dimanche0829

Decorating for the holidays a la literature: http://morningofthemagicians.tumblr.com/post/14067789521/book-tree-for-christmas-altoona-public-library

I spent a year at Loyola University in Chicago as an anthropology, sociology, and psychology major before switching schools and majors. I cannot think of any time when religion factored into my course materials. I did have to take to religion-themed courses as part of pre-reqs, but even those just explored the history of christian marriage; other than that, religion stayed out of my classrooms and I received a very thorough background in my major fields. My recommendation would be to look closely into the publications of faculty and course descriptions for a few semesters to get a feel of what you'd be getting into by applying to a Jesuit school.

Dead Alive (Really want to watch this now...)

Dead air

Rainbow connection

Someone was asking about USC earlier: USC is very LGBQT friendly. It's just a couple miles south of the heart of downtown LA, which has really shaped up over the past couple years to be the mecca for younger, more accepting, and alternative folk (FIDM is also in DTLA).

Seriously?! A Bon Appetit?! I love Bon Appetit!!! Unfortunately, my car is 3,000 miles away from me, so I don't get to go to the store very often; it usually ends up being a 3-4 hour ordeal between the travel and shopping. So if it's not on/in the very near vicinity of campus, I'm pretty much SOL.

Having just sat down to look at the forum while eating Subway for the umpteenth day in a row, I am curious to know what you best and worst meals have been on your campus. My favorite meal so far has been a grilled cheese from the little greasy diner on campus. It's not a particularly exciting choice, but there's some magic or something in the cheese they use; so yummy. My least favorite has grown to be anything and everything from Subway. The only reason I still go there is because I can't stomach greasy food from the diner every day, and because it's still a tiny step above campus dining hall slop--seriously...all of their meat is grey. Plus, I'm on a smaller campus, so choices in general are pretty limited. Urf.

Perhaps you can try to take an incomplete for one or two of the classes. If not, talk to your professors and see if they will allow you to turn in assignments late for reduced credit (better than zeros). Most professors I know are willing to work with struggling students, provided there is an open line of communication, a solid plan in place to get you caught up, and a complete willingness on your part to really work hard for the rest of the semester. Don't expect too much sympathy, however, if you keep quiet about your struggles. If they don't know there's a problem, they won't be able to help you. (And from the sounds of it, you aren't going to be able to pull out of this one alone.) Edited to add: Good luck!

Check mark

To build vocab, I highly recommend the book I Always Look Up the Word Egregious. But I agree with lolopoxie: practice the reading comp! For someone who reads practically non-stop, I had a surprisingly difficult time with the reading passages. They were really tough to follow and way too scientific for my taste. Ugh.

Agreed X 3. It's one thing to cut yourself a little slack on coursework once you have an "in." But abandoning those who gave you an opportunity and depend upon your help (even if your tasks are minimal)? Not okay, IMO.

I made the really tough decision last week to skip over applications for this season. I'm really bummed out, and feel bad because one of my recommenders spent a great deal of time and energy in trying to prepare me for grad school, but my stress and exhaustion levels were through the roof! Between six classes, my honor's project, my Mom's failing health, and working three jobs, I couldn't find the time to satisfactorily complete all my reading and homework, get comfortable with my writing sample and SOP, and study for the lit subject test (which I was supposed to take yesterday, but didn't). So, I'm just going to spend the next 7-8 months trying to publish more work, attending conferences, polishing my writing sample, and studying, studying, studying for the subject test. I'll probably retake the regular GRE, too. There are a couple of MA programs in CA that will allow application submissions well into next year, so I haven't entirely ruled that out yet. But for now, I need a break. I'll just live vicariously through all of you!