anxiousapplicant

That's what I was thinking. I have no experience yet, but common sense tells me that an MA would help because it proves you can do graduate level work and gives you the opportunity to conduct real research and to hone your writing skills and to clarify what exactly it is you want to study. Even if you enter a Ph.D. right off the bat, you still need to pick up the MA along the way, so MA's are not irrelevant degrees. I personally hope to attend an MA first myself, because it will improve my record because I come from a very low-ranked undergrad, so I still need to prove myself. I'm sure it doesn't help in all cases, but I don't think it would hurt. Most of my professors did their MA's at different schools than their Ph.D's.

Political Science MA. Honestly, why two in one day? Because when you see the second, you're like, no way can there be two shit emails in one day! It must be my decision! But there was two shit emails.

I realize how much it sucks when you don't have backup from the person you answer to, because then you're all alone and the person who wronged you feels justified because they got away with it. I would really just be calm and polite, because sometimes you can disarm someone that way, when you are kind and firm and they're acting like a blustering idiot. In other cases, they just never learn. In my job I've learned that some people just never get it and there's nothing you can do except preserve your own dignity in the situation. The semester will end eventually and you won't have to deal with them again, so as long as you do your job correctly, the lecturer can't complain. I know it irks and you want this student to know you're right, but sometimes it sucks and you can't make them recognize it. Best of luck to you in any case.

With all due respect, Stokely, I think you are misunderstanding me. I did not say that explaining your reasons for grading something is unprofessional. All I said was, handle it professionally, which obviously includes explaining your reasons for grading. If you find that that the disrespectful emails cannot go unnoticed, then by all means you ought to explain that you do not appreciate their disrespectful nature and that in the event it occurs again you will have recourse to the appropriate means of dealing with them, whatever that may be. I'm not saying students have a right to be rude. I'm just saying, it's going to happen and you can't become paranoid about it or lose your cool. I'm not a grad student yet but I work closely with a professor and I am often put in the position of tutoring difficult students and correcting the papers of my peers, which has put me into some sticky situations. I've also seen students be extremely rude to him, a full professor. He doesn't agonize over it because he knows his place in the food chain and he knows that theirs is much lower, so he handles the situations with grace. Just relax. Don't worry about how stupid most people are. It isn't unique to undergraduates or to any population. You just have to roll your eyes when you think of this student and have a good laugh over him.

Are you paranoid? There's always going to be that student you hate and who aggravates you. Even the most beloved professors get that student from time to time who thinks they're the worst. You are not going to be loved 100% of the time, whether that's fair or unfair. Handle the situation professionally, in the manner that a professor would. and btw, don't lump all undergraduates together (as in "Let's complain about undergraduates"), it shows you have a little arrogance towards those ranked below you.

New School almost killed me with two BS emails in one day.

In addition to poli sci, I majored in philosophy. if I had to do it again, i wouldn't have declared the major in philosophy so that I could have taken more philosophy courses without the extra religion requirements for philosophy majors that my school requires.

I have major panic attacks too. Dianina5's advice is very good. I would also add, try to figure out your triggers. A huge source of panic for me was that I didn't know what caused them. After going to therapy for a few months, I learned what set them off. Now I can say to myself when I'm in class, Ok, the fluorescent lights are giving me a headache and hurting my eyes, and then I don't panic. Before I went to therapy, it was, Oh my god, my eyes feel funny, the room looks weird, I'm dizzy, and then a full-fledged panic attack ensues. Being able to identify the situation you're in will help you a lot. I tried meds but just couldn't do it; I didn't want to just cover up the problem, I wanted to be able to find a real solution. Things are not perfect right now but I've been able to begin going to the mall and grocery store again with little problem. Trust me, the whole teaching thing scares the hell out of me too. I myself have worried about panicking during it. All I can say is, maybe try to practice by speaking more in class and getting used to having a lot of people looking at you. One tip my therapist gave me is to imagine yourself as a train or car. When you feel yourself panicking, imagine yourself going off track, and then firmly tell yourself No, and imagine yourself steering your way back onto the straight track. It sounds dumb but it helps me a lot in those awkward situations. I think you'll be ok in grad school. I'm continually amazed at human resilience. I freak out in front of classrooms too, and the other day my philosophy professor, in the middle of lecture, randomly put his dry-erase marker in front of me and told me to get up in front of the room and explain Kantian ethics to everyone. And I did it, no panic. So all things are possible! Just take care of yourself, exercise regularly, get fresh air, relax when you can, and have confidence in your knowledge and abilities. Continue with therapy and try to expose yourself little by little to tough situations so you can accustom yourself to them. Good luck and I hope you conquer this!

This is going to sound a little unorthodox, but I hate looking up professors to work with. How the hell do I know if I want to work with you? It may be that you do great research but it turns out we hate each other; or your research holds no interest for me, but I may change my mind when I get to grad school. Plus, being in political theory/philosophy, I guess I'm more interested in reading the great philosophers... I mean, unless Immanuel Kant or Friedrich Nietzsche is in your faculty, I'd rather read their thoughts.... I hope that's not a horrible thing to say.... I just don't want to be someone's disciple, I want to think for myself...

Hurray for rationality

I dreamed Yale accepted me and then two days later I got the reject letter; the other night I dreamed of a Fordham acceptance, so they should be giving me the bad news soon.

You're quite right about that, although I've noticed at my own school that there are far more American Government intro courses offered than the other subfield courses, probably because more non-political science majors take the Am gov than the other subfields.

they always need somebody to teach those 101's!

You know your record is fine, so why are you looking for affirmation at one of the most stressful times on this board?

I hate the Friday late afternoon rejection, like Yale did to me. It's such an afterthought and it makes you feel like they don't want you contacting them at all.

It really makes you wonder what your true chances are, that even if you have great stats and writing samples and LOR's, you still may be out of the running just because you didn't have the chance to play the game and make contacts with the right people.

God forbid for a $100 app fee they could answer your phone calls and emails, right? It's disgusting.

Edit: forget it. that was useless anyway. No point in fighting back.

I wouldn't know, because no one ever replies to me. I honestly think they see my email address from my school and automatically delete it.

From my school, you can only move up. Excuse me, you can only move up if grad schools allow you to move up, which is a massive if. Sorry, I'm really bitter this morning.

I was such a jerk, I yelled at my significant other. It was so stupid, because I didn't care about being rejected by Yale, but he didn't have the appropriate reaction to my being rejected so I was more mad at him than the rejection. Sucks for everyone! I'll behave better next rejection, I hope. I'll probably cry, like I always cry about everything. Anyway, what's wrong with crying? At least you get it out of your system.

Let's hope for good things to happen for everyone on the board

wow i just realized how fucking crappy mine is

I don't even know now. before schools started sending out notices, I thought I came to terms with not going to grad school. I made plans in my mind to take art classes and get a job so I can finally have a car and to read books so I can actually learn something for once. When I got rejected from Yale, which was my first rejection, I didn't even mind because, I mean, it's Yale and so few get in that it isn't really personal. But now that I am hearing absolutely nothing, I'm really, really getting scared. I assumed for my entire college career that I would go to grad school and it's looking less and less likely each day. So I don't know what I'll do or if I'll have the heart to do anything but sit at home and eat all day.