avflinsch

fruit cake

#1 - wait for the phd application to be processed,and not obsess over it #2 - finish the masters degree #3 - no matter what the results are for #2 - take a decent vacation #4 - loose some weight (I have been saying that for the past 30 years...)

it almost sounds like he has you confused with someone else. is there any way that you can politely ask him if he accidentally sent you a letter that was intended for someone else?

baseball diamond

close call

I brought pizzas home for dinner on 12/23, my car still smells like garlic 10 days later. Garlic is probably better than sour milk or febreeze, but I would have figured that the aroma would have dissipated after a week and a half.

fishing tournament

We solved that problem many years ago. It is a little 3 foot tree and it just stays up all year round.

cigar box

bank statement

teddy bear

person/professor of interest is correct

bull shit

An interview does not equal an acceptance, just like a job interview does not mean that you will get the job. What it does mean, is that you are in the running and nearing the finish line. Acceptance rate - it probably depends on the school/program/number of open slots/how many other folks get an interview and a bunch of other factors.

click bait

I love those adult coloring books, and I plan on doing a few pages over the next few weeks, along with breaking out my sketch pad and such. I haven't played with either of them for about a year now. As for coloring in porn - I did see an 'adult' adult coloring book a while ago, but did not get it. I have a week and a half off from work starting on Friday, and then another 2 weeks before the final semester in the masters program. Other than checking if my LORs were submitted, I don't plan on checking the admissions site anytime before mid February. I am not going to stress myself out about things that I have no control over.

field research

front porch

Pretty much nothing you can do except wait, I found that out when I applied for the masters program. I submitted my PhD app on December 13, which is about a month before the deadline of Jan 15 - I know that nothing important is going to happen until mid January, but even still I keep checking to see if the LORs have been submitted, even though all of the writers stated that they will be writing them over the term break.

I can feel your pain there, I get terrible cramping in my hand when doing anything that requires fine motor control, so I limit it to note taking during the school year. That said, the last day of classes was yesterday, the last day of work is on Friday, so the last week in December and first Week of January (when I return to work) I always get reacquainted with my sketch pad, pencils and pens (along with my whisky collection). vent - whisky collection needs replenishment,

I am in a completely different field, and am following this thread because older is still older. My comments are based on my experiences (currently in a masters program with many professional years in a tangentially related area, and currently applying to a PhD program, I also did not finish my undergrad until I was 52). #1 - Usually shifting interests, but it may really depend on how far apart the fields really are. A shift between mathematics and computer science is very different from a shift from biology to philosophy. In my case the progression from undergrad -> Masters -> PhD aspiration is definitely related. #2 - Unfortunately age discrimination is a very real thing. I think the age difference may make a bigger difference in a PhD program than a Masters program, especially with regards to the 'time to contribute' factor. #3 - I think that this may have more to do with exactly how old is considered 'older'. At 55, the health concern is probably a bigger issue for me than dropping out to start a family (already have one in my case). #4 - Again, probably a big difference between a PhD and Masters. An older student going for a professional Masters might actually have an edge over a younger student. I really do not think it has much to do with the size of the school. #5 - Interesting comment. In my case I did find it difficult to relate to some of the younger students when it came to personal things, in the classroom there was no issue. On the other hand, spending time with the younger students did make it easier to understand things that my daughter was going thru (she is also in grad school, but a very different area from me). #6 - I will agree that maturity is not a substitute for experience, but it does give you a different viewpoint. It also gives you a bit more tolerance for the bureaucratic BS endemic to academia.

firing squad

Consumption of self generated information and how it relates to behavioral changes. Specifically info that is generated by cellular and wearable devices .

The difference between 15 & 17 pages is minimal, and they will probably only be reading enough to get a feel for your writing. If the shorter version makes the sample feel incomplete in any way, then I would suggest that you submit the longer version. On the other hand, if there was some sort of limit on the size of the sample that you need to submit, I would place a note at the top of the sample stating that this is an abridged version due to size limitations, and include a link to where the full version can be found.

The anxiety only increases after submission - there is nothing you can do but wait. I think that this is one of the reasons that my LOR writers all said something along the lines of there is no reason to submit too early, nothing is even going to be looked at until after the submission deadline, and that procrastination is a good thing in this case. That said, I ended up submitting a month early for several reasons Deadline is Jan 15, I submitted Dec 13, because I knew that I would get absolutely nothing accomplished during the winter break -- too many other things going on then. My LOR writers are not all that busy during the break, so I figured that they would have time to write the letters, they all mentioned that they would probably not even start to write them until after the last classes in December. I do tend to do school related things early, family, full time job and other things always get in the way if I wait too long...