Category: Grad School
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Graduate School Time Management
This spring marks my final semester of graduate school and the process of completing my degree has certainly been a learning curve. Since moving out, starting grad school and assuming adult responsibilities, I’ve had to learn to juggle multiple jobs, a full-time academic schedule, apartment responsibilities and pet ownership. All of a sudden, I had…
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It’s Genetic: My Family History of Dumpster Diving
My grandfather grew up during the Great Depression and though I have very few memories of him–he died right before my thirteenth birthday–I remember the stories. Someone told a story at his funeral about how his mother would scrap the insides of egg shells with her finger just to make sure she got all the…
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Grad School: Recovering from Rejection
Not surprisingly, the competition in the grad school market this year has been brutal. From what I’ve read on The Grad Cafe and other related forums, It’s not unusual for applicants to be rejected from every school they’ve applied to. Ouch. This year’s odds of acceptance–and the odds of receiving a substantial funding package–may be…
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Grad School Visits and Decisions, Decisions
So you’ve been accepted to a graduate school program! Congratulations! Now what? Decisions. For some, the right school seems obvious–after a bit of consideration they know just where to go. For others, it’s an agonizing and sometimes heart-wrenching process (not to be too dramatic!) No matter your decision-making style, and…
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More than free pizza: cheap entertainment for grad students
January is a rough month for me. Despite my attempts to budget more keenly each year, the effects of holiday spending always take their toll. The impossibility of living up to all of my lofty new year’s resolutions becomes glaringly obvious right around mid-month. The period between stipend checks seems to drag…
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Choosing a Grad Program: Funding or Reputation?
Your applications are in, transcripts have been sent, GRE’s taken, and a pile of money has disappeared from your accounts as if by magic. Despite the temporary debt, breathe a sigh of relief–now all you have to do is wait. Yes, wait. And be patient, because graduate admissions committees often don’t make decisions…
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Student Budgets: Post-Holiday tips to carry you into the New Year
The holiday season is starting to wind down, and for those with a little festive spirit left in us, New Year’s Eve is creeping up. As we all take stock of the year and think about the one to come, I’d like to share some of my various holiday experiences and tips, especially helpful…
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Grad School Search: LGBT Campus Climate Index
While on your quest for the perfect graduate school “match,” you’ll likely want to consider what I refer to as the “queerness quotient.” This not only refers to the level of gay-friendliness of the campus in question, but also includes whether queer-centered groups, associations, support services, and legislation exist within the school’s infrastructure. A…
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Getting the “Real Deal” on Grad Programs
Perhaps the most difficult decision in the graduate school application process is the part that’s supposed to be the most exhilarating: those late winter/early spring months when the response letters from graduate schools start to trickle in and that big decision on where to attend must be made. Going to the mailbox several times…
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Taking the sting out of standardized testing: The GRE
Ah, the Graduate Record Examination: would a standardized test by any another name smell as’¦ tedious? I know that there are folks who actually enjoy spending hours on a Saturday morning deciphering antonyms, trudging through dense reading passages, and solving for the square root of x plus y. However, I am not one of these…
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