dat_nerd

Hi ofe1818, I can't answer your questions about CUNY but I live in NYC (brooklyn specifically) and can pass on this advice: travel times in the NYC are entirely dependent on whether or not you are near the subway line that you need. It looks like there's a G stop near CUNY law so you could possibly have a commute of around 30 mins if you lived off the G in say Greenpoint brooklyn- alternately it could take hours if you don't have an easy connection. There are buses but I'm not a huge fan. My advice is to look at the subway map and plot your apartment search around the train lines that you'll be using.
As to cost of living...well, rent is really expensive as I'm sure you know...but food and public transport are relatively cheap. You can significantly reduce your rent by sharing a two bedroom and a lot of the universities have boards to help students pair up with roommates. Oh, and a lot of students choose Astoria Queens for the cheapest rents- its a nice neighborhood, a bit quiet compared to Brooklyn though. Hope this helps. If you want more specific info down the line about neighborhoods or anything else you can PM me.

There's a whole thread on NYC. Check it out. I'm born and bred here in NYC. NYC's food is not cheap whatsoever. And Astoria is a very cramped neighborhood where students flood in and flood out so prices are not cheap whatsoever. Expect to pay 800-1100 dollars on  a tiny 15 x 10 bedroom, 4 friends of mine lived in Astoria and that was the average room. This is NYC, not Wyoming. Not here to bash Ablukhov but NYC is not to be underestimated in terms of prices and expenses. 
For cheaper rents, Jackson Heights, Woodside, Sunnyside in Queens, the further east in Queens, the cheaper and of course the longer the commute. As for Brooklyn, I'm not sure. 
 
Travel time to LIC from BK is around 30 minutes to 1 hour, Depending on what trains you take, the G train being the fastest.
 
Then again, check the thread!

I changed my desktop email client to retrieve mail every minute (rather than the original five minutes) and changed the notification sound to one louder and higher pitched so I won't confuse it with my music. The wait is killing me.

I changed my desktop email client to retrieve mail every minute (rather than the original five minutes) and changed the notification sound to one louder and higher pitched so I won't confuse it with my music. The wait is killing me.

You mean she corrected it on her own? That is unbelievably nice. So glad there are great people out there willing to do that. My goodness, if she said see you soon to me, I would be flipping out. I'd LOVE to see you soon!!!!!

I downloaded an email app on my phone so that the work email sound was different from my personal email sound. Then I just disabled all vibrating and tones for my work email so that I don't get excited over nothing. I've stopped putting my phone on silent and started carrying it everywhere (like into the kitchen at work, even though the kitchen is 30 feet from my desk and I'm certain I can hear it from there). All of this and I still have four weeks to go before hearing even from the programs that notify earliest. My poor husband and friends...

Yes! I have one more application to submit, and I've yet to hear back from anywhere (it's still a little too early). I'm going crazy waiting, though. Doesn't help that CS people seem to be underrepresented (or at least not very vocal) on this forum; I was starting to think I was the only one!

So today was the cut off for most of my applications, and I got them all in earlier this week. I am going to wait a week to make sure all documents were found(since I sent in my transcripts and stuff early) however this is still nerve wracking. I am the only person I know who thinks I wont get in and am already panicking.

How are the rest of you handling it? First thing I made sure of was I am not going to look at any of my written submissions, because I know that if I look at them I will find something and I will freak out about it.

I read an article on that which might interest you.
 
http://contexts.org/articles/fall-2009/breastfeed-at-your-own-risk/
 
Good luck,
 
HM

I'm hoping people with that same attitude applied to all the programs I did, because it will greatly improve my chances of acceptance!

To me at least, the only sensible reason for asking "what are my chances?" is to decide whether or not to apply. Since this is your dream school, and the deadline already passed I believe, I'm assuming you already applied.
 
So what would you like to hear, and what do you wish to do with this information? 
 
I suggest you stop worrying about your chances and start improving your chances by contacting some professors, if you haven't already.

I have heard several people using ghostwriters for their statements and just wondering what everyone's thoughts are about that. Has anyone ever used a ghostwriter before?

Maybe I don't fully understand the nuances of the English language but I did not interpret the OP's post as a person who was asking because they were considering using a ghostwriter for their SOP (i.e. plagiarism).
 
Instead, I saw a legitimate question. There are many instances in life where people do not play by the rules and it's acceptable. For example, where I grew up, most people drive 10km/hr over the speed limit (even driving examiners admit this is okay as long as we don't do it during the driving test). Or, some people fudge numbers a little bit when filing income taxes (especially if they are earning wages off the record, e.g. tips).
 
I'm NOT saying that plagiarism is a "minor/acceptable transgression". What I mean is that many "rules" are really flexible and when in a new situation, e.g. grad school applications, it might not be clear which rules are flexible and which rules are really serious. It's okay to ask and find out. We all wrote posts explaining why plagiarism is a serious transgression. In addition, I am actually also curious how many people plagiarise their SOPs. I would never submit any work I did not do myself but if I suddenly heard that supposedly a lot of people are doing it, I would be curious to find out how "big" of a problem this was. Obviously, asking my cohorts and supervisors would not be a good idea -- look how some people here responded to the OP. So, this forum, where you can be as anonymous as you want to be, is a safer place. In addition, people come from many different schools and background here, so you sample a wider range of responses.
 
I'm not surprised that people do this though. There are reports of well established faculty members completely falsifying their data in published journal articles! My current school has a student-run council that investigates academic dishonesty and about a dozen students per year are found guilty. And the stories that were linked earlier in this thread about "sham PhDs" and ghostwriters are intriguing because they provide an interesting viewpoint, but they refer to practices that I've heard of happening before. However, I've never personally known anyone to have done something this dishonest, but as one of the articles said -- most of their clients don't get caught. So, I wouldn't be surprised if I found out someone I knew did this, but it would destroy my respect for them!
 
I am optimistic though -- like the story of the external PhD examiner, most of these fraudsters will be found out. Sure, there will be a few cases where someone gets a position that they shouldn't have, but that happens outside of academia too. Resumes/CVs can be forged! I don't expect the world of academia to be any more honest than any other professional world since the consequences of lying in other professional fields are just as bad as academia.

I agree with comments here, especially fuzzy logician. Very bad idea. Grad school means a ton of study, reading, research and writing (especially in PoliSci, the OP's field). If you can't write a 2-3 page statement, why go to grad school? 
 
But people actually doing it? This article was highlighted on LinkedIn. http://chronicle.com/article/The-Shadow-Scholar/125329/
I don't know if he's mostly talking about international students whose main struggle is writing academic English, but it was depressing. 

In ridofme's defense, it really does seem like OP is considering doing this, otherwise why would she be asking? Imagine if someone posted on the GRE/GMAT forum asking how many people had hired others to write their exams? Although that might even be more sympathetic, quite frankly, because the argument that one standardized test is not predictive of success in graduate school is more convincing than anything similar said about a statement of purpose.

The "average" summer day in the Portland area is in the 70s and sunny to partly cloudy. However, we do get hotter, especially in late July and early August--80s during the day isn't uncommon, and there will be a few days in the 90s and stretching towards 100 (a couple years we had a horrible heat wave of like, 8 days straight reaching into the 90s with 3 100+ days in the middle). It cools down at night into the 50s-60s and isn't humid so it's a lot more bearable than an 80-mumble day on the East Coast.

The final point to remember: on average, there are 200+ cloudy days in Portland every year. It rains from October to May, and then there is a drought from June-September. Half the rain falls in the winter (November-February), another third in the spring. I'm not talking about occasional torrential downpours here, either--I'm talking about cloudy days, with a near-constant drizzle that randomly amps up to actual rain. The situation in Seattle is very similar, just even more rain and a bit colder in the winters. If you don't like the rain, or need a lot of sunny days, don't move to the Pacific Northwest; just visit in the summer

There's really no way of telling you.  Even if I was in evolutionary biology and knew about the caliber of the programs you're applying to, I don't know the other applicants' packages, nor do I know the content of your letters of recommendation or your statement of purpose.  It may be that your research is so great, and fits so well with the program, that your 3.08 GPA and that low quant score is overlooked and they admit you.  Or maybe everyone else in your application cohort is a superstar and you don't get admitted (and wouldn't even if your GRE score was higher).
 
Being the first person to complete the application package doesn't matter; the committee cares about the credentials in it.  Often they don't even know who was first, because the departmental administrator assembles the materials for them and gives it to them.  If you are confident that professors in the department will go to bat for you, then that's a powerful thing (although I am curious as to how - do you know them personally, have you worked with them before?)
 
Do you stand a chance?  Yes.  Will us telling you on the Internet assuage your fears?  Not really, because we don't really know.  I say this genuinely - take up something else you can do to get your mind off the worry.  Read books, play video games, go shopping, take up running or something…something…that can distract you from the anxiety!

They obviously know you applied to grad school and therefore are a target for their company due to higher likelihood of cardiac arrest, stroke, or death by anxiety and negative thinking.

Oh no mccamel, I think that in my own psychological state, I would have had very choice words for that telemarketer. I would've told them to take me off the list and if they knew what was good for them, they would inform as many people as they know not to disturb me until April 16th!

I think it's too early to make contact with profs at your prospective grad schools now. Fall 2014 is a really long way aways!

However, it's not too early to start gathering resources to think about grad schools. It's actually the best time right now!! You should be making contact with profs at your own school. It sounds like you have at least one research project (the lab assistantship). You could ask to sit down with the PI of that group and let them know you are very interested in grad school. They should have lots of advice for you and they will probably tell you to work as many hours (full time is nice if possible) during Summer 2013. Then you would have at least two strong research projects under your belt when applying to PhD programs. They might also suggest other profs you can talk to in your current department.

Alternatively (or in addition to doing the above), find some other profs at your school (or another school in the same city if there's two) and start talking to them now about working for them in Summer 2013. From your description, it sounds like you will have a very strong GPA but grad school is about much more than just academic talent. Schools want to recruit students who have demonstrated research talent (or potential for research talent). So if I were you, my focus from now until Fall 2013 would be to increase my research experience.

From my own experience, Research assistants get paid a lot better than teaching assistants anyways, so if time is an issue, I'd also prioritize a research/lab assistant position over a teaching one. TAing is a big part of grad school, but doing at least one semester of it is more than enough to help you get into grad school -- doing more won't help.

I'd try to find some time to do the GRE sometime next summer. And maybe start making contact with prospective profs sometime next summer too, after your summer research project/job is well underway (then when you introduce yourself to prospective profs, you can mention both research experiences that you've had).

Hope that was helpful! My intention was to outline a possible list of things to do to help maximize your chances of getting into a school. But I realise you might have another concern -- maybe you are wanting to contact profs to help you get more information earlier to prepare for a move? If that's the case, then I still think you should hold off talking to profs until next summer if you want really concrete answers. If you ask profs now about 2014, only the ones that know for sure they will be away (e.g. a planned sabbatical etc.) can give concrete answers. Everyone else will likely say that they will be looking for students, but they can't really say anything about how likely they would want to work with you in 2014 when they haven't even met the 2013 applicants yet.

Finally, I apologize if you already know this information about normal timelines. For you, applications will probably be due Dec 2013 to Jan 2014. You will probably hear back from schools between Feb 2014 and April 2014. Some schools will begin their terms in August 2014 but others might be as late as October 2014. In the best case, you might have about 6 months, which isn't a lot of time to move an entire household, and in the worst case, only 4 months!!

My (also awesomely supportive) wife and I don't have kids yet but we had some similar concerns when applying to PhD programs. We are from Canada, so there was also the worry about me getting the right student status so that my wife could apply for permission to work. What we found helpful was to work together in the whole admissions process. I first compiled a list of schools with programs that interested me and then both of us went over it and eliminated any locations that would not work for us (e.g. not possible for my wife to work/find jobs, or not a place we want to raise kids [we want it to be easy for us to visit our parents and vice versa], etc.) At this time, I also contacted profs to rule out places that won't work anyways. Before I applied anywhere, there were 8 schools on the list, but they were really grouped into 3 different geographical regions, each with their pros and cons. We found this process to be helpful in managing our worries about uncertainties in the future. While waiting for application results, we could at least look at what housing, health insurance, all that stuff would cost in each of the 3 places and make plans for how we would move all our stuff, etc.

After deciding on a school (we made the final decision around April), we were worried about finding a place to live. Many schools have special housing for graduate students with families (usually unfurnished so it's basically an apartment or townhouse where the school is also your landlord). They usually have very flexible leases -- for example, my school does not make new students sign a lease with them (there is a 1 month minimum stay though) and it's only 2 weeks notice to move out. In California, the standard move-out notice is only 30 days (so we would not be able to really look for a place to live until 1 month before we got there!!). So, our back-up plan was to live in graduate student family housing until we found a place to live. However, some schools have long wait lists to get a spot in this type of housing, and we learned that they accepted wait list applicants as soon as you've been accepted to the school. So, keep an eye out for these things and sign up for the wait list as soon as you hear good news from the school -- you can always cancel your application (check to ensure there's no fee though) if you change your mind about that school. Fortunately, we did find a place to live before the term started but it was a stress relief to know that we did have a backup option.

Sorry for writing so much, but I hope the second part was more helpful at addressing some of your concerns! We were really stressed out and we didn't have kids and were just renting, so I could only imagine how much more stressful it is for you and your family. Definitely take advantage of all resources (e.g. the housing/waitlist options above) though -- sometimes they are not very well advertised since most students are not coming in with families!

Them: "So you're graduating this year? What are you going to do after you graduate?"
Me: "Well, if all goes according to plan, graduate school."
Them: "Oh, what do you want to study?"
Me: "I want to get my PhD in computer science with a focus on artificial intelligence and robotics."
Them: 0_0
Them: "...So like Terminator and stuff?"
Me: Sigh...

Best part of applying to graduate school: people getting confused and thinking you are there as an undergrad.

Conversation on the airplane last week:

Guy Next To Me (GNTM): Where are you headed this early?
Me: I'm going on an official visit to the engineering school at (Insert Ivy League University here).
GNTM: Are you already admitted?
Me: Yes
GNTM: Oh, what is your GPA? I have a son who is also thinking about applying there for a PoliSci degree.
Me: Well, I have a 3.97.
GNTM: My son should definitely get in then because he has a 3.98 and a ton of extracurriculars.
Me: I am entering the PhD programs. That 3.97 is my college GPA.
GNTM: Oh....... (awkward silence)