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Ludwig von Dracula

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Everything posted by Ludwig von Dracula

  1. Wow, that's super early! I'm coming from Alberta, so I'm actually expecting the weather to be a nice change from the bitter winters I'm used to
  2. Ethnomusicology! And technically (for me at least) it will still be summer. Very early start (August 16th?).
  3. Thanks for the replies. I really hope I don't have to redo my driving test, for goodness' sake...and $300 for two vehicles definitely sounds more expensive than what we paid in Manitoba (which has a government monopoly on auto insurance, no less--I'm going to miss my social democratic safety net!). Oh well, the experience of living in another country for a few years will be rewarding despite the red tape and minor annoyances.
  4. I'd agree that having a low score might keep you out, but a good score isn't going to win you many points on its own. I had pretty high GRE scores (1490, 5.0), but I didn't get into any of my top choices (Ivy/private) or get awarded any fellowships. All my stipends came in around $10,000, which is OK but not stellar. This might be due to having no publications and only one major conference presentation. On an unrelated note, I wonder how much more satisfied I would have been with my results if I didn't have other people to compare them with via GradCafe? Of course, without the advice on the application boards, I might have done much worse, but it's hard to know.
  5. I, too, cannot wait for A Dance with Dragons. I recently bought the first four books at a secondhand store and I'm planning to read through them over the summer in preparation. Before that, though, I'm planning to read the final (10th!) volume of Steven Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen, which I think is on a level with Martin's series in complexity, philosophical depth, and sheer audacity (maybe I'm a bit biased as the author is from my backwater hometown in central Canada). Currently I'm actually reading Atlas Shrugged, which I've heard about for years (thanks to another longwinded fantasy series by one Terry Goodkind). I can't say I find anything to identify with in the characters or the message, but it has been influential in contemporary American political movements (and very current events) which I'd like better to understand.
  6. I'm wondering if any Canadians (or others) can share their experience of bringing their car into the United States for several years. What kind of insurance will I need to get and what are the prices like? Will my Canadian driver's licence be OK, and what happens when I need to renew it? Becoming an international student certainly has its share of little complexities...
  7. I understand that SSHRC has a waitlist too. Not everyone who is awarded ends up accepting, for various reasons (better funding offers from elsewhere, didn't get into any universities after all, etc). I think it's also likely that some people who were given the larger award ($105,000) end up going to school internationally, qualifying them only for the lesser amount ($80,000), and perhaps if SSHRC is left with a surplus after several people do this, they will award a few more who didn't make the initial cut. They'd want to have a waitlist ready in this case. This is only speculation on my part though.
  8. I'd say it's all up to you. You may wish to enjoy this summer of freedom, because it may be the last one for quite some time! But it's certainly not a bad idea to sharpen your brain. Reading some works that are key to your field might be a good idea--you'll be more prepared for the theoretical discussions that will inevitably arise. Looking at some journals to get a sense of current debates can only be a good thing, even if you don't feel like you have all the background knowledge necessary for a complete understanding. You can always come back to the articles and skim them in a few months, and you'll probably be surprised at how many more connections arise. I personally wouldn't write fake papers unless it was something that I was genuinely interested in and which might be useful as the foundation for an actual paper (for class or publication) later on. I'm sure you'll get used to homework again quickly enough, especially if you've only been out of school for a year. Up to you, of course.
  9. I had pretty much decided on one program that was offering an OK-ish funding package--all but $1000 of tuition covered (something about me being an international student), along with most fees, and a stipend that would leave me with about $8000 left for living expenses after taking care of the other academic costs. Then yesterday, I hear back from two other schools with funding packages. One is also in the States, and is offering slightly more than the one I'd almost decided to attend. The other is my current institution, which has offered four years at their highest level of funding. I'm definitely not bemoaning my good fortune! Luckily, I still have about a week to decide. I still favour the first school--I like their faculty and I already feel emotionally invested in the program (risky, of course). I've emailed most of the faculty and some students already. I'm trying to figure out if I should try to negotiate with them based on my better offers. Or will this only hurt my case? What have you done in such situations?
  10. This would be my guess too. Unfortunately, we can't assume that they have made their decisions early this year (unless more people start hearing back soon...)
  11. Yep. Same thing in my department. This apparently is far from abnormal. And to Lymrance--perhaps I shouldn't have posted in such unequivocal terms. You're right; I don't know for sure how every school does it. Mine pays out one twelfth of the award each month for twelve months (or for nine months if you start in September of the final year). Yours obviously does it differently. BUT--I still think this post is important, if only to encourage people to CHECK WITH YOUR GRADUATE DEPARTMENT how the award will be paid out. As I said, my school did not inform me that I would only get 75% of my award if I took it up in September. You must, must be clear on what you'll be receiving. The extra few grand came in very handy when it was time for me to do my summer fieldwork--it allowed me to buy much-needed recording equipment, etc. I don't want anyone else to get an unpleasant surprise (the way a colleague of mine did, who ended up deciding to defend in the fall to get the full amount of the award paid out over the summer months. Not OK for somebody like me who is planning to go directly into a Ph.D. at a different school next year). Again--ASK. Know what you're getting into.
  12. Are you sure you entered it in the correct box? I recently started working on my taxes, and I think that even though it showed up in one of my income subtotals, the same amount was subtracted later on, leaving my scholarship out of the picture. Try using turbotax or whatever it's called now...you don't have to pay to use the program until it comes time to file, so you can use it to doublecheck your results.
  13. I just have to chime in to agree with Sparky. I love the slacktivist blog. The Left Behind deconstruction is great, but I really enjoy almost everything written by this author. Also, another thought in the sci-fi vein: The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell, which I've heard described as an updated version of the Blish novel. Also its sequel, Children of God. Beyond these, Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun (and related series, Book of the Long Sun and Book of the Short Sun) have been seen as Christian allegory (by some), although there's definitely a LOT going on in everything by this inscrutable Catholic genius. And of course, there's Tolkien, who was not an allegorist, but still...
  14. My wife has been amazingly kind and supportive. What adds an additional wrinkle (and boatload of stress) for us is that I'll potentially be an international student in the States, which may make it very difficult for her to find paid work. If I get a funding package from one of my American acceptances, I'll try to negotiate for a J-1 visa, but we'll see. If there's no funding there, we might have to stay in Canada, which wouldn't be terrible, but neither of us are crazy about the location of the school that's offered funding, and its reputation just can't match the programs in the States. Right now, my wife is saying that she'll use her time to focus on guitar playing and songwriting and wind up an amazing musician by the end of my Ph.D. Or maybe we'll have a kid :S
  15. Yeah, that's depressing. I'm 100% sure that I know the school you're working at, and it was my top choice. If they're the ones who gave you this info, chances are they follow the policy themselves. Darn, darn, darn. Oh well...here's hoping I get a nice funding package from somewhere.
  16. Why not? Provided it's not too long, and it serves to introduce your discussion in a meaningful and interesting way, I think it would catch attention positively. Then again, Female Science Professor had a "bad SOP contest" and I seem to remember that a good number of them quoted "Blowin' in the Wind." You want to make sure that the quote is really germane to your objectives.
  17. If you use academia.edu, you may have been getting these email notifications: "Someone just searched for you on Google, and found your page on Academia.edu. To see the search query they used, what rank you are on Google for this query, and what country the search came from, follow the link below." I just got one today and it's driving me a little crazy. The search was from the United States this afternoon, and it's definitely me they're looking up, as the search was for "myfirstname mylastname very specific and obscure ethnic group that I'm studying." I'm still waiting on two schools (including my top choice), although the results board indicates that they've both sent out acceptances already. Still, I get a little fluttery feeling when I see that somebody is evidently still interested in my file. It could be somebody at one of my acceptances trying to decide if they should fund me, which would also be nice...I don't see any way that it could be non-academic, but maybe my imagination isn't big enough. To make matters worse (better?), each time I've received such a notice before has shortly been followed by an acceptance. Anyway, I just thought I'd check to see if anyone else has experienced this sort of thing. False hope, or reason to be optimistic? Just one more forumite slowly going crazy via overanalyzing EVERYTHING?!?
  18. Yep. Thanks for the clarification, Lewin. The SSHRC website (specifically this page: http://www.sshrc-crsh.gc.ca/funding-financement/programs-programmes/fellowships/doctoral-doctorat-eng.aspx#astatus#astatus) confirms that you must be a permenent resident to be eligible for the doctoral award. And Master's awards are only tenable in Canada.
  19. Got a rejection from UPenn today. Bang! Thanks to this thread, I was prepared for the result, so it doesn't sting as much as it could have.
  20. If you're a Canadian studying internationally, you can still receive a SSHRC award. At the doctoral level, you're only eligible for the $20,000 (for 4 years) award, rather than the $35,000 (for 3 years) award. At least, this is how I understand it. Conversely, any Ph.D. student in Canada can receive SSHRC awards (of either type, I believe), whether a Canadian citizen or not.
  21. Ayn Rand. HA HA! No, just kidding. (ouch, I hope that doesn't start a flamewar...) More seriously, I love Flannery O'Connor. I haven't read any heavy-duty theology, so I can't help you much. As far as popular theologians go, these answers are probably way too obvious: G.K. Chesterton, C.S. Lewis, Walker Percy, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky. Maybe give Shusaku Endo a try (esp. "Silence")?
  22. Eislinn, I have not heard anything from Penn either. But I haven't tried contacting them as a previous poster did. Disappointed to hear that I didn't get an interview--I met Tim Rommen at SEM and read his book shortly afterwards. Would have loved to work with him. Oh well...there's always a postdoc. Ayiti, according to the results, somebody in ethno has received an acceptance from Harvard. It happened more than a week ago. I applied to 7 programs (2 in Canada and 5 in the States). So far I've gotten 4 acceptances, but only one is guaranteeing funding, and it's Canadian. The American universities are both state institutions, though well-respected. But I'm not sure what to do if they don't offer funding. I can't afford to pay $20,000 or $40,000 in tuition, even if it's only for the first year. The 3 I haven't heard from are private/Ivies (including my top choices, which is why I feel a little sad) and I'm likely out of the running now. But at least I have options, for which I'm thankful.
  23. Or one of those brown tweed jackets with elbow patches.
  24. Seriously, this is bizarre. My guess is that somebody in the admissions office was looking over your file and realized that your birthday was imminent, and had a slight attack of whimsy. I can't imagine that this happens often!
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