rachaelski

Moving on up!!!! I anticipate my postings will drop, since I am pretty much finished with my fulbright and it's a waiting game (until January, gulp)....

Sociocultural Studies

When I was getting my Master's in Teaching, I transferred schools, because i did not like the quality of education I received at the first school. I only list the school i graduated from on my CV. I would just put the school you graduated from.

Do all grad students in your program receive funding? If not, someone would really appreciate your TA-ship. The answer I am going to give you is just my personal feeling on the matter, I certainly do not represent academia. I think if you have learned the program is not for you, then you should leave. The sooner, the better. I think it's great you plan to stay committed for the term. I would assume it's better that you leave early in the program, than just not ever finishing. It's pretty easy to explain that the program was not for you, and you discovered it early on. Also, if you are not invested it impacts your classmates and the program as a whole. My husband quit a biology master's program that he enrolled in right after undergrad. He later went on to film school (I know two very different interests, his mom's an artist, his dad a scientist), without any problems. I think being reflective and realizing when you have made a mistake, or sticking up for your decisions, makes you much stronger of a person.

I hope everyone is enjoying the first weeks of school. I certainly am! I only went to school part-time last year (and taught full-time, middle school!), so it has been a joy to be a full-time student again. My application is going well. Just finishing up ordering transcripts and whatnot. I need some advice. In order to acquire my letter of support, a friend put me in contact with her friend in my research country. This person has gone above and beyond to help me get a letter of support. She sought out a professor, translated my research proposal and personal statement into Vietnamese, and she is translating my letter of support to English. She has been an amazing help with the process. In the future, she wants me to help her find schools with PhD programs in Education Psychology (her area of work), and while I certainly will help her, I want to do something else. I will most likely meet her in November, when I go to Hanoi for a research conference. What would be something nice to show my appreciation for all her help? Obviously I will take her to dinner, but I want to get her a small gift of some sort. Any ideas? Has anyone else had a person that has helped them significantly?

I can probably read it over the weekend, if you would like. Send me a private message, and I will send you my email address.

Though to be fair, I don't have traditional textbooks for my classes.

To be perfectly honest, I buy my books through Amazon exclusively. I love my free prime account for quick shipping, and Amazon Marketplace has new and used books for cheap. I especially love that you can find used Marketplace stuff that qualifies for the free 2-day shipping! I love a deal as much as the next person, but for me convenience outshines price. It's kind of like driving to the other side of town to get gas 10 cents cheaper...do you really save anything? Is your time and wear and tear worth saving 2 dollars on a fill-up?

Wow, I can see how this problem could get in your way. I think you should talk to your advisor about your rapidly increasing fear of flying. Maybe not in your first meeting, but when it is relevant. I think that if you explain it to anyone how you explained it here, that they can see how serious it is. Personally, I don't think there is anything wrong with taking trains or busses to locations in the US. I think you are taking the right steps by anticipating future difficulties now, that way you can approach the problem with a reasonable solution. If it makes you feel any better, I am terrified of heights, but only on man-made structures...maybe all this higher education makes our fears more elaborate.

Halfpasser, that sucks about your unfriendly classmates! Yuck. They are certainly not representative of New Mexicans in general.

If I remember correctly, you are at NMSU, right? I am north a couple hours at UNM in Albuquerque. This is my second year in the program, but my first as a full-time student. Getting used to the pace of my schedule and new organization of my life has been interesting. Two of my classes are on-line, and my other two classes start after 4pm (as well as my class I am teaching), so it's weird to not have to get up and go somewhere right away. That should change after labor day, when I begin leading a play-based cooperative preschool group from 9-12 on Mondays and Tuesdays. I am really enjoying reading right now. I am taking a seminar on international children's literature, and the readings combine journal articles and adolescent novels. It's nice to HAVE to read a novel each week. I am slowly getting into shape. Riding my bike back and forth has been a lot of fun. Look forward to hearing from everyone else.

I typically send a letter writer my personal statement, that way it gives them a sense of what and why I am doing graduate school, and it helps them to align their recommendation to your overall application.

Based on the info you provided, I would probably pick a school in the UK. I think that your readings, assignments, internship, etc. will be more relevant to your current interests. It's important to not only learn about IR as a general topic, but also to learn about areas in which you are specifically interested.

That's a good point. I didn't even consider that!

Does the program have a master's degree as well? If so, after a year or so you could decide between PhD or MA. The self-funded PhD...are there eventual opportunities for funding or is it self-funded throughout?

The positive side of me says that it's a way for them to create the best applicant pool possible (therefore not guaranteeing you anything), which is a good think in the big picture. The skeptic in me says it's an effort to collect additional application fees. Either way, if the program is not in your area of interest, throw it in the recycling pile.

I think that it's okay to voice that to your groups. It's a good policy, my husband and I try to do a similar things as well. Can I just say that I hate group projects?

Glad to help, guys!

I have not had any problem when I email professors about course texts. It's a fair way to get the feel of a course before the term begins.

I recently married (wow, almost a year ago!), according to my SSN and all that, I changed my name to my first name and my new last name. For academic purposes, I use my First Maiden Married. It's a little long, since my maiden name is Polish, but it has been helpful as I am getting to know people in my department. I hadn't published anything, but for my local school community it made things easier.

There are some taxes taken out of them. Also, word of caution, when I had a summer stipend, my first term working as a GA, the school took very little taxes out of my pay. I guess they were looking at that being my whole yearly pay, therefore very little tax (like 5 dollars on a 1200 dollar check) would be collected. I am not sure. Hopefully, it doesn't happen again in the fall.

Duke's fulbright page has SOP and Personal Statements of successful applicants. I believe they include ETAs.

There's a thread for the previous application year, but I am not sure if there is anything else on other sites. If you finds something, make sure you share! And welcome!

And I am super excited about the first two you mentioned! Thanks a million!

Thanks! I actually have the call for papers for SERA saved. They are tricky...you have to be registered for the conference before they'll consider your paper!