MadScience

You can try Uship.com - my Uncle has used them to ship a car with no problems. It's basically a site where thousands of movers bid on different shipments listed by different people. The shipping companies will bid on your shipment and keep bidding lower until the time runs out.

I'm sure her superiors would also love to know what she's up to. Great way to ruin the credibility of a school's admission process.

Oh my gosh, I am choking on the irony of her post. This is so damaging to the feminist movement it's unbelievable.

Sure, turning down the offer at X will be a little frowned upon, but not so much as you might think if it is done correctly. I think that Adlnyc is exactly right that you played your cards right, accepted X's offer before their deadline, and then got dealt a surprise card from Y which you had no way of anticipating. This stuff happens, and it will be a little uncomfortable to inform X of this change of heart, but it certainly won't be the end of the world. As long as you present your email in a very polite, professional, and apologetic way I certainly don't think there would be any consequences. It is always nice too to mention that you would be honored one day to collaborate with the faculty at X or even work there in the future, as you have mentioned, as a gesture of good faith to help ensure that no bridges are burned. Probably not necessary, but I'd add something in like this if it were me. Also, you mention liking that Y offers a specialty field designation for your PhD, while X does not but still allows you to specialize. I am not sure of your particular field and how much this designation may matter, but I had a similar draw to my Masters program for this reason and it turned out to be a silly technicality that didn't really matter. I can't say for sure without knowing your field, but it may be that while this may seem "fancy" it may not mean anything more than that. The environment of a top ranked program versus a great but lower ranked program is a big factor too, you're right! Part of me was hoping to get rejected by my two reach programs for this reason - fear of the harsh competitive attitudes I might encounter from my peers. But some people certainly do thrive in these settings, so it really just depends on your personality type. *sigh* It's a tough decision to make, but that's why we have the grad cafe to help! So please, vent on!

I think you're in a situation that quite a few people are in now, a situation that I might be in now under different circumstances, so I certainly understand where you're coming from. I'm currently waitlisted at (what was) my top choice. Thankfully, after a visit to my second choice I found a lab that was a better fit for me than any lab at my "top" choice, and so goes the story of how my second choice became my absolute #1. My point is, before I realized this, I was faced with the very real dilemma of "what if my #1 school accepts me after April 15th! I'll have already accepted an offer by then, what can I do??" I know you mentioned not wanting an answer, but this is important so I'm going to offer my advice anyway. Follow your heart! This is your life and no one else's, you have to do what is best for you. If you join program X but your heart lies with Y, you'll always wonder what could have been and may not give your all to program X as a result. It's absolutely a tough decision, because I understand you don't want to step on any toes, but if you decide on school Y and send a very polite and very apologetic email to program X and explain your situation, they will most likely understand and release you from the contract. I can't imagine that they would force a student to stay in their program if s/he didn't want to be there. After all, 5 years is a long time to spend in the wrong place. If you feel you could be happy at X though, and you are just feeling swept away by the prestige factor of Y, this may be something to consider as well. Have you had the chance to visit both programs? You may find that Y isn't all you are hoping for, and X is a better fit. Or you may find that you are right and Y is where you belong.

I agree with the above posts, definitely reeks of scam. The reality is, it is highly unlikely that anyone will ever want to read your thesis, let alone pay to read it. Heck, I don't think my committee advisers even read my thesis in grad school, and that was their job!

UNC is the one school that I never heard back from as well. I think it's pretty rude to not give any notification of status at all, especially when we paid out a significant sum to apply. It doesn't matter at this point though, I've made up my mind and will be going to a school that didn't give me the run around! But I would still just like to know..you know?

Of course, only you know what is best for you, but here is my advice If you are in your undergrad now, it might be a good idea to take the summer off and have some fun & relax before diving into the long haul of grad school - I probably would do this. You won't have another chance to travel/be lazy/etc for several years and I think taking the summer off would be a great way to "recharge" so you can avoid burnout. If this isn't a factor for you, a big positive of starting early is getting a head start on your research so that you might be able to graduate a little early. Personally, I'm just itching to get started so will be starting in June (I would start yesterday if I could! ). But I'm probably in a much different situation than you since I'll be leaving my much loathed job for grad school, and not just graduating from undergrad. What is your personal situation and are you leaning one way or the other?

I completely understand the worry on your side because I have felt the same way, however, I don't think it is something you should stress about. During the application process I had contacted multiple POIs at multiple schools. For the POIs that did respond to me, we had some great phone conversations about their work and what my project could be. Several had mentioned wanting me to work in their lab and said they would recommend me to the adcom. A few even offered an early start in their lab in the summer. However, all of them made it clear to me that I would not be required to join their lab, even if I worked with them in the summer, and that come fall when we must decide who to work with, I could choose any lab. I think it is just good form and decent to inform each POI that you have an interest in both labs. I don't think it would be right to tell both "you are my #1 choice" when this is not true because then they both will be expecting you to join their group. They understand that joining a lab is a serious commitment and so they should be professional about it and allow you to make the best choice for you without taking offense. As long as you are honest about your situation, I don't think you should be worried at all and instead should be excited that two POIs have given you their recommendation

Gradorbust, that's a really great deal! I'll be in Lafayette in a 1 br, 750 sq ft for $650. I'm starting summer research on June 3rd, can't wait! Definitely excited about TAing in the fall too.

Program: Chemistry PhD Admits: Purdue, Johns Hopkins, Brown, UVA, Virginia Tech, Notre Dame, Tufts, NCSU Attending: Purdue

I think you will need a mentor to start because as Fuzzy stated review articles are typically requested by the journal to experts in the field. During my MS, my mentor was asked to write a review for a particular journal on a topic that our lab was an expert in. He allowed me to write it though, so I received first authorship and he was the last author on the paper. So it can be done, but I would think you would need your "expert mentor" backing you on the paper to give it credibility.

DStory - I'll send you a PM

DStory, I started off with an agent actually and had it listed for about 40 days with no action. My realtor was TERRIBLE. She took a week to respond to my emails, she only listed my property on MLS and not on the other sites (realtor.com, trulia, etc), and she told me my home had dozens of inquires and yet never showed my place once in 40 days. Her reason? "Oh, I know you work a lot so we don't want to bother you.."....um..what??? So I got rid of them and listed on my own. I found a realtor that charges a flat rate of about $300 and for that they list you on MLS and >20 other real estate websites, send you a For Sale sign and a lock box, and you become your own realtor...they don't get any commission from you, just the $300 to list and send you supplies. I would HIGHLY recommend doing this because it gets your property out there and once it's on the MLS, all relevant realtors will get a notification of your property's listing once it's up. I had my offer within 48 hours. You can also list it yourself on craigslist for extra exposure (I got several hits this way too). I didn't ask for the huge deposit they put down, they just offered it. The offer came from an investor company that buys out properties all across the state and rents them so they seem pretty professional and that's probably why the deposit was so good. They are also purchasing with cash, which is even better. From my personal experience, I would never sell with a realtor again. I am a total control freak and it was amazing to be able to get it done myself, promote it myself, and know that something was being done to sell it, rather than my realtor sitting around waiting for the buyer's realtor to sell it so they can make their 3% commission for doing nothing. TakeruK has a great point - that is exactly what I did. Most schools will let you start in the summer and pay you (as long as there is funding) so this is a good option to look into. Don't worry, this whole process is certainly maddening but 6 months from now it'll all be a distant memory

I was/am in a similar situation. Got my MS and a good job so decided buying a house was the way to go, thinking I was done with school for good. Then decided I really didn't like my job and needed a PhD in order to do what I really want, which means moving out of state and selling my house. Very scary when you're on a time crunch and also when you have little to no wiggle room on the price without going underwater! You have a few options: 1. Find a buyer and get them to agree to wait until you move. This can be a little risky because they can back out (of course losing their escrow deposit) which leaves you at square one. I am doing this, but only have to make them wait 2 months for my move since I'm starting in the summer (they wanted to close in 10 days, not possible!!). And they put a very impressive deposit down, enough to pay my mortgage for 4 years if they do back out. 2. Find a buyer, sell it to them now, and make an arrangement to "rent back" your home from them until you move. This decreases risk because it has been sold immediately so there are no worries on that end, and you get to stay there until you're ready to move. 3. Find an apartment with a month-to-month lease, 3 month, or 5/6 month lease to stay until you move. Since you have 3 dogs, this may be difficult and may leave you with only some very bad options in run down areas. This was at least what I found when I was looking into this option a few months ago - all of the short leases that allow pets were in roach infested apartments in high crime areas. You may have much better luck around where you live though. Have you already listed it for sale? You may find in this messy economy that you won't receive your ideal offers until closer to your move date, which makes things a lot easier. Also, if they are financing, they likely won't be able to close immediately and this will give you some more time. If your move is 3 months or less away at that point, I'd say you'll have a better chance of getting them to let you stay until your move. Of course, anything is possible, you just have to talk to the buyer about your situation and see if they can accomodate it. If they really want your home, waiting may not be an issue at all for them!