Contingency Plans

I am very sorry that this has taken so long to update. I got seriously sidetracked and I never got around to updating this. I do have a post about Claremont in the works but this post is more important and it is important that I update you all on this before I tell you about my impressions of Claremont.

So plan A has been what you have been reading about up until now. Just a refresher, Plan A is take GRE, apply to schools, get into schools, go to school. Unfortunately Plan A did not work out. You will hear more about it later but the short version of the story is that Claremont is really expensive and I can't afford to go right now. The good news is that I can defer my acceptance until the fall of 2013, which is good and it plays into Plans B, and C.

So, Plan B is what comes next. Plan B consists of taking more math, which I currently am doing (differential equations at UW(again you will hear more about this)), retaking the GRE for a third time (oh joy), reapplying to some graduate schools, maybe not as reaching so high this time, and getting accepted with more funding than what I received at Claremont.

That may still not work out so I have also come up with a Plan C just in case. Plan C is for if I do not get accepted with better funding somewhere else. Plan C is to attend Claremont for a year and then transfer somewhere else in order to receive better funding, or stay at Claremont if they are able to make it more affordable.

So that is where I am at. I will give you more updates and start doing this more regularly again. Once again I apologize for the hiatus. It's good being back

Running in place,

Kit

To Do List:

1. Pass Diff EQs
2. Study for GRE
3. Do better on GRE 

Your Reward:

The One You've All Been Waiting For

I GOT ACCEPTED!!!




I thought about just leaving it at that but I thought that would be really self indulgent (though isn't that what a blog is?) and you guys didn't come here for that. No, what you're here for, at least I assume, is to read about how I got accepted to a graduate school. So here it goes...

A couple of weeks ago I got an email from Claremont Graduate University (CGU) stating that my application was under review and that I should be hearing back from them in about a week with a decision. This was the day after I got the email mix up from the U. The combination of these emails had me nervous and excited, and I was getting desperate.

After the UW flop I was giving p hope and wasn't thinking that anyone was going to accept me. I was already trying to plan my next year:getting a real job, finding some math classes, re-applying, etc.

As a week approached I became more anxious and more stressed out about the uncertainty of my future. Exactly a week came and went with no notification and I was getting antsy. On the eighth day after the initial Claremont email I finally heard back.

With my heart pounding I opened the email. My eyes quickly scanned the first lines of the email to find out that I was being congratulated on being accepted to the P.h.D. program in economics at CGU! I had to reread the email a few times just to make sure that I had read the email right and that I had been accepted. My eyes didn't deceive me and I have actually been accepted.

All of the stress I had been feeling the previous weeks had been lifted. I no longer had to worry about not getting accepted. But, now I have new worries like the affordability of graduate school.

Included in the email was information about an open house on campus, scheduled for April 4th.I plan on making the trip and I will update you all with what I learned down there and what the campus is like since pictures are nowhere to be found online.

I am now 1/8 and I am still waiting on UNC.

Kit

To Do List

1. Visit Claremont
2. Figure Stuff out 
3. Blog

Your Reward:

 

Via (plus more like this):  Economists Do It With Models

Missed Connections

Disclaimer: While most of you know that I have been accepted, this is not going to be that blog post. That would be going out of order. So for those of you who want to read about that, you will have to wait until the next blog post. Sorry, but if you want to read that one, you're going to have to wait and you can leave now. Without any further ado: "Missed Connections."

Amid all of the madness that I wrote about last week, I received another email which only added to the madness. I was staying up late and watching television, usually that means "The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report." While I was watching I got an email from the University of Washington. My heart started thumping, again, and then I opened it and it only started going faster.
The email was asking if I was still interested in the University of Washington or if I had other offers that dominated the potential offer from them when they make the decision. The only problem was that the email was addressed to somebody named Ibrahim...

I was still optimistic though. I thought that maybe I was in the right list and that they sent me Ibrahim's email and he got mine. So, I wrote back saying that I was still interested and I signed my name.

A couple of days later I got a response notifying me that there was an email mix up, but I was invited to meet the graduate program director (the author of these emails). I figured that I should take advantage of this and schedule a meeting with him. I sent a reply saying as much and got one back the same day asking if the following day at 3 pm was okay. I then told him that it was. This meant that I would have top find someone to cove both of my practices that day. Fortunately, I was able to.

The next day drove to Seattle to the UW campus. I found the building and his office no problem, and I was there with plenty of time for our 3 pm meeting. I went into the main office so that I could have them take me to his office though so that I could be officially announced instead of bargain in on the professor.

I shook his hand and sat down, and then the meeting started.Things started off well. He asked me why I wanted to pursue a PhD. And then things went downhill...

After that he told me that UW this year will probably only admit a class of 11-15 people and that I was behind on my math, and if I were admitted I would have a really hard time catching up with the rest of the students who had more math. I tried telling him that if I were given the chance that I wouldn't disappoint at which point I was told that everybody else was just as hardworking as me but that to get into a program like UW I would have needed to take more math while I was in school. At this point I was able to read the writing on the wall... I wasn't going to get in. I was then told to explore other other options besides a PhD in economics; that maybe I could find what I wanted in a policy school or health services, so I could use some economic tools and thinking but not need all of the math that I am apparently lacking.

I asked what I would need to do to get accepted into a PhD program and he said more math and when I asked what type of math he said just more math. We then discussed other avenues which would help me get accepted into a PhD. He mentioned again more math. Or maybe finding a good MA program like at the one at the University of Denver. But he warned me that I needed to be careful about master's programs because they may not be serious. Another option was to attend a not so good PhD program and then do really well there and look to transfer to a school where I would want to get my degree.

This meeting was not at all what I had wanted. The professor was very nice though, in fact, this was the nicest rejection I had ever received for anything. He also offered some advice and he said that I could email him if I needed more advice or help with anything in the future for my educational journey.

I was really disappointed. I had not gotten any good news yet and while it hasn't been made official yet this was another school that I didn't get into. At  my record for getting into schools is only getting worse. I'm 0-7. I was thinking that I wasn't going to get in anywhere.

Stay tuned for another blog which includes the good news.

Kit

To Do List:

1. Figure stuff out
2. Blog

Your Reward:

March Madness

Ahh March. Winter comes to an end, things start to look more springy, it stays lighter longer, and the NCAA Men's Basketball tournament is on TV. Oh yeah... and I start to get notifications from graduate schools.

At the beginning of March I started to receive emails letting me know that a decision has been made about my application, kinda like the last one that I told you guys about. An email to tell me to click the link and log in and read the letter they had posted there.
First came Penn. I didn't get into Pennsylvania but that was pretty much expected. I figured that since I didn't get into UCSB, that getting into sn Ivy League school was out of the question. It hurt but note as much as the first rejection did.

A week later things really started coming in fast. I received UCLA and Oregon on the same day.
UCLA didn't accept me either. Again I wasn't too shocked but I wanted to get in and prove some doubters wrong. They also notified me twice. Once in a regular email from the economics graduate studies director and another like the others.

I had been feeling optimistic about Oregon since it was the second lowest rank according to U.S. News and World Report. But I didn't get in there either. At this point I had 5 schools to go, but I was starting to feel discouraged and running worst case scenarios through my head.

A couple days later I heard back from Georgetown. Another rejection. And then a day after I heard from Northwestern; again a no go.

With there left, UW, Claremont, and UNC, I am starting to feel less confident about my chances. I was before, but now I am really tring to figure out what I am to do if I don't get in anywhere. I don't know the answer to that yet...

Hopefully something comes about with these last three schools and I get to write about something else. Until then I have some new schools to root against in the big dance.

Stressfully,
Kit

To Do List:

1. Get Accepted
2. Blog

Your Reward:

 

Odd Jobs

For those of you who pay attention to my To Do List at the end of each post, you may have noticed on the last two posts I have included "rebuild my bank account" as my number one priority. I included this because applying to graduate school is expensive. You have to pay for the GRE, if you apply to more than four schools you have to pay to send your GRE scores, you have to pay somewhere between 50-80 dollars per application, and you have to pay for transcripts to be sent to the schools. Overall this is a very expensive process.

So to try to combat the negative drain on my bank account I have been doing some yard work at my boss' house. This has ranged from pulling up scotch broom for a day, to making a burn pile, trying to burn that burn pile, chipping that burn pile, splitting logs, stacking logs, cleaning the roof and gutters, and pumping up nearly 1000 soccer balls. Pretty much I do any type of yard work and/or soccer work that is needed of me. I'm not too picky because I really need the money. Working out there at his house is nice because he usually provides me with food and I get paid 11 dollars an hour. All of that yard work has started to paid off, and my bank account is on the rebound.

I have also been picking up some more coaching at the club I currently coach at plus some extra coaching. As of Monday the 27th of February, I started coaching the C-team at Capital High School. This doesn't pay a ton. I will probably put more into it than I will get out of it, but every little bit helps right now.

This is just a little update on what I am doing with my life: trying to make some money and waiting to hear back from schools.

Hoping...
Kit

To Do List

1. Get accepted
2. Get accepted
3. Get accepted 
4. Blog

Your Reward:

Since I felt like a lumberjack...

And Then There Were Eight

I recently heard back from one of the schools that I applied to. Everything is done by email now as my uncle (who has his doctorate in economics) told me. So it was a normal day and I was checking something or more likely playing a game, on my phone and I received a notification on my phone that I had a new email. Making sure that it wasn't something coaching related, which most of my emails are, I looked to see what it was. It wasn't soccer related, but it was from UCSB to notify me that there had been a decision made on my application! They didn't tell me in the email what the decision was just that there was one and that I needed to log in to my application to view the decision. Reading this caused my heart to start pounding in my chest and I became extremely nervous and anxious. I wanted to look right away and not find out at the same time.

I was with my girlfriend when this happened. I think we were watching a TV show on her computer, and as I was reading this email I apparently became very quiet and my facial expression must have changed because she kept asking me what it was that I was reading. I told her what I just read and that I needed to log in to find out. She instantly gave me the computer so that I could. With my heart pounding ever harder, I logged into my application and opened the decision letter.

I didn't get in.

I instantly fell quiet again as we both read the letter over. I hadn't realized how much being declined admittance would hurt. When applying to undergraduate schools I had a 100% acceptance rate ( I only applied to two schools but I got into both nonetheless). While I knew that I most likely wasn't going to get into all 9 of the schools I applied, I had been feeling confident about UCSB. UCSB wasn't even the best school that I had applied to so I was feeling bad about that too and my prospects for some of the other school to which I had applied. So, the combination of it being my first time being rejected, the confidence I had felt, and which school it was that rejected me made the rejection notice sting... a lot.

This experience got me thinking down the line. If I can't get into UCSB, where can I get into? What happens if I don't get in anywhere? What do I do then? Do I try again? And spend all of that money again? Do I try to retake the GREs to improve my score? This may be a bit premature and a bit fatalists since I still have eight schools to hear back from but I couldn't help thinking it at the time.

Waiting... for good news,
Kit

To Do List

1. Rebuild bank account
2. Get accepted
3. Blog

Your Reward:

Again thanks Jodi Beggs from ediwm.com

Application Update

I am now all applied to all of the schools since I finished both Claremont and Oregon this month. Those schools went in terms of getting the applications out. I didn't have any problems with recommendors this time since they got them in really early, before I had even started actually. I did have one problem actually... only with the Claremont application though.

As I'm sure you know, Washington* got hit by a snow storm which closed down schools, and shut down roads, including PLU and I-5 (I still see places with snow). Here, where I live, in Olympia, we got 15 inches while ten miles away out in the county they got 28 inches. Then we got freezing rain which caused all sorts of problems like trees falling and knocking out power closing schools and roads for even longer. Things were local schools were closed for over a week and PLU was closed for almost a week. This normally would be a problem but this happened in the middle of January and the Claremont application was due on the first of February. I could have waited but I wanted to avoid paying to fedex it there. Good news is that they got to both schools in time and to the right place.

I had another problem with the Oregon application. It was also easily taken care of. As I was going through I noticed that the economics department at U of O wanted my CV mailed to them and there was no place for it to be uploaded. Mail was the only option. So I dropped it into the nearest mailbox right away and hoped it would get there. Then, Monday I had decided to call the department to see if I had sent my official transcripts to the correct place (to the department not admissions) and the nice lady who I talked to said that I could email my CV in so that way they would be there on time until the hard copy arrived.

Now I have nothing more to do but wait and pray that somebody accepts me. Maybe I'll write more posts more often now... hopefully.

Waiting...,
Kit

*The real Washington, the state not D.C.

To Do List

1. Rebuild my bank account
2. Get accepted
3. Blog

Your Reward:

 

Courtesy of T Rex is Trying.

Applying Myself

This one has been a long time coming. Sorry that it has been so long but I got busy with everything like applications, holidays, family, etc.

     So, like the title of this post implies, I have been applying to the schools that are on my list.  The reason you haven't heard from me in so long is because the applications started needing to be turned in a little after my birthday on the first of December. I applied to two schools that day: UCLA and UCSB. I feel pretty good about UCSB and not so good about UCLA.

     I had a crap my pants moment as I was filling out the applications though. I realized that both schools wanted official transcripts sent to them and received at least by the due date if the application. This was a week less than a week before they were due, so I panicked. I got it all sorted out though. I had to drive up to PLU and visit student services and request transcripts, which isn't free. But Since it was so close to the due dates for those two I had to FedEx the transcripts which was $19.00 per school. They got there though, which is all that matters.

     Then I had UNC due on the 13th of December. Which I thought was strange because it is the only school that I had looked at that had an application due on that day. This application didn't go smoothly either because one of my recommendation writers had problems with the link to submit her recommendation, which I found out the day the application was due. I told her I would resend the link and that she should let me know if it worked or not. She didn't. I was in Seattle at this time and started freaking out. I had emailed a couple people in the morning. Then when I hadn't heard anything back I tried calling on the phone. The next day I finally hear back from someone and find out how to fix this problem. I let my professor know what to do and I hear back within 30 minutes that the link ended up working...

     Two days later I had three more applications due. I had Penn, Northwestern and UW all due on the 15th. Fortunately those went off without a hitch.

     Then my sister (all the way from Japan) and Christmas came, so I took a break from applying for a while (and from writing... sorry). But then after Christmas I had to get back to work. I had to apply to Georgetown which was due on the first of January. For that application I had to cut my personal statement down to 500 words when it was originally a 617.

     I decided not to apply to Harvard Business school since I wasn't feeling too confident about it and the due date was coming up shortly after I got the email from them. It was also going to be a lot of money to apply to another school and so to save money I didn't apply. I didn't feel like paying all of that money to be rejected by them.

     After getting all of those sent off I still have two applications left; Claremont and Oregon due on the 1st of February and on the 15th of February respectively. All in all, I am out a lot of money after all of this and my bank account is running really low. Since I am not as busy working applications I am looking for work during the day to supplement my soccer coaching. That's all for now. I will try to write again soon to let you know what is going on with the whole grad school process.

Officially a bachelor,
Kit

To Do List:

1.  Apply to Claremont
2. Apply to Oregon
3. Find a job

Your reward:

 Courtesy of Economists Do it with Models . I know this is late but since most of the content in this posts revolves around the holidays I think this fits. Plus, it's funny.

Early Birthday Present

Today is my birthday! Yay! Wahoo! Yippee! I'm now 23 aww....

    Now that's out of the way we can get down to business. Yesterday, my birthday eve if you will, I was walking out the door to go coach my team (you didn't know I was coaching? well I am) I flipped through the mail on the table just to see if there was anything there for me, and I found there, on the table, three bills for my student loans (yikes), which I felt I could leave for when I got home later. But also on the table was letter for me from ETS and the GRE. They were my scores. And they weren't supposed to be here until today. I got them a whole day early! So needless to say I opened the envelope right then even though it meant I was going to be pressed for time.

So here are the results:
    Verbal Reasoning: 163 (93rd percentile)
    Quantitative Reasoning: 157 (77th percentile)
    Analytical Writing: 5.0 (87th percentile)

     So basically I did really well. My scores in the verbal part jumped up the most, followed by writing and then math moved up a little bit. I feel really good about the verbal and the writing but I was hoping for more from the math side of things since that's more important to econ programs.

      I felt more confident today about my scores because I got an email from Harvard Business Economics PhD program (more birthday presents). So I think they may have jumped onto my list now. To be honest I am quite giddy about it, that Harvard might be interested in me.

Officially an older bachelor,
Kit

 To Do List:

1. Write my CV
2. Write my personal statement
3. Apply

No reward today. You guys can give me gifts.

Putting the Wheels in Motion

     I have actually started applying to schools. I don't yet have my curriculum vitae (CV) or my personal statement finished yet but I figured it doesn't hurt to start applying to schools anyways. So far it has only been filling out information like my name, address, and social security number. Just the basics. That way I can just plug in everything else (my letters of recommendation, my personal statement, and my credit card number).

     This is taking me back to the fall of my senior year of high school when I had to apply to undergrad schools. But as my boss would say it is, "the same thing but different." This time I am employing the bird shot approach. You know, the one where you apply to tons of schools and hope that one accepts you. Last time I applied to just two and got into both thank you very much (100% acceptance rate BABY!). I'm doubting I will be as successful this time around though. But that's okay just as long as I make it into one (with funding). It's going to be way more expensive though. I think last time I was applying for schools I didn't have to pay anything, since applying online was somewhat new and they were trying to discourage paper applications. Now I must apply online, there is no paper option, and I have to pay a minimum of $50 per application. And since I'm applying to a lot, I'm going to be even poorer. I will have to pay a at least $500 for all of my applications.

     I am also in the process of finishing my personal statement and my CV. I hope to have those done by the end of the week. So it looks like I will have a busy week ahead of me.

Officially a bachelor,
Kit

To do list:

1. Finish my CV
2. Finish my personal statement
3. apply to more schools
4. get letters of recommendation

your reward:

Good School Hunting

     I know I have been talking a long time now about how I need to do all of this research to find which schools I would like to attend and to which schools I would like to apply. This whole time that researching schools has been on my to do list I have been looking but with no real direction. Now I finally have something to report back on.
 
     Looking for a grad school is different than looking for an undergrad institution. With undergrad schools you have a good idea of what schools are good and where you want to go. But having a good undergrad program does not guarantee that that school is a good graduate school, let alone a good econ graduate program.  Then to make matters even more difficult, a good econ program may not have the concentration you want, or if they do may not be very good at that concentration. So this is why my search has been slow, drawn out, and not very obvious to all of you who read this regularly (all 4 of you).

   On my own I was able to find some schools that I am interested in and schools which have good labor economics programs (If I haven't mentioned it before, that's the area of concentration I intend of studying in grad school) and sometimes I was able to find some schools which were both. I accomplished this mainly by googling "econ grad school rankings." Through this I found that Northwestern, UC Santa Barbara, Georgetown, and Washington are all good schools. They even have good labor programs but that was more by coincidence when I first found these schools. But these schools might turn out to be too good.

     The next problem I had was that I didn't know (still don't really know) what schools I can get into. Grad schools don't have a set minimum requirement that you have to meet in order to be accepted to the program (well they do but they don't like to tell you what it is. instead they prefer to say here are our averages but it all depends on the person). When I was applying for undergraduate schools I had a better idea of what grades I needed in school and what scores I needed on the SAT and what types of extracurriculars I need in order to be accepted. There aren't really as many guidelines out there for getting into grad schools.

     Guidance is something that I have desperately been needing, so I made a trip back up to PLU during to talk to my capstone adviser. I asked him about what would be some schools that would be good for me. Specifically, what schools can I get into and find funding? We talked and said that the schools I was looking at were good and then he gave me a list of 8 schools to look at and which would be good for labor. He told me to look into Cornell, which apparently has a guy who anytime  media people want to know something about the labor market they talk to him. UNC and Duke are also good schools but I have reservations about them because I don't know if I could go there due to my basketball prejudices. I was also told to look into Penn, Mississippi State, Oregon, USC, and SUNY Stony Brook. I then went home to research them further.

     I can see myself at all of these schools. I have even come around to the idea of attending UNC despite how I feel about their athletics, and I might even set aside my prejudices and give Duke a serious look. What do you guys think? Let me know in the comments.

To Do List

1. Write personal statement
2. Write my CV
3. Apply to schools

Your Reward:
   A correlation VS causation comic

Take Two!

So a couple of weeks ago I took the GRE for a second time. I took at the end of August, so it was the new and "improved" (and improved means not as good) test. I did however save 80 dollars since the GRE was trying to get people to take the new test by offering a sale on it. That's is the biggest improvement I noticed, since now I have paid a total of $240 on tests alone (so that doesn't even include other costs of driving, study books and opportunity costs, check your econ 101 textbook for that one).

My test was at 4pm and I was told to expect it to take 5 hours meaning that I could expect to get out of the test around 9pm! I had to leave my house at 2 because the closest testing center is all the way up in Puyallup (I'm currently in Olympia) and the traffic around Ft. Lewis sucks and I didn't want to be late like I was for the first test.

I got there about half an hour early and they let me start the pre-test rituals right away. I had to right out this statement saying that I won't cheat or share any of the test questions with anyone... in CURSIVE! The last time I used cursive to right anything besides my signature was probably in the  fourth grade when my teacher made us right in cursive. No one uses cursive anymore! So that took a while since I was out of practice. After that I noticed changes to the test right away. Before I could enter the testing room I had to be scanned by a metal detector (to make sure I don't cheat or something) and the locker system was different. You can't take anything in with you besides your locker key and your photo ID.

Then I got to start the test. I started with the writing sections and then unlike the old test I didn't get a break after writing two essays. I had to take the first math section. At least it wasn't more words. Then I got a ten minute break. I tried to use up as much of it as possible by walking around, getting a snack, getting water, anything to get me out of the room. Then I went back and had to take four more sections with only a minute break in between each one. And one of those non-writing sections doesn't even count but they never told my which one it was. I think it was a math one because I had three of those.

Finally it was tine to send off my scores. I sent them to the same schools that I did last time. UW, UCSB, Georgetown, and Northwestern. then after all of that I finally got to see my scores. Now the new test is on a new scale, but since the scales are supposed to be based of percentiles the new scale isn't in place yet. So they gave me a range of scores on the old scale which my test fell into. For the verbal my range was 650-720 and my math section was 720-800. So I definitely improved my verbal which is good, I was disappointed  with my score last time (530), and I didn't do any worse on the math section. Then as I was leaving I was informed that my scores will be sent out on November 8th, my birthday. So now I have to wait and hope that these scores are good enough to get me into a good school with funding, because again with the new test the rules have changed once again. Before with the old test you could take it once a month and no more than 5 times a year. With the new test you still can only take it 5 times a year but now you have to wait 60 days in between tests. So if I wanted to take the test again my scores wouldn't be sent in time to make it for this application cycle and I wouldn't be attending school in the fall of 2011. So this will have to do.

Officially a bachelor,
Kit


To Do List: 1. Find a Job
2. Look for schools
3. Start Applying for schools
4. Blog about it 

Your Reward:
From Economists Do it with Models; from Modified Rapture
The Top Ten Lines for Hitting on an Economist
1. You’ve got the curves to supply my demand!
2. Let’s go to bed and try to disprove the law of diminishing marginal utility.
3. You’re my very favorite kind of moral hazard.
4. I have a feeling you really understand the “nature of the firm.”
5. Baby, I love you so much I’m willing to forgo my exit option.
6. Wanna talk about our private goods?
7. You’re an economist. I’m an economist. How about a little horizontal integration?
8. Now those are some tangible assets!
9. I’ll reveal my preferences if you will.

Life Goes Fast

Wow it's been a long time.

Well first things first. It is the first duke. If you're not sure what I'm talking about, look it up in your history book. And by history book I mean check the last post.

Anyways on to real business now. A lot has changed since the last time I wrote. This should come as no surprise to you because the last time I wrote a post was a little over six months ago. I have been slacking here but I assure you that I have not been slacking in the real world.

So let us start where we were last time I was just starting my last semester at PLU and I had a hard schedule. My prediction for my math classes was correct. Calc was way harder than Proofs was. I ended up pass/failing it but I did get the pass so it will show up on my transcripts for grad schools to be impressed with. I also passed capstone which means that I graduated! I did a labor topic: The affects of private high school on the rate of return to education. And let me say this. I absolutely rocked the presentation (and that's not just me saying that, friends and professors told me and my adviser that too).

Then I graduated and was thrust into the cold, hard, real world. I had no job right away and I had to go back to my former job as a soccer camp coach. It's a good job, only part-time though and it's only for the summer. So now as kids are going back to school, I'm running out of work. So now I have to find something new and since I'm planning on going back to school I am not looking for a career just yet. So lately I have been pounding the pavement and looking for work and walking into places asking if they're hiring.

Then I took a large step forward towards my goal of Econ grad school: I took the GRE. I took the old general test in July and I did okay for only having prepared for the week before I actually took it and for my first try (It's like the SAT. No one just takes it once). I got a 720 in Math 530 in the Verbal Section and 4.5 on Writing. Decent marks for my first attempt but not good enough for the schools I am looking at. So that means I had to take the "Revised General Test" and buy a new book to study with, but that will be a different post where you will hear more about that.

Sorry once again for being so absent from my own blog, but I'm back and I'll do a better job of updating all of you out there who care.

Officially a bachelor
Kit

To Do List:
1. Find a Job
2. Look for schools
3. Start Applying for schools
4. Blog about it

Your Reward:

The Last First Day(s)

So yesterday was the start of a brand new term. Spring 2011. My last one, my last first day. And let me tell you it feels weird. Knowing that I will graduate and that I won't have another first day in the fall is daunting and ominous, especially since I don't know what I am going to be doing yet for the following year. But, I know one of you out there is currently playing a sad song for me on the world's smallest violin, so lets get on with it.

I actually kinda, sorta, missed my first day. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I have my capstone class for economics and I thought that it started at 1:45 but in actuality it started at 11:50. Oops. I found out because a friend in the class texted me asking where I was which made me panic and check when the class actually was. Low and behold I was wrong and I missed class. At least I got to watch the 4-4 barn burner of a match between Newcastle and Arsenal. Once the class was over I met with the prof and found out what I missed and what I needed to do for Thursdays class. She understood and was fine with it. It pays to have already had her for class and we were friends there. It turns out that I need to figure out my topic and find my data by Thursday. Yay!

The good thing about college is that not all classes are on one day. I had two classes today. Didn't miss either of them. Good thing for second chances. Both math classes. One is multivariable calculus and the other intro to proofs. And yes both are prereqs, which I did not have for the math class from last semester. I'm more worried about the calculus one because I have not had calc since fall of 2007. Proofs should be kinda like linear in the fact that I had to do proofs in linear so I'm feeling better about that one. Plus I absolutely rocked a logic problem in class. I'll let you guys try it for fun.

The five Dukes of Earl are scheduled to arrive at the royal palace on each of the first five days of May. Duke One is scheduled to arrive on the first day of May, Duke Two on the 2nd, etc. Each Duke, upon arrival, can either kill the king or support the king. If he kills the King, he takes the king's place, becomes the new king, and awaits the next Duke's arrival. If he supports the King, all subsequent Dukes cancel their visits. A Duke's first priority is to remain alive, and his second priority is to become king. Who is king on May 6th?

Post your answers in the comments section and I will let you know the answer after some time has elapsed. Maybe next week.

So that's how this semester will be shaping up. It's only twelve credits but I will be plenty busy with those three classes.

Ever getting older; ever getting closer
Kit

To Do List
1. Graduate
2. Get Good Grades

Your Reward:

The Greatest of All Terms

As I mentioned last time, I am currently enjoying J-term. It is the best term ever created. For those of you who don't know (though really I'm pretty sure all who read this know what it is given that most of you are either family, or friends from PLU) J-term, Jan-term, is short for January Term and it is a one month term where you take one class basically. The classes are usually three hours long unless it is a PE then its only and hour or so. Oh yeah, and they're four days a week. Three day weekends every weekend.

If you were able to avoid the spoiler from last time and you aren't aware I am taking bowling this J-term and nothing but. It is the greatest class ever. All I do is show up and bowl three games everyday and then I'm done. The class is an A/Pass/Fail and the way you get an A is to bowl a single game of 200 or more or average 140 or above. I'm not close to the average yet last I was informed I am averaging 128 but I am improving. In fact this past Friday I bowled a 182. Which is my best yet with five, count 'em five, strikes in a row (it's like a turkey... but on steroids). So that should give me a better chance to get that 140 average and if I can replicate that game but only a little better I'll get a 200. No problem right? right?

So other than going to class I have been working at the gym and working out. I need to stay active now that I'm not playing soccer everyday of my life so that way I don't get fat. I know someone who won't be very happy about that. And I play FIFA 11 all the time. I'm working through a career mode as a goalkeeper (because that's what I was) and I am now with Schalke if anyone cares. Though maybe I should be doing something more productive like studying for the GRE or preparing my capstone question or at least looking for a GRE prep course. Meh I figure now's the time to enjoy life because next semester is going to be metaphorical Hell.

Oh yeah and this month marked another change. My house is full again. Two new housemates moved in and it has been a blast so far. I love hanging out with the guys in the afternoons after class and ranting about sports and bandwagon fans. It has been a lot of fun and it has really improved the house (and they clean up after themselves which is a bonus). All in all life is pretty good. Just doing what I can to have a good time and enjoy my last J-Term.

UPDATE: I bowled a 200 on the second to last day of class!

Ever getting older; ever getting closer,
Kit

To Do List:
1. Bowl 200 or average 140

Your reward:

Another One Bites the Dust

Another semester has come and gone and I am still alive. I know it ended a while ago but I got busy with the holidays and needed a break from writing since I had to do a bit of that near the end of semester for not fun reasons, like getting a good grade and finals. So lets recap what has happened since last time.

I got a new follower with the last post. I am now up to 4, not that I'm keeping count but I know you guys are interested in that sort of thing. Once I get enough I will have to come up for a name for you guys. Mark Titus already has the Trillion Man March so that is off the table. I am open for suggestion in preparation for when I have a respectable following. (That sounds cult-ish).

Finals happened. I had three finals. Two were on Monday, my hardest and most important ones of course. They were Labor Economics and Linear Algebra. One would think that it would be better to have finals on Monday because then you can study all weekend, but what really happens is on Friday you say, "I don't need to study today because I have all weekend to do it" and then on Saturday you say, "I have sunday and I can spend half the day on one and the other half on the other" and finally on Sunday you say "Shit, I should have studied." That happens every time... guaranteed... to everyone. They went well. And then on Wednesday I had my Public Policy final. Two weeks before I had turned in a research paper on unemployment (kinda a double dipper for this and my labor class). I had the option to write a longer paper and skip the final but I opted for the final. It turns out this wasn't a popular option and after taking the test I'm wondering if I should have taken it anyways. The final was the most BS final I have ever taken in my college career. This class is about public policy and what makes good public policy and how to make it. Instead, the test was about knowing facts like "According to CDC how many Americans are diagnosed with a sexually transmitted infection?" Worst class ever. I did well on the short answer portion though. It was actually applicable to what little we had learned.

Then I had to wait for my grades, and wait, and wait and wait, and now you're getting the idea. I ended up doing well actually. I got a P in linear which is what I was hoping for and I am not even curious to what I would have gotten without the Pass/Fail (because I know it would've killed my precious GPA). Then I got an -A in Labor and a B+ in Policy. Which all averages out to a 3.5, which would be good enough for Dean's list but alas I Pass/Failed Linear. It brings up my GPA to 3.41 now. Small improvement but improvement nonetheless.

Now all I have left is J-Term, which I will write about later (Spoiler Alert: bowling) and another semester. Seven down... One to go.

Ever getting older,
Kit

To Do List:
1. enjoy J-term

Your Reward:

Q: How many economists does it take to change a light bulb?




A: One to hold it and then the world revolves around him.

Hopping Back on the Horse

Wow! I don't even remember the last time I posted something. Well as you can imagine a lot has happened since I last posted something on August 4th 2010. I believe that last time I wrote I was telling you all about how I was trying to prepare to take the GRE and how I had immediate plans to do so before soccer started. Well that did not happen and has not happened yet. But hear me out first:

Soccer started about a week an a half after I last posted and I had practice three times a day and then school started along with soccer (only once a day now) and I just ran out of time to keep all of my dedicated readers (I'm up to 3 now I see) up to date with all of my grad school preparations.

First order of business. I am no longer going to grad school next year as was the plan when I started this blog, but don't worry your pretty little heads, I am still going. I just want to take a year off before I go so I can be even more prepared. I figured that I could use a little more work preparing to take the GRE and take a course so I can score really high like grad schools like. I also wanted to be sure that I could show off all of my coursework to my potential future schools. Courses like, capstone, linear algebra, and other things because I wouldn't have these on my transcripts due to the fact that most applications are due in December and January. Plus, I know I am looking like a huge softy here but, my girlfriend is a year behind me and I didn't want to leave her behind. Add all those factors together and it equals... putting off grad school.

Now lets look at what I am currently doing to make myself more attractive, schoolwise not looks because I already have that on lockdown. As I mentioned before I am taking linear algebra this year. It is hard. I am not a math major, I am an econ major, nor is this class required for econ majors, unless, like me, they have a goal of going to grad school then the grad schools highly recommend that you take it. People think I am crazy when I tell them this and for a while I thought I was too since I was not doing well in the class. I got a D on my first test which is not usually what I receive on tests so I got a little worried. I met with my professor and it turns out that I am at an even bigger disadvantage than I had thought because I hadn't taken any of the pre-reqs for the course and I shouldn't even be in the class (the only other math class I have taken at the collegiate level is calc 2). I stuck with it though and was able to make some of the missed points back on my test (yay grade inflation! (this was offered to everyone not just me)) and now it looks like I will pass the class and earn a P since I decided it was in my best interest to pass/fail the class.

Soccer has ended and I have more time now to keep everyone who may be out there updated with my quest to get into grad school. So I will be posting more frequently now than I have been. It's good to be back.

Ever getting older,
Kit

To Do List:
1. pass my classes

Your Reward:

August

So it is now the 4th day of August which is not a good thing in my opinion. For several reasons actually. There is one good thing though. It means I go to change the calendar to August on my sweet American Economics Association calendar and this month is Milton Friedman (I know I'm a dork but what can I say I like econ). Though he is not my favorite economist it is still fun to see who it is going to be every month. Maybe he is just another sign of the unfortunate change from July to August.

I feel like after the last time I wrote about having a slow week I was able to make up for it and the next week and catch back up and was actually starting to feel comfortable with where I was in this process. Last week was another slow week for me (I was working in both the morning and the evenings again for two different jobs) but unlike last time I did, this I have yet to bounce back.

I had hinted at it at the end of my last post on the "To Do List" that I had wanted to take the GRE... before August 1st. But I had waited too long to register for the test and all of the dates before the change of the month were filled. That was my goal because beginning August 1st the GRE changed its format and the type of questions that would be on the test, which according to the GRE this is a good thing. I am not so sure however because I have been studying on my sister's old GRE book from 2004 and the test hasn't changed up until now. Also when I had been describing the test in my last post my sister made aware to me more information on the new version of the test. Now thanks to my sister I am having more doubts about my abilities. Now I really wish I could have done the test before the 1st.

I also wanted to be able to take it multiple times before finally getting a good score if I needed to because I can only take the test once per month. I wanted to take it in July and then again in August if I needed to so that way I could have my scores reported to schools by the proper time. Now I need to hope that they will get there in time if I take the test in September.

August also means that I and getting closer to soccer season. Now don't get me wrong; I love soccer and I am greatly looking forward to soccer season (just not the fitness test), it just means that I won't have as much time to devote to grad school stuff. Two weeks from today I will be at training camp and doing mainly soccer things and won't have time to study, time to research schools, or time to write about that stuff. And once soccer season starts up it means that school is practically here and then I will have soccer and school as my top two priorities and then trying to find a way to fit in the stuff I need to do to get ready for grad school stuffs. I may need to take some "sick" days from classes this semester. And we all know that start of school also means the end of summer.

Maybe Slate is right and we should just do away with August.

Going strong since 1988
Kit

To Do List:

1. Schedule test
2. Take test
3. Look up Schools
4. Write a blog

Your reward:

The Test

So I figured that I should inform you, my readers (the few of you that I have... I think I can count on one hand how many there are), more about the test. Since I didn't know much about the test before I started this endeavor, grad school not the blog, I figured that you all might not know much yourselves... unless some of you out there are following in my footsteps and doing something very similar. Anywho... the test:

So I am going out on a limb here and assuming that most of you who read this have taken the SAT or at least know about it, and the GRE is similar. In fact, it is made by the same people who made the SAT that you take to get into college. Unlike the SAT though, the test is on the computer and not in a paper booklet. Everything is on a computer screen, the questions, the answers, the "answer sheet"... everything. You are allowed scratch paper to make notes on and do calculations on but other than that there is no tangible test.

The test is like the SAT in that there are three parts. There is the Verbal section which has vocabulary questions in the form analogies, antonyms, fill in the blanks, and reading comprehension questions. There is also a math section, which as mentioned before, the ETS prefers to call it the Quantitative Reasoning section. This section has two types of questions: calculation questions and "quantitative comparison" questions. The first type is a straight forward math question where you calculate and choose the right answer. The second type asks you to tell the test which column contains the bigger number. Oh yeah... no calculators either. The part that I have yet to mention is the Analytical Writing section in which you have 75 minutes to write two essays.

Since the test is on a computer, it starts calculating your score from the very beginning. Within the first ten questions in both sections the computer has already pretty much calculated your score. You get a question right you get "rewarded" with a harder question to see how hard a question you can handle and the harder the questions you can answer correctly the higher your score is. Therefore it is more important to do better in the beginning of the section than near the end.

That's the test in a nutshell. The testing center website said that I should set aside four hours for the test so it will take a while to do. It will be an intense day of testing.

Going strong since 1988
Kit

To Do List:

1. Schedule test date
2. Practice
3. Research schools
4. Write more blog posts

And now your Reward:

Slow and Steady Wins the Race?

So here I am a week later with no real work to show for it. Last week I was working in the mornings at my normal job, the fitness center, and I always feel guilty doing personal stuff when I am supposed to be working. So last week I got very little studying done. On Friday however I was able to study at work since I worked the closing shift, (the best time to do anything but work) and was able to study some more for the GRE. I got stuff done and then while I was waiting for my wonderful girlfriend to cook me dinner I did some more studying and finished off all the the Princeton Review had to teach me about how to do well on math.

That was all the progress I made last week which was not all I had wanted to accomplish. I had wanted to call where I am planning to take the test but I did not get around to it. I don't like phones and am hesitant to call. I also wanted to practice more from the book on the sample problems included. I was able to do some of that today while working (closing shift again) after I had worked on upping the computer's Freecelll win percentage(I got it back up to 49%. some one has been draggin me down). I got through the easy, medium and some of the hard practice in between spotting people and helping them get stronger.

I breezed through the easy problems and only had one hiccup while doing the medium problems from not reading closely enough. Then I got to the hard ones. I dunno if I was really that bad at them or if I was distracted and tired of doing math but I struggled more than I would have liked. I guess I know what I need to practice: factoring. It was rough.

Fortunately when I was poking around the internets looking for more practice materials I found a free program to download from the ETS which is supposed to help me practice sort of the same way the book does... I think. It will at least have more practice questions to go over. I have downloaded the program but it is yet to be installed. Now I just need to get on that. You know what they say:... Practice makes permanent.

Going strong since 1988
Kit

To Do List

1. Call the Test Center
2. Practice Math + Verbal
3. Research School
4. Write a blog post about all of that

NEW FEATURE:
I am adding a new feature to reward all of you who are reading this since I know it can be boring reading the same thing over and over again (more practice yay!). So as a reward for wading through my slow progress I am going to include a video related to econ some how that I find funny. I hope you will too. Without further ado, your reward: