My recent travel also made me even more annoyed at frequent flier programs. I took 2 big trips this fall for which I am still waiting for miles to be posted. In November, I took American and British Air, and wanted those miles to go on my Alaska account (as I've done many times before). The return flights made it on, but the outgoing flights have not. I have faxed the boarding passes and receipt to Alaska twice already, and they still haven't posted.
Similarly, I traveled on Lufthansa and Swiss Air in December, and the miles still have not been posted to my United account -- despite all being members of the Star Alliance, despite the information being in a computer, and despite mailing the requisite boarding passes and receipt (luckily I copied them) to South Dakota twice.
How hard is it to post these miles?
Saturday, February 17, 2007
Airline travel
I've been traveling for work this past week (luckily avoiding the East Coast storms). It was yet another reminder of the inability of airlines to get their act together. I had a cross country flight that consisted of 2 parts, the first on United and the 2nd on USAir. I had 2 bags, one managed to make the connection and the other did not. Now why this happened is a puzzle since there was 1.5 hours in between flights and the second flight was quite empty. Nevertheless, when I arrived and realized that the bag was missing, I spoke with USAir who assured me the bag would be on the next flight that night and would be delivered the next morning. The next morning came and went without the bag showing up. The local number USAir gave me to call only yielded voicemail -- all morning. What's the point of a number for lost bags at the airport if no one answers. I finally call the 1-800 number (which the paper says not to call until 24 hours had passed) and only to find that the bag had made it to the airport but was in United's hands, not USAir's. USAir still had to acquire the bag and deliver it. What?
I assume that United was at fault for not getting the bag to USAir at the connection, but USAir made it sound like they had the bag and would put it on the next flight. In fact, it seems that United became responsible for getting it to my final destination and then transferring it to USAir. I don't actually care who got the bag from place A to place B, but I care tremendously that the airlines seem unable to communicate with one another and then give me false information. USAir inaccurately told me that the bag would be on the next flight and get to me by the morning, when in fact United had the bag, would fly it to place B, and then give it to USAir who, upon receipt, could deliver it.
Even more important, given the restrictions on carrying liquids onto planes, many people are carrying more liquids in their bags. Some of these liquids -- shampoo, lotion, etc -- can be purchased in most locations. Others -- medicine, for example -- can't just be bought on location. Airlines thus have an even greater duty to get bags transferred ontime and, when they're lost, to communicate more clearly with each other and with customers.
I assume that United was at fault for not getting the bag to USAir at the connection, but USAir made it sound like they had the bag and would put it on the next flight. In fact, it seems that United became responsible for getting it to my final destination and then transferring it to USAir. I don't actually care who got the bag from place A to place B, but I care tremendously that the airlines seem unable to communicate with one another and then give me false information. USAir inaccurately told me that the bag would be on the next flight and get to me by the morning, when in fact United had the bag, would fly it to place B, and then give it to USAir who, upon receipt, could deliver it.
Even more important, given the restrictions on carrying liquids onto planes, many people are carrying more liquids in their bags. Some of these liquids -- shampoo, lotion, etc -- can be purchased in most locations. Others -- medicine, for example -- can't just be bought on location. Airlines thus have an even greater duty to get bags transferred ontime and, when they're lost, to communicate more clearly with each other and with customers.
Thursday, February 8, 2007
Graduate School Applications
I applied to Ph.D. programs this fall and I wish I had had this blog to post about those misadvenures, some of which will undoubtedly be relayed here as a retrospective. As I am starting to hear back from schools (or at least one school), I'm reminded of the process that those applications required and, of course, of the "suggestions" I have for the schools and departments receiving said applications. In no order other than the one in which they pop into my head, some reflections on the graduate school applications process:
1. It's a second job.
I had been planning on applying to PhD programs in fall 2006 for a while, started researching programs last year, and secured recommendations over the summer. Nevertheless, reaching out to faculty, talking to students, and preparing the applications took a tremendous amount of time. Even without knowing the results of this endeavor, some of the time was well worth it. Writing a statement of purpose was challenging and took many drafts, but I think the final product was sharp. Some of the time was not worthwhile. For example, recalculating my GPA 7 different ways or typing up a list of classes that relate to my prospective field when I sent multiple copies (as per the rules) of my transcript. I can't imagine how knowing my precise GPA for my first 2 years of college is really helpful.
In my ideal world, there would be a centralized application system similar to those used for professional schools. While those are imperfect systems, it would be nice not to type my addresss, my resume, my recommenders' phone numbers, etc, multiple times. I'm sure the faculty writing me recommendations would have been pleased to only upload their recommendations once. I was happy to customize my statement of purpose for each department, but I was not happy to re-enter my GRE scores or try to figure out how to cram my current long job title into different sized boxes multiple times.
2. University and department websites
Websites abound and they are critical to the application process. They are the entry point to finding out which faculty have positions at what school and they are the starting point for submitting applications. They are not, however, all done well. Sometimes the school's graduate admissions site was good and the department's was poor, sometimes the school's information was unclear and the department's was sharp, sometimes both were good and sometimes both are bad.
Given the advice to contact faculty before applying, it would be really helpful if all departments listed their faculty in a way that can be sorted by area or field. Likewise, correct contact information is helpful. And if there is a faculty member who resolutely swears not to answer emails or return phone calls from a prospective student, find a way to indicate this (this didn't happened to me, but happened to a friend who later learned that this professor has a policy of not responding to applicants). It's hard enough to know whether it's ok to email a second time if you don't hear back, but don't make applicants question whether their polite inquiry managed to offend the luddite professor who never checks, much less answers, email or the professor who doesn't deign to speak to mere applicants.
3. Timelines
This topic certainly reflects my present antsiness. I very much appreciate the schools that have been in contact and let me know when I would hear from them. Based on talking to current graduate students, I can expect to hear from programs anywhere from February to April. That's a long span of time to wait, and I think the waiting would be easier if I knew even the 2 week window in which a given program mails admissions decisions.
A corollary to this is being clear about what happens if accepted. In some fields, departments bring their short list of candidates to campus for interviews, while in others, they bring admitted students in for recruitment/admit days. If a department does either, they should post when these events take place. I think most grad school applicants realize that they may not get in, but I'd like to know if I should avoid making plans for all of March or just the last 2 weeks. In light of the fact that faculty in my field consistently spoke about how important one's peers are, it seems kind of important to meet those peers before committing to a program, assuming one has a choice. Thus, is it asking too much to request that departments include information in the admissions segment of their website that states when they usually (subject to change, of course) invite short-listed or admitted students to campus.
1. It's a second job.
I had been planning on applying to PhD programs in fall 2006 for a while, started researching programs last year, and secured recommendations over the summer. Nevertheless, reaching out to faculty, talking to students, and preparing the applications took a tremendous amount of time. Even without knowing the results of this endeavor, some of the time was well worth it. Writing a statement of purpose was challenging and took many drafts, but I think the final product was sharp. Some of the time was not worthwhile. For example, recalculating my GPA 7 different ways or typing up a list of classes that relate to my prospective field when I sent multiple copies (as per the rules) of my transcript. I can't imagine how knowing my precise GPA for my first 2 years of college is really helpful.
In my ideal world, there would be a centralized application system similar to those used for professional schools. While those are imperfect systems, it would be nice not to type my addresss, my resume, my recommenders' phone numbers, etc, multiple times. I'm sure the faculty writing me recommendations would have been pleased to only upload their recommendations once. I was happy to customize my statement of purpose for each department, but I was not happy to re-enter my GRE scores or try to figure out how to cram my current long job title into different sized boxes multiple times.
2. University and department websites
Websites abound and they are critical to the application process. They are the entry point to finding out which faculty have positions at what school and they are the starting point for submitting applications. They are not, however, all done well. Sometimes the school's graduate admissions site was good and the department's was poor, sometimes the school's information was unclear and the department's was sharp, sometimes both were good and sometimes both are bad.
Given the advice to contact faculty before applying, it would be really helpful if all departments listed their faculty in a way that can be sorted by area or field. Likewise, correct contact information is helpful. And if there is a faculty member who resolutely swears not to answer emails or return phone calls from a prospective student, find a way to indicate this (this didn't happened to me, but happened to a friend who later learned that this professor has a policy of not responding to applicants). It's hard enough to know whether it's ok to email a second time if you don't hear back, but don't make applicants question whether their polite inquiry managed to offend the luddite professor who never checks, much less answers, email or the professor who doesn't deign to speak to mere applicants.
3. Timelines
This topic certainly reflects my present antsiness. I very much appreciate the schools that have been in contact and let me know when I would hear from them. Based on talking to current graduate students, I can expect to hear from programs anywhere from February to April. That's a long span of time to wait, and I think the waiting would be easier if I knew even the 2 week window in which a given program mails admissions decisions.
A corollary to this is being clear about what happens if accepted. In some fields, departments bring their short list of candidates to campus for interviews, while in others, they bring admitted students in for recruitment/admit days. If a department does either, they should post when these events take place. I think most grad school applicants realize that they may not get in, but I'd like to know if I should avoid making plans for all of March or just the last 2 weeks. In light of the fact that faculty in my field consistently spoke about how important one's peers are, it seems kind of important to meet those peers before committing to a program, assuming one has a choice. Thus, is it asking too much to request that departments include information in the admissions segment of their website that states when they usually (subject to change, of course) invite short-listed or admitted students to campus.
Starting the Blog Thing
I've read plenty of blogs, and I've often thought about starting a blog (admittedly that feeling was generally generated by the desire to rant about something). Blogger managed to nab me today, and we'll see where this leads. I expect to blog about a variety of topics, from news to work to personal adventures (and regular life!). For a variety of reasons, I intend to stay anaonymous as I post to my blog. You'll learn bits and pieces about where I live and what I do, but overall, I think anonymity will enable me to share ideas and opinions more freely.
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