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bluebunny

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Everything posted by bluebunny

  1. Looking purely from a numbers perspective, $200K of debt on a combined income of $150K (assuming your son's fiancee makes about $50K) is doable. Debt payments would total about $28K/year for 10 years @ 6.8%, and federal income tax would be about $30K/year, leaving about $92K take-home pay. This is equivalent to a combined income of $112K with no debt payments. Also, it seems like buying a house is no longer assumed for this generation, especially in urban areas where an MPP grad is likely to live. It sounds like that's a tradeoff your son is willing to make to pursue the career he wants.
  2. The letter says you must find a research advisor who is willing to fund you, before you can be admitted.
  3. Based on 2012 tax tables, your federal taxable income is $29k - $3,800 exemption - $5,950 standard deduction = $19,250, which gives a tax of $2,450 and a monthly net income of about $2,250.
  4. Probably the best time to do this would be over the summer, when faculty aren't busy with classes and the incoming class is more or less set.
  5. I've seen many people update it when they've made their decision to enroll, as sort of an official FB announcement.
  6. Unless this is a super small program, it's probably the case that they accepted, for example, 20 people for an entering class of 15. If so, then you'd need 2 more than the expected 5 to decline the offer.
  7. Your V and Q scores are high enough for Master's in Education programs (HGSE's averages are 600V/660Q). Your writing score is a bit lower than most program's averages, but not significantly so. Since you're applying for Fall 2013, you have time to prepare for a retake, but on the other hand, you'd have to prep for the new test format, which may or may not play to your strengths.
  8. The PowerPrep software has one or two practice tests, which are pretty close to the real thing in difficulty and pace.
  9. I'd choose between Vanderbilt (best reputation) or BC (Catholic university near large city) and eliminate the others.
  10. 2nd most popular word I found was "computer" with 14,915. How about most popular schools? The following had over 4,000: Columbia 6183, Berkeley 5512, Stanford 5026, Harvard 4816, Yale 4064, Cornell 4021
  11. If everyone on a waitlist asked for extensions, wouldn't that just drag out the process even longer? Programs want to see who commits by April 15 before going to their waitlist.
  12. Drexel is tied for #35 with 6 other schools.
  13. No specific photonics ranking, but BU is #48 in Electrical Engineering and #58 in Materials Science and Engineering.
  14. Colorado, according to US News: 39. Colorado 53. Arizona State, UC Riverside 79. UT Dallas
  15. According to the financial aid office, the full grant amount and Perkins/FWS are only offered to students with substantial amounts of existing educational debt. So I'm feeling a lot better about my award after all.
  16. UCSD is ranked #42 for Materials Science and Engineering.
  17. Really disappointed in my aid package (EFC = 0): a grant well under the $12k max, and no Perkins/FWS.
  18. 1. MIT 2. Northwestern, UCSB 4. UIUC 5. Stanford 6. Berkeley 7. GaTech 8. Caltech, Michigan 10. Cornell, Penn State 12. Florida 13. Penn 14. CMU, Purdue 16. Harvard 17. Ohio State, Wisconsin 19. RPI, Minnesota
  19. I haven't gotten mine yet, and I applied as soon as the application came out on January 1, with a copy of my tax forms a couple of weeks later. I'll post as soon as I get anything.
  20. I know Penn matches you to a graduate assistantship around April 1 before you commit to enroll; does Michigan do something similar? That might help sway your decision depending on your interest and fit. Besides that, I see the following comparisons: Michigan - higher ranked in specialty (may help if you decide to apply for a PhD in the future - lots of Higher Ed faculty got their PhDs there), 1.5-year program (more internship experience helps if you're a fresh grad), 3 classes at a time, college town Penn - Ivy prestige, 1-year program (lower tuition), 5 classes at a time, urban setting
  21. For mail notification, it could be that yours is coming. For phone notification, I've seen programs that call applicants over the course of a few days.
  22. More info here about UW's budget problems, although to be fair many other public institutions like the UCs are facing similar issues.
  23. I also got that vibe from TC. I e-mailed them with a few questions that weren't answered on the web page or FAQ, and I just got a terse reply that the web site should be able to answer all my questions.
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