wickkallie

It was so hard for me to say no to my POI. All the professors were so nice and willing to speak with me about joining their groups and directing me to students with whom I could speak with. I felt I was recruited hard to join certain labs, and I got a hell of a scholarship, so I got the feeling they really wanted me. Honestly, I know this sounds stupid, but my heart was beating so hard when I pressed send. Here is what I eventually wrote: Dear Professor XXXXX, I am very grateful to have been given the opportunity to work for you, and for Xschool's very generous offer. It was a very difficult decision, especially since I felt this program was such a strong research fit for my interests. However, I’ve chosen to accept an offer from Xschool. Thank you again for all your time, help and advice. XXXXXX One professor emailed me back, wishing me well at my other school, and said maybe we would meet in the future at conferences (my field is small).

Has anyone heard anything from Maryland?

this is what they wrote for my offer at PRGS: $26,500/year base stipend then they go on to explain that after federal and state taxes, this actually comes down to $16,370/year (w/ one exemption). my first reaction was this was way too low, since housing is so expensive in this region. Is this a correct analysis? Is everyone's fellowships lower since they are taxed? I know tax rates are different across the U.S... what are people's actual take home pay?

I saw that there were some results from Washington Evans, and since I didn't hear anything yet, I called the school. They told me that all decisions have been made and sent out. I called Maryland and they told me, that adcoms were still deciding and were meeting again this week. She didn't really give me a date of when results would be out.... she just said they were working on it. I called Georgia Tech, and she told me they got a greater number of strong candidates for this year, and that they were still reviewing candidates, but that results should be out in the next week or so.