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E-P

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Everything posted by E-P

  1. Delegate, and know when to let go. In my MA program, I tried to found a graduate student alliance. Or, more accurately, I did found it, but I didn't find that anyone really wanted it and was willing and interested in meeting regularly. So I did my best to delegate things to other people, follow up with them, etc. But ultimately I realized that I was going to be graduating, and there wasn't anyone to take it over. Thus, I just sent an email, let people know, and shut it down. So, find people to whom you can delegate things, and - if nobody is interested - know when to let go. At least in my case, it made more sense to let it go than to keep trying to force it.
  2. So, another place you can look: Previous schools! Evidently, Purdue requires vaccination stuff as well, so I've been looking into it today. Fortunately, undergraduate institution has a web portal, and several of my vaccinations that are required are on record there. I printed out a copy and shoved it into Evernote so I don't have to think about it again.
  3. Congrats UIUC on their new contract!
  4. I would think it would also depend on what specifically you're interested in your field, because you might be able to research your interests within the context of other interests. For example, I have no interest in healthcare communication...BUT I could study computer-mediated communication (my interest) within the context of healthcare.
  5. Although this has been mentioned in another thread, it was buried pretty deeply. If you need a laugh, I present you: Lego Grad Student. https://legogradstudent.tumblr.com/
  6. One of my advisors in my MA program told me that his campus visits when he was applying to PhD programs made all the difference - he wouldn't've gone to the school he had if he hadn't visited. That said, for me, I would say the campus visit allowed me to choose my first choice school with confidence, versus just saying, "It made the most sense since my family is nearby." Not only was the research fit not great at the runner up, but one of the male POIs I was interested in working with was described as "overbearing and creepy" by two female grad students. No bueno. So now I can confidently make my choice for the right reasons.
  7. I did when I moved from Texas to Chicago. I had everything in a storage unit in Texas, and had movers pack it up and truck it to Chicago, then drop it off at my flat there. It's been a few years, but I believe it was ~8000 and took 3 weeks. I did very little to pare down my belongings. For example, I brought my bed, chairs, tables, couches, etc. If I had to do it over again, I'd get rid of all that sort of stuff that can be easily replaced. The costs are based on weight, so the more you can get rid of, the better. I think my moving company was United. Although expensive, I did find them very professional. It was fully insured, so if anything had gotten broken, I'd've been able to claim it. Also, I know the feels about BOOKS. I've been packing mine up. I'm so far at "Book box 6," in addition to the two boxes of cookbooks (they were my mom's and grandma's! I can't get rid of them!), and a box of "Books that have changed lives." So I know the feels.
  8. Here's what I wrote: Hi <person>, Thanks so much for the update. I also wanted to let you know that after a Saturday full of weighing pros and cons and discussing the future, I have decided to decline <school's> offer of admission, as I believe my research interests will be a better fit elsewhere. As I enter academia, I hope to see you and your colleagues at conferences. Everyone I met was delightful and inspiring, and I felt honored to have the opportunity to learn from them. Let me know if there is anything I need to do to decline officially. Thanks, E-P
  9. First off, once you get what records you can, I'd call your university. You're not the only international student they have, so they probably have a set suggestion for "How to deal with it if you can't get the documentation." There may also be documentation in odd places. I was looking at my high school transcript the other day, and it has documentation of vaccines on it. Go figure. Your various primary schools may be able to send you records too. Secondly, I'm surprised nobody has suggested this: Couldn't you also just re-get the vaccines that you don't have documentation for? I'd be hard pressed to get physical documentation of vaccines at age 5, but I doubt there would be deleterious health effects if I got them again. Presumably, your doctor could advice which ones would be "safe" to double up on. Welcome to the US! I hope you enjoy it. You're in a good place to get help adapting; I have found that everyone here really genuinely wants to help people get acclimated, both to their programs and to their new homes.
  10. Just got my official "thanks but no thanks" email. Which is to say, they told me to go to the website, and the website said "Your application has been denied." ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
  11. Former manager here, so I'm going to put on my Manager hat. The vast majority of the issues I'm seeing on this thread - mental illness, physical disability, etc - are all covered by the ADA. Your university is required to give you reasonable accommodations based on the ADA, and, depending on how long you've been in your program, you may be eligible for FMLA too. So, contact your university's disability services and talk to them. Also, talk to your doctors. Here are some reasonable accommodations I've seen before due to medical issues: - Days off every so often for mental health episodes - Additional time to complete assignments - Help completing an assignment (for example, dictating an assignment) So, if you're suffering from a longterm illness, whether it be a mental illness, physical illness, or are differently abled, know your rights. Work with your school and your doctor to make sure that you use the resources available to get the help you need.
  12. Okay, I got to talk with the program director on Friday, and here's the sitch: Although the actual comm department doesn't offer any summer courses, lots of students take classes over the summer. There are three in particular - two research methods classes, and one "intro to stats" class - that people take. Since there's a stats class and various research methods classes required for the coursework, it makes sense. I will probably take the stats class. The coursework is spread over 2 months (June-July), so I'll have a longer time to understand it. Taking that will also free up some time in the fall semester so I can take some other classes I'm interested in, rather than taking the departmental stats class then. I guess I won't be selling my 1999 graphing calculator just yet after all!
  13. Yeah, the red line feels like it's the busiest train line in the city. And because of that, combined with the fact that it bisects a lot of less fortunate neighborhoods as well as the more fortunate ones, I feel like there's more dicey characters on it, more often. During "business hours," the Purple line comes down to the Loop, then runs express from the Belmont Stop up to Evanston. But on weekends..yeah. For me, it was a matter of getting thicker skin - the city aloofness of ignoring people asking for money, and strategically positioning myself so that creepy people wouldn't be able to get at me. I think you'll find it in any city with a well-used train line. If you choose Northwestern, I would also check into the regional train, Metra. It's a bit more expensive, but it's faster if you need to come downtown, and classier overall. @surprise_quiche Congrats! I have a friend from my MA program who is studying up there, and she seems happy enough. Her name is Samentha; I'm sure you'll bump into her at some point. :-)
  14. @deshypothequiez Awesome! And the weather is cooperating for your visit too. I hope you love the city. How's Northwestern's program? Are you getting excited about them?
  15. @LauraVZ That's wonderful! And way closer to Harvard! Is the program just as good as Iowa? https://gph.is/1XiUPXG
  16. After a long talk with my Spouse, another talk with the program director, and more stress than necessary, I have officially accepted an offer. SO MUCH RELIEF. I decided that I'm going to do a University Reveal Party. I’ll gather all my friends together, perhaps ask for gifts, and have us cut into a cake. The inside will either be green and white (MSU) or yellow and black (Purdue). It’ll be my way of creating artificial suspense for something that matters to nobody except me and my family. Time to go get some cake dye!
  17. I tend to agree with @lewin's analysis on the "what if a person just isn't cut out for this." I would add that sometimes you have to go away to come back. In general, though, there's a handful of things that institutions look for: - Performance in undergrad - Performance/writing in MA - GRE scores - Ability to articulate yourself - Letters of Rec - Research fit There's not much you can do about going back in time and changing past grades (e.g., the performance items). You can't call yourself at age 18 and tell yourself that you should probably go to bed rather than to that frat party (not that I'm speaking from experience at all). But you can work on the others. If you're rejected, it's worth asking for feedback to figure out what you can improve over the next year before you start applying again. Is it a research fit? That's easy, apply to different programs, talk to POI in advance, etc. Writing ability? Talk to a writing coach at your MA institution, or perhaps take some academic writing classes to hone that skill. Hell, ask one of your MA professors to help you write a paper for publication. GRE scores? I'm a believer (despite my own average-at-best scores) that that is something you can affect. Basically, even if half the institutions you apply to never respond with feedback, the others will! Especially if you phrase it in a polite, respectful way that shows you're not mad, and you just want to be a more competitive applicant next year. Also not addressed: If you're going straight from BA to PhD, I gather that a lot of schools admit very few students straight from undergrad. So consider applying for the MA program first. Then they'll see how amazing you are and accept you for the PhD when you get done with the MA. Edit: It should be noted that I'm not a psych person. I just saw the post as "Recent" on the main page. So, your mileage may vary.
  18. You're welcome. You're amazing because you're so brave. You want to move to a whole new country to follow your dream. I had the opportunity to do that years ago, and I just couldn't. I see you were accepted to Iowa? Is that the same as the Iowa Creative Workshop? If so, I'm even more impressed by you! I feel like whenever I see a famous, articulate, inspiring author, they're always an Iowa graduate. I don't know if it's your first choice, but I wish I knew Spanish just so I could read what you write!
  19. You have the most awesome screen name ever. My favorite Dippin' Dots flavor was always mint chocolate. And for whatever it's worth, I took 11 years off between my BA and starting my MA, and I don't regret it at all. I worked a completely unrelated job and kind of figured out who I was. I feel way more prepared now for graduate work than I was at age 20. So no matter what way you go, I'm sure it'll be awesome and amazing.
  20. No problem! I'm sure your Thursday was amazing. And if it wasn't, Friday will be, because - you know - Friday! :-)
  21. Hi. This message is for everyone who has the sinking feeling that they won't be getting accepted this season. I don't know you. I wouldn't be able to pick you out of a crowd, and we've never met. But by the fact that you're here, I know that you're driven, and you're not afraid of change and sacrifice in your life. So know this: It will be okay. You will get through this. Your value as a scholar, student, or just a human being has nothing to do with you not getting an acceptance. Maybe it wasn't the right program, or the right year, or a good fit, or something else entirely. That's okay! There's next year, if you want. Or, if you're out, you will have an awesome career and life, simply because you are driven, and you aren't afraid of change. I heard a fable (if you're a historian, maybe you know the truth of this?) there was once a king who was prone to high-highs, and low-lows. It made his kingdom erratic He sent for his advisors and said, "I need something to even me out. I can't rule like this; either extreme is bad. Help." The advisors went away and deliberated for weeks. Finally, they returned to the king and presented him with a metal ring, unadorned, that simply said, "This too shall pass." And from that day, whenever he was too up or too down, he'd look down at his ring and remember...this moment is fleeting. You're a pretty awesome human. If you want to comment and tell me how you're feeling down, I will be happy to tell you all the reasons that I, a stranger, think you're awesome. I imagine others will tell you too! This too shall pass.
  22. Ah, the advisor already said we'd be talking about which grad classes I can take, so I know that class will be a part of it. That said, you're absolutely right in that it'll depend on the classes offered. My department doesn't offer grad classes in the summer, so it'll be one of the interdisciplinary courses that are required. I don't want to end up the odd duck in aerospace engineering classes, so...we shall see. Funnily enough, my fellowship requires taking classes during the summer. So it's ironic that the fellowship requires it...but the department can't provide it. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
  23. I'm assuming it would be classes only, actually. But I'll confirm with the department head when we chat on Thursday. In terms of being burnt out, I guess...sort of? My company shut down a year ago, so I've been unsuccessfully job hunting. If I start early, then I get an income earlier, and I get to do something (anything) besides pet the cats and be frustrated.
  24. So, one of my schools has given me the option of starting during the summer (basically, just moving my funding package back two months). On the one hand, I want to get this party started! On the other hand, I want to make sure I'm not shortchanging myself, since I'd be starting before the rest of my cohort. I'll admit that I'm also feeling anxious about leaving my current city early, but being able to start a "job" again would be a nice extra benefit. Any general thoughts?
  25. So, I come at this from the job market, but I say that the more information you have that they don't have, the more the power balance there is. Otherwise, they have all the power. If they KNOW you're coming, why bother giving you any stipend at all? Why bother trying to impress you? I wouldn't bring it up. If they explicitly ask, I would just say that you're looking at several institutions (or that you've applied to several institutions). Yes, funding packages get negotiated. Check around on the forum - there have been several discussions of it - how to do it, when to do it, whether or not it's wroth doing it.
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