Ask MetaFilter posts tagged with university

Missed Australian Census date

Anonymous — Fri, 16 May 2008 20:01:14 -0800

I have missed my (Australian) university's census date. Am I screwed? Without getting into the details too much, I've been having a rough time over the last few months, and decided that enough was enough and that I needed to leave university. I spoke with the head of my department weeks ago and informed her I was dropping out, and have spent the time since then locked in my house feeling miserable (I mention this by way of explaining my lack of organisation - I am booked to start seeing a psychiatrist to deal with my depression).

This morning I realised that my census date was yesterday, meaning that I now must pay for the entire year even though I will be leaving. I'm doubtful I can do anything about it now, but in desperation I am asking Mefi in the hopes that someone may have any suggestions. Knowing I've managed to add $4000 debt to everything else that's gone wrong this year is not helping my state of mind, and knowing that I either have to accept it or that I may have other options would make me feel a lot better.

Help a college kid help college kids, online.

clearly — Thu, 15 May 2008 20:07:23 -0800

What would be some good practical web resources for college students? My university pretty much has the course resource and website thing covered, but I would like to implement a section on practical information pertaining to the college student. Some resources I think would be helpful are cheap and good places to eat out, professor reviews, course strategies, a textbook marketplace, and a forum for general discussion.

Do you have any ideas I could implement?

Send me back to skool

sambosambo — Sun, 11 May 2008 13:00:07 -0800

How does a 25-year old college dropout go about getting a fresh start at a new university? I dropped out of San Jose State about 2 years ago. I want another shot at getting my degree, but I have no idea how to go about choosing a school to attend.

I chose San Jose State mostly out of fear and laziness, as it was the closest and cheapest university that I was accepted into. After an on-again-off-again relationship with the school, I eventually dropped out. It's been 2 years now, and I have a better idea of what I'd really like to study, and have glimpsed what the future holds for me without finishing my education.

For a number of reasons, I don't want to go back to SJSU. The top reason being that it just wasn't a good fit for me. The second reason is that given the amount of credits I'd have to makeup I'd simply prefer to use the time to start over again rather than play catchup.

I'm very open and would love to get away from the SF Bay Area and California, so how do I narrow my choices and find schools that will fit me?

Heading out on our own...

tomcochrane — Fri, 02 May 2008 09:19:12 -0800

[Moving Filter] My Girlfriend and I are moving from a small town (~3000 people in Newfoundland, Canada) to Toronto in August to attend York University. This will be our first time not living under our parents roof. Any tips for how best to get everything there, or tips on moving in general? We're moving into the Grad student apartments on campus. They're furnished, so that helps a lot, but having not lived on our own before, we will still need to acquire a fair amount of stuff. We have the opportunity, however, to inherit a lot of things from our families. The problem becomes, how do we get it all there? Would it be easiest/cheaper to just buy a lot of things when we get there? Any tips on moving would be great, and any tips on moving out on your own for the first time would be great too. Also, if you have any experiences to share regarding moving to "the big city", please share.

BTW, anyone here stay at the Assiniboine Road apartments at York? If so, any opinions?

Thanks very much.

How to 'fess up to slacking off.

jacalata — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 22:24:54 -0800

I haven't done any work yet, but I swear I will soon - (how) do I tell my thesis advisor? I'm doing my final year Engineering thesis, but I haven't really done anything yet. I'm always a terrible procrastinator and work to deadlines, and the sheer size of this thesis project makes me panic and stare at the wall when I just start trying to break it up into tasks. I have weekly meetings with my advisor where she asks me what I've done, and I talk about the deliverable for that week (meta stuff like a Lit Review, a project timeline, etc) and gloss over the actual work that I thought about doing but didn't. It's week 9 and I haven't even run half of the software I'm supposed to be working on yet.

On the bright side, I recently saw a doctor and got some antidepressants and an appointment with a psychologist (not just thesis stuff). I'm trying to cancel the job I had lined up for midyear holidays so I can spend them working on my thesis instead. It's not due till October, so I'm pretty sure (assuming meds and therapy help) I can get back on track. But I feel ridiculously guilty and don't know how I can tell my advisor where I'm actually at. (I think I'll have to, really, because some of the questions I need to ask are obvious 'I'm just getting started' material).

Summary - I don't want to go into gory personal detail and tmi, but I don't want to just give a glib "by the way, I haven't actually started yet. How do I turn this thing on?" So, what's a nice medium? What does she actually want to know? Should I not bother trying to say anything until I can say 'I have started doing x' instead of 'I'm going to start doing x' (in case I don't follow through)?

Writing a Travel Grant

tickingclock — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 02:34:19 -0800

I am applying for a small travel grant to fund a trip to a semi-local conference. The problem is that I have no idea how to write one! I am interested in presenting the results of my undergraduate research project at a small conference taking place at a nearby province. To help fund this trip, I would like to apply for one of the undergraduate travel grants available at my university -- but I have no idea what I am supposed to say. The application instructions are fairly minimal: "attach a one-page explanation of your role at event and title of presentation."

Some specific questions:
* Do travel grants have a standard format that I should follow?

* What kind of information are they looking for in the grant proposal? My role at the event and title of presentation will not take up a whole page -- what are they actually asking me to say?

* There is a separate application cover sheet that contains the important information such as the name of the conference, the amount of money requested, as well as the proposed dates of travel. Should I repeat this information in the proposal?

* Should I attach some documents that are not explicitly requested? I am thinking of things like the abstract, a proposed budget, and my resume.

This is my first time writing a grant, travel or otherwise (see: undergrad), so any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Lunch on the Ave

macinchik — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 19:28:28 -0800

Seattle filter: What are the best places to eat on the "ave" in the University District? Preferably the lower part? I'm looking for any hidden gems, something that surpasses all the teriyaki, pho, and bar food offerings.

Thanks!

College athletics: play, then study?

brianogilvie — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 16:55:37 -0800

HigherEdFilter: Who proposed that US college athletes should get scholarships that they could use after their sports career ends? Some years ago I read an essay on abuses in college athletics that suggested that college athletes in NCAA Division I sports should get scholarships that they could use after they had finished their sports career, when they could concentrate on developing useful skills and exploring their intellectual interests, instead of having to be "student-athletes" when the emphasis is almost always on "athlete."

Unfortunately, I didn't write down where I read this. Before I spend an hour or two doing research, I thought I'd query the erudite hive mind to see if any of y'all recall this argument and can refer me to a source. I think it's a brilliant idea and I'd like to give credit where credit is due.

Help the average Jane with a statistics question?

cocoagirl — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 13:25:06 -0800

An acquaintance who's a university professor on the hiring committee for his department cried 'sexism!' when 50% of the candidates who were asked back for interviews were women, when only 18% of the initial applicants for the position were women. I rebutted. Who's right? There were 200 total applicants for this humanities department position. 18% were women. Twenty applicants were invited back for more interviews and half (10) were women. He said that since 50% of those who made it to the next level of the application were women, there must be something wrong with the criteria the department was using to narrow the field—statistically the number should reflect the number of total women applicants.

I made three points. One, the criteria for advancement in the hiring process are qualitative, and the only situation in which the percentages could be counted on to match would be if gender were a heavily weighted criteria. The goal of the hiring committee is to narrow down the best candidates for the position, not to maintain the gender ratio of applicants.

Two, the number of women advancing to the next level was 5% of the entire pool of applicants, a number far below the 18% he held out as a statistically acceptable benchmark.

Third, given a world population—or hell even a smaller field of, say, North American doctorates—of approximately 50% women, if he were going to cry sexism, it should have been when he saw that only 18% of the applicants were women.

The problem: I know nothing about statistics. Do my responses hold water and if not, can you give me some that would?

Academic uninterest in quitters?

Anonymous — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 20:34:28 -0800

Life and education quandary: If I take a masters instead of finishing my PhD will I be blackballed if I reapply to finish my PhD First year grad student in top ranked science program finds they don't like their research project. adviser is understanding and suggests other topics, a possible switch to a new lab, or take a masters and some time off. Student, while committed to a PhD, is worried about getting stuck in a dead end with current adviser and concerned that switching to a new lab without considerable consideration (which might not be possible with current research in addition to class) would be a bad idea (assuming that another lab will take on said student), and thinks maybe it would be a good idea to take time to carefully evaluate different lab groups at same school, and maybe others. Req letters should be fine, and there might be a paper with first author for the student depending on current research success and time taken, but it has been recently suggested to them that once someone has a masters, they're out, and it will be exceptionally hard to get back in. A job taken would probably be in a related industry to research, but maybe not. Certainly the appearance of inability to commit to the first program could be seen as a warning. On the other hand, student is already trained and would be able to start quickly.

Grading papers and apologizing when I'm way behind the power curve

notcomputersavvy06 — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 08:35:11 -0800

Help! How do I face my employer and students when I've really f*cked up! A friend recommended me as a distance learning coordinator (read, elevated grader) for an online MBA course at a large university in another state. I thought it was a great idea although I didn't realize exactly what would be involved. As it turns out, although I've taught at the graduate level before and LOVED it, when I'm not actually teaching, merely grading, and I'm not in front of a live classroom, I HATE it! As a result, I've completely procrastinated and haven't done much of anything for 3 weeks. Suffice to say, the students are not happy (understandably) and have complained to my employer. I readily agree, I suck! I definitely need to rectify the situation but I'm soooo behind, it's hard to even begin.
So, first, any suggestions on how to force myself to tackle my backload of grading? Second, what is the best way to eat crow to my employer? Third, should I send an email to my students apologizing for the delay in my grading and responses to them?

Advice about applying to graduate school while abroad

andoatnp — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 14:07:22 -0800

I'm looking for information for applying to grad school while abroad. (PhD programs in Political Science/International Relations). I graduated from college in spring 2006, and I'm planning on applying next year (Fall '09) to start in Fall 2010. I'm also considering going to Israel in July and staying for about 10 months, and I want to make sure this won't impact my grad school plans in any way. All I've really done so far is had 3 professors write letters of recommendations that are on file at my undergrad school. In Israel, I would have to take the GRE (which is offered regularly) and do my personal statement and applications for the schools I'm applying to.

Is there anything else about the process that I'm not realizing that would make doing an application while in a foreign country particularly difficult? I tried googling, but all the results I got were about going abroad as an undergrad to prepare for grad school or grad schools that feature an abroad component.

I would almost certainly not be able to visit any of the schools I'm applying to, which I'm ok with in terms of picking a school because getting a real physical feel of the campus isn't important to me, but is that an expected part of the process, and would it weaken my chances if I can't visit anywhere I'm applying to?

Does anyone have any experience applying to a PhD program while abroad, or receiving applications to a program from someone that was abroad? Anything that I should do in advance to make things easier for me when I'm abroad? Thanks!

How difficult would it be to transfer to a North American university?

Andy Harwood — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 16:01:27 -0800

I'm half-way through my second semester at Winchester School of Art and I'm thinking about transferring. I'd really like to study in Canada or the US but I'm worried that it would be prohibitively expensive or horribly complicated to set up. Exactly how difficult would it be? Would I have to pay full tuition without any financial aid? Would the different education system cause a lot of problems? What other hurdles would I have to overcome?

How to pay for Grad school?

limon — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 21:59:32 -0800

Best book or online resource for funding Grad School? I keep hearing about how you can fund your studies through external sources, but all I see are scholarships that are either impossibly selective (for example, the Rhodes Scholarship) or fairly meager (under $1000). I don't mean to scoff at a thousand dollars, but I'd have to win twenty or thirty of these scholarships to pay for a year of school.

My situation: I got accepted into a doctoral program at a prestigious school. I haven't gotten an official acceptance letter yet, just a quick congratulatory note from the chair of the program. I therefore don't know what funding is going to look like, but said chair has mentioned the program is not in a position to fund their students throughout their students, and that the students are primarily externally supported. I can't afford to pay my own way. Before I give up, I'd like to know where I should look for funds.

Will they let me in?

koenie — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 13:48:53 -0800

I'll be visiting the USA for a couple of weeks this summer, and I would like to attend a few classes at Caltech in order to get an idea of what school is like over the pond. Will I be able to do so? Over here in the Netherlands, it is very easy for an outsider to attend most lectures at the university I'm currently studying at. You can just walk in and take a seat. Probably, no one will even notice you're not a regular, since the audiences are quite large. I don't think anyone would have a problem with it even in the smaller classes. What can I expect in America?

Who loses first when UC budets are cut by Arnold?

|n$eCur3 — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 10:01:07 -0800

How are the proposed UC budget cuts here(Article) and here(PDF) likely to affect campus employees and administrative staff (non academics, non students)? Somewhere between 32 and 60 million dollars will be cut from campus budgets. What excess fat is trimmed first? Historically, what kinds of employees are first to lose their jobs? How does this budget cut compare to past UC funding cuts and is there any historical data to show where the money will be trimmed?

How much of this budget cut will be absorbed easily without cutting personnel? Is there enough cushion? How does IT fare in these kinds of situations?

Where does he live?

Jazz Hands — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 09:51:37 -0800

State residence issue. Asking for a co-worker. Her son(18) is graduating high school in May and plans to attend a state university(Florida). However, that month, the parents are moving to North Carolina. Is the son a resident of Florida for in-state education benefits? My co-worker is getting information that the student's parents' residence is the student's legal residence. That makes no sense to me, is that right?

What colleges offer a doctorate in comparative myth?

jackypaper — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 10:15:39 -0800

What schools other than Pacifica offer a Ph.D. program in comparative mythology? My Google-fu has failed me. I understand that certain institutions offer interdisciplinary studies that can be bent in the direction of mythology, as can certain programs in English. But I can't seem to find any that offer the richness of mythological courses found at Pacifica. Surely that isn't the only university out there!

Personal Statement Woes

tickingclock — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 21:33:32 -0800

Applying for a university summer school program, which requires a personal statement of 150 words. What could I say with such few words? I am applying for a rather competitive university summer school program designed to train undergraduate students interested in pursuing graduate studies in the cognitive sciences. Most of the application is fairly standard -- a transcript, a letter of recommendation, &c. -- but I am stumped at the personal statement, which has a rather restricted limit of 150 words!

The personal statement field asks for "academic experience, research experience and interests, [and] career plans" -- I have no idea how I could describe all of those in 150 words or fewer. This is particularly difficult because I am in a rather unusual multidisciplinary program that is not really offered at other universities, so it takes me a few sentences to even describe my undergraduate degree, never mind explain my interest in it and why my education is appropriate for the summer school. Furthermore, having a lengthy description of my academic background prevents me from delving into my involvement with research projects, which are very much related to topic of the summer school -- although, I suppose the letter of recommendation from my supervising professor could probably cover that fairly well.

The application form does not ask for a CV, nor does it have a section for attaching other documents, so I am not really sure of how to best discuss my academic and research background outside of the personal statement section. It does, however, have a free-form "other comments" section, whose purpose I am not entirely sure of at the moment.

I really, really want to accepted into the summer school this year and I feel that improving my personal statement would definitely help. Last year, I wrote one or two sentences tackling each of the categories listed in the personal statement; I was not accepted into the program. To be honest, I thought my personal statement was rather boring and did not express my aspirations very well -- it gave a rather dry overview of who I am as a student.

How could I best tackle the personal statement? Should I be enthusiastic? Should I focus on one aspect of the personal statement, such as my research aspirations, and rely on my letter of recommendation to describe other relevant experiences? Should I go crazy packing my background information in the "other comments" section? How do I limit myself to 150 words and yet still stand out among other applicants, many of whom are likely more qualified and interesting than I am? I should add that I have a rather dry, boring writing style, which really does not help my cause.

Most of the advice that I found on the internet seem to be geared towards longer personal statements, in which there is more wiggle room for being interesting. I'm really not sure of what to do. Ask MetaFilter, please hope me!

Make admissions go "wow"

913 — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 14:15:49 -0800

Resume filter: I'm applying to the business program at my university and I need to include a resume with my application. I want admissions to say "wow." This is for an undergrad program that starts 3rd year (I'm currently finishing off second). My GPA stands for 60% of my evaluation and the other 40% rests on my application essay and resume. I think I should be in good standing as far as the GPA is concerned, I won't have the highest but I certainly will not have the lowest.

So, I want to wow admissions with my resume. I'm not overly concerned about the essay portion, as I feel pretty confident that I can deliver.

What would be the best things to include on this resume? I feel that the "Education" portion will not be as important as they already have all the information, so I'm thinking volunteer work, work experience, skills, etc. But what is the etcetera?

P.S. I feel that I will have more than one page, is it best to edit it down so that it all fits on one page?

Thanks!

Where to study History?

Nillocsoc — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 20:33:21 -0800

Looking for unique schools or programs for the study of History. In the US or abroad. I am looking for a school (or other form of education) where I can study History in a broad and inclusive way. I dont want to learn dates- I am more concerned with expanses of time. I want a program that combines the formation of earth, the rise of life, evolution, extinction, geology, the beginings of consciousness, early civilizations, religion, forms of goverment, types of thought, and the cultures of the world.

I want an understanding of history that surpasses birthdates, wars, the reigns of kings, etc...

So if anyone knows of a school, program, internship, university, or any other form of learning that I haven't named... please provide suggestions- and maybe a little about it.

Thank you

Not an easy task.

laughinglikemad — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 13:39:35 -0800

How do I help my brilliant - but broke - friend go to school? After her first day of kindergarten, her parents saw how excited she was about school, and knew they had to nip her future dreams in the bud. So they sat her down and said, "When you get older, you might hear about this thing called 'college.' You're not going." Her future has born that out.

She wants to go to school for psychology, and I'm looking for things like scholarships, programs, and paid internships that can help her get there. As is, she works as a cocktail waitress - which was a big step up from call centers before that - but she's lucky if she get enough sleep, let alone pay rent. Whenever anyone mentions school, she just gets depressed, because she sees it as totally unachievable. But she's also proud, which means that I can't chip in to a fund or anything from my meager savings.

She has a GED, having dropped out at the age of 16: she's taken a few community college courses back when she lived with her father, but she's on her own now. Her mother is mad - schizophrenic, and a horribly abusive person to boot - but has never been diagnosed. Her little brother is severely disabled, both mentally and physically - hunchback, bad heart, autistic - and my friend might one day have to care for him full-time (he's a minor, and living with his mad mother). She lives in Seattle, and has always lived in Washington.

I know that I can't solve her problems, but I still wanted to ask: a lot of opportunity comes from just knowing what's out there. Given those details, does she quality for any assistance - scholarships for children of crazy people, or family members of the disabled? Anyone out there who has overcome similar obstacles, to achieve similar goals?

How to get education funds earmarked?

cashman — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 07:31:51 -0800

Can a defunct trust fund donate tax-free to a university student's dissertation? I have a question regarding tax-free donations made to a state university.

My friend's parents were previously running a private trust fund. The trust is now defunct (since 2002) and there is about $4000 left in the trust account. The money has to be donated to a tax-free entity. My friend is a graduate student at a state university embarking on her dissertation and would like that money to be donated to the university and used to purchase her dissertation equipment and compensate her participants.

Since her university does not provide counsel on tax issues, I was wondering if this type of donation is allowed. Could the funds be earmarked for her dissertation? (She obviously has no desire to break any tax laws so any help is greatly appreciated).

Tips for university teaching

onoclea — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 12:25:09 -0800

Teaching a university course for the first time: any tips or suggestions? A friend of mine is preparing to teach his first university course, calculus for non-math majors. He has given single lectures and many seminars before on other more advanced topics, but this is the first time he will be carrying a whole course, on calculus, and with an audience of this size. He's a quiet guy, works really hard, takes this commitment very seriously, wants to continue in academia, and obviously wants to do a good job! Any tips, suggestions, warnings, recommendations, revelations, wake-up calls, etc. would be very much appreciated! Thanks.

How to motivate myself to make school a priority?

clearly — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 08:30:29 -0800

I used to be a model student. This semester was truly humbling. Do you have any suggestions to help me hone my study habits, regain motivation, and minimize distractions in the final three semesters before graduation? I am studying Biochemistry. I have about ten classes remaining. I could have knocked out four of those ten this semester, but have relegated myself to taking the classes over again in the upcoming semesters. I basically failed three of them due to a combination of not studying enough, not showing up to class, and various distractions.

In the past I have been able to study four or five hours before the tests and ace them. I know I can't get away with this anymore. I work about 20 hours a week, have an active social life, and enjoy the challenge and material of my major.

I can stay up until morning playing video games and studying doesn't even cross my mind. I'll sleep in while telling myself that missing class isn't a big deal. I'll go out all weekend and put off studying until Sunday night.

With a new semester and a fresh slate rapidly approaching, how can I minimize distractions, regain motivation, and actually study?