So, my GRE Biology Subject Test scores were supposed to be available as of December 23rd. I was fully expecting to get to my parents' house and promptly get online to check them at that time-- not that that has stopped me from periodically checking my GRE account online, every week or so, you know, "just in case."
Today between the Homeless Persons Memorial Vigil and making gingerbread houses with some friends, I stopped home briefly, including taking in the mail, and lo and behold! Mail from the GRE people. It took me some time to figure out how to unfold the contents to see what it actually was (at first I thought it might just be something confirming which places I'd had score reports sent to), but three days earlier than expected, there were my scores!
So the way that the Biology subject test works is that it's broken down into three sub-scores (the test itself is not broken up like this, but the questions are categorized thus, and they report each sub-score on your score reports):
...cell and molecular (this is the section that massive dragged down my overall score, as I knew it would-- I just can't get excited about this stuff, and these are the majority of the questions that I skipped, e.g. left for last and didn't get to, because I wanted to focus on the questions I could actually answer and go to those only if I had time left);
...organismal biology (in which I gave quite a respectable showing);
...and ecology, evolution, & population biology-- and this, I would hope anyway, would be the most relevant to the people considering whether I'd be an awesome graduate student, since I've applied for programs in ecology and/or evolution!-- in which I rocked the 91st percentile.
Bam!
:)
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Sanitizing Christmas
This evening my pastor, Gil, spoke on the "Magnificat"-- the song of Mary, who is to give birth to Jesus. It spoke about how it wasn't just this sweet song, it was sort of feisty-- coming from this young girl who grew up in a small town, oppressed by a foreign empire, and was about to give birth to the Messiah who would change everything-- so much so that in the 1980's the Guatemalan government wouldn't allow it to be read in public, for fear that it would incite unrest against the government. The image he gave was the young mother Mary, not cradling a sweet silent baby in a perfect Hallmark Christmas moment, but the young mother Mary cradling the baby that held the hope of all people, and giving the world-- the Way Things Are-- the finger.
He also talked about a God that comes into the middle of our crap (quite literally, in the stable) and how that was an intentional statement by God about Who He Is and what he is willing to go through with us.
This got me reflecting again on a commercial I heard in the past week or so. I rarely listen to the radio in my car, more often relying on my ipod or-- since my ipod transmitter has gone kaput-- CD's (this being the first car I've had with a CD player, it's a convenience I appreciate fully), but during Christmas season I make an exception. I love Christmas songs. So anyway, I had the radio on and a commercial came on-- I don't even remember what the business was, now. Car sales or insurance, or something random like that.
Anyhow, here (roughly) is what the representative on the commercial said:
"Merry Christmas! Yes, I'll say it, even if it's not 'P.C.' to say 'Merry Christmas.' But whatever your beliefs, the message of Christmas still rings true, and we wish that to you and your family in the coming year: health and happiness, safety and security."
And I just thought, Actually, I don't think that's what the message of Christmas is about, at all.
Jesus is not about our health-- he in fact sometimes asks us to do very risky and even dangerous things in the course of bringing about his kingdom. He is certainly not about our happiness, at least not in the sense that we think of it-- joy, perhaps, but not the happiness of everything's-going-ok-and-I-have-no-worries. Safety? Psh. See answer to "health." (Also, I was reminded of the line from The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe-- I looked this up for the exact wording: "Safe?... Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you.")
And security? Security?
I understand why people seek security. I seek it too. We all do, it's quite natural. But it is not at all what Christmas is all about, sorry Ms. car-sales-or-insurance-company-lady.
Jesus was revolutionary, in every sense of the world. He shook up religion, angered the religious, changed how we access God himself, so concerned religious leaders even in his infancy that they ordered massacres just to get rid of him, associated with ruffians and low-lifes, and was eventually executed as a criminal.
When I think of "American Christian," I picture people in sweaters and khakis in a more-than-comfortable suburban home. Carefully groomed, SUV in the driveway. Seeking security at every turn. They're not bad people, but they're sanitized. This sort of makes me sick. (And frankly, they don't sound like the sort of people Jesus hung out with, either.) I know it's not true of a large portion of American Christians, but it is of too many. We have gotten too hung up on security.
So at Christmas of all times, this is the time to remember that. How completely and wildly radical it was for God to send his son as a human, into the most scandalous and humble of human circumstances, to reach hearts in a whole new way and restore our relationship with God. What!? Revolutionary.
So let's leave the sanitization of Christmas to the good people at Hallmark.
He also talked about a God that comes into the middle of our crap (quite literally, in the stable) and how that was an intentional statement by God about Who He Is and what he is willing to go through with us.
This got me reflecting again on a commercial I heard in the past week or so. I rarely listen to the radio in my car, more often relying on my ipod or-- since my ipod transmitter has gone kaput-- CD's (this being the first car I've had with a CD player, it's a convenience I appreciate fully), but during Christmas season I make an exception. I love Christmas songs. So anyway, I had the radio on and a commercial came on-- I don't even remember what the business was, now. Car sales or insurance, or something random like that.
Anyhow, here (roughly) is what the representative on the commercial said:
"Merry Christmas! Yes, I'll say it, even if it's not 'P.C.' to say 'Merry Christmas.' But whatever your beliefs, the message of Christmas still rings true, and we wish that to you and your family in the coming year: health and happiness, safety and security."
And I just thought, Actually, I don't think that's what the message of Christmas is about, at all.
Jesus is not about our health-- he in fact sometimes asks us to do very risky and even dangerous things in the course of bringing about his kingdom. He is certainly not about our happiness, at least not in the sense that we think of it-- joy, perhaps, but not the happiness of everything's-going-ok-and-I-have-no-worries. Safety? Psh. See answer to "health." (Also, I was reminded of the line from The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe-- I looked this up for the exact wording: "Safe?... Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you.")
And security? Security?
I understand why people seek security. I seek it too. We all do, it's quite natural. But it is not at all what Christmas is all about, sorry Ms. car-sales-or-insurance-company-lady.
Jesus was revolutionary, in every sense of the world. He shook up religion, angered the religious, changed how we access God himself, so concerned religious leaders even in his infancy that they ordered massacres just to get rid of him, associated with ruffians and low-lifes, and was eventually executed as a criminal.
When I think of "American Christian," I picture people in sweaters and khakis in a more-than-comfortable suburban home. Carefully groomed, SUV in the driveway. Seeking security at every turn. They're not bad people, but they're sanitized. This sort of makes me sick. (And frankly, they don't sound like the sort of people Jesus hung out with, either.) I know it's not true of a large portion of American Christians, but it is of too many. We have gotten too hung up on security.
So at Christmas of all times, this is the time to remember that. How completely and wildly radical it was for God to send his son as a human, into the most scandalous and humble of human circumstances, to reach hearts in a whole new way and restore our relationship with God. What!? Revolutionary.
So let's leave the sanitization of Christmas to the good people at Hallmark.
Saturday, December 10, 2011
All I need to know I learned from Christmas music
So, for about the last week and half straight, I've had Christmas music through Pandora on at any time when I'm home. Seriously. I actually have several different Christmas-themed Pandora "channels": Christmas Radio, Feliz Navidad Radio, Peaceful Holidays Radio (I actually don't know when or how that one got added, because I thought I had just 2 at the beginning of the season), and I Want A Hippopotamus For Christmas Radio (sadly, I have yet to hear that actually song this year). All have a bit different composition, and are great for different moods of Christmas-y-ness (do I want upbeat Christmas pop while cleaning the house? Instrumental and traditional carols while doing some holiday decorating? Or perhaps something in-between?)
So when you listen to that much Christmas music, you tend to hear the same songs over and over (though often in different versions), and that allows the words to sink in a little bit more. During the past week and a half, I've discovered some interesting lessons hidden (except, not-so-hidden) in your favorite holiday tunes (in no particular order):
1. It is quite reasonable to show up at a stranger's door and refuse to leave until they provide you with the dessert of your choosing. (We Wish You A Merry Christmas)
2. It is appropriate for eccentric old loners to watch you in your sleep, and if anything bad happens, it's your fault. (Santa Claus Is Coming To Town)
3. You should only be nice to others when they can do something for you. (Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer)
4. It is best to make important decisions like marriage while on a casual snowman-building expedition, and then wait till later to actually discuss it. (Walking In A Winter Wonderland)
5. As long as you're feeling sentimental, it's ok to RSVP "yes" and then leave people hanging. (I'll Be Home For Christmas)
6. People only go home for the holidays, for the food. (There's No Place Like Home For The Holidays)
7. No, really. Even your parents don't even really want you around for Christmas. (It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas)
8. It's fine to get your hesitant date drunk, to get her to stay the night. (Baby, It's Cold Outside)
9. Santa sounds a lot like Jesus. (Here Comes Santa Claus)
10. Well that makes sense, actually, because Jesus is the one who sent Santa. (Here Comes Santa Claus)
11. One I take particular offense to: "maiden aunts" clearly have nothing better to do than sit around and gossip. (Baby, It's Cold Outside)
12. It's perfectly acceptable to flaunt the direct orders of law enforcement. (Frosty The Snowman)
How could it be! Don't believe me? Check out the comments for the referenced quotes. Have I missed any? :)
(Hint: if you want to see the post and the lyrics in the comment at the same time, just click on the title of this post.)
So when you listen to that much Christmas music, you tend to hear the same songs over and over (though often in different versions), and that allows the words to sink in a little bit more. During the past week and a half, I've discovered some interesting lessons hidden (except, not-so-hidden) in your favorite holiday tunes (in no particular order):
1. It is quite reasonable to show up at a stranger's door and refuse to leave until they provide you with the dessert of your choosing. (We Wish You A Merry Christmas)
2. It is appropriate for eccentric old loners to watch you in your sleep, and if anything bad happens, it's your fault. (Santa Claus Is Coming To Town)
3. You should only be nice to others when they can do something for you. (Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer)
4. It is best to make important decisions like marriage while on a casual snowman-building expedition, and then wait till later to actually discuss it. (Walking In A Winter Wonderland)
5. As long as you're feeling sentimental, it's ok to RSVP "yes" and then leave people hanging. (I'll Be Home For Christmas)
6. People only go home for the holidays, for the food. (There's No Place Like Home For The Holidays)
7. No, really. Even your parents don't even really want you around for Christmas. (It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas)
8. It's fine to get your hesitant date drunk, to get her to stay the night. (Baby, It's Cold Outside)
9. Santa sounds a lot like Jesus. (Here Comes Santa Claus)
10. Well that makes sense, actually, because Jesus is the one who sent Santa. (Here Comes Santa Claus)
11. One I take particular offense to: "maiden aunts" clearly have nothing better to do than sit around and gossip. (Baby, It's Cold Outside)
12. It's perfectly acceptable to flaunt the direct orders of law enforcement. (Frosty The Snowman)
How could it be! Don't believe me? Check out the comments for the referenced quotes. Have I missed any? :)
(Hint: if you want to see the post and the lyrics in the comment at the same time, just click on the title of this post.)
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Just a quick one...
Last week in my Evolution class, a group of my classmates was doing a presentation on the evolution of sight/eyes.
They mentioned that one interesting fact they found was that snakes and humans have been shown to have co-evolved... and humans' eyes are particularly adapted to be in tune with and pick up on diamond and "plaid" patterns, such as snakes' markings display.
They mentioned that one interesting fact they found was that snakes and humans have been shown to have co-evolved... and humans' eyes are particularly adapted to be in tune with and pick up on diamond and "plaid" patterns, such as snakes' markings display.
Put that in your pipe and smoke it.
Friday, December 2, 2011
Corrie's grad school application process, in a nutshell
Well folks, finally, D-Day had come and gone... December 1st-- that is, the day that many of my grad school applications were due. It's when I aimed to get everything in, so it's been the day that I've both been eager for, and has been coming a little too soon, for months now. But it's past now, and I'm sooo happy it is!
So, there's not really a "point" to this post, just some details of what the grad school application process has looked like for me. Because sometimes people seem a little confused. Which is ok. It's a terrible, viciously confusing process, which I think is the entire point, so they don't have to look at actually many completed apps and it makes their job easier. I have lots of files and lists and checklists and timelines to help me keep it all straight. For you, the short version:
1. "Why is it taking you so long??"
I feel like I've been working on this process continually for the past year or so (give or take, and of course increasingly so during the past days, weeks and months as grad schools apps are getting due)... and I sort of have. But I realize most people live in a different world (like the one where one of my co-workers came to work one day the other week and rather casually mentioned that she had applied for grad school the evening before). Stay there. It's a nice world. However, this is a beastly process that is a little more complicated (hopefully, some of the below will give you further clues as to why). And I've been doing this all, plus those little details of school and work.
2. "Why are you trying to contact professors??"
So, the way this works is that you have to identify an advisor before the program lets you in. Only one of the programs I'm applying for is not this way. A faculty advisor has to want to work with you, and sponsor/advocate for you, for you to even be admitted to the program. Your advisor is who you do your research under; you are in their "lab." I have been looking into potential advisors literally for years, and contacting them (or in many cases, attempting to contact them, because some of them very un-helpfully fail to ever reply) for months.
3. "Isn't ordering transcripts easy??"
I have attended 4 schools. I am applying to 6. So yeah, when I say it took me more than an entire evening just to order transcripts, I am not exaggerating.
4. "Well, that's still just six applications, right??"
Many of the programs to which I'm applying are actually interdepartmental, so you also need to be admitted to one of the main participating departments, e.g. biology, zoology, etc. So for one school, I don't necessarily have just one set of application materials to get in and keep track of, but might have one app for the general university graduate program, a supplemental for the ecology/evolution program, and still other materials required by the home department.
5. "What is this GRE thing, and didn't you already take it a few years ago??"
The GRE (Graduate Record Exam) is to graduate school as the SAT is to college. (For someone clearly so skilled at analogies, you'd think I've have done better on the verbal section.) It has verbal, quantitative (aka math), and analytical writing sections. I did not take this a few weeks ago-- I took this in July 2007. The scores are good for 5 years, which means if no one lets me in to grad school for this next year, I'm out of luck on that count. What I did take a few Saturdays ago was the GRE Subject Test in Biology-- a 3-hour paper-based test. I won't get to find out my scores until around Christmas time.
6. "When do you find out??"
Good question. The app due dates started December 1st, though a few are a bit later. Regardless, I got all my application materials in by the 1st (or hopefully did-- some programs have assured me it takes a few weeks for them to upload everything to their system, but they'll let me know if anything's missing, e.g. if a transcript, GRE score report, or letter of recommendation got lost in the mix). I will probably not know where I admitted until into the winter or spring. I mean, maybe I'll know some places I'm definitely not admitted, because they won't be having me out for interviews and whatnot. But not for sure, anytime soon. I'll keep you posted on whether I get in any places, but might not even tell you where I've gotten in, until I make the decision of where I'm going.
7. "Um, isn't this going to cost you a lot??"
So, these programs are all about money. They will literally only take on who they can fund. So while I'd initially (like, pretty much this entire time during the past few years) planned to apply to Master's programs to start, I'm ending up applying to all PhD programs (though telling them I'd be happy to start with a Master's, as well). Because no one wants Master's students right now. They all barely want PhD students, for that matter. (Ok, now I'm blending into a point I was going to make elsewhere... I digress. Back we go.) In many cases, having funding already lined up (e.g. through an NSF fellowship-- for which I have also applied, by the way) can massively influence admissions decisions. This is not a secret, they are quite open about that fact. So if someone lets me in as a Master's student and I don't get any other fellowships or whatnot, yes, it will cost me a lot, and I'll get myself nicely in debt. But probably no one's going to let me in as a Master's student, so I'm not going to worry about that too much for now.
8. "Why do you get frustrated when I tell you it's all going to work out awesomely??"
Yeah... so, please don't tell me it is all going to be fine, and I will for sure get in lots of places. You do not, in any way, actually know this. I know a lot more about this process, the realities and logistics it, than probably you do, and I know that that is not necessarily the case. I might get in nowhere. And then I will have to figure out what to do. But just don't speak of things of which you know not, ok? I don't find it helpful, because I know it is based on a lack of true information about the situation. We will see what happens, and I will cross whatever bridges I come to, when I come to them. Make sense?
Feel free to ask me any other questions you may have about this process! (As long as they do not include, "where have you applied?"-- that list gets me out of breath-- "do you have a top choice?" or anything that makes me worry about the outcomes. Process only, please! :)
(p.s. The above questions were not necessarily ones I have actually been asked, in so many words, anyhow. Just topics to introduce.)
-------------------------------------
Ok, I decided to entertain myself by giving some clues to first of the questions I requested not to be asked. :) Those truly dedicated can find the answers if they really care to know that much. Here are some logos or images from the programs to which I've applied, in no particular order:
So, there's not really a "point" to this post, just some details of what the grad school application process has looked like for me. Because sometimes people seem a little confused. Which is ok. It's a terrible, viciously confusing process, which I think is the entire point, so they don't have to look at actually many completed apps and it makes their job easier. I have lots of files and lists and checklists and timelines to help me keep it all straight. For you, the short version:
1. "Why is it taking you so long??"
I feel like I've been working on this process continually for the past year or so (give or take, and of course increasingly so during the past days, weeks and months as grad schools apps are getting due)... and I sort of have. But I realize most people live in a different world (like the one where one of my co-workers came to work one day the other week and rather casually mentioned that she had applied for grad school the evening before). Stay there. It's a nice world. However, this is a beastly process that is a little more complicated (hopefully, some of the below will give you further clues as to why). And I've been doing this all, plus those little details of school and work.
2. "Why are you trying to contact professors??"
So, the way this works is that you have to identify an advisor before the program lets you in. Only one of the programs I'm applying for is not this way. A faculty advisor has to want to work with you, and sponsor/advocate for you, for you to even be admitted to the program. Your advisor is who you do your research under; you are in their "lab." I have been looking into potential advisors literally for years, and contacting them (or in many cases, attempting to contact them, because some of them very un-helpfully fail to ever reply) for months.
3. "Isn't ordering transcripts easy??"
I have attended 4 schools. I am applying to 6. So yeah, when I say it took me more than an entire evening just to order transcripts, I am not exaggerating.
4. "Well, that's still just six applications, right??"
Many of the programs to which I'm applying are actually interdepartmental, so you also need to be admitted to one of the main participating departments, e.g. biology, zoology, etc. So for one school, I don't necessarily have just one set of application materials to get in and keep track of, but might have one app for the general university graduate program, a supplemental for the ecology/evolution program, and still other materials required by the home department.
5. "What is this GRE thing, and didn't you already take it a few years ago??"
The GRE (Graduate Record Exam) is to graduate school as the SAT is to college. (For someone clearly so skilled at analogies, you'd think I've have done better on the verbal section.) It has verbal, quantitative (aka math), and analytical writing sections. I did not take this a few weeks ago-- I took this in July 2007. The scores are good for 5 years, which means if no one lets me in to grad school for this next year, I'm out of luck on that count. What I did take a few Saturdays ago was the GRE Subject Test in Biology-- a 3-hour paper-based test. I won't get to find out my scores until around Christmas time.
6. "When do you find out??"
Good question. The app due dates started December 1st, though a few are a bit later. Regardless, I got all my application materials in by the 1st (or hopefully did-- some programs have assured me it takes a few weeks for them to upload everything to their system, but they'll let me know if anything's missing, e.g. if a transcript, GRE score report, or letter of recommendation got lost in the mix). I will probably not know where I admitted until into the winter or spring. I mean, maybe I'll know some places I'm definitely not admitted, because they won't be having me out for interviews and whatnot. But not for sure, anytime soon. I'll keep you posted on whether I get in any places, but might not even tell you where I've gotten in, until I make the decision of where I'm going.
7. "Um, isn't this going to cost you a lot??"
So, these programs are all about money. They will literally only take on who they can fund. So while I'd initially (like, pretty much this entire time during the past few years) planned to apply to Master's programs to start, I'm ending up applying to all PhD programs (though telling them I'd be happy to start with a Master's, as well). Because no one wants Master's students right now. They all barely want PhD students, for that matter. (Ok, now I'm blending into a point I was going to make elsewhere... I digress. Back we go.) In many cases, having funding already lined up (e.g. through an NSF fellowship-- for which I have also applied, by the way) can massively influence admissions decisions. This is not a secret, they are quite open about that fact. So if someone lets me in as a Master's student and I don't get any other fellowships or whatnot, yes, it will cost me a lot, and I'll get myself nicely in debt. But probably no one's going to let me in as a Master's student, so I'm not going to worry about that too much for now.
8. "Why do you get frustrated when I tell you it's all going to work out awesomely??"
Yeah... so, please don't tell me it is all going to be fine, and I will for sure get in lots of places. You do not, in any way, actually know this. I know a lot more about this process, the realities and logistics it, than probably you do, and I know that that is not necessarily the case. I might get in nowhere. And then I will have to figure out what to do. But just don't speak of things of which you know not, ok? I don't find it helpful, because I know it is based on a lack of true information about the situation. We will see what happens, and I will cross whatever bridges I come to, when I come to them. Make sense?
Feel free to ask me any other questions you may have about this process! (As long as they do not include, "where have you applied?"-- that list gets me out of breath-- "do you have a top choice?" or anything that makes me worry about the outcomes. Process only, please! :)
(p.s. The above questions were not necessarily ones I have actually been asked, in so many words, anyhow. Just topics to introduce.)
-------------------------------------
Ok, I decided to entertain myself by giving some clues to first of the questions I requested not to be asked. :) Those truly dedicated can find the answers if they really care to know that much. Here are some logos or images from the programs to which I've applied, in no particular order:
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