gellert

I've already contacted my top POI's, and have had unofficial interviews with three of them (and a scheduled interview with a fourth).  I'll probably start blanket contacting everyone I want to apply to in late summer, and will ask for LORs in early fall.  Happily, 2/3 of my letter writers will be the same as the ones who did my letters last time, so I'll just have them update with my slightly more honed research interests and send the same thing.  Easy peasy!

Oh, and I'm applying social psych and cog neuro.

I have a Cambridge Satchel Company "batchel" that looks good as new after one year of daily use.

I usually carry 1-2 moleskines, a book (to read), pen, keys, sunglasses, my iPad, phone with earbuds, hand lotion (dry hands = curse of my field), wallet, lipstick in 6-7 colors (what can I say?), emergency heart medicine and emergency nausea medicine (for med problems), checkbook.  Occasionally I will put my 13" macbook pro in there as well, though I'm thinking of switching to a macbook air just to make it lighter to carry.  Sometimes I also bring a water bottle, thermos, or baggies of tea and/or snacks.

Am considering buying a Saddleback Leather bag.  Those are really expensive, but the quality is allegedly incomparable.  Maybe that's something to buy as a self-gift if I get a post-doc or assistant professorship in the far future, though.  Right now, my satchel is still working great for me.

Is it safe to bike in Boston/Cambridge/Somerville? I've heard that there are a lot of cyclists, but I've also heard about accidents and incredibly ignorant drivers. I'm worried because I love to bike, and would definitely prefer to bike to school than take the transit (according to Google Maps, it would take 10 minutes to bike from my future apt. to MIT but half an hour by bus). I'll be living in Somerville (near-ish Harvard) and commuting to MIT, so I probably won't have to go into Boston proper. Any thoughts?

I've never had a problem, personally.  There are bike lanes throughout Cambridge and Somerville, and as long as you stick to those and obey traffic rules, I can't forsee much issue.  Just be careful when there are a lot of cars parked on the side of the street; you don't want to get doored!

Cycling in Boston proper, on the other hand, is a pain and a half.