To pass health care reform. And now the batshit insane have come completely out of the woodwork. The bill, I admit, is flawed. It's not perfect but then again no piece of legislation is, but it is at least a step in the right direction. The Republican party in this country has completely and utterly lost it. Spitting on Congressman, shouting racial slurs, damaging property, making death threats....this isn't the American I know and it certain is not the party of Reagan. I'm embarrassed that they are acting this way. Apparently the only legitimate government is a government run by Republicans. President Obama and the Democratic Congress have no authority to act despite the fact that they were elected - overwhelmingly - by a populous that was tired to the Republican brand. Clearly this is their thinking.
All I know is that in September I won't have to worry about insurance or health care for at least a year, maybe more. God Bless the NHS and the British for instituting a remarkable system that, though not perfect, ensures that all Brits have adequate health care and don't have to worry about how to pay to get the treatment they need.
3.20.2010
Bureaucracy at its best
Waited in line today for close to two hours at the post office to file for my passport. A line of at least fifty people and two postal workers on the job. I was smarter than most and had filled out the application online beforehand and got my pictures taken at CVS so it could have taken longer. Also, I sent my housing application to UCL. I chose the student houses as my first choice because I don't think I can tolerate having to live with a meal plan in the residences. UT's food was bad enough. I don't even want to imagine what I would have to stomach in England. I like English food, well, some of it, but every day, twice a day I don't think I could go that.
3.17.2010
Interesting to note...
I was accepted the the 4th ranked university in the world but not the 31st ranked school. This makes me wonder if US schools place too much emphasis on standardized test scores and reject students on that basis almost alone. My quant score on the GRE was flat out embarrassing - took it twice and score did not change. My verbal score put me in the 93 percentile of all who take the exam. My writing scores were above average but I think I write better than I did on the exam. No, I know I write better than I did on the exam; I have 4 A's in college English comp and literature to prove that. Plus the A's on all those poli sci papers I wrote and countless history essays.
The stress put on these tests are incredibly unfair. I know I would have done well in the public policy school of #31. My GRE score was a big mark against me, but my recommendations were excellent and my essay was a thorough and well-thought out explanation of a couple of poor grades (math and one horrible semester of Italian which left me with a few choice curse words as the only think I remember) and what I wanted to do with an MPP degree.
I'm nothing if not tenacious so at some point in the future I'll apply to #31 again. Maybe when I come back to the states or maybe in a couple of years but I'm going to get in. If nothing else than to prove I can.
First hurdle: that damn quant section.
The world rankings for universities can be found here: http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/hybrid.asp?typeCode=438
The stress put on these tests are incredibly unfair. I know I would have done well in the public policy school of #31. My GRE score was a big mark against me, but my recommendations were excellent and my essay was a thorough and well-thought out explanation of a couple of poor grades (math and one horrible semester of Italian which left me with a few choice curse words as the only think I remember) and what I wanted to do with an MPP degree.
I'm nothing if not tenacious so at some point in the future I'll apply to #31 again. Maybe when I come back to the states or maybe in a couple of years but I'm going to get in. If nothing else than to prove I can.
First hurdle: that damn quant section.
The world rankings for universities can be found here: http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/hybrid.asp?typeCode=438
3.16.2010
Wavering
For about a day I teetered on the edge of rethinking this whole thing. Part of me is already there but part of me still longs to go to law school. I'm currently awaiting what I'm only guessing will be a courtesy waitlist letter from UT Law - again. I'l admit I didn't do so hot on the LSAT but standardized tests aren't my thing but I feel that I would do well in law school. I believe I would enjoy it. If I could only convince a school to let me in.
Yesterday I was looking around for schools that offer part-time programs and still have a good reputation and ranking. I found several and one in particular that I'm interested in. It's in California and offers not just a concentration in the law I want to study but a whole damn institution dedicated to it. Over forty class offerings - everything from Motion Picture Production and Distribution Law and Working with the Guilds to Historic Preservation and Internet and E-Commerce Law. I'd be in heaven. They accept applications until April 1.
It took me around ten minutes to realize that it probably wasn't worth my $75 to send the application and LSAC report. I really want to go to London. It's an opportunity that really is once in a lifetime. I will never again have the available time and personal situation that would permit to move to another country. This law school will be here in 18 months when I'm done. I can always choose to go. I can always make the time and effort to earn that degree, to live in a city so vastly different from the one in which I grew up and experience life on the Pacific coast. It's not a desire or dream to give up, but rather simply one to put off for a year or so.
Yesterday I was looking around for schools that offer part-time programs and still have a good reputation and ranking. I found several and one in particular that I'm interested in. It's in California and offers not just a concentration in the law I want to study but a whole damn institution dedicated to it. Over forty class offerings - everything from Motion Picture Production and Distribution Law and Working with the Guilds to Historic Preservation and Internet and E-Commerce Law. I'd be in heaven. They accept applications until April 1.
It took me around ten minutes to realize that it probably wasn't worth my $75 to send the application and LSAC report. I really want to go to London. It's an opportunity that really is once in a lifetime. I will never again have the available time and personal situation that would permit to move to another country. This law school will be here in 18 months when I'm done. I can always choose to go. I can always make the time and effort to earn that degree, to live in a city so vastly different from the one in which I grew up and experience life on the Pacific coast. It's not a desire or dream to give up, but rather simply one to put off for a year or so.
3.12.2010
Signed, Sealed, Delivered...
Well, in two weeks time or thereabouts. Mailing the confirmation to UCL tomorrow. I went ahead and sent them an email to let them know it's on the way because you never know with the postal service. Next step: passport. I got the awful pictures made last week. Why can photographs like that never turn out attractive? It's as bad as my driver's license photo and makes me look like I'm about 16.
3.10.2010
It Still Hurts
Got the last admissions letter today from the other American school I applied to. It was no. Not surprising to say the least. This school was my long shot - not really my dream school but at the top of my list. From the moment I sent the application in I knew that it was going to be a "no". The odds were against me owing to the school's ranking and my less than stellar GRE score (a topic for another post if I ever feel the need to vent about standardized testing and school admissions).
I know I've been accepted to four very fine schools but it hurts nonetheless. I'm not even sure I would have chosen to attend this school but the option would have been nice. But now I can choose to go to England and not fret over deciding. Maybe something bigger than myself is choosing for me. I don't know. Maybe moving is what I'm meant to do.
I know I've been accepted to four very fine schools but it hurts nonetheless. I'm not even sure I would have chosen to attend this school but the option would have been nice. But now I can choose to go to England and not fret over deciding. Maybe something bigger than myself is choosing for me. I don't know. Maybe moving is what I'm meant to do.
3.08.2010
In Search of a Graduate School
I'm a writer. I am not a blogger. I read them but I have never once commented on one so it's a little strange to actually start one of my own. I don't delude myself that people out there really care what I have to say so I do this for me. I wanted a record, in writing and pictures, of the decision I make, of the people I will meet, and of the life of a Southern girl in London.
The first major decision of my life is before me: graduate school. The University of Tennessee or University College London.
I finally got word today - after 4 months of waiting - that I’ve been accepted to the MPA program at UT. The email produced two reactions: 1) relief that the school I already have a degree from accepted me again. There was a little doubt there because of an abysmal score on the quant section of the GRE; and 2) Do I really want to go back?
The last reaction required a little examination. Do I really want to go back? Yes. And no. Yes because of the football games, the basketball games, Barley’s Taproom, Downtown Grill and Brewery’s $2 pints, friends, familiarity. Ah, the last one is the problem. I won’t say I hated my time at UT but I’m not going to say I loved it either. There were things I loved about it certainly but this isn’t undergraduate and I’m not 18 anymore. It’s too familiar at this point. I know where everything is, how things work, which professors are complete assholes and which ones you can chat with in their offices. I know not to schedule a math class on the Hill at 8am and an English class in Humanities at 9:05am. You’re barely going to make that class unless you run down the 200-odd steps from Circle Drive to Andy Holt Avenue. And don’t even think about making it up that 4% grade of Andy Holt to Volunteer without nearly having a stroke when it’s 95 degrees and 100 percent humidity. I know that tailgating begins at 7am for a 3pm kickoff and that you go back and tailgate afterwards, win or lose. I know where all the Starbucks are located on campus and that if you visit anyone of them during the middle of exams there’s a chance they’re going to be out of coffee.
Moving back to Knoxville wouldn’t be bad, I thought last week as I drove down Kingston Pike. But it wouldn’t be great either.
Knowing all the little quirks of a place are great. It gives you the inside edge. It makes you look like you know what you’re doing. That familiarity leads to boredom, though, and there is no joy to be found exploring the campus. Nothing is new or intimidating. It’s safe. And that’s what choosing to go back to UT would be - safe.
Choosing to go to UCL would be decidedly unsafe. Not in terms of actual physical safety. I’m pretty sure it’s just as safe as UT though I don’t know. I don’t know anything other than what I’ve read in the prospectus. I’ve looked at maps and read about services but reading and finding are two different matters entirely. Everything would be new and exciting, intimidating and trying. And that’s what would make going to UCL great. It would test me. It would require me to step out of my comfort zone and force me to meet people and navigate my way around a foreign city and country. Moving to London would be an adventure; moving back to Knoxville would be nothing more than a 3-hour car trip.
Academics wise, UCL would be the smarter decision. According to my Google search earlier today, UCL is ranking 5th in the UK and in the top 10 world wide. I have no idea what UT’s ranking is but I can pretty well guess it’s not in the top ten world wide and is certainly not ranked higher than 30 in the US for public schools. I’ve experienced the department I’ll be studying in and as a whole I was not terribly impressed. Don’t get me wrong, I had some fabulous professors and took some great classes. But it’s one of the weaker departments at the school, one which doesn’t get much funding and has a limited class offering. That’s not to say that I wouldn’t make the best of my time there. I would, but it just doesn’t make sense to go back into a school where I know that the education for a graduate degree may be only marginally better than the undergraduate one. I don’t know how UCL stacks up in reality. Rankings tell you next to nothing but it does look good. I would never get into the 5th ranked school in the US (I have no idea what it is, probably Stanford or Princeton).
I’m already excited about going to London. The only thing that excites me about going back to UT is football and the comfort of familiarity.
The first major decision of my life is before me: graduate school. The University of Tennessee or University College London.
I finally got word today - after 4 months of waiting - that I’ve been accepted to the MPA program at UT. The email produced two reactions: 1) relief that the school I already have a degree from accepted me again. There was a little doubt there because of an abysmal score on the quant section of the GRE; and 2) Do I really want to go back?
The last reaction required a little examination. Do I really want to go back? Yes. And no. Yes because of the football games, the basketball games, Barley’s Taproom, Downtown Grill and Brewery’s $2 pints, friends, familiarity. Ah, the last one is the problem. I won’t say I hated my time at UT but I’m not going to say I loved it either. There were things I loved about it certainly but this isn’t undergraduate and I’m not 18 anymore. It’s too familiar at this point. I know where everything is, how things work, which professors are complete assholes and which ones you can chat with in their offices. I know not to schedule a math class on the Hill at 8am and an English class in Humanities at 9:05am. You’re barely going to make that class unless you run down the 200-odd steps from Circle Drive to Andy Holt Avenue. And don’t even think about making it up that 4% grade of Andy Holt to Volunteer without nearly having a stroke when it’s 95 degrees and 100 percent humidity. I know that tailgating begins at 7am for a 3pm kickoff and that you go back and tailgate afterwards, win or lose. I know where all the Starbucks are located on campus and that if you visit anyone of them during the middle of exams there’s a chance they’re going to be out of coffee.
Moving back to Knoxville wouldn’t be bad, I thought last week as I drove down Kingston Pike. But it wouldn’t be great either.
Knowing all the little quirks of a place are great. It gives you the inside edge. It makes you look like you know what you’re doing. That familiarity leads to boredom, though, and there is no joy to be found exploring the campus. Nothing is new or intimidating. It’s safe. And that’s what choosing to go back to UT would be - safe.
Choosing to go to UCL would be decidedly unsafe. Not in terms of actual physical safety. I’m pretty sure it’s just as safe as UT though I don’t know. I don’t know anything other than what I’ve read in the prospectus. I’ve looked at maps and read about services but reading and finding are two different matters entirely. Everything would be new and exciting, intimidating and trying. And that’s what would make going to UCL great. It would test me. It would require me to step out of my comfort zone and force me to meet people and navigate my way around a foreign city and country. Moving to London would be an adventure; moving back to Knoxville would be nothing more than a 3-hour car trip.
Academics wise, UCL would be the smarter decision. According to my Google search earlier today, UCL is ranking 5th in the UK and in the top 10 world wide. I have no idea what UT’s ranking is but I can pretty well guess it’s not in the top ten world wide and is certainly not ranked higher than 30 in the US for public schools. I’ve experienced the department I’ll be studying in and as a whole I was not terribly impressed. Don’t get me wrong, I had some fabulous professors and took some great classes. But it’s one of the weaker departments at the school, one which doesn’t get much funding and has a limited class offering. That’s not to say that I wouldn’t make the best of my time there. I would, but it just doesn’t make sense to go back into a school where I know that the education for a graduate degree may be only marginally better than the undergraduate one. I don’t know how UCL stacks up in reality. Rankings tell you next to nothing but it does look good. I would never get into the 5th ranked school in the US (I have no idea what it is, probably Stanford or Princeton).
I’m already excited about going to London. The only thing that excites me about going back to UT is football and the comfort of familiarity.
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