MarineBluePsy

Geez how much worse could it get?!

Oh so it isn't a core course that you have to have a certain grade in? If that's the case then maybe there isn't a need to worry much.

Yikes. So what will happen? Will your schedule allow you to retake it or do you have to take an incomplete and do make up work? Half-assery! We should put that on t-shirts!

Anyone else forget to change their clock and get up an hour earlier than they needed to? Hehehe. It turned out ok because I used the extra time to study and felt more prepared for class. @RCtheSS Glad things are going well for you! @Need Coffee in an IV Do you at least get to grade each other? I have happily failed group members who didn't do a damn thing.

I need a 98%, double HA!

@Pink Fuzzy Bunny And the latest....I literally have to ace the final to pass this class and that doesn't even seem to be in the realm of possibility. *sigh* How are things on your end?

Congrats on the Distinction! Its also nice to know Pink and I aren't alone on our island of struggles. Man if dropping the class were an option then I probably would have done that, but it isn't. There isn't even a feasible way to repeat it if it comes down to that. I can't say grad school isn't fulfilling because getting my MA was very good for me. I think in terms of a PhD I'm slowly coming to terms with the fact that I made the wrong program choice and given how many application cycles it took to get in it doesn't make sense to call it quits and reapply.

Well if an extra month is all you need maybe they'll be open to seeing that month happening during a summer you don't have classes to take or winter intersession or at the beginning of Fall if that becomes the best option. It also might spark them to consider restructuring the dual program because surely you're not the only student who has run into this challenge. What have past students done? Just burnt out stacking up too many courses in Fall and Spring?

I'm not at all offended! In fact I was as relieved as you seeing your post! I get that being in graduate school means we're above average in terms of ambition and intelligence compared to many people (not saying all, there are exceptions), but it does not mean we're all geniuses that instantly perform amazingly or immediately excel at everything. If we didn't have things to learn then we wouldn't need to be in our programs.

An extra semester doesn't seem like an unreasonable request. Are there courses offered during summer or could you do something as an independent study to stay on schedule? I would not have finished my MA on time if it weren't for summer classes. Me too! I put in just as much work as you did, talked with the professor/TA, found additional tutorials on my own time and did them, did the homework, read the chapters, did all of the optional supplemental practice questions, felt ok going into the exam and still earned a lovely 30%. And yep everyone else thought it was such a breeze. *sigh* Then I had another chat with the professor that boiled down to "you must be disabled or stupid, which is it?" and being told I'm on my own, gee that was super helpful and not at all insulting. So I'm still hanging in there and am waiting for the results of the most recent exam that I am hoping I did better on because not passing this class will jeopardize my funding.

Great suggestions in this thread. What has been working so far for me is to first organize my reading in order of workload. Reading attached to homework assignments/papers/presentations/my research is most important, reading for discussion only is next, and supplemental reading that has no assignment or discussion requirement is last. Second I print all of the articles (double sided, eco saver ink mode, skip the reference pages) and carry a few with me when I have to go to campus. Scheduled and unscheduled gaps in time are used to read and take notes in the margins. That way when I get to the assignment/presentation/research my notes are already a summary of key points, I just need to type them up and fill in whatever other information is needed. Third, in addition to the on the go reading time I schedule time to read any leftover articles or do any textbook reading. So far this is once or twice a week where I read as much as I can for two hours and that's it. I love to read, but I find it more productive for me to do it in shorter blocks. Fourth, readings for discussion only I read the abstract and results and take a note or two. If it seems like something I might be able to use for a class assignment or my research I'll read the methods. Lastly, I don't do any of the supplemental reading unless it is something I can use for a class assignment or my research. To store research articles I use Google Drive and RefWorks.

@spectastic Something tells me that will be a distant memory for him soon. There are far worse things he could have caught you doing with your drawers down lol. @Pink Fuzzy Bunny They still make that stuff?

Music makes everything better! The 3 are going to have to wait, but I am going to take all the empty ones to the recycle place today so I can stop looking at them. Then in the winter I get to do this all over again as I selfishly buy myself a zillion Xmas gifts

I'm down to 3 boxes! Ugh just can't stand the cardboard anymore! I still don't have a place to put everything, but the new pad is coming along slowly.

So I needed a board I could both write on with markers and stick notecards on, hence the magnetic aspect. Post It makes dry erase boards that you can peel and stick to the wall and I decided to just not use that adhesive back and hang it with Command strips. Now since I was using a two sided mobile dry erase board I just rearranged my office so that I can hang 2 side by side and will lose the mobile aspect. I can hang notecards or other things on it with poster putty. Now while the reviews on these boards are pretty good, if for some reason they're completely worn in a couple of years, they're cheap enough to just replace.

@Pink Fuzzy Bunny Hey how did your exams end up going? I managed to only fail one out of three which is much better than I expected to do. I am already working on those gaps in knowledge and with that extra effort I can still finish with a passing grade. And I solved my dry erase board dilemma! Man I'm on a roll, go multivitamins!

Yeah where are our time management awards?! All my favorite tv shows just returned and I'm trying to cram them all in and keep up with my work.

And now I have living room furniture! How nice to have a place to sit and relax or read.

I've lost 10lbs so far for 2 reasons....1) I'm walking and taking public transit more than I'm driving and 2) I dine out less because the food here is awful. I needed to lose weight anyway so I'll just keep doing what I'm doing.

That's weird. Maybe he needs more time to review it or overlooked it? Is this a professor that you have to work very closely with or someone that you can reasonably work around for most of your program? While I'm not surprised a part of me thinks its sad that we've barely started and we're already encountering people that are a pain in the ass.

Goodness, what would I do without this board? I've spent the last 2 weeks in a daze not quite sure why I seemed so lost compared to my classmates and this might be it. On the one hand I know I'm not stupid, I worked really hard to get this far, and I did what I could to supplement gaps in knowledge before starting and yet I still seem to be several pages behind. For example....It takes me longer to analyze theories and formulate opinions on them. That means I participate less in class because by the time everyone has shared these amazing insights I've only just figured out what the theory was even saying. Then I finally have a few insightful thoughts and my classmates have beaten me to the punch on every one. It'll take me just as long to come up with a rebuttal so I just keep quiet and listen. And another example.....Every math class I had before hammered to death that why something is done doesn't matter and what something means isn't important, just follow the steps and shut up (a part of me wonders how much gender plays a role here). So that youthful curiosity I used to possess was brutally murdered a long time ago and I don't think its coming back. It didn't help that I entered the working world in my not as math dependent field and saw how frequently math isn't done because there are computers programmed to do things for you or the math is contracted out to whatever mathematical expert is necessary. So now I'm sitting in class being told just knowing the steps is not enough to pass and all the lectures on the meanings and the whys are these ridiculously lengthy blubberings. Get better? I don't know, right now I'll settle for not failing my first round of exams. And sure I have different strengths compared to my classmates, but what good are they if there's nowhere to demonstrate them?

Hopefully you'll get a day off soon just to veg. How do you like the new place? Given the high potential for stress for all of us on this academic journey a relaxing home environment is very important.

@Pink Fuzzy Bunny Some Target locations might also have optical departments.

Were you getting them at a specialty brick and mortar before and nothing in your new city can help you? Or were you just wanting to pay less? If its the latter then don't rule out brick and mortars yet. Big chains like Sears and JCP frequent have coupons that can be stacked on top of very generous sales. If my math is right they should pay for themselves in a year, which makes them worth it. I bought one of those HE washer's and got really excited about the tap water setting thinking I could save a few bucks on my electric bill. Then I learned that laundry detergent doesn't activate at temperatures that cold......so what's the point of that setting? And while its quieter than a traditional washer, it just sounds weird lol.

You guys! My washer and dryer just arrived! What wonderful machines and they're all mine! Of course the delivery guys left a sweaty smell in the air, but I can get rid of that. No more laundromat!