Somehow, I think your first murder should be committed with fewer cameras around

[soleta_nf]

01. Are any of you guys familiar with San Marcos, Texas? It's a small town south of Austin, and I'm thinking about applying to school there (Texas State). I'd really really appreciate hearing any thoughts people have on the town, the school, and especially how close or easy it is to get back and forth to Austin (and, hey, San Antonio too). Is it

Comments

[shanaqui]

My current word count is 12k ish. Joy. :D

[soleta_nf]

Wow, holy crap! Those 10k weekends did you well! XD I hope to hit 10k this weekend... with plenty of word wars.

[cosmicprncess]

Are you looking for any particular "environment"? IE: college town, large city, access to civilization when you want/need it? Because I would say maybe look at universities in Connecticut. Connecticut colleges are known for their education programs because getting certified in CT is difficult because of the extremely high state standards. The program I did as an undergrad was a *total* pain in the ass, but saying I was Connecticut certified carried a lot of weight with employers.

The downside is some of those schools are in the middle of nowhere, but you can at least get to Boston, New York, Providence and D.C. fairly easily.

[soleta_nf]

I'm not looking at other U.S. schools. I'm a Canadian citizen and it's a pain to apply to U.S. schools - I'm only interested in Austin-and-area because I want to relocate to Austin. Otherwise I'll find something in Canada. But that's interesting information and who knows - maybe I'll end up using it! Thank you. :)

(As for environment, if that's still applicable, I want to get out of my small city, so yes I'd rather go to a school in a city I'd want to work in afterwards, preferably a vibrant city but not overly large.)

[cosmicprncess]

Ahhhhhh gotcha!

I had no idea the US made it difficult for you to come to school here, but I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. Especially with grad programs. They luuurrrvvee their money.

[soleta_nf]

Well, it's usually hard for international students to get scholarships and such (I can NOT afford American tuition!), and taking GREs is a pain (we don't do that in Canada), and immigration in general looks to be a pain. Investigating Texas State in particular looks promising (you don't need to do a GRE if you already have a masters; they have good scholarships and if you even get $1000 you pay state tuition).

On the other hand, if I was applying to a PhD I'd be searching high and low for American programs to apply to. ^.^

[soleta_nf]

I'm finding that the last couple of days I'm starting to get into the flow a bit now. A bit. How is it for you?

[soleta_nf]

Try word wars! Taking even just 10 minutes (surely you have time for that) and you can knock off 200-500 words, depending how fast you type. They're great! Good luck!

[maidenmorticia]

No clue about Austin. I know 2 democrats who live in Texas, but they are in Houston. No help there... they say everyone they know is a republican.

Have you tried asking in a place like gradstudents and/or canuckgrads (second one for more info on 02.)

It sounds like you've got a good plan! Wish I could be of more help!

xo xo M.

[soleta_nf]

Those are excellent suggestions for communities to ply for information. Thank you! I will try to post there this weekend.

And yes, Houston has its share of liberals but it's a pretty conservative city overall.

[maidenmorticia]

Another good one is applyingtograd, esp. for the US.

;-)

[soleta_nf]

Awesome, thank you!

[katayla]

Tea tree oil? Really? Maybe I'll give that a try. I seem to be developing some new and interesting allergies.

I got up over 4000 words yesterday and they're starting to get more inspired. But now I really need to get some homework done before writing any today.

[soleta_nf]

Apparently it kills dust mites anyway. You can put 5 drops in with your wash (for bedding especially), put 10 drops in when you take a bath (or shower or do a steam in a bowl), put it in your vacuum cleaner (where the dander collects) to kill the mites in there, and you can put it on a kleenex and wave it around the air in front of you once in a while to kill whatever's there. I'm sure there are more uses!

Yay for increasinly inspired words! Mine are getting there too.

[loonylupinlover]

Yes there are! Tea tree oil is a great fungicide, which is why I've used it for my nasty toenail and for vaginal yeast infections. Go tea tree!

[soleta_nf]

I gotta ask - how does one use tea tree oil for vaginal yeast infections?? (Ouch!)