avflinsch

Just about ready for spring, all I really need to do is write the check for the bill.

Final grades posted - 1 Pass and 2 A's (although I think one A was a just barely, the other one was very solid).

bourbon, vodka, scotch etc in bottles labeled 'bourbon', 'vodka', 'scotch', the cheap crap you get at a bar when you simply ask for a whatever.

cheap beer & generic alcohol.

Agreed - pumpkin spice belongs in pumpkin pie. PERIOD. It does not belong in anything else, especially coffee, the only thing that belongs in coffee is coffee

Biggest gripe this week - People who cannot park their cars anyway near correctly. I currently drive a small car (Mini Cooper), and when I pull into a spot, there is always plenty of room on either side, and in front of me. I also never completely pull into spot - if I did, cars cruising the lot for a space would think the spot is empty and try to pull in behind me. I am not overhanging anything. At least 5 times over the past week, folks driving giant monstrosities have parked next to me, leaving barely enough room for me to open one of my car doors so that I (or my passenger) could get in when I tried to leave. I have nothing against big cars - I actually like them and have a big old Mercury sitting in my garage, but if you are going to drive something that big, please learn how to park the beast.

It should be OK - if there was only one full time professor in your department, then that is all you can do. In my case, there was no single professor in my major that I had taken more than one course with - the only person that I had taken more than one class with was in my minor - which was totally unrelated to my major. What I ended up with was one letter from a full time professor in my major, and 2 from adjuncts with other full time positions in the university, one of which I also worked with on a professional level. The application required at least 2 LORs, and no more than 3 to be submitted, but the prof in my minor that I had taken multiple classes with sent in an additional letter separate from the app, once he found out that I was applying to a grad program. one idea - if there is a section on the application to write any notes/comments, you might want to explain the situation. Personally, if I were on the admissions committee, I would take it as a good sign that folks in other departments thought highly of you.

I had the same situation here - I had no real plans for grad school when I went back to finish my undergrad, but in my final year, I decided to apply to the same school for the grad degree. I had reasons other than it being one of the top schools for the program I was applying to. I am a full time employee of the university, and free tuition makes a big difference. I probably would not have applied to grad school otherwise. I did not get called for an interview, just outright accepted - others in the program did do interviews. My feeling is that some members of the admission committee knew me (either personally or by reputation) and just did seem that it was necessary. My daughter is in that situation also – the program she is most interested in does not accept grad students who got their undergrad degree in the major from the same school (different school in the same university as me). Fortunately, her first choice for grad school is her undergrad minor, so that may not be an issue for her. The grad program in her undergrad major has already “strongly suggested” that she apply, so any policy may really depend on the department. Personally I would use the same school situation as a strength – you already know the particular ins and outs of the bureaucracy peculiar to your institution. Drinking – should not be an issue, you already stated that you were local, and would be uncomfortable if you needed to drive back home. If pressed, just state that you are still underage. Either of those replies shows responsibility, don't worry about it.

I actually took Underwater Basket Weaving - it was offered as a zero credit course thru the recreation department - scuba gear, swimming pool, make a basket underwater. I had to convince my daughter to take it with me, it was really fun. Her basket came out looking pretty good, mine looked like it was made by a drunken wombat. My Underwater Basket Weaving Project Elisabeth's Underwater Basket Weaving Project

Same here, but there is probably a provision for sending a physical paper copy thru the postal service for those cases where the person writing the letter is no longer associated with the institution and no longer has access to the institutional email address.

Straight from undergrad t grad (but I took 30+ years off in the middle of my undergrad)

3 classes - One course grade so far - numeric grade of 1 (fortunately it was a binary score for this class). Presented final project for one course last night - it went very well (except for a laptop crash at the start of my presentation). Final paper due for last course on the 12th, I have it mostly written & should be able to finish it up over the weekend.

So far everything is mostly good, coming up on the end of the semester in 2 weeks. One class, final project presentation is tomorrow (I was 'volunteered' to do the presentation a week earlier than the rest of the class), should be easy, I was way ahead of the rest of the class to start with. Other class, the group presentation went well, final paper due in 2 weeks. I am a bit behind in writing it -- family/house/work issues, but they finally got straightened out this past weekend. I am only stressing about one thing - my daughter is applying to grad schools now & I think I am more concerned than she is.

Unless this was for an application to some sort of gender studies/equality program, then I would have have given some sort of wiseassed answer - "I was denied entrance to the Local Gold Bricking Team, since I was considered to be too ambitious, but several relatives and friends are proud members...."

You need to look at things differently - With age, comes experience and wisdom. We old folks have seen what works in the real world, by now we know that there are very good reasons why some things are done the way that they are - it is because they work, and in many cases there is nothing to be gained by making drastic changes, sometimes it is the small tweaks that make the biggest differences. It is the final twist of the lemon peel that makes the cocktail, not the rest of the ingredients - no matter how new and innovative they might be. We need to think of ourselves as a fine aged wine, not as a stale slice of bread. As for the mid-life crisis thing - the best solution is to buy yourself a flashy red car.

In general - the department secretary/office admin is the person to ask - they know EVERYTHING and can usually be bribed with cookies & coffee, or if not actually bribed, they will at least remember you the next time you ask.

Yes there is some tension - especially when the instructor is closer in age to your own children. The weirdest was when I was an older undergrad - the instructor was a former employee of mine.

All of the RU New Brunswick campuses are pretty nice, each has a very distinct flavor to them. College Ave - (where almost all of my classes have been) looks and feels like a small city campus, lots of stuff near by also Busch - (where I work) large open suburban campus, has a nice golf course on it also Cook/Douglass - (where my daughter is) feels like a very rural campus, which is surprising, considering it is sandwiched between downtown New Brunswick & US 1 Livingston - very modern, and popular campus to live on, feels like a small town, shopping, movie theatre, but not too many classroom buildings One of my coworkers is a phd student in CompLit - she is enjoying the program very much.

Possibly this online program - http://comminfo.rutgers.edu/master-of-library-and-information-science/completing-a-degree-online.html (online version of the program I am in, same requirements, just all classes are online) Just curious, but why would you want to avoid group work? Once you get into the real world it is almost all group work.

Had my first class Tuesday night, large class, about 40 of us ranging from mid 20's to mid 50's - so I am NOT the oldest -- second oldest maybe -- but not the oldest. When you are that much older than the others in the class there is another way to look at things. I was the oldest in my undergrad class & I sort of enjoyed it. Most of the other students were more traditionally aged - about the same age as my oldest kids. I think it gave me a better understanding of what my son & daughter were about. In fact I took a few classes that some of my daughter's friends were in. I didn't get a chance to take a class with my daughter (we are at the same school), we almost did in my final semester, but she couldn't work the course into her schedule.

Take the class, and spend some extra time poking about the Rutgers Campus. This way it will help you decide if you really want to come here, and you won't be too overwhelmed if you do.

The .edu address is good for all sorts of discounts - especially for software. Quite a bit of expen$ive software has an academic discount available if you have a .edu address.

I took the computer based exam at a Prometrics center - I was given a locker, and told to put everything in there, wallet, watch, cell phone, pens/pencil & jacket. NOTHING was allowed in the testing room except the key to the locker. Pencils & paper were supplied. Pockets needed to be inverted on entry & exit to the testing room, and I was security wanded also. I have worked on high tech military installations with less security.

A combination of - e-books & an older model Kindle (the one with the keyboard) for textual based materials, but it doesn't work well for thing with lots of pictures/graphics. pdf files on a cheapo tablet or my laptop for other things dead trees when either of the above are not available

I go straight from my day job, so business casual for me - nice pants, collared shirt (although I do have a preference for colorful Hawaiian/Tropical prints)