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Taking Rhodes application (etc.) questions
Poast new message in this thread
Date: August 27th, 2010 10:37 PM Author: opaque dysfunction Hi guys, this is the first time I've logged into XOXO in... at least 4 years I'd guess. (I can't say I've missed it too much, honestly!)
A friend who still reads the board said there was a thread with questions about the Rhodes and Marshall application process. I'd be happy to answer them if I can help.
P.S. "Poast"? |
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Date: August 27th, 2010 10:39 PM Author: charcoal flirting rigpig plaza wow. it's an honor. i've been out of college for some time, so obviously i'm not applying. but what were your impressions of your fellow U.S. Rhodes Scholars? Were they really brilliant and amazing?
what are you up to now? |
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Date: August 27th, 2010 10:46 PM Author: opaque dysfunction They were probably the most interesting group of people I've ever been with. I absolutely adored the time that I got to spend with them in Oxford (that goes for the non-US Rhodies too) and abroad. What struck me the most, though, is how they were almost uniformly quite down-to-earth and the sort of people you'd enjoy having a beer with, too. (That happened regularly, of course!)
I'm back at Caltech and have another couple years on my PhD. Most of my college friends finished this year or are just about to, but the time in England was well-worth delaying a little bit! |
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Date: August 27th, 2010 10:48 PM Author: charcoal flirting rigpig plaza yeah, rhodies tend to be more humble and laid-back than the marshall counterparts. no idea why this is the case.
did most of your fellow rhodes scholars go to yale law after their oxford stint? do you think being a rhodie opens lots of doors in terms of career opportunities? |
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Date: August 27th, 2010 10:57 PM Author: opaque dysfunction All the ones from my class who went to law school went to Yale Law and one to Harvard law for a joint PhD (but that was only 2 or 3 people from my class--not everyone wants to be a lawyer, you know!). The 3 or 4 that went to med school all went to Harvard Med. Those are probably the two biggest concentrations of folks from my class. Those of us doing PhDs (who didn't do them at Oxford) are kind of scattered around... I'm here, of course, and I know someone at Berkeley, a philosopher at Rutgers, and one or two still at Oxford actually. One guy from my class is running for office.
I would say that it does open lots of doors in terms of career opportunities, yes. |
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Date: August 27th, 2010 10:41 PM Author: Odious Painfully Honest Gunner How do the adcoms (adcoms?) take to people with less-than-stellar academic backgrounds (e.g. lackluster GPA from an unimpressive school) but impressive business experience, both in the context of an established organization and entrepreneurial endeavors?
How did you find your experience there? What are you doing now?
What is the most unorthodox trajectory of a Rhodes or Marshall scholar that you've seen/heard of?
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Date: August 27th, 2010 10:53 PM Author: opaque dysfunction I loved my time there--it exceeded my expectations in every respect and if you get the chance to do it, you should.
I think a 3.7 GPA is considered about the bare minimum to have any shot at getting an interview. The Marshall explicitly specifies 3.7, and while Rhodes doesn't do that, I've always heard that applications with less than that are unlikely to be successful. I don't think the prestige of the school weighs in very heavily, although a reputation for grading tough might be helpful (I did hear some comments from the committee at the final reception/interview that even though I didn't quite have straight A's, "Caltech is hard" or something like that. I didn't disagree!)
There was a guy at Oxford with me who had been an enlisted Marine, did very well, and eventually got sent to the Naval Academy. I thought that was a pretty unusual path. For Rhodes you have to be under 24, so that does somewhat limit the unusual-ness of paths possible since you also do need to have (or be completing the year you apply) a college degree. |
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Date: August 27th, 2010 10:41 PM Author: tan queen of the night What are you up to these days? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1407648&forum_id=2#15900379) |
Date: August 27th, 2010 10:56 PM Author: contagious orchid potus casino What's your PhD in? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1407648&forum_id=2#15900499) |
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Date: August 27th, 2010 10:58 PM Author: opaque dysfunction Aerospace. Specifically, laminar-turbulent transition at very high speeds (Mach 5+). (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1407648&forum_id=2#15900508) |
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Date: August 27th, 2010 10:58 PM Author: Primrose Learning Disabled Toaster Theatre (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1407648&forum_id=2#15900512) |
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Date: August 27th, 2010 11:01 PM Author: opaque dysfunction Actually as PhD work goes, it's pretty relevant to a number of practical applications--generally anything that travels fast, including re-entering spacecraft, ballistic missiles, etc. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1407648&forum_id=2#15900545) |
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Date: August 27th, 2010 11:02 PM Author: Very tactful boistinker immigrant lol why'd you edit (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1407648&forum_id=2#15900554) |
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Date: August 27th, 2010 11:04 PM Author: Primrose Learning Disabled Toaster Theatre I felt like an asshole because Joe is a pretty nice person. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1407648&forum_id=2#15900571) |
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Date: August 27th, 2010 11:01 PM Author: contagious orchid potus casino shit, that's hardcore. what kind of math do you have to know for that topic? pde -> chaos theory?
What do yo think of CS PhD students? |
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Date: August 27th, 2010 11:05 PM Author: Primrose Learning Disabled Toaster Theatre They are significantly more intelligent than you. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1407648&forum_id=2#15900577) |
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Date: August 27th, 2010 11:05 PM Author: opaque dysfunction CS doesn't interest me very much, so I'm glad that someone else wants to do that kind of work. I do experiments (as opposed to computational/simulation work--that is the big divide in fluid mechanics) and very much enjoy getting my hands dirty in the lab.
PDEs are important for boundary layers and turbulence, but chaos theory isn't really. |
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Date: August 27th, 2010 11:06 PM Author: Primrose Learning Disabled Toaster Theatre I hate CS too. It's mostly for azn turds like uvt. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1407648&forum_id=2#15900590) |
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Date: August 27th, 2010 11:09 PM Author: contagious orchid potus casino ah i see. I'm the opposite.
Do you work in the lab that was co-founded by H.S. Tsien?
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Date: August 27th, 2010 11:14 PM Author: opaque dysfunction I work in the department and building where he taught, but I assume you're referring to JPL, which is now a NASA center (although Caltech still runs it). I don't work there, although I did work part time there as an undergraduate and some Caltech PhD students certainly do.
Tsien's work is in the same general area as mine, though--thin bodies at high speeds. |
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Date: August 27th, 2010 11:21 PM Author: contagious orchid potus casino 180
yeah I thought of him as soon as you said what you were doing. |
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Date: August 27th, 2010 10:58 PM Author: Primrose Learning Disabled Toaster Theatre (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1407648&forum_id=2#15900509) |
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Date: August 27th, 2010 10:58 PM Author: Primrose Learning Disabled Toaster Theatre How much of a faggot is Daniel Clemens? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1407648&forum_id=2#15900504) |
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Date: August 27th, 2010 10:59 PM Author: opaque dysfunction Quite honestly there wasn't anyone in my class that I didn't get along with pretty well... most of the time, at least!
(And as a conservative in a group that's mostly liberal, I probably tested things a bit.) |
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Date: August 27th, 2010 11:00 PM Author: Primrose Learning Disabled Toaster Theatre Does it bother you when people get in just because they game the system? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1407648&forum_id=2#15900531) |
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Date: August 27th, 2010 11:09 PM Author: opaque dysfunction There was no one who stood out to me as having done that, actually.
At the final interviews for my region in Chicago, there were 11 people and the 3 that got chosen (other than me) were the 3 I would have picked to come along with me if it had been my decision. I'd like to think the interviews weed out people who just look good on paper or are otherwise "fake", but who knows. |
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Date: August 27th, 2010 11:10 PM Author: Primrose Learning Disabled Toaster Theatre lol I don't think anyone really does Rhodes for intellectual reasons. It's all politics and it's obvious to anyone with any perception of reality. If anyone in Rhodes/Marshall was truly intellectual and had integrity they would just do on their own instead of seeking approval by the powers that be. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1407648&forum_id=2#15900614) |
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Date: August 27th, 2010 11:15 PM Author: opaque dysfunction Do what on their own? Get paid to learn and have fun in England? If you can swing that without some sort of scholarship, more power to you, but I was glad for the help! (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1407648&forum_id=2#15900650) |
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Date: August 27th, 2010 11:18 PM Author: Primrose Learning Disabled Toaster Theatre Nah it's cool or whatever that you got a free ride but if you were actually an intellectual you would just do all your work on your own and not seek approval from the system.
Grigory Perlman is more of an intellectual than all of the Rhodes Scholars put together. |
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Date: August 27th, 2010 11:20 PM Author: opaque dysfunction The kind of work that I do requires large amounts of money to build things, so some sort of approval from "the system" is pretty much a prerequisite. Also, I have to eat. :-) (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1407648&forum_id=2#15900687) |
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Date: August 27th, 2010 11:21 PM Author: Primrose Learning Disabled Toaster Theatre lol you can get a job man, no? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1407648&forum_id=2#15900696) |
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Date: August 27th, 2010 11:24 PM Author: opaque dysfunction I think your ideal model works a lot better for a writer, or something, than a scientist or engineer. Science requires money, and usually lots of it.
I briefly considered pursuing a career in music and one of the big things that made me decide not to was the fact that I could always keep music on the side and enjoy it as a hobby, even on a pretty serious level, but the same thing isn't really possible for experimental science, especially these days. |
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Date: August 27th, 2010 11:14 PM Author: charcoal flirting rigpig plaza i heard that during the final interview you guys get to mingle, and it becomes obvious which ones are arrogant and unbearable. is this true? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1407648&forum_id=2#15900647) |
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Date: August 27th, 2010 11:16 PM Author: opaque dysfunction Yes. I was *very* glad that the people I got to go over with weren't like that. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1407648&forum_id=2#15900659) |
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Date: August 27th, 2010 11:20 PM Author: charcoal flirting rigpig plaza can you give examples of blatant displays of arrogance that you witnessed from fellow rhodes applicants? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1407648&forum_id=2#15900688) |
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Date: August 27th, 2010 11:23 PM Author: opaque dysfunction I'm not going to give specific examples since it was a small group of people.
In general I would say that a tendency to monopolize the discussion and re-direct conversation to one's own accomplishments was not rewarded by the committee. |
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Date: August 27th, 2010 11:26 PM Author: vigorous demanding stag film karate what are the reactions of people like when they find out that you were a rhodes scholar? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1407648&forum_id=2#15900725) |
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Date: August 27th, 2010 11:27 PM Author: opaque dysfunction It's not something that I tend to mention a lot. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1407648&forum_id=2#15900735) |
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Date: August 27th, 2010 11:23 PM Author: tan queen of the night conservative as in believing jesus, gays going to hell, and all that? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1407648&forum_id=2#15900707) |
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Date: August 27th, 2010 11:39 PM Author: low-t chestnut garrison therapy kill self u silly fucking nigger (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1407648&forum_id=2#15900821) |
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Date: August 27th, 2010 11:01 PM Author: Fighting obsidian pit What did you study at Oxford? And in what college? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1407648&forum_id=2#15900541) |
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Date: August 27th, 2010 11:04 PM Author: opaque dysfunction "Engineering Science"--Oxford doesn't subdivide engineering into the various disciplines, and Keble (I absolutely loved Keble--one of the few colleges that let grad students live in the "old" part of college within walls.) For grad students, though, none of your instruction or academic work is through the college, so it's pretty much just a social club and a place to live, eat, row, and so on. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1407648&forum_id=2#15900564) |
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Date: August 27th, 2010 11:10 PM Author: Fighting obsidian pit What I wouldn't give to row at Oxford! (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1407648&forum_id=2#15900613) |
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Date: August 27th, 2010 11:18 PM Author: opaque dysfunction I just rowed for my college, not the university, but college rowing is taken pretty seriously there, and we definitely did spent a lot of time training. I miss it now! (There are rowing clubs in LA, but on the other side of the city, of course.) (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1407648&forum_id=2#15900667) |
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Date: August 27th, 2010 11:11 PM Author: sable bearded forum What did you think of non Rhodes/Marshall American grad students? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1407648&forum_id=2#15900624) |
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Date: August 27th, 2010 11:12 PM Author: Primrose Learning Disabled Toaster Theatre Inferior beings, clearly. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1407648&forum_id=2#15900629) |
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Date: August 27th, 2010 11:14 PM Author: sable bearded forum I asked the Rhodes scholar, not his fluffer. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1407648&forum_id=2#15900646) |
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Date: August 27th, 2010 11:19 PM Author: opaque dysfunction A couple of my best friends fit that description. Interestingly there were a couple of people at Oxford on the fellowship that supports my work at Caltech now. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1407648&forum_id=2#15900680) |
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Date: August 27th, 2010 11:19 PM Author: sable bearded forum What fellowship is that? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1407648&forum_id=2#15900682) |
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Date: August 27th, 2010 11:26 PM Author: opaque dysfunction Jack Kent Cooke. It's a fairly new one. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1407648&forum_id=2#15900726) |
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Date: August 27th, 2010 11:19 PM Author: aromatic irate telephone bbw man ur a good and smart dood. based on HDI isn't it true that mexico is an objectively better place to live than russia? i mean fish won't accept this, i think it's based on his racism. |
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Date: August 27th, 2010 11:21 PM Author: opaque dysfunction I guess I haven't really thought about Mexico vs. Russia, and to be honest I haven't visited either place. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1407648&forum_id=2#15900694) |
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Date: August 27th, 2010 11:22 PM Author: aromatic irate telephone bbw do you still troll for western michigan? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1407648&forum_id=2#15900700) |
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Date: August 27th, 2010 11:28 PM Author: opaque dysfunction You mean the university? I don't know that I ever did?
If you mean the area in general, I love Michigan and would very much enjoy settling down there. |
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Date: August 27th, 2010 11:40 PM Author: aromatic irate telephone bbw the general area, where are you know man? and what are you doing? |
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Date: August 27th, 2010 11:54 PM Author: opaque dysfunction I'm in the Los Angeles area doing my PhD. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1407648&forum_id=2#15900956) |
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Date: August 27th, 2010 11:31 PM Author: Buff flickering stead idiot Thoughts on masters to PhD (at different unis) vs. straight to PhD? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1407648&forum_id=2#15900757) |
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Date: August 27th, 2010 11:34 PM Author: opaque dysfunction Well, I ended up taking the first path kind of by default of course, but I think it usually makes a lot of sense to do your master's degree at the same university where you'll do the PhD, since the PhD quals are likely based on those classes. Most leading PhD programs of which I'm aware do have an incidental masters degree along the way. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1407648&forum_id=2#15900774) |
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Date: August 27th, 2010 11:40 PM Author: Buff flickering stead idiot This didn't really address my question at all (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1407648&forum_id=2#15900838) |
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Date: August 27th, 2010 11:54 PM Author: opaque dysfunction You just asked for "thoughts"... what's your question? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1407648&forum_id=2#15900962) |
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Date: August 28th, 2010 12:00 AM Author: Buff flickering stead idiot Touche. I guess I figured everyone knew these issues.
It's basically an issue of, is it better to jump straight into a PhD program (whether they give an MS along the way is irrelevant) and have little sense of direction since you have little independent research experience (i.e. creating a research project by yourself from the ground up) and potentially floundering, or better to do a MS at a different school first to get some focus and to be able to experience two different lab groups, albeit at the cost of adding a few years to ultimately getting a doctorate? |
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Date: August 28th, 2010 12:07 AM Author: opaque dysfunction All things being equal, I'd prefer to the do the former, and that's the normal path for most people. (That is what I tried to say in my first post, but I probably was not as coherent as I could have been.)
The other way is more unusual and might mean that you'd end up paying for a master's degree out of pocket.
Note that "creating a research project by yourself from the ground up" does NOT describe the experience of most grad students in science and engineering. |
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Date: August 28th, 2010 12:10 AM Author: Buff flickering stead idiot only TTT's end up doing their dissertation from based on their adviser's project
ideal is a truly independent project that your adviser, well, advises you on |
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Date: August 28th, 2010 12:12 AM Author: opaque dysfunction That's everyone I know in aerospace, at least (including all the postdocs and profs I know). TTT we be, I suppose! (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1407648&forum_id=2#15901171) |
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Date: August 28th, 2010 12:13 AM Author: Buff flickering stead idiot could just be the different natures of our respective fields; I just thought I should criticize your broad brush on all science PhD's (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1407648&forum_id=2#15901182) |
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Date: August 28th, 2010 12:15 AM Author: opaque dysfunction What's your field? This is certainly the norm for most experimental science and engineering fields (no one is going to hand a million-dollar grant to a grad student just starting out for a "truly independent project"). I have no idea how it works in the humanities.
Having an external fellowship gives you a bit more flexibility to choose your own path and research group, but the money to actually carry out your work still has to come from someplace. This has been very true at the three places I've been a grad student (Michigan, Oxford, and Caltech).
For most grad students without an external fellowship (which is most grad students) there isn't even that flexibility. |
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Date: August 27th, 2010 11:56 PM Author: Very tactful boistinker immigrant you know i love you cbomez but stop being a faggot!!!
edit: oh just reread; i guess it didn't really |
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Date: August 28th, 2010 12:01 AM Author: Buff flickering stead idiot wtf? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1407648&forum_id=2#15901027) |
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Date: August 28th, 2010 12:04 AM Author: opaque dysfunction I must be misunderstanding the question.
I would recommend (in general) doing the masters and PhD at the same school. Generally--at least in science and engineering--that's how it works anyway. If you enter a school's PhD program you are, at most schools, going to get an incidental masters along the way unless you already have one. That is the "normal" and probably easiest path, since the master's classes are often the basis for PhD quals.
Getting a master's at a different school means you won't have taken those basic classes from the same professors who will be giving your PhD quals. Also, it's much more difficult to get a standalone master's degree paid for.
If this still doesn't answer the question, let me know. |
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Date: August 27th, 2010 11:38 PM Author: low-t chestnut garrison therapy What % of the Rhodes Scholars in your class would you say are Obama voters and/or liberals? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1407648&forum_id=2#15900815) |
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Date: August 27th, 2010 11:55 PM Author: opaque dysfunction Of the Americans, I'd say that 28 out of 32 were definitely Obama voters. There were 4 conservatives (to various degrees) including myself. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1407648&forum_id=2#15900967) |
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Date: August 28th, 2010 12:02 AM Author: low-t chestnut garrison therapy lol. our country is fucking doomed. i dont pretend that conservatives have the answer to everything but i KNOW they're better than the retrograde libs that are currently in power. the problem is that 90% of bright young people are liberals and so all of our most important institutions become packed with liberal nitwits. fuck. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1407648&forum_id=2#15901048) |
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Date: August 28th, 2010 12:15 AM Author: ivory mewling church blood rage Fucking rhodes scholar nitwits (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1407648&forum_id=2#15901201) |
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Date: August 28th, 2010 12:15 AM Author: Buff flickering stead idiot your fault for affiliating with anti-science hicks (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1407648&forum_id=2#15901205) |
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Date: August 28th, 2010 12:16 AM Author: low-t chestnut garrison therapy kill yourself you stupid queer (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1407648&forum_id=2#15901212) |
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Date: August 29th, 2010 1:25 AM Author: Buff flickering stead idiot lol dumbs (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1407648&forum_id=2#15909050) |
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Date: August 28th, 2010 12:12 AM Author: Buff flickering stead idiot describe your stance on: -god -evolution -gay marriage -AA |
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Date: August 28th, 2010 12:18 AM Author: opaque dysfunction That would be quite a bit more than I'd like to type out! (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1407648&forum_id=2#15901234) |
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Date: August 29th, 2010 1:26 AM Author: Buff flickering stead idiot cop-out (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1407648&forum_id=2#15909058) |
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Date: August 28th, 2010 10:34 AM Author: Crawly Stain hi im the poster who made that thread. do you have a throwaway email where I can ask you questions related to my app? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1407648&forum_id=2#15902954) |
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Date: August 28th, 2010 2:51 PM Author: opaque dysfunction I am for better or worse pretty Googleable, so you can probably find one of my "real" addresses pretty easily. If not, post again and I'll make a throwaway one. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1407648&forum_id=2#15904620) |
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Date: August 29th, 2010 2:51 AM Author: Crawly Stain thanks I appreciate it. I don't frequent this site often so I'm not sure who you are. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1407648&forum_id=2#15909697) |
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Date: August 29th, 2010 11:35 AM Author: Crawly Stain (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1407648&forum_id=2#15910883) |
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Date: August 29th, 2010 11:37 AM Author: swashbuckling range Hey! Congrats again on your recent softball success. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1407648&forum_id=2#15910894) |
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Date: August 29th, 2010 12:08 PM Author: adventurous university *poasting in an instant classic XO thread*
p.s. we STILL get lulz from the time you pwned pensive, tytyty |
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Date: August 29th, 2010 12:19 PM Author: Talented Awkward Skinny Woman Organic Girlfriend height?
what is it like being a superior life form? do you relate to dr. manhattan from watchmen; does that portrait ring true to your experience?
last wgwag u saw? did you see a lot of wgwag at oxford? |
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Date: August 29th, 2010 1:11 PM Author: Brilliant Tripping New Version kind of puts the rhodes in perspective that he's come back here. this is the only place i can get the old thrill of people being impressed by m law school. i would have expected the rhodes to have far greater utility (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1407648&forum_id=2#15911507) |
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Date: August 31st, 2010 10:53 PM Author: opaque dysfunction I came back to answer a question (that guy did get in touch with me, by the way). I haven't been here in at least 4 or 5 years.
Not sure what you mean by "utility"--it was a thoroughly awesome experience so I'd say it had plenty of purpose for me. |