Mary Yin

Hi everyone! I'm starting my PhD this August and hope to get a new laptop to replace my old HP. I'm considering Thinkpad but am open to other choices. Things I care most about: fast speed of processing data, long battery life, as light as possible. Any recommendations? Advice from upper year PhD students is particularly welcome! Thanks in advance!

Thanks Pho. I think I'll just wait.

Hi Pho~ Are you in the MA program or MSEM? Where did you see the funding? I cannot see it anywhere.

Not yet. I guess the funding decisions will be on the official offer letter? Yeah the tuition is really much higher this year. But you can do TA/RA at Duke, though I don't know how much they pay. Maybe you can ask the director Dr. Charles Becker for more info. Wish you the best of Luck!

I receieved an email asking me to check the website. I think they're giving out offers gradually. Just wait. Wish you the best of luck!

Hi Littototoro, I'm Mary and I've just received AD from Duke A.M. program this morning and I think I'll go. But I haven't looked into the details yet. Nice to meet you!

Hi friends! I've been admitted to LSE MSc Econ program (1-year) and it has the following conditions: first, have a cumulative GPA of above 3.5 in final year. Second, receive first class honors. I took an especially difficult maths course last semester (Mathematical Analysis) and it screwed my grade. So now I'm not even confident if I can fulfill the 3.5 requirement. Further, the first class honors is extremely hard to get at my university. I have other friends who are admitted to the two-year research MSc Econ program at LSE and they are only required second upper honors. Is there a possibility that they lower their requirements? Or is the MSc Econ requiring students to be more capable? If there's no room for negotiation, is it still possible for me to get in if I cannot fulfill the requirements? Most likely that I'm gonna get second upper honors and my final year GPA should be around 3.5 or slightly lower. By the way I'm studying at Hong Kong. My GPA of the first two years (my university only has three years) look good and I've been to UC San Diego for a semester for exchange. I'm now anxiously waiting for Duke MSc Econ program. If they don't admit me, LSE is the only place I can go. Thanks a lot for your advice! Mary

It happened I just wrote it last week. The article introduces the habitat and migration patterns of Arctic deer. Then it relates the decline reported by local hunters to the global warming trend and concludes the decline is resulted from difficulty to migrate across the sea. The deduction process is incomplete and unconvincing. First of all, the reports from local hunters cannot be a reliable source of Arctic deer population. Since the deer is constantly in migration, it is hard to observe and to record the whole population in a certain place. Moreover, the majority of the deer could be consciously escaping from the hunters and therefore the hunters might have seen less deer than the actual existing amount. Secondly, the recent global warming trends mentioned by the author are ambiguous and therefore cannot be used for further discussion about their impacts. Even if global warming causes the ice to melt, the extent of the melting should be more carefully examined. The author didn’t mention the data used or the exact results found from formal research programs to support the argument of global warming leading to ice melting. Global warming can be merely media publication and of no scientific significance. Even if global warming does happen, it might not be serious enough to affect the ice where the deer are migrating on and is therefore of no importance to our discussion here. Thirdly, even if the decline in deer population and ice melting process happen simultaneously, we cannot conclude a causal relationship between them. There might be drastic climate changes which cause the reduction in deer population. It can also be excessive hunting that cause the sharp decline of the amount of deer in the area. Fourthly, the author didn’t state the concepts clearly, and this may cause confusion among the readers and prevent us from interpreting the argument. The habitat of the deer is not a geographical range but an abstract description. Nor is the local hunters’ location specified. The lack of details from the account makes it harder to believe in this statement. Last but not least, the author didn’t exhibit any data to support his argument. Therefore the causal relationship is hardly reasonable. To make the statement more convincing, the author should draw from reliable resources for Arctic deer population and compare them. He should also carefully examine other factors that affect the population of the deer while investigating the impact of global warming, preferably controlling all the other factors and look at whether global warming and melting of ice is the main reason. Welcome any comments!

btw, could you make the paragraph clearer next time? And do post the argument you're talking about. Thanks!

very typical Chinese essay. I can understand that you're trying to write long and complex sentences, but you might want to keep it clear and easy to understand as well. However, I prefer to hold the point of view that it is sometimes the social status and honor gained after the success of reform that drives the reformers, who actually are reluctant and forced to accept the despisement from popular if the reform fails. I don't see much point to say so many words in this sentence. I would say: However, it is sometimes... Try to structure the sentence better. Long sentences are not always good. Good luck!

Hi Radioman, I enjoyed reading your essay. The structure is clear and simple. There are just arguments which I think could be better organized. First, in your argument of the global appreciation of music and fashion, it seems that you didn't quite fully illustrate the argument. What you did is to present the reader with the fact that we have access to different cultures. But what does this do to diminish the cultural differences? You might want to say that people can understand foreign cultures better and hence less misunderstanding. Or you can argue that different cultures learn from each other, e.g. fashion designers in Paris incorporate Asian elements in their works. Second, I think you should expand more on how the advertisements affect people's lifestyles and diminish the differences. The thrid paragraph lacks solid reasoning. And the last sentence about McDonald seems a bit irrelevant, or misplaced. Third, I think you should pay more attention to your opinions about certain countries. You used "eccentric countries" to describe North Korea, which I found a bit wierd. To talk about different reception about TV advertisements and programs, you can say that the TV programs always adapt to local cultures. This is quite common in commercials. In my opinion, actually it is the TV programs that are influenced by the different culture tastes. Hope this helps. btw I'd be thankful if you could read my essay about competition~ just posted.

Hey guys, I'm taking the test at the end of May, but I still don't know what my writing level is like. Plz have a look and give some comments. Thanks. 37. "In most societies, competition generally has more of a negative than a positive effect." The theory of evolution by Darwin suggests an obvious yet often neglected truth: humans make progress through surviving competition. Competition, whatever form it takes, serves as the catalyst to innovation and social progress. Its very existence has enabled us to explore our potentials and promote our standards of living. Competition plays an important role for business owners to raise productivity and increase profits. It is the fierce competition of automobile industry in the US that has entitled Americans the best quality cars. Companies also learn cooperate and learn from each other during the process of competition. The advent of cities has witnessed highly agglomerated industries where businesses tend to specialize and differentiate themselves. Silicon Valley, one of the most prominent hubs of electronic innovation, is home to thousands of companies in the same field. Competition among firms urges them to innovate and to cooperate. Some firms specialize in making particular components of computers, while others focus on designing or manufacturing computers. The assembly-like manufacturing process ensures the quality and quantity of production which greatly benefit consumers. Personal development also needs competition. A competitive environment can goad one to work harder. On the one hand, competition encourages people to receive more education, which is likely to make them more civilized. On the other hand, competition directs people to the most useful resources by bridging the supply and the demand side of the labor market. College graduates are no longer scarce. The availability of tertiary education equips people with more tools to explore the world, but also puts pressure on their learning. To make themselves better candidates for a job, students have to participate in various extra curriculum activities. While they might not be voluntary, they are likely to gain interpersonal skills in the process. In addition, one is likely to be stimulated by peer pressure. Getting into a good university brightens your future in that it exposes you to a group of elites where you can learn from each other in the competitive environment and fully realize your potentials. However, competition has conspicuous drawbacks as well. In a competitive market, firms might seek illegal ways to boost their profits. The case is more common in societies where laws and regulations are not functioning well. A Chinese milk powder company, for example, was once accused of making toxic milk and causing the abnormity of new born babies. The lust for money corrupted business owners, and it created long lasting painful effects for victim families and the society. Another failure of competition is the inequality it can induce among people in the society. Although competition channels resources and raises efficiency, it does, at the same time, encourage the polarization of a society. Minority ethnic groups faced with job discrimination may find it hard to make a living in major cities. In the absence of welfare, they can end up homeless or doing illegal jobs. In a society where labor force is redundant, employers may impose some implicit yet discriminative restraints towards job applicants. For example, many young female professionals in Asian countries don’t report their marriage upon job application. This happens because the companies are likely to consider their potential pregnancy and consequent reduction in working efficiency, and might in turn reject them. Living in a competitive society allows for people to pursue a better career. Since competition might lead to cheating and other violation of regulations, it calls for the careful inspection of the government and well functioning of the welfare system to keep the society on the right track. Laws which ensure business integrity and human rights should carefully made and implemented to minimize the bad effects of competition.

And here is the argument one: 7. The following appeared in a letter to the editor of the Clearview newspaper. "In the next mayoral election, residents of Clearview should vote for Ann Green, who is a member of the Good Earth Coalition, rather than for Frank Braun, a member of the Clearview town council, because the current members are not protecting our environment. For example, during the past year the number of factories in Clearview has doubled, air pollution levels have increased, and the local hospital has treated 25 percent more patients with respiratory illnesses. If we elect Ann Green, the environmental problems in Clearview will certainly be solved." The author of the article tried to persuade residents of Clearview to vote for Ann Green instead of Frank Braun in the next mayoral election. The author argued that the current members of the town council, where Braun is a member, did a poor job in maintaining a clean and safe environment and that residents could solve the problem by voting for Green, who is a member of the Good Earth coalition. The arguments of the author appears ungrounded in the evidence of increasing pollution as well as the logic of electoral decisions. The author suggested that environmental problems had been aggravating as a result of the negligence of current council members. The evidence of pollution is dubious. The author mentioned the doubling of factories without providing details about the industries of them. It might be that the high-tech companies found Clearview an attractive place to set up factories, and this could bring the town more benefits without deteriorating the environment. In addition, the mere fact that patients with respiratory illness treated by the local hospital increased is hardly supportive of the author’s statement. If there were only few patients of these type, a 25 percent increase might be very small in absolute terms and can be within the random fluctuation. Even if the number of patients increased by a large amount, there might be other reasons for this, such as bad eating habits and increasing smokers. Even if the increase in the number of factories is the main cause of rising respiratory diseases, it is inappropriate to conclude that Braun cannot do a good job as a mayor. The behaviors of the current town council does not necessarily imply Braun’s opinions. On the contrary, Braun might be an environmentalist and might want to adopt environmentally friendly policies to improve people’s health. Another important logical flaw lies in the lack of information about Green. The author only mentioned that Green was a member of the Goodearth coalition. Without any details of the organization or the candidate, we can hardly conclude that Green will do a better job than Braun. The Goodearth Coalition might not be active in environmental protection. Even if it is, it does not suggest that Green will implement effective policies to protect the environment. There are also many other factors apart from environmental policies that people are concerned in the election. To sum up, the letter proved ineffective in its attack towards the mayor candidate Braun. the residents at Clearview should do more research on the personal particulars, political views, and other details of the two candidate before they vote. I'm just wondering if this essay is not well organized. Any comment is welcome!

Hey guys, I'm taking the test at the end of May. Practicing AW right now. I'd be grateful if you could have a look and give some comments. 37. "In most societies, competition generally has more of a negative than a positive effect." The theory of evolution by Darwin suggests an obvious yet often neglected truth: humans make progress through surviving competition. Competition, whatever form it takes, serves as the catalyst to innovation and social progress. Its very existence has enabled us to explore our potentials and promote our standards of living. Competition plays an important role for business owners to raise productivity and increase profits. It is the fierce competition of automobile industry in the US that has entitled Americans the best quality cars. Companies also learn cooperate and learn from each other during the process of competition. The advent of cities has witnessed highly agglomerated industries where businesses tend to specialize and differentiate themselves. Silicon Valley, one of the most prominent hubs of electronic innovation, is home to thousands of companies in the same field. Competition among firms urges them to innovate and to cooperate. Some firms specialize in making particular components of computers, while others focus on designing or manufacturing computers. The assembly-like manufacturing process ensures the quality and quantity of production which greatly benefit consumers. Personal development also needs competition. A competitive environment can goad one to work harder. On the one hand, competition encourages people to receive more education, which is likely to make them more civilized. On the other hand, competition directs people to the most useful resources by bridging the supply and the demand side of the labor market. College graduates are no longer scarce. The availability of tertiary education equips people with more tools to explore the world, but also puts pressure on their learning. To make themselves better candidates for a job, students have to participate in various extra curriculum activities. While they might not be voluntary, they are likely to gain interpersonal skills in the process. In addition, one is likely to be stimulated by peer pressure. Getting into a good university brightens your future in that it exposes you to a group of elites where you can learn from each other in the competitive environment and fully realize your potentials. However, competition has conspicuous drawbacks as well. In a competitive market, firms might seek illegal ways to boost their profits. The case is more common in societies where laws and regulations are not functioning well. A Chinese milk powder company, for example, was once accused of making toxic milk and causing the abnormity of new born babies. The lust for money corrupted business owners, and it created long lasting painful effects for victim families and the society. Another failure of competition is the inequality it can induce among people in the society. Although competition channels resources and raises efficiency, it does, at the same time, encourage the polarization of a society. Minority ethnic groups faced with job discrimination may find it hard to make a living in major cities. In the absence of welfare, they can end up homeless or doing illegal jobs. In a society where labor force is redundant, employers may impose some implicit yet discriminative restraints towards job applicants. For example, many young female professionals in Asian countries don’t report their marriage upon job application. This happens because the companies are likely to consider their potential pregnancy and consequent reduction in working efficiency, and might in turn reject them. Living in a competitive society allows for people to pursue a better career. Since competition might lead to cheating and other violation of regulations, it calls for the careful inspection of the government and well functioning of the welfare system to keep the society on the right track. Laws which ensure business integrity and human rights should carefully made and implemented to minimize the bad effects of competition. I really have no idea of my writing level... Welcome any comments!