Venting Thread- Vent about anything.

[fernandes]

15 hours ago, Danger_Zone said:

Are there any e-mails or documents from your school mentioning how long it should take? I was told to contact the international students office if I didn't receive shipping information within 10 business days of having my initial information verified, so 4 weeks seems a bit long! But of course this varies, I'm sure. You could always contact somebody about this and make sure there aren't any issues.

Thanks for trying to help, Danger_Zone! It took them 4 weeks for them to send it to me, but it's finally coming through the mail! Yayyyy, exciting!

[Danger_Zone]

4 hours ago, fernandes said:

Thanks for trying to help, Danger_Zone! It took them 4 weeks for them to send it to me, but it's finally coming through the mail! Yayyyy, exciting!

That's great to hear! It's exciting when everything becomes more official. 

[fernandes]

15 hours ago, Danger_Zone said:

That's great to hear! It's exciting when everything becomes more official. 

Exactly how I feel. This week I'll be going to my visa interview and all that... it's great!

[hippyscientist]

54 minutes ago, fernandes said:

Exactly how I feel. This week I'll be going to my visa interview and all that... it's great!

I have my visa interview next week too. Good luck! 

[fernandes]

6 hours ago, hippyscientist said:

I have my visa interview next week too. Good luck! 

Good luck, mate! Should we be worried? I don't think so, right?

Edited May 15, 2016 by fernandes

[Quantum Buckyball]

saw a registered nurse working on his PhD degree in Petroleum Engineering ...you don't see that everyday hah

[spectastic]

he/she is going to be disappointed in a decade, when renewables explode in growth

[spectastic]

looks like my plan to tour on the motorcycle is pooped. engine still needs to be swapped. got one sourced in california, but it'll take a week to get here. probably going to take me a whole weekend of work.. maybe it'll be money well spent if I can convince a mechanic I know to help me out for a tip...

I want to go explore hill country sooo baaadddd. ya don even know

[spectastic]

On 5/18/2016 at 4:15 PM, Quantum Buckyball said:

saw a registered nurse working on his PhD degree in Petroleum Engineering ...you don't see that everyday hah

are you in texas?

[MangoSmoothie]

I'm applying last minute to a scholarship. "Last minute," as in I began the application one week before the deadline (because I wasn't going to apply, but a lot of people encouraged me to do so, so I am giving it a go). I managed to get everything in order, including three letters of recommendation, in time for the deadline tomorrow at midnight.

But I don't have the statement of good academic standing from my department. I emailed the department head last week for it, but it was sort of buried in another email, and I completely forgot to follow-up about it before now since I was so focused on the essay required for the scholarship. It's entirely my fault for not following-up, and this faculty member and the other one who could possibly provide the statement are on vacation from today. There's a slim chance I'll be able to get it tomorrow since I only need a digital copy, but I'm not that hopeful.

It really is my own fault, and I can't believe I let one of the most minor parts of the application prevent me from completing it. Live and learn, but in the meantime, it still sucks.

[spectastic]

the problem with living on a sublease is that you don't get to pick your roommates. there's 4 of us, and one of them is a serious dumbfuck. never cleans dishes (there was this one time when the sink was full for a month, filled with his shit, until I put it all in a bin, and left it outside, it was disgusting; another time, one of the other poor roommates cleaned the mess up for him and followed up with a sign "I'm not your maid..."), always sets the AC super low, does nothing but play video games late into the night (the walls are really thin btw), and most recently, has a dog that he does not really care for. The dog spends all day, by herself, in his room. the dog acquired fleas, which it has passed onto my cat. the dog has shitted on the living room carpet, which I've cleaned up twice. Today was the third time. I knocked on his door at 2 am, as he was playing video games, as usual, except he came answering the door with a towel around him, and made him clean it up.

I'm not in the mood to berate someone, because that's seldom helpful, but this guy appears to be a lost fucking cause... it's like his mom wiped his ass up until he moved out of the house at 18, and doesn't possess the sense or responsibility to function as a normal citizen. I'm inclined to report this to animal protection services, because the dog doesn't deserve this either. 

Edited May 23, 2016 by spectastic

[kimmibeans]

I found a really awesome part time job doing museum tours a few times a week which I would LOVE. However, it requires flexible hours which I *technically* have, but I would need to ask my boss for permission if I should get it. I would really love this job too, because it would be great career prep for me (I plan on going into science outreach and education).

[Quantum Buckyball]

3 hours ago, kimmibeans said:

I found a really awesome part time job doing museum tours a few times a week which I would LOVE. However, it requires flexible hours which I *technically* have, but I would need to ask my boss for permission if I should get it. I would really love this job too, because it would be great career prep for me (I plan on going into science outreach and education).

Our program does not allow graduate students to have any additional side/part time jobs or you would get terminated from the program, they pretty much expect you to work for them 60 hrs/week on a 20 hrs/week salary, sketchy much? 

[kimmibeans]

3 hours ago, Quantum Buckyball said:

Our program does not allow graduate students to have any additional side/part time jobs or you would get terminated from the program, they pretty much expect you to work for them 60 hrs/week on a 20 hrs/week salary, sketchy much? 

Damn. Officially, any extra work we do must be to improve on our education and skills. So, you can tutor or teach, but you can't get a job as a CVS cashier.

[Quantum Buckyball]

3 hours ago, kimmibeans said:

Damn. Officially, any extra work we do must be to improve on our education and skills. So, you can tutor or teach, but you can't get a job as a CVS cashier.

we can do tutoring but that is about it, and we cannot teach at a community college as an adjunct...it's pretty bad, I know someone got removed from the program because she decided to take on a part time job and work on weekends.. because you cannot support a family with a graduate student stipend, unless you take out loans. 

Edited May 25, 2016 by Quantum Buckyball

[magnetite]

Suppose here's as good a place as any to vent. So, I've been rejected from every school I applied to except one. I'm still waiting to hear if a professor from that school is going to be able to find funding for me and a few other students.

To make things worse, I found out on Monday that I'm one upper level credit hour short of being able to graduate. Apparently the two degree plan audits my advisor and I did in the last year were inaccurate. So, I won't even be getting a degree until after the summer semester at least.

I had been looking for jobs in case I don't get into that last grad school, but now I'm not even eligible yet for most jobs I've been applying for. Now, I get to spend ~$1300 for a single credit hour, in the unlikely event I'll find a suitable class. More likely is that I'll have to pay ~$2700 for a three credit hour class.

What a great year it's been!

[Neist]

1 hour ago, magnetite said:

Suppose here's as good a place as any to vent. So, I've been rejected from every school I applied to except one. I'm still waiting to hear if a professor from that school is going to be able to find funding for me and a few other students.

To make things worse, I found out on Monday that I'm one upper level credit hour short of being able to graduate. Apparently the two degree plan audits my advisor and I did in the last year were inaccurate. So, I won't even be getting a degree until after the summer semester at least.

I had been looking for jobs in case I don't get into that last grad school, but now I'm not even eligible yet for most jobs I've been applying for. Now, I get to spend ~$1300 for a single credit hour, in the unlikely event I'll find a suitable class. More likely is that I'll have to pay ~$2700 for a three credit hour class.

What a great year it's been!

 

That's rough!

Think they'd be open to doing a 1 credit hour independent study or directed reading? You could probably burn through that pretty quick this summer.

[magnetite]

18 minutes ago, Neist said:

That's rough!

Think they'd be open to doing a 1 credit hour independent study or directed reading? You could probably burn through that pretty quick this summer.

I was thinking about trying that, but it'd have to be in a different subject than my major. I'm going to ask around in other departments, but without knowing many of the professors I think it'll be a challenge finding one who'd be willing to do this for me.

What caused this whole thing is that my degree plan can apparently only have 9 total credit hours of an upper level special topics course, which is what we use for independent study and research hours. I have 11 hours total of that section, though. Three were used in an actual class three years ago, in the first semester it was offered. Rather than assign the class its own course number, which they've finally done, the department lumped it in with the special topics section.

[Neist]

8 minutes ago, magnetite said:

I was thinking about trying that, but it'd have to be in a different subject than my major. I'm going to ask around in other departments, but without knowing many of the professors I think it'll be a challenge finding one who'd be willing to do this for me.

What caused this whole thing is that my degree plan can apparently only have 9 total credit hours of an upper level special topics course, which is what we use for independent study and research hours. I have 11 hours total of that section, though. Three were used in an actual class three years ago, in the first semester it was offered. Rather than assign the class its own course number, which they've finally done, the department lumped it in with the special topics section.

 

 

Wow. I'd hope that a department would try to waive the requirement, given the circumstances, but I guess not. 

Are there any "prepping for life outside" courses at your university? You might look into an independent study version of one of those. It'd be easy.

Edited May 25, 2016 by Neist

[gradresearcher]

So much yes!!!!!

Here is mine: 

Got a fellowship that pays me to work on my dissertation all summer and covers my summer dissertation credits. I emailed my adviser to make a meeting to talk about my IRB so I can get my dissertation rolling (I present initial data at a conference in August), they said they basically can't meet until June 13th. THATS A MONTH INTO SUMMER! They are getting paid to basically kick it during all of May then?!? Usually, I would just say 'forget it,' and do whatever I want in my study, but these are things that I actually need feedback on. 

[gradresearcher]

On May 24, 2016 at 9:11 AM, kimmibeans said:

I found a really awesome part time job doing museum tours a few times a week which I would LOVE. However, it requires flexible hours which I *technically* have, but I would need to ask my boss for permission if I should get it. I would really love this job too, because it would be great career prep for me (I plan on going into science outreach and education).

Thats such a bummer because it sounds like one of those things that would not only be great for your career, but also self-care. Sorry Kimmibeans! 

[Neist]

On 5/24/2016 at 9:11 AM, kimmibeans said:

I found a really awesome part time job doing museum tours a few times a week which I would LOVE. However, it requires flexible hours which I *technically* have, but I would need to ask my boss for permission if I should get it. I would really love this job too, because it would be great career prep for me (I plan on going into science outreach and education).

 

You might see if you can swing it as an internship. Sometimes "paid, credited internship" is not categorically the same as "job."  

[spectastic]

I was waiting at a stop light on my bicycle commute home at night, and witnessed a head on collision. It happened in 2 seconds, and took place in my 10 o'clock peripheral, so I didn't catch how it happened, but rather only saw the aftermath. The suv took the hit head on, and pretty much stayed there. the smaller car got hit on the side, and spun a good 10-15 meters. everyone got out of their cars without injury, which was good. The bad, someone was being an idiot, and trying to run a red light... at full speed, and both cars are totaled.

as a cyclist, I've heard maybe 3-4 stories now within the last few seeks of cyclists getting hit by cars. I've also had some near misses with people driving while stupid. The traffic situation here is getting hairy..

[Cheshire_Cat]

10 hours ago, spectastic said:

I was waiting at a stop light on my bicycle commute home at night, and witnessed a head on collision. It happened in 2 seconds, and took place in my 10 o'clock peripheral, so I didn't catch how it happened, but rather only saw the aftermath. The suv took the hit head on, and pretty much stayed there. the smaller car got hit on the side, and spun a good 10-15 meters. everyone got out of their cars without injury, which was good. The bad, someone was being an idiot, and trying to run a red light... at full speed, and both cars are totaled.

as a cyclist, I've heard maybe 3-4 stories now within the last few seeks of cyclists getting hit by cars. I've also had some near misses with people driving while stupid. The traffic situation here is getting hairy..

0_0  Wow! That is scary!  Glad you are ok.  I hate idiot drivers. 

[Need Coffee in an IV]

I could never ride on a motorcycle. I mean driving a chunk of metal around 60 MPH already freaks me out, I need my airbags! I also don't ride on roller coasters soooo there's that ha. My vent is my poor bf still is applying for jobs. Its so annoying, we are good on money but I feel frustrated for him! I'm also sad that we may have to do long distance again. @kimmibeans that's exactly what I want to do! My undergrad is in geology and I'm going for my MA in museum studies.