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qbtacoma

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  1. Like
    qbtacoma got a reaction from ashwel11 in Emailing POI to ask why you were rejected   
    I would say something like:

    Hello Dr. X,

    I just got notice that I haven't been offered a space this year, and while I'm disappointed I understand that there are many factors that go into the decision-making process. May I ask if there is anything I can do to make my application more competitive for next year?

    Just be polite and I'm sure no one will take offense.
  2. Upvote
    qbtacoma got a reaction from Levon3 in Unintentional plagiarism   
    It sounds like what you are taking from this experience is a hard look at your writing style. That's exactly the right response. I'm sure the dean was impressed with your work, and he wanted to check to see what your reaction was when he mentioned the plagiarism due to sloppiness. Had you reacted defensively or otherwise than as you did (urging him to critically examine your work further, looking into it yourself), it would have put up red flags for him. Sounds to me like you did everything right, and that in the future you will be more careful, which is great. Don't worry too much - it's a positive learning experience!
  3. Upvote
    qbtacoma got a reaction from BluffIR in What to wear for admitted student visits?   
    Look, when people answer your questions - why are people voting me down? why is it over the top to wear lapel pins? etc. - and then you get all huffy when our answers aren't what you want to hear, that's called not being tied in to social cues.

    Here is some friendly advice, though I doubt you will take it. When you enter a new environment, you should look around and try to figure out what most people are doing so you don't accidentally step on toes. Take the Grad Cafe: are other people using bold or colored words? No. The reasons are that 1) it is hard on the eyes, and 2) for a forum such as the internet where body language and tone are not conveyed, modifying the text indicates emotion, and your choices indicated aggression to us. This is generally understood for people on the internet, which is why you also read as a troll for apparently not knowing it. Now, I'm not calling you a troll, because I don't think you are (though you teeter on the edge of trolldom), but I'm pointing out that your negative reaction to us explaining the social cues of Grad Cafe is, in fact, troll behavior.

    Another example: in the experience of many of us, to show school spirit in clothing like you indicated is too enthusiastic to be professional. In our sense of academic culture (in the US), professors would be made more uncomfortable by such behavior than they would be flattered. Clearly that is not your impression, but there's no need to get all outraged when we disagree.
  4. Upvote
    qbtacoma got a reaction from Mwing in Dating in Grad School   
    I'm dating someone already, but if at any point I'm single in grad school I plan to say the following thing to any alluring fellow grad students: "Now, I think I'm totally worth it, but just so you know that by being in a serious relationship with me you are committing to always choosing my career first." This statement is almost guaranteed to thoroughly douse ardor.

    In this way I hope to sidestep the two body problem. That's also partly why I'm dating someone with moveable ambitions.
  5. Upvote
    qbtacoma got a reaction from Stilyaga in Can I get into a top History PhD program?   
    Yes, Sigaba's tone is inappropriately hostile, and if people want a thread on identity politics then they should go start one elsewhere. I mean really. The first sentence of the OP was background information, not strictly necessary to his question (but almost everyone does this) and similar to other commonly shared, generally irrelevant information like "I went to a small liberal arts college" or "I grew up in China" or "I'm queer." I can't believe people are upset by the mere mention of someone's personal identity.

    (ETA: "Irrelevant" in the sense that the OP's academic record is the measure by which adcomms will admit him and it is also the main thing we are assessing here. Obviously his identity isn't irrelevant to him as a person.)

    OP, your writing is what is really going to make you stand out more than your stats, which are of course very good. Polish your writing sample and your SOP until you never want to look at them again. The key with doing this successfully is starting early so that you have plenty of time for rewriting. One thing I think most people would do differently (including me) is that we would all start the application process earlier. That's my best general advice, but definitely poke around Grad Cafe - lots of pearls of wisdom are scattered around.
  6. Upvote
    qbtacoma got a reaction from Vicki in Hogwarts; culture; awkward?   
    I dunno. I'm inclined to give lots of points to folks to reference Harry Potter. I dressed up for the seventh book release and all that jazz.
  7. Downvote
    qbtacoma got a reaction from riverguide in Nightmares: Georgetown Arab studies   
    Way to be a troll, dude. Take your snark elsewhere - GradCafe is a place for respect. Georgetownhopeful, your GRE scores are fine (but I think you know that).
  8. Upvote
    qbtacoma got a reaction from 1Q84 in Something American professors might not understand   
    It sounds like this problem might be best solved by annotations or footnotes in the text itself. For example: "By lighting on fire the underpants of Joe Shmo (a well-known critic of recent underpants sizing legislation), the sketch points out the inherent hypocrisy of Shmo's rhetoric." Or whatever.

    This might depend on your writing style, however - sometimes little asides like that can interrupt the flow of writing, in which case the page introduction at the beginning might be a better idea.
  9. Upvote
    qbtacoma got a reaction from doobiebrothers in Nightmares: Georgetown Arab studies   
    Way to be a troll, dude. Take your snark elsewhere - GradCafe is a place for respect. Georgetownhopeful, your GRE scores are fine (but I think you know that).
  10. Upvote
    qbtacoma got a reaction from GuateAmfeminist in Do you let students use laptops in discussion sections?   
    Depending on seating, inappropriate laptop usage can be extremely distracting to other students as well. Plus, "they paid for the class" isn't really appealing to me: education isn't a product like a shirt which can be treated however. It is a contract between the student and the professor/university in which both are responsible for the amount of learning attained, in different ways. It's like ignoring your doctor's recommendations and saying "well, I paid for the appointment." Do that long enough and your doctor will "fire" you.
  11. Upvote
    qbtacoma got a reaction from silentskye in Doing a PhD with a 2 year-old and a newborn...   
    Who cares if eyebrows are raised? I am genuinely curious. If I have a baby in grad school or before getting tenure I will cheerfully crush to a pulp anyone who questions me with "oh, but your career!" Withering stares and sarcastic references to 1968 will be heard. So, while I understand concerns about having babies from a logistical standpoint, I don't understand why some folks seem so concerned about colleague reaction. Pretty much they can't hold it against you in any open way without outing themselves as assholes, so what's the problem?
  12. Upvote
    qbtacoma got a reaction from wildviolet in Dating in Grad School   
    Thanks for this. As Dan Savage so wisely says, there's no such person as "The One," but there are a lot of people who could be rounded up to one.
  13. Upvote
    qbtacoma got a reaction from sareth in Evaluation Time...   
    The Onion is a joke newspaper. The particular incident isn't real, but it is funny in part because it closely resembles stuff people actually go through.
  14. Upvote
    qbtacoma got a reaction from jeffster in Do you let students use laptops in discussion sections?   
    Depending on seating, inappropriate laptop usage can be extremely distracting to other students as well. Plus, "they paid for the class" isn't really appealing to me: education isn't a product like a shirt which can be treated however. It is a contract between the student and the professor/university in which both are responsible for the amount of learning attained, in different ways. It's like ignoring your doctor's recommendations and saying "well, I paid for the appointment." Do that long enough and your doctor will "fire" you.
  15. Upvote
    qbtacoma got a reaction from noodles.galaznik in Do you let students use laptops in discussion sections?   
    Depending on seating, inappropriate laptop usage can be extremely distracting to other students as well. Plus, "they paid for the class" isn't really appealing to me: education isn't a product like a shirt which can be treated however. It is a contract between the student and the professor/university in which both are responsible for the amount of learning attained, in different ways. It's like ignoring your doctor's recommendations and saying "well, I paid for the appointment." Do that long enough and your doctor will "fire" you.
  16. Upvote
    qbtacoma got a reaction from katiemk1230 in Doing a PhD with a 2 year-old and a newborn...   
    Who cares if eyebrows are raised? I am genuinely curious. If I have a baby in grad school or before getting tenure I will cheerfully crush to a pulp anyone who questions me with "oh, but your career!" Withering stares and sarcastic references to 1968 will be heard. So, while I understand concerns about having babies from a logistical standpoint, I don't understand why some folks seem so concerned about colleague reaction. Pretty much they can't hold it against you in any open way without outing themselves as assholes, so what's the problem?
  17. Upvote
    qbtacoma got a reaction from Sparrowing in Mind if I pull out my tiny violin and rant for just a sec?   
    What space-cat said.

    Also, schools are looking to train the most promising scholars in their fields. The vast majority of innovative students cannot pay to go to graduate school. So, to prevent grad schools from being filled with the rich yet potentially mediocre, funding for graduate study is secured.

    And you wanna talk about privilege? Privilege is paying for graduate school from your estate, or from Mommy and Daddy. You think that getting paid to go to class is privilege? How about this: I would never be able to afford grad school, not if I worked for the rest of my life. My job prospects are in the nonprofit sector or the service sector. I don't have any innovative (read: product) ideas, business training, or high-income skills. I will never own my own house. However, my economic situation says little about the viability of my ideas, my research skills, or my teaching ability. So any school that wants to hone those has to support me when I go there, period. It isn't privilege on my part (any more than a college education is to begin with) - it is the reality that my excellent academic skills are not useful to the private sector.
  18. Upvote
    qbtacoma got a reaction from foggynotion3 in Let's compare student debt! How much do you have?   
    Debbie Downer there is a doomsday troll. Please ignore.

    I do think that I would have made some different choices if I hadn't gone to college right out of high school, but I am overall satisfied with what my education got me. I chose to go to a private school and am about $28,000 in debt, but I got out of my education exactly what I wanted - small classes, lots of attention from professors, opportunities for research and meaningful activism on campus, staff support, and nice recommendations for grad school. However, I was relatively lucky in that I knew that I would want to pursue further degrees beyond undergrad, and my particular school was good. That's what made it worth it for me, but I recognize that my situation is special.

    So much about higher education is about reputation and what we are "supposed" to get out of our educations rather than reality, so I don't blame people for getting in over their heads. My sister went to a private college (before dropping out, thankfully!) which cost the same amount as mine but which was a total piece of shit school. And her debt is way too high for it. She was mistreated or ignored in almost every possible way, but how could she have known before she went there?

    For the folks that have a lot of debt, I would emphasize that it doesn't mean you are in terrible straights, even though it feels like this thing is hanging over you. I think about my debt sort of like a benign health condition: I need to be able to make enough money to pay for my "medication" (loan payments), which does limit the choices I can make (for example, as long as I have my "health condition" I cannot spend money on travel). However, I don't resent or fear my debt; it is a reality of the way I will have to manage my financial life for the next few years, but I will "heal" from my condition at some point.
  19. Upvote
    qbtacoma got a reaction from LabRat2012 in University of Houston REVOKED OFFER AFTER I HAD MOVED   
    Reality TV, but better!
  20. Upvote
    qbtacoma got a reaction from snowies in Things not to say to someone who has just been rejected by their dream school   
    When I was talking with my grandmother about the school locations, she said, "Well, honey, I'm going to pray that you don't get into the schools on the East Coast, because I don't like the weather out there and I wouldn't like visiting." Uh, thanks, I guess.

    Fortunately I was more amused than anything because the schools I really want to go to are, in fact, not on the East Coast. And hey - God listened! I was rejected! I had no idea she had such rapport with the big man.
  21. Upvote
    qbtacoma got a reaction from shavasana in Do professors care if you wear sweatpants all the time?   
    I would mock the desire of med students/government interns to show off how important they are, but if I become a professor I am totally getting a vest and a watch fob. And I'm wearing spats.
  22. Upvote
    qbtacoma got a reaction from siarabird in Do professors care if you wear sweatpants all the time?   
    "Hmm, yes, such intriguing conversation on Progressive-era reforms - why, excuse me class, but I seem to have dropped my monocle!"
  23. Upvote
    qbtacoma got a reaction from naturalog in Do professors care if you wear sweatpants all the time?   
    Personally I never got the people who couldn't pull on a pair of jeans to go out. I definitely witnessed the creation of the leggings-as-pants craze at my university. Dressing up for anything formal is a definite must. I even dressed up for class presentations.
  24. Upvote
    qbtacoma got a reaction from Cici Beanz in Do professors care if you wear sweatpants all the time?   
    Whoa. Let's not reach too high here. Icarus and all.
  25. Upvote
    qbtacoma got a reaction from abc123xtc in Evaluation Time...   
    Here is a real life example of the kind of student mocked in The Onion. I had to share.
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