Ask MetaFilter posts tagged with school

Help me sound like the perfect applicant to schools of public health

palindromic — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 16:33:26 -0800

I am an anthropology senior, and I'm applying to various schools of public health. How do I make my graduate school application the perfect application? Some facts about me:

My GPA at my current university is 3.95 and will likely hover around that level until I graduate. (Stupid A- in Urban Studies, grr...) My major GPA is 4.0.

However, they want transcripts from all previous institutions, which in my case includes a university I dropped out of with quite low grades, and my first two years of community wherein I also received low grades. Obviously, I've turned that wacky boat around, but still.

I'm taking the GRE in November and I test quite well - I got a 32 on my ACT, so I'm not terribly worried about my score.

I'm currently working as a research assistant on an epidemiology research program, which I assume carries some value and definitely has exposed me to a lot of the nuts and bolts of conducting research.

I belong to two professional associations: American Anthropologists Association, and American Public Health Association.

I have applied for no scholarships, but I have received a couple from my university, although I think these were more of a reward for my GPA than anything special.

My first choice is Tulane, because 1) they are associated with the MI program in the Peace Corps, and 2) they offer what sounds to me like the coolest degree ever - MPH&TM (Master's of Public Health and Tropical Medicine). I am also applying to Johns Hopkins and University of Michigan.

I've got three letters of recommendation from professors within my department.

I speak, read and write French conversationally, and speak abysmal Russian.

Wow, this is long. How do I package this all together and polish it up to make me sound like the most perfect person in the world? How weighted are my old transcripts when my current grades are exemplary? Are there other things I'm missing that I should try to squeeze in to my life before I send in the application? How specific should I be when they ask my career goals or the general why I'm applying questions? (If you haven't noticed, I can get quite specific.) Should I mention papers that I've written that relate to my desired field of study?

help me move my tiki

scribbler — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 10:46:26 -0800

Questions about TikiWiki and web hosting - how can I improve web resources for my grad program? So I've inherited my graduate student association's website (maintenance of). It's built on TikiWiki groupware/CMS and hosted on my university's server. For various reasons, there's a high level of interest in "migrating" it to an external server, registering our own DNS, and getting some email addresses with the domain name extension. I have a background in online but I'm not a programmer and my experience with DNS/that sort of thing is more or less limited to about one day of research (I do, however, have plenty experience using various sorts of arcane CMS's). Of course, all of this has to be done on a very limited budget.

My tentative plan is to get hosting services from nearlyfreespeech.net, because it would be dirt cheap, and then use gmail as our mail provider, which will allow us to set up email addresses with our domain extension (right...?). However, I'm trying to figure out if nearlyfreespeech.net will support/be compatible with TikiWiki requirements.

Will I be able to migrate our TikiWiki to their servers? And approximately how much would it cost for a year of hosting, if we did do it (traffic being minimal)? I've posted in the TW forums but haven't received any answers. I'm open to other possibilities.

More broadly, I'm interested in good ideas for a graduate program website and web initiatives - what gets people involved? What have people found useful?

Help! I've fallen and I can't get up!

Anonymous — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 10:44:31 -0800

How can I change my habits? I'm a graduate student, and I am taking my PhD qualifying examinations within the next year. I am down to the wire and I need to change my habits, and they are very, very bad. Studying for the examinations will require reading a few hundred books ("reading" often means skimming, and a few months is usually all the time we have to prepare). I have made it this far, in a top ten program, by doing very very little work and playing hard to my intellectual strengths. I have excelled in the program, and no one knows the extent of my poor habits, so I can't exactly fess up. I can count on one hand the number of assigned books I have actually read. But my degree work is really important to me (yes, I promise, really), and my success in it is, too. I want to change.

The problems that have led me here are several:

1. Plain old laziness and procrastination. Because I've been able--for YEARS--to get away with doing very little and absorbing a lot, I've continued to do so. I have a set of skills that allows me to get away with this. I know hitting bottom is sometimes how people turn it around, but it hasn't happened yet, and I don't want it to. Even if I intend to do what I'm supposed to, I fuck around and don't--and get through it anyway. I am great at resolving to do things, much less so at actually doing them. And I'm great at picking a new "system" to adopt and then abandoning it. I also produce pretty good work at the last minute.

2. Depression. I have been depressed for many years, probably a combination of dysthymia and major depression. Yes, I am in treatment with a therapist and on medication. Sometimes it doesn't work. So the number of days I lose to fucking around is matched by the number I lose to being depressed.

3. Trauma. I have not had an easy time of it. In my first year of graduate school, my only living parent died. I was the executor of that parent's estate, many states away. I am still grieving, and this, too, seriously disrupted my schoolwork. Yes, I had (have) a grief counselor in addition to the therapist.

So it's not just sheer laziness. If it were, I would deserve every "get your shit together" in the world. And I know, of course, that I'd have been fired from a "real" job long ago. But that alone isn't enough.

I already know that paying serious attention to my physical well-being will be a huge help--that I need an exercise routine, a more careful diet--as will continuing with my mental-health work (therapy, medication, alternative healing). How can I make that routine work?

And really, how can I get serious about my work? How do you serial procrastinators stop yourselves in the act? How do you make a routine stick when you've been averse to one for so long? I want things to change, but sometimes it's a huge uphill climb to change them.

Throwaway email: sureillbendover@gmail.com. Please, please, please, I promise you I have done all the berating and tough love talk you feel the need to do right now. Solution-oriented advice most welcome.

Help with colleges/universities offering bachelors degrees in "Interdisciplinary Studies".

Nillocsoc — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 10:28:49 -0800

Help with colleges/universities offering bachelors degrees in "Interdisciplinary Studies". I am basically looking for a place of learning where I have the ability to build my own major. Prefer not distance learning. Open to abroad.

Any personal experience with these programs would also be helpful.

Help me get through school!

Anonymous — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 11:48:45 -0800

Anyone ever have trouble getting though social work school when they wanted to become a therapist? I just started graduate school at Fordham University in NYC for my MSW. I'm looking to focus on clinical social work, but I find that the school is very biased against those who want to pursue psychotherapy. They outright discourage it.

I'm doing an internship 3 days a week working at an agency and have a full course load of 5 classes. I find myself overwhelmed with the workload and with how much the content focuses on pure social work policy vs. individual counseling.

I understand that I have to take certain classes before I get to the clinical stuff, but I'm wondering how I can push through this material when I feel like I can't relate to a lot of it. Because I can't relate, I find it harder to understand. I can't help but feel like I'm sinking because work keeps piling on before I can get through one assignment.

Any suggestions on how to handle material that's not necessarily what I'm interested in and be able to survive this first year?

Is TeachNY.org worth my time and effort?

TwilightKid — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 05:03:55 -0800

Has anyone here ever went into teaching in NYC/NYS using the www.teachny.org route? I'm looking to hear about the realities and true expectations I should be having rather than all the hype and glamour they make it appear to be.... I have looked through the archives here and found some similar questions, but none that really touched on my questions.

The lowdown: 36, Married, Mortgage, Infant Daughter. 10 years of Sales/marketing experience. Bachelors degree in business and minor in writing/english. Burnt out on the industry I'm in, and intriqued and interested in possibly jumping into the teaching field.

Without having the time to really go back to school to get the long term necessary skills, I have a friend who recommended checking out teachny.org which is an alternative route into teaching in the teacher starved NY school systems...From what I can tell, if chosen, I can go right into an almost learn on the job student teaching type work situation or I can can fufill some of their certfication classes and eventually get my foot in the door that way.

It seems relatively straight forward, but I'm more interested in the realities. has anyone ever gone this route in NY or any other state offering something similar? Is this a pip dream? The program is sponsored by the NYS Board of Education, so the program is legit. I'd love to hear anyones thoughts or opinons....thanks

High GPA Versus Low GRE

Delfena — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 15:51:46 -0800

Does a high GPA make up for a low GRE score for grad school admissions? Should I send my scores to schools if they are "recommended" but not required? I'm scheduled to take the GRE in two weeks. I took a Princeton Review study course over the summer, but didn't improve as much as I would have liked. My practice test score is around 1160, but I did receive a 5 (out of 6) on both writing sections. I'm applying to 4 grad schools, and only one of them requires GRE scores. My question is, should I send my scores to the schools that only "recommend" but not require them? If I do, and they end up being low (around my practice score), will my 3.98 GPA and good letters of rec make up for it? Would it look bad if I didn't send in my scores at all? Oh, my field of study is Urban Planning, and the schools I'm applying to are Portland State, NYU, UC Irvine, and the University of British Columbia. (UCI is the one that requires the GRE) Thanks!

What to do with some nerds?

allthewhile — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 21:06:04 -0800

diy tech-filter: I will be teaching a 45 minute class for 7th & 8th graders title: Technology. What I do in there with them is COMPLETELY up to me, which is both neat and scary. It will be extra-curricular so I can run with things. I'm looking for activities that include building, making, designing, are CHEAP or FREE and would appeal to inner city kids who love technology but don't really know how it works. I would love anyone who has any fun/easy diy projects. Stuff that might be on instructables would be cool.

Thanks!

Where did artist Elizabeth Peyton go to high school?

abirae — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 20:57:26 -0800

Where did Elizabeth Peyton go to high school? This week's New Yorker had an excellent profile on the artist Elizabeth Peyton. They mention that she was her high school senior class president, but they didn't mention where she went to high school. I'm curious... and my google fu didn't bring up much. Does the hive mind know the answer?

Help a liberal arts major become a nurse

learn to read — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 10:12:31 -0800

Help me flesh out a plan to first become a nursing assistant then a nurse. I've been thinking about what I want to do with my life and perusing AskMefi for inspiration. I've hit upon nursing. I already have a BA in English, and I'd like to achieve this goal fairly quickly. Of course, I also want a chance to first get my feet wet before I make the big nursing school commitment. While I may want to leave the city once I've graduated from nursing school, I'm hoping to stay in NYC for the initial work and schooling.

Right now, my plan is: 1. Get certified as a nursing assistant. 2. Find job as a nursing assistant. 3. Take prereq classes while working. 4. Apply for an accelerated post-bacc program at a nursing school. 5. Be a nurse.

The questions follow: Is this a reasonable plan, or would you recommend any modifications? Where can I find information on CNA programs in NYC? Does it matter where I go for the CNA stuff? Are there enough nursing assistant jobs available here to find work? Where can I take classes that can fit into a nursing assistant's schedule? How quickly should I be able to clear away the prereq classes? Are there any schools that don't require any prereqs?

Finally, any books or websites with general (or NY-specific) information about nursing and nursing schools would be very much appreciated.

Does my study load affect my chances of getting into medical school?

Anonymous — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 06:41:23 -0800

Does my study load affect my chances of getting into (an Australian) medical school? 1.5 years into my undergraduate science degree, my AUSTUDY was cut off because I am living with my partner. This was 3 or 4 weeks into my 4th semester and I decided to withdraw so that I could concentrate on finding employment without it affecting my studies. My GPA is good and I didn't want it to drop just because of the added stress of fitting in at a new job.

I ended up taking on two jobs and I am really enjoying them; I decided to keep working full-time for a further 6 months. It worked out good because I am simultaneously studying Maths B to satisfy a pre-requisite for a better uni with a better science program.

I am saving up a lot of cash to help me out next year when I will not be able to work very much due to my studies. In Semester 1, 2009 I'm thinking of studying science (at this new university) part-time so that I can (a.) save more money, & (b.) concentrate on biochem and physics (etc.) without the pressure of other subjects, so I can ace my GAMSATs.

Then Semester 2, 2009, I will commence studying full-time again, and also go to summer school so that I can complete my degree ASAP.

My only worry is this: Will medical school boards wonder why I took a year off? Will doing 6-12 months part-time make them think my good GPA is only good because I took it easy whenever I wanted to? Will they view my "inability" to complete a 3 year undergrad degree in exactly 3 years as evidence that I may not be able to handle the medical school workload? Even if my GAMSAT score, GPA and interview were strong?

And if the answer to that is "yes", or "maybe", what's the best thing to do?

Anonymous for professional reasons. If you require further information, here is a throwaway email: medschoolQs@gmail.com

Asking, "ou est le banc" won't cut it here.

Anonymous — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 18:32:24 -0800

How can I teach myself to read and translate French at the intermediate level in the next six weeks? I have to take a translation exam. In six weeks. In French. The amount of French I know is best categorized as "un tres petit peu." Using Sandberg's "French for Reading," can I teach myself enough to fulfill the exam? Its requirements are translating 2 200-word passages of intermediate prose (New York Times or New Yorker level) in two hours with the help of a dictionary. Any dictionary I want. Can I do this, given that I'm a fast learner? I can't delay the exam. I'd appreciate: strategies, tips, dictionary suggestions.

Anon because this is pretty embarrassing. For me, anyway.

A new direction? Or stay the course?

HopperFan — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 12:06:12 -0800

Deciding on a life direction(and paging allkindsoftime, in particular!) First, a little background: I've worked in Information Technology (mainly networks/tech support/some web design) for about 15 years. My education/work experience is as follows:

1. Small liberal college : freshman year. Completely unprepared, transferred to big university because I couldn't afford said small college, and didn't understand how to navigate financial aid.
2. Big university : Fish out of water, took some classes, and dropped out.
3. Work, work, work.
4. 2000, started new B.S. at DeVry (I know, I know, but I wanted a degree, and they made it easy to work and go to school, and I had some good professors there.) Finished B.S. in 2003.
4. Travelled overseas, fell in love with country and someone there. Lived there part-time (ex. 3 months there, 3 here) from 2002-2006.
5. 2007-8 - divorced (amicably), went back to big university for more work on original degree, now International Studies major. Did very well, but ran out of money. (Cap on loans for undergrad work, DeVry gobbled up almost all of it.)

DILEMMA IS: Ideally, I would like to do some kind of work with a company (non-profit?) overseas, or even teach at the college level someday. I don't know if a grad program would have me, because of the DeVry degree, but I do have a few points in my favor:

- I took the GRE while I was overseas (the paper version, not fun!) and got an 800 on the verbal, something awful on the math (I think around 500), and a 5 for the essay section.
- I speak basic Arabic and an Arabic dialect, plus some French and Spanish.
- I did an internship overseas, and met a lot of useful contacts, which allowed me to...
- ...apply for a Fulbright, which I didn't get (though seems like most colleges have entire departments to help with this, and I was on my own), but it was challenging and worthwhile.
- made other contacts which allowed me to have a relatively popular niche blog on the county/culture, have let that slide a bit since the divorce, though, for privacy reasons

I like my job just fine, and I make decent money - but I'm at an age (35) where I'd like to really try for something that makes me feel excited and inspired. When I'm talking to people (residents or foreigners) about the country/area in question, it makes me feel all charged up. I don't think it's something that will pass, either, since it's been over six years now, and I'm just as interested.

A couple of people suggested the Peace Corps, but others just as vehemently rejected that - pointing out that you can't pick where you're sent to, and it's not a good direction to take. I knew plenty of people in the Corps, true, but they were usually younger, and had entirely different goals.

I wouldn't mind using my IT experience in a new role, either - no need to chuck all that out the window, but I'd rather use it to support what I'm doing, instead of being the primary focus.

So, I think I have a few potential options.

1. Find the money somehow to finish decree at respectable big university, then apply to grad school
2. Apply to grad school directly, mentioning life/work experience, GRE, etc...
3. Apply to non-profits directly (afraid my language skills aren't good enough yet for working directly in-country, though)

Or something I haven't thought of yet?

[Long-time MeFi user, but posting this under a new user name since family/friends know regular one, and I don't want them chiming in, I already know what they think! :) ]

These kids today with their boomboxes and hula hoops…

ericc — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 12:44:32 -0800

What are the biggest controversies/battles in elementary school these days between kids? When I was a kid, you were either a Superman kid or a Spiderman kid. A Flintstones kid or a Jetsons kid. Nerds (the candy) or Gummi Bears. What are the modern equivalents?

How to deal with the heartbreak over a bad grade?

shamble — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 12:31:26 -0800

How to deal with the heartbreak over a bad grade? I am a first year masters students at a reasonably good university doing engineering. I have never been extremely smart, and my grades have been always good, but not spectacular. What has gotten me through all these years has been hard work and I mean REALLY hard work. Yet, despite the fact that I work harder than everyone else I know (no exaggeration), I always end up getting average grades. This especially hurts when I help someone else with the same course work, and they end up doing better than I, for example, in assignments or studying for the midterm. I have more or less come to peace with the fact that I am an average student, but why does it hurt SO bad when I can't get good grades in my courses, and does anyone have any advice on how to deal with the heartbreak? It's basically crippling to the point that for a day after I get my grades back I can't concentrate, though I know I would be much better off working instead of dwelling. This has also been going for as long as I remember, so I don't think I am ever going to get used to my average grades - it always hurts just as bad as the last time. I also end up eating chocolate and comfort food, which is pretty ridiculous. Please help!

Career Help

CollegeNelson — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 18:52:59 -0800

Help finding the right career. This is not looking for a job I have one of those but I want to know what careers I should be looking at. As I said I have a job for now but I want to figure out what I should be looking for as a career. I though that I knew but I found that I really did not want to work for slave wages and that was all the career offers.
I am 28 years old a college grad with a degree in History
I love to talk and deal with people (have done work in museum as a educator I loved the job but looked into stuff like it and the pay sucked)
Can work on projects with little to no supervision if I know what I am doing and if I don't know how to do something I am not scared to ask
I can use a computer but only at its most basic office level (word, excel, ect.)
Can not edit or proof read because I have dyslexia
Like animals and the outdoors but am not in the best physical shape
Want to stay were I am for now (Olympia area of Wa)
Do not want to go back to school yet (if at all)
Do not want to become a schoolroom teacher
Besides working in the museums only other work experience is in offices mainly as a temp.
If you need more information please say so because I want all the ideas that I can get

Teachers, students, and the Internet

unreason — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 18:24:42 -0800

Do teachers have their students use the Internet? I have an idea for a web application where school teachers could post resources and work for their students. There's a problem, though... would teachers do this? Would they feel comfortable assigning Internet homework, or is this a pipe dream that wouldn't get used?

RX something interesting

sully75 — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 12:46:44 -0800

I'd like to get more excited about healthcare/medicine. What should I read? I decided, after about 7 years of thinking about it, to go to nursing school (probably an NP program). Right now I'm taking prerequisites and waiting till the program starts up next May. I'd like to read more about medicine, interesting and inspirational stuff. I'm rereading The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, which I love. And read Mountains Beyond Mountains a couple of times in the past, and loved that too.

What else is good to read? It doesn't have to be third worldly, I'm just interested in reading stuff that's accessible to a (currently) layman. Is there a magazine or journal that would be interesting reading too?

The Mad Menagerie Manager

emhutchinson — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 14:19:46 -0800

"The Mad Menagerie Manager imagined that he managed an Imaginary Menagerie"--who wrote this? Apocryphal, or is there a source? I am a child of the seventies and was taught this one in elementary school. Now I am in a postition to foist it upon young others. Where did it come from?

This Hússtjórnarskólinn, it vibrates?

neroli — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 19:14:44 -0800

What would be the best equivalent of the Icelandic Hússtjórnarskólinn in English? I'm copyediting an interview with an Icelandic artist. The person who transcribed the interview was Italian. The text I have is in English. I don't know Icelandic.

Anyway, the interviewee mentions that he went to "housewife school." Google has led me to this, which is indeed translated as "housewife school" in some places.

I'd love to use a more familiar term. Technical school? Domestic science academy? What the heck is a Hússtjórnarskólinn?

UCLA or UC Berkeley music program?

*lostatsea* — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 13:45:46 -0800

UCLA or UC Berkeley music program? I am looking to go to either of these schools as a performance major. Which one in your experience is better?

Science law?

saoyama — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 11:50:03 -0800

I'm interested in law with a special interest in science related issues. What do lawyers in this field actually do? I'm a junior at a second-tier school majoring in neuroscience. I'm trying ot figure out what to do with my life. I've considered a lot of options and slowly dismissed them all. So now I'm interested in law, but googling for science-related law information hasn't yielded much. So I'm wondering what goes on in this field? What are some things I'll hate? What are some things I'll love? How competitive is it? I want a realistic perspective of the field.

"Guess what?" "What?" "THAT'S what!"

grumblebee — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 07:22:55 -0800

When I was a kid (in the early 70s), this baffling "riddle" was all the rage in the schoolyard: A: "Guess what?" B: "What?" A: "THAT'S what!" I thought this was a quirky but of Southern Indiana nonsense, but my wife -- who hails from Alabama -- also remembers it from her youth. What does it mean? What's its origin? Just to be clear: one kid walks up to another and says, "Guess what?"

"What?" asks the second kid (the straight man).

"THAT'S what!" says the first.

The last line was always said in a "gotcha" voice, is if the second kid was a moron and should have known the answer all along.

So I get that it's a weird sort of schoolyard insult/trick. And I can appreciate the absurdity of it (the nonsense quality). But I still feel like I'm missing something. And I'm sure that I -- and most of the kids who engaged in this ritual -- had no idea what it meant. We just did it like we recited certain nursery rhymes without knowing what they meant.

Does anyone know the origin? I'm surprised it co-existed in both Indiana and Alabama. Presumably, it existed it other places, too. I'm wondering if (maybe in some altered form) it comes from some pop-culture comedy show from the time -- maybe something like "Laugh-in."

Can I take a Stafford loan without the help of my school?

serazin — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 19:29:07 -0800

Can I apply for a Stafford loan without going through my school? I am enrolled in a nursing program at a very disorganized and poorly funded community college. I started August 20. Due to "the new computer system isn't working" type problems, no one's financial aid paperwork has been processed for this year. So I've received no aid and neither has anyone else. The person in charge of loans is refusing to even talk to any students until "the computer system is fixed" which could be "never" as far as I can tell. I'm a broke single mama and I'm starting to get desperate.

I want to apply for subsidized and unsubsidized federal loans. Is there any way I can do this on my own - since the financial aid department will not help me or even talk to me?

Thanks folk!

how can i restore peace in my high school major class?

freddymetz — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 14:00:11 -0800

How can i restore peace in my high school major class? We were the first Music major class in 20 years and a class of ten people, and we had a funny relaxed leniant teacher so it seemed like the perfect course.
This lasted for about half a year and now after a year its become quite unbearable (which the teacher has remarked a few times now).

We all sit close together in a U formation and were all good friends. The thing is that people take the course way too relaxed and talk even when the teacher is talking and basically exploit the teachers kindness.
It all started as fun but now i can relate to the teachers annoyance.
Its not as if we're too stupid to stop chatting in lessons because every time he sets people aside and talks to them they agree about the atmosphere and to stop talking but eventually it drifts back to the original situation!
Please help, mefi!