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tripathySo I've been getting emails from this Pakistani guy who wants to get into our grad program. Firstly, he's missed the deadline by 1.5 months. Secondly, because one of our profs is leaving and we're in the process of hiring another to replace him, we don't have anyone in his field of interest who can take students, and I told him so right from the start. Thirdly, his emails to me are half in netspeak and riddled with typos, which shows that he just doesn't care enough. Fourthly, it looks like nothing I say will dissuade him. Lastly, he is bloody fucking annoying and seems to think I'm his personal secretary.
Observe:
Him:
hi sir
its honour for me that i m applying in Mc Gill university for scholarship through ur kind self, sir i have done my masters in [subject] from [university], Pakistan.with distingish positon, and this is my herat desire to carry on my study in ur university. sir im sending u my detail resume. i m waiting for ur further kind response.
thanks
Me (after reading his CV to find out his interests):
Thank you for your interest in our department. Unfortunately, we presently have no professor in our department specializing in [subject 1] or [subject 2] who would be able to supervise a graduate project in that area of research. You may wish to try University of Calgary, University of Alberta or University of Toronto.
Best of luck in finding a graduate program that will suit your interests.
Him:
thanks for replying me , as i mentioned in cv about my subjects of interest, do u have any professor of [subject 3] as well, bcz i wanna get admission on scholarship basis in ur university.
Me:
Unfortunately we do not have a [subject 3-ologist] at this point either. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.
Him:
thanks [my name]
hey don't worry, i m very enthusiastic and encouraging person don't feel like this, but i have a personnel request to u, pl z take it personnel not official, actually u live there and u understand better about the education and universities, therefore i request u to search out some suitable position for me by Ur kind self. waiting for ur reply....
Me:
Unfortunately the deadline to apply for graduate studies for Fall 2009 passed back on March 1, so if you did apply the earliest you could start would be January 2010. The best thing to do would be to have a look at the list of our professors and their research interests at [our website's faculty list page] and directly contact the one(s) with whom you might be interested in working. Please note that Prof [...] is leaving so you should not bother to try contacting him.
Him:
thanks [my name]
according to ur instructions i have contacted with [another prof] for [subject 3] and i have mailed her, but i have request to u that u have my resume so kindly do forward it on ur behalf also and discuss my case with her. it will be ur kindness for me .
Me:
Unfortunately Professor [...] does not take graduate students, but nevertheless I have forwarded her your CV and maybe she will have some ideas of somewhere else you could try. It is up to you to discuss your case with her.
I don't want to be discouraging, but I don't think that you will find what you are looking for in our department, and I think that you would have a much better chance trying one of the other universities that I originally mentioned.
Him:
hello [my name] mam...
i am very glade that u r in contact with me .thanks, [my name] i know about other universities , but i suggest that....., i don't know about other universities links, u could may some personnel links or departmental links over there, i have forwarded my to u, so plz try to forward it on ur behalf, so that i could get chance there, dear [my name] its very important for me ,please try to find out some suitable way to get admission there.
Me:
I'm sorry, but it is up to you to contact departments in other universities and send them your resume yourself. If you enter the names of the other universities into any internet search engine you will be able to easily find their websites. I'm afraid I can't help you any more at this point.
That was the last one, responded to this morning. FFS, what the hell does he think I am? His personal gofer? The sense of entitlement is pretty staggering. You can see how many times I told him to go away (and so did the prof that he contacted) and he just won't listen. My patience is completely at an end, and if he responds again and tries to ask me to do anything else, I am going to tell him in NO uncertain terms to leave me alone and stop emailing me. I'd also love to mention that it is presumptuous and even rude to suggest that I do all this work for him (just because he's being a lazy ass, but I wouldn't go that far). I could just ignore it, but I know from experience that if you don't tell the students (especially the ones from that part of the world) to GO AWAY, they will keep on bugging you. And I am not inclined to go above and beyond for someone who can't even be bothered to use real language or proofread their messages (I make allowances for general grammar and minor spelling problems associated with ESL, but NOT for netspeak and general laziness, sorry).
I wish someone had taught these people that persistence in this manner is more detrimental than anything else. Some profs ask me for overall impressions of students if I've had contact with them first, and my saying "this kid is annoying as hell and I would not be looking forward to having to deal with him/her if they were a student here" does have a certain amount of pull--small, but still there, especially if the applicant is admissible but not a superstar that a prof really badly wants.
So, should I lay down the law if he emails me one more time saying anything other than "thanks for your help, goodbye"? Or continue to try to be firm but polite (which obviously isn't working)?
~
In other news, in 5 months I'm going to be an aunt. It's my brother and his wife. You may recall me mentioning at one point that they had split over a year ago. Apparently they did not stay split but none of us had any clue so this comes as a complete surprise. My bro seems happy--he's always wanted a family and is talking about buying baby things and clearing out the second bedroom--but I am having a very hard time giving proper congratulations because I have so many reservations about the situation. Anyway, that's all I'm going to say about that. (Mellie, if you're reading this, don't mention this to your mom until my ma tells her!!! I don't want the same thing to happen as did last time >_o.)
Observe:
Him:
hi sir
its honour for me that i m applying in Mc Gill university for scholarship through ur kind self, sir i have done my masters in [subject] from [university], Pakistan.with distingish positon, and this is my herat desire to carry on my study in ur university. sir im sending u my detail resume. i m waiting for ur further kind response.
thanks
Me (after reading his CV to find out his interests):
Thank you for your interest in our department. Unfortunately, we presently have no professor in our department specializing in [subject 1] or [subject 2] who would be able to supervise a graduate project in that area of research. You may wish to try University of Calgary, University of Alberta or University of Toronto.
Best of luck in finding a graduate program that will suit your interests.
Him:
thanks for replying me , as i mentioned in cv about my subjects of interest, do u have any professor of [subject 3] as well, bcz i wanna get admission on scholarship basis in ur university.
Me:
Unfortunately we do not have a [subject 3-ologist] at this point either. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.
Him:
thanks [my name]
hey don't worry, i m very enthusiastic and encouraging person don't feel like this, but i have a personnel request to u, pl z take it personnel not official, actually u live there and u understand better about the education and universities, therefore i request u to search out some suitable position for me by Ur kind self. waiting for ur reply....
Me:
Unfortunately the deadline to apply for graduate studies for Fall 2009 passed back on March 1, so if you did apply the earliest you could start would be January 2010. The best thing to do would be to have a look at the list of our professors and their research interests at [our website's faculty list page] and directly contact the one(s) with whom you might be interested in working. Please note that Prof [...] is leaving so you should not bother to try contacting him.
Him:
thanks [my name]
according to ur instructions i have contacted with [another prof] for [subject 3] and i have mailed her, but i have request to u that u have my resume so kindly do forward it on ur behalf also and discuss my case with her. it will be ur kindness for me .
Me:
Unfortunately Professor [...] does not take graduate students, but nevertheless I have forwarded her your CV and maybe she will have some ideas of somewhere else you could try. It is up to you to discuss your case with her.
I don't want to be discouraging, but I don't think that you will find what you are looking for in our department, and I think that you would have a much better chance trying one of the other universities that I originally mentioned.
Him:
hello [my name] mam...
i am very glade that u r in contact with me .thanks, [my name] i know about other universities , but i suggest that....., i don't know about other universities links, u could may some personnel links or departmental links over there, i have forwarded my to u, so plz try to forward it on ur behalf, so that i could get chance there, dear [my name] its very important for me ,please try to find out some suitable way to get admission there.
Me:
I'm sorry, but it is up to you to contact departments in other universities and send them your resume yourself. If you enter the names of the other universities into any internet search engine you will be able to easily find their websites. I'm afraid I can't help you any more at this point.
That was the last one, responded to this morning. FFS, what the hell does he think I am? His personal gofer? The sense of entitlement is pretty staggering. You can see how many times I told him to go away (and so did the prof that he contacted) and he just won't listen. My patience is completely at an end, and if he responds again and tries to ask me to do anything else, I am going to tell him in NO uncertain terms to leave me alone and stop emailing me. I'd also love to mention that it is presumptuous and even rude to suggest that I do all this work for him (just because he's being a lazy ass, but I wouldn't go that far). I could just ignore it, but I know from experience that if you don't tell the students (especially the ones from that part of the world) to GO AWAY, they will keep on bugging you. And I am not inclined to go above and beyond for someone who can't even be bothered to use real language or proofread their messages (I make allowances for general grammar and minor spelling problems associated with ESL, but NOT for netspeak and general laziness, sorry).
I wish someone had taught these people that persistence in this manner is more detrimental than anything else. Some profs ask me for overall impressions of students if I've had contact with them first, and my saying "this kid is annoying as hell and I would not be looking forward to having to deal with him/her if they were a student here" does have a certain amount of pull--small, but still there, especially if the applicant is admissible but not a superstar that a prof really badly wants.
So, should I lay down the law if he emails me one more time saying anything other than "thanks for your help, goodbye"? Or continue to try to be firm but polite (which obviously isn't working)?
~
In other news, in 5 months I'm going to be an aunt. It's my brother and his wife. You may recall me mentioning at one point that they had split over a year ago. Apparently they did not stay split but none of us had any clue so this comes as a complete surprise. My bro seems happy--he's always wanted a family and is talking about buying baby things and clearing out the second bedroom--but I am having a very hard time giving proper congratulations because I have so many reservations about the situation. Anyway, that's all I'm going to say about that. (Mellie, if you're reading this, don't mention this to your mom until my ma tells her!!! I don't want the same thing to happen as did last time >_o.)
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(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-20 04:20 pm (UTC)Oh, and I don't know how you should handle the Pakistani grad student.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-20 06:35 pm (UTC)Stop being unhelpful!
(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-20 08:28 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-20 10:00 pm (UTC)Either that or they are a believer in the great geology conspiracy, that all geology departments are part of the same giant conspiracy of geology departments where researchers gather and exchange secret research information with other researchers, and discuss who they are going to let in to the cabal, and that you hold the keys for getting in. Obviously you, as a secretary in one university, know all the secretaries in all the other departments at all the other universities. What else could be true? Unless, of course, you're trying to deny the existence of the Conspiracy to Keep Kids Who Can't Spell Out Of Grad School.
P.S. If you really are part of a giant conspiracy, how are the hours? The hours in the great physics conspiracy suck, and so does the pay.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-21 06:57 pm (UTC)There's also the possibility that once I identified under a female name (the first email came to me through our general inquiry address), I must be his servant. It wouldn't be the first time someone from that part of the world has made that assumption.
I do love the "do it for me because it's a 'personnel' request" thing. Well, luckily there's no way in hell this new best friend of mine is going to get admitted.
Heh, and if I had friends in the departments of other universities, I certainly wouldn't foist someone like this upon them. But I'm not denying the existence of the Conspiracy to Keep Kids Who Can't Spell Out Of Grad School, although it may only be a conspiracy of one. I'm doing my best! The hours for this conspiracy aren't bad, and the pay's not great but it'll do in these tough times. Plus we get Fridays off in the summer.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-22 04:06 pm (UTC)Last time I asked how your bro was doing you said he was still upset but that she had moved on and seemed totally happy. When the hell did all this happen??
Oh gawd....how is the rest of your family taking it?
About the student from Pakistan .... wow, he's really pushy and annoying!
(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-22 05:33 pm (UTC)And I got another message from the Pakistani kid. He's still at it. I'll put that in a new post.