On my mind...

I've reached it -- I've come to the breaking point with my prospective students. First, to clear it up for some of the faculty with whom I work, they are prospective students, not perspective students. For the students themselves, let me tell you what not to do.

First, don't stand in the doorway of my office. You can come in and ask questions, you can ask me for just about anything, but don't just stand there. I hate that.

Second, don't use the following in an email to me, "I was intersted in the information system program. which I hear great things about your school program." I make your admissions decisions and I don't want to be forced by the state's regulations to admit an idiot.

Third, don't use semi-colons. Face it -- you don't know how to use them, and you will do it incorrectly. You will drive me over the edge.

Fourth, and finally (at least for today), don't use the thesaurus to write your essay. You will inevitably end up using words that you do not understand. You will write sentences like "I have obtained a higher level of not only concentration but organization, as well as a faultless self-administration of precedence that has brought me further into faster development of my academic skills." Apparently, the primary academic skill is the one used in choosing "thesaurus" in word. Other than that, your skills, precedence and self-administration are escaping me.