Prelim Exam Results

Adriana,

You failed all 3 subjects. I am sorry that you did not pass the WPE.

The faculty have allowed you a 3rd try in Nov.

My best wishes.
KP

---

Hmm, maybe I shouldn't try again. I suppose I can't possibly do any worse than this. At least last time I got two questions right. *sigh*

"How not to get a PhD"

Article Link

Action summary

Be aware of the seven ways of not getting a PhD:
· not wanting a PhD; · overestimating what is required; · underestimating what is required; · having a supervisor who does not know what is required; · losing contact with your supervisor; · not having a 'thesis' (i.e. position, argument) to maintain; · taking a new job before completing.

Work to understand the implications of these traps fully in your own situation and determine not to succumb to them.

Re-establish your determination regularly when blandishments to stray from your programme of work recur.

Home Stretch

Eight weeks.

There are only eight weeks left of my academic career.

Yeah sure, I could miraculously pass the Ph.D. Qualifying exam on the second try with no preparation, but I doubt it will happen. Even if it does, who says I'll even complete a Ph.D. A masters is good enough for me at this point in my life. Maybe I'll go back to school when I decide to have children.

Anywho, we're coming to the end of spring break as I type this. Over spring break, I:

- Attended a LAN party
- Worked a ten hour day, an eight hour day, and a four hour day
- Went to the oxygen bar at the Mall of America
- Completely failed to get any homework done
- Went to Duluth and sampled delicacies such as a BrewHouse Elk Burger, Sammy's House Special, and Italian Village cannolis and lasagna
- Helped my mom construct emails to the funeral parlors in Mount Pleasant and Burlington that also make monuments
- Drove back to Minneapolis and promptly went to Dave's house and watched Twilight New Moon Rifftrax
- Slept several hours past my alarm(s)

I suppose it's been a good spring break. I wish it would last longer. In eight weeks, I will be a fully-fledged MASTER OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING. I haven't heard back from the graduate office... so hopefully I can get this sorted out soon. Hopefully, I will be able to continue to handle 20 hours of work a week, on top of 12 credits of graduate classes. With the added stress and grief of my father's passing, I may have to drop a class and finish in the summer. I think I can manage.

Cross your fingers for me.

The weeks of work and school

*pant pant* It's not February yet! I can still make two posts in January. *cough*

*wheeze*

Anywho, about three weeks ago, I started my new job. For the last three weeks, I've been reading through quality assurance documents, documents describing the design process, documents describing the technology that goes into the machines created at my work... you name it, I've read it. It's been fairly boring, but I've gotten the chance to talk to quite a few people at work and shake some hands and learn some very interesting technologies. Now that school has started, I'm going to be working about 20 hours a week. With 20 hours a week, I'm able to enroll in benefits and start accumulating vacation time. Also, it means that I can actually start working on real projects!!! I'm excited. However, I'm also a bit disappointed as it seems I will only be working on software for the upcoming project as the hardware has already been designed.

I'm finally in my last semester of school (at least for the time being). I'm taking 11 grueling credits... just enough to finish up my master's degree. I even filled out the graduation forms and had them signed by the Dean of Graduate Studies. He kept asking me why I was only doing a master's degree and not a Ph.D. as I had initially intended. Apparently he remembered me from a presentation I gave in his lab group regarding my research my first semester as a grad student. He asked me why I hadn't come to talk to him sooner... he told me that he could have found me a TA position and possibly a new adviser. He sighed as he signed my forms. He told me that if I passed the qualifying exam, I could take one class a semester to keep my graduate student status and he'd help me find an adviser to do a thesis. I told him I'd think about it, even though I know I don't have time to properly study for the qualifying exam. So it goes.

Last semester is going well so far. My classes seem relatively easy... we'll see if I say the same thing when I have time to make another post in 3 weeks. Heh. Well, back to homework, I guess.

The feeling is mutual, but it still hurts.

I regret to say that I'm not willing to supervise you any more on
research projects.

Decisions, Decisions.

I need to decide what I'm doing for next fall. I received a renewal of my BICB traineeship, but am not going to be working with my "current" adviser next fall, so I let it expire. This means I'm crossing my fingers, toes, and hair for a TA position, although I was told it was "highly unlikely" that I'd receive one.

My options:
1. Get a TA position and continue school in the fall
-Decide whether to do a Ph.D. or a masters
2. Take out loans and push hard to finish a masters
3. Get a "real" job
4. Get an internship and work on a masters

In any case, it doesn't look like I'll be getting a Ph.D. unless I can find another adviser at the U that is willing to fund me. *sigh*

I need to go meet with a department adviser to give them my options. Maybe they can provide some real advice, or at least change my enrolled program to Master's. Otherwise, I am going to need to take the Ph.D. qualifying written exams (I posted about this previously).

Gotta get this figured out soon, it's already the end of July.

Summer's already half way over (or there abouts)

I can't believe it is already the middle of July. Where has my summer gone? My summer has gone to video games, working, and late nights with Moose. As he and I sat and talked about what was going on for the rest of the summer, we realized that the remainder of our weekends were booked... and there weren't very many of them.

July 18-19 : Duluth (possibly)
July 25-26 : Alexandria and Indiana
August 1-2 : ??
August 8-9 : AWOL LAN
August 15-16 : Dad's birthday, possible trip for Moose
August 22-23 : Tara's birthday, CALIFORNIA TRIP
August 29-30 : ??
September 5-6 : Gettin' ready for school
School starts: September 8th

This is, of course, assuming I am even going to school in the fall. Speaking of which, I need to figure that out. I received funding through BICB again, but that would mean I would have to work with my ex/current adviser. It seems he does not wish to work with me, and I am not exactly thrilled about possibly working with him again. Sometime next week, I need to speak to an adviser in the department about if I could finish a masters degree next school year. At least that way, I could have something to show for this year. I'll keep the internet posted.

In other news, I'm currently being tested for every ailment under the sun involving an upset stomach and dizziness. This includes intestinal parasites, anemia, and celiac disease. The general feeling right now is that I have some sort of gluten allergy. I'm not so sure anymore, but hopefully they discover something that can be treated. I'm tired of feeling sick to my stomach and like I can't string four words together to save my life. I *do* get to poop in a tube and bring it to the hospital :-p. Oh so looking forward to that.

Back to work, gotta make the moneyz.

Woe is June

A lot has happened since my last May-dated blog post.

1) I got a job! YAY! I will be working at Stratasys in Eden Prairie for 40+ hours a week this summer. I hate having a full time job over the summer. It seems that most people I know only have part time jobs, which makes hanging out, etc rather difficult. I'll make it work.

2) I'm no longer on academic probation. I'm not sure if I posted anything about this previously, but I received an email from the electrical engineering department regarding removing my hold for registration.

3) Shortly after receiving the email about my registration hold, I got another email. Again from the electrical engineering department. This one was somewhat of a shock to me. "Please remove Prof. Riedel as Adriana's PhD adviser and put Prof. Parhi, Director of Graduate Studies in its place. Thank you." [edited for search-ability] WHAAAT? This was news to me. I had spoken to my adviser regarding what my plans were. I would have thought he would email me in regards to dropping me as a student... but apparently not. Now I must decide what I'm doing. I'm also probably no longer have funding for next year.

In addition to these lovely occurrences, I am going to visit my family in Duluth this weekend. I haven't been to Duluth since Spring Break... Almost 12 weeks. It'll be nice to go home, even though it will be brief. When I come back to Minneapolis, my lazy lifestyle will be over and I will be a working girl once more.

Nope.

You've been on a full RA; this means that you've been putting in 20 hours a week of research since September (so hundreds of hours of research). What have you done since mid-December? As far as I can tell, last week you wrote one generic paragraph (that I can't really decipher). Anything else? Have you assembled unimolecular/bimolecular versions of Brian's modules? Run simulations on any of our modules? Produced new filter designs (say an IIR with programmable coefficients)? Assembled filters with full module locking?

Nope.

(I think it's safe to say I won't be getting an RA position this summer.)

Grad School Thoughts (Part 5 of many)

It's been a while since I thoroughly complained about my situation. The beautiful Minnesota spring is doing little to alleviate the recent blow to my psyche. I failed take-home math exam I spent nearly 100 hours on. I mean F-A-I-L-E-D. Apparently there were several people in the class that achieved grades of 90s and 80s. I think there are about 10 people in the class.

I GOT A 58. Wooo!! I'm pretty sure that's the low score.

The prof went over it like this:
Class Participation: 10%
Homework: 30%
Midterm: 30%
Final: 30%
EXTRA CREDIT (which you will really have to work for): 10%

Of course, I've calculated it all out. Assuming I get A's in my other two graded classes this semester (I'm pretty sure I will), I need at least a B- in my math class in order to stay above the required 3.3GPA for the Ph.D. program here at the University of Minnesota. If I somehow went through all the paperwork to transfer into the masters program, I could scrape by with a C.

That's looking like my only option right now. As it is, grad school is just killing me. My sister tried to be nice to me today by telling me I'm just not used to the workload yet. That's bullshit. Undergrad classes have a great deal more workload than graduate classes, and I'm only taking 2 "real" classes. I think the material and the speed are just way above my head.

You know what I wish I was doing right now? Designing circuit boards. Writing microcontroller code.... writing reports on what components were chosen and how much the cost is going to be for 10,000 units. MY OLD JOB.

*sigh* I miss being an electrical engineer.

What I need to know to be officially in the Ph.D. program.

The year after obtaining a masters or the second year of a Ph.D. program, a prospective doctoral candidate has two chances to pass what is known as a "Preliminary Written Exam." With this exam, you are officially part of the Ph.D. program. Your basic knowledge of your field is expansive enough and detailed enough to be all doctory and shit.

I had kind of forgotten about this. Then I received an email about the last exam for this year. It included this link: PhD Written Preliminary Reading List. So I printed it off... The topics are:

• Computer architecture
• Magnetics
• Computer Aided Design
• Software
• Optics
• Fields and Transmission Lines
• Power Systems and Power Electronics
• Communications
• Signal Processing
• Controls
• Analog and Digital Electronics
• Semiconductor Materials
• Semiconductor Devices

So basically, EVERY CLASS I'VE EVER TAKEN IN THE EE DEPARTMENT IS RELEVANT AND COULD BE ON THE EXAM!!

So, you have 4 hours, 14 questions, department supplied scientific, non-graphing, non TI-89 calculators. Questions are graded by the faculty that wrote the question. You must turn in the answers for three questions. Four questions may be turned in as well (top three scores will be taken into account).
3 pass, 0 fail = pass
2 pass, 1 fail = careful scrutinizing, possible failure.
everything else = automatic failure

Two chances. November and April.

I think I know how my summer is going to be spent!! Reading my old textbooks and taking old exams. That, of course, is assuming I pass my classes this semester :-p. Scary shit, man.

Paper woes

Turns out neither of my papers from last semester were accepted.

If you are interested in reading the latest one, you can find it here.

Cheese on cheese with a side of cheese, please.

Here I sit. I'm eating crackers that I bought at the lunch cart downstairs. They are cheese crackers with cheese spread between them. Pretty tasty. Pretty bad for me. They are also very hard to eat quietly. *CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH*

If I would have bought food when I intended to, maybe I would have gotten a good salad or something. Unfortunately, I ran in to my adviser today. I would say this is the first time I've seen him in almost a month. He was wearing his usual leather jacket. The sleeves are slightly too long and he always hangs his arms at his side like they do not work. He looked tired. Hell, he always looks tired. He wants to meet with me. I said sure...

What am I going to say?! I need a brainstorming session. I need... ugh. I need sleep. And maybe more crackers.

In the mean time, I will continue to work on my math exam. I'm debating whether or not I should try to catch the professor in his office today. There is one question that is giving me particular difficulty... and I think everyone is having the same troubles. I'm going to be up all night. Maybe I'll actually go to Al's Breakfast in the morning. One things for sure, the meal I have there won't be as delectably cheesy as these crackers. Unless you can breed cheese and get eggs from it.

Ok, I'm done talking about crackers. I promise.

Thoughts on Gradschool (Part 4 of Many)

Events of late have made me ponder my existence as a graduate student at the University of Minnesota. In my opinion, I have been failing most splendidly at adopting the life of a grad student. Granted, the flooding in my office and other events in my life have not helped, but I can't use that as an excuse. I must be willing to devote myself entirely to my research. I must be willing to spend all day, every day, in my office, at my computer, working. Thinking about new ideas... developing new software... forgetting about friends and fun and food.

For the first month or so of this semester, I have rarely spent a full day in my office. A full day to me involves coming in during the morning, before a first class, and staying until at least dinner time. Last semester, I was in my office (not including class time) from approximately 9 or 10 am to 9 or 10 pm. Full day, me working... not necessarily enjoyable, but that was mostly because I'd forget to bring food.

I dunno. Is this a sign? Do I really not feel attached to my work? Do I even belong in graduate school? My classes frustrate me, my adviser pisses me off, my research is going nowhere... *sigh*

I apologize to blog readers for this rant.

I need to get my head on straight and decide what the fuck I am doing. And soon...

Thoughts on Grad School (Part 3 of Many)

*drum roll*

Introducing....

THE INVISIBLE ADVISER!

*symbol crash*

...ABLE TO ADVISE GRAD STUDENTS WITHOUT THEM EVER SETTING FOOT INSIDE HIS OFFICE!

*symbol crash*

...DROPPING DOUGLAS ADAMS REFERENCES WITHOUT BATTING AN EYE!

*begins kicking drums*

...CAPABLE ONLY OF COMMENTING ON FULL LaTeX DOCUMENTS WITH ENOUGH MERIT TO BE PUBLISHED!

*a foot goes through the bass drum*

...AGREEING TO GROUP MEETINGS ONLY WHEN AN ADVISEE HAS PROVEN TO HAVE IDEAS OF INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND IS WILLING TO PRESENT THEM!

*symbols crash to the floor*

...FAILING TO ADVISE. PERIOD!

"To paraphrase Douglas Adams, you are not merely "professional thinkers"; you are research assistants -- paid to
think, yes, but also to translate these thoughts into publishable pages of LaTeX."

Thoughts on Gradschool (Part 2 of Many)

It is currently 3pm CST. I just sat for HALF AN HOUR in the bowels of Walter library, waiting for my adviser to show up for our scheduled weekly meeting. No emails, no note, no phone call... Instead I plunked around on the internet in the weird reception area near his temporary office. Several weird looks were passed around and I eventually left, laptop in hand, head down.

I walked the stretch of half frozen pavement from Walter to the still-damaged EE/CSci building and made my way to the sixth floor. As soon as I sat at my computer, the professor that runs the lab in which I am temporarily stationed came in. He asked me about if I was going to switch advisers.

"If you were to assign a percentage to how likely you are going to switch advisers, what would it be?"

Probability. One of the many banes of my existence. Therefore, I feel I must make a pros and cons list, weight them accordingly, and come up with a real solid percentage estimate. After all, I am a scientist of sorts.

Unfortunately, I have several options. These include:

• Continue to be a part of my adviser's lab and get a Ph.D.
• Continue to be a part of my adviser's lab and get a Masters
• Switch to another lab and get a Ph.D.
• Switch to another lab and get a Masters
• Transfer to Penn State and get a Ph.D.
• Transfer to Penn State and get a Masters
  
• Transfer to Penn State after getting a Masters and get a Ph.D.

Damn.

Thoughts on Gradschool (Part 1 of Many)

I write this lab from the "top" floor of the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science building. I am sitting alone in a lab I first entered approximately an hour ago. I now have a key to this lab. In this lab, I have a desk, a chair, and a computer.

I am here for several reasons. The most obvious is the fact that my normal lab/office/room-where-I-spend-my-time is in SHAMBLES. Okay, that's a bit of an exaggeration... but the point is that I can no longer spend my time in said room. Why? Because sometime on Thursday night, a pipe burst in the penthouse (7th floor) of the EE/CSci building, sending tendrils of water through the North side of the building. Floors one through five experienced extensive damage. My office on the fourth floor has damage to the carpetting and walls. This damage is apparently minor compared to some of the damage experienced in other parts of the building. I would post pictures, but venturing in these areas requires an escort... and the escort certainly won't let me wander.

Funny part is, most of the damage is exclusive to the electrical engineering side of the building. This is exemplified by the following piece of evidence. On my escorted way to my office this morning, I walked past the EE and CSci department offices. These offices are neighbors. They say hi and exchange small talk on a regular basis. Walking past the CSci office, I noticed two differences: There was only one lady in my immediate vision, and there was a fan blowing on the carpetting. However, walking past the EE office, I noticed that it was no longer an office, but an empty room in which even the carpetting and ceiling panels had been removed.

Ok, returning from that birdwalk, I will now list another reason why I am in this lab. The long and short of it is that I am being "encouraged" to join this lab group. The professor that runs this lab is involved in the BICB (Biomedical Informatics and Computational Biology) program (more on BICB later). He is an expert in databases and would be a very good fit in an adviser for me. This may be the first step to becoming one of his advisees.

I will take these changes in stride. Chances are, I will be a member of this lab for at least a week, perhaps more. The knowledge of the CSci peoples in this lab would be invaluable for my research. This is the kind of knowledge that my current adviser lacks.

THIS IS THE KIND OF KNOWLEDGE THAT I NEED IF I'M GOING TO MAKE IT OUT OF GRAD SCHOOL BY THE TIME I'M THIRTY.

Anyway, the events of late will definitely make me evaluate my situation. Hopefully my next post will be about my actual research topics.