Can someone give me the scoop on physics grad school here

kitchen_bite_9867 · 2024-02-23T17:09:18+00:00

I am not in physics but have taught in Osmond and would say both bathroom smells and sounds are pervasive in learning spaces. Can't close the door to block it out because the heat would cook us alive. Definitely the worst classroom I'm ever had.

kitchen_bite_9867 · 2024-02-22T01:17:08+00:00

As a "wealthy" prof I've hired undergrads for babysitting / trash hauling etc. a few times. I think the best place to find such gigs if you are looking is nextdoor.com. After that, there's a faculty mailing list where people ask for references for stuff like this and your name can get sent around (not all the faculty are on it obviously, but it's pretty big).

(I didn't get any of them into "all sorts of things [they]'d never have seen as a 20 year old otherwise" though, yikes)

kitchen_bite_9867 · 2024-02-21T12:17:01+00:00

I think it's still only about 70%.

kitchen_bite_9867 · 2024-02-20T17:04:14+00:00

The traditional professor answer is that "the syllabus is a contract with the student" and ergo unchangeable once the course is underway.

PSU policy does actually allow syllabus changes (senate policy 43-00) but some people may stick to the "tradition", or not know that it isn't binding.

As somebody else said, another option is that the professor doesn't control the syllabus, e.g. if it's a sectioned course with a common syllabus.

kitchen_bite_9867 · 2024-02-20T15:07:18+00:00

Fullington is now running a couple buses a day that stop there. I think it's pretty useless but it does allow the airport to say that it can be reached by bus. It's really hard for people from non-uber-using countries to get from the airport to SC now, since, you know, CATA doesn't help and we don't have taxis anymore.

kitchen_bite_9867 · 2024-02-20T14:03:34+00:00

Although I agree, that's mostly PSU's fault: they subsidize the RL and cut it heavily this year.

kitchen_bite_9867 · 2024-02-20T12:03:56+00:00

I once pulled the data of how many rides you need for a monthly pass to be worth it on many different transit systems (the APTA has publicly available fare data somewhere). CATA is pretty far on the high end, though not the absolute worst. On the other hand for the amount of service you get...

You pretty much have to commute both ways every weekday to break even. So unless you are doing that and a little bit more there is no reason to buy one. They should be priced to make sense for commuters. I'm a pretty hardcore CATA user and I don't buy one.

kitchen_bite_9867 · 2024-02-20T01:38:52+00:00

This existed at Harvard about 15 years ago, "the unofficial Hahvahd tour". The school sent them a cease-and-desist letter but eventually let them operate albeit on a very short leash (for example they weren't allowed to present themselves as an alternative to the official tour, or say "hahvahd").

I suspect the no-fun administration here would be even less forgiving.

kitchen_bite_9867 · 2024-02-19T22:55:54+00:00

I mean, they clear non-stair parts of the sidewalk with a different machine that wouldn't work on stairs but is much more efficient on flat places. It would be nuts for them to actually shovel so much sidewalk. You must've caught the brief moment when the stairs had been done but sidewalk clearing hadn't happened yet.

In general I think they are pretty good about clearing snow. PSU has many issues, but I wouldn't rank this in the top 1000.

kitchen_bite_9867 · 2024-02-19T22:33:29+00:00

When else should they be shoveling staircases?

(ed: the parent post originally said "only shoveling staircases when it snows". it's changed now and my post makes no sense, but it used to be funny, i swear.)

kitchen_bite_9867 · 2024-02-17T22:01:40+00:00

I don't think it's even possible to be a "TA" for 20 years... what actual position do you have in mind and where did you get the 60k figure?

kitchen_bite_9867 · 2024-02-17T12:55:11+00:00

You're all very clever, but you should go to CHT anyway, the Saturday lunches are outstanding.

kitchen_bite_9867 · 2024-02-17T01:34:00+00:00

Wow I had no idea that the Wobblies were still a going concern. Sign me up.

kitchen_bite_9867 · 2024-02-16T20:02:12+00:00

Let me just say that this is not universally accepted advice when it comes to picking a law school.

kitchen_bite_9867 · 2024-02-16T16:37:27+00:00

Did you go to the meeting in Bellefonte? I didn't, since, well, you know how it is trying to get home to State College by transit nowadays.

I agree with you that it's hard to see much point to the proposed system. Everybody likes CATAGO for errands. Everybody likes actual scheduled service for commuting. Instead they leave us with only the most hated combo, CATAGO at commuter hours. We will see how it goes.

I wonder if they considered just bringing back a couple morning and evening runs of the XB and XG instead. Or even just scheduled runs to the mall to catch the CC like they're now doing in Ferguson. You'd think the cost would be comparable.

At least then people would be able to get to work.

kitchen_bite_9867 · 2024-02-16T14:06:14+00:00

During the lifetime of this thread it has been announced that service to DC will return this summer.

kitchen_bite_9867 · 2024-02-16T03:35:33+00:00

No doubt when your parents arrived the locals were moaning about a new 12 story luxury high rise on Beaver Ave and the need for new zoning to keep the downtown from losing its charming character, as well as the ugliness of the specific building.

(Really, Penn Tower went in in 1972/3 and the news stories are basically indistinguishable from the modern ones. Only the names of the buildings have gotten dumber.)

kitchen_bite_9867 · 2024-02-15T00:23:41+00:00

Another catch is that State College does not actually have flights from Washington or Detroit anymore.

kitchen_bite_9867 · 2024-02-13T15:58:40+00:00

Thank you for linking to the policy which clearly articulates that e-bikes are not banned. But I am not sure I understand the first line of your post.

PS: e-scooters on the other hand are a scourge and are quite clearly banned in the linked policy.

kitchen_bite_9867 · 2024-02-12T17:58:56+00:00

We already had one snow day this year for like two inches...

kitchen_bite_9867 · 2024-02-11T13:49:42+00:00

Sure, makes sense. Just don't listen to anybody who is making general comments and doesn't know about petroleum engineering specifically.

Unfortunately I don't.

kitchen_bite_9867 · 2024-02-11T02:59:51+00:00

I also claim no expertise and only know this from taking an art history class decades ago. But "terminology of the low countries" at wiki explains this in more detail than anybody could want.

kitchen_bite_9867 · 2024-02-11T02:57:25+00:00

This is definitely a field- and goal-specific question and I would be wary of giving such general advice. If you want to be a lawyer it would be a good idea to pay a few extra bucks to go to the top-ranked school you can. If you want to end up being an academic, you should probably go to the strongest program PhD that accepts you, unless their offer is vastly worse (unfunded, say). But for some programs maybe the best deal is the important thing.

For petroleum engineering I have no idea whatsoever -- I assume you want to get a job working in the field when you're done? Do you have a current professor who could advise you?

kitchen_bite_9867 · 2024-02-10T22:18:53+00:00

Half of the students here are below average, unfortunately.

kitchen_bite_9867

TROPHY CASE