Day 1-2
L. and I arrived in San Diego last night and the weather is great. We (I) got super lost last night trying to meet up with Adam on Mission Beach. I was so tired and I couldn't figure out where the hell I was. Eventually, we just went home and went to sleep.
We've only seen Andy for about 15 minutes and David not at all so its kind of weird hanging out here at their apartment. We're having dinner together tonight, but then I'm leaving tomorrow morning early for LA and Santa Barbara. I just wish I had more time to hang out before I left, because I haven't seen them for over a year. I'm getting the feeling that time scarcity is going to be a common theme on this trip. I might actually be spending more waking hours driving than not.
I checked out UCSD today. The campus is amazing and the engineering department looks pretty good. The graduate advisor actually knew who I was, which freaked me out. It seems I accidentally emailed her last week, thinking i was contating the UCS-B (UC Santa Barbara) advisor. Doh! She didn't seem to catch the mistake, though. After I got there, I realized I was woefully unprepared for the meeting, confirming that, indeed, I have no idea what I'm doing looking for grad schools.
UCSD: "What can I help you with?"
ME: "I'm looking into applying to the Engineering Grad program..."
UCSD: "What area of research?"
ME: "Well, I'm not really sure yet. I graduated in computer science, but, um, i was looking at your flyer and Robotics, Nanotechnology, and Signal Analysis look pretty cool."
UCSD: "Hmmm. Okay... Do you have an appointment to meet with any of the professors?"
ME: "No."
UCSD: "Do you have any specific questions for me?"
ME: "Um... "
Luckilly, L. was there and she knew all the right questions to ask.
It pisses me off that I really have no idea what I need to know or find out for this. I don't even know what area I want to get into. I think I'm just mad at how little ASU prepared me for graduate education. Little/no research opportunities, and painfully brief introductions into specific areas of engineering, so I have no idea what area most interests me. And that where this college search all starts. Once I know what I want to spend the next 7 years researching, the I can look for schools that have strengths in that area, and i can contact professors doing research in those areas so I can meet them when i visit those schools. Since I don't know that, its a crap shoot at this point...
I think my plan at this point is to check out the campus and the culture surrounding it and see what vibes I get. I guess its a pretty retarted strategy for planning my future, but setting really is one of the most important things to me. I can't do good work unless I'm enthusiastic about it, and I can't be enthusiastic if I'm depressed because the campus is ugly, or there isn't a movie theatre for 30 miles or I can't get a beer without being assaulted by horrible music or if I can't get a beer at all... So i guess its not so retarted after all.
Mmmmm. Beer...
Pictures soon.
Tomorrow: LA, Santa Barbara
We've only seen Andy for about 15 minutes and David not at all so its kind of weird hanging out here at their apartment. We're having dinner together tonight, but then I'm leaving tomorrow morning early for LA and Santa Barbara. I just wish I had more time to hang out before I left, because I haven't seen them for over a year. I'm getting the feeling that time scarcity is going to be a common theme on this trip. I might actually be spending more waking hours driving than not.
I checked out UCSD today. The campus is amazing and the engineering department looks pretty good. The graduate advisor actually knew who I was, which freaked me out. It seems I accidentally emailed her last week, thinking i was contating the UCS-B (UC Santa Barbara) advisor. Doh! She didn't seem to catch the mistake, though. After I got there, I realized I was woefully unprepared for the meeting, confirming that, indeed, I have no idea what I'm doing looking for grad schools.
UCSD: "What can I help you with?"
ME: "I'm looking into applying to the Engineering Grad program..."
UCSD: "What area of research?"
ME: "Well, I'm not really sure yet. I graduated in computer science, but, um, i was looking at your flyer and Robotics, Nanotechnology, and Signal Analysis look pretty cool."
UCSD: "Hmmm. Okay... Do you have an appointment to meet with any of the professors?"
ME: "No."
UCSD: "Do you have any specific questions for me?"
ME: "Um... "
Luckilly, L. was there and she knew all the right questions to ask.
It pisses me off that I really have no idea what I need to know or find out for this. I don't even know what area I want to get into. I think I'm just mad at how little ASU prepared me for graduate education. Little/no research opportunities, and painfully brief introductions into specific areas of engineering, so I have no idea what area most interests me. And that where this college search all starts. Once I know what I want to spend the next 7 years researching, the I can look for schools that have strengths in that area, and i can contact professors doing research in those areas so I can meet them when i visit those schools. Since I don't know that, its a crap shoot at this point...
I think my plan at this point is to check out the campus and the culture surrounding it and see what vibes I get. I guess its a pretty retarted strategy for planning my future, but setting really is one of the most important things to me. I can't do good work unless I'm enthusiastic about it, and I can't be enthusiastic if I'm depressed because the campus is ugly, or there isn't a movie theatre for 30 miles or I can't get a beer without being assaulted by horrible music or if I can't get a beer at all... So i guess its not so retarted after all.
Mmmmm. Beer...
Pictures soon.
Tomorrow: LA, Santa Barbara
posted by Kyle at 4:31 PM
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