Posted by alexandra_k on November 5, 2018, at 21:32:48
In reply to Re: The Witch King of Angmar » alexandra_k, posted by beckett2 on November 5, 2018, at 21:10:39
> I didn't realize you turned your thesis in.
Yes, I did. Not PhD. MPhil. It is a one year degree, by points value, but they try and drag it out for one and a half years... Actually they just try and drag all the degrees out for as long as humanly possible... Actually, uh, they didn't let me get started until May and I was clear about needing to be able to say it had been accepted by December 7 and they said it was standard to take 3 months to grade it... So... I got it in on time, but everyone was in a state of denial about how I did it in, uh, less than 6 months... Lol. I really can haul *ss when required.
> My fingers are crossed for you!Thank you. My fingers are crossed for me, too. It is pass or fail -- no grade. Actually... There are different varieties of 'revise and resubmit' or 'make minor changes and resubmit' that they could do... I am hoping they will 'accept with minor changes' and then I'll be able to make those changes, record the change as having been made, and get the thing submitted in hard copy ASAP for final acceptance by December 7. Fingers crossed. Othewise... They've managed to delay me for (yet another) year...
> Education is waaaay to expensive here. Just saying, even though I just told you to bugger off the critics :P
Education is waaaaay to expensive everywhere. It is a hard thing. Our degree is the cheapest degree (once you've done your currency conversion) in the English Speaking World -- so I don't suppose I have any right to compare how well our degrees prepare us for graduate study overseas. I suppose it is only fair that people who work hard enough to get into / pay more fees to get into certain elite institutions have a higher quality education because of it...
I mean... You do want to reward people for choosing to invest in better education... And for working harder to get to go to certain institutions for better education... Genuinely. I do believe that. But it is hard when people who would choose to do that with money (if only they had money) or who would work hard to earn it with their time (if only they had access to the work they were supposed to be getting on with in their time)...
Anyway... I do see elements of justice / fairness.
I appreciate that the match is (in theory anyway) to work out for the benefit of more of the students. That is nice. That the students welfare is primary and maximising that for more students.
There is also the UK system... Which doesn't seem to have as much in the way of courses and so on to help you prepare... But the flip side of that is that studying for it doesn't have as much to teach you. If that makes sense.
The STEP thing actually looks pretty good, to me. It looks like nearly everyone purchases first aid and world bank questions. Then you have whatever reccommended texts seem to help you (individual variation). Then you have... Well... There are live-in courses for people who don't work well without people standing over them with whips (I jest). There are articles about how you don't seem to get what you pay for beyond the first couple standard things... So... It's up to you. I feel... Informed. Like it is worth investing in having a standardised curriculum. I mean, without it... You are left with whatever your institution provides. And the quality of that will vary. We simply don't have expertise in certain areas so all our students will be left straggling up that part of the curriculum themselves. I'm sure that doesn't happen to students in Ivy League Schools.. But then, that's what they pay for / have earned with eaerning their scholarships to go to that school. It looks like IMG's get around 25% of the places. They compete with each other rather than against US students. We can't compare because our school curriculums don't provide us with comparable teaching / instruction. In Auckland... Accommodation will be a very real struggle for most of our students. THey don't get school breakfasts or lunches or dinners after first year. They have to fend for themselves. That takes time... And typically forced into sharing with others and so now problems (and time) for household chores while they are studying.
> Sorry about the gym situation btw. Gym's can have an odd vibe. Uptight? But I'm not a gym person, so much for my judgement then.
Thanks. Uptight... Maybe. There is a concern about things being unruly, sometimes. And a concern, I guess, that if some kids see me dump the weights controlled they will dump the weights loudly for the attention and things will escalate so people are throwing things around... And that might be a very real possibility. It just means that I can't do my thing in public. Yeah. And yeah, I guess that's just the way that that is.
A barbell probably won't be on the cards for a while... I'll have to get more into body weight stuff.
I'm hoping that I can transfer to stay here because I have a quiet house here. I don't know where I'd end up / what I'd end up in if I have to move... On the other hand... I suppose I could end up better off with the move. I know some people there, but less... MOre international there... But also more Maaori... Not sure that will be good for me... They do not understand their informed consents. That makes it hard to practice medicine internationally in developed nations...
poster:alexandra_k
thread:1101625
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/poli/20180816/msgs/1101839.html