MsDemeanor

RedBull- not totally irrelevant, and it's always nice to see you on the BB again. How are you? Me, well, I am doing great, just happy to back home in the US...less depressing work, and a lto less stressful...:tup:

OOps, I do actually or have in the past put Recommendation for : and then the other stuff. Your professors should 1. be putting their return address on the envelope- they know it better than you and will get it correct 2, sign the seal across the back of the envelope. No need to put anything else. except of course a stamp.

I always have put my name of the letter- especially if they are not coming in one packet..Many want it to be returned directly from the recommender. I usually just put in the lower left hand corner something like: RE: MsDemeanor Applicant for PhD (program) Fall 2006 or whatnot.

Oh this really made me laugh, even though tis now been some time since I did the GRE...:D

Yes- for one application A girl had the same name as another girl, and the applications got filed together, both were rejected- but what was so bad was one girl had a 2.91 gpa and the other a 3.95 probably would have been accepted easily. You need to really stay on the ball for the application to be sure it gets to the right destination. If it comforts you- your recommenders probably did the letters via computer so it won't be such a big deal for them to reprint them... Good Luck!

Yes- I guess it's positive, but I am still concerned- like am I still admitted for whenever? obviously I'm going to be on contract for at least until April... it's confusing...but hopeful.

By A.E. Mason. It's not mushy or anything. But I find the version I bought distracting, the published annotated everything... just in case I didn't know what a Guanerius violin was already...

Well guys I sent the email...knees shaking, and here is the response I got: I'm so sorry we havent been able to work this out for you (YET), and I understand completely your decision to make other plans...I intend to attack the issue of tuition support head on as a critical mandate of my job...If you have the chance on your way up the east coast in January , please stop by and say hello...also, we need to keep you in mind as TAs, etc become available...I dont want to lose you... I suppose this is a positive reply??? Now, how does one respond to that....:eek:

Getting a PhD will be needed if I want to teach, but it really doesn't matter too much where I get it from , it's a bit strange that this is so, but in this case it is. It's also strange that I make as much money as a PhD in my field with just a BS and an MPH. and I'm really only using the BS credentials. But thats one of the joys and mysteries of life, it isn;t normal, but it works!!! I realize this is not usually the case for most people.

Oh no, I am not doing that again. The thing is there is such a shortage in my field, it really doesn't matter where I get the PhD. At Columbia I can do interesting research. At Dusquene, I can also do some interesting research, but probably not quite as high powered. Either way, I'll get a job easily. Since the PhD will not raise my income at all, (It might actually lower it...) I need to be practical about it.

Thank you all. I have been putting off sending the email, primarily because I don't want to see the answer. But oh well, if it comes to the worst, I can indeed get a PhD at Dusquene, but I really don't want to.

Actually, I got an email last week, asking me if I was still coming to Columbia. It's waaay past April 15th. To officially accept, I believe you have to send them some tuition deposit, so unless you have some extra money... you might want to reconsider. What I have done in the past- when I had an offer at Emory and was pending at UNC- with UNC being infinitely a better program- was to call UNC and let them know that I had to make a decision at Emory. At that point, UNC told me over the phone that I would be accepted. It can be a little "pushy" but it didn't hurt me- as I was then able ot reject Emory politely, and accept UNC (where I did my MPH) quickly.

Just to add my two cents, as Crslr states, the SOP isn't going to usually make or break you, though I know mine was what got me admitted to Columbia (albeit, my aide offer fell through so maybe better not take advice from me.) Better in the SOP to concentrate on WHY you want to do this, rather than how good you are. Also agree that the research described is the typical undergraduate class paper. If you had done some independent research- like gone out and interviewed 40 immigrants for a survey on immigration law and the understanding of it by immigrants- that is worth mentioning- not that you did it, but how you were affected by it- also if you were published- but if you were published that should be on your C.V. and again in the SOP- you should focus on what the experience of getting the paper published did for you- made you realize that a career in research was for you etc...Your accomplishements are known from your application and C.V. what they don't know is how did those accomplishments affect you and lead you to decide to persure the MS or PhD....

I'm posting this here as the fine aid section gets less traffic. Anyway, I'm back in the USA after my tour of duty in Liberia.:) Glad to be in the land of very cold. As some of you know, i was supposed to be going to COlumbia this January, but then they pulled the plug on any financial aide. :yuck: So I had to say, sorry charlie, I'll have to go somewhere where financial aide is offerred. I was disappointed, but sort of moved on- I already have a very successful career, so it isn't about money. I took a contract for January, and then LO AND BEHOLD. I get a email from the brand new director of the program asking me to explain what had happened, and also asking if there is anything they can do to make me change my mind as the prof Iwould be working with had thought I showed a lot of potential... Sooo. Plans come to a screechy halt here, as I'd love to attend Columbia. But I can't without an assistantship. Here is the email reply I have composed. Please can someone let me know if it is too pushy or not pushy enough. names, majors and such have been changed to protect the innocent (ha ha ha) Dear Director, *Thank you very much for your message and your concern. *I would very much like to attend Columbia, as I chose the school specifically to work with "Dr. Specialty" and had been starting to collaborate on projects with him prior to learning that the only aide offerred was going to be loans. I realize that there are many creative ways to have tuition paid in NYC. I had exchanged many emails with the "financial aid officer" on the subject, and was told that I would be expected to take out loans to pay tuition and to investigate assistantships once I was enrolled. Tuition reimbursement is offerred by many area hospitals, but *it does not cover the entire tuition and with it I would be required to work full time while enrolled full time in a demanding program. *I have had experience with this and found that both my academic work, and my "hospital" work sufferred. *In addition, many hospitals do not start the tuition reimbursement benefit upon employment- so as an out of state person I would not be eligible. *With an RA or a TA, that covered tuition and health insurance, i would be able to work a PRN type job to cover my personal expenses- and thus be able to take off time from work when needed to cover academic requirements. As I said, I'd be very interested in doing my PhD work at Columbia. Without *an assistantship to cover some expenses, though I do not see it as a viable option. Having signed a contract with "specific hospital outside of NYC" for January 9th- (13 weeks) I will be unable to break that contract to attend for the spring semester, but would be quite interested in coming for the Summer or Fall sessions. I really do appreciate your email, and I would be delighted if something could be worked out! Thank you very much, MsDemeanor. I know this is a long post, but I really could use some advice. SInce otherwise, I'll be PhD-less forever. :eek:

Well, they told me that day- but I was leaving the country so, I expect you might have to wait a bit longer. Good Luck!!

Lots of people go to University at older ages. 22 is pretty young. I'd imagine that it isn't a problem. Good Luck! :tup:

Congratulations on your acceptance!!! :) I have no idea how it is ranked, but if you use the books at the public library you will find that. The university itself should give you the job placement rates if you ask...

You can call the department and ask. They might not tell you, but usually they will let you know if there is some sort of "unofficial" cut off for one of the areas. Be sure to have a few other questions to ask as well. When I was applying I called up the admissions person listed on the web site, and asked a bunch of questions about the program- what type of students they had, who I could work with when doing research...and then I'd ask, well, can you give me some information about the GRE scores- and whats considered admittable scores. Each time the person said. Well, usually we look for a combined score of XXXX and be sure you are above XXX in Verbal or Quant or what not. And of course, as I am sure you are aware, It isn't JUST your GRE scores that determine getting into a competitive program... Good Luck :)

Cridamour is correct. A word of caution- the schools that do not have rolling admissions, but a deadline- do not mail your application in extremely early. The administrative assistant will not be in "Admissions mode" and may file your application away, and not find it when the time comes for the adcom to get together to review applications. Also, you will want to have the most up to date resume possible. it would be awful to send in an application 4 months early and then come to find you had been granted some nice award or scholarship- that would have looked great on your resume. :)

Remember that the adcoms have to read these SOPs, and while they are interested, they also want to know that you can express yourself consisely and get to the point. 500 words is about 2 pages. It should be enough. What you are probably doing is adding in stuff that is already somewhere else in your application. Lots of people feel they need to highlight again their grades or their scholarships, or some other experiences. They already know about your honors/awards, grades from your transcripts and resume. In the SOP- they want to "get to know you" a little- find out what motivates you to persue your field... Believe it or not, some of the places I applied to had a 250 word limit. After being the student rep on an adcom, I can attest that both the professors and student reps feel that there is nothing more boring than someone droning on about awards, or the 5 million people that influenced their life from infancy on. The best ones I read were extremely focused and economical in word usage. Usually the applicant chose one topic and fleshed out just that topic, rather than trying to mention every little thing. It can be very difficult to get the words down to an acceptable limit, but if you start with a 4 page SOP and look for repetitive stuff, as well as overly flowerly adjective descriptors you can usually cut it down to a shorter limit.

Thanks Erin, I've set up my interview...They want me to bring a 5 minute teaching presentation prepared... :hmm: I'm thinking, "How to avoid being arrested in foreign countries" with a little role play... Any other suggestions??

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, belatedly to everyone.... I was off line yesterday. and happy monthversaries etc.... :) Get that SOP written! :)

Hi Guys, I met someone the other night who suggested I teach for Kaplan, no not for my Gorgeous Quantitative Score on the GRE, but for the NCLEX- a board licensing exam that drives several students crazy once or twice a year. Had not really thought of how they get teachers for the board review class before!! Since I am heading in to Academia, I thought it might be interesting to do it :eek: and that maybe I could possibly help some people :grad: But, I was wondering if anyone has done this, know someone who has done this, or if there is a different company you'd recommend I go with??? Seems like an intersting way to earn some :2cents: Maybe...Lingering doubts abound :crazy:

Thanks Arjensteve, It is good to be back, I think. It will be better when my license transfers and I can work legally.... (Never ever fail to apply for NY licensure at the beginning, I failed to listen adn now here I am...waiting.... :grumpy: ) Can I ask what you thought of the last Harry Potter book? I was a little disappointed, only in that things didn't go as I wanted, I suppose!

OMG yes. And have you ever noticed that the split second decisions are usually much better than the ones that hours of time were spent on??? Or, it that just me :rolleyes: hmmmm this may be why I am in such debate about the PhD at the moment... :eek: