imonedaful

I interviewed for a teaching position one time where I had to give them a 5 minute "sample" of how I lecture. This actually would not be a bad thing to prepare. Have a brief presentation about something you have taught in the past and be able to present it like you have. Pick something you know a lot about and could easily lecture about without any notes. I don't know how formal the interview is, but it might not be that serious.

I third this. I am generally not a hot-natured person but I did teach at a two year college and I realized once I started teaching and I was walking around the classroom a lot talking to the students that I did get fairly hot. So I try to stick to lightweight fabrics. And if you do know that you are going to sweat avoid wearing anything that shows it... pit stains and the like. It will be distracting for both you and the students!

Haha, I will play too. I have done my fair share of online dating since in general, I just don't socialize with people in the conventional way. I have met some interesting people, and some not so interesting ones. The most entertaining as of late is people I will go on a date with and we will get into an argument about something random. One guy told me that he thinks if he had just done sports in high school he would have no problem gotten offered a full scholarship to a college program. I asked him what he based his assumptions off and told me "oh, I am in good shape, somebody would take me." So I had to explain to him the statistic of getting a college scholarship for athletics (thank you, quantative methods) and told him I was rather insulted that he felt that it was that easy to accomplish (I did my undergrad and grad on an athletic scholarship). Nevertheless, we never saw eachother again. The worst thing you can hear on a first date, especially someone you met online, is "hey, so I will see you tomorrow?" haha. This has happened to me a few times, just because I met you one time does not mean I want to see you every day, I do other things. Another man I met, who I actually thought seemed nice and hung out with a few times, told me that he believed "men only like women for 90% looks and 10% everything else." What a horrifying thing to say to a woman with a Master's degree that can probably kick your ass. One of my least favorites is the "oh you work out" or "you competed this..." "I bet I can beat you..." Nobody cares. I did get to listen to a man tell me a very involved story about him and his ex-girlfriend and how they were living together and she just left while he was gone and didn't tell him. Not something you should tell somebody on the first date if you are trying to impress them. I started to understand why somebody would want to sneak out in the middle of the night... Okay, one more. I met up with someone and when he opened his mouth I realized... he had adult braces! I cannot remember last person over the age of 18 that I had seen with braces. I flinched a little bit when he started talking, but I was trying not to act too shocked, but it caught me off guard.

The only way I could see this happening is if one was a traditional in-the-classroom school and another one was online. It would not be too bad if you took a full course load at the traditional school and then an additional class online. That would be reasonable, I have done something similar. But you probably cannot take on two full course loads and commute between schools.

Yeah, I don't think going into that much debt for a Sports Management degree is worth it. My best friend is graduating with his right now and trying to find a job. The only way he managed was with a GA position that paid a miserable salary. If it is something you really want to accomplish like you mentioned, reapply next year and try to land a GA position. In the meantime, work and save up some money. Between my Master's degree and when I start my PHD program this fall I will have been out of school and working for two years. Saving that money will give me a little bit more breathing room once I start. However, I would not incur that much debt if it is going to put you in a significantly better position career wise. Good luck with finding an accounting job.

Almost any business PHD program is like this. Even at large universities they do not accept more than 5 students into any one concentration. They generally take on 1-5 students. There is a small group of people that sit on the committee that make these decisions. It is all about if that group of people decides to pick you out of a large pool of applicants. It is quite a gamble. It is true that a good number of these programs accept mostly foreign students. The program I applied to was 64% international students and 66% male. I am definitely a minority in my field being American and a woman!

I am not a fan of the roommate situation. I had a private dormroom for two and a half years of undergraduate. I tried having a roommate during my master's degree and it iddn't work out and I ended up moving out. She definitely had some negative qualities that I always think of when I consider ever getting a roommate again. She used to get letters from some guy in prison at our residence. When I saw the letters I actually looked the guy up in the state system to see if he was getting out soon, haha. She left dishes in the sink and then went on spring break. Eww. I took some online classes and had to take timed tests over blackboard and she would come in with her friends and be loud. I had to do all my work in the library. Just too much of a hassle when I was a student, I would rather live in a smaller apt by myself than with a roommate. However, if you are considering it, maybe stay by yourself for a year and then once you meet people decide if you want to live with someone the next year.

I presume that if you have a 9 month assistantship you would be allowed to work fulltime over the summer wherever you chose, correct? If you they are not paying you, they cannot hold you to anything I would think. What else would you do with your summer?

I always say, go where the money is. Generally, a school that offers you funding wants you there. Something you definitely have to consider is what you want to do after graduate school and how much you will get paid. If you are going to go into considerable debt for no guarantees that you are going to make more money as a graduate of program # 30 than program # 5 (which is almost always the case) then it will not be worth it. I know too many people who are 30 something years old graduated school a decade ago and are still paying off student loans. I am not sure what you are planning to do with your Art degree but you should look up the career path you want to take and see what the average salary is. Then consider how much you would have to pay, or how much you would have to take out in student loans over the course of your degree. Look at those figures, and then see how much reputation is worth to you.

Remember when we were children and we would count down the days of school until summer vacation? Now as adults, we are counting down the days until we go back to school. Funny how things work that way. It is nice to know I am not the only one feeling this way. I am dragging mostly because I work two jobs (I wake up at 5 or 6am everyday and I am not much of a morning person haha) and even though I have been gainfully employed for the few years I have been out of school I feel like (and everybody else who feels like voicing their opinion) I am not living up to my potential career wise. The job market was abysmal when I graduated so I have picked up some fairly random jobs. Now, I have a better vehicle for accomplishing what I want. So now, work is slowly dragging along and I spend a lot more time looking out the window. Haha Has anybody ever had your employer talk to you like you are going to be employed there FOREVER even though they know that you are probably extremely overqualified for what you do? This is happening to me at one of my jobs. It as if they think I should have no ambition, lol. My job is okay for the most part, but I get an ehhh hourly wage and no benefits and I only work part time so I have to have another job. They will probably be highly upset when I leave, which in part I am not looking forward to telling them. Another part of me will find great pleasure in it!

You know what they say, "don't sh*t where you eat." I think graduate students should venture out and date people outside their little world of graduate school. At least try it. As intelligent people with a high level of education I know we sometimes get a complex. We think we need to be with like-minded or educated people to be happy. However, it can make us incredibly closed minded. You should date different kinds of people and then if you end up dating somebody else who is a grad student, then so be it. I would try to stay out of your department, especially if it is small. When you have 5-10 people in a cohort and 2 of them are dating they will end up classified as "the couple" and you will lose part of your singular indentity.

One thing you can do when you are not on campus and need to have letters written is send a packet with already addressed and stamped envelopes and any forms they need to fill out. Just send it to them in a big manila envelope and so all they have to do is fill it out or write a letter and everything else is taken care of. I hate asking for letters of recommendations but I sent everything already prepared so I figured it would only take them 5 minutes to send it.

I have never gone to a college orientation. I typically worked full time over the summer and went to colleges far away from where I lived. Not going to orientation will not start you off on a bad foot. Anybody who lives a considerable distance or is working full time cannot reasonably take time out to go to an orientation. I am sure you can meet everybody once you get there.

I did not see a thread for Old Dominion University yet for this year, so here I am starting one! I recently accepted an offer to start a PHD in Business Strategy starting this fall. I will be moving up from Jacksonville, Florida. One of my best friends went to a nearby university for his undergraduate studies and I visited him for a few weeks while on Thanksgiving break from school. So I have spent a few weeks in the area before. However, it will pretty much be new for me. Anybody else attending ODU or any of the surrounding schools?

Education major will not hurt you. However, you really do not need one if you want to go to graduate school and teach at the college level. The reality is that you need an education major to teach at the elementary and middle school level. You can get a teaching certificate without an education major in whatever subject area you majored in to teach at the high school level (this can vary county to county state to state, but I know where I live, you don't need it). You can get a teaching certificate with a bachelor's degree for high school. If you want to teach in college, it is not required. That being said, you have to decide what career path you want to choose. In my opinion, you don't need to keep doing an education major for what you want to do. A masters degree (or PHD, whichever you are considering) in Spanish will allow you to teach in college and you will make considerably more money. It also gives you the option of teaching at the high school level if you wanted. All you would have to do is take a teaching certificate test. Having a graduate degree will also make your payrate higher. I hope that helps

My SOP was fairly general. However, going into a PHD in business the field is a little less scientific and specific as theoretical physics. I opened with the reason why I was interested in the field. I dropped a few words related to me personally you wouldn't find on a resume anywhere.Then, I gave a little background about my studies. Since you are normally limited to a short SOP I chose not to mention stuff that was easily accessible on my resume such as where I went to school, my majors, and basic work experience. I related a few things I had done, projects in my undergraduate and graduate studies, to how they would be useful in continuing my studies at their program. I gave them a snapshot of what I currently do and how it was building me to continuting my education. I closed out with why I was a good fit for the program. I took a stance that says "this is why I am awesome, this why you should chose me," versus the "I desperately want into your program and I would do anything to get you to glance my way." An SOP with a little swagger can never hurt

I went to two mid-sized non-stellar state universities for my bachelor's and master's and was able to get into a PHD program (all which seem to be competitive). I think your credentials are much more impressive than where they come from. The thing they always say about prestigious universities is that they are really hard to get into, and fairly easy to get out of. Your whole profile will be the determining factor, not just institution names.

My best friend is about to graduate from the sports management MBA program at Ohio University this year. It has a great reputation for their sports management program. He was able to get an assistantship that covered his tuition and pay a small stipend for living expenses (which is a plus). However, you are contracted to not work any place else so you have to make it work off of that stipend. As far as I know, he enjoyed the program and is not looking for job opportunities. It looks like all the schools on your list are good ones. I also know down here Florida Atlantic University has a sports management MBA program. I saw some information about it when I was visiting the campus. Not sure about the requirements, but it would be worth looking into. Hope that helps!

As the other posters mentioned, freaking out is completely normal. Going to graduate school is like entering a marriage for a few years. Therefore, there is a good chance you will get cold feet. I have had the same feelings a little bit. I had decided a few years ago when I finished my master's degree that I wanted to apply to a PHD program. For the past two years I have been working a few jobs, paying bills, and living like a "normal" person. I had doubt I would even get accepted into a PHD program. However, when I did get an acceptance e-mail this weekend I was excited. I work, but am not fully satsified with what I do either. I feel like I need to "upgrade" my life. After being excited, it kind of set in that going back to school is like (in the words of the man who interviewed me for graduate school) "taking a vow of poverty." I had kind of got used to having some extra spending money. So what you need to do if you have doubt is sit and think about whether you are okay with settling or rather try to push your limits. Make sure things make sense financially (is there funding availabe for your program? do you have to take out a loan? if you take out a loan, has reasonable will it be for you to pay it back?). Once you can realistically lay out a plan that is feasible you have to just fully commit yourself to what you are doing. It may take a little personal persuasion, as it can be an arduous process, but it needs to be done.

I do not have any first hand knowledge about the anthropology program at George Mason but I have been to the campus. I have family that lives in Fairfax, Virgina near the campus and it is a very nice area. Fairfax would be a great place to live. I am sure if you do a little research you can find out first hand more about the program itself (I would hope you did some of this before applying).

Keep hanging in there! I finally got my first acceptance yesterday. Yes, I got an e-mail at 7:00am Sunday morning. Some programs are just taking their sweet time. But not all programs have spilled their slots yet. Still waiting on one school, but it much easier with an acceptance

I have been looking around for different types of scholarships offered for doctoral students. I have been admitted to one program so far who will give me an assistantship where I will receive $15,000 a year for a living stipend. This is not a bad deal, but just wondering what other kinds of funding are out there. The only thing I did find was the AAUW.org website which has a fellowship scholarship for women doing research in a doctoral program. Does anybody know of any other scholarships out there? I will be studying business management with a concentration in strategy.

I am still waiting too! I just did an interview with one school this week and waiting on the results. The other school hasn't sent out anything. I e-mailed them and they said they would be making decision in a few weeks. I posted earlier that I think everything is moving slower down south. At one of my jobs today they were talking about possibly making us wear uniforms, which sounds like a terrible idea. I kept thinking in my head, I hope I get into to a PHD program so I just don't have to deal with this! Haha

I feel like everything is moving slower down south. Haha

I find this thread interesting. When I did my master's degree I was fortunate enough to be on an athletic scholarship that covered my tuition, books, and for one semester a cafeteria meal plan (if you can get a school to throw one of these in for you, big plus). However, my scholarship did not cover my living expenses. I worked for a few months before I started school but couldn't once I started being full time student and athlete. I did my master's degree program relatively fast but I calculated I had lived off of about $8,500 a year (approximately the average income of someone living in China). After you do this, anything is fairly easy. Haha Where I went to school (Alabama) had a fairly cheap cost of living. I had a two bedroom apartment with a roommate for $400 month. Then my roommate went crazy and I moved out and got my own place for $330 a month. Having the meal plan for one semester was great because I could go eat in the cafeteria and not have to buy a lot of groceries. When is I attending classes over the summer I didn't have that option and one of my largest expenses was food. I just made sure to make a list and a budget everytime I went to the grocery store. I made sure I was aware of how much everything cost. I ate pretty well, never had the desire to be on college student ramen noodle diet. I know how to cook, so did not have much of a reason to eat out much. I did not have too many big monthly expenses besides that. I didn't have cable television or internet. When I was doing my master's television had just switched to digital and I did not have a digital television and did not want to pay for cable. I just didn't watch TV much anyway. If I really wanted, I could download movies or shows online to watch. I used to be able to pick up an internet connection at my first apartment and then when I moved I didn't get any reception. I was taking a few online classes so I just did all my work in the library. I feel I was much more productive that way. As far as entertainment, there are always things to do for little or no cost. Outdoor activities (going to parks, street festivals, and the like) are normally free. Your student ID will get you discounts a lot of places (especially museums). There is normally something going on on campus like they will play movies or plays, have lecture series, and definitely sporting events. A lot of campuses have a rec center, pool, bowling alley, or something of the sort you can do for cheap. I did a lot of these simple things and had a good time. Another thing that is helpful is for little things you may need you probably know somebody who is trying to get rid of things. When I was in graduate school my mom was doing some serious house cleaning and so I helped her get a few household items off her hands that I needed. All in all, when you get your stipend write out a monthly budget figure out what is a necessity and what is extra and how much you are going to allot to each thing. Then follow it.