4.0

Grades were released today. Well, sort of. The raw grades. The official translation into a final letter grade is still to come but, happily, that's something of a formality in my case. An A in Languages was a done deal quite some time ago, but Algorithms was anything but sure. I was bringing a low A into the final, so I had to nail it. I did. Yay for that.

Those familiar with graduate school know that grades don't really mean a whole lot past masters level. Distinction from that point on comes from the quality and quantity of peer reviewed publications; not what one individual professor thinks of your work. However, the grades this semester did carry some gravitas for a number of reasons.

First and foremost, it was the first chance for the UMSL faculty to get a good look at me. First impressions matter. From this point on (unless I screw it up), I'll be given the benefit of the doubt. There may come a situation when that proves vital.

Second, I'm about to petition to get the maximum number of credits to transfer from my masters work. This is normally automatic when it's a related field, but such credits are not normally 30 years old. By demonstrating that I am, in fact, the real deal that my transcript is advertising, it's a much easier sell. With 27 credits transfering and 6 completed this semester, I only need 27 more. I can easily do that in another two years. Still leaves the little matter of writing a dissertation, but at least the coursework won't be slowing me down.

Finally, there is the dissertation. This is the one thing I really can't do on my own. I can't have an advisor who thinks they are doing me a favor. I need one who regards me as their best shot for getting significant work published and wants me cranking out as much stuff as possible so they can get tenure. I need someone who is willing to throw their best ideas my way because they believe I'm the one that can run with them.

So, these grades mattered. And, I'm particularly glad they came with exclamation points by killing the final in both classes rather than squeaking in with just enough.