misskira

I've been in this area for 11 years now... 4 years undergrad, 1 year masters (different university, same city), 4 years public school teaching, 2 years stay at home mom, and I've applied for phd at my undergrad school. This city is only 90 miles from where I grew up as well. Sigh. Anyways, I've had to just turn it into "home." I met my husband here and had kids here, so this is where I stay. My husband recently started working at a dream job where he is very happy, so I won't ask him to move. Additionally, my teaching license is for Oregon so there would be more hoops if we did move. Even though I'm applying for the same school as my undergrad, I know it's a high quality program and I will be still studying what I love. Someday, when my kids are older and I'm making some money, maybe I will be able to travel to see other places. For now, I focus on the "what" instead of the "where."

A top 20 program sounds amazing to me. Good luck! This week will be a fun domino effect of acceptances I hope.

They probably have to wait until that spot is officially open. Think of the mess if a mistake was made, they offered you a spot, and then somehow a miscommunication happened and they had to take it away again. At least that's what I'm telling myself. Also, I think it might be a small amount of insurance for the program. By waiting until the traditional deadline has passed, you aren't as likely to turn it down in favor of another offer.

I had contact with a POI last weekend, and was told they would get back to me ASAP. Hopefully this is the last weekend of uncertainty for many of us. I will be glued to my email Monday and Tuesday.

They are VERY cheap if you get one that will take generic brand toner and drum. A $13 toner will print 1600ish pages. I had a color laser printer in my classroom and printed a lot, and had to replace each color and the black about once/year. The drum lasted for 3 years. Just watch out for a good deal. I figure if I need color I will print at work or pay. I rarely need color though. I did buy a macbook last week and love it. I don't need crazy high performance, but I do need reliability and longevity. Plus I prefer the OS operating system over windows. And most school districts and the university program I applied to use mac, so it's a better choice for me. Anyways. For $1000 I'm set with printer and computer.

I understand the problem of a profession where a masters degree is required for low pay. Hello social worker, meet teacher. It sucks. I have a huge debt for a relatively low pay. However, I love my profession and it's worth it. I don't have anything to add, just my empathy.

Odd suggestion... but figured I would throw it out there. A friend donates plasma for 2x/week for about $250/month. If that's an option for you.

I would first educate yourself on university policy regarding maternity leave, protection for your position, and any anti-discrimination policies. If you encounter problems, definitely document them. Stay polite, but firm and consistent. If you get a hard time, go up the chain.

I recently bought a refurbished brother laser printer, with scanner and copier for $90 at staples. They often have brother laser printers for $50 up, depending on the features you want. Brother printers are great at taking generic toner from meritline that cost around $13 for 1600 pages. Thats what I would recommend.

I have a couple of job applications in, and one very likely offer. So next Friday is probably my limit. Although the school has said I will be hearing ASAP, since they are aware of the situation.

That's good advice. I should have added that I don't know much about psych, so I don't know what career differences there may be.

Another possibility is to accept and begin the program, then reapply to others if you find out the program really isn't for you. Is there one at the school you may be attending, and are they likely to allow you to apply and transfer to the other program? That's if you think you could be happy there. If not, then of course it wouldn't be wise to accept anyways.

I'm kind of thinking we have to consider the financial future here... if you have a funded phd offer in the humanities now, you probably should take it. Things may turn around by the time you're ready to apply again for another phd program, but they are very likely to be worse, making it very difficult for you to get another funded offer. I also think you should consider what it will mean to take out debt right now and compare it to any future job market there is in your field. It's a difficult financial time all around.

Is it a one year program? Would you be finished in time to start a phd elsewhere fall 2014? That might be a help in getting accepted...

many programs don't interview... you might be unofficially waitlisted.

It's simple. Run it by both programs and see if they agree to it. if so, great! Carry on. If not, you have your answer, and best to pick one or the other.

fit and funding for sure! At least for me, thats what I would do.

Unless they've already told you, something like "I'm writing to find out when funding decisions will be made and how I will be notified if I receive an offer?" is fair.

I realize I'm paying 300-400 more for the operating system, which any of the other computers listed can't provide. Since I plan to use this computer for the next 3+ years, it seems worth it to me.

There is a $29 adaptor that turns the thunderbolt port into an Ethernet port. Also you can watch your local best buy for open box and clearance monitors. Sometimes they have some amazing deals. I was alerted to the deal for my air by subscribing to a slickdeals deal alert.

I bought an apple certified refurbished 13" air from the ebay refurbished outlet on ebay. There's speculation it's actually run by apple, but no proof. But anyways, they have a great rep, and the machines come with the full 1 year apple warranty and are eligible for apple care. Mine was $883 shipped and will be here Thursday. I went with the 4gb and will use an external for more space and for backup. They change up stock frequently, so if you're after a different macbook or ipad, just watch.

That was an entertaining 20 minutes. Holy moly the crazy.

There's a thread (in officially grads I think?) with a grad student in the position you're wondering about that might be worth considering. I can see both sides of the argument for sure.

You can regularly get simple laser brother printers for $60ish, and wireless ones for under $100 that come with a good size toner cartridge. Brother printers are very good at taking off brand replacement toner for cheap, so you can literally print thousands of pages for $20 plus the cost of paper.

You can take your tennis racket as a carry on. . I saw a couple girls do that on my last flight.