Spring '12 Grades!

[Ayn]

I'm on the other end.

Time to see how many people I fail this term.

And yeah, avoided the PhD route. The way everyone basically explained it to me was interpreted by me as "So, take a 75-80% pay cut, have a crapshot at getting a tenure-track position at a university, and have to live in the middle of nowhere while getting it? Nothx"

Plus, I like having the option to leave academia more easily if I want to. A lot more flexibility to do that with an M.A. versus a Ph.D, I think.

Edit: Also, I dislike reading stories like that on the Chronicle. I do the adjunct professor thing, but not because I'm fucking enamored of teaching the kids as a dream. It sucks having to string together appointments at multiple schools, and yeah I have to teach more classes than tenured/tenure-track. However, I'm not doing that bullshit like the person mentioned in that article: All of my schools are pretty close to each other, and to where I live, so I'm not doing stupid shit like driving 40 miles to get to where I need to get. It's certainly not a lifestyle I recommend, though. I did it because when I compared the salary from doing nonprofit management (what I was doing prior) to what I'd make teaching a certain number of classes over the term (and summer)? Came out significantly higher, and I knew I could leave it if I want.

I don't know. I read those stories sometimes, look at my own situation, and wonder what the fuck. There's no way I'm that goddamn smart, is there?

Sorry for the rant. Hope the rest of you are doing well this semester.

And for the love of god, don't e-mail your professors the week of finals wondering if you can pass in spite of not doing crap all semesters. If you're a dick about it, some of us will laugh at you.

Edit #2: I do actually like my job. Especially when I realized that, in effect, I get paid to troll people as one of my job duties.

[Silenka]

the school i graduated from, which is a death sentence

I've heard this before, but I don't understand why. Why is it bad to do your masters or phd at the school you graduated from? That's currently what I'm looking into doing, but it might have something to do with the fact that I'm in a pretty small field (Classic/Medieval Japanese Lit) and I really like the professors who work in that field at OSU. (I don't want to move, either, happy where I am). I just don't understand why it's such a bad thing, a phd is a phd right? Or might it look to employers like you didn't try for enough diversity in your education or only got in because faculty liked you?

[Judgeofwings]

Does failing hiking and backpacking involve dying?

for your information, we had to learn and demonstrate proper knowledge of outdoor techniques on two different trips! moleskin, why wool is important, how to use a compass, how to read a map and what everything on it means, how to do knots, etc. but yeah dying wouldn't even get you an F it would just count as an incomplete.

[Ayn]

I've heard this before, but I don't understand why. Why is it bad to do your masters or phd at the school you graduated from? That's currently what I'm looking into doing, but it might have something to do with the fact that I'm in a pretty small field (Classic/Medieval Japanese Lit) and I really like the professors who work in that field at OSU. (I don't want to move, either, happy where I am). I just don't understand why it's such a bad thing, a phd is a phd right? Or might it look to employers like you didn't try for enough diversity in your education or only got in because faculty liked you?

I think part of it depends. Part of it is that whole diversity argument. However, if you're going for a graduate degree and your school happens to be one of the best for that particular area, it's not as frowned upon.

[Humblejoe]

Spaghetti, was the school Cornell?

[oldoldman]

General Chemistry 1 A+ (lol at being lazy and taking a freshman course in my Junior year)
Chm Lab A+
Intro to Quantum Mechanics B+
Optics A-

[Elesirdur]

ECON 351 - Math for Economists; Introduction to Dynamic Methods: A+
ECON 366 - Econometrics II: A-
ECON 453 - Economic Growth Theory: A+
ECON 457 - Computational Economics: A+

Finished my BSc with an 8.18 GPA which translates into a 4.0 on any of the 4.00 Scales. Just relaxing over the summer and starting my MA in the fall.

[Chun Liroy]

So far I've learned that I'm the only peson on BG that has below a 3.5

[Milks]

shit, i just graduated today with a 2.69 LOL super slacking

[Deadgye]

So far I've learned that I'm the only peson on BG that has below a 3.5

shit, i just graduated today with a 2.69 LOL super slacking

Thank god I'm not the only one lol. I'm at a ~2.8 right now. Trying to get above a 3.0 before I graduate next year but it's going to require a lot of A's. What annoys me the most is that most of the classes that dragged me down weren't even core classes.

[Chun Liroy]

most of the classes that dragged me down weren't even core classes.

My lowest core class is the B- from organic this semester. All of my Cs come from gen ed. courses (psychology, History literature etc). I have a 3.27, want to get up to 3.5 but that probably requires all As for the next 2 semesters before I graduate...

[Omnipotent]

I got an A, B+, B-, and 2 C's and I am in danger of getting kicked out of my major ;;. Ask me why I took music theory, I couldn't tell you... probably the hardest C I have ever received in my life. The other C was in managerial accounting, which I didn't do any HW in and just showed up to tests, I loath nothing more in this world... than accounting.

[Tyche]

3.1 overall, 3.5 with this particular major. My cunt of a professor gave me a 82.9 C this semester. 83 is a B. She fucked me on a quiz question because her opinion was different than the book. Could have went to the department head to have it overturned if I had did it within 3 days. I didn't know that until that threshold had passed.

Also, assuming I get in, I'll do my doctorate where I did my undergrad. They only accept 12 people per year and half come from graduates of their undergrad program, so it's my best chance.

[Heavencloud]

3.1 overall, 3.5 with this particular major. My cunt of a professor gave me a 82.9 C this semester. 83 is a B. She fucked me on a quiz question because her opinion was different than the book. Could have went to the department head to have it overturned if I had did it within 3 days. I didn't know that until that threshold had passed.

Also, assuming I get in, I'll do my doctorate where I did my undergrad. They only accept 12 people per year and half come from graduates of their undergrad program, so it's my best chance.

What type of doctrate?

[Tyche]

I'm a nurse, I aim to get my doctorate in anesthesia. Some programs still offer it as a masters, but they are all soon converting their programs to doctorates. Nurse practitioner will do the same. The one I hope to attend is a 36 month program. You enter with a bachelors of science (typically) and transition to doctorate of nurse anesthesia over 36 months. It's incredibly competitive and requires stiff prereqs.

[Moss]

My lowest core class is the B- from organic this semester. All of my Cs come from gen ed. courses (psychology, History literature etc). I have a 3.27, want to get up to 3.5 but that probably requires all As for the next 2 semesters before I graduate...

So why are you struggling so hard on gen ed classes? They are usually easy as fuck

[Pirian]

So why are you struggling so hard on gen ed classes? They are usually easy as fuck

I'm going to guess that it's not so much "struggling" as it is "just don't give a fuck". Which I guess it doesn't really matter unless you're going to graduate school, and even then, there are other ways of getting in

[Heavencloud]

I'm a nurse, I aim to get my doctorate in anesthesia. Some programs still offer it as a masters, but they are all soon converting their programs to doctorates. Nurse practitioner will do the same. The one I hope to attend is a 36 month program. You enter with a bachelors of science (typically) and transition to doctorate of nurse anesthesia over 36 months. It's incredibly competitive and requires stiff prereqs.

Pretty nice degree though. You'll a comparable salary to family medicine physicians and pediatricians.

[Moss]

I'm going to guess that it's not so much "struggling" as it is "just don't give a fuck". Which I guess it doesn't really matter unless you're going to graduate school, and even then, there are other ways of getting in

I just don't understand it personally. You can usually get an A or B just by going to class and studying the night before exams. Less effort than that is pathetic considering you are paying to take the class.

[Pirian]

I just don't understand it personally. You can usually get an A or B just by going to class and studying the night before exams. Less effort than that is pathetic considering you are paying to take the class.

I didn't say I agreed with the logic, I just presented it. I can say that personally, I didn't have enough motivation to study for non-major classes. It bit me in the ass a couple times, but I would much rather spend that time reading about my major classes, and I did. I suppose I'm lucky that I mostly had professors for non-major classes that test on what they teach in class, and not the text book, and I learn pretty well strictly through lectures, so that was enough for them most of the time. If I truly felt unprepared for the test then I would study for it, but I had to really feel that I didn't understand the material, but lets be honest -- the stuff you learn in intro classes is wiki grade and if you have an interest in learning then you most likely already at least have a breadth of the material.