is that you don't give her the impression that you're just being a cheapskate. (You aren't, are you?) So take that that bogus 2-3 months of salary figure and spend *at least* that much on something else for her. A different kind of ring or other jewelry, perhaps. A trip to Europe if that's something she's always wanted to do. A couple of friends, who didn't have much money anyway, gave each other bicycles. If she's very practical, put it into a downpayment on a house.
An alternative that is tangible and that she can keep "forever" has obvious sentimental advantages over a house you'll sell later, etc. After all, it's really about symbolism, not logic. Putting $5k into a kick-ass laptop (for her! really!) may strike you as eminently more sensible than putting the same amount into a ring that has no usefulness and no resale value... but it's not about "making sense'. If at all possible, try to pick something that she can cherish for decades. Women like that sort of thing.
And if she says, "I understand what you're saying, but... I really just want a ring", or if you know her well enough (and hopefully you do) to pick up on the fact that she's really thinking that even if she doesn't come right out and say it... in other words, if you sense the least little bit of reluctance to go with some ring-alternative... just buy the damn ring. Sometimes things that are merely symbolic, and make no *logical* sense, are still the right thing to do.
on-line for everything you can find out about the school. These days you can find out a lot. Look at web pages for classes. Check out the syllabi, slides if they're on line, project descriptions, etc. Try to figure out how much of the class is really taught by a professor, and how much by a TA -- often the TAs will have their own class pages, or the syllabus might show the lecture/lab schedule.
Look for personal web pages by students in the department. See what they say about the department. If you're clever about the search terms you use, you might turn up a few blogs by students in the department, and get some glimpses in to their daily grind if that's what they write about.
Look for pages about research groups you'd like to get involved in. Look at professor's personal web pages, and their publication records. With a little practice you can get a pretty good feel for how much time professors are spending on publications, getting grant money, etc., and how much teaching.
Find people, either in real life or on the web, who have the kind of job you want to have. (That assumes you have at least a rough idea of the kind of job you want to have of course.) Find out how they got there. Find a company you'd like to work for, and if you have any connections there at all, see if you can arrange a brief chat with an engineer or engineering manager. Ask what they look for in a new hire, what schools they particularly respect, etc. If you can't do that, at least look at the job listing sites, and search for on-line resumes, and get a feel for the kinds of backgrounds you'll need for the kinds of jobs you think you'll want.
Do all of this before you go visit the schools. When you do go visit, try to go at least a couple of weeks before exam week. That way people will be more likely to have time to talk to you. Do the usual tour thing, etc., but keep in mind that for all the usual kinds of "good questions" there are pre-packaged "good answers", so take those answers with a grain of salt. Instead, if you're not shy about walking up to people, try to talk informally with some students in the department.
Walk around the building(s) in mid-morning and early afternoon. Peek into classrooms. Do they say something like "most classes have 20 students or less"? Well, don't be surprised if you see a bunch of huge classes, and the way they came up with that statistic was to count every little seminar and lab section and even graduate classes, i.e., *your* average class size may be significantly higher. Try to sit in on a lower-level class, or if the doors are open, just stand outside and eavesdrop on several.
Walk around the department in the early evening, after dinner, and see how full the labs are. (That of course will depend on where they are in the semester calendar. Visiting close to exam week, but not during exam week, will tell you the most.) Are there a lot of frazzled people competing for a smaller number of machines? Are some labs empty and other full -- the machine count alone doesn't tell the whole story, since some labs may have macs or older systems or may be locked up and reserved for certain groups.
Bottom line, departments are partly in the business of selling themselves, and asking questions about their "values" and "goals" and so on is going to get you a lot of marketing hype. Universities that are essentially trade schools won't generally come right out and say so. They all put the students education as their highest priority, blah blah blah.
On the other hand, if you ask around enough, you'll get a sense of who is "selling" the department, and who is really interesting in helping you figure out if it's a good match for your interests. And that's especially true if you do a lot of detective work before you go -- a professor is going to be much more inclined to chat with you if you went to him/her because their research is in an area that interests you, and they know you've gone to the trouble to read their web pages, than if you just wander into the nearest open door.
Slashdot Mirror
Then obviously they should get the necessary permissions and then have Intel pay for changing the name to "The Opteron Gallery".
Or the "AMD Will Kick The Ass Of That Other Company With All The Butthead Lawyers" Gallery.
is that you don't give her the impression that you're just being a cheapskate. (You aren't, are you?) So take that that bogus 2-3 months of salary figure and spend *at least* that much on something else for her. A different kind of ring or other jewelry, perhaps. A trip to Europe if that's something she's always wanted to do. A couple of friends, who didn't have much money anyway, gave each other bicycles. If she's very practical, put it into a downpayment on a house.
... but it's not about "making sense'. If at all possible, try to pick something that she can cherish for decades. Women like that sort of thing.
... I really just want a ring", or if you know her well enough (and hopefully you do) to pick up on the fact that she's really thinking that even if she doesn't come right out and say it ... in other words, if you sense the least little bit of reluctance to go with some ring-alternative ... just buy the damn ring. Sometimes things that are merely symbolic, and make no *logical* sense, are still the right thing to do.
An alternative that is tangible and that she can keep "forever" has obvious sentimental advantages over a house you'll sell later, etc. After all, it's really about symbolism, not logic. Putting $5k into a kick-ass laptop (for her! really!) may strike you as eminently more sensible than putting the same amount into a ring that has no usefulness and no resale value
And if she says, "I understand what you're saying, but
on-line for everything you can find out about the school. These days you can find out a lot. Look at web pages for classes. Check out the syllabi, slides if they're on line, project descriptions, etc. Try to figure out how much of the class is really taught by a professor, and how much by a TA -- often the TAs will have their own class pages, or the syllabus might show the lecture/lab schedule.
Look for personal web pages by students in the department. See what they say about the department. If you're clever about the search terms you use, you might turn up a few blogs by students in the department, and get some glimpses in to their daily grind if that's what they write about.
Look for pages about research groups you'd like to get involved in. Look at professor's personal web pages, and their publication records. With a little practice you can get a pretty good feel for how much time professors are spending on publications, getting grant money, etc., and how much teaching.
Find people, either in real life or on the web, who have the kind of job you want to have. (That assumes you have at least a rough idea of the kind of job you want to have of course.) Find out how they got there. Find a company you'd like to work for, and if you have any connections there at all, see if you can arrange a brief chat with an engineer or engineering manager. Ask what they look for in a new hire, what schools they particularly respect, etc. If you can't do that, at least look at the job listing sites, and search for on-line resumes, and get a feel for the kinds of backgrounds you'll need for the kinds of jobs you think you'll want.
Do all of this before you go visit the schools. When you do go visit, try to go at least a couple of weeks before exam week. That way people will be more likely to have time to talk to you. Do the usual tour thing, etc., but keep in mind that for all the usual kinds of "good questions" there are pre-packaged "good answers", so take those answers with a grain of salt. Instead, if you're not shy about walking up to people, try to talk informally with some students in the department.
Walk around the building(s) in mid-morning and early afternoon. Peek into classrooms. Do they say something like "most classes have 20 students or less"? Well, don't be surprised if you see a bunch of huge classes, and the way they came up with that statistic was to count every little seminar and lab section and even graduate classes, i.e., *your* average class size may be significantly higher. Try to sit in on a lower-level class, or if the doors are open, just stand outside and eavesdrop on several.
Walk around the department in the early evening, after dinner, and see how full the labs are. (That of course will depend on where they are in the semester calendar. Visiting close to exam week, but not during exam week, will tell you the most.) Are there a lot of frazzled people competing for a smaller number of machines? Are some labs empty and other full -- the machine count alone doesn't tell the whole story, since some labs may have macs or older systems or may be locked up and reserved for certain groups.
Bottom line, departments are partly in the business of selling themselves, and asking questions about their "values" and "goals" and so on is going to get you a lot of marketing hype. Universities that are essentially trade schools won't generally come right out and say so. They all put the students education as their highest priority, blah blah blah.
On the other hand, if you ask around enough, you'll get a sense of who is "selling" the department, and who is really interesting in helping you figure out if it's a good match for your interests. And that's especially true if you do a lot of detective work before you go -- a professor is going to be much more inclined to chat with you if you went to him/her because their research is in an area that interests you, and they know you've gone to the trouble to read their web pages, than if you just wander into the nearest open door.
Good luck!