Faraday

Congrats! You can say the second time is the charm!

rampant zombies

I actually can't stand RG3. Yes he produced results, but he wasn't worth it. With the way he plays and the kind of body he has, he will be lucky to play 5 full seasons in the NFL. He'll probably have a career similar to Michael Vick in terms of longevity down the stretch. This is a shame because out of RG3, Luck, and Wilson, RG3 probably has just as good if not better accuracy, throwing power, and QB IQ as the others, but he can't just play a pocket QB like he should. Read option is a joke. Mobile QBs who can extend the play are the future of the NFL but not this read option stuff. Defenses will adapt to the latter, and read option QBs can easily get injured. Extending plays however will always be important. That's the difference between Brady, Brees, and P.Manning vs. Rodgers, and why Rodgers has the chance to be better than all three of those QBs is the Packers can get their stuff together as a team. The bottom line is the Redskins gave up far too much for RG3 when we don't know if he will even be able to be a franchise QB. If he's missing 3-4 games per season what good is that? He can't lead the team if he's not on the field. We should have stuck with Kirk Cousins and kept those three first round draft picks to build our defense. Sorry, but Weeden and Tannehill were horrible this season. I don't see how you can defend either of them. There's a reason the Browns are considering trading for Ryan Mallet. Tannehill is not as bad but with the unstable environment in Miami (their inability to win, changing of personel, etc.) I can't see him developing into a great QB. I'm still not sold on Kapernick, a good defense can make a QB look a lot better than they really are, hence why Luck and RG3 were much more impressive than Wilson this season. The next two seasons will be his proving ground (we need a larger sample size).

lost puppy

Oh dead God no. I'm a Redskins fan. I am not a Ravens fan, however this is probably because I go to a university dominated by Ravens fans and I often find their blind team spirit to be insufferable. As you can imagine the past three weeks have been pretty crazy, I just keep remembering how my team got the better of the Ravens during the regular season.

house call

big dipper

Not sure what to think about the Super Bowl. One thing we can expect is a media frenzy over the next two weeks about the great and almighty "Harbaugh Bowl". We had a week of anticipation last year when they played during the regular season; I can't imagine what this will be like... As for the game I would say it will be wild and unpredictable. The 49ers are off one quarter and the on the next. The Ravens while they have been pretty consistent this post-season still can't change their erratic play all regular season long, including Joe Flacco's often lack of ability at QB. If they continue their pattern of consistency they can win but I find it hard to believe they will play out of their minds for a third consecutive game in a row. The 49ers need to strike early and get a lead to knock some of the wind out of the Ravens' Ray Lewis-fueled sails. The 49ers also need to get pressure on Joe Flacco. Where is Aldon Smith? It seems like he's been playing some Manti Te'o invisible magic trick for the past few weeks.

by Yiruma So incredibly beautiful.

gummy bear

wax sculpture

I see what you did there. I think the tie-in to the initial article I posted is that while you might have the prestige of your PI, you may not necessarily have the other qualities that you should be developing that will make you a scientist and in the end allow you to pass the interview stage for professorship with flying colors.

house salad

pumpkin pie

family feud

Without knowing his individual cirucmstances it is hard to say, but it's still pretty early so I am not sure he needs to start panicking. That said, if he aimed high then that to me says something about his goals for a PhD program, so why would he all of a sudden now want to apply to "safety" schools? If he really wants to go to a top institution then why settle for someplace else? It would probably be better to ackowledge where he needs to improve his application to get into one of those schools and work for a future application season to fix that.

luxury car

application crisis

Yes, I just edited to add in something to this effect. Do the institutions make the better graduate students? Possibly to some degree, but more likely is that the better students go to those institutions in the first place, and the circle completes itself...

Are you reading the same article I am? They point out that yes, a majority of professors at top institutions earned their PhD degrees from similarly prestigious universities. They also point out that there is a bigger picture here. First and foremost there seems to be a general theme that a PhD from say, Berkeley, is not just going to land you a job teaching at Stanford. So do the institutions themselves make better students (more teaching at top universities), or do the better students tend to go to the top institutions in the first place in a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy? I imagine it is more of the latter, and hence the degree itself become less meaningful. The important factor is the research you do during your PhD and the training you get that develops you into a scientist. Are you doing "cutting-edge research"? Do you have, "opportunities to teach, give research talks, contribute to grant writing, join a journal club, and attend conferences"? These skills make a scientist. Furthermore, a better indicator of your potential future in academia can be reflected in a potential PI's track record with placing students in academia in the first place. Further down in the article they talk about something you guys don't seem to be mentioning. "In addition, many of the admissions directors whom C&EN contacted suggested that, for those who hope to get a top academic position, where one goes to grad school isn't as important as where--and with whom--one does postdoctoral research." So in general, they say your post-doc is more important than where you get your PhD. Lastly, they also point out that while your prestigious Berkeley degree might get someone's attention on a selection committee, once you get to the interview stage your degree is pointless and it is all on you to show them why you deserve the job. They are interested in evaluating your potential as a scientist, including the aforementioned qualities. So the real focus for anyone with lofty goals in academia should be to "aim as high as possible, work as hard as you can, and network like mad". The moral of the story is whether or not you have a prestigious degree you need to be working your butt off the entire time to get to the top of academia, and the degree itself is not a recipie for success or failure.

pencil point

signing bonus

I am thinking it might be a typo, that '2' key is awfully close to the '3' key. If not, then WOW is an appropriate response!

Who just got into UC Riverside? 38K for all five years? That might be a new record.

Yes. I finished my application mid-November, and my LORs were all submitted by Dec. 1st (first deadline for another school). I obsessively checked the application website. Once you submit it you will go through an evolution of statuses. First it will say "Application Complete: Marked completed on xxxxxx". Then a new line will appear that says "Application Admitted". This will read pending while they are reviewing your application. It will change to "Marked admitted on xxxxxx" when you're in! An official email will follow a few days later. Mine was marked admitted on Dec. 13th and I got the email on the 19th. I assume they do rolling admissions since that was very early. People have been hearing back in the past few days so I don't think you have anything to worry about. For what it's worth, it was ~2 weeks after mine was marked complete that I was marked admitted. I'm excited about their program though, underrated if you are doing organic and a great location. The stipend/health insurance situation worries me though (20K per year after fees and insurance is extra).