CommPhD20

I'd say that there is limited value of high GRE scores and GPA. Of course, there is much to be lost if they are distractingly low.
 
Statement of purpose is huge here as is (when applicable) a writing sample. You want to prove your ability to thrive in the program. You must demonstrate your fit as well as your competence as a future academic. As you might guess, your letters of recommendation are tremendously important in this case as well. You want people that are professional academics vouching for your maturity, ability, and future prospects for becoming a successful academic yourself. They will also be more credible to the adcomm in their assessment of your fit at the particular school (this is where it comes in handy to not have letter writers distribute the same form letter to each school).
 
Publications and conference presentations are pluses in this regard too, since they demonstrate your understanding of the world of academia as well as proof that you can produce worthy scholarly material. Now, this can have limited upside unless you have presented at a very important conference (and did well) or you have published in somewhat distinguished journals. They won't be all that impressed by publications in a fly-by-night journal beyond the fact it demonstrates your interest in scholarly activity.
 
GPA comes in next and there is some wiggle room here. The meaning of a GPA at one school can be much different from another. Some undergrad schools and types of schools are typically going to produce high GPAs, rendering them pretty unimpressive. Other schools might have the other reputation, which is that of deflated GPAs. They'll be looking more closely at how you did in specific courses and how deeply you studied your subjects. This is another time where there is some value in it being high but as an abstract number it means little. On the other hand, it will be hard to compensate for a low GPA (think 3.0-3.2), but not impossible. After all, lots of variables are affecting that final number and it is still relatively unimportant.
 
I think GRE scores mean the least of all. I believe there is an arrangement in place with ETS that makes them require this for other benefits that fall outside what most or all humanities departments get from GRE reporting. It is more a fact of being part of a larger graduate school than anything else. With that said, it would be troublesome to have low scores because, of course, that would raise eyebrows. The quant score will mean next to nothing unless the graduate school has imposed minimum limitations on the programs. Doing better will be impressive and help, but you won't be able to build an application off of it.
 
This is why you see people bitching and moaning about being rejected despite super high GRE, super high GPA, and [insert big number here] presentations and publications. Unlike undergraduate admissions, the empirically measurable stuff is very weakly predictive. Of course, many bitchers and moaners reveal character traits that make it unfathomable that they could have convinced three academics to endorse them in a confidential letter...which will easily sink that other stuff.

I'd say that there is limited value of high GRE scores and GPA. Of course, there is much to be lost if they are distractingly low.
 
Statement of purpose is huge here as is (when applicable) a writing sample. You want to prove your ability to thrive in the program. You must demonstrate your fit as well as your competence as a future academic. As you might guess, your letters of recommendation are tremendously important in this case as well. You want people that are professional academics vouching for your maturity, ability, and future prospects for becoming a successful academic yourself. They will also be more credible to the adcomm in their assessment of your fit at the particular school (this is where it comes in handy to not have letter writers distribute the same form letter to each school).
 
Publications and conference presentations are pluses in this regard too, since they demonstrate your understanding of the world of academia as well as proof that you can produce worthy scholarly material. Now, this can have limited upside unless you have presented at a very important conference (and did well) or you have published in somewhat distinguished journals. They won't be all that impressed by publications in a fly-by-night journal beyond the fact it demonstrates your interest in scholarly activity.
 
GPA comes in next and there is some wiggle room here. The meaning of a GPA at one school can be much different from another. Some undergrad schools and types of schools are typically going to produce high GPAs, rendering them pretty unimpressive. Other schools might have the other reputation, which is that of deflated GPAs. They'll be looking more closely at how you did in specific courses and how deeply you studied your subjects. This is another time where there is some value in it being high but as an abstract number it means little. On the other hand, it will be hard to compensate for a low GPA (think 3.0-3.2), but not impossible. After all, lots of variables are affecting that final number and it is still relatively unimportant.
 
I think GRE scores mean the least of all. I believe there is an arrangement in place with ETS that makes them require this for other benefits that fall outside what most or all humanities departments get from GRE reporting. It is more a fact of being part of a larger graduate school than anything else. With that said, it would be troublesome to have low scores because, of course, that would raise eyebrows. The quant score will mean next to nothing unless the graduate school has imposed minimum limitations on the programs. Doing better will be impressive and help, but you won't be able to build an application off of it.
 
This is why you see people bitching and moaning about being rejected despite super high GRE, super high GPA, and [insert big number here] presentations and publications. Unlike undergraduate admissions, the empirically measurable stuff is very weakly predictive. Of course, many bitchers and moaners reveal character traits that make it unfathomable that they could have convinced three academics to endorse them in a confidential letter...which will easily sink that other stuff.

I'd say that there is limited value of high GRE scores and GPA. Of course, there is much to be lost if they are distractingly low.
 
Statement of purpose is huge here as is (when applicable) a writing sample. You want to prove your ability to thrive in the program. You must demonstrate your fit as well as your competence as a future academic. As you might guess, your letters of recommendation are tremendously important in this case as well. You want people that are professional academics vouching for your maturity, ability, and future prospects for becoming a successful academic yourself. They will also be more credible to the adcomm in their assessment of your fit at the particular school (this is where it comes in handy to not have letter writers distribute the same form letter to each school).
 
Publications and conference presentations are pluses in this regard too, since they demonstrate your understanding of the world of academia as well as proof that you can produce worthy scholarly material. Now, this can have limited upside unless you have presented at a very important conference (and did well) or you have published in somewhat distinguished journals. They won't be all that impressed by publications in a fly-by-night journal beyond the fact it demonstrates your interest in scholarly activity.
 
GPA comes in next and there is some wiggle room here. The meaning of a GPA at one school can be much different from another. Some undergrad schools and types of schools are typically going to produce high GPAs, rendering them pretty unimpressive. Other schools might have the other reputation, which is that of deflated GPAs. They'll be looking more closely at how you did in specific courses and how deeply you studied your subjects. This is another time where there is some value in it being high but as an abstract number it means little. On the other hand, it will be hard to compensate for a low GPA (think 3.0-3.2), but not impossible. After all, lots of variables are affecting that final number and it is still relatively unimportant.
 
I think GRE scores mean the least of all. I believe there is an arrangement in place with ETS that makes them require this for other benefits that fall outside what most or all humanities departments get from GRE reporting. It is more a fact of being part of a larger graduate school than anything else. With that said, it would be troublesome to have low scores because, of course, that would raise eyebrows. The quant score will mean next to nothing unless the graduate school has imposed minimum limitations on the programs. Doing better will be impressive and help, but you won't be able to build an application off of it.
 
This is why you see people bitching and moaning about being rejected despite super high GRE, super high GPA, and [insert big number here] presentations and publications. Unlike undergraduate admissions, the empirically measurable stuff is very weakly predictive. Of course, many bitchers and moaners reveal character traits that make it unfathomable that they could have convinced three academics to endorse them in a confidential letter...which will easily sink that other stuff.

Yep. I just wanted to make sure that between the two of us, we covered all bases.
 
For those wondering what makes a questionable program, there are some obvious things to look for. NCA recognition would be one. You can also casually assess the quality of faculty - is their work being cited? Are they publishing in the "big" journals (these would vary by subfield)? 
 
The best information to get:
-Job placement statistics: how many grads get jobs, how many get tenure-track jobs, and where do they get them?
-Funding: is anyone unfunded? Does anyone lose funding mid-degree?
-Time to degree/attrition rate: What is the median time before a new PhD student gets their PhD? What portion of students quit before receiving a degree? Each of these "stats" can be made better by excluding the other one. A high attrition rate could make the time-to-degree look good. A low attrition rate could be because the school has people spending 10+ years working on a dissertation. High attrition could also be a way to pump up employment rates - that is, cutting bait with all students who don't appear obviously employable.
 
Job placement is one I would absolutely demand. Don't accept anecdotes on this one (you might have to for the funding and time to degree issues). Don't assume you'll be in the 10% of people Iffy State U places in TT positions. There are too many variables that go beyond your talent and will for you to accept bad odds. You might also want to look into what the advisees of your POI(s) have been up to, in case there is some discrepancy within the department, though this isn't very common.

Yep. I just wanted to make sure that between the two of us, we covered all bases.
 
For those wondering what makes a questionable program, there are some obvious things to look for. NCA recognition would be one. You can also casually assess the quality of faculty - is their work being cited? Are they publishing in the "big" journals (these would vary by subfield)? 
 
The best information to get:
-Job placement statistics: how many grads get jobs, how many get tenure-track jobs, and where do they get them?
-Funding: is anyone unfunded? Does anyone lose funding mid-degree?
-Time to degree/attrition rate: What is the median time before a new PhD student gets their PhD? What portion of students quit before receiving a degree? Each of these "stats" can be made better by excluding the other one. A high attrition rate could make the time-to-degree look good. A low attrition rate could be because the school has people spending 10+ years working on a dissertation. High attrition could also be a way to pump up employment rates - that is, cutting bait with all students who don't appear obviously employable.
 
Job placement is one I would absolutely demand. Don't accept anecdotes on this one (you might have to for the funding and time to degree issues). Don't assume you'll be in the 10% of people Iffy State U places in TT positions. There are too many variables that go beyond your talent and will for you to accept bad odds. You might also want to look into what the advisees of your POI(s) have been up to, in case there is some discrepancy within the department, though this isn't very common.

Ohio State and Illinois do for sure and are top programs. Delaware has a terminal MA program that still offers an academic-oriented track and the department is actually rather star-studded in terms of the research prowess of the faculty. I believe many of them are funded there. I planned to apply there as a "fallback" (I knew I may need to go to an MA program, but I preferred somewhere I could move up into a PhD for family reasons), but found out I had been admitted to a PhD program before submitting the app so I pulled it back.

See if any of your advisors/professors need research assistants. This is, IMO, hands down the best way to get research experience. Like literary_tourist said, try to present at a conference or two as well. Given that you're just getting your feet wet in research, target conferences that are targeted to undergraduates or are otherwise going to be warm and welcoming to someone who isn't exactly on the cutting edge. I'd make it a larger priority to try to find a research assistantship. If you can't find any listings (different schools have different ways of making these positions known), approach the professor you feel most comfortable with and see if they need any help with research tasks like coding, etc. If not, they might be able to give you advice on who could accommodate you.
 
Alternately/additionally, try to do an extended senior research project. This can give you a pretense to really get immersed in your field and find out where your interests fit and if you even fit at all. For instance, I know you mentioned an interest in gender/sexuality and media in another thread. This would provide you an opportunity to see if you are really interested in communication - maybe you'd realize that you're actually interested in media studies, literary theory, or gender and sexuality studies. It would give you something substantive to talk about in your application materials and on any visits/interviews as well.

There are two ways your income can be taxed in the US, more or less:
 
1. "Payroll taxes" - these are taken out of each paycheck and add up to 6% of your paychecks. One part goes to Medicare, insurance for seniors, and the other part goes to Social Security, which is fixed income for seniors.
 
You will not pay payroll taxes on your stipend under most circumstances. This is a good thing for the most part, other than that you won't be eligible to receive Social Security if you naturalize and retire here without eventually paying payroll taxes. If you work in the USA, you'll begin paying into those and you'll have nothing to worry about.
 
2. You have the standard income tax. This is something you'll file after the end of the calendar year with the federal government (the so-called "Internal Revenue Service" or IRS). Some of your benefits will be taxable. What you won't include in your taxable income is tuition waivers or other portions of your stipend used for tuition. Certain other costs can be exempted from taxes, most notably things like textbooks -- the rule here is that it must be required of all students in the course. So books, computers, etc. you might buy for general research will not be exempted. 
 
Generally speaking, anything you spend on personal expenses, which includes your housing, will be taxable income. So if you have a $15K stipend and the rest of your costs are covered, then $15K is your taxable income. In the USA, it is customary for your employer to withhold a certain portion of your paychecks for the purpose of covering your income tax commitment. This is sometimes done for graduate stipends, but not always -- it usually is not if you have a fellowship rather than teaching or research assistantship. The amount withheld will be based on the assumed amount of taxes you'll owe at the end of the year. In this case, it may be the case that when you file your taxes, you'll be getting some of that back since more was withheld than was needed. If your school isn't withholding for you, you will have to make arrangements to budget that portion of your income -- you may pay on a quarterly basis.
 
Further, you could be subject to state income taxes. Not all states have an income tax and there is a great deal of variability in how this is done. There is some chance that even if your state has an income tax, your income won't be high enough to be eligible. 
 
There are more variables based on your resident status and your home country. You may be a "nonresident alien" or a "resident alien," the latter of which will have what is known as a green card. Determining residency status for an international graduate student is bafflingly difficult to me as it is filled with exceptions and this and that. The fundamental taxation difference is that resident aliens are taxed on American income as well as any foreign income while nonresident aliens are taxed only on American income. I'm guessing you'll eventually become a resident alien, but that is not clear to me since there are exceptions for students. You can see some scenarios here: http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/International-Taxpayers/Alien-Residency-Examples
 
Germany (if that's where you live) and many other countries have tax treaties with the USA with provisions for students. These vary so much that it is difficult for me to tell how that will affect you. It may mean that you simply pay taxes to your home country instead. This partially depends on whether you intend to become a permanent resident of the USA or leave as soon as you are finished studying.
 
Other insurance:
 
You will need medical insurance. This is a benefit you should receive from your school, though not all will offer it. As you weigh your options, make sure to find out the degree of medical insurance they will offer. Either fully provided it free of cost to you or an 85% subsidy (you pay 15% of premiums) are the most common. These are usually good plans in that they cover nearly everything and are more cost effective since the risk is spread across the entire working portion of the university. 
 
When you receive medical care, you'll incur any costs not covered by the insurance. Certain services like doctor visits are usually paid for by what is called a "co-pay," which is a small flat fee you pay for each visit. The insurance company covers the rest of the cost. Depending on the insurance plan and type of doctor, these can be $5-$100. Under our new healthcare law, several types of preventative doctor visits must be provided free of cost: alcohol abuse counseling, aspirin for people of a certain age, blood pressure screening, cholesterol screening, colorectal cancer screen above age 50, depression screening, diabetes screening if blood pressure is high, diet counseling if you are thought to have risk of obesity-induced disease, HIV screening, immunizations, obesity screening and counseling, sexually transmitted disease testing, and interventions for quitting tobacco use.
 
The costs for procedures and how you are expected to participate can vary. You start with what is called a deductible. You pay almost all costs (other than certain flat charges like the doctor visit co-payment and free preventative services) until you reach the deductible amount. So if you have a $500 deductible and you have a mole removed for $1000, you know you will have to pay at least $500 of it. After you have met your deductible, the amount of coverage provided by insurance varies. Generally speaking, insurance plans will cover 90%, 80%, or 70% of costs at this point. So-called "catastrophic plans" will cover even less. A new part of the law requires for money you pay for drugs to count against the deductible, since this was not the case before. Drug costs vary by drug, but generally speaking a plan will have several tiers -- preferred generics, nonpreferred generics, preferred name-brands, nonpreferred name-brands, and uncovered. Preferred generics (drugs that are old enough that they are no longer patented by the original pharmaceutical company) will often be free or just $5 or $10. The costs on others can vary widely.
 
Another provision of our new law is a yearly maximum out of pocket costs, which sets a limit of how much you have to pay for all medical costs other than the monthly premiums and co-payments. This is set at roughly 10% of your income. If this is the case for your plan, if you pay $1500 - say, $500 from deductible and the other $1000 on prescription drugs and other procedures that your insurance helped cover - then the insurance must cover 100% of costs from there forward. All of this resets at year's end. It is meant to prevent you from losing all of your money due to an ongoing problem. There is no maximum amount for the insurance to cover -- a new part of the law. This means there is no limit to how much the insurance company may have to spend on your healthcare (in the past, companies would cut you off after a predetermined amount, at which point you were no different than somebody without insurance). Foreign nationals are eligible for insurance and if it isn't provided by the school, you are allowed to buy it along with federal assistance as a student. 
 
Other insurance to consider:
 
Dental insurance may be useful and is usually inexpensive. $20/month would give you a great dental plan that would make trips to the dentist less expensive and guard you against costly procedures. Some of these plans hardly do anything to help save you money while others can be great if you have something come up.
 
Vision insurance is the least common of health-related insurance and probably isn't necessary for a graduate student unless you have particular needs or it is provided by your school (dental and vision are not the standard for graduate student compensation). Seeing an eye doctor can be expensive, but not prohibitively so under most circumstances. A cheap doctor visit may be $100-$150 if you need contacts and the contacts will probably cost you $100-$200 per year if you do not have vision insurance.
 
If you own a home, you'll need homeowner's insurance. I doubt you'll own one. If you rent, that is the landlord's problem.
 
If you wish to drive, you must have car insurance. You will lose your right to drive if you do not have car insurance. The prices and coverage can vary widely, but each state will have a minimum of liability coverage. Without much of an American driving record, I am guessing that you will assessed as a fairly high risk and will pay more than the average person your age.

Seems like not many recognized that there was some serious risk in engaging the present school's department about maybe leaving. If you're willing to ask, you're willing to do it. That means if they say no and they don't want to give their blessing, they will also not like you very much when you decide to go ahead and stay with them.

Uhm by now I am sure that if you haven't gone through it you can't really understand. It sounds arrogant, but it also means that I don't get upset or offended anymore when my friends seem uninterested or unenthusiastic to everything grad-school related. On the other hand, I've met quite a few fantastic people during visits and on this very forum, who "get" it more and can be more of a support group since they can relate. I also heard multiple times from the current students that you need a group of friends separate from school, so that might work in our favor anyhow.
 
For the record, I'm actually excited after making my decision, and I don't think it's because of this particular decision either. It just feels like my mind has been released from this uncertainty limbo; now I can move forward and start making other plans. I would've felt the same had I chosen other program. I haven't realized how much I suffer from indecision until now

There are two ways your income can be taxed in the US, more or less:
 
1. "Payroll taxes" - these are taken out of each paycheck and add up to 6% of your paychecks. One part goes to Medicare, insurance for seniors, and the other part goes to Social Security, which is fixed income for seniors.
 
You will not pay payroll taxes on your stipend under most circumstances. This is a good thing for the most part, other than that you won't be eligible to receive Social Security if you naturalize and retire here without eventually paying payroll taxes. If you work in the USA, you'll begin paying into those and you'll have nothing to worry about.
 
2. You have the standard income tax. This is something you'll file after the end of the calendar year with the federal government (the so-called "Internal Revenue Service" or IRS). Some of your benefits will be taxable. What you won't include in your taxable income is tuition waivers or other portions of your stipend used for tuition. Certain other costs can be exempted from taxes, most notably things like textbooks -- the rule here is that it must be required of all students in the course. So books, computers, etc. you might buy for general research will not be exempted. 
 
Generally speaking, anything you spend on personal expenses, which includes your housing, will be taxable income. So if you have a $15K stipend and the rest of your costs are covered, then $15K is your taxable income. In the USA, it is customary for your employer to withhold a certain portion of your paychecks for the purpose of covering your income tax commitment. This is sometimes done for graduate stipends, but not always -- it usually is not if you have a fellowship rather than teaching or research assistantship. The amount withheld will be based on the assumed amount of taxes you'll owe at the end of the year. In this case, it may be the case that when you file your taxes, you'll be getting some of that back since more was withheld than was needed. If your school isn't withholding for you, you will have to make arrangements to budget that portion of your income -- you may pay on a quarterly basis.
 
Further, you could be subject to state income taxes. Not all states have an income tax and there is a great deal of variability in how this is done. There is some chance that even if your state has an income tax, your income won't be high enough to be eligible. 
 
There are more variables based on your resident status and your home country. You may be a "nonresident alien" or a "resident alien," the latter of which will have what is known as a green card. Determining residency status for an international graduate student is bafflingly difficult to me as it is filled with exceptions and this and that. The fundamental taxation difference is that resident aliens are taxed on American income as well as any foreign income while nonresident aliens are taxed only on American income. I'm guessing you'll eventually become a resident alien, but that is not clear to me since there are exceptions for students. You can see some scenarios here: http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/International-Taxpayers/Alien-Residency-Examples
 
Germany (if that's where you live) and many other countries have tax treaties with the USA with provisions for students. These vary so much that it is difficult for me to tell how that will affect you. It may mean that you simply pay taxes to your home country instead. This partially depends on whether you intend to become a permanent resident of the USA or leave as soon as you are finished studying.
 
Other insurance:
 
You will need medical insurance. This is a benefit you should receive from your school, though not all will offer it. As you weigh your options, make sure to find out the degree of medical insurance they will offer. Either fully provided it free of cost to you or an 85% subsidy (you pay 15% of premiums) are the most common. These are usually good plans in that they cover nearly everything and are more cost effective since the risk is spread across the entire working portion of the university. 
 
When you receive medical care, you'll incur any costs not covered by the insurance. Certain services like doctor visits are usually paid for by what is called a "co-pay," which is a small flat fee you pay for each visit. The insurance company covers the rest of the cost. Depending on the insurance plan and type of doctor, these can be $5-$100. Under our new healthcare law, several types of preventative doctor visits must be provided free of cost: alcohol abuse counseling, aspirin for people of a certain age, blood pressure screening, cholesterol screening, colorectal cancer screen above age 50, depression screening, diabetes screening if blood pressure is high, diet counseling if you are thought to have risk of obesity-induced disease, HIV screening, immunizations, obesity screening and counseling, sexually transmitted disease testing, and interventions for quitting tobacco use.
 
The costs for procedures and how you are expected to participate can vary. You start with what is called a deductible. You pay almost all costs (other than certain flat charges like the doctor visit co-payment and free preventative services) until you reach the deductible amount. So if you have a $500 deductible and you have a mole removed for $1000, you know you will have to pay at least $500 of it. After you have met your deductible, the amount of coverage provided by insurance varies. Generally speaking, insurance plans will cover 90%, 80%, or 70% of costs at this point. So-called "catastrophic plans" will cover even less. A new part of the law requires for money you pay for drugs to count against the deductible, since this was not the case before. Drug costs vary by drug, but generally speaking a plan will have several tiers -- preferred generics, nonpreferred generics, preferred name-brands, nonpreferred name-brands, and uncovered. Preferred generics (drugs that are old enough that they are no longer patented by the original pharmaceutical company) will often be free or just $5 or $10. The costs on others can vary widely.
 
Another provision of our new law is a yearly maximum out of pocket costs, which sets a limit of how much you have to pay for all medical costs other than the monthly premiums and co-payments. This is set at roughly 10% of your income. If this is the case for your plan, if you pay $1500 - say, $500 from deductible and the other $1000 on prescription drugs and other procedures that your insurance helped cover - then the insurance must cover 100% of costs from there forward. All of this resets at year's end. It is meant to prevent you from losing all of your money due to an ongoing problem. There is no maximum amount for the insurance to cover -- a new part of the law. This means there is no limit to how much the insurance company may have to spend on your healthcare (in the past, companies would cut you off after a predetermined amount, at which point you were no different than somebody without insurance). Foreign nationals are eligible for insurance and if it isn't provided by the school, you are allowed to buy it along with federal assistance as a student. 
 
Other insurance to consider:
 
Dental insurance may be useful and is usually inexpensive. $20/month would give you a great dental plan that would make trips to the dentist less expensive and guard you against costly procedures. Some of these plans hardly do anything to help save you money while others can be great if you have something come up.
 
Vision insurance is the least common of health-related insurance and probably isn't necessary for a graduate student unless you have particular needs or it is provided by your school (dental and vision are not the standard for graduate student compensation). Seeing an eye doctor can be expensive, but not prohibitively so under most circumstances. A cheap doctor visit may be $100-$150 if you need contacts and the contacts will probably cost you $100-$200 per year if you do not have vision insurance.
 
If you own a home, you'll need homeowner's insurance. I doubt you'll own one. If you rent, that is the landlord's problem.
 
If you wish to drive, you must have car insurance. You will lose your right to drive if you do not have car insurance. The prices and coverage can vary widely, but each state will have a minimum of liability coverage. Without much of an American driving record, I am guessing that you will assessed as a fairly high risk and will pay more than the average person your age.

Hey guys!
 
It sounds like all decisions have been sent out by every school, and I hope you have made a decision on where to attend!
 
I am struggling with my decision, a little bit.
 
I have both good offers from University of Wisconsin-Madison MA/PhD and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. However, I don't know which school to choose because I love both of them! Below is my offer, and I hope to receive your advice on where I should attend! Btw, I visited both schools and love them!
 
1. University of Wisconsin-Madison; MA/PhD in Communication Science
- Prospective advisor: Dr. Catalina Toma
- Funding Package: Full funding, and 50% appointment of TA-ship. (around $7,300/semester)
 
2. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign; MA in Communication (Mediated Communication & Technology)
- Prospective advisor: Dr. Scott Poole
- Funding Package: Full funding & fellowship; and summer fellowship.
 
In terms of your knowledge, and/or personal experience with either/both schools, could you give me some advice?
 
Thanks in advance everyone!!

The assumption that overweight people haven't noticed or don't desire to become healthier is always kind of silly to me. When I was a pitcher in baseball, you'd always hear the crowd cheer to "throw strikes." Really? I had no idea that was what I was supposed to be doing. Thanks!

The assumption that overweight people haven't noticed or don't desire to become healthier is always kind of silly to me. When I was a pitcher in baseball, you'd always hear the crowd cheer to "throw strikes." Really? I had no idea that was what I was supposed to be doing. Thanks!

Not making money or paying into social security for 5-10+ years while your debt either increases or simply sits and gains interest is not something to turn your nose at and is the most immediate consideration to make when we go into the process that is graduate education. 
 
For me, I had a few first demands knowing the financial non-wisdom of the mere undertaking of the PhD:
-Must be funded with all tuition and major fees waived along with a stipend that provides a livable wage in the school's home market without making unreasonable work demands (20 hour TAships can explode into larger commitments). 
-On that note, no new debt. 
-School has to be very well-esteemed within its field. Placement rates have to be very good and given to me in non-anecdotal terms. It is not a time to adjust my standards, knowing the job market that awaits me. With that said, the following also matters (but cannot overrule this rule)
-Grad school has to be a positive experience. Knowing the bleakness and uncertainty of the future and the potential colossal waste of time (in financial terms) that grad school is, I have to be getting all kinds of intellectual and other kinds of gratification from the experience. There is no use trudging my way through grad school to get to an end where employment is uncertain. 
-No big commitments unless someone else (spouse) is paying for it: house purchase, baby, new car, things like that.
-Grad school can't take forever. If it is looking like an 8 year commitment, I'm getting the hell out. It isn't worth waiting that long unless there is a specific reason that involves me earning enough money to live on before and after defending the dissertation.
 
Assuming all of that goes well, I could still see a totally bleak job market. In that case, I will briefly consider non-ideal contingent positions. However, there seems to be a prevailing thought that non-TT jobs are great with the exception of the job security. That is not usually the case. Usually pay is very low, class loads are very high, and the adjunct is a clear second-class citizen within the department. I will not spend a whole lot of time under those conditions before I seek new kinds of work that will be more gratifying in all ways.
 
Also - I think the biggest issue is the sunk cost fallacy. Entering grad school or entering the job market are not so bad in and of themselves, it is the sticking with it despite clearly awful life/work conditions that is the problem. I'm happy to go to grad school, but I refuse to hate doing it. I will also refuse to spend my time working in academia (if that happens) hating my job. There is an extent to which you take some adversity for the long term good, but there are limits, especially when the long term good outcome often doesn't exist.

I would show you, but that's banned by the NCAA. So just imagine a giant block letter I instead.

Not making money or paying into social security for 5-10+ years while your debt either increases or simply sits and gains interest is not something to turn your nose at and is the most immediate consideration to make when we go into the process that is graduate education. 
 
For me, I had a few first demands knowing the financial non-wisdom of the mere undertaking of the PhD:
-Must be funded with all tuition and major fees waived along with a stipend that provides a livable wage in the school's home market without making unreasonable work demands (20 hour TAships can explode into larger commitments). 
-On that note, no new debt. 
-School has to be very well-esteemed within its field. Placement rates have to be very good and given to me in non-anecdotal terms. It is not a time to adjust my standards, knowing the job market that awaits me. With that said, the following also matters (but cannot overrule this rule)
-Grad school has to be a positive experience. Knowing the bleakness and uncertainty of the future and the potential colossal waste of time (in financial terms) that grad school is, I have to be getting all kinds of intellectual and other kinds of gratification from the experience. There is no use trudging my way through grad school to get to an end where employment is uncertain. 
-No big commitments unless someone else (spouse) is paying for it: house purchase, baby, new car, things like that.
-Grad school can't take forever. If it is looking like an 8 year commitment, I'm getting the hell out. It isn't worth waiting that long unless there is a specific reason that involves me earning enough money to live on before and after defending the dissertation.
 
Assuming all of that goes well, I could still see a totally bleak job market. In that case, I will briefly consider non-ideal contingent positions. However, there seems to be a prevailing thought that non-TT jobs are great with the exception of the job security. That is not usually the case. Usually pay is very low, class loads are very high, and the adjunct is a clear second-class citizen within the department. I will not spend a whole lot of time under those conditions before I seek new kinds of work that will be more gratifying in all ways.
 
Also - I think the biggest issue is the sunk cost fallacy. Entering grad school or entering the job market are not so bad in and of themselves, it is the sticking with it despite clearly awful life/work conditions that is the problem. I'm happy to go to grad school, but I refuse to hate doing it. I will also refuse to spend my time working in academia (if that happens) hating my job. There is an extent to which you take some adversity for the long term good, but there are limits, especially when the long term good outcome often doesn't exist.

Never take on debt and definitely don't bother chasing prestige at the MA level if you have a good funded option like Arizona.

If you've been accepted to OSU, you should definitely decline the offer as soon as possible. 
 
Just kidding.
 
But my SO is on their waitlist, and I would like my SO to get in.
 
So...you know, consider not going, for me, your friend from the communication side of the academic world. Also for my SO, who is from the English-y parts.

Depends on where you set the numbers. From the 2007-2008 hiring season to the 2009-20010 hiring season, yes, the TT jobs were cut in half. That's the MLA's numbers.
 

according to USNR, there are about 140 ranked English PhD programs in the United States. Let's assume each one graduates 10 students a year. That's 1400 newly-minted PhDs.
 
According to the Chronicle, there were about 200 English PhD jobs on offer in 2007, which means that, assuming only new PhD's compete for these jobs, 200/1400= 14% of them get those jobs.
 
REALLY BRO, REALLY?

There are two ways your income can be taxed in the US, more or less:
 
1. "Payroll taxes" - these are taken out of each paycheck and add up to 6% of your paychecks. One part goes to Medicare, insurance for seniors, and the other part goes to Social Security, which is fixed income for seniors.
 
You will not pay payroll taxes on your stipend under most circumstances. This is a good thing for the most part, other than that you won't be eligible to receive Social Security if you naturalize and retire here without eventually paying payroll taxes. If you work in the USA, you'll begin paying into those and you'll have nothing to worry about.
 
2. You have the standard income tax. This is something you'll file after the end of the calendar year with the federal government (the so-called "Internal Revenue Service" or IRS). Some of your benefits will be taxable. What you won't include in your taxable income is tuition waivers or other portions of your stipend used for tuition. Certain other costs can be exempted from taxes, most notably things like textbooks -- the rule here is that it must be required of all students in the course. So books, computers, etc. you might buy for general research will not be exempted. 
 
Generally speaking, anything you spend on personal expenses, which includes your housing, will be taxable income. So if you have a $15K stipend and the rest of your costs are covered, then $15K is your taxable income. In the USA, it is customary for your employer to withhold a certain portion of your paychecks for the purpose of covering your income tax commitment. This is sometimes done for graduate stipends, but not always -- it usually is not if you have a fellowship rather than teaching or research assistantship. The amount withheld will be based on the assumed amount of taxes you'll owe at the end of the year. In this case, it may be the case that when you file your taxes, you'll be getting some of that back since more was withheld than was needed. If your school isn't withholding for you, you will have to make arrangements to budget that portion of your income -- you may pay on a quarterly basis.
 
Further, you could be subject to state income taxes. Not all states have an income tax and there is a great deal of variability in how this is done. There is some chance that even if your state has an income tax, your income won't be high enough to be eligible. 
 
There are more variables based on your resident status and your home country. You may be a "nonresident alien" or a "resident alien," the latter of which will have what is known as a green card. Determining residency status for an international graduate student is bafflingly difficult to me as it is filled with exceptions and this and that. The fundamental taxation difference is that resident aliens are taxed on American income as well as any foreign income while nonresident aliens are taxed only on American income. I'm guessing you'll eventually become a resident alien, but that is not clear to me since there are exceptions for students. You can see some scenarios here: http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/International-Taxpayers/Alien-Residency-Examples
 
Germany (if that's where you live) and many other countries have tax treaties with the USA with provisions for students. These vary so much that it is difficult for me to tell how that will affect you. It may mean that you simply pay taxes to your home country instead. This partially depends on whether you intend to become a permanent resident of the USA or leave as soon as you are finished studying.
 
Other insurance:
 
You will need medical insurance. This is a benefit you should receive from your school, though not all will offer it. As you weigh your options, make sure to find out the degree of medical insurance they will offer. Either fully provided it free of cost to you or an 85% subsidy (you pay 15% of premiums) are the most common. These are usually good plans in that they cover nearly everything and are more cost effective since the risk is spread across the entire working portion of the university. 
 
When you receive medical care, you'll incur any costs not covered by the insurance. Certain services like doctor visits are usually paid for by what is called a "co-pay," which is a small flat fee you pay for each visit. The insurance company covers the rest of the cost. Depending on the insurance plan and type of doctor, these can be $5-$100. Under our new healthcare law, several types of preventative doctor visits must be provided free of cost: alcohol abuse counseling, aspirin for people of a certain age, blood pressure screening, cholesterol screening, colorectal cancer screen above age 50, depression screening, diabetes screening if blood pressure is high, diet counseling if you are thought to have risk of obesity-induced disease, HIV screening, immunizations, obesity screening and counseling, sexually transmitted disease testing, and interventions for quitting tobacco use.
 
The costs for procedures and how you are expected to participate can vary. You start with what is called a deductible. You pay almost all costs (other than certain flat charges like the doctor visit co-payment and free preventative services) until you reach the deductible amount. So if you have a $500 deductible and you have a mole removed for $1000, you know you will have to pay at least $500 of it. After you have met your deductible, the amount of coverage provided by insurance varies. Generally speaking, insurance plans will cover 90%, 80%, or 70% of costs at this point. So-called "catastrophic plans" will cover even less. A new part of the law requires for money you pay for drugs to count against the deductible, since this was not the case before. Drug costs vary by drug, but generally speaking a plan will have several tiers -- preferred generics, nonpreferred generics, preferred name-brands, nonpreferred name-brands, and uncovered. Preferred generics (drugs that are old enough that they are no longer patented by the original pharmaceutical company) will often be free or just $5 or $10. The costs on others can vary widely.
 
Another provision of our new law is a yearly maximum out of pocket costs, which sets a limit of how much you have to pay for all medical costs other than the monthly premiums and co-payments. This is set at roughly 10% of your income. If this is the case for your plan, if you pay $1500 - say, $500 from deductible and the other $1000 on prescription drugs and other procedures that your insurance helped cover - then the insurance must cover 100% of costs from there forward. All of this resets at year's end. It is meant to prevent you from losing all of your money due to an ongoing problem. There is no maximum amount for the insurance to cover -- a new part of the law. This means there is no limit to how much the insurance company may have to spend on your healthcare (in the past, companies would cut you off after a predetermined amount, at which point you were no different than somebody without insurance). Foreign nationals are eligible for insurance and if it isn't provided by the school, you are allowed to buy it along with federal assistance as a student. 
 
Other insurance to consider:
 
Dental insurance may be useful and is usually inexpensive. $20/month would give you a great dental plan that would make trips to the dentist less expensive and guard you against costly procedures. Some of these plans hardly do anything to help save you money while others can be great if you have something come up.
 
Vision insurance is the least common of health-related insurance and probably isn't necessary for a graduate student unless you have particular needs or it is provided by your school (dental and vision are not the standard for graduate student compensation). Seeing an eye doctor can be expensive, but not prohibitively so under most circumstances. A cheap doctor visit may be $100-$150 if you need contacts and the contacts will probably cost you $100-$200 per year if you do not have vision insurance.
 
If you own a home, you'll need homeowner's insurance. I doubt you'll own one. If you rent, that is the landlord's problem.
 
If you wish to drive, you must have car insurance. You will lose your right to drive if you do not have car insurance. The prices and coverage can vary widely, but each state will have a minimum of liability coverage. Without much of an American driving record, I am guessing that you will assessed as a fairly high risk and will pay more than the average person your age.

Never take on debt and definitely don't bother chasing prestige at the MA level if you have a good funded option like Arizona.

At NW visit now - they told us that it's a recruitment weekend with us being finalists and meetings with faculty being interviews.

Not making money or paying into social security for 5-10+ years while your debt either increases or simply sits and gains interest is not something to turn your nose at and is the most immediate consideration to make when we go into the process that is graduate education. 
 
For me, I had a few first demands knowing the financial non-wisdom of the mere undertaking of the PhD:
-Must be funded with all tuition and major fees waived along with a stipend that provides a livable wage in the school's home market without making unreasonable work demands (20 hour TAships can explode into larger commitments). 
-On that note, no new debt. 
-School has to be very well-esteemed within its field. Placement rates have to be very good and given to me in non-anecdotal terms. It is not a time to adjust my standards, knowing the job market that awaits me. With that said, the following also matters (but cannot overrule this rule)
-Grad school has to be a positive experience. Knowing the bleakness and uncertainty of the future and the potential colossal waste of time (in financial terms) that grad school is, I have to be getting all kinds of intellectual and other kinds of gratification from the experience. There is no use trudging my way through grad school to get to an end where employment is uncertain. 
-No big commitments unless someone else (spouse) is paying for it: house purchase, baby, new car, things like that.
-Grad school can't take forever. If it is looking like an 8 year commitment, I'm getting the hell out. It isn't worth waiting that long unless there is a specific reason that involves me earning enough money to live on before and after defending the dissertation.
 
Assuming all of that goes well, I could still see a totally bleak job market. In that case, I will briefly consider non-ideal contingent positions. However, there seems to be a prevailing thought that non-TT jobs are great with the exception of the job security. That is not usually the case. Usually pay is very low, class loads are very high, and the adjunct is a clear second-class citizen within the department. I will not spend a whole lot of time under those conditions before I seek new kinds of work that will be more gratifying in all ways.
 
Also - I think the biggest issue is the sunk cost fallacy. Entering grad school or entering the job market are not so bad in and of themselves, it is the sticking with it despite clearly awful life/work conditions that is the problem. I'm happy to go to grad school, but I refuse to hate doing it. I will also refuse to spend my time working in academia (if that happens) hating my job. There is an extent to which you take some adversity for the long term good, but there are limits, especially when the long term good outcome often doesn't exist.