specifically mentioned that while I might be older than other applicants, the age difference combined with real-world experience is a significant advantage in some respects. The last section also mentioned the same future goals I had towards educating others.

Sexual harassment - YES Overreacting - NO Next steps - find out where and who to report this to. You should probably start with student support services or the campus police. You may also have success going to the university's HR department, as they are usually well suited to handle this type of issue. Frankly, I am appalled at what your supervisor said, that was totally inappropriate (and borders on harassment itself). I would have a hard time holding my tongue and not replying with a 'maybe that is how you got where you are' type of comment.

Me too, and I use that for documents that I am currently working on, and it is particularity useful when I am switching between my desktop and my laptop. I also have several large datasets, which are larger than what is usually available on the free cloud services. The USB sticks are useful when doing presentations, you never know what kind of network service is available in the room where the presentation is happening - and for some reason it is usually not available whenever I need to do a presentation...

I started out using the app and the free downloadable pdfs and really liked the concept. These work well, and only cost the price of printing the pages. All you need to do is print off as many of the pages as you need, and use any pen/pencil you want on them. As far as sending to the cloud, there is an option in the app to send the document to yourself via email. One big advantage of saving to the cloud happens when others are using the app also, this way you can easily share notes. Unlike many of the other digital conversion apps, these don't require a special electronic pen and expensive preprinted pads. I did try the microwave erasable pad, but didn't really like them - it is sort of a pain to stick the pad into the microwave to erase them. The new Everlast ones have a different 'paper' and can be erased with a bit of warm water and a quick scrub with a paper towel. My main complaint is that the require the use of a special pen (Pilot Frixion gel pens) to be erased, and I prefer fountain pens. Fortunately the pens are not all that expensive. I will probably use a combination of the downloaded pdf pages and the Everlast pad. You have nothing to lose by using the downloadable pages and the app and see if you like it.

For my masters - Pretty much everything I needed to read was either in a pdf or online. Notes were taken by highlighting and adding 'stickie notes' within the pdf, for online readings, I converted to pdf first, then added the stickies in the pdf. Class notes were done by writing on rocketbook pads, scanning and uploading as a pdf, where additional stickies could be added. The only thing I may change going into the PhD is to use one of the everlast rocketbooks - no more paper. Write, scan, upload and erase. As for additional school supplies - external hard drives, and a box of usb memory sticks, backup everything and backup often. - an erasable whiteboard - invaluable for planning and reminders

Only if they belong to someone else

As others mentioned - transferring grad courses can be problematic. One thing to look into is to see if your current undergrad school has a 4+1 type of program in your area, where you take grad level courses in your senior year and then transfer into their grad program for an additional year.

mood ring

FIRST - You as an applicant 1. What did you study in undergrad? Master's (if applicable)? Started my undergrad in Electrical Engineering, switched schools and majors several times (Mathematics/Computer Science/History/Business) - took a looooong time off, finally finished 35 years later in Information Technology. The master's was in Information Science. 2. What were your grades like in undergrad? Master's? Undergrad - the first few years were in the 2.0-3.0 range, finally finished with a 3.57 Master's - 4.0 3. What are your research interests? Personal informatics and relatd behaviorial changes 4. What teaching experience did you have before applying? Nothing official, but 2 of my LOR writers commented on how well I was able to guide other students in the classes who were having difficulties. 5. What about research experience? None. 6. What about miscellaneous experience (unrelated to Comm/corporate/private/etc)? 30 years in software development and data analysis. 7. How old are you (or, what is your age group)? 55 SECOND - Deciding to pursue a Ph.D. 1. What made you decide to pursue a Ph.D. in Communication? The program I applied to and got into is a combined Communicatons/Library & Info Science/Media Studies one, so it is not strictly communications related. 2. Did you contact faculty at the programs you were interested in? What did you say? How often did you communicate with these people (POIs)? The program was at the same school I finished my undergrad at, and did the master's at. I was familiar with the faculty, and spoke to many of them fairly often. 3. Did you visit or contact graduate students? How did thaaaat go? I did speak to several of the PhD students while I was working on my master's - a few were in combined master's/PhD classes that I was taking in my final 2 semesters. 4. How did you decide who to ask for letters of rec? Were they all professors or did you get letters from outside of academia? All professors (2 in the data science area, one in the library science area). The 2 in data science were ones that I had taken multiple courses with THIRD - Actually applying 1. How did you look for programs? 2. How did you decide where to apply? 3. What was your biggest priority in a program? 4. How many schools did you initially set out to apply to, and how many did you actually apply to? I only applied to a single program, the reason being that I am a full time employee at the university, and wanted to take advantage of tuition remission benefits. 5. What were your GRE scores like (either specifics or vaguely)? How many times did you take it? Did you feel good about your scores? GRE was taken while appling to the master's, I only took it once, and did not do a retake before applying to the PhD. Q-155, V-155, W-3.5, I felt good about the Q&V scores, the writing not so much. I do think my writing ability improved while doing the master's. 6. How did you frame your experience/interests/fit in your statement of purpose? Did you focus on something more heavily than other stuff (like faculty or experience)? I specifically wrote bout how my extensive background experience related to the program, and how finishing the undergrad and master's were shaping my research interests. I also stated how coming from a very different background from most students would be beneficial. 7. Did you feel good about your applications? Why or why not? I only applied to a single program, and felt positive when I submitted the application. 8. If you knew then what you knew now, what advice would you give yourself? I wouldn't change anything FOURTH - GETTING IN (OR NOT) - feel free to update/answer later 1. How many programs did you get into (and which, if you don't mind sharing)? 2. How many were you waitlisted for? Did you make it off the waitlist? 3. How many were you rejected from? 4. Did you get into your top program? Did you expect to get in? I applied to a single program and got in as I had expected. 5. Did you receive funding? Yes & No. This requires an explanation - as a full time employee of the university, I was getting 100% tuition remission for all of my undergrad and all but the final semester of my master's - all I was paying for out of pocket were assorted fees, and ocassional books that I did not already have. I ended up going over the salary cap for 100% remission, and got cut back to 50% for the final semester of the master's, and am at 50% for the PhD. I will be doing the PhD part time, and there is no department funding for part-timers, but I have been promised a parttime lecturer position in the combined undergrad/master's program starting next summer which will make up the difference. 6. Once you've made your decision...how did you decide which school to attend? I only applied to a single program - so nothing to actually decide on... 7. If you didn't get admitted to a program, will you apply again? N/A 8. What do you want to do with your Ph.D.? By the time I finish the PhD, I will have between 21 & 22 years as an employee with the university. Full retirement benefits kick in at 25 years, so my plan is to stick around for a few years, retire, move and then find a teaching position somewhere. As an older applicant, my priorities are very different from some of the other applicants. FINALLY 1. In retrospect...what was the best part of the application process? I don't think there was anything actually 'good' about the process, it was mostly paperwork. 2. What was the worst? Writing, and rewriting and rewriting, and rewriting the personal statement. After that it was waiting for the final decision. 3. What advice do you have for future applicants? Ask for your recommendations ASAP and provie as much detail to the writers as possible. Start on your personal statement early - this way you have time to rewrite and tweak it.

The other thing to try is to search the school website - there might be an older version stashed away somewhere and accessible. I have done this for just about every course I have taken - usually I can find something.

I am not a criminologist, but I am a data guy. I would go with something like #crimes/1000 population, this way you can adjust for population density. I would also be careful (or at least note) that the definitions of some crimes have changed over the years. Categorization of things like sexual assault/rape have different meanings now compared to 10/20/100 years ago.

I am not female and not at UNC, so I won't comment on fashion there. August on the east coast anywhere south of of the New England states can be pretty brutal - be prepared for much more humidity, and the temps don't drop quite as much at night as they do in New Mexico or Colorado. You will also be getting there in the middle of hurricane season, so be prepared for rain. As for carrying stuff around, it seems to be pretty evenly split between backpacks, messenger bags, and smallish briefcases. Use whatever is most comfortable for you. Personally, I switch between a briefcase big enough to hold my laptop, a few pads, folders with materials for whatever I am doing that day, and a large leather overnight bag that holds way too much stuff.

We both had good experiences there. For me it was both as an employee (good place to work, but the pay sucks compared to what I was getting in private industry), and as a student. I am not all that familiar with the Political Science department, I do know that my daughter has Eric Davis as an advisor, in the United Nations concentration.

For the personal statement, I basically said that since I would have 21 years at Rutgers as an employee when I finish the PhD and would like to remain as an employee for a few more years after that (in order to get the retirement benefits), but would be looking at something afterwards - possibly a contract at another school for something to do after retirement.

I just noticed this - My daughter is in one of the Political Science Master's programs at RU, I finished my undergrad there, did my master's there and am starting the PhD in the fall (all occurred after age 50). There is a pretty good sized population of us older folks here at all levels.

This is something to absolutely consider - different fields will have different opportunities. There is a very big difference between what can be done after a PhD in the hard/soft sciences and the pure humanities. In the case of the original poster, finishing in your early 40's would put you on the borderline for a purely academic position (like it or not age discrimination is a very real thing). In my case, starting a PhD at 55, I know that there is almost no possibility of a tenure track position when I complete it. This is something that I specifically pointed out in my personal statement and interviews, and balanced it by stating how my years of professional experience would be beneficial to the overall program.

For admission to the program, age should not matter. In fact, you could swing it to your advantage by mentioning how your professional experience relates to the program that your applying to.

I finished my undergrad after a 20+ year gap in the corporate world, then jumped into a professional masters and am now starting the PhD (all while working full time). In each of my personal statements I specifically referenced the advantages of of having many accumulated years of real world professional experience and work ethics, and how that applies to the world of academia. Swing the experience angle to your advantage, the typical corporate BS, is not all that much different from academic bureaucracy. The hoops you need to jump thru may be different, but hoops are hoops.

Both R and Python have hundreds of user contributed packages/libraries. There is a very good chance that someone has already created one that does exactly what you need, or something close enough that can be easily adapted to your needs. It is a good idea to learn both, and there is nothing to stop you from from doing part of the analysis in one, exporting the data midstream, then continuing in the other (and switching back if needed). Personally, I use a combination of SPSS, Matlab, R, Python and other languages as needed. Some things are easier to do in one platform, and some things are easier to do in another.

In general your new 4 year institution will take the credits that you transferred from the 2 year school, but will not include them into your GPA. When you do apply to a grad school, you will most likely need to supply both transcripts. They will get the GPA from your 2 year school, and a different one from the the 4 year school. They may or may not recalculate the last 60 credits, it would depend on the school (and possibly the program within the school). As for retaking the courses, it would depend on the policies at your new 4 year school.

It varies by program, even within the same discipline. The program I applied to required the masters to be considered for admission, some other programs in the same field did not.