Lex DeVille's - Journey To Doctor

[Lex DeVille]

I've been in that situation before, and yeah...a rush-delivery work might spawn wonders once in a while.

While a prior track record of good work ethic can help, I would say that crafting a decent academic essay can be done in a few hours, as long as one knows the fundamentals of the subject matter (enough to type on Google Scholar search) and how to arrange a framework of intro, lit review, discussions and conclusion.

And you're a regular writer anyway, so that could have helped.

Now, for data-heavy assignments (as in the case of my business analytics major), that's a different story altogether...

It was also fortunate that it's an individual assignment.
Group members can sometimes be sheer disappointments. I'd go on forever on them!

I wish it was a paper! It was an interactive media assignment. That's why I waited to do it.

What you described is a large part of my process for writing academic papers though. Figured out early on that half the points I lost resulted from improperly formatted papers.

So I set up templates based on the school's guidelines and then modified those at the beginning of each course based on the instructor's feedback for the first assignment.

Now it's mostly fill-in-the-blanks with writing. The slowest part is researching sources.

Hopefully, I won't have to do much group work in the future.

 

[Beerbread]

That's so great!! I'm looking forward to reading your progress! You definitely have an advantage in passing with flying colors because of your experience in life prior to college and your work ethic is top-notch! I don't know how old your classmates are, but I know a lot of people who go straight from high school to undergrad, and from undergrad to graduate school without any gap years and I feel that those students don't know anything else aside from school and how to game the system. They're not mature enough mentally to handle the workload. I know I certainly wasn't.

But you got this! APA writing style is so dry, but it's concise. At least there are tons of resources on how to improve your writing.

 

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[USN-Ken]

…... Plus I'm pretty good at written intimidation that doesn't cross the line, so I sent them all messages of warning. Hopefully they get the picture.

That sounds like an info product waiting to happen: "Write intimidation letters like an S.O.B. and win"

 

[Lex DeVille]

Hmm, Fielding offers certificate programs in media psychology with an emphasis in areas such as brand psychology & media neuroscience.

Maybe that's an overlap option I could use. Pursue a doctoral degree with Ashford, and grab the courses I want from Fielding as certificate programs.

 

[Ing]

Opinions?
How do you feel about this situation? If I would let it go, I'd enable the behavior not only by those students, but by others. However, reporting it is likely to cause extra work and potentially frustration for the instructor which could have negative side-effects for me. For now I only contacted the offenders directly. Nobody else is involved.
[/QUOTE]

When I started my Masterjourney, the dean told us, that those, who steal and copy in university, will succeed to do that in life, too. So we shouldn’t care about them any more.

My methaphor is“ give a slap to the mud!“

My aim in getting the degree was the entrance to a job I wanted to have.
So I did only do to necessary. Beneeth 2 businesses.

Your way is a different, as you have the experience of life before it.

I wish you success!

 

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[Lex DeVille]

When I started my Masterjourney, the dean told us, that those, who steal and copy in university, will succeed to do that in life, too. So we shouldn’t care about them any more.

This is exactly what I would tell students if I wanted to decrease the likelihood of them reporting plagiarism that I'll later have to deal with which will suck up my time and get on my nerves.

 

[theag]

The part where I can do whatever the F*ck I want.

Sure. And I can do that, too.

At this rate we will soon have threads like "My journey to high school diploma" and "XYZ's Burger Flipping Guide: Earn 20k this Year (Yes, 2021!) & Go Sidewalk".

 

[ZF Lee]

Research design is rough. I'm hanging in there thanks to an F-ton of reading. A couple days ago the instructor sent an email:

Great that you are keeping the forums alive! Yup, that's another sneaky way to catch the prof's attention.

As for the discussion forum for my Finance and Data units on Moodle...


I tried to post some pointers, especially on debugging R and summaries of class reads, but gave that up after talking to the wall for the first two weeks.

I stuck to email with the lecturer though.

In total, I have four classes left before I finish the Master's (or whatever woke term we're using).

Onwards! Continue to completion!

 

[Jon L]

If you started a research critiquing business, how would you ensure the critiquers aren't biased? The academic journals are supposed to filter who gets published, but they have proven to be biased.

The general public doesn't understand research. They can't interpret meaning from it. Critiques would need to be simplified or else Average Joe has no way to know if the research is biased or not.

I think there's room for content creators in this space. The challenge will be distilling research into simplified concepts and delivering them in ways that hold viewer attention and come across as just the facts.

A YouTube channel or blog could do well once it gains traction.

Look at Kurzgesagt on YouTube as an example. They simplify topics and make them fun to watch. Similarly, this guy has over a million subscribers. All he does is share a once-daily news report that states facts without opinion on political topics.

If someone could break down research, explain the numbers and ideas, and do it in a way that comes across unbiased and easy to understand, then I think it would be a big hit, especially if it is low or no-cost for consumers.

You would need clear filters for bias and to make them known to the public. Repeat them again and again and follow with legit critiques by smart people and you'd have a good shot at success.

What's worse is that the general public only hears about research when its reported in the newspaper. Journalists aren't good at reading the research to begin with, but when they add their own biases to the mix, things turn into a mess.

I majored in psychology as an undergrad. I remember one of my professors talking about some study that, to me, was clearly and deeply flawed. I brought it up, and he said, 'yeah that is one of the arguments against this research,' and then went on talking about how great the paper was. That was a bit of an eye opener.

 

[Ing]

Congratulations!

 

[Antifragile]

@lewj24 and @Lex DeVille your exchange is very interesting. May I recommend a book? One thing is that you both would likely love it!

Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me): Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions, and Hurtful Acts​

We don‘t see the world as it is, we see it as we are. After putting in the Herculean effort I would have been surprised if @Lex DeVille didn’t fight and report them. At the same time, I think I get where @lewj24 is coming from.

I wouldn’t do this book justice, and hence I won’t try to explain. Just allow me to say that I it is on my top 10 best books read (out of more than I care to ever count!) and that it does highlight academic cheating and debates it in the most interesting of ways. For me, it was an eye opener that re-framed my own view on the topic and explained why you two are facing off like this. Fun stuff.

 

[Antifragile]

Done.View attachment 37524

Congrats! Enjoyed reading your path - fascinating story. Well done!

 

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[USN-Ken]

Lex, just skip the formality and legally change your name one more time to: Doctor Lex DeVille.

 

[Lex DeVille]

Get Accepted Into Ph.D. Program - Complete
First step required references and a statement of purpose. Slightly more legit than my previous program. Now that I've been accepted, it looks like I'll start sooner than expected. Had an opportunity to start next month, so I took it.

Psi-Chi Honor Society
It's in my sights. I've already met all of the academic requirements to be accepted into Psi-Chi, but I couldn't do it with my Master's program because they're not associated with Psi-Chi. The new school is affiliated with Psi-Chi, so once I get started I'll only need to pass three classes with top marks to be eligible to apply. This is my next milestone goal.

 

[Mike05]

If you'd asked three years ago about grad school I would've laughed in your face. I hadn't even finished the undergrad degree I started in 2007, one of the longest, most agonizing experiences of my life. I'd hopped from one major to another and from school to school searching for the right program. All of those switches caused years of setbacks and added costs. Luckily, I served in the military and Post 9-11 GI Bill covered it all (almost). Unfortunately, I ran out of GI Bill with a few classes remaining, and because I didn't value degrees (reinforced by success in freelancing) and didn't want to pay out of pocket, I dropped out in 2016 vowing never to go to college again.

But two years later (2018) I logged into the old online classroom to see if I still had access. Turns out I did, so I checked the degree progress report which showed a GPA in the mid 2.5 range and four classes remaining to graduate. I was nine months into being a first time dad, and nearly nine years into entrepreneurship and as I looked at that progress I couldn't help but think, four classes left? WTF why didn't you just finish it?! I don't know if it was the potential for credibility or maybe that I want my daughter to grow up with an educated dad, but I decided to break my vow, pay out of pocket, and finish what I started. I also committed to doing the best I could to raise my GPA. All of this while managing my business systems and operating as a full-time stay at home dad.

In early 2019 I graduated with a B.A. in Psychology, officially surpassing both of my parents in education. I'd also managed to raise my GPA to a 3.1. It took weeks for the diploma to arrive in the mail, and to be honest, I didn't think I'd care. But when it showed up and I had it in hand, something switched in my mind. This was one of the most rewarding experiences in the world. A kid who'd barely passed high school and spent 10 years working on a degree that most people earn in four, was finally a college graduate.

View attachment 29969

Shortly after receiving the diploma I started to imagine what it would be like to go beyond. I joked about it with my wife, "What if I became a Doctor? You'd have to call me Dr. DeVille!" And at first it was only a joke. But then that joke turned into a thought seed. The more I joked, the more curious I became. Soon the thought seed started to grow. I looked into what it would take to become a Doctor of Psychology and realized it would be a lot of work, likely 10 times harder than undergraduate, and would require another six to ten years of school.

The time frame was daunting, but that little curiosity seed wouldn't let go, and within a month I made the decision to enroll again, this time into a Masters program for psychology which would be paid for out of pocket. The degree would come from the same school I'd already graduated from and would prep me for doctoral training, plus, even if I decided not to go through with a PhD program, I'd still come away with a Master's. Unlike the undergrad degree, this time I made a new commitment. Not only would I finish the degree in the shortest time possible without breaks, but I'd also work to maintain a 4.0 GPA and be the top student in every class.

So far I've finished 4 of the 12 Master's classes, maintaining a 4.0 GPA, and was invited to two honor's societies. I'm currently on track to graduate in February of 2021.

View attachment 29971
So I thought I'd document the progress from this point forward since I've recently read posts by people who felt that doing school plus running a business is impossible. To those people...it is not.

From this point forward is my Journey to become a Doctor of Psychology.

Current Obstacles
1. The program I want to enter requires completion of a Master's degree.
2. The nearest APA accredited Doctoral programs are 1.5 hours away.
3. Clinical and other APA accredited programs are highly competitive.
4. Need to complete the GRE which was waived for my current school.
5. Need letters of recommendation.
6. Need to maintain a high GPA.
7. Need to get better at statistics.
8. Need to improve my technical writing skills.
9. Need to clean up online presence.
10. Need to join honor societies.
11. Need to do all of this while managing my business and being a dad.

On a bright note, when I finally get accepted into one of the nearby programs, the degree will mostly be funded by the school. I may not have to pay anything out of pocket for that. But no matter what happens, I will have that degree.

For now I'm focused on the first goal, the Master's degree. This week I'll also start to study for the GRE. The plan is to take the GRE early to see where I stand, and then to take it again in six months after studying to improve the scores as needed to be competitive for surrounding programs.

So that's it for now. Don't know how often I'll update, but you're welcome to follow along if you want.

Congratulations & Good Luck!

 

[Lex DeVille]

As we move deeper into statistics, the class is showing its true colors. Almost everyone waits for the last minute to post anything. Some have no sense of reading comprehension.

One strange new development is some students write with an air of superiority. They purposely use big/fancy words, and I'm not sure if it's because they're retarded or they actually talk that way. Personally, I do not find them superior, just annoying.

One of those students quoted the Bible in response to my post. When she cited the bible...what a coincidence?! She has the EXACT same Bible by the same publisher with the same publication year as the one I quoted in my own post?! OR... she copied my citation because she didn't know how to cite the Bible/didn't want to dig out the information for her own Bible.

Beyond that, the coursework hasn't been bad. I wish the schools would show a comparison of student grades. That would be more fun and would promote competition among students to work harder.

 

[MTF]

One strange new development is some students write with an air of superiority. They purposely use big/fancy words, and I'm not sure if it's because they're retarded or they actually talk that way. Personally, I do not find them superior, just annoying.

Isn't that normal in the academic world? Academic language is notorious for pretending to be smart by writing in a complex way and using the most obscure synonyms for simple words.

 

[Lex DeVille]

Until today, everything was easy breezy. I got up with a pep in my step around 3:30 this morning ready to knock out the week's reading, assignment, and quiz.

Twelve hours later, I'm ready to cry.

It's like the class went from 0 to 1,000. Suddenly mathematical formulas and symbols abound. Today's work is officially the hardest assignment I've ever done. The quiz was almost as bad.

The quiz was 40 questions. It was open book, but not all of the questions were from the book. Many were statistical calculations. I shouldn't have attempted it today. My brain was already on empty from working so hard on the assignment.

Don't know how I survived it all. I came out of the quiz with a low 82% that I'm pretty annoyed with because I spent well over an hour researching answers, doing math, double-checking....

What's funny is I got all of the math questions right. The questions I got wrong had answers in the book, but they were like trick questions that I misread because my brain was mush.

From now on, I have to rethink my approach to school. I've been waiting until the weekend to do my reading/work because I've been busy. I'm gonna have to find some way to stretch it out across the week more so I don't have to read and apply everything all at once.

On a bright note, at least I'm not the other students... If it was this hard for me, everyone else is in for a horribly rude awakening. I might be the only student left in class after this week.

 

[Primeperiwinkle]

Until today, everything was easy breezy. I got up with a pep in my step around 3:30 this morning ready to knock out the week's reading, assignment, and quiz.

Twelve hours later, I'm ready to cry.

It's like the class went from 0 to 1,000. Suddenly mathematical formulas and symbols abound. Today's work is officially the hardest assignment I've ever done. The quiz was almost as bad.

The quiz was 40 questions. It was open book, but not all of the questions were from the book. Many were statistical calculations. I shouldn't have attempted it today. My brain was already on empty from working so hard on the assignment.

Don't know how I survived it all. I came out of the quiz with a low 82% that I'm pretty annoyed with because I spent well over an hour researching answers, doing math, double-checking....

What's funny is I got all of the math questions right. The questions I got wrong had answers in the book, but they were like trick questions that I misread because my brain was mush.

From now on, I have to rethink my approach to school. I've been waiting until the weekend to do my reading/work because I've been busy. I'm gonna have to find some way to stretch it out across the week more so I don't have to read and apply everything all at once.

On a bright note, at least I'm not the other students... If it was this hard for me, everyone else is in for a horribly rude awakening. I might be the only student left in class after this week.

I’m glad that your brilliant mind is being challenged. Being bored sucks. Show mercy on the little guys, they don’t have your emotional iq and they won’t be able to process as well. You’re already a leader.. and dude? If no one’s told you lately, you’re doing well.

 

[Lex DeVille]

I’m glad that your brilliant mind is being challenged. Being bored sucks. Show mercy on the little guys, they don’t have your emotional iq and they won’t be able to process as well. You’re already a leader.. and dude? If no one’s told you lately, you’re doing well.

I don't have much interaction with the rest of the class. Seems like interaction takes a back seat to the course content (which is kind of nice). I would enjoy interacting with other students, but usually, it feels superficial. Seems like everyone is just too busy to get involved.

 

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[Lex DeVille]

gahhhhh

Just got my results back from last week's assignment. An 80%... I'm incredibly frustrated with that score after how much time I put into it. I need to adjust how I study going forward, or I won't be able to maintain an A in the class.

I'll have to spend more time watching YouTube videos covering these stupid equations and topics. I hate this class with a burning passion now. Thankfully, I'm on the downward slope. Three more weeks (plus 8 weeks of advanced statistics FML).

On a bright note, the complicated equations from last week doubled in complexity for this week. What luck!

 

[Andy Black]

gahhhhh

Just got my results back from last week's assignment. An 80%... I'm incredibly frustrated with that score after how much time I put into it. I need to adjust how I study going forward, or I won't be able to maintain an A in the class.

I'll have to spend more time watching YouTube videos covering these stupid equations and topics. I hate this class with a burning passion now. Thankfully, I'm on the downward slope. Three more weeks (plus 8 weeks of advanced statistics FML).

On a bright note, the complicated equations from last week doubled in complexity for this week. What luck!

Shudder. Definitely feel for you doing all that complicated stats. CTR, CPC, ROI. That's the level of maths I care about.

 

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[Antifragile]

Take care of health first Lex. The rest, like classwork and even clients... yeah, they aren't as important. Hope you feel 100% soon.

Coincidentally, I got sick a week and a half ago with a gentle cold, got better within 2 days like you. Went back to regular life, work etc. Then on day 7 hit me like a ton of bricks, last few days had been shit. I didn't test for covid, but maybe that's what happened. Your post made me think. Because it's been a major WTF moment for me.

 

[hobbsie]

All I really want is to be a successful Seattle-based psychotherapy radio talk show host.

How hard can it be?

Love that show!

 

[StrikingViper69]

Things are off to a poor start in advanced statistics.

I forgot about a course requirements quiz and by the time I remembered it, I was several hours behind the due date. So I was late. I scored 10/10 points, and it doesn't appear any points were removed for lateness.

Then I took this week's open-book quiz. It was extremely hard. Even though it was open-book I couldn't look up the answers.

Virtually all of the questions were word puzzles and there was a time limit. Despite reviewing the week's material and using up most of the 90 minutes, I only managed 36 out of 50... so a F*cking 72%. Wow. I basically failed.

What's worse is the quiz doesn't explain why the answers were incorrect. It doesn't provide correct answers either. So I didn't understand the questions or didn't interpret them correctly, but there is no way to correct my mistakes except to review the material and try to understand what I failed to understand the first time... FML

College is horse shit.

I still have multiple assignments due this week.

My frustration levels are at an all-time high.

Are you able to see the professor to go through the mistakes you made? Colleges often do "office hours" or tutorials you can book with instructors / professors...

 

[Roli]

The course workload is full-time and I also do other stuff. I launched a business idea a week or so ago in the INSIDERS area.

https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/threads/lexs-authority-site.105507/

So far, it has generated around $500, and I'm aiming for my first $1,000 in the first month.

I'm working with 2 copywriting clients on the side. Everything else is mostly on autopilot at this point with the exception of the occasional freelance coaching client and making some YouTube videos.

Wow, just wow. I aspire to these astronomic levels of productivity.

 

[Lex DeVille]

Wow, just wow. I aspire to these astronomic levels of productivity.

The secret is have a kid. Then it's do or die haha.

 

[ygtrhos]

I respect your dedication to this as a PhD myself.

I had no responsibilities while I was doing my PhD and it felt easier than my bachelor's and master's. In fact, it sponsored my other aspiration at that frame of time. (chasing skirt)

The system in USA is different though, you have to pass exams etc. In Europe, if the professor wants you as a researcher, it is really a piece of cake to get a PhD.

On top of that, I was paid a good employee salary.

If you enjoy what you research, go for it.

 

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[Vinz]

The course workload is full-time and I also do other stuff. I launched a business idea a week or so ago in the INSIDERS area.

https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/threads/lexs-authority-site.105507/

So far, it has generated around $500, and I'm aiming for my first $1,000 in the first month.

I'm working with 2 copywriting clients on the side. Everything else is mostly on autopilot at this point with the exception of the occasional freelance coaching client and making some YouTube videos.

What does your schedule look while doing this ? From what I read copywriting takes a few hours a week, and the other businesses ? Studying ?
Working out ?

 

[Lex DeVille]

Do you play poker Lex?

No, why? My friend tried to teach me one time, but I never really got into it. Same with chess, although I intend to learn chess at some point lol.