avflinsch

The answer is 'it depends'. For admissions - If the school has a rolling admissions policy, they will review applications as they come in. In many cases this will be program specific (some departments will do it, while others may not). If they are not doing rolling admissions, then they will not review things until after the deadline. In this case it may be beneficial to start the application early, so that you can get all of the basic details in, have transcripts sent, get letters written and sent etc. It will also give you more time to write and polish your personal statement so you won't be rushing when the actual deadline looms near, but submitting it way before the deadline won't make a difference in the decision outcome. Many schools have multiple deadlines, usually an early one for funding, and an absolute drop dead one that they won't accept applications after.

Third option - do what I did Take a full time job at a university, use the tuition benefits to pay for the education. This is a pretty standard benefit for most schools, most will even pay for your kids also (which was the main reason I took the job in the first place). I finished my BA this way, full tuition paid by employee benefits, I only needed to pay for books and fees. Most of the masters went the same way, until I tipped over the salary limit for 100% tuition, and got cut back to 50% for the final 3 semesters. The PhD is currently partially funded by employee benefits, and I have been promised a part time teaching position which will cover the remainder starting in January. It might take me a bit longer by going part time, but overall the costs were less than making a car payment.

Not for philosophy either, but my daughter got admitted to a political science program 2 days before classes started.

Same here - master's completed, but the PhD starts soon.

There are two things likely to cause problems in the ink flow, either you are holding the pen at too high of an angle with respect to the paper, or have the nib rotated. The Lamy has a somewhat triangular grip, so you are more or less forced to hold the nib in the correct position, my suspicion is that you are holding the pen at too high of an angle. see http://www.richardspens.com/?page=ref/ttp/sweetspot.htm for a better description

Coming from the data science arena, I may just have to steal this quote.

I am a firm believer in the 'buy once, cry once' concept, and I was a non-trad undergrad also. I am finishing the masters now before starting on the PhD in the fall. Some of your comments are good, but I found otherwise on others. Big backpack - I used to do this, but I realized that the bigger the backpack I used, meant the more crap that I shoved into it. More stuff = heavier, and heavy is not good. I switched to a smaller briefcase, one that is just big enough to hold my laptop, kindle, a notebook and a few folders. My back is much happier now. Stabilo colored pens - I love these for drawing, but not so much for writing. For writing I like fountain pens, the way that you hold them and the way that the ink flows is way better for my RSI issues, plus my handwriting has improved dramatically since going old school. Highlighters - I used them during my undergrad, but when I started my masters most of the reading was journal articles in PDF format. I just highlighted within the Acrobat reader app, and added sticky notes. Kindle + E-books - definitely!!! I purchased one of the older models with the integrated keyboard while in undergrad, the cost of the device + the ebook was less than the printed copy of the book. It died recently and I replaced it with the HD Fire. As for page numbers not being aligned with the printed version, I just asked the prof for a photocopy of the table of contents of the printed version at the start of the semester, and marked up the photocopy to sync the two. Moleskine pads - the paper in these can be inconsistent, and sometimes the fountain pens bleed thru the paper. I prefer the Red & Black hardcover spiral bound notebooks, better paper and very consistent quality. Spiral bounds can be awkward, but I get around the running into the spiral by only writing on one side of a page, and when I hit the end of the book, I just flip it over and write on the reverse side. This way my hand never runs into the spiral. Planner - no paper here, I have my iCal, Outlook and Google calendars all synced and color coded. Enter it in one place, and I can see it everywhere. Sandals - not for me, I need to dress somewhat professionally in the office during the day, but I do keep a set of waterproof boots in the trunk of my car, along with an EMS Stasher rain jacket (similar concept to the Columbia). Google drive - I personally prefer OneDrive, as the documents are stored both locally on my laptop, home & work desktops, wherever I am, I have access to anything I am currently working on. Lenovo Thinkpad - no comment, I use Macs exclusively. For the few odd applications that are Windows only I run a Parallels VM on my iMac. External drive - is 1TB big enough? I personally prefer to have my external backup drive to be at least 2-3x the size of the internal drive and do continual backups. Having multiple revisions of documents has saved my butt more than once. I would also suggest getting a bunch of USB sticks, you can get a box of 10 8GB ones on Amazon for around $30, these are good for passing around documents, and at $3 each, I don't worry if someone else loses one. Dry erase whiteboard - I have a big wall mounted one and a smaller one at work, and I will be getting one for home also. These are great for planning things out. We also have part of our kitchen wall covered in blackboard paint, which is good for leaving notes to one another, although the chalk dust can get annoying. Amazon Prime for Students - I don't use it anymore, I don't really watch much of the streaming content. If I purchase anything from Amazon, it usually gets to me same or next day anyway (one of their big shipping centers is in the next town over). Laser printer - this I agree with, I need to get one myself, the inkjets are expensive in the long run.

Started the Masters at 52, finishing it now at 55 - The last class is tonight. The PhD is being started in September - still at 55, but I figure that I will be 62 when that is complete.

Yes, and preferably multiples of both. The external hard drive is for backups, make sure to keep backups, you never know what is going to happen. My external has saved my ass at least twice when the one in my laptop crashed, and when the laptop died a few weeks ago. The backups are also good when you want to refer to a version of some document that you wrote 3 months ago. The usb keys are for transferring documents between computers in those places where you can't use the cloud for storage.

It may depend on the school, but they may be taking the 'best of' for each score when there are multiple exams. In this case, you would end up with a Q:165 and a V:160 for a total of 325. Also each program may weight scores differently - the Q score may be more important in math and the sciences, while the V score may be more important in the humanities.

good news (you have been admitted)

Similar situation here, I finished my undergrad, and immediately jumped into a related terminal/professional masters (Master of Information aka MLIS) as a part time student. When I did this, my main idea was to have a second card to play if I were in the process of looking for another job in the future. I did not have any intention of doing the PhD initially, but towards the end of the second year, I realized that I did want to go on the PhD in the same program (which required the masters for admission). I should mention, that I finished my undergrad at 52, then immediately jumped into the masters program which I will finish in May, before starting the PhD program this fall. What mainly helped me is that all 3 fields are somewhat related, and by the time I applied to the PhD program I already had ~30 years work experience in the industry. The other thing that helped was that I was, in the words of one of the POIs that I interviewed with 'a known quantity', having completed my undergrad, and doing my masters at the same institution. In his opinion, I was less of a risk because of that, since they already knew what my academic work was like. So, to answer some of your questions - Time - only you can answer that, in my case it did not matter for the masters, but your mileage WILL vary.... Research credibility - Nobody really knows what research is like at the PhD level is like until they have actually done it. I think that most admissions committees realize that, but it may make a difference is some fields. It didn't make a difference for me, and I suspect that in HCI, practical experience is probably more important anyway. Long term goals - You are correct in the comment about employment and salary. Full time academic jobs can be difficult to come by, but that is also field dependent. In my case, jumping directly into academia after completing the PhD, would most likely result in an overall decrease in income. My end game is to have something to do after I retire from the professional life for additional income, and I did make this clear when I was interviewing for the PhD. From where I stand now, my professional retirement with full benefits should happen 4-5 years after finishing the PhD, so this is not an unreasonable goal. The high opportunity cost is also something to consider. There are really two things to consider here, lost income and lost time. In my case, the time is more important than the income. I will be doing the PhD part time, without departmental funding (because of the part time status), but I am also a full time employee of the university, and employee benefits will cover a significant portion of the financial part.

You should also check out the places from http://www.onlyinyourstate.com/

Judging from this, I would assume that you are living in NJ. I would try to get to as many places as possible that are listed in Weird New Jersey

Take a close look at the application requirements. If it states 'all schools' then send them all schools (including the one you would like to forget), if it states 'schools where a degree was granted', then only include that one, and your current one (since you are expecting a degree from them). .

I have been working on the Busch campus for close to 14 years now, and several of my colleagues live close to campus - The area around the Busch campus is fairly safe, not all that much happens in Piscataway. Downtown New Brunswick and the area around the College Ave campus can get pretty dicey at times.

This was a major disagreement between my wife and I when we first got married. She liked crunchy, I hated crunchy. If it has the word 'butter' in the name, it should be smooth, like butter. Would you want to spread chunky butter on your morning toast? The only good use for chunky/crunchy peanut butter is for cookies.

One year a long time ago, there were penguins who didn't wear hats when swimming. This made their mothers livid. "Unacceptable!" Frightened, they screamed, "Bears!" Nobody seemed convinced so instead of going swimming they tried juggling. Their mothers tried everything they thought would teach her a skill. However, she couldn't even make oatmeal without disastrous results. So, the penguins gathered money (obviously) trying to purchase a bear. Towering over them, a grizzly beast danced, devouring all bears with such ferocity that even God enjoyed it. Afterwards, God congratulated the penguins and applauded them. "You did it!" Suddenly, the grizzly beast started dancing vigorously. There was an acromantula nearby. It challenged the preconception that magical mushrooms were magical. Sparkling, the magical mushrooms were spreading throughout town. Nobody with pyromania thought grilled cheese would spontaneously erupt into nine identical squirrels! Nevertheless, the penguins elucidated the benefits of sparkling water from Iceland. Suddenly, Iceland exclaimed, "Enough!!! No more penguins. Kill all of the arcades on Monday because King Arthur suffered from sphenisciphobia." Tragically, everyone forgot lasers cure bug madness, meaning none of them stripped the violet beast of his powerful jaw bones. So while some arms spouted Kool-aid, others chopped nuts. This phenomenon halted commerce. Together twenty-five yellow dragons danced sporadically inebriating all anger gods, while academics drank champagne profusely. Who were they? Snotty undergrads eating free Tetrahydrocannabinol Chlorate. Homicidal kittens emerged from congressional hearings purring rhythmic improvised melodies, infuriating the associate professors who stripped them intermittently of all credentials. The incredulous kittens meowed like dragons farts. Except Bruno, who mewed like tinkling bells. Understandably, one chicken farted. Then, surreptitiously, two giraffes killed the conspicuous dragon. Audaciously, someone belched "RAWR!" Startled, four punks flew down from the Appalachian, a bit wide-eyed, and jumped into a brobdingnagian beam of protons, flipping fingers zestfully. Meanwhile, the paladins prophylactically committed themselves to diabolical plots. Therefore, lemonade became the de jure punishment for audacious acts. Worms squirmed and dug tunnels into Harvard where walruses

apple pie

It doesn't seem to be an interview request, but they may have some questions about your application. There may have been something in it that wasn't quite clear to them. I got a request similar to yours, but it was after an interview with a poi. It turned out they were unclear on my funding requirements, as I did not specifically mention it in my personal statement, and only checked off the 'I need some funding assistance' box on the application.

air horn

So I have something to do after I retire. I am a full time employee of the university, I finished my undergrad there, currently finishing my Master's, by the time I finish the PhD, I will have 21 years in. 4 more years working after that for full retirement benefits, and then I plan on moving into teaching. But the real reason is 'because I want to'.

3rd day in a row - for some reason yet to be determined, I was awakened out of a very sound sleep at exactly 3:23am WTF is going on?

You just need to reword it a bit "Our current results are still inconclusive, but we have been seeing gains in each new generation"

Nothing is wrong with you, it is just a case of facing the unexpected. Personally, I was scared sh*tless when I went into my first master's level course, but to be honest, I actually found it to be easier to deal with than my undergrad. I am finishing the master's now, and am starting to get scared about the PhD coursework. I will just have to adjust, and whatever happens will happen.