I Am. When? - Main

Thanksgiving

nospam@example.com (Andrew Maxim) — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 08:30:00 -0800

Compared to the other nations of the Earth, the United States of America is a young and inexperienced country; while the land has seen its fair share of much older nations rise up on its soil, the country itself is still in its youth. Despite our young age, this is a great nation full of know-how, ingenuity and purpose.

Throughout the history of this nation there are two phrases, historical quotes if you will, that exemplify this drive, determination, and ability to overcome obstacles. The first occurred on July 20, 1969 at 4:18pm EDT when Neil Armstrong announced to the world, "The Eagle has landed." The second occurring each and every Thanksgiving morning as a country proudly declares, "The Turkey is in the oven."

Happy Thanksgiving.

Calendar ver 2.1.4

nospam@example.com (Andrew Maxim) — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 10:03:30 -0700

I have posted an updated version of the Proverbs PHP Web Event Calendar which is available for download from the Proverbs Calendar link in the menu bar. This update includes a few minor changes, most notably forcing IE7 or IE8 in Compatibility View to use the non-css calendar displays (because IE7 is horrid with CSS).

The update also includes a Polish language file provided by Matthew (Thank you for the file Matthew).

Getting Into Graduate School - Part III

nospam@example.com (Andrew Maxim) — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 13:55:00 -0800

Maximizing Your Bachelor Degree

This last, and long overdue, part on getting into a good graduate level program covers the seldom mentioned criteria that many (most? all?) schools use when selecting candidates for entry: the value of your bachelor degree. The obvious side of this would be knowing that some schools are considered better than others, but that knowledge doesn't do you much good unless you plan on transferring to one of those "better" schools. Instead, we will focus on the courses that make up your degree.

Take a minute and dig out the requirements to earn your degree at your current school. It should consist of a bunch of required courses, a few courses you can pick and choose from, and "other" courses. These other courses could be anything from courses to meet the minimum credit requirements, to liberal art courses (such as needing 3 communications credits that could come from a variety of places), to specialized focus courses for your given degree. Hold onto that list. Open a new web browser and go to the undergraduate program for your major at one of the colleges on your graduate school list. For instance, if you are currently attending Brown with a major in Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon is probably on your list of graduate schools, so head over to the CMU Computer Science undergraduate website.

Once you have found your way to the undergraduate program website, see if you can find the degree requirements for your chosen major. Every college website I have been on has those requirements posted someplace, usually as a PDF file. Found it? Now compare the degree requirements from your current school to those of that prospective school. More than likely, unless they are both state universities within the same state, you will see several differences between the degree requirements. Your school might require one semester of Chemistry, while the other school requires two; or maybe your school allows you to choose between three advanced programming topics such as Compiler Design, Database Management Systems, and Operating Systems, while the other school requires Operating Systems. These differences are actually pretty damn important in the aspect of graduate school acceptance.

One of the things selection committees ask themselves when they are selecting candidates is the simple question, "Would our school have conferred a bachelor degree to this candidate?" It is a very simple question that equates to whether or not you meet the course requirement for their undergraduate program, and if not, how far off are you. Basically, the reason for this course requirement evaluation is that if you are "not ready" to be conferred a degree from their undergraduate program, how could you be ready for their graduate program? How can you jump into a Microwave Engineering class at the graduate level, when you haven't even taken a Signal Theory course at the undergraduate level?

Hopefully you have guessed by now that this is the last area where you can improve your odds of being accepted into the graduate school of your choice. It will take a little work on your part, but that acceptance letter and accompanying fellowship is worth the couple hours that it will take you to start comparing all of the graduate schools on your list to your current degree requirements. A spreadsheet program is good for this, find the undergraduate degree requirements for your major from each of the graduate schools on your list and start recording the absolutely required courses and the ones you have several choices from. Compare each of these schools to your current degree requirements: where there is overlap you are good, where there are differences you need to do some work.

This is where your optional courses come in handy. Using one of the above examples, if your school says you need at least one course from the following: Compiler Design, Database Management Systems, and Operating Systems; and several of the schools on your list all require Operating Systems; the choice should be clear as to which course you will be taking. There will likely be a few courses from other schools that don't directly correspond by name to a course at your current school, but more than likely there really is a course that is the same. Start by reading the course description and see if you can find a match by description. Additionally, many schools have online credit transfer evaluators. These transfer evaluators can be priceless in matching up Course A from your school to Course B at another school.

When you are finished you might be able to use the spreadsheet you put together to rule out a school or two from your graduate school list. Any school that doesn't even come close to a match to your current school (and the others) should probably get struck off your list. Some schools are designed for themselves and, while they may admit you, are going to require you to take a bunch of undergraduate level courses before letting you work on your graduate degree. Avoid that problem and just strike those schools from your list.

Your ultimate goal is to wind up with an undergraduate course list that not only meets your bachelor degree program requirements but also meets or exceeds the degree requirements from all the graduate schools on your list. Meeting those degree requirements will go a long way towards getting into those graduate schools, or at the very least, not being rejected out of hand. It also shows foresight on your part, as well as a desire to learn and succeed, and that is what graduate school is all about. Good luck.

Norwegian Language Pack

nospam@example.com (Andrew Maxim) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 15:54:40 -0700

I just received an email from Asbjorn Aamot of www.aa-mot.net that contained a new language pack file for the Proverbs Web Event Calendar. Asbjorn was kind enough to translate the language files to Norwegian (Norsk).

The calendar has been updated with the new language pack file and is ready for download. Many thanks to Asbjorn for taking the time to create the new translation file.

Calendar ver 2.1.2

nospam@example.com (Andrew Maxim) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 08:53:44 -0700

A quick note to let you all know that I have uploaded an updated version of the Proverbs PHP Web Event Calendar. The only change between 2.1.1 and 2.1.2 is the replacement of the Dutch and German language files to, hopefully, much better versions.

A big thanks to Jesse Wilson for the updated Dutch language pack file and Wolfram Schulz-Zander for the updated German language pack file. Of course every entry could very well say "Eat at Joe's Fish and Chips" and I would never know. But we'll trust that they have created better translations than previously provided through whatever online service I used way back when.

Enjoy.

Getting Into Graduate School - Part II

nospam@example.com (Andrew Maxim) — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 11:11:00 -0700

Improving The Odds

Continuing on from where Part I left off, we should have narrowed our list of potential graduate schools down to a reasonable size. A list of about ten schools would be ideal; not that you will be applying to all ten, but because we will be whittling that number down a bit during the next part of this series.

There are several things admissions boards look at when approving or denying applicants. Most criteria should be pretty obvious such as grade point average, GRE/GMAT scores, letters of recommendation, and essays. I can't offer any help on your GPA, it is either good enough or it is not. Likewise, you are on our own for the essay portion of any application, although I will point out that there is no such thing as an "optional essay" for grad school admissions. The other two common criteria I can offer a little advice on.

First, your GRE or GMAT scores. These are pretty standard tests covering math skills, verbal skills (definitions), and writing skills. You are on your own for the verbal section, as either you have a strong vocabulary or you do not. The other two sections I can offer advice on. The math and writing (quantitative and analytical) sections of the test are based on courses you should have taken by the end of your freshman year; the end of your sophomore year at the latest. The topics are Precalculus Algebra and English Composition. Remember those? The sooner you take the GRE or GMAT after finishing those (types) of courses the fresher it will be in your head and, hopefully, the better you will do on the test.

I tend to recommend taking these types of tests sometime between the beginning of your sophomore year and the end of the first semester of your junior year in college. Everything is still fresh in your head and if you mess up, it gives you plenty of time to brush up on a topic and retake the test. GRE and GMAT scores stay on record for five years, although many graduate schools require tests to be taken within two or three years of your application date. Given that you will be applying to a graduate program sometime in the first semester of your senior year, tests taken during your sophomore year should still be valid for almost all schools.

Moving onto letters of recommendation. This is an area where you can greatly hedge your bets for graduate school admissions, assuming you aren't in your senior year of college already. You will generally need two or three letters of recommendation from either your professors or employers. Unless your employer is a college professor or is world-renowned in the field you are intending to study, you should stick with letters of recommendation from your professors. They carry much more weight, assuming the professor actually knows who you are and is willing to write you a good letter of recommendation.

Of course, not all professors carry the same weight in a given field, so here are some guidelines for what you should be looking for in a letter writer. Your academic advisor should be the first name on your list of references. Ideally, the other two professors will teach upper level courses in your chosen field of study, preferably they will teach graduate level courses in that same field as well. Research professors, who are not too busy, are a great reference. The professors who other students say are "too tough" or "grade harshly" are great candidates as well. Alumni from a school you are applying to is a bonus. If you are lucky enough, Nobel Laureates are the best choice possible.

The simple thing to do is pick out three professors at your college who meet as much of this criteria as possible and enroll in their courses. Enroll in as many of their courses as you can, even if it means taking a class at 7:00am instead of 1:00pm. Make sure you stand out in these classes by asking intelligent questions, offering answers, getting good grades in the class, and going to the professor during his/her office hours for help or advice (even if you do not need it). Tell your professors about your plans for graduate schools and get their advice. If he/she is a research professor, ask him/her if you can volunteer to help with his/her research. These things will help ensure the professor knows who you are and, more importantly, wants to write you a good letter of recommendation for graduate school.

Next up I will cover those things that admissions boards look at that are not so obvious. Until then go take your GRE exam and start endearing yourself to some of your professors.