Statistically Significant

Another week in the life of Hoxie.

Saturday was the big day: the Mathematics GRE! I woke up bright and early, rode my bike down to Roxbury Community College, and hunkered down in a flimsy folding chair, six sharpened #2 pencils and my trusty math eraser ready to go. I went pretty much exactly the way I thought it would: I could solve the problems based on material I had covered in classes, and I struggled with the problems based on material I had never seen. Unfortunately, the ratio of (complex analysis + set/group theory + abstract algebra + number theory):(calculus + linear algebra + differential equations) was higher than what I was expecting, so I was forced to skip more questions than I had on the 4 practice tests I took. The good news is that it’s over, plus my mathematics skills have been honed considerably in the month.

After three years of sitting hunched over my 13″ Macbook monitor and resting my wrists on its sharp edges, I decided to upgrade my tech setup. Between the Apple store and Newegg, I acquired some little Logitech speakers, a big 23″ monitor + Apple DVI video adapter, a 1.5 terabyte external hard drive, a USB hub, and an Apple keyboard. Not bad for less than $500! Leaving the battery out of my laptop essentially turns it into a desktop that can easily provide portable computing if necessary, though I don’t find myself making statistics house calls very often. (A pic of the new setup)

The quest to complete grad school apps continues! The NSF Fellowship application has become my main focus because its deadline is a good 2 weeks before my earliest grad school app deadline. Ideally, I’ll be almost done with the entire process by November 1. Won’t that be nice…