I will try to summarize this as best as I can, however I already know there is going to be a lot of judgement thrown my way for this post but I am hoping for some sincere advice.
I am going to be starting my senior year of undergrad this coming fall and have to make the decision whether or not to pursue a graduate degree. Being a non-traditional student (aka old guy mid 20's) I don't have much time to sit around and think about it as I prefer to keep my momentum going and have already put myself years behind in my life compared to where I should be. More on that later...
Growing up I was always in advanced classes, learning came easy to me. My third grade teacher called me a "sponge". I was in the gifted program since elementary school. High school transcript full of honors courses. 31 act score first try. Graduated with honors.
Problem was I started hanging with the metaphorical "wrong crowd". I believe you all can see where this is going. Instead of being someone who no one cared about, who was picked on by neighborhood kids, who had a troubled family life with two parents who barely got their GED's I was now where I wanted to be. I was drinking, partying, surrounded by all kinds of people having fun.
Long story short I got in trouble just months after turning 18, serious trouble. Two felonies, arson and breaking and entering. I never spent any time in jail but a lot of probation.
During this time I spiraled downward even farther believing my life was over. I ended up broke and with another felony tampering with evidence, again no jail time.
The depression got worse and drugs and alcohol became the problem. 3 OVI's. Minimal jail time. 10 days, 15 days.
But I'm still cleaning up the mess and dealing with the consequences both in my life, and internally with myself. It has lead to a lot of soul searching, but I am dealing with my alcohol problem.
Anyways. Enough of the bad part of the story, on to the question. I know it's stupid to even ask. But how would I approach graduate school?
My most recent escapade did nothing but show me how I no longer want to live and what I should have been pursuing all along, the one thing that has always been important to me, knowledge.
Academically I am doing great. I'm on track to graduate with a B.S. in M.I.S. with around a 3.7 GPA. I'm confident if I take the GRE or GMAT I could score in the 80th or 90th percentile when studying. My confidence in my academic ability is unquestioned within myself.
I want a PhD. I don't think I've ever wanted something this much in my life. The idea of dedicating my life to research doesn't bother me. I welcome it. It would actually give me a purpose instead of going through life feeling like a worthless second class citizen. I could forsake friends, women, and a social life for a chance to prove myself in such a position.
I've even found the field I'd love to go into. Informatics, specifically Social Informatics or Informatics with a focus on Complex Systems.
Am I deluding myself into thinking someone with such a horrid past can come back to achieve something great? I firmly believe I could do it given the opportunity.
I've been very smart with my undergrad and will graduate with either zero debt or debt that can be paid off within a year.
Is it even worth trying to pursue? The money for testing and application is not a big deal to me.
How should I pursue it? Say no on the application to get an interview, then come clean in person of my own accord?
In all seriousness I would pursue life as a hobbit if I needed to.
Any sincere advice is welcome. I do not wish to be judged, I do that enough on my own.
Thank you.
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Dark Past, Want to Pursue PhD - Please Read Without Judgement (LONG)
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Oberlin College RD Admission Thread
March 20th and not a peep. Post any info here please
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Financial Aid in Need-Aware Admissions Process
Hi everyone,
As an international student, I'm applying to many schools that have a need-aware admissions process that would otherwise be need-blind (domestically) such as the University of Chicago and Columbia University. How much does needing financial aid affect the strength of my application? Do my chances severely decrease (our annual income is approximately $150,000)?
Thanks.
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boyfriend jeans
http://shop.nordstrom.com/s/vince-mason-relaxed-rolled-jeans/3670275?origin=category-personalizedsort&contextual
Now that the weather is warming up (at least for some of us) it might be time to put the black leggings away. On a whim I bought the above. They are super soft and comfortable. I could do without the distressed part but I think I like them enough to keep them.
I also ordered a pair of http://shop.nordstrom.com/s/eileen-fisher-boyfriend-jeans-regular-petite/3637238?origin=keywordsearch-personalizedsort&contextualcategoryid=60133980&fashionColor=Aged+Indigo&resultback=0&cm_sp=personalizedsort-_-searchresults-_-1_1_A. They haven't arrived yet.
What is your take on the boyfriend jean for the over 50 crowd?
What shoes are you wearing with your bf jeans?
My normal go to jean is a skinny jean. Skinny jeans look great on me but I long for a pair of pants that I don't have to peel off.
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Financial Aid Situation
Hey guys,
This is regarding my brother's financial aid offer.
My brother was accepted into UCLA as an out-of-state student and his EFC was estimated to be 5500~.
I understand UCLA does not require CSS Profile; From my understanding, that means FAFSA is the only financial document they would have looked at.
After taking all the scholarship and grants (basically, all the aid they are willing to provide) into account, we have to pay $36,000~ out of pocket.
I fully understand UCLA is by no means supposed to be "cheap", but they're asking us to pay more than 6 times our EFC. Is that normal for UCLA's aid awards for out-of-state students?
Our total assets aren't even worth half of that amount. I'm in college as well and I know that FAFSA has already taken that into account.
So what I'm asking for is basically some advice. We are hoping to appeal the aid offer, and I'd like to know how successful students are in appealing for aid at UCLA.
Another factor to take into account is the fact that my father was laid off just a week ago. The last time he was laid off was last April (2013). Maybe my father's unsteady job situation might help us too.
Any advice or tips would be greatly appreciated.
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Official JMU 2014 Transfer Thread
I'm applying as an AA in Liberal Arts completer with a 3.1 (lots of A's and and B's with a D that I screwed up in). Regardless of which, I applied having heard people getting in with worse situations and people getting denied with almost perfect standing.
Let's all talk about our chances and how it sucks having to wait! When the time comes, we'll all be here to share in the triumph or defeat.
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Affordable Care Act Scene 2 - Insurance Premiums
We have enjoyed speculation about what ACA means to many of us over the past 75 days or so.
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1527962-affordable-care-act-ramifications-discussion.html
Now that people are hearing from their insurances, the time has come to discuss real issues and solicit advice from other members who seem to take pleasure in answering questions, such as "who do I give my new baby to when my company won't insure her (kidding) or rather where and how do I get insurance for her".
The above thread will be closed and this new thread will be used to discuss premiums, exchanges, bronze, silver, and gold plans and anything and everything about health insurances.
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Class of 2018 Carnegie Mellon RD Discussion
Who's excited for CMU decisions around the corner? Personally, I've got a sinking sensation in my gut, but I want to know my decision anyways. Where did everybody apply? I applied for SCS and Tepper.
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UPenn Class of 2018 RD Applicants
Hello everybody. Today is January 8th, about a week after the deadline for RD applicants. I thought that we should officially start up the thread for those who have applied to Penn RD. We can use this thread to talk and connect as we drearily wait for March 27th!
Good luck to all and I hope that we are all able to meet each other at Penn this year!
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Question about Temple academic merit vs Boyer music talent $$$
So I have been calculating GPAs 15 million different ways . . . cumulative flat and weighted, core academic both ways, core including foreign language both ways etc. Now is the time to bring up any HS class grades that were taken in MS. I am trying to figure out how to thread the needle for academic merit benchmarks and in-state tuition waivers at the non-conservatory options to get a good picture on costs not including any possible talent $$$. Each school calculates a bit differently and the kid hovers between a B- and an A- depending on how you slice it. It looks like Temple uses unweighted core plus language. Does anyone have experience with the range of possible music talent $$$ that might stack with that? I recall someone saying that Temple #s came out looking good for them but that it was in large part academic merit $$$.
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Charleston Divided
“I’m worried about what is going on in the mind of that student when we see someone of the Confederate battle flag is now president,” Kelly said. “There are a lot of subtleties to how you commemorate the Old South and a lot of those subtleties can be lost when you’re deciding what college you’re going to.”
Read more: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/03/26/college-charlestons-next-president-politician-confederate-sympathies-faculty-and#ixzz2x5WKCg9T
Inside Higher Ed
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Official March 2014 SAT Scores
Here is the thread to post your scores for the March SAT.
Just post it in the regular format:
CR:
Math:
Writing
Essay:
Total:
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Regular Decision
Does anyone know how and when Williams College will be releasing its decision information for Regular Decision students? Thanks in advance
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Golf at Bowdoin
Hi all,
I'm a high school junior and avid golfer. I have been wondering since my stats, particularly my gpa, are rather low, if talking to the golf coach / applying ED would help my chances. Bowdoin is for sure my top choice and I know that could not hurt my chances. I generally can shoot in the low 80s (8.4 handicap.) I know there are much better players out there but on the athletics website, the number six player averaged high 80s.
Here are some of my stats:
GPA: 3.4 UW
SATs: around 2100
took APEuro & APUSH, next year taking APStats, APCalcBC, & an AP science
ECs:
staff of newspaper
tour guide
cross-age tutor
mentor at The First Tee
service trip to Spain
caddy at local golf club
So I guess I am just wondering whether or not golf is a big enough influence on my admissions chances especially for someone of my playing caliber.
Let me know if there is anything else that I forgot,
Thanks,
Max
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Appealing for Financial Aid
My FAFSA EFC is about 14,000, and my parent's combined income is ~125,000, and I have 2 siblings in college. However, Brown calculated my parent's EFC to be 50,000 (6K in scholarship and 7K in workstudy/loans), which is ridiculous and I'm not really sure where they got that number. I also plugged my parent's numbers into the Brown Collegeboard Calculator and it estimated that I would get 30,000 in aid.
My parents are only paying at most 15,000, and I think it would be tough for me to solicit 35K in private loans a year... I would really love to attend Brown, but it doesn't look financially sound. I was wondering what the best way was to do this; I plan to call their aid office next week, but I hear they don't match other schools.
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Anyojne watch The Good Wife tonight?
OMG!
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yet another big financial question
I've read many of the accounts in the parents forum that are similar, but I'm thinking there is a different slant on it.
Kid has just gotten in to UC Berkeley. No aid, in state.
She also was fortunate to get some money from NYU that makes it more reasonable.
She is actually thrilled with both options... but... I think she is potentially a better match at one of the small liberal arts colleges she was accepted to. None of them offered any money, so, as you all know, that means they are twice as much money.
Background... we could (if necessary) spend a quarter mil on college, we have only one child. However, it would put a serious dent in our retirement and her future inheritance. We don't come from money and we have no inheritances coming... we can only rely on what we have. We are very frugal.
I'm wondering if we're making a mistake by not pushing harder on the LAC option for her. Of course she will make the decision, but her practicality means she is not pushing for her LAC options. YES, we are very blessed to have such a level headed kid.
But I guess what I'm asking... is it worth pushing the much more expensive options? I'd love to hear from people who had or are having a similar experience... how are you working through it?
Believe me.. I feel extremely fortunate to be in the situation we are in BTW...
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Musical Theatre- Columbia College Chicago vs Emerson College vs Marymount Manhattan
So I just found out that I've been accepted into Emerson's musical theatre bfa and I am so confused. I've already been accepted into Columbia and am waiting to hear back from Marymount. I went and visited Columbia and was very impressed with the facilities and faculty, however I have read things online that make it seem less appealing. I've read that it is highly considered to be a safety school for musical theatre students and that it is not academically prestigious at all (which, if the musical theatre program there was one of the best, wouldn't bother me). I auditioned at Emerson, but didn't get a great feel for it because we didn't go on a tour. As far as Marymount goes, I haven't read great things about them so I'm not sure if they are the highest ranked on my list, but that might also be because they are the school I know the least about. Any suggestions or guidance would be appreciated.
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NYU Regular Decision 2018 Discussion
Hi!~ I saw that there was a discussion for ED1 and EDII and figured to make on for RD since there wasn't one made yet. I am feeling so nervous and there's almost a month left. Ahh!
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Appeal to UC Berkeley
Hello! I'm a high school senior living in a small town in California, some ways away from Berkeley, where four of my classmates were accepted but only one plans to attend. I was rejected, but hold high hopes, comparing my profile to theirs, that I may find success through my appeal. I would greatly appreciate any and all criticism on my appeal. I did not include any of this information on my application (besides my father's passing), as I didn't believe it to be worthwhile at the time, but have since been convinced otherwise by more than just the rejection. I am still working on getting my Letter of Recommendation. Please, do not be kind if honesty does not allow for it.
Overall GPA, weighted: 3.52
Unweighted: 3.27
(Both explained in the appeal)
Rank: 50/346 (Top 15%, at least)
SAT: 1980 (CR 640, Math 680, Writing 660)
"To whom it may concern:
I must firstly apologize for any way I may imply a diminishing of the credibility, standards, merit, or collective mindset of your university. Though I fully respect the decision that was made, and thank those who worked devotedly to make it, I must take my place with the thousands of hopefuls in this pile of appeals. As you do, I will hold your process as well to the highest regard, and with the upmost respect, as I do with the entire University itself, and the city of Berkeley.
Nearly five years ago, on June 21st, 2009, the date of both my mother’s birthday and Father’s Day, my father passed away of a heart attack, at 51. From this point on, my mother was forced to take over his labor-intensive business with no experience. At 13 years old, I was immediately forced to become as much of a man as I could at that point. I realized, having spent 6th and 7th grade on independent study per my mother’s wishes, I was learning nothing, and throwing away my father’s American dream. I made the switch to public school for 8th grade, and was completely lost, having no real background.
Without any prior basis, academically or athletically, my performance in high school was not what it could have been. Given my entire true middle school education in 8th grade, I essentially started from scratch my freshman year, and effectively and consistently accumulated a 3.5 GPA throughout my freshman and sophomore years. I was barred from playing sports due to my lack of health insurance and means of acquiring any, as my mother refused to pay for it; I was only able to play tennis my sophomore year through a technicality, and football two summers, but not a regular season.
Since my father’s passing, my mother and I constantly argued. In my junior year, the animosity reached a boiling point, to where she constantly threatened to kick me out of the house, and tore me from my studies to argue, leaving me emotionally devastated, and alone. I would be kept up until late at night, and, having to ride my bike to school every morning, rain or shine, on these occasions I would normally completely miss my 7AM 0-period AVID class, leading to my only D. My other grades suffered from that turmoil as well, though not as harshly. Ultimately, after a much calmer, full family discussion, she finally took our words to heart and we hers. My family situation had finally come to a better point; I was able to achieve a 4.17 GPA my second semester of junior year, and self-study some Calculus and Physics before taking the classes my senior year. Still, though, I could not play sports, nor dedicate myself to any clubs per my mother’s wishes, besides drama.
During the first semester of junior year, my mother struggled greatly with heart problems, and continues to suffer from them to this day. She, luckily having been put on her boyfriend’s health insurance plan, was able to receive treatment; many times I missed school to see her with my older brother, especially my 8th period after-school AP Chemistry class. Due to her missing work so much, we had to cut expenses, such as our home internet connection, leaving me without any reliable way of accessing 95% of that AP Chemistry course on Blackboard. My other grades suffered from excessive absences, my first semester GPA being 3.83, and continue to as I give support to my mother in her time of need. She is now thankfully recovering, and is spending much more time at home.
I am proud of what I have accomplished given my restraints, and whole heartedly believe I will be a constructive, active, and worthwhile student at UC Berkeley. I will fully respect your ultimate decision; I only plead that you allow me to pursue my dream at your dignified university.
Thank you."
I'm completely unsure of my last paragraph, and of course with anything in the rest that must be reworked, added, or scrapped. Any parts that need more elaboration, while others less? Total scrap? Any contribution is greatly appreciated!
PS: To clarify, I'm typing this from a friend's computer. Wrote most of the appeal itself initially on paper, then transferred it over.
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