Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with academics

How can I keep track of academic papers and my handwritten notes on them?

col_pogo — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 13:28:29 -0800

What is the best hardware/software system for keeping track of a) hundreds of academic papers in PDF form and b) my handwritten notes on these hundreds of papers? Bonus if the answer integrates with some sort of citation management software. I am in a PhD program that requires me to read and take notes on a large number of papers. I can see myself in four years time simply drowning in printouts. My problem is somewhat similar to this previous question.

I don't like reading while sitting in front of my computer (typing hurts and easy internet access kills my productivity), so I tend to print out PDFs and take notes all over them while reading in cafes, libraries, on planes, etc. (Zotero's note system, for instance, isn't great for me because I don't like reading in my browser and typing notes). An ideal system would allow to me read much as I do, but make my notes--and interesting quotes and passages from what I'm reading--searchable for when I'm writing papers, studying for orals, etc.

The problem at that moment is that I end up with all these papers and notes that aren't easy to archive and can't be searched. I fear I don't have the discipline to properly archive all my actual paper notes, and hope that there's a technological fix out there for me.

I'd like advice on whether my best option is
a) a Tablet PC (with what software?)--one potential problem with this would be bulk and the distracting internet access.
b) an eBook reader that supports annotation (the upcoming IREX one?) with some sort of arching software to upload to.
c) One of those smart pens that records what you write (Previously). If these really work and can be integrated with good archiving/searching software I can see this being helpful for interviews and class notes, too.
d) Scanning notes taken on paper into my computer and archiving them from there. Something that sounds onerous and that I probably wouldn't actually do.
e) some brilliant technological solution that hasn't occurred to me.
f) knuckling down and getting a disciplined paper archiving system.

Could these options--a) in particular--be combined with Atlas TI? I love that QDA programs let me jump to specific tagged passages--and apparently the latest version has good support for PDFs. Or will OneNote--or some Mac program I haven't heard of--do this kind of thing better?

I have fairly atrocious handwriting, so OCR doesn't seem to work that well (in Evernote, for instance). I was impressed by Vista's handwriting support the one time I tried it, however--and I gather it learns from its mistakes.

I've heard Apple has a similar option, and would be willing to switch to using Macs if their handwriting recognition or the various note-taking programs I've heard about (Devonthink, Scrivener, Papers, others?) can be combined with some sort of note-capturing system.

I also take notes in lots of books. Any good ideas for capturing these notes that might fit with one of the above options?

Should I bother applying abroad?

nicolas léonard sadi carnot — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:06:54 -0800

How realistic is it to expect a pretty good grad (first class honours in undergrad, ~6ish GPA, a few prizes, good recommendations, industry experience) from an Australian university to gain a fully-funded postgrad spot at a strong, technically focused American research university? In the field of bioengineering, to be specific: so I'm thinking somewhere like UCSD/Berkeley or Johns Hopkins.

Graphic Choices

NotMyselfRightNow — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 05:55:58 -0800

Academics, Researchers, and Writers: What software do you use for creating the graphics that accompany your journal (or mainstream) article submissions? I know this will be different depending on the topic, field, and journal. I'm trying to get a feel for the full range of choices.

For those of us who didn't go to Harvard. . .

Ndwright — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 23:26:53 -0800

Are there any sites or blogs dedicated to pointing out great courses and lectures not to be missed on iTunes U? The Mefi post with this question's origin.

Advice for the academic job market

k8t — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 21:52:31 -0800

Advice for going on the academic job market? I'm graduating in the spring from a social science PhD, therefore it is job marketing time. There are listings in my field, although not as many as there used to be. I'm looking primarily at TT R1s. Any wisdom from the academic MeFites for the process generally (CVs, cover letters, interviews, negotiations)? Thanks!

Loved it! Hated it!

carmen — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 07:57:24 -0800

What do you love about popular books on society, history, and human sciences? What do you hate about them? I'm preparing a proposal to write my thesis as a public anthropology book for this competition. I know that one of the most important things is the writing style, of course. I'm looking more for what you liked about structure, presentation, and themes.

(I can elaborate a little on what my book is about if that's important, but I want to keep it broad for now.)

From PhD to Paycheck

Spurious — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 17:23:43 -0800

What are my realistic chances of getting a non-academic job with a PhD in International Relations? For a friend:

I am a few months away from completing my doctorate in international relations. I have a BA in politics, an MA in history, and (almost) a phd in international relations. I have done some consulting on-and-off during my phd but nothing big. Other than that I have zero work experience. I want to work for a company, consulting, non-profit, or government. My sister freaked me out recently by claiming my phd made me unhireable outside of academics (too educated to get my a starter-job but too inexperienced for anything else).

What are my chances realistically?

Litigation's a drag

oinopaponton — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 12:33:50 -0800

Can I ask my professor to recommend me to a university that she tried to sue (without destroying my chances at acceptance)? I’m going to be applying to PhD programs this fall. I’m really excited to start the application process, and have some great professors lined up to write recommendations. One of these professors-- Professor X, if you will-- is probably going to be a strong point of my applications. She oversaw me writing the term paper I’m going to use as a writing sample, is seen as a leader in her field (i.e., the one I hope to enter), and is a MacArthur fellow. I’m really lucky to have her in my corner, but (there’s always a but) she was involved in a legal case with one of the schools I’m considering.

Without going into specifics, Professor X used to teach at top-tier School A. Over a decade ago, she was denied tenure for a reason she interpreted as discrimination, and she sued the school. Her case was dismissed before it reached trial, and she left School A to teach at equally green pastures. Her academic reputation doesn’t seem to have been hurt by this, so I’m not worried about recommendations I’ll be sending to schools B through Z.

Should I even approach her about writing a recommendation to School A? It’s not my top choice at the moment, but it’s up there and it's a good enough school that I shouldn't discount it. She’s never discussed this lawsuit with me, but it’s pretty well documented—should I even mention it? I could find someone else to recommend me for this particular application, but nobody with the same clout.

On the other hand, would School A see a recommendation from Professor X as a count against me? Is a lawsuit like this enough to make an institution see a former employee as a persona non grata, even if she is a respected scholar?

Apologies for all vagueness, but I’d really appreciate any advice on how to proceed without making everyone uncomfortable (and sabotaging an application).

He's the Next Tiger Woods.

Fairchild — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 08:48:02 -0800

How are American parenting practices unique? How are the parenting practices of Americans unique regarding the success of their children?

I know every family is unique but I'm looking for generalizations.

Do Europeans "groom" their kids like some American parents do? Is there an overemphasis on their children's resumes like there is in the USA? Are kids in other parts of the developed world taking test-prep courses and music lessons and being labeled as gifted at the same rate?

As an American parent I notice that many parents are hyperfocused on their kids' future and present abilities. We seem to worry a lot about how talented our kids are. Many are preoccupied with giving their children a "cutting edge".

Do other cultures invest this much time and energy in their kids academic and athletic success? What are the differences and attitudes?

I'm curious about these differences because I'm always seeking balance when it comes to parenting. I feel like I am a relaxed parent but admit to occasionally feeling competition and believing I should have "above-average" children.

Thanks.

What did you like about your college degree?

about_time — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 20:19:00 -0800

Do you have good memories the department that hosted your college degree? I'm looking for specific suggestions for forming a strong community of undergrad students within one major. What made you feel at home in your own dept? What made it easy to get to know other students or the faculty? For example, were there a lot of events or guest speakers targeted for the undergraduates? Were the faculty particularly good at advising or being accessible? Was there a particular place for you to go and hang out, but only open to your major? Extra points for activities/policies that are appealing to science/technical geek majors. Thanks for your help.

The Hermeneutics of 4chan: A Deconstructive Analysis of Teh Lulz

Keter — Wed, 06 May 2009 13:27:08 -0800

Academia must have discovered the Internets by now... right? I'm interested in finding some academic, long-form journalism, or just generally "high-thought" articles about "low" Internet culture, from memes to 4chan to Anonymous to Second Life. Halp?! What is the psychology of griefing? What makes a meme? If the center is not the center, then... then... who was Phone?! I barely know where to start, and the college reference librarian gave me a bit of a queer look when I asked her for guidance. I attend an academic institution with a prolific number of journal submissions, so if any potential articles are behind a subscription wall, it's entirely likely that I can access them.

On that note, even suggestions as to possible journals that I can comb on my own time would be helpful--I do my work in the natural sciences predominantly, so I'm unfamiliar with the scene when it comes to other disciplines. Any particularly interesting books would also be welcome.

I've already discovered the Journal of Virtual Worlds Research, found a few articles from Bonnie Nardi, and am familiar with I Can Haz Research Paper (from the blue, previously). Not to mention the New York Time's take on 4chan, weev, and anonymous. This is first and foremost for my own curiosity, so anything you have stumbled across that you think would be interesting to digest (whether it be interesting because it's genuinely insightful analysis, or so bad that it's good for the lulz) would be great!

Masochism expressed through higher-level law degree, or good idea?

bunnycup — Wed, 06 May 2009 12:30:38 -0800

I'm thinking of returning to school for an LLM in taxation, and am looking for advice, experience, pros, cons, etc. In terms of my background, I have a BA from NYU, a JD from Fordham and was admitted to the bar in New York in 2007. I practice in a very specialized, unique area dealing with tax, insurance, alternative dispute resolution, etc. I am very young within my field compared to colleagues, and somewhat of a unique player - I could see myself rising to the top, forging my own path and having a lot of career flexibility.

So, I want an LLM to develop the expertise in taxation that law school did not provide, to increase my flexibility, the likelihood that i can qualify as an expert for tax testimony, and perhaps pursue writing and academic work within the field.

The cons are, I already have $100k of educational debt and would intend on continuing to work full time while in school (though I work exclusively from home). I would also like to consider international tax expertise, and whether this is something I might pursue abroad, if it were worthwhile (I would be able to continue to work while doing so).

Comments? Thoughts? Pros? Cons? Yes? No? Where? When? Why? Is this a waste of time and money to pursue or does it seem to fit well with my life/career goals? Did your LLM change your life?

Looking for the perfect note-taking system is hard, but still easier than actually doing work

pluckemin — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 17:42:55 -0800

Which note-taking/organizing software does the best job of integrating PDF files? I'm looking ahead at 4+ years of doing nothing but research and writing, and I'm realizing that my current notetaking system (read document, forget about it a week later) is not exactly working for me. I'd like to switch to one of those magical programs that organizes your world, but after reading all of the many previous AskMe questions on note-taking systems, I can't figure out which one would work best for me. (Currently looking at: Evernote, TiddlyWiki, WikidPad, Scrivener, NoteBook, VooDooPad.)

I've made a half-hearted attempt to use Zotero in the past, and there are a bunch of things about it that I really like (most notably the ability to save and annotate webpages, which is particularly important to me because part of what I study is Internet culture), but there are also a few things about it that I don't like (not free-standing, impossible to look at multiple things at once).

There's one thing that I would really like to be able to do. Many of my readings are PDFs, and many of those aren't recognized as text (or whatever the technical term is -- I mean that you can't highlight text or search). I would like to be able to annotate these readings directly on the PDF, but also be able to view my notes separately, i.e. as a list. I want to be able to see my notes in context, but also to be able to take a step back and look at the big picture of all of my notes for a single reading and possibly all the notes for a collection of readings.

Does any program actually do this? If not, which of these programs do you think would work best for a social theory academic with lots of PDFs, an extremely bad memory, and a tendency to fail to see the big picture? I'm leaning towards one of the Wikis because the of the ability to interconnect everything, but I'm not sure if they can integrate attached files as well as the non-Wiki programs can. Maybe I need to use two separate programs (e.g. Zotero to manage bibliographic info and websites, VooDooPad to take and organize notes), though being able to kill all my organizational birds with one stone sure would be nice.

Who studies the university?

Dr. Send — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 14:18:36 -0800

Are there any academics who specialize in criticizing/studying academia? What are their names? I'm not necessarily looking for left- or right-wing crackpots who have a beef, or academics who vent about academic issues on the side, but rather social scientists who focus on academic issues like affirmative action, job markets, academic freedom, publishing practices, theory/practice, academic politics and so on in their research. In other words, social scientists who do research about academia. Thanks.

Where is my mojo?

Spurious — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 08:46:54 -0800

I lost my mojo, how can I get it back? I am a PhD student studying environmental policy. I grew up loving environmental issues. This passion continued through undergrad and into my current PhD program. In addition to my academic research, I have written op-ed articles, and run a popular blog on environmental policy. I would talk your ear off about environmental policy if you let me. However, after a traumatic eight months, I think I have lost my mojo.

Background:

To continue in the PhD program, all students must pass two qualifying exams after their 3rd year (of a 6 year program). These are very difficult exams. If you fail any exam twice, you are booted from the program. The exams test your general knowledge of the field, NOT your particular research interest.

In June 2008, on the very first day that summer break, I started studying. For the next four months I studied (no exaggeration) 12 to 15 hours a day, 7 days a week. I read dozens and dozens of books, and many hundreds of articles. My wife was great about my crazy studying.

In September 2008, I took the exams … and failed one. It devastated me. I didn’t just cry, I literally wept in my wife’s lap. However, while the retake exam (which determined whether I stayed in the program) was in January, I had planned (assuming I would pass) a very busy schedule (classes, papers, etc…) for that next semester and didn’t get any break. The very next day I put in 15 hours of work.

For the next 3 months I worked harder than I have ever done. I put in 15+ hours a day / seven days a week. I had to push hard so I could get the semester done early, giving me the most time to study. I was exhausted, and horribly snappy with my poor wife. I think I was a bad husband during those months, directing my frustration, worry, and anger on her.

In December, I finished my work for the quarter and hit the books again. This time putting in 12-15 hours, seven days a week again. To give some perspective, I spent my birthday, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years all studying alone in my apartment. This studying continued until I took the test again in January 2009.

In January (a few weeks ago), after seven months of trauma, I passed the qualifying exams.

The Problem:

After all that studying, somewhere along the way I fell out of love with environmental policy and the PhD program. I used to think of class papers as a chance to really do something great (and publish it as an op-ed article), now they seem like just things to get done as fast as possible. I am in a rut. I cannot seem to get motivated like I once was. My work is decent, but (in my opinion) it lacks the “mojo” and "passion" it once had. Furthermore, I have lost any interest in going to conferences, panels, discussions, talks, etc.. etc.. things that I would always have gone to before.

Question:

Why am I like this?

Can I fall back in love with my topic?

How did you become an adult after messing up your youth?

Anonymous — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 14:38:02 -0800

Did you spend the years out of high school and into your early-mid twenties royally fucking up from an academic standpoint, bouncing in and out of college--but then went on to be a successful, productive adult despite it? What did you do? How did it happen? Yes, this question is young and silly but I need the advice of those older and wiser. To make this short, I'm exiting years of a spotty academic career with still no degree. Neither working full-time at low-paying jobs, volunteering in areas that inspire my passions, classes that interest me, or telling myself to suck it up and just get it done have resulted in the motivation to do classwork. I'm almost into my mid-twenties. I'm facing a world where all of the jobs that I like and have benefits like health insurance require a bachelor's degree, and I have no degree in hand, appreciable job history and references that might sub for a degree, or any indication that my college wants me back to finish said degree. Frankly, there's no indication that at this point I'm mature enough to go back and get my damn homework done anyway.

I need some form of reassurance that my life is not doomed to mediocrity. That I can turn it around, and there is some route I can take that will lead me to being productive and mature. What did you do? How did you go from being an unmotivated fuckoff to a productive person? Working for more years? Joining the military? Going on a spirit journey? Anything?

Help me recession-proof my future, post-college life.

Muffpub — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 12:49:22 -0800

I'm 21 years old, about to graduate college, and the recession is freaking me out. I know there's no right or wrong answer to which course my life should take, but I need help focusing on realistic skills and places to live that I should be considering. I'm about to graduate from a major Ivy-level university with a degree in English and Political Science. I have no idea what I want to do with my life and will be dealing with ~$35k in debt, so I want to try to spend the next few years living frugally and carefully contemplating what I want to study in grad school before I make the plunge.

The problem is that I feel like all of my ideas of what my post-college life would look like have been soured by the recession. I would love virtually nothing more than to live in Brooklyn and try my hand at policy, academia, or nonprofits/social justice - but as far as the research I've done is concerned, the NYC job/rental markets are so incredibly tight it might as well be a death wish.

Recently I've tried to expand my search to other places, like Chicago, Boston, and DC, but even in these areas I feel like the cost of living stacked up against jobs I would want that actually pay something is daunting.

I've been trying to think about ways to make my predicament easier by
1 - Trying to cast a wider net geographically - looking at cheaper, faster-growing economies such as Austin, TX and parts of North Carolina for more, better-paying jobs and cheaper rents;
2 - Casting a wider net in terms of what jobs I' could apply to - but here I'm a bit clueless;
3 - Looking for skills that I could attempt to teach myself that might give me a competitive advantage. (I have some basic Spanish and HTML/CSS under my belt that could, maybe, give me a head start.)

I know this question is almost impossibly broad, but are these worthwhile strategies?

Is the premise of my fears valid - that life in a major city like New York, which is what I want more than anything, is unfeasible in this economy?

Where can I find a decent, urban-style quality of life - liberal, gay friendly, nightlife, art/music scene, public transit - with a realistic rental and job market? Is it all too much to ask?

Am I being overly pessimistic considering that I *did* go to a good school and made decent grades - or is it prudent to be this cautious?

Other factors to consider: I do *not* want to live with my parents. I'd really like to not stray any farther from the East Coast than North Carolina to to the south, Chicago to the west, or Montreal to the north. Programs abroad such as the Peace Corps, teaching English in Asia, etc interest me, but I worry that the economic crisis will just make life even harder abroad than it is here. Also I have EU citizenship and could theoretically move and work anywhere there, but again, I worry that life will be even harder there.

I'm sorry to ask so many different questions in one, but any guidance from anyone who has graduated from college and felt completely overwhelmed/demoralized by grim economic conditions would be really helpful. Trying to figure out just how bad this recession is/will be is like staring into an abyss, and it makes planning and predicting my future, and how hard things may get, very difficult. Please, feel free to share your stories, perspectives, advice on what you would do in my situation, anything at all.

How can I ask why I'm getting such good grades?

youcancallmeal — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 21:47:15 -0800

How can I ask my professors if the grades that they're giving me are inflated or not? I've been getting really good grades this semester on the papers and exams that I've been turning in (B+ to A) in a range of upper level undergraduate political science classes and I can't help but notice that I'm not putting very much effort into them (mostly because I'm taking 21 credits and don't have time to devote to each assignment). Because I don't believe that I'm preternaturally gifted or anything, I'm starting to wonder: am I getting these grades on the basis of the work or because I speak up in class and am friendly to the professors? I do know that these grades are not being given to everyone in the class. I am at the higher end of the grade scale.

I plan on applying to and attending graduate school in the near future and am thinking of pursuing political theory, so knowing my actual skill level at research and writing would be helpful so that I can improve where necessary. How can I broach this issue with my professors without looking a gift horse in the mouth or risking my grades for the rest of the semester?

Because lonely academics are cute

dyslexictraveler — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 09:34:46 -0800

Movies about lonely academics who find new meaning in life? I recently watched two movies that had a similar starting point: Smart People (an emotionally blocked widowed professor has a new chance to grow...) and The Visitor (a lonely widowed professor explores identity and immigration issues after an unusual experience in NYC...) and I'm looking for other movies to watch in this "genre".

Suggestions?

How do I take better notes?

sonofslim — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 20:00:32 -0800

I need help modernizing my note-taking methodology. I was never good at note taking and the last rubric I used was circa 5th grade and involved a stack of index cards with subject titles. Now, 20 years later, I want to tackle a research project. I need to modernize my note-taking skills -- what resources (books, articles, methods, software (OS X/*nix), &c.) would you recommend to someone who needs a basic refresher and then some?

What gift to thank an advisor?

Anonymous — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 07:29:16 -0800

What are some good appreciation gift ideas for a thesis advisor who was kind when the project took far longer than originally planned? I did an undergraduate thesis in college. My paper took about, um, a year longer to finish than it should have due to some personal issues and some challenges with the paper itself. My advisor had to deal with some hassles because of this as well, and was always very patient and cool about it. He also went out of his way to get my paperwork submitted at the last minute (due to me taking so long). All of the paperwork was recently tied up and I'm officially done now. I want to send a thank-you note and a small gift of appreciation to his office, but I know nothing about the protocol for this or what would be an appropriate gift?
He's a fairly young professor, not super formal, and other than that I know he likes music a lot and has young kids. I hate giving non-relatives gift certificates because it seems too monetary and less thoughtful. I also am trying to avoid anything too office-ish like a fruit basket or a mug or whatever. Any suggestions on an appropriate gift that one could give in this situation? I am somewhat broke so it can't be anything too fancy, unfortunately.

Wikipedia 3D

badstone — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 18:59:13 -0800

I am looking for examples of 3D virtual environments created in a Wikipedia-like manner. I am investigating the use of VR for collaborative, scholarly work. Some projects on my radar include Discover Babylon (FAS), Rome Reborn (Univ. of Virginia), Amazonian Carnival (Michigan State), and River City (Harvard). Likewise, there are a variety of Second Life environments in this vein.

What are other good examples of this sort of work? Specifically, I'm most interested in environments with a sort of Wikipedia model for authoring content - where models and simulations are developed and modified continuously by a community, not just one group and not in one go.

What're the academic options open to a food obsessed person?

GilloD — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 12:34:43 -0800

Week 2 of my endless food career related questions and this one is a doozy: What're the academic options open to a food obsessed person? Bear with me here, I may get wordy:

As we went over last week, in lieu of throwing myself upon the gears of 9-5dom, I've been trying to figure out what I'd like to do with my life. Earlier this year I fled my 9-5, moved halfway across the country, got engaged and signed up for the Peace Corps. This readjustment left me with a lot of downtime in the day (I worked a lot of night shifts) and I found an inexorable passion for food in full bloom.

The problem is that I don't especially care to jump into professional kitchen work. The hours are understandably brutal, the honors are few and far between and the pay is awful.

What I've really been interested in is food writing and/or the academic end of food. I've been doing my reading (MFK Fisher, Elizabeth David, Jefferey Steingarten, Harold McGee, Brillat-Savarin, on and on.) and keeping up with the ChowHound and EGullet crowds. My kitchen skills are informed, if unpracticed, and I'm grounded in the theory.

While I'm trying to make my own inroads into food writing I hardly expect it to pay the bills nor fully satisfy my, ahem, appetite. To that end I looked into two programs:

The NYU Food Studies program: http://steinhardt.nyu.edu/nutrition/index.php/page/10

BU Masters of Gastronomy: http://www.bu.edu/met/adult_college_programs/graduate_school_program/post_graduate_degree/food_science_degree/index.html

However, I've had a hard time getting in touch with anyone who has actually been through those programs. Looking at the brochure and auditing the class is one thing, actually talking to someone who has been on the ground in quite another.

So, to whit:

Are there other, similar programs available in the US?
Have any MeFites been through either the above programs or similar programs?
Are there other options for an academically inclined person who is spurning culinary school?

Note your average notes program... (Owch.)

synecdoche — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 07:28:14 -0800

I'm trying to find a note-taking program for OSX that allows a pseudo-Cornell-style of note taking, and some other features. I've looked at a number of programs based on recommendations on the green and elsewhere, and nothing seems to do what I want (at least so far as I can tell).

What I want is a note-taking program that will allow me to create notebooks that feature:

1. A main note-taking area
2. Some way of incorporating printable marginalia (either by having it next to the main text, or as an annotation sort of like Word's "Comments")
3. The ability to tag and search notebooks
4. The ability to group notebooks together under folders that are visible in the main program

I realize these are fairly specific demands, but I am hoping to find something at least CLOSE to this. The ability to add (printable) marginalia is essential; tagging would be nice; and grouping is not absolutely necessary but I would like some sort of means by which I can group like notebooks together (maybe under tabs? As long as I can see it in the program.)

Maybe this is a tall order, but I figured if anyone can find it, it is AskMe.

Public Education in Memphis, Tn

bethrossrn — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 18:26:54 -0800

My family and I will be moving to mid-town Memphis this summer. I originally thought private education was the only way to go in Memphis but after doing my research I am finding out that there are some public schools where academics are challenging and they offer more extracurricular activities than the private schools. I am leaning towards White Station high school and Snowden for elementary school. Appreciate any help.