sputnik

...who blew off writing your thesis and now have to scramble to get it done before you start your PhD program in a few weeks? Or is it just me?

Northwestern MTS program, Cornell MST program, University of Illinois - Chicago Communication program. I suggest you check out AOIR http://aoir.org/

Good luck to everyone!

So you do have cancer? Or you think you might have cancer? Here's the deal with this nasty little buggar: What kind you have and how far it's progressed are going to really set the stage for the kind of treatment that is planned and how much that will affect someone's studies. The thing with cancer is, "fighting" it is really mostly just waiting. Waiting to have a test, waiting for results, waiting for treatment, waiting for more tests, etc. The point is, with all that waiting going on, the hardest part is to not let your imagination get the best of you. Because it can eat you alive. So, try to wait until you know what, exactly, you're dealing with before you let it own you. I know exactly what you're going through, and that's the best advice I can give.

Dang Eigen! That's intense! Are you at a US school?

I loves my iPad. Notetaker HD is the way to go for taking notes, editing pds's etc. It'll change the way you think about school.

I love the fact that I TA for a prof who gives absolutely no oversight to what I do in my 50 minute discussions. I do the readings and go to the lectures, and from there I try to pick something interesting from the material and have the students talk about it. If there's nothing interesting in the material, then I try to come up with something that is related to it, but that is a bit controversial, so the students will have something to debate. Also, I know the prof I work for uses a lot of terms on tests, so I try to guess which terms the students should know and go over them in discussion. I know some TAs who have profs that are always micro-managing everything they do...sitting in on their discussions...etc. I would hate to be in that situation. I like the freedom to do what I want in my discussions. And if the material is crap, then I try to do what I can to make it interesting in at least some way. I don't always succeed. One thing that's fun is, especially when I am not happy with the readings chosen for that week, I ask the students how they liked the readings. And if they agreed or not and why. The few students that did read are usually the ones who are willing to talk. So, this has led to some interesting discussions.

So, I thought I got this, but can someone tell me what (if any) differences there are between Prelims, Comps and Quals?

Hi Y'all, I know I have been MIA for awhile but I just wanted to check in before I sign off for good and say thanks to everyone for the support and best of luck to those still waiting. After taking a few trips and lots and lots of debating, I made my final choice and I've released the funding that was offered to me from other schools (hopefully that will help someone here!). I hope everyone gets just what they are hoping for! Thanks again for everything. I may pop my head in from time to time, but I just wanted to reach out and sincerely show my appreciation for everyone here who I feel like I went through this process with. You guys rock. I probably would have completely lost my mind without this place. Best of luck to everyone, Sputnik

I agree with Googer, 100%. I used to compete in a judged event and we had a saying about certain elements of your performance: They won't help you win, but they can sure make you lose. That is, most applications are going to be in a certain range with GPA and GRE. Those won't help you win, but they can sure as heck knock you out of the running. (An above average score like a 1300-1400 isn't going to guarantee anything, but a combined 700 is probably going to get your application thrown out). So, all things being (basically) equal, what I am learning most through this process is that the LOR and the SOP have far more weight than any of the numbers. Of course we're all going to have solid GPA's and GRE's. That should go without saying. So the real competition is in making your research interests align with the profs that are there now, the kind of research the institution is doing, and (the hard part) the kind of research they want to be doing. The feel I'm getting after some of these recruiting weekends is: We read your file. The research you're doing is the kind of research we are doing. Here are some profs who you could work with and here's where their research is going, etc. etc. No one has mentioned my stellar GRE or gradepoint on any of these meetings. It's all been about research. So, it seems to me it doesn't matter how many applicants there are. It matters how many spots are open and that your fit with the school's line of research is one of the best 5 or 2, respectively. The visits I've been on have told me that these people are genuinely interested in finding students who will fit with the program institutionally, personally AND academically. It's a big commitment when programs bring in PhD students. They realize that more than I realized that. I wish I could have gone on some recruiting weekends before I had to submit my apps! I would have focused even more exclusively on fit. I feel now like the competition is less between you and the other applicants than it is about you and the institution. What I mean is, your application is competing to show just how great you would fit into the program and it's about showing that you're asking good questions with your research. Anyone can be trained in methods, it's the questions you have asked and plan to ask that are what set you apart and show if you will be a good fit. That has nothing to do with the other candidates. Which is really, just a semantics argument, but one I now have a lot of faith in. Anyway, that's what I've learned in the last month.

Yes.

'Twasn't me. Mine went up Feb 1.