======= Date Modified 02 Sep 2008 00:23:06 =======
======= Date Modified 02 Sep 2008 00:20:17 =======
puccagrannie!

we all are biased against one thing or another. From your post it seems things have been rough for you. It is very natural to be less optimistic in such situations, and when we are less optimistic, we have less energy and in that state we find it easier to see what is wrong with others.

I am sure there are biased people everywhere, biased because of skin color, biased because of religion, biased because of status, biased because of personal attractiveness, biased because of superior cognitive abilities etc etc etc

but trust me there are more nice people than biased.

I am studying in mid-west US, which can be sterotyped as a conservative place. I am a foreign student. when I landed on chicago airport the immigration officer was EXTREMELY rude to me, then another officer passed a very condescening remark at the security line, i couldnt figure out was it because i am a woman, or because i am an Asian woman....

anyway i did not pay much attention to these two indivduals, though for a moment i felt really angry but then i said no it is just my first day in US, i have to give this place a better chance, i will not base my impression on those two individuals' attitude. and then there were at least three airport officials who showed extremely courteous behavior towards me on the same day.

so lot of time people are not biased because they have certain race, religion or gender, they are just being human beings with average judgment and sense.

my point is that focus on people who are nice and generous, and more often you will see they outweigh the other kind. and also those people who come across as racist, or biased to you, are actually with that way with everyone for one reason or another, they just have attitude issues, so do not take their attitude personally.

CHEER UP :)

H...dont worry....i will send you one right away

in this post, were you asking for an advice as what to do? or were just confirming your impressions
lot of people are telling you to stay away from this mess...but reading your post it seems you just wanted confirmation of your impressions

i hope you do not have plans to explore things further, probably you are misreading e thing, and in any case you will end up harming your career badly

and now you can edit posts and see word count......

Adam you have five stars...and by the use of word "we" are you one of those who have the super control in assigning stars ;)

this star business has made this forum so much fun...we all want stars....stars stars :-x

wao this obsession with stars...:) from now on we shld refer to each other no star, Mr Five star and so on...and look at Andy....five star

stars stars stars i see stars every where

:p my google chat is not working for some reason....is it useless enough info???? :p

well GRE you will have to take, my advice go ahead and also take Toefl just to be on safer side

Most U.S universities require Toefl. Some also except IELTS. Gre is generally a requirement for PhD programs. It is best to look into the requirements of the universities you are interested in.

======= Date Modified 24 Aug 2008 21:27:22 =======
my univ is 40 miles away from the place i live. but i go to my office every day (our univ provides office space for PhD students, which is generally shared by two to three students). As I am in a U.S univ, and it is a business school, so networking and visibility become very important. Also, despite my long commute (with rising gas prices), i go to univ because i like to have another place to belong to besides my home. If i did not want regular contact with univ, I should have opted for online PhD. Also, going to univ helps you discipline yourself, like getting up in the morning, dressing up, etc etc, and helps you draw a psychological line between what is home (place to relax) and what is univ (place to focus on work). Moreover, in context of networking, i can drop anytime in the office of my colleague or faculty and ask for help if I am stuck somewhere, likewise I can be available to help others. I cannot imagine isolating myself by staying at home, I need human contact which is beyond family faces (though they are the best) :-)

======= Date Modified 24 Aug 2008 20:55:01 =======
homesickness, it is very funny, when i was in my country and had to live in a hostel of university in the same city my home was in (bcz of extended hours of my torturous MBA program) in the first month i felt terribly homesick. and now i am thousands of mile away from my home in a different country, and culture, and i dont feel homesick (though i have to confess i am staying with my sis family).
i dont agree that homesickness has anything to do with being away from your home or family or country. it more so stems from feeling alienated. you can feel alienated in your own hometown (like my MBA program example, because it was so brutally competitive, that it took me a long time to feel at home there, start feeling secure, and make friends) and love a place which is thousands of miles away from your so called roots. any place that makes you feel welcome, offers you friendship and security and identity (professional or whatever) is a home :-x

we are supposed to work weekends, havent done it in some while though
i am a fan of green tea.... i am freak about dental hygiene, and green tea is so much better health wise....

it is good to know this, cz i was beginning to think, i am going to be doomed, cz i can only work in random chunks, it wasnt this way when i was working, i was pretty much workaholic...but with PhD it is v unpredictable

good advice, will be hanndy for me in couple of years