January Study Challenge

thanks for tagging me @autumn-rain-coffee :)

rules: answer the questions and tag some people you want to get to know better/catch up with.

~~~~~~

three ships: 1. Wanda Maximoff + Vision 🥰

2. pricefield (yes i am stuck in 2015)

3. Eleanor + Chidi from The Good Place :)

last song: The Man with the Axe - Lorde

last movie: The Suicide Squad

currently watching: rewatching Parks and rec + The Good Place, watching Free!

currently reading: just finished Girl in the Blue Coat by Monica Hesse & about to start Armada by Ernest Cline

currently craving: some really good watermelon

i’m tagging @mymessystudyblr @cafeconlleche @marsoundsbetter @alexis-hrt and @study-for-your-dream

reblog to give the person you reblogged from the strength to complete The Task™

i want to study literature but i want to study psychology but i want to study architecture but i want to study linguistics but i want to study sociology but i want to study philosophy but i want to study chemistry but i want to study history but i

here is my lil yoga corner! i took up yoga during quarantine and i acquired enough stuff to want a box to keep it all in :)

august 31st: what is your favorite thing about school?

definitely the actual learning. i love the feeling when i’ve realized i’ve learned something new and i can now share that with other people! with online school tho, i really like the fact that i now have the time to exercise, do yoga, meditate, and otherwise take care of myself

hiiii @ my like 2 followers :) i’m switching this up to post all pictures of my own. imma try to post every day? idk! here’s a picture from seattle! ☁️☁️

peaceful morning 🌤

•

(hi ik i don’t post anymore but i still enjoy tumblr v much and i’d love to start posting again, ok i hope u have a nice day bye!) :)

yooo how do u email a prof for a recommendation letter?

Hi Professor!

I am in the process of applying to ____ and they require letters of rec. I sincerely enjoyed your classes, and felt that they gave me a particularly good chance to display my strengths, such as ____ [class participation, writing, etc.] and would love for you to write me a letter, if you’d be willing. The due date is ____, and I can send you further instructions for submission later if you accept.

Attached to this email is ____, the piece of work I did in your class which best showcases my abilities, as well as my current CV [or resume]. If you agree to write me a letter, soon I will also send you drafts of my ____ [statement of purpose, personal statement, application essays, other relevant material] for my application to aid in your writing. I am also happy to meet in person to discuss this with you.

I want to stress that this application is quite competitive, so if you feel you will not be able to write me a strong letter then I completely understand - but please let me know. Thank you so much for your time!

Sincerely, ____

—

a few notes:

- you should have all your relevant materials (app essays, etc.) sent to them *at least* a month in advance to give them ample time to write the letter

- thus, your initial email asking them if they’d be willing to write a letter for you should be sent *over* a month in advance. professors are busy

- if you are applying for a really prestigious position/scholarship/fellowship, or grad school, it’s best to have at least a majority of your letter writers be professors (rather than adjuncts or post docs). ideally you’d want them to be full/tenured professors. in lots of cases, especially academic ones, *who* writes your letter matters - not just *what’s in* your letter

- the reason you send them the piece of work you did in their class that you are most proud of is to remind them of your abilities as a student and the quality of the work you produced for them. they have lots of students. sometimes they need a bit of help jogging their memory of exactly what you did in their class.

- the reason you send them your other application materials (personal statement, statement of purpose, CV) is so that they have information to draw from when writing your letter. they know what you’re passionate about, what you hope to do in the future, other experience you have, and can use this information when writing your letter

- on a similar note, this is also why you’d want to list the strengths you displayed in their class

- basically, you want to give them as much information as you can about your strengths, goals, and intentions - give them prompts they can use to write your letter

- the bit at the end about asking for a “strong letter” is important because some professors can only write you mediocre letters (e.g. “this student was always on time to class and gave their undivided attention during lecture” - what does this tell admission committees? well, it tells them that the professor has nothing positive to say about your *academic* abilities and so they’re resorting to other strengths. it’s a polite way of saying “this student was okay, but not spectacular in any notable way”. big red flag for admissions committees.) if all you’re going to get is a mediocre letter, you might as well not get a letter at all

- if the professor you ask accepts, then be sure to send them polite reminders as the date approaches. (i usually send a reminder at the 1-month-till-due-date mark when i send the other application materials, and then again at the 2 week and 1 week marks, and, if necessary, every day after the final 3 days leading up to the due date

—

i know this was a lot, but i remember being in your shoes and being completely lost when it came to applying for stuff so i know how daunting it can be. i figured i’d just throw all this information at you to be of as much help as possible.

for reference, i’ve applied to graduate programs, fellowships, and scholarships. i have been accepted into several of the top 10 graduate programs in my area, as well as received multiple scholarships and a fellowship, and received honorable mentions for some of the most competitive fellowships in the US. i have also worked with the admissions committee at my graduate program to organize multiple informational events for those interested in applying to graduate school and, in the process, have learned a lot about what makes a strong application.

so while you should absolutely take my advice with a grain of salt (different circumstances call for different standards), i do have quite a bit of experience with applications and what makes a strong letter of rec.

i hope this helped! best of luck with whatever you’re applying for :)

reblog if school has actually made you cry

like the stress, the pressure and everything ya know. everyone keeps saying like ‘school makes me cry’ and stuff but has it really made you cry bc i cried a lot of times tbh

you can find me on campus committing social blunders

Female Academia:

Books:

The Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild

The Furies by Kate Lowe

The Raven’s Children by Yulia Yakovleva

And I Darken by Kiersten White

Chinese Cinderella by Adeline Yen Mah

Tell The Wolves I’m Home by Carol Rifka Brunt

Lajja by Taslima Nasrin

Dear Ijeawele, or A Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

The Colour Purple by Alice Walker

Authors:

Jean Rhys

Angela Carter

Julia C. Collins

Ismat Chughtai

Virginia Woolf

The Brontë sisters

Daphne Du Maurier

Flannery O’Connor

Mariama Bâ

Bertha von Suttner

Poets:

Warsan Shire

Raych Jackson

Nazik al-Malaika

Sappho

Jo Shapcott

Christina Rossetti

Emily Dickinson

Nikita Gill

Sujata Bhatt

Maya Angelou

Artists:

Artemisia Gentileschi

Harriet Powers

Klea McKenna

Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh

Vivian Maier

Frida Kahlo

Composers:

Clara Schumann

Tania León

Lili and Nadia Boulanger

Missy Mazzoli

Xin Huguang

The world of academia is considered highly male centric despite that the aesthetic seems to be dominated by young queer women. I am not a fan of Donna Tartt so I have collected alternatives from my own collection of books and a few from friends and family. Some of the books may not be exactly “dark academia” or a set academic aesthetic but they all address female experiences and are academically acclaimed.