Ask MetaFilter posts tagged with applications

Advice on Emailing Professors When Applying to Grad School?

davidstandaford — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 16:40:09 -0800

Any advice concerning email communication with professors who I'll be contacting at the various schools that I will be applying to for PhD programs in Political Science? As part of my application process I've been identifying the schools that I want to apply to and the professors at each campus that I would want to work with. I've been reading some of their recent writings so I can begin contacting them via email.

At the moment, my plan is to email them sometime soon letting them know I'm thinking of applying to their school, my planned research statement, and letting them know which of their articles I've read. I was going to include a comment about the articles I had read and ask them some question about something I'm unsure about or how their article might be in conflict with some other research.

If/when I get a response I was planning to follow up by asking to see any unpublished articles if they are working on something that also fits with my interest.

Firstly, I was wondering if anyone involved in academia has any thoughts about communicating with professors during the application process.

Also, is there some maximum number of emails that should be exchanged and at some point I would begin to annoy them, or it's ok to email back and forth for a couple of months?

Is there some number of emails I should exchange before I tell them explicitly that I am applying to their school and explicitly ask them for any help they can provide in the admissions process?

What about arranging a time to speak to them on the phone? Also good?

And finally, anything in my emails that I should be sure not to mention/include, or anything I should be sure to tell them?

[I'm focusing on email communication because, alas, I am out of the country and not able to make any more campus visits.]

Bluetooth Automatic Syncing Between Laptops

0bvious — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 15:35:59 -0800

Syncing between laptops: How can I easily and automatically sync files and documents between two laptops using Bluetooth? Ideally I want to load up one machine in the vicinity of the other and have all my recent data (documents/data/RSS feeds etc.) syncronised with NO hassle. Any good apps out there? I already have a not-very-portable WinXP laptop, with bluetooth. I am also awaiting arrival of a new ASUS EEE PC. I will probably end up installing Windows XP on it, but might opt to stick with Linux.

The internal Bluetooth was a key component of my purchase.

I am interested in using the Asus as a portable addition to my writing and reading routines. I'd love to load it up and have all my recent file changes synced on both machines without me doing anything. Just like the way iTunes syncs my iPod, but with Bluetooth as a sweet bonus.

I would also LOVE for all recent RSS feeds to be downloaded in FULL and sent to the Asus, ready for me to read on the train.

Any hints would sure be grand

Are the numbers enough?

paradoxflow — Wed, 28 May 2008 18:10:17 -0800

Help me realistically assess/improve my (Canadian) law school prospects. First, the basics: I graduated from a Canadian university with a Bachelor of Arts in English in 2007, finishing with a 3.5 GPA. I wrote the LSAT in the summer of 2006 and scored a 169, which placed me in the 97th percentile. I don't really have any extra-curricular or volunteer work to speak of, most of my education related off-time was dedicated to fiction/poetry writing. I remain (mostly) unpublished, more due to my own laziness in researching and sending out finished material rather than a lack of ability, but I did get a creative writing concentration for whatever that might be worth (not much, I'm guessing). I could also obtain a few glowing letters of recommendation from professors if that would be a factor, though I would feel weird asking for them so long after having been in their classes.

I had planned to apply to law school in 2007, but didn't for what I'm now realizing is quite a stupid reason. Having found some sample personal statements online, I was pretty intimidated by the range of clubs, volunteer work, and general resume padding experience people were writing about. I felt like I had nothing of that caliber to write of in my personal statement, nothing really to distinguish me from the crowd of other people applying to law schools other than my writing, which as I mentioned, remains mostly unproven. That and I wasn't sure whether I really wanted to do law, or whether I had just been telling people that is what I wanted to do so long that I had convinced myself. I'm resolved now though.

So now I am 24, and will be turning 25 in less than a month. I have spent the last year working at a bakery/coffee shop, saving money, and if I'm being honest, generally slacking off having graduated. My intention is send out law school applications in September/October so that I can start attending law school fall 2009, when I will be 26. I only mention my age incase it might be a factor in assessing my application.

My first question is this: what are the best Canadian law schools that I would be likely to be granted admission to based on my gpa/lsat/lack-of-much-else? I'm becoming more and more aware how important the rank/prestige of the law school I'll be attending will be for finding a job afterward, and I want to get into the best school possible. American law school suggestions would be appreciated too, provided there is a reason I should consider them over a Canadian equivalent. I plan on practicing in Canada once I'm done, though mostly out of convenience, and I have a vague inclination towards intellectual property law in particular.

Second: How concerned should I be about my lack of extra-curriculars, and how should I be thinking about my personal statement? Is there anything I can do between now and when I send out my applications to improve my prospects?

Need program to track progress in multiple TV series

lrodman — Tue, 06 May 2008 12:02:08 -0800

Is there a good program to monitor progress in various TV shows? I.e. what episode I'm on in shows if watching multiple shows in different seasons irregularly. Optimally this would integrate somehow with hulu/abc/WMP, but I wouldn't expect that. Anyone have a good app like this? It gets confusing with series starting and ending different times, and picking up or taking breaks from different shows.

How to Keep a Critical Program Running 24/7 in 3 Easy Steps

SparkyPine — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 07:48:14 -0800

I want to monitor a running program on an XP box to make sure it stays running. If the program should quit for whatever reason, I'd like a way to attempt to restart the program after xx - minutes/seconds, for xx - attempts. Specifically, I want a Citrix/terminal application session to restart when I reboot the Citrix server without having to do it manually. This would preclude setting up an application to run as a service I presume.

The Citrix server needs bounced a couple times per week and the particular remote application session will be running a time and attendance program...so it needs to always be available.

This would also fix any intermittent network failures so I don't get called at 5:30 AM saying people have no way to punch the clock.

My Google-fu is failing me on this one.

How do I create a virtual "camp jobs wheel"?

schoenbc — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 13:29:30 -0800

How do I create a virtual "camp jobs wheel"? Did you go to summer camp? If so, you might have had a jobs wheel, where all the campers were listed on the outside and the jobs on an inside circle. The counselor would move the wheel daily, every few days, once a week, and each person would get a new job.

I am in a learning group with a group of people (I think 36) and I need to create something like this - we are supposed to be paired up, switching every 8 weeks. I don't know how to do that - if I just move the list sequentially, some people will never get paired up.

I'm assuming this is easy, but I have no clue how to accomplish this. It's not like a tournament line up, since this switching will be continuing every 8 days for some time.

Thanks.

Facebook applications are perplexing

the_arbiter — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 00:04:16 -0800

[Facebook-filter] Are there any Facebook applications that allow me to display an XML file on my Facebook Page? Just a quick question, really:
I've set up a Facebook Page (not a Facebook Profile, by the way) for a non-profit I help out with, and I'm trying to get the Last.fm charts for that same group to be displayed on the page. I've just got this simple XML file that I want to show, without much pizzazz, on my Facebook Page.

Anyone know of a relatively simple application that will do this?
Or do all Facebook apps have to be developed around a specific XML/RSS file?

Yes, I already know that Last.fm produces its own Facebook applications, but these are limited to users, not groups, and similarly cannot be used on Facebook Pages, but only people's Profiles.

(FYI, the file I'm working with looks like this, but for another group)

You'll have to forgive me for not knowing too much about how this whole FB app thing works.

An Apple a Day Keeps my Research Advisor Away

Large Marge — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 09:27:05 -0800

New Macintosh user needs help getting his Pro set up for academic research. My labgroup ordered a pallet of apples and I have been on a windows box until now. I was hoping you guys could tell me what software I need and what procedures I'll need to do in order to get back up and functioning. My main needs are: tunneling into a unix server and running remote programs via an x window (you can tell how much I already know about that.), pdf organization (I've got endnote, but I hear I can search in a group pdfs from the finder), and how to utilize all these fresh cores as an xgrid server (it's already set up by a coworker I believe, but I'd to know how to code my own too). Any other suggestions more seasoned scientists might have would be appreciate too. Thanks!

how to become a genius application developer overnight!

logic vs love — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 15:34:58 -0800

Second-Day-on-the-Job Panic: How can I get my mostly-self-taught, LAMP-loving self to be more confident and capable with developing corporate/enterprise applications? So I have a shiny new job doing--theoretically--the same stuff I've been doing on my own for years. But instead of friendly words like "php" and "mysql", people are throwing around strange, foreign words (WebLogic! SQL Server! IAS! LDAP! Oracle!) and I'm feeling somewhat overwhelmed and lost (and making things seem much harder to myself than I'm sure they actually are!). Any advice/books/websites/anything that will help get me up to speed so I don't feel like the little kid sitting at the grown-ups' table?

I regret to inform you...

Asherah — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 15:23:58 -0800

How can I best petition for the reconsideration of a grad school application? Or should I even try? I've applied to three programs, and have so far have received a decision from only one (as I applied early decision). I did not interview in person as I'm based on the left coast and was told that I interviewing by phone was not a disadvantage, although hindsight tells me that a face-to-face connection would have communicated my passion for this program more effectively. (I won't hear from the other two programs until Jan & Feb).

I know of one individual who was not accepted to this program (one year ago) and when they asked to be reconsidered by letter, they did a few months later receive an acceptance out of the blue (I don't know the details of this, but know that based on this account that this school doesn't have a hard and fast rule against doing this).

If I pursue a petition for reconsideration, should I ask the Office of Admissions about how to formally go about this, or should I just send a well-written letter and offer to fly out for a more in-depth discussion of why I feel I should be reconsidered?

How do I walk the fine line between looking pathetic and/or desperate, versus communicating how much I desire to have this privilege and assure them I can succeed? I would appreciate insight or advice from anyone who has experienced something similar and was successful, or not.

What's appropriate to put on a job application?

Dance Commander — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 09:17:28 -0800

I'm filling out an application for a teaching program and they'd like to know some personal information... how do I respond honestly without going into detail? The program would like to know if I have withdrawn from classes in college, how many, and then they want me to explain the circumstances behind the withdrawals.

When I was in college, I was sexually assaulted, and a big mess ensued. I tried to take care of it through the school system, hoping to keep what happened private. However, I was told by one of the deans that the guy was really super sorry and he didn't mean for it to happen so maybe it would be best if I let the whole thing go. I refused, the dude lawyered up, his lawyer managed to push back hearings long enough for the guy to transfer. I then went through the legal system, and yadda yadda the whole thing was really stressful and took forever to get through.

Anyway, I was really depressed and couldn't handle the course load at the time, among other things. I wound up dropping 7 classes over two semesters, but still got poor grades in the classes I stuck with. Eventually, things got better, I re-took some of the classes, and managed to pull up my gpa to about a B+ when I graduated.

However, this seems to be a little "tmi" for an application. I also have an anxiety disorder, and the idea of putting information this personal on an application is kind of freaking me out. I'm also worried that they'll think I'm weak or incompetent because I couldn't handle the stress.

So after all of that, I could really use some advice - what would be most appropriate to put on the application? Since I graduated, I pretty much have no where else to go to ask this kind of question, so any input would be greatly, greatly appreciated.

Who owns facebook applications & why do they need to access my private data?

UbuRoivas — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 16:13:09 -0800

Who owns facebook applications & why do they need to access my private data? Slightly related to this post on the blue, I was wondering if anybody has any info on who owns the various facebook applications, and what they do with the data, since you need to consent to them accessing your data whenever you add an application.

A benign view is that it's a technical-legal requirement, and that under facebook's terms of service your data is private, so you need to consent to these third parties accessing it, eg in order to share your movie reviews, quiz results or whatever with others.

Another distinct possibility is that these are used for datamining purposes, eg for marketing.

My guess is that the truth might have various facets. Programming a successful facebook app would be a great career advantage for an IT student or budding programmer. On the other hand, with so many people willing to offer up so much personal information, the temptation would be enormous for corporations to get in on the act, especially if they can cross-reference information from various distinct applications.

Cutting short the rambling speculation, does anybody know of any articles or resources that list, discuss or analyse who develops & owns various facebook applications, and what the data is used for?

Any Scrabble apps for Intel Macs with networked play?

VeniceGlass — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 04:39:53 -0800

Any Scrabble apps for Intel Macs with networked play? Not sure why this is so hard to find (unless there are none)!

Grad school recommendations: whom to ask?

Anonymous — Wed, 16 May 2007 09:09:40 -0800

If I've been out of college for twelve years, from whom do I get recommendations for graduate school? For a variety of reasons, I'm unhappy with my "chosen" career (i.e. one that I fell into a decade ago, and from which I have yet to extricate myself), and I've decided to apply to graduate programs in creative writing. All of these programs require several recommendations, preferably from professors or others who know me in an "academic" context.

I understand that my writing samples will (depending on whom I choose to believe) be 80 - 90% of the schools' decision to accept or reject my application, but I'd prefer not to handicap myself by giving up on that 10 - 20%.

The difficulty here is that I completed my undergraduate degree twelve years ago, and I doubt that any of my college professors will remember enough about me to write compelling recommendations.

I have, as I see it, only one other option-- I'm currently taking a workshop at a non-academic community writing center, and could probably get that instructor to write a recommendation.

But from whom should I get the others? Former bosses / coworkers? Friends? Family? Random internet strangers? None of the literature I've found on the subject of applying to creative writing programs seems to address this.

And before this gets called out in MetaTalk as "OMG why is this anonymous?!?!?!," it's because I know for a fact that several of my current coworkers read metafilter (and may or may not be aware of my screen name here) and I'd prefer that my workplace not know that I am unhappy in my career and considering graduate school in an unrelated field.

Best server-side GTD application?

jk252b — Fri, 11 May 2007 12:21:25 -0800

GTDfilter: Help me find the best GTD application to run on my own website. Although there has been plenty of GTD coverage on MeFi already, my question is a bit different. I am particularly looking for a server-side GTD application that I can run on my own website (that way it is available whether I'm at home, work, or school).

I have set up Nexty on my site, but for some reason it doesn't work. It appears to load fine initially, but the form to enter new tasks, contexts, or projects never loads.

There are a few other programs I've looked at. Tracks seems like it could be good, but I am not expert enough to set up Ruby on Rails even though my host allows that.

I have also fussed around with MonkeyGTD, but can't for the life of me figure out how to run it on my server (i know there are plugins for TiddlyWiki that will allow you to upload changes to a server, but I want to make edits directly on the server).

I know the easy answer would be for me to use a website like Vitalist, but I really want to have more control over design and access. Plus I have tons of space on my site so why not use it?

At any rate, if anyone has suggestions about a simple to install, edit, and use server-side GTD application (I suppose php would be preferable) I'd appreciate hearing from you.

Also, if you know what the problem is I'm having with Next or how I can run MonkeyGTD on my own site, I'd appreciate it as well.

switching to a pc (sort of) and I need to find some equivalent packages

nickehsmith — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 16:44:00 -0800

For reasons of folly I thought I'd give Windows Vista a go. As a long-time mac user I'm used to relying on the apple community for useful software suggestions and ideas. With windows, I'm not entirely sure where to start so was hoping for suggestions of equivalent software to the following: Unison, Toast, Adium, Transmit, iPhoto, and Stuffit/Other compression utility Low cost is good, but i'll take positive feedback over price tags any day.

Zoho, any good?

Karmakaze — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 05:54:31 -0800

Do you have feelings about the Zoho suite of web apps? My older brother, who thinks I know more about this internet thing than he does, just emailed me asking if I I know much about the Zoho suite of web applications, because he's trying to figure out how/whether to use 'em. I've heard of them, but never really touched them. I'd like to give him a more cogent answer than that, though. Could any of you with direct experience give a few reviews?

A polite reminder to a forgetful recommendation-writer?

wreckingball — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 16:08:37 -0800

How might I go about com[posing a polite "reminder" email for a... forgetful recommendation-letter writer? I'm in the process of applying to grad schools, and the deadlines are fast-approaching. About a month ago, I made my requests to three of my undergrad professors, and all three agreed without hesitation. Since then, two of my letter-writers have written their recommendations, let me know that they'd done so, and mailed them off. I've heard nothing from the third.

One of my deadlines was Saturday, and I received an automated email from the school informing me that the letter from this third character had not been received. I'd been meaning to write him a reminder note since at least a couple weeks ago, after not hearing back from him (I acknowledge that I'm partly in a bind of my own making), but I'm incredibly skittish about email (and equally so with phone calls--I'm basically just shy to a pathological degree), and I was doubly concerned about "nagging" him about the status of his letter, when he was, after all, doing me a favor.

Well, in any case, now I know for a fact that he hasn't sent it off, as promised, and one deadline has already passed, potentially jeopardizing my application. I need to get in touch with him pronto to make sure that letters get to the remaining four schools in time.

Any guidance on wording, style, tone, etc. would be much appreciated. As would, to be honest, a sample email, outright. I need something that is both exceedingly polite, deferent, flattering, etc., but also, at this stage in the game, pretty firm. This whole mess is making me incredibly anxious, and without a little guidance, I'm just going to go further into a self-perpetuating spiral of second-guessing, and nothing will ever get done.

For context: this is a professor whose class (a twelve-hour, once-a-week, one-semester painting class) I took in the spring of 2005. We were on good terms, and we always have a friendly conversation if we run into one another. He's pretty busy, and maybe a bit high-strung (that is to say, "touchy"), however, and he's located out of Baltimore, while I'm currently living in Florida.

Thanks, guys.

Time won't give me time

EastCoastBias — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 06:55:44 -0800

I want a windows application that can give me international times - I contact people in Europe on occasion - and I don't remember what time it is in Dublin or London. Is there a small app that can do this for me? I'd put up one of those silly world maps like I'm on rocketboom 1.0, but the only space left in the office is a glass wall that I am sure is taboo to cover up with a large item.

Bonus points if the app sits in my system tray.

Am I just nervous?

Anonymous — Tue, 29 Aug 2006 08:57:55 -0800

GradSchoolAnxietyFilter: I have no research experience. How do I describe my research plan? Please describe in detail the research plan you wish to pursue at Institution including the theme, approach and methods, etc. which you intend to use.

That's just one of the various questions on the application. Problem is, I've never really done any graduate level research, and though I have a few different ideas for a "research plan" rolling around in my brain, I'm not feeling very confident about committing to one in my application, considering I am unfamiliar with the faculty (and have no geographic access to them). I really don't know what they are looking for here, or if whatever research plan I come up with would jive with their experience. I just don't know how to approach this. Writing a statement of purpose doesn't scare me at all, writing this does.

The program is for an MA in international relations at a school that is incredibly attractive to me, but I'm nervous. I have a general feeling of anxiety due mainly to two things: my lack of undergraduate research experience and the fact that an MA in IR will be a somewhat significant departure from my undergraduate studies (I have a BJ in news-editorial and a BA in international studies). My undergraduate education has left me feeling unprepared for grad school, particularly with questions like these on the app. I feel like my lack of independent research experience is going to really hurt me--all I've ever really written has been in the form of term papers.

It feels like they are expecting me to know a lot more than I already do.

So, the question(s)... basically two part:

How should I approach this essay question and what kind of things will the university be looking for here? I'm particularly concerned about the "approach" and "methods" they ask me to describe.

And

Is my anxiety about school normal, or was my undergraduate education truly bankrupt?

Any general grad school applications advice is also welcome.

Help me learn to program simple Windows desktop applications

LeeJay — Fri, 21 Jul 2006 12:10:14 -0800

I want to learn to create simple Windows desktop applications for my own personal use. What programming language should I start learning? I want to create some simple desktop applications for use on my own computer (Win XP Pro). Stuff like recipe collections or daily journals or a personal organizer. I don't need to create anything with a bunch of flashy graphics nor do I think I'll be doing much programming for the web (although maybe I would branch out to experimenting with that one day). This is simply a way for me to solve a few problems and learn something new.

There are a lot of options available for someone who wants to learn programming but so many of them seem mainly focused on designing for the web. I have little experience with programming (I've written a few simple interactive fiction games with Inform 6) but I don't mind a steep learning curve if I can eventually do what I need to do. Which is why I want to make sure I'm learning the right language from the start.

What I want to do first is create an application that will allow me to organize a large amount of information on world mythology. I have folders full of articles and stories and studies and images and I basically need to organize them by culture and time period and type and then display them by category. There are a lot of programs I can use for this (I'm using Keynote right now, which I like) but I have always wanted to venture into learning a programming language and I thought since I have a need now would be the right time to dive in.

Any suggestions?

Is there any advantage to running portable applications rather than their normal equivalents from your hard drive?

tnoetz01 — Sun, 16 Jul 2006 23:06:22 -0800

Is there any advantage to running portable applications rather than their normal equivalents from your hard drive? Other than saving HD space, is there any advantage to running portable applications rather than their normal equivalents from your hard drive? I.E., do portable applications tend to have lower than average memory use, etc.?

Describe ideal grad student

Eiwalker — Wed, 28 Jun 2006 21:39:51 -0800

What is a typical excellent grad student like as a person? I'm not interested in grades/GRE scores. My concern is with character, personality, work ethic. I just finished my first year as a grad student in philosophy. I'd like to better understand my role.

I have also been asked by one of my undergraduate professors to write a paper for his students, giving tips for applying to grad school in philosophy.

There are almost certainly different types of successful grad student: different people succeed in different ways. If you know of unusual but highly successful types, feel free to mention those; but I expect that the rare types might tend to look riskier on paper (esp. applications).

why do AP scores matter for grad school?

kendrak — Wed, 21 Jun 2006 17:55:28 -0800

is there any way to complete my application to drexel without sending them my AP us history score from 1998? of course there's i applied to drexel's library school for distance learning for fall 2006. after some minor headaches (like my letters of rec being lost in the mail), i thought my application was complete and being reviewed for admission. today i called about an issue with my transcripts (the admissions people seemed confused by the community college district idea), they informed me that i had to send my AP scores still. at first i thought they meant my GRE scores, which the should be there soon since i took the test a week and a half ago. no- they want my AP scores. the original application never asked for them, nor had they contacted me about it. i took the AP us history test in 1998 and that was it. they saw it on my berkeley transcript, so i guess i have to prove it, though not my IB scores. is this common, or is drexel being weird?

i tried to talk to a few people in "customer service" today to find out if there's a way around it, but i guess there isn't. i don't know if i should try to navigate the phone maze to talk to an academic advisor for admissions or not. i know i talked to one about applying sans GRE, and she said if my college GPA was high enough (which it was), then i would be ok. i guess the same can't be true for high school.

sorry to rant a bit. i just really want to be done with this application and find out if i'm accepted. so in closing, is drexel being insane, or is this common practice in grad school admissions. i've never heard of it before today, and i've heard lots of my friends vent about the application process.

In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is team leader

yerfatma — Thu, 11 May 2006 08:41:16 -0800

"Managing" the development of an application: I'm the lead developer on a project that has swelled to 6 people. How do I smartly break tasks up into discrete chunks, assign them to people, get accurate estimates of how long it takes someone else to do something and track their progress? I realize each piece is a Holy Grail of development unto itself. I have trouble enough providing accurate estimates for my own work, let alone that of someone junior to me I've never worked with before. I'm just hoping to get ideas on how other people have managed to herd a bunch of other developers while maintaining a consistent project vision and writing some code of your own.

The project is being written in C# in Visual Studio 2005 if that helps. There's an object model and I've tried to use that as the foundation of breaking things into discrete pieces ("discrete" here being a stand-in for "something someone can work on without interfering with someone else"), but I'm doing a lousy job of it.

Also, should I feel guilty about not writing enough code? The overhead to this is way more than I imagined, so I don't know if I should concentrate more on making everyone else write good code or trying to lay enough foundation in front of them they can't fuck it up too badly. I don't want to be The Architect who thinks great thoughts and never gets his hands dirty, but I don't know if doing both is feasible either.