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eltoro89

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    USA
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  • Program
    Psychology

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  1. So, I graduated last year and I've been working and trying to get some research experience but it hasn't been going well because I live in a town which isn't really near any universities for hundreds of miles. Recently, I got a job offer to teach English in France. The hours are good and I'll have plenty of time, so I'm thinking of taking it and holding off grad school for another year and doing this job while looking for volunteer research experience in France. Thing is, ESL is not my grad school endeavor so I don't think a POI will be particularly impressed by my teaching English in France. My questions: Is it possible to get volunteer research experience with professors in France with a bachelor's? Is the process like it is here in the US, more or less? Would this be seen by POIs as a less valuable research experience since I didn't obtain it with academics in the US? How much of the interworkings of a research lab in a non anglophone country are conducted in English? My abilities in French are very high, but I was not educated in my field in French and so I have no idea what the specialized vocabulary is or how to discuss/conduct research in French. I'm sure I could learn, but I think there aren't really any "How to be a psychology research assistant in French for beginners" books. I would be legally resident in France, but I would not be allowed to work for money outside of the position that has sponsored my visa. Would this be a problem? (I'm assuming not, since I'm sure the French love free labor just as much as we do.) Would I find a significant bias in trying to secure such a volunteer research experience when pitted against French students? I'm hoping anyone who has experience in research internationally, not just in France, might be able to help.
  2. One of the programs I am applying to next year says that if accepted, I would be eligible for a TAship to teach Spanish due to my educational background. When I asked what the duties involved were, I was told that there was a small training session and that TAs would begin the semester by teaching their own courses in introductory Spanish. This program is at the top of my list for consideration, but I'm terrified at the prospect of being thrown to the undergrads with no experience. I tutored for the department at my undergrad, but that's nothing compared to actually having a CLASS full of people depending on me to help them understand a foreign language. Does anyone have experience as a modern languages TA? I keep envisioning these scenarios in which I'm trying to explain grammar to a bunch of deer-eyed undergrads who have no idea what I'm saying, and the prospect is scary. I definitely would love to attend this program and I'd need the money that the TAship brings, but part of me wants to just avoid it like the plague. It's not that I'm against TAing. Quite the contrary, I think it's important. But being in charge of teaching introductory Spanish seems reallly daunting. Although I speak the language, I know NOTHING about foreign language pedagogy. I haven't even mentioned the worst part: This school's policy states that even introductory courses are immersion and conducted in Spanish. We had the same policy at my undergrad. I felt it was really well executed at my undergrad because my professors were so good at demonstrating the concepts even if we couldn't understand exactly what they were saying. I just don't know how they're going to teach me how to teach Spanish in Spanish to people who... don't speak Spanish. The whole thing has me freaking out!
  3. I'm not sure if it's the same in political science. I have identified professors whose research interests line up with mine, but only a few departments have explicitly said that this is necessary. For the rest, I'm sure there's an unspoken understanding that you should be aware of who it is you want to work with. My understanding is that, in the sciences, funding tends to come directly from research budgets of professors. Of course, in actually, I have no idea if that's true, but seems plausible. In any case, I keep a spreadsheet of all the programs I'm applying to, their requirements, application fees, and potential advisors. I'll take the safe approach and contact professors anyway. Even if Political Science in Canada does rely heavily on an admissions committee, the people who I make contact with might have some influence in the decision process.
  4. I am actually worried about this, too. My cumulative average is 3.0, but I have a strong upward trend, so my last-two is 3.8. I am hoping that study abroad experience, the last-two GPA, my undergraduate research conference presentation, and under review publication in an undergrad journal will make a difference. I'm going to apply to a large number of schools in Canada. Hopefully one of them will be willing to give me a shot.
  5. Thanks for the advice! My original list was a bit smaller, but through correspondence with my first choice, I learned that they accepted only two international students this year. Between 2 and 5 seems to be the magic number for international students. That number really motivated me to consider more options. All of the schools I'm applying to have several faculty who fit my research interests, so I feel that the focus will be fine. Thanks for the pre-emptive welcome! Hopefully I don't get denied from all eleven. If so, I won't have any left over money for all the alcohol I'll need to live it down. Hopefully my cycle next year will start off with an acceptance so that I won't be on pins and needles the whole time. I think there's an extra layer of OMGWTFSHJSDHJSHJSDHJSDAAAAAHHHH felt when you're applying as an international student.
  6. As an American applying broadly to programs in Canada for next cycle, I have chosen eleven universities, in order to make sure I have the widest possible range of opportunity in attending grad school. I don't mind the money spent on applications, but my biggest worry is going to LoR writers with the intention of getting LoRs for eleven different institutions. I know that conventional advice states that if they aren't willing to work with you, then you shouldn't ask them for an LoR, but I also realize that professors are busy people. Many of the schools to which I am applying also have a referee form that accompanies the LoR. Some want LoRs by mail, others want LoRs by an online system. I realize that eleven is a large number, but competition for international students is fierce and I wanted to cast a wide net. It seems most people here apply to a smaller number of schools. How do I approach professors about doing LoRs in this situation? What's the best way to manage and make sure that everything gets done when all of these universities have different methods for sending in LoRs?
  7. As a Spanish & Political Science major, I studied abroad in Mexico and it was nowhere near as expensive. I'm not sure what you mean by non traditional, but I went to a private language school in Mexico for four months. I did their intensive course while living with a Mexican family. I took 6 hours of Spanish classes (in Spanish) at their institute five days a week for four months and also benefited from living with a Mexican family. This was the best thing I ever did for my Spanish and my research interests. Not only did my Spanish improve leaps and bounds, but I got practical experience with the people and countries whose politics I claim are one of my interests. Since you're going into SLP, the international experience won't be as important for you as it was for me, someone applying to Latin American Studies programs and political science with Latin American politics interests. You would still benefit from the experience in terms of cultural awareness and Spanish ability. I consider my study abroad non traditional because I did not complete it at an actual university in Mexico, merely a language school. I think that's the best decision I ever made. I had the chance to go on a university exchange with the University of Veracruz, but chose this program at this private language school because it allowed me to focus purely on improving my Spanish and enjoying Mexico. I don't think I would have been able to if I had done actual university classes at a university. Since I was a Spanish major, I got 15 of the 24 upper-division Spanish credits I needed abroad in Mexico in the end anyway, so it wasn't that bad. 9K really isn't that bad if it includes lodging and meals. I paid 4000 for my program fees (lodging, 3 meals a day, Spanish instruction), 3000 for my tuition (in state at a state school), and 700 for the flight. So, all in all, about 8000 dollars. Had I gone just for the experience without academic credit, it would have been only 5000. If you want to do it and the program is an intensive one that's going to give you as much exposure to Spanish as possible, do it! You can't put a price on bringing your Spanish closer to fluency. Before I left for Mexico, I had 3 upper level classes in Spanish and could handle myself okay in the language, but I still had problems, doubts, and difficulties speaking spontaneously. After spending four months in Mexico in this intensive course and having to live with Mexicans who didn't speak English, I came back to the states more fluent in Spanish than I have ever been. There are still words I run across that I don't know, but I can express myself on most any topic, understand anything on the radio and tv, read novels without the dictionary or pauses, and genuinely communicate with Spanish speakers with the same ease that I can in English. I owe this to being abroad. I learned a lot of Spanish in the classroom in the states, but going to Mexico really unlocked it all for me.
  8. If you intend on working in the UK, you should note that the post-study work visa has been eliminated and it's incredibly hard to get sponsored for a work visa when you not only have to compete with UK citizens, but also the rest of the EU as well. Before awarding sponsorship, employers must show that they have conducted a labor market needs tests which indicates that the job has been advertised for x amount of time and that no number of UK and EU citizens were found suitable before they can sponsor you with the government. This is one of the fundamental reasons I am not considering the UK for graduate studies. As an American, If my skills aren't going to be wanted there after I graduate simply because I'm not from the EU, then they can't have my money either. I'll settle for cheaper, funded, and immigrant-friendly education in Canada. I was simply not willing to get fiscally violated by the insane exchange rate between dollars and pound sterling, the high international fees, or the cost of living when my chances of being able to remain the country after studies were limited. To me, racking up debt in GBP and trying to pay it back in USD if I was lucky enough to be hired back home with a foreign degree did not make financial sense.
  9. If you're applying to a grad program at a less competitive school, but unique features of said program make it appealing to you to the point where the program is your first choice amongst all schools to which you've applied, should you indicate such in your statement of intent?
  10. Thanks! The schools just confirmed this as well. I guess I mistakingly assumed that a transcript was a supporting document!
  11. I am an applicant from the US interested in applying for MA programs in Canada. I am having a little worries about the application deadlines that I'm seeing. It seems at all the universities that offer my program, most of them only accept students for the Fall (Winter) semester. These applications are usually due between January-March. That would be no problem, except my intention was to apply to grad school for the Fall, and I'm just about to start my final semester. I graduate this May, which is past the date for application. It seems that these universities want completed applications AND supporting documents by that time period or else an applicant will not be considered. By this reasoning, I'd graduate this Spring and would have to wait out the Fall semester of 2012 and apply in the Spring of 2013 for admission into the Fall semester of 2013, which puts me a year out of the way. There's only one university that I am considering that has entry into the Spring semester with applications due in July. This would only put me off at six months, but if I'm not accepted to that one program, I'm put behind. Is this common practice in Canada or indeed of grad school in general? Should I explain the situations to the schools and see if they will hold my applications until the receipt of my final transcripts? I'm moving to Canada regardless because my fiancee is from there and we're getting married and going through the whole me getting permanent residency thing. That's why everything's been a tad last minute with admissions, we've been deliberating on whether staying here was the best course and decided that we would prefer Canada.
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