ss2player

I would try calling them, emails are way too easy to ignore. You may have to hound them/talk to multiple people, but don't stop until you get your answer and good luck!

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY! I liked Einstein when I interviewed there, they have some really cool microbio research going on. Plus I like to think me giving up my waitlist spot helped. Congrats again!

Not everyone wants to get married for life and be monogamous. My SO and I are fiercely independent, so while we enjoy each other and look forward to new adventures, neither of us would ask a huge sacrifice to be made like that. Matter of fact, if either of us said something in that vein, we'd ask the other what they'd been smoking. Maelia8 really nailed it; people come and go, but you are always YOU. Take advantage of opportunities to better yourself, lest you think an SO will provide that for you, because they won't.

Another vote for Purdue, just way more opportunities there for networking and such. Utah is fine but as an underdog they have to woo you with little things like health insurance, stipend, and being nice. Don't fall for it, not worth it for compromising your future career.

It's mainly a culture difference between the two: West Philly has a lot of hippy/social activist folks who all split houses and work at coffee shops to support their REVOLUTIONZ(!) habit, side by side with Penn students. CC will have working professionals who are career driven and don't care a lick about the community, side by side with Penn (and other schools) students. Pick your poison! But all snark aside, there are good aspects to both but it sounds like you'd be happier in West Philly. Philly has a well known littering problem, hence why even CC can look dirty; if you go to where I live in a gentrifying neighborhood it looks like the apocalypse happened and then a block over there's new condos. It's an odd place.

Exactly. Canadians just be humblebraggin'.

Oh snap, we got a mind reader here!

GURL, get it. To be fair, my SO and I have gotten busy at work with some role play...I used to work alone for a while and that DEFINITELY had its benefits.

I've always dated humanities people, as it helps keep things interesting. I've honestly never had an attraction to another scientist (except one who was a hippie being pressured into med school by parents), so I guess that rules out hot inter-lab shenanigans. *le sigh*

UMN is a fantastic school, plenty of name recognition! (I also interviewed there) I agree that you should go with the best fit and where you'd be happiest. Rankings matter little if you're regretting your choice and miserable in your program.

From what I understand: it is taxed as income, so federal and state taxes will apply but you will have to pay quarterly as opposed to paycheck deduction (so budget for that). You're FICA exempt as a student, however.

Sorry about your rough cycle, I went through similar last year: 11 schools, no interviews. I took some graduate classes to boost my GPA and that might have done the trick! Gap years can definitely help; hell, I took 4 of them! But seriously, it really helps you focus and learn, many PIs I interviewed with this cycle said my experience would put me at the top of the heap in their incoming classes and I could hit the ground running. Also, if you're interested in moving to the East Coast, I'll also be leaving my lab manager/tech position so PM me as well.

My lab is broke as hell, can confirm. It was just funny going on my other interviews and meeting people that had an interview here and I'm like "That's odd, I've heard nothing and all I have to do is walk across the street..."

Good luck guys, Philly is great! I also really like the GradHo area, though parts of it are still kinda rough. And yes, most places want 3X rent, seems pretty common for east coast cities. On the plus side, makes it easier to move later! 2 months should be plenty of time; we're a hot market so stuff is always opening up. If you want someone to give you some info/little tour while you're here, PM me.

Word. An even worse example: I never heard back from my current employer's PhD program (nearly 4 years working here AND in the MS program), and they are much lower ranked than the place I'm going. A part of me says maybe they knew I'd likely go somewhere else, but a bigger part says they're just incompetent.

Honestly? Black metal. It's very hypnotic, which is perfect for focusing.

Hey, I was also waitlisted at Einstein and just declined, so hopefully that moved you up!

Thanks for the post! I think I may get a car here and drive it down; only because my Dad has a business selling cars and could get me a good deal in the 4+ months I have before I have to move. I noticed the housing near the TMC is pretty pricey, so I figured I would look further out. I'm thinking Montrose and Eastwood so far, the Heights looks nice but seems crazy expensive. I plan to go to Houston the last weekend of June for a few days to find and secure a place. Do you think that could work as long as I have the money in hand & ready to sign? Not sure if that'll be too late to move in for August.

Same here. I'm working on a way to safely sterilize myself unless Vasalgel gets approved...

Would also be interested in this. I'm probably going to buy a car but would be nice to not have to use it to commute ($$, environment, etc). I know they have student housing close to campus, no idea how good it is.

Good to know, thanks! I may PM you if I have any questions about the city; I liked the variety of neighborhoods, though I'll have to get a car again when I go (should be affordable on my stipend considering the COL there). You have some amazing choices for yourself, can't wait to see where you go.

Made my choice and I'll be in Houston this fall! They really impressed me on the interview and went from bottom of my list to the top. It was a long wait (5.5 weeks post interview) but very much worth it. Any Baylor or other UT folks, holla at me!

W00t! I'll see you across the street at UT! Nice choice! I may target there for postdoc, always wanted to live in Portland. You'll have to keep us updated on how you like it!

Me! I'd like to hear back from Einstein first, but I'll likely be headed to Texas.

I'm from Philly; this is accurate about Temple, more than you know.