barber5

Friends of mine: http://sfbay.craigslist.org/pen/roo/2575999377.html

CS courses showed up a few days ago, and I only found them by chance.

You're right, unless he indicates that he has every intention of staying in the program in his SOP either directly or indirectly ("I'm really fascinated by X and want to research it") and you may be wrong anyway since one could argue it's best to be forthright in your SOP. To have earned a spot with a misleading superior application is not to have earned the spot at all. If I fake my letters of recommendation will I have earned the spot that my superior application has gotten me? No. And even though this joker probably won't be able to fool any admissions committees into admitting him anywhere, if he did, it won't be because he's "earned" a spot that he has the rights to dispose of however he likes.

That's certainly an interesting scenario. I think if you had done as much work as you could in logic as an undergrad you would have an in to some parts of CS for sure (AI, theory of computation, programming languages?), but I don't know if this is a strong point for you. I think you're right though that it's going to be hard to find many programs that accommodate your background and I'd say the UPenn program probably isn't it. I know someone at John Jay who knew very little about CS before entering their program but his background from before was in math as an undergrad and a few years as a quant on wall street, so his jump wasn't very far at all. I don't want to insult your intelligence or qualifications, but when you say "transition into the field of computers" it makes me think more of IT than computer science, and if this is something that interests you at all it can be accomplished much more easily than what you're proposing with night classes and the like.

Right, like newms was saying "research experience" for you might just be to read some papers and find something more specific you can get excited about/write about in your SOP I don't know that it's generally advised to use MS as a stepping stone to PhD, but like csperson said you might consider it in your case. I know for a fact there are quite a few schools which don't formally fund MS students but where almost any MS student that wants it is funded (every MS student at UIUC that I know is funded, most Stanford students can find a TA after the first quarter I'm told, and I can't recall specifics but have heard of a few others), but I really don't know how to advise you on this because I haven't researched MS admissions too thoroughly--should you avoid terminal programs? will your industry experience help more for an MS app than PhD app? I'd think so, but maybe not. Either way, if you're feeling trapped at this job, getting into an MS where many are funded may put you in a better position--if you don't get funded, you will probably be in a worse position. Maybe touch base with the professors who were fond of you and get some advice also.

I'm sorry if you've already specified, but are you interested in getting a master's or a PhD? One thing to consider: you are saying you know you can get some great LORs, but it's important to know that a letter saying "this person did great in my class" is not necessarily a great LOR for many top places including the ones you've listed and I can only assume that's what yours are going to say based on what you've said, correct if I'm wrong. Likewise with the GPA and GRE, while doing somewhat well here is necessary, it is far from sufficient. I only point this out because you say you're planning to do some prep to get a 1400 GRE--I tell anyone spending much time studying for it, your efforts would almost surely be better placed doing some research or improving your SOP. And like you said at 70 hours a week it's going to be hard to hugely change your resume before fall. If you have suddenly discovered you have a passion for research and/or graduate work, I think you definitely sound like you are qualified to find a less demanding job that still pays well for the next year in order improve your chances for fall 2013.

Yeah I had a couple papers go from review to accepted while they were reviewing my app and most schools responded to an email updating the situation

I'd hope that's enough time. As far as I can tell, the local rental market is hardly affected at all by the schedules of the university: for instance here at UIUC, the school dominates the rental scene and renters will list availabilities up to 10 months in advance specifically for students. On the other hand, for around Stanford I haven't seen very many ads at all that appear to be directed at students (with the exception of faculty renting out a room in their homes near campus). Thus, almost all of the listings that are available are available "now" or within 2 weeks. Maybe I'll be surprised and all the rentals will disappear then, but I think you'll be fine.

Firstly, to the specifics, frankly President you come off as a bit thick and I don't expect this dilemma will actually materialize for you because I don't think you'll get into any PhD programs that will offer you funding. Now, generally, I would say this is not a very ethical or practically wise thing to do. The ethical pitfalls are obvious and have been discussed. Practically, as someone else mentioned, if you'd like to get an MS and are already employed, many companies will provide funding for you to get a master's degree if you appear to have some talent

Yes, I think you'd probably be better off doing this than taking a job in industry unless you can get a job where you might be doing research in a larger capacity than the cog sci job. In particular, I think there are several AI research groups out there (that you might apply to for a PhD) which interface much more closely with cog sci / neuro people than other groups, and I'd think this would be a pretty nice letter to show these groups.

As others said, there are definitely better things you could be doing with your time. If you were interested in doing theory, I suppose it could help, but nearly as much as getting some good research done.

I appreciate your response. You're right that my first post was un-nuanced with respect to the full function of law enforcement. In my last post I outlined what I believe their deterrent function actually is. You're also right that my characterization was decidedly Hobbesian, but that was not on accident: I was only meaning to argue that the function of the police in most small-scale crisis situations (muggings, aggravated assaults, murders) was to jot down the details after the fact. These are events that are more or less straight out of the state of nature, violating social contracts and being out of the reach of the Leviathan as it were. You're also right that there are certain trends which seem to contraindicate the use of guns for self-defense which is why I'm not advocating for everyone to go out and strap a revolver to their thigh and have at it. I would guess (but don't have clear evidence for) that if more people who were using firearms for self-defense actually knew how to use them, the data would attest to increased efficacy. "They pull a gun on you, you whip out your blazing pistol and they run away in fear, or better, you shoot them, non-fatally over course. Obviously, it would never be the case that, having seen your gun, they would shoot you first." Lastly, you're absolutely right to give a sarcastic account of what many people think an encounter with a criminal is going to be like. Good training will give you a much more realistic picture of what is likely to happen (you'd probably be told about people shot 30+ times who were still able to continue attacking) and it should but may not teach you that you shouldn't draw a weapon unless you fear you or others are in mortal danger and you are prepared to use lethal force.

Strawman much? Fear mongering wouldn't have included the statement that luck alone will probably protect you, it probably would have been more like "carry a gun or you're doomed." The vast majority of people will not be a victim of a violent crime, to a large extent because we have a reasonably evolved society and criminal justice system that keeps people disinterested in committing crimes, particularly violent ones, against other people. If you happen to become a victim of a violent crime it's almost certain that the police will not be able to intervene while the crime is occurring (I don't actually have stats on this, but do you disagree?); nevertheless, the existence of the police itself surely lowers all of our chances of becoming victims--see reasonably evolved criminal justice system--which is why you won't find me advocating for "everyone for themselves" Finally, I didn't get anywhere close to creating a dichotomy between relying on the police or relying on complete strangers: I've said I think the police are essential and the main thrust of my argument was that you should rely on YOURSELF and take responsibility for your own safety and that of your family. While you're right that an element of chance (a vanishingly small chance, recall, no fear mongering here) will still remain no matter what you do, being capable of defending yourself might tip the odds in your favor if you're in one of these unlikely scenarios.

Eeek, definitely a political discussion, but I figure I'll put my 2 cents out there: Romantic notions of cowboys be damned, the actual, practical purpose of the police is not to protect but to come take an official, historical account of events after they've occurred. You are the only person who can reliably be counted on to provide for your own safety or that of your family. If carrying a gun and knowing how to use it makes you squeamish or you're relying on the police to keep you safe, chance alone will probably protect you, but I don't think you should categorically damn well-trained individuals who would rather not rely on fate to keep them off the losing end of a violent crime.

I have no idea, but I, too, would love to start planning my schedule! A friend of mine said they were out in early August last year? And that the entire year's worth of courses is released at this time?