katerific

I just need to vent. I sucked in all my classes this past year (due to a variety of factors). Eff grades.

My field is relatively small, so departments also tend to be small. From what I've seen, dating within the department... does not work. Ever. I have tried online dating (HAHA WHAT) and it was okay. I met a few guys who were pretty cool for the most part... except for the guy who gave a 20 minute rant on why global warming is a hoax on the first date (nota bene: I am a climate scientist). I hope that by mentioning this, the thread will devolve into an "internet dating nightmare" story hive. Um. please?

SUCKAS I GET MONDAY OFF The rest of summer (weekends included)? of course not.

I do not have a pet mainly because I don't think I could give it the affection it deserves, especially with a dog. I work long hours and I end up traveling a bit. I also want to be able to provide, but if something were to happen, I fear I might not be able to cover expensive vet bills. and I get SUPER duper attached. When I come home I get to hang out with my parents' dog. She is a yellow lab-great dane-etc mutt (a "Great Labradane") and is 90 lb of cuteness and energy. She is terrified of the vacuum cleaner (even just looking at it) and loves, well, everything else. Since my brothers and I have moved out, my parents have focused their energy on her and have spoiled her ROTTEN. She is very smart and obedient, but that sometimes works against us (i.e. she knows what exactly annoys us/gets our attention). No pictures at the moment, but maybe soon. I am visiting my parents' house at the moment, so I have been hanging out with her a lot. I will miss her when I go back to work.

This post did not disappoint. Applause.

Technically you are supposed to stay at least 20 feet away from them, but sometimes they waddle right up to you, apparently. I have a lot of friends with pictures of penguins pretty close to them. But they are absolutely not allowed on the boats, ever.

For everyone who is waiting and waiting and think that you don't have a chance, just remember: okay, yeah, silly, but I hope this silliness distracts you guys from obessing over emails and mailboxes for a minute. <--guilty of obsessing last year

As far as blogs go, sometimes I follow my friends' (or their friends' friends') blogs they set up for cruises, expeditions, hanging out in Antarctica, etc. They're not technical at all, but I always feel super jealous when I see them in Antarctic hot tubs or chilling with penguins. Also, there are pictures of my advisor dressed as Queen Neptune on the internet.

There is no beer on the internet.

At many unis, it is not allowed as there is a huge conflict of interest. Even if things work out great between you guys, and you don't get caught/there are no obvious negative repercussions, it is not professional and will most likely make your colleagues (other students, faculty) feel very uncomfortable. Some might say that you shouldn't care what other people think, and that there isn't favoritism despite the circumstances, but those claims are misguided and frankly wrong. This is a workplace and once you disregard the advisor/student boundary, it can really change the dynamic not only between you and your professor, but you and your colleagues (as well as him and his colleagues). I would advise against it. Frankly, I am rather shocked that he would ask his student out on a date... I would consider that an abuse of power. Even if the attraction is mutual, if he has no respect for the advisor/student boundary, then who knows what may happen down the line. The advisor/student boundary is good to ensure that conflicts can be easily resolved, and as anyone knows... something simple + sex = something complicated. edit: I would like to add that I have seen this happen. Multiple times. It is awkward for everyone.

unless you have perfected the professor stalk Anyway... while AGU is the largest, it's also in December (in San Francisco). If you'd like some exposure before then, you could check out these, even though they are smaller and more focused (which may be better unless it is not what you want to do): Ocean Sciences meeting in Salt Lake city in late Feb (two weeks!) - anything oceanography (including physical oceanography, climate modeling, ocean-atm dynamics, etc) Goldschmidt conference in Montreal (this summer) - geochemistry

I had applied to 7 programs, but most of my friends applied to <4.

I think it's okay for grad students to take an undergrad course or two, especially if their background in that area is really weak. For ex: my advisor wants me to take a pure chemistry (ugrad) course or two (like P-chem), but that's because my background isn't in chemistry, but my research focus is geochemistry. He's also suggested sitting in on other classes, but that's rather different. From my experience, in smaller programs (in my field, at least) you may have a lot of fusion classes. That is, either an upper-div undergraduate course or a core graduate course has a split ugrad/grad population. I have had mixed feelings about these since I've been on both ends of the spectrum--the overwhelmed undergrad and the kinda bored upperclassman/grad student. However, in these cases the undergrads tend to be more motivated, so it's not completely snoresville, and they're able to keep up with the quicker pace of a grad student class. At my new uni, we have separate labs/discussions for the ugrads and grads in these classes, and that has helped to keep me stimulated. And even as a grad student hearing a lot of the same stuff over again, it's nice to sort of solidify the basics and make mental notes on how I'd teach the subject.

Two things. 1) For the past few years, I have not bought any pens. Most of my pens come from hotels or conferences, where I loot the "free stuff" booths. I take my free pen/anything else collecting seriously. Occasionally, I accidentally steal lab pens. But my pens end up becoming lab pens anyway... circle of pen life. 2) I totally misread the title of this topic.

I recently got a Nook tablet. I love love love it. Reading pdfs is much easier for me. No more printing or lugging my laptop around! And I can check email on it and surf the web too, which is nice. Need wifi access, but it works fine on my campus/Starbucks/McDonald's/home/etc. The only problems so far: connecting to home internet was difficult for me because I am tech-retarded and had to go change my router settings and fiddle with MAC filtering (actually easy to do, but like I said, I'm tech-derpderpderp). Apparently this is a common problem though? Also, I still haven't figured out how to change pdf file names using the nook alone, although you can do that when you hook it up to your computer. As far as reading goes, it's easy to navigate around and zoom in and out, and you can highlight, bookmark and make sidenotes. The entire purchase for me was ~250, but I also bought a lovely and fashionable case for it. But you also get a free B&N membership when you buy the nook.

Personal favorite: r/shittyaskscience. Where i shine. Others: mylittlesquidward, dinosaurs_smoking, wtf, science, climate, geology, zombies, nosleep, my school, my alma mater, some girly ones, a nail polish one, some default ones (like askreddit and videos), etc... yeah, don't judge.

No, and I feel like a got-dang leper. Actually, what I'd like is a place to take a catnap. That's all I want. And my microwave and fridge.

Impossible? No, not at all. Difficult? Well.... I have a friend who does this and has been doing this for a few years now. She takes NJ transit and lives close to Penn Station (Amtrack doesn't stop in NB). Her husband works in NY and makes bank, which is why they live in NY. She personally doesn't think it's worth it. The train ride is ~45 min alone, and there may be delays, and you also have to factor in going to/from the stations. It's like 300+ a month to ride, even as a student, I think. Living in New York (Manhattan) is expensive, too--as I said, the only reason she does is because of her husband. And like I said, he makes BANK (and has to live there because of his job). I hate to be a downer/dream killer, but I know how exhausting it gets for her, so I wanted to share. This may make me a bit biased, but yeah. But to put a positive spin on living in the area (as opposed to the negatives of living in NY).... Things to consider: New Brunswick isn't that bad. It's a college town, and there's some crime, but it has a lot of bars/restaurants and a little theatre district. There a nicer areas adjacent to NB for living quietly, too. Living in NY would definitely have its benefits. Lots of culture and character, close to LGA and JFK and EWR, etc... but NB is like halfway between NY and Philly, too. RT train fare to NY is 26, to Philly is like 30 or so? As for driving: okay, in NY you don't need a car. However, owning a car and living elsewhere may not be so bad: 5-6 hour drive to Providence/Boston/New England, ~4 to DC, <1 to the shore, and lots of options for getting out to the mountains for outdoorsy stuff and camping. Many universities charge a lot for parking, but at Rutgers, it's actually ridiculously cheap as a grad student. I'm talking $26 for a year, and you can park in a lot of different lots. Gas is cheaper in NJ (and you don't have to get out of your car, since they pump for you) and there's no sales tax on clothing or groceries (NY has no sales tax on only groceries). PM me if you'd like more personal insight.

Bureaucracy is always a nightmare! For me, my program's office staff is pretty awesome, but when things get to the university level... ugh. For us, to be able to sign up for classes and get the dept to pay for our classes, we have to turn in our forms in person. Or fax. But who faxes anymore? This is more minor but still annoys me: so we have a relatively small department, but we're expanding, and we're still in a small building. We don't have a graduate student lounge. We have general lounge/lobby areas, but man, it'd be nice to have a grad student-only lounge. Also, my shared office of first years has no fridge. Or microwave. I have to go down the hall to get and heat up my lunches. Yeah... I have first world grad student problems.

There are two reasons why I know anything about the layout of my campus other than where to park and where I do research: 1) going to the health center/pharmacy/other medical apts/etc 2) going to my classes in another department After a semester, I still don't know where most things are, and I sure as heck don't know the best way to drive anywhere. I guess I could explore more, but we have research to do, gosh darnit!

Totally not applicable for you, Inqy, but others may benefit. Friends have done these and I've heard wildly awesome reviews: Geophysics SAGE - Geophysics course in New Mexico Oceanography UW's Friday Harbor courses - lots of biology, but that's good for geobio/paleontology peeps Geobiology Summer course in Wyoming, Colorado, and California Hydrogeology U of Minn's Field Camp for Hydrogeology

There isn't a geology GRE (at least anymore). For straight-up geology, only the main GRE scores are needed, but depending on your subfield, they may require or "highly recommend" a subject test related to that field. Ex: geophysics or astro/planetary may take the physics GRE, geochemistry takes chemistry, etc.