Will someone take me under their wing? (Graduate Study)

[Popcorn Sutton]

I'm looking to get into a graduate program for a masters (or a PhD if I can skip the masters).

 

Seeing as how I have made a name for myself on these forums to a certain extent, I'm wondering if anyone is interested in taking me under their wing for graduate study. My main focus in my academic career has been to model the brain computationally. I've written a Python program that learns language and interacts pretty good. I actually just updated the code yesterday and tested it for a couple of hours, it was working beautifully.

 

My other areas of interest include-

 

Politics (Scientocracy) and making a computer program to stand as an alternative to the current democratic election system. (Very exciting project for me).

 

Linguistics- I'm mostly focused on computational linguistics and dialogue based systems that accumulate knowledge which can be used for many different things including processing language and if I figure out enough, I should be able to use it to process other sensory information as well. I've also used to program for sound recognition and production. It could possibly replace google and provide us with any theory about anything at our convenience. This has been a very interesting and exciting endeavor for me.

 

Computer Programming- I'm working out a way to put my language acquiring program on the internet and I'm going to need to know how to do several things in order to do this (I may not even know the work necessary to achieve this goal so any help I can get is greatly appreciated).

 

Cognitive Science- I think that through my research in computational cognition, I can help answer questions regarding cognition, certain diseases (such as Alzheimers), and possibly even create a way to administer knowledge as a prescription drug. This is a very exciting area of research for me.

 

There's other things that I am interested in as well, I'd appreciate any and all suggestions for universities that are willing to accept me for further education. I will appreciate any person who is willing to take me under their wing (and willing to identify themselves and their institution for me). Thank you.

 

Popcorn Sutton

Edited July 18, 2013 by Popcorn Sutton

[md65536]

Do you have an undergraduate degree related to any of those areas?

[Popcorn Sutton]

I have a Bachelors of Arts and Sciences in Philosophy with a concentration in Linguistics.

[Popcorn Sutton]

I wanted to post again to this yesterday, but I ended up deleting what I typed. I was absolutely amazed at how many views it got, and I want to draw attention to it again. I might have a lead at this moment, and I don't think I should really talk about it, but I want to ask again, will anyone take me under their wing? Does anyone have suggestions?

[md65536]

I have no helpful advice, but a pessimistic view. I don't think these forums are an appropriate place to find a graduate advisor (neither would you find someone able to fill that role, nor willing, if you haven't heard from anyone yet). I think it would be more appropriate to inquire at specific universities etc.

 

Also, I don't know of anyone eager to make exceptions or treat anyone as a special case. If your degree is sufficient for entry, you would like... go through the typical application process. I don't think anyone would want you to skip a masters unless you already proved yourself somehow. If you want to get to know a prof in order for them to take you under their wing, I think you'd have to study at the school and get to know each other and work with each other (if you ask for special projects or have an idea for one that is up the prof's alley then sometimes that's possible, but still best to get to know them so they know you enough to go for it).

 

http://physics.open.ac.uk/~sserjeant/faq.txt

This was posted in another thread and may be specific to astronomy, but the "I'd like to do a Masters or a PhD" part may be generally applicable.

 

 

In other words: The slow, boring, typical school route is the only one I know of. I don't think there are easy shortcuts. I don't know of anyone who has proved themselves so exceptionally on these forums that someone would go out of their way for them to such a great extent.

 

Perhaps you might get more advice on how to get into the typical school route.

Edited February 8, 2014 by md65536

[Popcorn Sutton]

Yea, I've lowered my expectations since the first post. I got accepted into a local university for a second degree, which is a Bachelors in Computer Engineering. I think that that would be an extremely interesting field for me to get into, and I hear that I should be able to get an internship that pays up to $70,000 USD a year even before I graduate. My parents really hate the idea of me going back for another bachelors, but I don't think it's really up to them, especially if I'm staying in the area. I do have opportunities in Mexico. I could go to the Technological University of Mexico for free with a good chance that I can study for a Masters or a PhD, but it would be in Linguistics or Philosophy, and I really don't want to specialize myself in those subjects anymore because I know that I have A LOT of expertise in Linguistics and I am VERY up-to-date with my knowledge in that area. As for Philosophy, I can do that while sitting in an armchair. I would love to teach classes on Linguistics and Philosophy, but I'd rather get into engineering because that field is what really peaks my interest. I do think that it's very possible that I am the best at what I do when it comes to pattern recognition and computational linguistics, and it seems like politicians and unspeakables have taken a liking to my activity in those areas. I have one prospect for a position where I could put my abilities in those fields to use, and it would be extremely useful for their purposes, as they say themselves. I know how to make central systems for specific tasks and I am an extremely good logician who knows how to make computers recognize patterns that would be extremely difficult for even an expert to recognize. There's a good possibility that the work I would be doing would be classified, so that is why I am hesitant to mention it here, or with anyone; I haven't spoken a single word about it to friends, family, or anyone I associate with over the internet.

 

I know that if I go to Mexico, not only can I study for free, but there is a good chance that I will get paid for it, and I will probably be able to get citizenship without needing to marry, which is unheard of from my perspective. I don't know of a single person who has ever received citizenship in a foreign country without needing to get married, so I think that that would be a HUGE achievement on my part. The problem with that is, like always, my parents are WAYYYYY too protective of me. They don't want me to leave to Mexico, or Thailand, or the Philippines, or anywhere else that I have an opportunity. They make it very clear to me that they don't want me to be out of driving distance from where we live, and they're literally holding my passport hostage in a safe that I do not have access to. It seems like whenever an opportunity for me to pursue my dreams arises, they quickly discredit it with their pessimism. There's a good chance that I will literally need to be saved from these people. This is the single biggest thing that I hate about my life. They love me way too much to let me go. I'm afraid that if I ever get the chance to do what I love, I'm literally going to tell them that I'm going to the store, and just leave.

 

I know for a fact that I can get into a masters in Linguistics and/or Philosophy and then go on to study my PhD, but in all honesty, the last thing that I want to do is just talk about things. I want to do something exciting. I want to help more than anything. That's all I really want to do, I want to help.

[physica]

Although this discussion has reached a conclusion I’m posting for advice when searching for graduate study. Winging a graduate position is extremely unlikely. Before going back to study physics I dabbled in medical research for a university in London. I was paired with this guy who regularly went on forums and would love to discuss scientific issues, many people were briefly impressed as he was very good a structuring his conversation and was very knowledgeable. However, getting him to sit down and actually complete a project was like pulling teeth. Studying a masters and applying via the conventional route tells the supervisor two things.

 

One: you can commit and finish something above a degree

 

Two: you play by the rules

 

The second reason may seem a little like it’s written by “the man”. Although we all like to sit around the camp fire and hear about Einstein working in a patent office or the discovery of penicillin happening by accident the majority of graduate work is achieved by groundwork, grant applications etc. Although this doesn’t seem very romantic what I have realised through my experience at work is that romance doesn’t get the work done. Although academia isn’t your typical type of day job we have to remember it is a job. You seem very excitable. I wouldn’t plan too far ahead. If you do a good masters and phd (the purer the science the more scope) then you will end up falling in and out or areas that interest you. I’ve met people from all disciplines in medical research. One electrical engineer did a phd in something completely unrelated and is now working with a team making an artificial pancreas and he’s been mapping biomarkers for the last 2 years.

 

The day dreaming should come after the phd and a couple of years grad work experience. I have met many medics who apply to medical school with the ambition to be a surgeon. After a few years’ experience they realise is a lot of standing still for hours and the theatre is set up for one type of procedure all day to get maximum efficiency so they stand for hours doing appendectomy after appendectomy all day. Many can’t wait to leave their surgical rotation. Working in a particular field is very different to the idea of working in the field. The most proactive thing you can do whilst applying for a masters is ask for work experience in fields that you like the look of, shadow people for a few days.