jasper.milvain

Even worse--I was looking for refried beans, and they weren't with the normal beans. They were halfway across the store in the 'Mexican' section, they had no chilis in them, and they cost nearly four dollars. When refried beans are considered 'ethnic food', you're in deep prairie. Anyways, I should stop! I need to get this out of my system online so that I don't seem like a spoiled coastal brat in real life. I really am enjoying a lot of other things about the place. Like the beer store on my street that's open until 2 AM! Goodbye, crappy government stores that close at 9!

Hi, mnemosune (mnemosyne?). I'm finding your story kind of strange. Maybe some clarification would help? Ok, you clearly made an error by not keeping your supervisor up to date on who you were getting thesis help from. Even if she was away, that sounds like something you would have to clear with her. At your school, do you usually have first and second readers, or is that unusual? If it's normal, I don't see why people would be upset, and if it's abnormal, I don't see why the second professor would wwork with you without getting clearance. Maybe if you explained what exactly you mean by 'work with'. What did the two of you do together? This also seems strange to me. Who said that you "got too much help"? What are the standards at your school for this kind of thing? Big red flag! This is your academic future you're talking about! Don't rely on gossip! Not playing things absolutely straight and clear with your supervisor is what got you into this mess. Start being direct with her, and do it now. Schedule an appointment, explain your version of events, be polite, be apologetic, and ask if she can still write you a strong letter of recommendation. Don't mention the gossip. It will seem unprofessional. Was she grave about your grad school chances only because of the incident with the supervisory mix-up, or is there more to that story? If she mentioned other reasons why she didn't like your odds, you should give them serious consideration. It will look really bad if you don't have a letter from your MA supervisor. Don't even start thinking about contingency plans yet. Get an appointment, talk it through with her, and try your very best to salvage that relationship. Remember that academia is a small world. If you're applying to do your PhD in the same sub-field as your MA, professors at your new schools may well know (or know of) your supervisor, and call her up to ask what the deal is. If she's really so upset that she won't write you a letter, I don't think you can gloss over it by finding another LOR. If this was your undergrad advisor, it wouldn't be a big deal. But burning such an important bridge at the graduate level could be a real stumbling block. I don't mean to be harsh, just honest.

I dunno... I'm meeting someone for dinner tonight at a restaurant that has bottomless french fries. :shock: I do love it here, and I'm happy to be off the coast, but man is the food different.

Ok, so I'm here now. I spent the first couple of days visiting with family and doing grocery runs to stock our apartment. We also bought paint (squee!) and will be spending the afternoon priming our living room. Moving from the west coast to the prairies, the biggest culture shock has been food. We went to a small supermarket to pick up some essentials, and they didn't have hot sauce. Not only that, but all of the food that was not strictly standard North American fare took up one quarter of one side of an aisle, and was labelled "Chinese and Mexican". This is in the middle of downtown in a major city! In my old neighbourhood, even the smallest grocery stores would have ten different kinds of chili sauce, various marinades (hoisin, sesame oil, different kinds of Teriyaki organized by country/region etc), tons of pre-made curry packets, edamame, gai lan (or at least bok choi and shanghai bok choi), bean sprouts, proper jasmine, etc etc etc. I guess I got a lot more used to living in a diverse area than I thought. Our new mission is going to Chinatown and finding out where to get the food we love. I can't live like my mother-in-law, who insists that medium salsa is far too spicy and burns her mouth!

Only if the new field requires information about an ability that you have not demonstrated to these professors-- for example, if one had taught you a strictly quantitative course, and the letter form asked how good your essay writing was. But if that was the case, you should be seeking a referee who could better answer the required questions, anyways. In short, it shouldn't be a problem.

This is great advice. If you add to this the fact that the lower ranked school in this scenario is also your undergraduate school, it will even further restrict you on the job market. YES. There are more long distance couples in academia than you can imagine, and even more people with one partner who follows the other as the 'trailing spouse' (a horrible term, but there it is). Given that nobody wants to do long distance, you have to conclude that there are compelling professional reasons for not turning down good programs, good jobs, or other good opportunities for a relationship. If he's not willing to move for you now for your PhD, what's going to happen five years down the road when you're packing up to go to a two year postdoc, or an 8 month limited term position? and another? and another? What happens if you get a tenure track job offer in an undesirable location? Moving to where he is right now is only a short-term fix. This issue will come up again. And finally, I know how hard long distance is. Missing somebody can overwhelm you so much that it's like a drug. I know I didn't think straight all the time when I was desperate to see my then-boyfriend, now-husband. And since you guys have only just fired up your relationship, you're also experiencing what's called New Relationship Euphoria. It's that blissed out state where your judgment is compromised and you don't bat an eye at doing incredibly public, incredibly mushy things that you would have rolled your eyes at six months ago. My point is that both of these emotional states cloud your judgment, and that both of them are powerful, but temporary. I bet if you let things sit for awhile, you will get a whole new perspective on what you want to do. Don't make any permanent decisions while you're a. in the early stages of an intense relationship, b. transitioning to grad school, and c. moving to a new city. Those are all huge, confusing shifts. Don't rush into anything. I will say, though, that I've done the long distance thing before with a guy who resented that my grad school kept me away from him, and didn't understand why school took up so much of my time. He wanted me to move back to my hometown right away, and would say things like "Aren't I worth it? Isn't this important to you? How can you put school ahead of us?" That got me for a time, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized how incredibly manipulative he was being. And you know what? School WAS more important than that relationship in the end. It's OK to put your career first. Right after him, I met my husband. He hates moving and hates change, but he picked up his life and moved to be with me for my MA, and we're packing up to move everything again for my PhD. This isn't to say "meet a doormat who will move for you" but simply to say that if you are with the right person, they will want to see you get your PhD at the best possible place. They will be proud of the sacrifices you make to your work, and your dedication. Long distance or in person, they will support you and take your program seriously. If this relationship is going to work, it WILL work long distance. If it won't survive the distance, it likely won't survive the other stresses of life, especially an academic life.

I know you mean 'mnemonic devices', but I love the image of using jackhammers and air compressors to learn words.

I can't remember your specific field, but you likely won't need to take the GRE if you're staying in Canada. Check the websites, they'll tell you. Belowthree is right that if there is a requirement, you won't get it waived, but there likely won't be one. You're going to have to work with at least one undergrad letter and undergrad grades, which frankly puts you at a disadvantage. You can see if your professors are willing to read your best undergrad work and help you refine it for use as a writing sample. That will also give them a sense of what your research looks like for letters. If you don't have time to adequately prepare, consider taking a year off. You may be able to get work teaching college or hanging around as a TA/RA at your MA school. I have friends who did both between MA and PhD. It let them devote a lot more time and effort to PhD apps, which are important enough to deserve your full attention.

We're giving away our TV to a friend and won't be able to afford the shiny flat screen we want until our moving costs settle down, or I'd be cleaning up the last few sets on Rock Band in preparation for Beatles Rock Band. Once we have a TV, though... watch out! I spent the first term of my MA playing an hour or two of Guitar Hero a day. I have no I idea why I don't have a semester of Bs to show for it.

I know reason number three is the reason I'm probably over-posting lately.

If it's department specific, then having a sense of which faculty you'd be interested in working with would be great. They could give you a head's up about who's accepting students, who's on campus...

Is your meeting with the Assistant Director of Admissions for your whole school, your faculty, or your department? I would use the time to get any information you need that you won't be able to reasonably get from an administrative assistant. Questions about transcript submission sounds too low-level. Questions about the nature and level of funding, or the schools' resources or placement records might be more fruitful.

The second one.

Oohhhh... yes! When my husband and I went to my PhD city for a condo hunt, we would duck into liquor stores whenever we had time to check out their beer selection. There are a lot of local/regional microbrews that we absolutely love in our current city, and are sad to leave behind. We can't end up drinking Coors Lite (With God as my witness, I will nevah drink Coors again!). Luckily a friend of ours told us about a maaaagical beer store with five hundred different kinds of beer that's hidden in an odd part of town. We will certainly be making a pilgrimage early on, and sampling the local wares.

With that much debt I wouldn't even do a funded grad degree. I'd get the highest paying job I could, then I would get a second. After moving back in with my parents and selling my car, of course. That's an insane number. Possibly a troll? There must be a crazy story if this is legit.

Similar story here- I applied to four and got in at all four. Since Canada has fewer PhD granting institutions, Canadians who want to stay at home seem to normally apply to three to six schools.

Pick a random number, find the corresponding bus route, and see where it takes you. Write a journal about the last year, the transition, your choice, and why you want to be in grad school. You can re-read it when you can't remember what the hell you're doing there any more. Find the library, figure out if they have any incredibly beautiful rare books in special collections that you can at least tangentially connect to your research, and spend a blissful afternoon in a reading room. If you already have a student card, check out the pool/gym while the lines are still short. Google "Historical Walking Tour of [your city]" and see if there are any online maps/booklets. Call family and old friends. Send long e-mails to someone you've been meaning to get back in touch with. Check out all of the grocery stores near you, then once you've found the cheapest/best, make yourself the most satisfying meal you can afford. Scroll through the local radio dial and find a good station. See, I can be all whimsical when it comes to suggestions for other people, but I know that my time between moving and school starting will look more like: Play Rock Band. Entertain the cats. Think about painting. More Rock Band.

No, don't include it. It has no bearing on your abilities as a researcher, which are what the adcoms are interested in. Good luck, both with the apps and with family.

It's a "strong recommendation" and they have absolutely no way of checking. Working certainly undermines the intention of the award (to save you from having to work) but they can't do anything if you decide to work. Unless you... I dunno... sent a detailed hours sheet directly to SSHRC with a note saying "haha fooled you". When I had my MA SSHRC (in the lighter second year of my MA, so a different situation from jferrier in terms of school workload) I worked 420 hours as a TA and another hundred or so as a college marker. I also had paid volunteer positions on two committees and did some tutoring. No black helicopters descended from the sky to take my money. As I mentioned, I asked my school if taking on an additional TAship (for a total of 640 hours over the year) would cause my money to get cancelled and they told me that it's strongly disapproved of, but they don't check or enfore any limits. Besides, many TA positions are marking jobs, which alternate between being zero hours a week and 30-40 hours during exams. How on earth could SSHRC 'not allow' you to work more than 15 hours in a given week? It's utterly unenforceable. I can guarantee you from direct experience that while SSHRC wants you not to work, and while not working too much is a great idea, the work guidelines remain just that: guidelines. They cannot find out how many hours you work. It's not like revenue Canada scrutinizes your T4s and figures out your work hours so that they can tattle on you to the tri-council.

I can see how trying to be a big fish in a small pond didn't work out for you. Why would you trade off learning and research opportunities for a better chance at acceptance? If you're going to spend years and years in deep stress and financial hardship to master a subject, go to where they have the expertise to support you. You should feel like you're in a place where you belong and contribute, not like you're either too good or not good enough for your program. The whole strategy seems 'penny-wise pound-foolish' to me-- you're saving some application fees and maybe some time by applying to (what appear to be) easier admits, but that's nothing compared to the potential money and time you may lose on the job market if you get a PhD from a lower-ranked school and have letters of reference from someone who never really engaged with your research. If you want to be a professor, nothing short of the best school you can get into with the best matched supervisor you can find will do. I don't say this to scare you. I'm just trying to motivate you not to sell yourself short. I applied to a couple of schools that were fairly easy admits and low prestige. At the time, I just wanted to do my PhD so badly that I didn't care where. I was desperate to have the chance to do it. Now that I'm on the other side of the admissions process, I can see how flawed and fear-driven my logic was. There's no point in just doing a PhD if you can't do it well. And incidentally, out of the four schools I was accepted to, the highest ranked school with the best placement rate was also the school that offered me the most and most secure funding.

I would spend at least the first term just being a grad student. You'll be amazed how much useful information you can get by simply being on campus, out at talks, and available to say yes to that invitation to attend someone's defense, go for beers, have tea with a prof, watch a job talk, etc. You'll be able to figure out who's good to work for, who to avoid, hidden deadlines, under-publicized funding opportunities, local conferences in your field, who to talk to to finagle deadlines, etc. Anything that decreases your flexibility has the potential to hurt you. Besides, with SSHRC and a TAship you'll be making decent money. You might even be able to tuck some away to cover your first few loan payments in case you don't get a job right off the hop. You can pile on responsibilites and be superman, but why do it if you don't have to? Enjoy the luxury of devoting yourself full time to your studies. You earned it when you won that SSHRC. That's what I would do. Jesus would probably live in a hovel and save most of his SSHRC to give to tax collecters and whores.

Why not start fall semester with just the TAship and then build up your work hours from there as time allows? Politically, I'd say if anyone was going to object to you taking on additional work, they'd be more likely to object to private sector stuff than to additional on campus jobs.

They'll fund you if they really want you, and they'll really want you if your research fits well with what they want to do as a department, or with a professor who needs grad students. So yes, absolutely, fit will help.

Well, obviously it will hurt your chances of establishing contact with that specific professor. But lots of people get into programs without getting to know their potential supervisor all that well. If your supervisor has to be away for one year of your PhD, the first year is probably best, since you have the least direct contact. I'll leave the second question to people who know better.