So I got my grades (a copule of weeks ago actually), and it was not as glorious as I had hoped. I got a B in Micro and B+ in Econometrics. The latter doesn't matter since I don't have to take a prelim in it, but I realy thought I would do better in Micro. For those of ou who don't know, in grad school, some sort of an A means that you are in the top half of the class, and some sort of a B means you are in the bottom half. A C+ means pack your bags and get a job.
So my performance last quarter was not exacly stellar, but hopefully I will learn how to improve upo it next quarter. I have basically adopted a totally new strategy for this quarter. This time it is to spend as much time as possible working through the problem sets on my own and not resorting to the answer keys unless absolutely necessary. Last quarter I adopted the policy of refering to the answer keys to save time--in reality it fools you into thinking that you understand the material when in fact you do not understand it well enough to reproduce it on an exam. But I used the excuse that I did not have as much of a math background as my colleagues so I needed to take a peek as the answer keys because I could not arrive at the answers on my own. Now I've kicked that crutch out from under me (in retrospect it was a lousy excuse anyway). I guess we'll find out in two months whether or not it worked.
Posted by Matthew Pearson at January 21, 2004 09:37 PM | TrackBacki hear 'ya, pal. i've been thinking about the same thing. i used that crutch too often in my non-fiction workshop. i would get frustrated with a transition or a lack of focus in part of my essay and flip to the answer key and just copy the essay down word-for-word.
and let me know if you ever send off your application to berkeley--i'll spell-check it for you.
Posted by: jeremy at January 24, 2004 11:34 AMPerhaps your academic performance was not stellar last quarter, but I can vouch for your increased effort and dedication this quarter. More than that though, you are one of the only grad dads who is home every evening for dinner, at the table, with your family. You carve out the best time of the day to play and talk and listen (and read books to your daughter). I'm blessed, and I know it. You are a stellar husband.
Posted by: Genna Pearson at February 10, 2004 08:56 PMI hope that when I am in grad school next year (UC San Diego accepted me - Duke said no, 16 more answers to go) I can be as dedicated to my wife and future child as your wife sees you to be.
Congratulations on the wonderful dedication to your family in the time crunching leviathan that is known as grad school.
Posted by: Christopher Silvey at February 12, 2004 07:48 PMHi Matthew,
Besides agreeing w/ the fatherhood compliments, I wanted to mention (in public!) that the AK's are essential for 200A since the homeworks are so STUPID and IMPOSSIBLE that you'd be a fool to try them on your own. I did the same thing as you for 200B/C and look where we are (post-prelims and sitting pretty!)
:D
Posted by: David Zetland at September 26, 2004 12:23 AM