GCool

Well, more than likely some of them feel it's in their best interest to get the degree out of the way now while they're still young. Many people have worked hard through undergrad with graduate school in mind. I agree with you, don't get me wrong; it doesn't make sense for a lot of people who won't receive full funding to continue with school and cross their fingers when they enter the real world. However, that isn't the mentality of certain students who think they have more to contribute in an academic setting before making their cases for industry. And oh man, are some of them in for a rude awakening.

1. Make sense? Sure. Seem uncouth or immature? Probably moreso that it seems impressive or motivating-to-take-you-on. 2. I'd need context before weighing in on that.

Hello, So I don't have much [read: any] academic research experience. I'm hoping to make that up through industry experience and make that, in combination with the rest of my profile, enough for ONE professor SOMEWHERE to take a chance on me. Whether or not you think I'm going to make it, I don't care; at least not in this post. Realistically, as far as prerequisites and things go, I'm not going to grad school for another year or two. My question to all of you is: What can I do in the meantime to prepare? I've been trying to find journal articles, but I don't have much access. That'd really help me narrow down potential research topics and therefore institutions. Should I be brushing up on things? Taking the chemistry GRE even though I'm going for food science? Any/all suggestions welcome.

Definitely. I'm sure the rationale should apply; I know too many STEM students who seem to be in it only for the payout after graduation. The joke's on most of them when they actually get to their jobs, but then they go back, get an MBA, and do relatively menial management work for a fat check.

How difficult is it to send/receive one transcript? This is why we should pay people in Bursar/Registrar offices at least 100k and entice smarter people to go into the wonderful world of clerical work.

Hmm, you have some fair points. While differentiating between top 5% and top 10% is splitting hairs in some institutions, the more esteemed programs are going to look at that a little longer before they get to a decision. I'd still say there's no harm in applying to what you've listed, though. You never know what an awesome interview can do. Maybe look for some "safety" programs?

I don't see why you wouldn't have "a chance" given all of your credentials. How's your SOP? What about your letters of recommendation?

What's your area of interest?

Hey Georgie, I'm not sure if there's any other way to figure it out than calling schools and explicitly asking. If they don't know on the spot, they're bound to check with people who do--and that doesn't seem like a fact that a lot of American answerers-of-phones-in-admissions-offices would have on hand. I know that isn't helping you necessarily; I'm just offering the response that's better than no response. Heh.

THIS. They'll read your SOP, then they'll read a LOR that has an eerily similar writing tone. Whether or not they call BS is a chance I wouldn't be willing to take. There's gotta be someone else who can help you!

I have no idea what the fuck that means. Given this plus the one I responded to yesterday, is this some weird form of spam? College SEO ftw

Awesome stats. You have a good chance. It'd help to get responses if you were actually active besides in threads that would greatly benefit only you. Just sayin'. I learned that when I first posted here a few weeks back.

You should post your actual scores. That's the only way people can/will help you.

Ah, a good clarification. Thanks! Might I direct you to the computer science forum? People who might be able to answer you probably won't look here for a CS-specific question.

This post might have seemed obligatory to you, pastaman, but I find it ironic that a sharp data miner would post all his stats and expect a straight answer to that question. I implore you to look around a little bit and see what other graduate profiles can tell you.

I feel like you know that what you're doing is more than a little messed up. You want to do social work and therapy and all that, yet you don't feel like you can confide in your own therapist because you might get embarrassed? That's asinine, and it sounds like self-sabotage. Telling your therapist stuff you can't tell anyone else is what makes those sessions so unique and ground-breaking for anxious/depressed people. Holding stuff back during a session is almost doubly unhealthy, since you're probably rationalizing all the stuff you're withholding ("she won't think I'm weird this way", "now I won't offend her") but still feeling better after a session. Let it all out [there, not here, heh]. There's clearly some repressed stuff, here.

At the risk of sounding like a dick, do you really want me picking what college you go to? If that's the case, I'd go with ASU. Great weather, hot ladies, wouldn't be much competition (since ambitiousfolk is right). Then again, since Hyderabad is a ritzy place, you might be more at home at UF (I assume you mean University of Florida). Still good weather/ladies (besides monsoon season, ugh). Moral of this post is that I have no idea, and no one will really have an idea except for you--you should really think about which one to go to yourself!

Just curious, but why wouldn't you be 100% honest with your therapist in the first place? That's essentially the whole point of therapy; an objective party who understands mental health is acquiring a detailed history of your emotional life, and presenting a verdict while working with you to better yourself! The idea that you feel like you have to hide stuff from him/her tacked on to the dating stuff screams depression to me. I've dealt with depression/anxiety (more anxiety later in life) for the majority of my life, and I want to repeat Vene's point that it's not a constant feeling. Some days you feel great; "normal", even. But some mornings you wake up and want to just sit there all day. Some afternoons you wonder why you're still around. It can go south really quickly, especially if you're anxious, because those negative thoughts repeat in your head and you can't get them out. It's a dangerous slope if you don't get seek treatment or attempt to understand your issues. If I were a doctor, I'd recommend a low dose of an SSRI to see if certain things would work themselves out. I think going to therapy more regularly would do the same thing for you, though, at least to a certain degree.

In short, not at all. If acquiring a graduate degree isn't life-or-death for you and getting a boyfriend is, you really have to flip the switch and think introspectively. There are so many other people out there trying to get to where you are education-wise (myself included, albeit not in the same field), yet you're sitting there worried about having children and tying down a guy? For the lack of better words, that's incredibly fucking warped. You might think you have everything else together in your life because you have literally nothing else going on besides school. Part of you may be bored with the academic routine, and that's a good sign. You're handling work and limiting stress. The obsession with being with someone, though, isn't going to make you any more appealing to the opposite sex. Like I said before, stuff like this just happens. Yes, it requires effort from both parties initially to make those sparks fly; but you don't go somewhere fishing for mutual intent to date. You just have to put yourself out there and be yourself! It's both the hardest and easiest thing to do. Subsequent dates should get easier if a person's right for you. Yadda yadda yadda, dating's pretty easy. So let me ask you this (although I probably know the 2-3 ways this answer back could go): How sure are you that you'll stay happy for more than a few weeks with a boyfriend? After a few dates, who's to say you won't be back on here, saying "well I'm about 16 weeks into my Masters program ... my boyfriend won't leave me alone" or "my boyfriend isn't spending enough time with me" or "we can never go out because I'm busy doing work and my boyfriend wants to hang out with his friends"? Desperately seeking something in spite of everything else going well around you is a sign of depression deep down. If you can't be content with all you've worked for and what you're working towards, it seems like you haven't done much of anything to truly rectify your situation. What I mean is, if a relationship is all you want, why are you letting grad school get in the way? Think about it, understand the frivolity of this, and move on. If you're not engaging me because I'm on point, fine; but if people are posting advice, you should either take it or explain why you won't at least try.

HIMYM (absolutely NEVER liked it). Twitter. Windows 8. It seems that yelling at someone when they haven't seen a movie is a popular thing to do. I f'ing hate that.

First hit on google was about professional development, which goes hand-in-hand with performance management. Cool infographics, too: http://www.greatplacetowork.com/publications-and-events/blogs-and-news/1627

Are you seriously offering up the excuse that you might not get your application to Johns Hopkins in on time because your computer crashed last night? It says on their blog--in a post written September 3rd--that you should start apps [now] to get 'em ready. Since the deadline is "November 15th", I'd say any time they get it today is within the deadline.

Me! Haha. But seriously, the Purdue OWL has a lot of online resources. I'm not sure if you can send a full paper to them (especially asking for grammar help, because that's something we're advised to not entertain during a session), but they have short write-ups on grammar/usage and a very well organized website. https://owl.english.purdue.edu/