BunnyN

Quebec? I can't speak of social work or humanities in general, but in my field, very few people are willing to do PhD without funding. Typically, graduate assistantship gives you free tuition and monthly stipend. Some schools are more generous than others, but in general the amount isn't enough to maintain desired lifestyle. I have never been to Canada. But honestly I doubt if an average state in the U.S is superior to Quebec. There are some really prestigious schools in the U.S, maybe that's the reason you want to leave Canada? English isn't my native language. Doing PhD is hard for many reasons, but writing in English isn't one of them

I think the education system emphasizes too much on competition than collaboration. The "honor" means you have done somewhat better than your peers, not how much you have really achieved. To me it's more a fun game in teaching, nothing more nothing less. It's much more healthy to concentrate on what you are interested in. Study xyz major if you like it, not to prove your superiority. I have been an average student all my life, no cool story to share. But if I could change only one thing in my high school/college years, I would love to meet more girls. When I was working for a multinational corporation, nobody even mentioned their past in high school. It's just too irrelevant for people of my age. Academia is a special case in professional world in that a person's academic records are highly correlated with his/her achievements.

A few years ago, I went to a painting class with my date. There were a ton of girls there! Too bad I wasn't alone.

As a TA, I know I am not supposed to date students in my class. I don't think it's appropriate for faculty members to date students in their department. Luckily, I'm not attracted to any faculty member in my school. It's clear to me that going off campus is the best route, I just haven't figured out how. I'll join my local cycling club to find like minded adults, hopefully it's going to work.

So it's a superset! Thanks for letting me know. I'm not always aware of the latest trends in linguistics.

Hi, I'm an old male who is interested in young women. Am I a pervert?

I just turned 30 this year. I often find myself the oldest student in the classroom. Admittedly it's a little bit embarrassing, sometimes I feel that it's not ethical to date 20 something girls. Is it ethical to date faculty members? conflict of interests?

Sorry I'm not quite interested in politics and controversies anymore.

Are you interested in other developed countries? Immigration laws are very favorable in Europe and Japan.

The term male is often used as a noun as well to refer to men and boys. I don't feel uncomfortable with the usage at all. Most students in my school are undergraduate kids, I am not sure whether I should call them girls/boys or women/men. Actually, even the far left NYT uses the term "male" all the time.https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/07/fashion/mens-style/hillary-clinton-white-male-supporters.html?mcubz=0 Anyway, if you find it offensive. I won't use the term female to refer to you.

I didn't know that. But seriously?

I'm also thinking of taking my social life off campus. Being in a small school where everybody is significantly younger than me makes it difficult to find people near my age. It has been one month since I started my PhD. Actually, making friends with younger students isn't as hard as I expected. I still remember my undergraduate years, and people haven't really changed. The undergraduates today face the same problems I did ten years ago. Many of them don't seem to notice that I'm very old, or they just don't care. Just like other old men, I'm attracted to younger females but I don't think they find me attractive, lol.

My father has a master's and my mother has a doctorate degree. Actually, my mother is also a professor. There's no disadvantage, but no huge advantage either. I think they have more realistic expectation of higher education, they know getting a PhD doesn't mean that much these days. They would be perfectly fine if I didn't go to graduate school at all. Doing PhD is just something I want to do. There's no pressure or higher expectation. Interestingly, nobody in our extended family I know has a doctorate degree.

Good enough

Hi, all I was admitted to a computer science PhD program at a small school like two months ago with no funding immediately available. I emailed them forth and back in early may and they said no funding available but they would let me know in the case of future opening. It didn't look promising and I just gave it up. Unexpectedly, they said there's a TA position opening that would cover tuition and stipends. The professor of interest invited me to a Skype interview this weekend. I did a couple of interviews before but it's all about academics and research. Should I expect something else since this interview is specifically for a TA position? Most applicants who received at least one offer have probably already accepted their positions I believe, given that it's already late May. I have no idea about other candidates being interviewed. But to be optimistic, I reckon the competition is possibly less fierce. Thanks!