Andsowego

Is it apple pie? No way. It's RAMEN!!! 1) Cook ramen as usual - DO NOT add spice packet (save packet for later use in a veggie stir fry, as seasoning for grilled chicken, or use to season homemade soup) 2) Add 1 peeled, chopped fresh apple; a handful of raisins, 1/2 tsp butter or marg, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp brown sugar 3) Toss all together 4) Eat while imagining pie OR you could eat ramen as usual, and make a baked apple with the rest. lol

dipped

Like others here, I'm also in Ontario - yay for waiting on both SSHRC annnnnnd OGS. Fun times. No, wait. SUPER fun times. As for the whole "end of May" notice via McGill, I suspect that's just to get people to stop calling/e-mailing/firebombing the internal powers-that-be. Or, at least I hope so! I can't imagine this waiting game continuing all the way until the END of May. *BIGGESTSIGHEVER*

TA's are unionized at my institution, and the collective agreement says they get paid just under $38/hour. RA's are not unionized, but for all of my RA work, I've been paid $25/hour. Other work is for Teaching Fellowships (also unionized but that's a pay amount per credit course, not per hour - e.g., same pay as an adjunct professor but without the benefits). I also do audio transcription work on the side ($20/hour) and formal writing editing ($25/hour) and those are private (so in theory, I could probably be charging a lot more, but then I'd likely lose clients to others who would undercut me). I hope this helps!

WaitingWaitingWaitingWaiting... Just needed to post *something* to keep from losing my already crazeh mind! What makes this waiting game even more annoying for me, is that I'm currently on the wrong side of the country until mid-May, so even when my letter does arrive, I won't be there to pick it up! Why won't SSHRC give up their old-skool ways and put the results online?!?! My only consolation is that I'm really looking forward to hearing other people's good news via this forum! (plus, then I'll know that my letter - for better or worse - is likely sitting in my home mailbox, ready for me when I return)

Don't apologize. Just do things differently next time. In particular, if you want to get students talking, give them the opportunity to do so in small groups first, then in front of the larger group. This engages students and encourages active discussion since students don't have to risk embarassing themselves in front of the entire class. Put your questions up on the board (powerpoint, overhead, whatever), and ask them to discuss their responses in groups of 4-5. Then once they've had adequate time for small group discussion, ask one volunteer from each group to share a couple of the main points that their group discussed. This is Teaching Techniques 101. Trust me, it *always* works!

turtles

A random thought - I see in your signature that you were waitlisted at one school. Have you tried calling them and personally following up on the status of the waitlist? It might make a difference!

Same here. Two of the same, useless e-mails! Note to self: do not check e-mail via blackberry while in a half-asleep state at 6am. It never ends well.

Everyone's talking about it in the CGS/Vanier thread (also in The Bank section of this forum).

Hi Busti, I'd like to try to respond to your first question: I'm currently doing my PhD in Education (I do have a teaching background), but there are several people in my program (MEd and PhD) who don't have teaching backgrounds (and their experiences are somewhat similar to yours - education related, but not teaching related). The only major problem I forsee, is that without teaching experience (and without a BEd yourself) you will have a really hard time getting any TA work in a Faculty of Education. Since the undergrads in a Faculty of Education are BEd students, you'd essentially be "teaching teachers" and without any teaching experience yourself, you're going to be at the bottom of the TA selection list (unless there's a TA position where you're just marking stuff, and not doing any independent teaching). It clearly doesn't stop you from pursuing an MEd, but it's definitely something to consider if you are going to need funding via TA positions.

To the OP, It's totally unethical for a professor (even if they're your advisor and you have a good relationship) to ask a student to comment on their evaluation responses. In your situation, I likely would have said something like, "I'm really sorry to hear that there have been some discrepancies with your course evaluations, but I'm uncomfortable discussing my responses with you since they are meant to be anonymous. However, if there's a formal investigation in the future, I'd be happy to cooperate with whomever is conducting it." End of story. Easier said than done, I know! It sounds to me like your advisor was testing you. She got the 1's/2's (maybe even a lot of them, and not just from you) and it created difficulty for her, and she can't possibly believe that anyone would rate her so low, so she decided to approach you and ask if you rated her HIGH (in effect, trying to trick you into feeling comfortable, since she was only asking you about the "good" stuff you wrote). She sounds pretty manipulative (and honestly, very clever in an evil genius kind of way). In the future, my advice would be to just uphold the professionalism, no matter what she asks you and no matter how hard it might be to refuse her request for information. She was completely in the wrong to ask you about your responses. eta: I just read a couple of the posts re: whether or not giving 1's/2's is appropriate at all... my answer would be yes, but sparingly. I'm working on my 4th degree, and I've only ever given 1's/2's on a prof's eval twice in my entire academic career - once when the prof was completely abusive and used humiliation to control his students, and the second time when the prof was exhibiting signs of early alzheimer's and he gave the exact same lecture two weeks in a row and still couldn't remember my name after 3 months (in a class of only 10 people). I might give the odd 2 amongst an otherwise 3-4 list of responses, but it's very, very rare to give them unless the situation is totally dire (as I've described).

Random fuel for the fire of crazy: Has anyone signed in to SSHRC's website lately? I just did... I noticed that when I click on "important messages" that the page is currently unavailable... updates in progress, perhaps? (or I could be losing my mind... it's a toss up, really).

I never said that xenophobia doesn't exist. I think I made it pretty clear that I was speaking contextually with regards to the specific cultural environment at York and how it relates to their admissions processes. Also, equality (or indeed, equity) does not mean that every single person should be treated the exact same way. That's a pretty uninformed, simplistic way of viewing things. And FYI, my Master's thesis investigated the role of inclusive education practices as they pertain to international students in Canadian universities. So no, I don't need to read about "toleration theories" (which isn't even the correct terminology that is used to describe what you're trying to elucidate). Anyway, once again I seem to have found myself becoming irritated with a whole lot of ignorance in this thread, so I'm going to call it quits there, and take my leave! Now back to your regularly scheduled programming...

As others have already mentioned, it seems pretty clear that you've never visited York U, or Toronto, or even Ontario. Just FYI (since you seem to have no clue) York is one of the most multicultural, ethnically diverse universities in Canada. Students choose to go there specifically due to its reputation as an open-minded, culturally diverse, international community of learners. All you're doing in this thread, is making yourself look contextually uninformed about York and indeed, the cultural reality of living in Ontario, Canada.

UofT (OISE) is notoriously bad for notifying you after you've already heard from other uni's (e.g. UWO, Queen's, York... even McGill which is usually late as well). I've watched several friends play the waiting game with OISE before, and they all had to ask for acceptance extensions from their other options while waiting for OISE. I'd suggest that you all do the same (especially regarding Western or Queen's - they both tend to be the earliest for Education admits).

Count me among the happy ones! I'm 75% finished my PhD, and although there have been some tough, draining times, I wouldn't trade any of it for anything. I have a good relationship with my supervisor, am surrounded by supportive peers, and I know that when I officially become Dr. Andsowego all the hard work will have been well worth it. Have no fear, it is possible to be both academically challenged and personally happy at the same time, even when the challenges are significant. edited to add: Just fyi, my "move" to grad school was 5000km one direction. (3000miles).

Thank you to mirandaw, who has already succinctly answered your question (about 3-4 posts above ^^^).

My advice for new teachers is to start off more formal, then relax the attire after you've been teaching for a few weeks. I'd always stay away from jeans (no matter how new they are!). Once the students have pegged you as "too casual to take seriously" you can never really go back. It's better to start off a touch on the formal side, then start dressing it down once you're a few weeks in and your authority has been established.

I'm sorry you are so angry that you feel you need to blame everyone (older mature students, those from within the provincial region, Asians... just to restate the people you DID stereotype and subsequently blame in your previous post), but I'm even more sorry that you don't seem to understand why I had a problem with your obvious prejudice. I'm not going to engage with you further in this conversation (if it can even be called that). I'll just reiterate that you really need to take a look at your own shortcomings in this regard. Once your personal anger has cleared, perhaps you'll be in a better position to understand what I'm trying to tell you (none of which has anything to do with being naive, or uninformed about how admissions work, or anything else erroneous you chose to take from my post).

I don't think I've ever responded to someone's post in the way that I'm about to, but I really can't stay quiet this time. I'm truly sorry you've had some rejections, but your post reeks of stereotyping, and prejudice, and bitterness on so many levels. If you keep getting rejected, I'd suggest you take a look at the weaknesses of your own applications instead of looking to blame everyone and everything else around you.

OP = Original Poster

wind,

It's not a "hilly" city. On a scale of 1-10, with 1 being the flattest of the flat, and 10 being San Francisco, Victoria is about a 4 (imho, of course!). I grew up there, and the hills are there, but not everywhere. You can easily bike/walk anywhere. LOL

I concur with others, in that you probably got rejected due to lack of program/supervisory fit (since your grades and GRE were obviously good enough for Harvard!). Also, I know others have commented that your post seems kind of pompous, but I think you've raised an interesting point. This kind of "reverse" rejection happens all the time in grad school. e.g., Why did my paper get accepted for this conference and not for that one? Or for this journal and not for that one? Or - the most confusing - why did I win this funding, but not that funding?!?!?! It can drive a person nuts. What I'd suggest is that unless you get rejected from a "top" choice (e.g., your number 1 journal, conference, school, award, etc.), don't worry about it. There's merit in knowing why a top choice anything would reject you, since there will likely be a learning opportunity in knowing the answers. Otherwise, chillax and count your blessings!