u/Deltaone07

Hi,

Can any former or current MSFS students speak on the difficulty of the language proficiency exam? I understand students must be “Advanced Low” on the ACTFL. Obviously opinions will vary by language. I plan to take it in Italian if that helps.

Are they tough graders or are they somewhat lenient? How fluent does one actually have to be to pass? Does anyone actually fail this requirement? Other than simply knowing the language, are there any tips and tricks one should know in order to pass?

I have already been admitted to a top IR program and am heavily considering a dual MBA (T25) to help with potential private sector roles after graduation. What is the consensus on these programs? My initial thoughts are: with an increasingly globalized world and nearly every large corporation having exposure to some type of international business, geopolitics and business can be a potent combo.

But, I am somewhat of an outsider in these circles. I’d like to hear some inside baseball on this. Thanks!

I have been studying Italian fairly hard for about 2 months now and feel like I have stopped progressing. I spend minimum one hour a day and oftentimes more than two. I have been using a popular language learning software, going over common sentences, watching native language content with subtitles on, and reading beginner short stories.

I am getting very mixed up by all the gender rules, plural versus non plural, and tenses. I also keep forgetting what I already learned. I can’t even tell you how many times I have encountered a word that I know for a fact I should know but I drew a blank.

Does this get easier over time? Is it normal to feel this way?

Just a little complaint here. Does anyone else find most of the smart features very annoying? Why can’t users modify it so we keep the feature we like, while disabling the ones we don’t like? It appears you have to put up with all the smart features, or else disable all of them in one fell swoop.

For example I keep getting these “happening soon” banners on my Gmail. Right now I have one for an Amazon package that was delivered yesterday. Thanks? Why are you showing me this? I also get weird banners reminding me of events that I literally have zero interest in attending. Again, unasked for. I get reminders to pay bills I use autopay for. Who asked for this stuff? It feels so intrusive and excessive.

Anyone else notice that Google doesn’t show your true most recent searches? Most of the time my “recent searches” are things I looked up days or weeks ago, but the things I searched for merely ten minutes ago are absent.

I have had this issue for a while. Is this a setting or something? I have no idea why there would be a setting for that, but it’s kind of annoying when I want to re-search something I recently looked at. TLDR: how do I make my recent searches function do as intended?

Hi,

I am an incoming MSFS student and looking for more information on the language proficiency exam. I am a beginner in Italian and am slightly worried about this requirement.

I know each department is different, but how difficult is it to pass the exam? How forgiving are the graders? Do they ask many questions, or is it more me talking about a topic and them listening without much back and forth? How reasonable is it for someone to pass after two years of study starting at the beginner level?

I’m sure everyone has seen the new guidance for Chaplains to wear their branch insignia on the collar. Is the next step to move rank insignias to the collar for the rest of the Army? Seems like that may be where we are headed.

Personally I think ranks look a lot better on the collar. It avoids awkward promotion situations with female soldiers. Not to mention having to look directly at female soldier’s chest. It would also be nice to be able to see a person’s face and rank in the same glance instead of looking up and down their upper torso.

It feels like almost every single post I make on Reddit is automatically removed for breaking one esoteric rule or another. Subreddits now have pages and pages of rules.

I understand they are to “protect” against AI and shitposters, but it kind of undermines the entire purpose of Reddit. Most people are just innocent posters looking for an answer to an everyday question. Do I have to be a regular contributor to every single Subreddit I want to use? That’s kind of an insane requirement.

Example: One I just visited had 25 different sections of rules and each post has to contain a special passphrase or it will be automatically removed. But instead of just telling you what the passphrase is, they hide it in their rules page and make you comb through the entire thing to find it. Then of course when you do find it, they still remove your post because you broke some other weird rule.

Is there a solution to this? There has to be a policy that allows casual Reddit posters to use the various subreddits without being subjected to endless posting rules. How do other social media companies filter out bad content? Is AI making it worse?

Hi all,

I am an English speaker learning Italian for graduate school. I have very little prior experience in Italian and need to achieve an “Advanced Low” score on an ACTFL-OPI within the next two years.

I am wondering how much time per day I should spend on language courses like Babbel versus other learning methods like reading and listening to audio. Should I be using these courses every single day, or should I aim for a certain mix? The problem is when I skip a day on Babbel to focus on something else, I feel like I skipped my entire lesson on that day. Maybe I am obsessing too much over my Babbel streak?

My strategy so far has been to do about 15-20 minutes on Babbel, followed by 30-45 minutes on an Italian TV show while reading subtitles. I’ve made decent progress, but want to start focusing on cognates, and more simple reading while listening to audio. I’d also like to get on with a native speaker within the next few months.

Does anyone have a solid study plan they could share for Italian?

Hi,

Lately I have been getting annoyed at the constant AI features Gmail has been pushing and tried to disable some of them. A big culprit seems to be the "Smart Features" function. I find a lot of the features pushy and distracting. For example the random banners on top of new emails and odd reminders for events I am not even attending. Pretty much the only thing I like about "Smart Features" is how it sorts primary, promotions and social emails.

Can I enable that function alone, and disable all the rest? It seems very aggressive to force users to use all smart features or none. Anyone else getting frustrated by the AI features?

It feels like Google wants users to organize their entire lives around Gmail. Do they realize people already have automatic credit card payments, calendar reminders on their phone, and many others methods to manage their own lives. I don't need or want Gmail to do these things for me and clutter my email up with new features I didn't ask for.

Hello,

I am an incoming MS in Foreign Service student at Georgetown and am considering doing a dual MBA and wanted to hear some career outcomes for anyone who has done a similar program.

I come from a military background and worked in national security at a non-profit in DC. Ideally I would like to someday lead a non-profit, and possibly start my own organization and do something positive, but I would like to get some financial security first. I am interested in working in consulting or possibly entrepreneurship through something like ETA.

I know Harvard (HKS/HBS) is the really the gold standard for public policy and business, but I am sure Georgetown is up there. Would like to hear from anyone who has visibility on recent graduates and what they are doing now.

Hello all,

I am an incoming MSFS student at the Walsh School of Foreign Service and am considering a dual MBA. I wanted to see if there were any MSFS/MBA graduates, or graduates of similar programs out there willing to share their career outcomes.

I am not 100% sure what I am looking for. I come from a military and non-profit background and am looking into consulting, non-profit management, or possible going into business myself through ETA.

I just got back from a deployment with the military, so I haven’t played the game in about a year. After logging into my account and updating call of duty, my Xbox is saying that I do not own the game and is asking me to purchase it. I know for a fact that I do own the game and played it quite often before I left and even prestiged twice.

Is there some syncing issue that may cause this? Not really sure how go about fixing this. I really want to avoid calling Microsoft or Activision because that is always a pain in the ass.

I have been trying to learn Italian and have been watching an Italian series called The Leopard on Netflix. My strategy has been to rewatch the same episode every day with English and Italian subtitles (alternate days) with the hopes of eventually being able to comprehend the entire episode. I am on day four and though I have picked up a couple of words and phrases, I am worried that I am missing a lot of the dialogue. I find that they speak too fast. When Italian subtitles are on it is easier to see what they are saying, but even then I miss more than half of the dialogue due to speed.

Has anyone tried this strategy? Am I better off doing something else? I have been taking Babbel lessons and an intro course at my local community college as well, but I am still very early on in my journey. Maybe just need more time.

I remember the first Xbox I ever got was 64 GB. I haven’t played Warzone in a few months and have a 164 GB update. It’s been 1 hour and I am less than 5% complete. The worst part is that I am sure that there will be no noticeable difference (or improvement) in the gameplay.

It is all so broken.

Hi, I am considering a Title 10 AGR position at NGB and was wondering what people’s experience has been. I have a contact over there and he seemed to enjoy his experience. It seems like most positions are in the Arlington area, but he has had to move a few times.

1. How often do you need to move?
2. Are most positions located in the Northern Virginia, DC area?
3. How does it work for command time?

For reference, I am 1LT promotable with about 5 years in service.

Hi, I have seen many questions on this subreddit about students wanting to transfer to a better, higher ranked school. I understand the process can be challenging for a number of reasons including but not limited to; how challenging it is to get good grades, limited seat availability, class rank considerations, credits not matching up perfectly, and cumbersome application requirements.

However, I am wondering how challenging it would be for a student to transfer to a similarly ranked school. Let’s say a top 50 to a top 55, or something like that. If a student achieved middle of the pack grades and class rank for both schools, would it be relatively easy to transfer? Assuming there are seats available and the application is completed accurately.

I am outside the US and keep getting Google search results for my current region in a foreign language, even after changing my settings. I made sure the region said “United States” and not “Current Region” and even tried translating the page, which didn’t work either.

I understand that Google often ignores language and region settings in favor of IP-based location detection, which makes no sense to me. What is the purpose of changing the settings if Google is just going to ignore them?

I tried using a VPN, but the WiFi I am using won’t connect properly with a VPN enabled. Seems like all this fancy technology is pretty much useless anytime you actually need it.

Is there a better way around this?

I am wondering what my chances are at re-entering the IB industry after a temporary FINRA suspension. Here is my story:

4 years ago I was caught accessing notes during a FINRA administered exam. I eventually accepted an 18 month bar from the industry which has since expired. I was young and very new to the industry and made an admittedly dumb mistake. It was very out of character for me and besides this, I have an excellent professional and personal record.

Since the incident I have been working at a non-profit while serving in the Army reserve. I recently completed a combat deployment where I earned the Bronze Star, and regularly volunteer with religious and veteran organizations. Looking forward, I am headed to a top 5 foreign affairs school this Fall and am considering doing a dual MBA (top 15). I am interested in possibly re-entering the industry if I can find a bank that is willing to hear my story.

I am hoping my behavior and experience since the incident would somewhat mitigate the stigma. I have heard of people who have done much worse that continued to work in finance. Has anyone heard of someone with a previous suspension make it back into the industry?

I am wondering what my chances are at re-entering the IB industry after a temporary FINRA suspension. Here is my story:

4 years ago I was caught accessing notes during a FINRA administered exam. I eventually accepted an 18 month bar from the industry which has since expired. I was young and very new to the industry and made an admittedly dumb mistake. It was very out of character for me and besides this, I have an excellent professional and personal record.

Since the incident I have been working at a non-profit while serving in the Army reserve. I recently completed a combat deployment where I earned the Bronze Star, and regularly volunteer with religious and veteran organizations. Looking forward, I am headed to a top 5 foreign affairs school this Fall and am considering doing a dual MBA (top 15). I am interested in possibly re-entering the industry if I can find a bank that is willing to hear my story.

I am hoping my behavior and experience since the incident would somewhat mitigate the stigma. I have heard of people who have done much worse that continued to work in finance. Has anyone heard of someone with a previous suspension make it back into the industry?