nushi
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Everything posted by nushi
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Thank you Green_eyed_trombonist. I hope everything goes well with you. For me, it's going to be the difficulty of adapting to an absolutely different culture half-way across planet Earth. Hope it may be a great adventure for us all, *hugs* That's very interesting Rising_star. Where can I find those email lists? Or do you mean email lists of universities?
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I forgot to mention also, thank you very much Takeruk for your explanation on the difference in importance of each element of the application, & its evaluation as a totality. This makes sense a lot, & it's a very valuable explanation. Thank you so much.
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Thank you so much Takeruk & Rising_star for your supporting posts. Even though I finished 5 applications to universities in the US, I'm still searching now for other open scholarships & PhD vacancies in Europe to open up more chances (although many require a PhD plan which I didn't get the chance to prepare yet, because I was studying GRE!). Reading how you traveled to take tests, & took part-time jobs & all that, makes my efforts seem small. The process of applications seem very tiring & financially burdensome indeed also for local citizens. I guess the only difference between us is the norm or culture around us. For you, this is the ordinary procedures to be taken for applying to post-graduate studies. All students around you wanting to complete their studies do the same. But for me here, I'm an anomaly. Everyone around me just apply to the same university they graduated from (which requires no more than registration & signing some papers - Egyptian universities require no tests, no LORs, no essays, & tuition fees are very low). I'm the only one around who just decided to continue studying abroad, despite the huge risks, & having no previous experience in doing this. So, despite my family's objection, & no support from co-workers, I'm taking the path less traveled by people around me here, & I'm taking it all alone! But I'm thankful for the internet, & this forum, they helped me a lot in the process of studying for the tests & doing the applications. If I get accepted into one, it still remains to be seen how I'm going to be able to live all alone in a foreign country doing PhD. But it's an adventure worth experiencing & learning.
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Thank you everyone & Takeruk for your support. I'm sorry if I got a bit angry & stressed in my previous post. I'm suffering now from depression after applications. I was only able to afford applying to 5 universities (GRE test + TOEFL iBT test + sending both exams scores + 5 application fees with some being raised higher for international applicants for evaluating their certificates). I had to take money from my mother, & my mother is very angry at me & stressing me out. I also find in all your signatures that most of you have applied to 10-15 universities, & I applied to 5, 'cause I couldn't afford more, so I feel so lame & disheartened, & I feel like I have risked one year of my life (studying TOEFL & GRE) & 20,000 Egyptian Pounds (which is an unbelievable financial amount) in nothing! Admission committees in North America, for the sake of fairness between all applicants, should not give much weight for LOR's submitted by international applicants. This is very obvious, because there's a huge difference between professors submitting LORs in North America & those in other countries (or at least here in Egypt). It's obvious that submitting LORs is part of a professor's job in North America, but it's not here. So a professor here doesn't give importance, & more so, consider it an unnecessary burden, to prepare a LOR for a student, however good that student is. They don't even know how to write in a LOR in our Arabic language, let alone in English. One professor, who really likes me, asked me to sit beside him at his laptop and do the recommendation submissions for him (for my own applications) because he's not used to them & he doesn't know how to do them. Another professor, whose also not used to them, let her secretary finish them with me, but it she was fed up with me because we had to log on to 5 applications. I had to go to that professor everyday for a whole week, & take days off from work, that at the end of the week I broke out & cried from stress! I realize that the money must be also burdensome for many Americans and Canadians as well. I also realize that all universities are funded by governments and businesses, so they only serve the interests of those elites. I realize that a lot of things in the world are unfair, & that's what made me grow interested in political science from my undergraduate studies. I hope that I can do something to make life better for disadvantaged people all over the world - which I believe is the majority of the world population -, & I know this sounds dreamy & idealistic, but I think this is what drives us really to learn & study more, hoping that one day, with our knowledge, we may improve peoples' lives.
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Why would you think Takeruk that we're not doing our best to accommodate ourselves to the academic culture we're applying to? And we spend more effort for this than you do as well! We study your language, take your language exams that are required, pay money that is much beyond our financial ability (an American or Canadian student doesn't have much of a problem paying for GRE exam in US dollars, but for us with the exchange rate differences it's financially breaking!). We write all the essays required of us, but I can't force "another person" to adopt a different culture for my own benefit. I can't go to my professor & ask her to feel convenient with LOR's because I'm the one who needs to study abroad, however good my relationship with her is, this is too much to ask from my professors, to change her own culture & what is convenient for her, for my benefit! It's hard for you living in America or Canada to understand this, because this is much easier for you. But at least you should consider how it is different & more difficult for others in other countries, not everyone is like you, & not everyone is in your same convenient situation & culture. I understand why universities prefer to admit local students. But to talk about justice, this is not fair for people in underdeveloped & developing countries. Many of the developing countries have colonized our countries for centuries, stole our resources, & continue crushing us economically through their policies, wars, & international economic regulations. Our economic, technological, and scientific hardships are in large part caused by developed countries' governments - so, if we want to speak really fair, a large number of scholarships should be provided for students from developing countries, & the difficulty of attaining such things as LORs in the midst of professors who are not used to providing them should be considered. In order to really talk about fairness, one should look at the issue from its bigger picture, from all the different sides, not only from one's narrow space or comfort zone.
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I never said that US universities should stop using LOR's or not giving them a high value. I was just wondering if there's a system online that could combine LOR's for several universities in one time! I don't know from where did you get that I'm asking for this! All in all, to be fair, admissions committee should not give much value to LOR's of international applicants, or at least consider how the situation is different for us, & that if it's evident that the student was the one who wrote the letters, they shouldn't underestimate the student, because requiring LOR's in other countries is different from the way it is known in the US.
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It sounds from your replies that LOR's are like a culture in the US. But the situation is not the same outside, & I'm talking specifically about mine in Egypt. There are a lot of problems here concerning LOR's. First, this requirement is not made for universities inside Egypt, only those who have to apply to universities abroad ask professors for such LOR's, so professors are not used to it, & they don't usually know how to write them, let alone to write them in English. All the professors I asked for LOR's asked me to write them myself, not because they don't know me well, on the contrary, I have a very good relationship with two of them, & they constantly tell me that my thesis was one of the best thesis they ever supervised. But they're just not knowledgeable about LOR's. Additionally, I realize the importance of LOR's for showing how active the student is in many projects & all. But that is not readily available to students in many universities around the world. For ex., all of my three recommenders had taught me in my undergraduate years, but they can't remember that, because that has been 10 years ago, & classes consisted of over 50 students. I was very keen on sitting up-front & making myself recognized by the professor through questions & discussions, but this is not enough for them to remember. And there were no other personal activities to make a direct relationship between the professor & student. If I were appointed in the university, perhaps it would have been easier for me to be recognized by taking part in research projects & activities. But I work outside the university, so I haven't got the chance to take part in these. The academic culture is not the same everywhere in the world, sadly, that's why LOR's are more difficult for people from countries where they're not well-known.
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Thank you so much guys for your detailed responses. Maybe professors here in Egypt are not as used to LORs as professors outside. Despite of me writing all my LORs upon their request, they feel frustrated at having to log on to application systems & filling out some questions! Universities here in Egypt don't require LORs, maybe that's why they're not much comfortable with them!
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Hey everyone... I'm applying to so many universities abroad, so my recommenders are getting frustrated with me, because I keep asking them for a lot of recommendation letters, & they have to log into many recommendation systems! One of my most important recommenders (my former supervisor) was so fed up with me she made me take many days off from work & go to her for a whole week, & then she made her secretary finish the recommendations with me (& her secretary got fed up with me too!). I'm still having other universities to apply to. Is there a way to make the recommendations only once & submit them to all universities? Like a website or something that allows you to make recommendations only once or something...
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Hi guys... If they tell me there's a 3,000 characters with spaces limit to my SOP, & I upload one with 3,764 characters with spaces, would they discard it or something? I mean, is the word-limit apps put on such essays "very" rigorous?
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Thank you so much Takeruk for your very valuable response
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Hi guys... In American universities, does sending an application makes me considered for fellowships automatically, or does one have to submit additional material or requests to be considered for fellowships?
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Thank you fuzzylogician for your answer. I will certainly check with the programs...
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Hi guys Do you know how long it takes to complete a PhD program in the US? And in Canada? Do both have the same duration, or is one longer than the other? P.S.: I already hold a Master's in Political Science, but am still hesitant between applying to Sociology or Political Science PhD.
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Yes, I will try to resend my emails again. Thank you so so so much Takeruk for your very valuable advice
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Thank you Takeruk again so much If professors don't answer me about the possibility of co-supervision from another department, like you said, I'd just move on & apply anyway. But the problem is with the non-responsiveness of the department staff or director themselves, when I ask them about the possibility of co-supervision from another department. And although I can pass that, it's hard for me to pass needing to know from them if they currently offer any assistantship vacancies!!! This info is usually not available in the website of the department, & even more so, the website usually says "contact the department to know of any available assistantship positions". Knowing such info is very crucial for me, because I wouldn't want to waste time applying to a university/department where I wouldn't be able to fully cover my expenses through assistantship!!!
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Thank you so much Takeruk for your detailed & comprehensive answer. I'm so much grateful for you I would like to ask you also, if possible, about contacting US universities. While contacting departments & offices in US universities (through email of course) they rarely ever answer me!!! I mean I understand when a very few professors answer me, because they're usually busy, but I don't understand why communication administrators in universities don't answer!!! I rarely get the chance to be responded to from universities when I inquire about this issue (or any other issue, for that matter)! How could you deal with this lack of communication to know what you need to know?!
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Hi everyone... While searching for universities to apply to, I generally search professors publications through google scholar & then check which universities they are in to apply to. As I'm not familiar with supervising conditions for PhD programs in America, I'd like to ask a few questions about advisers: 1) If I apply to a certain departmental PhD programs, if I'm not able to have my supervisor from another department, is it at least easy to get a co-supervisor from another department? 2) Are "emeritus" professors eligible to supervise?
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Thank you Kita & GreenEyedTrombonist :-) Your advice are very valuable. Yes, I have to ask the program if it is possible to seek an advisor with similar research interests from another faculty. Besides, contacting the advisor himself, of course, & hoping he might provide me with more detailed information about whether it's a waste of time to apply to the program where he's appointed or not...
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Hey everybody,,, While searching for universities & PhD programs to apply to - I search 1st for professors & then check up their universities -; I found a professor whose really like my dream supervisors, because his interests & papers exactly match the topic I want to research (which is interdisciplinary & I find very few professors with similar interests! ). But the university only offers PhD programs in specializations not much relevant to what I want (family science & human development, counseling, teacher education & development) - while I want to specialize in big history & cliodynamics, sociology, social psychology, anthropology, human evolution... So what's more important the supervisor or the program I apply to?!!
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Thank you green eyed trombonist for your valuable advice I will sure look into your perspective while searching for programs. I'm now inclined to search & apply to both kinds of programs, & whatever comes to me is good.
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Thank you hj for your important advice & recommendations to me... Yes, indeed I realize the immense difficulty in the two projects I want to work with. So I will try as much as I can to find ways to tailor my application papers to the programs' needs, as well as search for most relevant programs (if I don't get accepted to the directly-related programs). I will seek to also email professors & programs' managers to ask them how likely I may get accepted with my background. I didn't mention that my Master's research was on "political cultural change", so wanting to complete my PhD within cultural values, albeit intersecting with other disciplines (e.g. psychology, evolution theory), & using other different methodologies to expand my experiences, is not very irrelevant to my background. I will also try to focus on multi- or inter-disciplinary PhD programs that may have bigger flexibility in approving candidates from different backgrounds! About the children's project (studying their value formation), I already put in my proposal that I'd do it in Iraq, with refugee children there. But I have to add that I'm flexible, 'cause they may have no travel funding, so I can do it with groups of children where the PhD program is. Or do you think this is also not feasible? As for applying for Big History, Evolution Theory, World Systems Theory (as you appreciatedly recommended), Cliodynamics, etc., I realize it's a new emerging field. But I'm getting opposite advice in that, some say because of this, it would be un-realistic & very hard to find a fully-funded PhD program for; while others say that this is actually a good thing, because getting a PhD & specializing in a new field that not many people specialize in, would benefit my future career & research so much! Of course, while searching for programs, I don't limit myself to America only, because I realize that finding a fully-funded PhD abroad is difficult, so I'm expanding the net that I cast: I search for programs all over the world, so as not to limit my chances...
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Well, the methodologies are: 1) For studying children's values, the methodology will be ethnographic. I expect it to utilize anthropology & psychological analysis, while I teach the children & examine their value formation. 2) For studying human cultural evolution, the methodology will be different, because it's an examination of the spatially & temporally extensive evolution of human cultural values throughout history & across various regions & cultures. This would be rather in the field of cliodynamics, & will utilize evolution theory & mathematical modeling for socio-historical processes. So the first one is intensive, & the second is extensive... What I'm not sure about is which path needs more training, so I can devote my PhD time for, while postponing the other for later (after PhD)?
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Hi inkweaver I salute you for choosing to complete your study in something that you have passion for, even if it's different from your BA specialization. I'm in your same league, as my BA & MS are in political science, & now I want to complete my PhD as interdisciplinary with anthropology, psychology, & cliodynamics. Perhaps I'm not the best to give you advice regarding your question, because I haven't got experience in either school counseling nor clinical mental health. Nevertheless, I'd like to give you some ideas. I think the first thing you may think about is what your passion lies when counseling people (which, I think, is more important than job availability, because loving what you do will greatly relieve the stress & problems that you'll face in your every-day job, THAT is something I definitely know from experience! ). So determine which age group you have passion for counseling: children, adolescents, or adults - whether you like counseling in educational/studying issues or psychological health problems - what group of people would you be more interested in counseling (ex., if you like counseling children, do you prefer regular children, children with mental/psychological problems or gifted children in special education institutions, orphans, refugees, children of different races, etc.), because this will make you focus more on the subjects that you take & the internships & volunteering experience that you apply for (besides schools & clinics, you have options of orphanages, international organizations offering assistance to refugees & displaces people, special education institutions, etc.... the globe is open for your imagination!). Also, you can go to all the above mentioned places, talk to psychologists there, & get their perspective about their work in this place, who they deal with everyday, & what issues they tackle... You have a whole year, so plenty of time to visit some schools, clinics, institutions, & international organizations. If you're still undetermined, you can apply for a brief internship in some of those places to compare the work environment in each. I think it's also important to compare between the courses that each specialization offers, & the research interests of the professors of each specialization, & see which bundle of courses/research are more aligned with the age / group / issues you are more interested in working with in your life. Besides, of course, seeking advice from the career counseling office & the alumni network of the department
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Hi everyone I'd like to ask your advice in this superb forum, regarding my hesitation between two specializations in PhD (I'm currently searching for fully-funded PhD programs outside of Egypt! & my Master's was in the field of political science). Generally, I have determined my future research agenda that I will focus on my whole life... & it involves two directions which I will try to interconnect: 1) Researching the impact of expanding children's knowledge paradigm (specifically children dis-attached from stable socialization - preferably in conflict areas, if I'd be able to get funding to go there) through the lens of Big History on their value & identity formation. 2) Researching human cultural evolution within Big History, specifically change of cultural values & identity, & their future directions. I realize that for my PhD, I must focus on one topic/direction only. So I figured that (since I plan to specialize in both tracks in the future), I must focus my PhD on the one that needs more training than the other (to make efficient use of the PhD-provided time & training). So I wonder if anyone knows which of these two directions needs more training? I speculate that the first direction needs training in anthropological & ethnographic research & psychological analysis... while the second direction needs training in mathematical modeling & analysis & cliodynamics... which would you think needs more essential training for the time being, while I can postpone the other to catch up with more easily in post-doc?
