what the fuck am i getting myself into with this grad school stuff

Ooh, cheers DJ and emily! Didn't see your posts. I had seen that Indy article but not the second one. Cheers for linking it; I'll try to make good use of it! Good luck Caek obv

Maria,

The amount of time I spent on work during late evenings and weekends depended on my coursework each semester. Out of my 4 semesters, 2 seemed to be of average difficulty (at least one weekend day would almost always be taken up by school work, but generally not working past 9pm on stuff more than 3-4 weekdays a week), 1 was relatively easy (could get most of my work done working only 1-2 late evenings per week, and maybe half of a weekend day), and 1 was living hell (work hard every day, all day, all night, all weekend. Occasionally take a day off but then pay for it brutally later).

Of course, it depends on what you're studying, and how much getting the A actually matters to you.

Also, keep in mind that I was lurking on ILX pretty much 24/7 during my entire grad school experience because I'm a huge procrastinator. If you have a decent work ethic and you're more efficient with your time, you should have an easier go at it.

LJ,

just seen this:

The Times to launch monthly science magazine
http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=1&storycode=44420&c=1

so glad my entire two-hour class this evening is being given over to repetitive, boring, useless five-minute student presentations (including my own)

it's awesome that i'm spending thousands of dollars to listen to people who don't know what they're doing for an entire class

The presentation class is really the Clips Show Episode of grad school.

it's awesome that i'm spending thousands of dollars to listen to people who don't know what they're doing for an entire class

but just think, after you graduate and get a job you'll get PAID thousands of dollars to listen to people who don't know what they're doing! :)

guys i am considering graduate school

but just think, after you graduate and don't get a job you won't get PAID thousands of dollars to listen to people who don't know what they're doing! :)

The presentation class is really the Clips Show Episode of grad school.
otm!
had one of these -- only actual 'class' during my last semester. what a waste of 3 credits worth of $$$.

I'm reading some grad school application forums right now and it's not doing good things for my self esteem

gbx in what?

eco/geo

v tentative

Man there is nothing more fascinating than these library management articles. Really.

ha i took library management last semester, as part of some misguided thought that i might one day be in a position of authority

Are you thinking of leaving med school, gbx, or would it be a dual thing?

Because 2nd year of med school so far is...not fun, but it is the price of 3rd year, I hope.

oh dual!

interested in water stuff: access, -borne illness, ecology, etc. may just leave it armchair, tho

on my program you have to take lib management but it was pretty painless

*in my

i like 2nd year! shit-gone-wrong is much more engaging than 'welcome to yr first day of work here is where the copier is' first year

...w/r/t the body, that is

not the actual copier, they showed us that in the first week

Nice!

I like the 2nd year material way more, it is just that we are in a testing block right now and people are all basically subsisting on caffeine and candy and the promise of Friday afternoon. It is kinda rough.

yeah, my shit starts next monday eeeegh

lol waht is an ekg

most librarians probably will end up in some kind of management position. That's what my management prof said and I think she's right. Nick, you will one day lord over many people

We learned EKG in one gigantic four hour lecture last year, plus the Dubin "Rapid Interpretation of EKG" book. I think we get to learn it again, which is good because all I remember is that our professor obliquely referenced Dubin getting into some legal trouble, which led me to consult with Dr. Google, to discover that Rapid Interpretation of EKG dude had a crazy cocaine sex party with underage girls. I cannot be expected to memorize the different stages of Heart Block when I am just learning about THAT.

i dunno, the cover is so BRIGHT, it's hard not to just stare at it, thinkin baout waves of depolarization

Anyone done/is doing grad school in a psychology or child development related discipline?

well, my roommate is doing psychology, but social psych specifically...any questions i should pass alone?

ah I was going to ask about careers after, but was thinking more of the developmental side of things - thanks for mentioning though.

LJ: Public lecture at Aston by Ben Goldacre on 21 Oct: When Journalists Kill

ahem, thesis hell. had to turn in my proposal today. luckily, my 'chair' is D0di3 B3llamy, the author of such underground hits as 'Cunt-Ups,' 'The Letters of Mina Harker,' and 'The Barf Manifesto.' so the fact that i'm writing about the psychotopography of sexual dynamics and late capitalism is fine, in fact encouraged.

last week i caught myself looking at the uw ethnomusicology page but then i had to slap my hand and force myself to page away. no more grad school!

ljubljana, my wife is in her internship year for school psychology, don't know how close to the mark that is to what you're looking for, but i can answer questions!

ah great, thanks bison - rushing off now but will come back here shortly with sensible questions...

Actually hang on I know my basic three questions:

- do all of the people on the course have substantial experience working with children? If so, are most of them ex-teachers?
- do most of them intend to work in schools full-time, or are a significant number intending to go into research or private practice?
- what's the age profile like?

Thanks!

LJ,

just seen this:

The Times to launch monthly science magazine
http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=1&storycode=44420&c=1

― djmartian, Monday, 5 October 2009 10:36 (Yesterday) Bookmark

I think some of my classmates are getting w/e here! It's all very exciting. Not even the list of sponsors has dissuaded us.

Ljubljana, we're all seeing a Goldacre debate on the 15th! He's on some sort of perpetual tour so we'll probably get all the same soundbites and stories, except in a *contentious* setting. Simon Singh will also be there. All kicking off tbqfh

ben goldacre gives scientists a bad name. such a tool.

have fun though. simon singh is a good egg.

my wife's experience may not necessarily be typical given that she was in a small cohort at a relatively elite private school, but here goes:

1&3) of the dozen or so in her cohort, i think exactly one was a former teacher and she was the only class member over 30. my wife was about 25 when she started and had already completed a master's in counseling, so she had some experience working in schools. a friend of hers had worked in adult protective service, but i think that was the extent of experience in the group. nearly everyone else had come straight from undergrad and had been a psych major (one or two may have been ed majors).

2) this might be another anomaly because in our lovely state (texas) you are not considered a psychologist per, but rather a 'licensed specialist in school psychology (LSSP).' this is because doctorate level psychs are nancies who don't want to debase their title by associating with master's-level ppl. BUT, there are some programs with which you can get your LPA license simultaneously which would allow you to do private practice in lieu of or in addition to your school bidniss (i believe the stipulation with the LPA is that you must practice under the supervision of a PhD level psych).

more direct answer tho, most of them are going to be working in schools because it's easier to make a living as a newly minted LSSP in schools than the venture out into the world (informed speculation on my part). then again i dont think anyone tried to do the LPA this go-around, so they may not have the option anyway.

hope this wasn't tl;dr

x-post x3

so glad my entire two-hour class this evening is being given over to repetitive, boring, useless five-minute student presentations (including my own)

― congratulations (n/a), Monday, October 5, 2009 6:31 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

ughh this is the fucking worst. student presentations are the biggest waste of time for everybody, except for the professor obv who doesn't have to do shit

hate those so so much

my class yesterday was 2 hours taken up by 4 student presentations. ridiculous i tell you. it's useful in that we are going to get a lot of speaking experience this semester, but it's frustrating to do all that reading and not get to discuss anything because there's more powerpoint ahead.

in an hour i have to go meet with my temporary adviser to talk about my master's research project...i am SO unprepared, because i don't even know where to START. yikes.

cheers caek! sad how SS fucked himself over with those *goddamn* libel laws ;_;

suspect you're going to see a lot of #libelfail at that talk

it's a trending topic, do you see what i did?

It's tough b/c as a prof, student presentations sound like a good idea in lots of ways beyond their easiness qua prep: for instance, they promote hard work through social shaming for bad presentations. But that's the thing: so many of them are bad that it's not clear the shaming makes any difference. But from the prof's view they sound bad for many reasons too: your students are paying you to teach, not paying each other; and they take away from valuable class time which even in a 14-16 week term is scarce.

But as a student: these are great practice for giving talks, which, if you stay in academia, are among the most important things you'll do. People get a reputation for great talks, and those who give shitty ones also get a reputation (and hence fewer opportunities to travel to cool places on someone else's dime/euro/whatever). And even if you're not in academia public presentation is important for lots of good jobs.

And the ability to give good talks is partly a matter of natural talent and partly training/practice. You get better at organizing material for presentation, at least, as you do it more. You get over your nerves if you're naturally afraid of speaking in public. So it's really something worth working at.

I still have never assigned them as a prof. Maybe if the students lobbied me some term I might change my mind. I'm just saying that as a student they're a great opportunity to practice a valuable skill with low stakes (relatively to post-school life).

I understand the value for public presentation skills, but I think in my class at least, they need to be more time limited, especially if they're very regular - in a 2 hour 20 minute time slot, student presentations should not be running 30-45 minutes each and leaving 15-20 minutes for actually addressing the readings, as they have been for the last few weeks. I think cutting each presentation down to 15-20 minutes would result in a much better balance and really don't understand why the professor has not commented on how they've been getting longer and longer (20 minutes was the original assignment).