Relentless Downward Spiral
I figure that you all are intelligent people and have realized that my schedule at training doesn’t allow me to write as often as I could at my station. Still, I saw some news this week that gave me pause: that S&P had downgraded the EFSF emergency fund (Reuters). Now, I understand the cold logic behind this, but I also question whether such a move will actually solve any of the problems the Eurozone continues to face.
The Most Basic Macro Says the U.S. Debt Deal is Terrible
I kept very close tabs on my country’s ridiculous negotiation on raising the debt ceiling. Although a deal was reached, Economics 101 – basic macro. – tells us that the deal that Washington Cut isn’t going to do our economy any favors.
The few weeks have been quiet ones, with little of consequence to report. I’ve started putting my teaching certification back to use as an SAT tutor, which provides a bit of income for the months ahead. My second go at the GRE exam didn’t raise my math score by as much as I wanted. Part of that was forgetting that I had no access to a calculator and struggling to gain my stride after that. I’m progressing with the scores I have for my Spring applications, but plan to retake once more for Fall applications should Spring not work out.
My application for American is in the hands of its amazing faculty, and I hope for a decision by the end of October. I’m currently working on my application for Rutgers, with City College of NY and NYU’s applications to follow. It will be a busy month.
On the class front, things are proceeding, although I have had to change my plans slightly. Rather than start my microeconomics class at MCC this past Wednesday, I will now take a more condensed class starting on the 22nd following some prolonged car trouble. (Apparently finding instrument panels for 1995 Fords isn’t the easiest thing to do.) The car comes home today, so that will solve the personal mobility problem.
Hopefully by the end of October or first week of November I have decisions from most schools (Rutgers, CCNY, and NYU all use rolling admissions; AU does not) and can decide where I would like to be in January. I’ll keep you all updated as there is more news to report. For now I have some Foreign Affairs articles to summarize and some notes on Inflation and the Phillips curve to take.
Decisions
Well, I’ve thought things over and have decided to go after Spring 2011 admission at a few more schools. I can apply to a total of 4 more schools in the Spring semester in addition to American University – NYU, Rutgers U., Seton Hall, and City College of NY. The rest of them will remain on my Fall 2011 target list.
Why I Stay Ahead of My Classes
The semester has started off well. My statistics class is active every day, but I can stay a bit ahead of the game by doing reading and taking notes ahead of when they are assigned. And our online discussion area let’s us save our posts as drafts, so I’ve been able to start writing them in advance as well. Macro. was a shortened class yesterday due to the professor being absent. And yes, the homework I did isn’t due until next week, so I’m ahead of the game there as well. International Relations doesn’t meet until next Monday due to the holiday, but I have the books (although no syllabus yet), which has allowed me to start reading and taking notes well in advance of the class. It’s a habit of mine that I’m making no attempt to get rid of.
