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Post college grads come here
- Thread starter Aldaron
- Start date
I'll be applying to grad schools soon (secondary education), and was wondering if anyone had an accurate idea of what a "good" GRE score would be. I just took it, but no one I know has taken it, so I don't have any means of comparison. Google searches yielded a pretty wide range.
Got a BS in Nuclear Engineering in 2011.
Currently working a garbage job to pay bills. Expecting to enlist in the Navy in the next month or so to operate reactors.
Currently working a garbage job to pay bills. Expecting to enlist in the Navy in the next month or so to operate reactors.
It depends completely on your field. In STEM fields you will want a very high quantitative score (> 160), as well as a decent writing score (> 4.0) but I'll guess the requirements for verbal may be a bit higher in your case. Either way though, the GRE is mostly a formality for grad school admissions (a stark contrast to standardized testing in undergrad admissions). You'll probably be fine as long as you don't bomb the test (and I basically took it cold and got fairly good scores, it isn't that difficult).
Yeah, I took it cold as well and scored 160+ in both categories. Thanks for the advice!
It would seem that the Quant section is on a much tougher curve relative to the SAT since most of the test takers are vying for STEM positions and moreover there is a huge influx of STEM foreigners (not to mention the college admissions process and college itself weeds out the cognitively incapable). It would seem that a mathematics ability that corresponds to a low 700s on the SAT is only in the low 80-high 70s percentile on the GRE (mid 750 on old scale, 158-160 on new). I am just saying because my Q and V percentiles were somewhat lopsided, but I figured out in my high school math classes that I lacked the aptitude and work ethic to do any serious, higher math (such as vector spaces and figuring out metric tensors) when I was competing against some talented (750+) boys who expended minimum effort. To this day, I really do believe those standardized test measure something innate, "real", and important: the gulf between a 700-M and 780-M is quite significant and manifest itself in many ways. I could say from experience that a 700-M (as that's what I got on a few practice tests done at BN with my cell phone as my timer) is quite handicapped in math, unless she has passion and perseverance, attributes that I do not possess, to overcome that disadvantage. In contrast, I could understand quite easily many concepts that sub 600s find inordinately difficult.
I am probably average in Q (and higher V) for a STEM applicant for a relatively high ranking biological/biochem program, but my undergrad grades are abysmal, although quite excellent for someone who was apathetically engaged and I lost my passion for scientific inquiry.
In college and high school, I just refocused my efforts onto subjects more verbally oriented and more memory intensive.
Agreed. SAT and ACT seem to be the alpha and omega of college prestige. Restriction of range (due to the self-selection of the test-takers and culling by grad schools lower the GRE's predictive validity), while the SAT has fairly decent predictive validity for first-year undergrad grades (despite the heterogeneous nature of undergrad curriculum).
stupid DM brag post :[ Oh-so-fun update for me:
I got a shitty parking space at work yesterday, so I went out at lunch to move to a better spot so I could leave more quickly at the end of the night. I was parked by a motorcycle-only space with two concrete pillars on either side, nobody was on my other side so I backed out at a sharp angle. Heard a scraping noise, presmuably up against the pillar, but I got out immediately and was a good 12-18" off, so... but I don't know how else to explain it. Regardless, the passenger side of my bumper detached and my headlight fixture is busted which is gonna cost me a few hundred to get fixed. :/ Had to pull myself back into the parking space, cleaned up the mess on the ground and have my mother pick me up at the end of the workday.
Got a call from my friendly neighborhood temp agency's office worker saying I was dismissed as of today because I didn't immediately tell anyone about the incident. I understand the company might be concerned about liability here but it just happened last night. It was dark at the time, I wasn't even sure what happened other than "my car is busted up," so how was I to tell anybody what happened yet? Even so, nobody was injured, nobody else was involved, and only my property was damaged so I'm not sure why it should be anyone else's concern when I had more information to give (which was today, after I was already "dismissed" but I had to come get my car and also wanted to talk to them about my dismissal). They weren't having any of it, my behavior was "inexcusable" despite the circumstances.
My aunt, who also works there as a full-time employee, called company HR to bitch about it on my behalf. The company knew nothing about it, so this was clearly 100% on my temp agency and nothing to do with "company policy" BS they were trying to feed me. Fucking assholes.
tl;dr My car is busted up and I lost my job yet again through no fault of my own. Well, the accident had to be my fault, I suppose, but I wasn't dismissed for my job performance. I asked my group leader and he said he would act as a job reference for me, at least.
Dunno how I'm supposed to get my car fixed now with no job to help pay for it. :(
"Dismissed from my assignment" as of today (I was a temp worker, so I'm not technically fired) due to some unfortunate circumstances.
I got a shitty parking space at work yesterday, so I went out at lunch to move to a better spot so I could leave more quickly at the end of the night. I was parked by a motorcycle-only space with two concrete pillars on either side, nobody was on my other side so I backed out at a sharp angle. Heard a scraping noise, presmuably up against the pillar, but I got out immediately and was a good 12-18" off, so... but I don't know how else to explain it. Regardless, the passenger side of my bumper detached and my headlight fixture is busted which is gonna cost me a few hundred to get fixed. :/ Had to pull myself back into the parking space, cleaned up the mess on the ground and have my mother pick me up at the end of the workday.
Got a call from my friendly neighborhood temp agency's office worker saying I was dismissed as of today because I didn't immediately tell anyone about the incident. I understand the company might be concerned about liability here but it just happened last night. It was dark at the time, I wasn't even sure what happened other than "my car is busted up," so how was I to tell anybody what happened yet? Even so, nobody was injured, nobody else was involved, and only my property was damaged so I'm not sure why it should be anyone else's concern when I had more information to give (which was today, after I was already "dismissed" but I had to come get my car and also wanted to talk to them about my dismissal). They weren't having any of it, my behavior was "inexcusable" despite the circumstances.
My aunt, who also works there as a full-time employee, called company HR to bitch about it on my behalf. The company knew nothing about it, so this was clearly 100% on my temp agency and nothing to do with "company policy" BS they were trying to feed me. Fucking assholes.
tl;dr My car is busted up and I lost my job yet again through no fault of my own. Well, the accident had to be my fault, I suppose, but I wasn't dismissed for my job performance. I asked my group leader and he said he would act as a job reference for me, at least.
Dunno how I'm supposed to get my car fixed now with no job to help pay for it. :(
I recall reading an article some years ago that questioned what the world would be like once the Pokemon generation grew up.
I'm a qualified accountant; it's as exciting as it sounds. I trained as an auditor at a firm that specialised in film and media, working on most blockbuster productions that had scenes in the UK (e.g. Harry Potter); it definitely wasn't as exciting as this might sound.
I'm a qualified accountant; it's as exciting as it sounds. I trained as an auditor at a firm that specialised in film and media, working on most blockbuster productions that had scenes in the UK (e.g. Harry Potter); it definitely wasn't as exciting as this might sound.
Sorry to hear that story, man. :( I worked as a temp when I was younger, that is a hard goddamn position to be in.
And I was being kinda facetious when I painted such a rosy picture of my life: my student loans are well into 6 digits and I also just bought a house, and then just recently the douchebags holding my federal loans decided to jack up my monthly payments by around $250, so I'm officially house-poor. In the meantime, I spend nearly every free minute I have at my house fixing/painting/working on something, because the fuckholes who owned/lived in this house before me didn't give a shit and fucked it all up. To save money, I still haven't turned on my heat yet. In the morning when I wake up and take a shower, it's ~56 degrees in here.
Oh, and I also picked up a second job over the summer working in a bar's kitchen, and just this past week I left that to move to Home Depot part time because they give all PT employees vision and dental, which I don't have on my current "by-your-own-fucking-expensive-as-shit" health insurance. Yay adulthood.
Kids, stay in school. And I don't mean that in the "don't drop out of high school" sense, I mean it in the "stay in college and just keep changing majors and go to school for your entire life and never graduate" sense.
theamericandream38 liked DM's post
I just....can't stop laughing at that lol. Unless DM isn't in America. That would ruin the joke :(
Man, my car totally broke down six weeks ago. The family just said they'll see what they can do about fixing my car, which means I can use the money I had saved to pay for the labor for this month's bills instead. Outside of that, I've got...$30.00 in my pocket maybe? And, yet, I have this feeling of contentment....that I'll be OK. Must be my faith talking or something.
This thread is great. Love reading people's stories and seeing all the adults on Smogon. :)
I just....can't stop laughing at that lol. Unless DM isn't in America. That would ruin the joke :(
Man, my car totally broke down six weeks ago. The family just said they'll see what they can do about fixing my car, which means I can use the money I had saved to pay for the labor for this month's bills instead. Outside of that, I've got...$30.00 in my pocket maybe? And, yet, I have this feeling of contentment....that I'll be OK. Must be my faith talking or something.
This thread is great. Love reading people's stories and seeing all the adults on Smogon. :)
I graduated last July with a BSc (Hons) in Computer Games Development... Since passing I have barely coded at all. I would really like to get back into basic coding, but sometimes I looked at the work and just died inside... I think its really changed my outlook on how things are done. Fair play to all the programmers who work on Smogon and the like. I found myself getting very dissillusioned with it all towards the end of my Final Project which wasn't helped by unhelpful lecturers and general other shit that was going on in my life. I took the rest of the summer off and then got a semi temp job at a place called CEX (They are like a used games/movies/tech store) which was great fun (albeit a little dull sometimes). I learnt a lot there and the people who worked there were really great.
Now I work in IT Support for a medical company call centre which is awesome. I have a great boss and there are lots of jokes around. I still live with my parents but I'm looking to move out sometime soon, and get a license for a car (I currently ride a Honda scooter).
Now I work in IT Support for a medical company call centre which is awesome. I have a great boss and there are lots of jokes around. I still live with my parents but I'm looking to move out sometime soon, and get a license for a car (I currently ride a Honda scooter).
It may be somewhat of a pipe dream (at least in my current industry) but I've always wanted to live off of a part-time job and considered what living without a car would be like since they're such huge money sinks.
In the end I think I'd have a lot of difficulty living without access to one, though.
In the end I think I'd have a lot of difficulty living without access to one, though.
No matter how good your public transportation is, you can get between most places faster with your own vehicle let alone anywhere public transit won't take you very near. And when you have things to do out of town? Yeah. Even my anti-social, stay-cation lazy ass would not give up the freedom of having his own motor vehicle if at all possible. My car's paid off though, which cuts out most of the expense. *shrug*
Sadly almost sound advice. :(
Not post college grad but posting just to say I really enjoyed everyone's posts. Personally I'm in my 4th your of school now, graduate with a finance degree sometime next year lol.. 15k in debt and still have to get an MBA after. I'm not too worried about it seeing as I don't have to make any payments until after I graduate and I'm hoping/banking it pays off. I figured if I studied money and money handling I'd be better at it in the future. I'll let you guys know how that pans out heh. You're supposed to chase your passions but I'm not gonna get a pilot's license or drive race cars without the money so.. At this point I just want to work and get the fuck out of my folk's house but the financial stability really is a god-send. My school is like 3 minutes away. Makes no sense to move out until post graduation.
Mr. E I feel for you man. I worked as a temp in a factory this past summer as well as the summer before. Last year sucked ass. 12 hour days, 45 minute commute, 60-70 hours a week. Slave labor lol. I could do it if it weren't for school because I really did like making a paycheck every week. Hang in there man.
I'm just grateful I'm not suffering because I know lots of people are. Being broke, healthy, and frustrated is nothing compared to what a lot of people out there deal with on a daily basis.
I'm foreign so I still kinda believe in the American Dream heh.
Mr. E I feel for you man. I worked as a temp in a factory this past summer as well as the summer before. Last year sucked ass. 12 hour days, 45 minute commute, 60-70 hours a week. Slave labor lol. I could do it if it weren't for school because I really did like making a paycheck every week. Hang in there man.
I'm just grateful I'm not suffering because I know lots of people are. Being broke, healthy, and frustrated is nothing compared to what a lot of people out there deal with on a daily basis.
I'm foreign so I still kinda believe in the American Dream heh.
Small update, things are going alright on my end (some subpar grades hee and there but overall not doing too poorly), but my lady has been struggling (or at least for her standards) recently and is worried she wont get into grad school or find a job after graduation. I've been trying to boost her confidence and support her obviously but part of me does worry what might happen if the worst case scenario does come about and she is unable to extend her visa (my gf is a chinese citizen)... Just have to hope for the best for now I guess.
I don't know how much different the US visa system is to Australia, but I've known a couple of people in that kind of position. In most cases, they just go back to their home country for a year or so, then apply afresh.
One friend completed Honours in virology, had a PhD lined up, and was just waiting for her APA (research stipend granted by Government) to get approved when her application to extend her visa was rejected. She appealed, but the appeal meant that her visa would expire before the final decision was made. She ended up just illegally overstaying, having her APA awarded, her appeal upheld, and now all is good.
One friend completed Honours in virology, had a PhD lined up, and was just waiting for her APA (research stipend granted by Government) to get approved when her application to extend her visa was rejected. She appealed, but the appeal meant that her visa would expire before the final decision was made. She ended up just illegally overstaying, having her APA awarded, her appeal upheld, and now all is good.
I graduated in January with a Journalism and Broadcasting degree. I'd wanted to do Journalism for years, however, at Christmas (shortly before graduation) I realised I really wanted to do Photography, too. This was great and all when I went back to uni but something didn't feel right. I felt like I was just getting out of something that'd be my dream career because I was somewhat afraid of what'd happen. I've had experience and stuff with Journalism and I know it's something I want to do but... anyway back to the story. With Photography I ended up sucking at using the manual cameras (really good at DSLRs, though), and ended up pulling out midway because I knew I'd fail without having to spend thousands of hours and way too much money on it. This meant for the first time in my life I had to look for a job. Third job I applied for, I got. It was in retail.
At the time I tried to convince everyone IRL that there weren't enough opportunities for Journalism and that I want to try and do every sort of thing and then do Journalism. I kept making excuses and to an extent, I still kind of do. My job right now is perfectly fine - I enjoy it (newsagency btw, I sell lotto, magazines etc), and the people there are great, but it's... so easy. I feel like I don't really belong there. I love it but I know it isn't where I belong. A news reporter came into our store the other day, and one of my co-workers pointed out to me that he was in the store, and I was like, I don't know what to sayyy. He pretty much told me what to say, and... it made me sad to have to tell the news reporter that only reason I'm not doing Journalism is because the market isn't good. What sucks is if I put my mind to it I'm sure I could get a Journalism job, I have experience writing for things and I have good references. It'd be so easy, but I'm still so... afraid sort of. I feel like, ugh, I'm a perfectionist in that I feel like my... everything has to be perfect before I get the dream job. Like that my writing would be perfect, hair perfect, clothes perfect, everything. I put it off for that reason, and the reason that I'm afraid that I'm not going to be perfect at it. I know I'm not meant to be perfect at anything, but I just... really want to be able to make a good impression at something.
By August I'll have been working at this job for a year, and at that point I plan to leave it, and move to another city, to where there's slightly more Journalism opportunities. It's huge, and I'm not even sure I can go through with it, but I really know I want to, and every time on work experience I just felt like... "I know this is what I'm meant to do", but fear has held me back. The plus side is, with the broadcasting side of Journalism they take people with more life experience, and at least by that point I'll have a lot more life experience that I would've had in January. I'm still sad that others are out there doing stuff but I let fear hold me back. I know I can do it, and I know I'll be a great journalist (even like, The Smog stuff - I enjoy that immensely only because it's a taste of what I could be doing if I wasn't afraid so many months ago). It sucks because I never could really imagine me in the future, and I could never really imagine me having any sort of job, or even going in a plane (latter of which was recently!) but I feel like I've done so much more than I thought I could, and even if I can't see it, I know I could do it, and I know I'd be amazing at it. I know it's what I'm meant to do.
As for uni, my grades weren't amazing but I wasn't trying hard and didn't feel like grades really mattered, except in one class where one teacher pretty much said I was the best in the class, and knowing that she was a successful broadcaster, that made me feel amazing. Plus the feedback on this volunteering media thing I got was really great (and a lot better feedback than the others got), so I guess I know I'm not bad at it.
On another note, I also want to get into Photography on the side, too, and actually involve that in my future work. I'm considering selling photography online for now, and then going into more later on, but something with both of them combined would be amazing because they're both really my passions. Even for photography I was like best in the class at one certain task. I also took photos for my Aunty's wedding recently, and it just reminded me that I'm not bad at it, I'm good at what I'm good at for a reason. I may seem dumb in other things but when it comes to writing, photography, and being determined to make something happen... then that's really what I'm best at. I know that when I get a job in the industry I'll be like "fuck why didn't I do this sooner" but I've honestly learnt a lot at my job, and it's probably better off that I didn't go straight into Journalism. One day I'll be the best, and I really will try my hardest to make that day next year. I'm ready for that new start, and I'm ready to no longer be afraid.
/tl;dr
At the time I tried to convince everyone IRL that there weren't enough opportunities for Journalism and that I want to try and do every sort of thing and then do Journalism. I kept making excuses and to an extent, I still kind of do. My job right now is perfectly fine - I enjoy it (newsagency btw, I sell lotto, magazines etc), and the people there are great, but it's... so easy. I feel like I don't really belong there. I love it but I know it isn't where I belong. A news reporter came into our store the other day, and one of my co-workers pointed out to me that he was in the store, and I was like, I don't know what to sayyy. He pretty much told me what to say, and... it made me sad to have to tell the news reporter that only reason I'm not doing Journalism is because the market isn't good. What sucks is if I put my mind to it I'm sure I could get a Journalism job, I have experience writing for things and I have good references. It'd be so easy, but I'm still so... afraid sort of. I feel like, ugh, I'm a perfectionist in that I feel like my... everything has to be perfect before I get the dream job. Like that my writing would be perfect, hair perfect, clothes perfect, everything. I put it off for that reason, and the reason that I'm afraid that I'm not going to be perfect at it. I know I'm not meant to be perfect at anything, but I just... really want to be able to make a good impression at something.
By August I'll have been working at this job for a year, and at that point I plan to leave it, and move to another city, to where there's slightly more Journalism opportunities. It's huge, and I'm not even sure I can go through with it, but I really know I want to, and every time on work experience I just felt like... "I know this is what I'm meant to do", but fear has held me back. The plus side is, with the broadcasting side of Journalism they take people with more life experience, and at least by that point I'll have a lot more life experience that I would've had in January. I'm still sad that others are out there doing stuff but I let fear hold me back. I know I can do it, and I know I'll be a great journalist (even like, The Smog stuff - I enjoy that immensely only because it's a taste of what I could be doing if I wasn't afraid so many months ago). It sucks because I never could really imagine me in the future, and I could never really imagine me having any sort of job, or even going in a plane (latter of which was recently!) but I feel like I've done so much more than I thought I could, and even if I can't see it, I know I could do it, and I know I'd be amazing at it. I know it's what I'm meant to do.
As for uni, my grades weren't amazing but I wasn't trying hard and didn't feel like grades really mattered, except in one class where one teacher pretty much said I was the best in the class, and knowing that she was a successful broadcaster, that made me feel amazing. Plus the feedback on this volunteering media thing I got was really great (and a lot better feedback than the others got), so I guess I know I'm not bad at it.
On another note, I also want to get into Photography on the side, too, and actually involve that in my future work. I'm considering selling photography online for now, and then going into more later on, but something with both of them combined would be amazing because they're both really my passions. Even for photography I was like best in the class at one certain task. I also took photos for my Aunty's wedding recently, and it just reminded me that I'm not bad at it, I'm good at what I'm good at for a reason. I may seem dumb in other things but when it comes to writing, photography, and being determined to make something happen... then that's really what I'm best at. I know that when I get a job in the industry I'll be like "fuck why didn't I do this sooner" but I've honestly learnt a lot at my job, and it's probably better off that I didn't go straight into Journalism. One day I'll be the best, and I really will try my hardest to make that day next year. I'm ready for that new start, and I'm ready to no longer be afraid.
/tl;dr
I went through something similar following graduation, and I don't think you're wrong here. It's not like jobs are everywhere, and journalism is an industry suffering more than most from major upheaval caused by technology. Just keep trying, until it happens, and it will.
For photography project, I recommend 365project.org - it's a good way to get committed to taking photos regularly.
My real name is James and I'm a recent law school grad in Virginia. I just passed the Bar Exam and I'm studying for the MPRE (another licensing test I need to take to be a fully licensed lawyer in Virginia). I'm planning on doing criminal prosecution. I like the court-room drama, fighting crime, protecting the victims, etc. I've already done some prosecution with my Third-Year Practice Certificate, so I have some experience in the field already. It really is a lot of fun and it's very rewarding work!
I also teach martial arts on the side.
Needless to say, I'm about as geeky as they come: sci fi, medieval fantasy, anime, video games, etc. It keeps life entertaining.
I also teach martial arts on the side.
Needless to say, I'm about as geeky as they come: sci fi, medieval fantasy, anime, video games, etc. It keeps life entertaining.
he's not being rude, he's just surprised you didn't do so