callista

The most important thing is that you take care of your wife and child. Wouldn't her family think that is the most important thing? Couldn't you do that so much better with the job than with a PhD during the first few years? Are you being a bit of a perfectionist? (I say this as one, myself.)

Listen. It's clear that you have a bright future ahead of you, based on the information you've given us. If they are really your friends, they won't care what kind of degree you have!!!!

You're only 23! You can always go back to school. The job sounds terrific. Sheesh, I'd love to make that much, lol What does your spouse think? You may wish to spend as much time as you can with your family in the first few years... and you'll be able to save money as a cushion for studies later. IMHO.

Great!

Right back at ya!

I thought I'd try restarting this thread... I'm wondering if anyone has a similar situation to mine. My husband and I are in our early 40s, house, no kids. We both have master's degrees and I'm going back for a PhD in a new field. I managed to find a good program fit within reasonable commuting distance (~30 minutes). I am also very fortunate in that I will be able to reduce my hours at my middle management job by taking educational leave. (I have no plans of leaving that position... I'm on a good career trajectory.) I don't have illusions about grad school being easy, but still I feel like it's something that I will do well, having looked back at the past 15 years since I got my master's. I visited the program last year while students were giving presentations, and thought, "I can do that!" I simply feel like the "stars are aligned" and I'm in the right place, at the right time, and it's going to be great. ... am I delusional?

Since the OP is talking about qualitative data, that indicates to me that they aren't talking about hard science, like chemistry! Qualitative analysis can be something of an art, and there tends to be more... informal collegiality... in the social science disciplines. Neveragain2, what kind of qualitative analysis are you guys doing? Feel free to PM me if that is more comfortable for you. In fact, I strongly suggest it. I think people might be assuming too much in this thread. Nowhere did this person say that they showed the data to someone else, or invited them to be a PI! They talked; maybe they were at a conference or some reception or something.

It is the PI's job to make decisions of this kind. However, without knowing the details, I'm not sure if you were really out of bounds or not. If you didn't discuss the potential collaboration with the PI before accepting the expert's offer, then yeah, maybe that was a bit much. NicholasCage has good advice above. I think it would be a good idea to talk with the PI about their boundaries/limits for potential collaboration in this case, too.

Wouldn't working for your professor be a job??

Woooot!

Eh, for me it's an excuse to get a new bag!

I got into UConn, so I'm going to start designing that kayak rack. Also, I'll need a good backpack or messenger bag. I did have a glass of bubbly with my family over the weekend!

WOOOO HOOOO!

You must not be too bad at interviewing, if they want to talk to you again! Let's think... colossal success. There, I fixed it for you.

I've been accepted to UConn. Waiting to hear about funding.

I got a short but sweet acceptance email! They sent it around 10 pm last night. My only application - happy dance!!

And his apartment is amazing! 2 stories of books!

I haven't seen anything for my program yet... I think they are still working on it.

How does that even happen?? Ugh!

Take classes with faculty who interest you, as you will have some time before having to select a faculty advisor. (Your preceptor will be there on day 1.) I targeted three profs in that manner, and ended up approaching one of them after midterms. She ended up being on sabbatical during my writing period, but we simply emailed a lot and that worked out great. An aside: I don't know if Ray Fogelson is active with MAPSS much anymore (I see they have named an award after him,) but he is a super wicked nice person and stalwart champion for the program and its students.

I believe that my dreams are not so much prophetic as they are mental housecleaning... probably because I tend to remember the stress dreams more than anything else. I find that oracles, such as tarot or runes, are very helpful. In my experience, they tend to help me realize what I already know or feel subconsciously. If you're an Android user, I highly recommend the free Galaxy Tarot app (no affiliation, just a big fan.) In fact, I think I will use it now.

I lived in grad housing - http://rp.uchicago.edu/graduate_housing/5482_s_greenwood.shtml in a studio. The location was very convenient. But it's an old building, and there was a mouse/roach problem when I was there.