ACM88

This is great, thank you! I'm planning to allow my cats to become acclimated to traveling in the car by taking them on a few relatively short trips before the big move. I'm hoping that through this process, litterbox concerns will work themselves out, but I also wanted to crowd source for ideas from those of you who have been through this before. So thank you all for your suggestions! I also intend to call the vet and let them know that I do plan on moving and ask for their advice for what to do for cats that experience anxiety. My male cat has some history of reactions to vaccinations, so I hope that what is recommended for anxiety won't cause him any problems, because that would be AWFUL. We'll see how it turns out. Anyway, thanks again for all of your help! I'm keeping my fingers crossed that all of this preparation pays off.

So, I went out and purchased the largest carrier that would fit comfortably into the back seat of my car, but I've come across a potential problem. With the size of my two cats, one being fairly "long" and the other comfortably stout, I don't see a little box fitting in the carrier along with them, be it a normal litter box or a make-shift aluminum tray. How have those of you with experience with this managed letting your cats out of the carrier to use the bathroom (even if they didn't use it)? I'm worried that they'll be so spooked, they might try to bolt, leaving me desperately chasing them through the woods outside a rest area somewhere in the middle of Pennsylvania. I'm theoretically a fan of cat leashes, but my cats haven't had much outdoor experience, so the practice runs with leashes on them have ended pretty terribly (before we even made it outside of my apartment building, one of my cats was spooked by a sound he didn't recognize and had a panicky fit in which he jumped off every wall in the hallway until the apartment door was opened and he ran in to hide underneath the best for an hour). I can't imagine what would happen if we got outside with them on the lease, but I think it would involve a lot of prayer. I'm going to try and have them practice riding in the carrier in the car (I've already gotten them used to the carrier sitting with the door open in my living room; they like to take turns sleeping in it), which will hopefully reduce both the car and travel stress. But still. The litter box seems to be the one thing stumping me right now, because I had anticipated being able to fit one in the carrier with them. I might just try to plow through the 12 hour drive and with their limited food intake, maybe they won't need to use the restroom, but any additional feedback that any of you have will go a long way for me! Again, thank so much for all of your help!

This in incredible advice. I want to make sure that things go without a hitch and I think that everything you've mentioned will be really helpful. Thank you for writing in so much detail!

Hi everyone, In about two weeks I will be giving my Master's thesis presentation to my committee and a slew of other people who will be attending in the department, both faculty and students. The presentation is supposed to be roughly 40-45 minutes with time left over for questions (10-15 minutes), followed by a review session with my committee members. I'm interested in gaining some advice or tips from the community here on how to best prepare for my presentation. I've never presented anything longer than 20 minutes before, so I'm mostly concerned about running into inopportune dry mouth/throat and rushing through my slides just to get all the words out. I tend to speak on the fast side normally, so it takes a bit of concentration for me to reign it in; throw onto that the nerves that I will be feeling and I worry that I won't hit my 40 minute quota. Also, I'm worried I'll tend to read off my my slides. I've given plenty of presentations before, but I still go in with a jumble of nerves, and things usually turn out fine, but this seems larger in scale to me than my previous presentations, so I want to make sure I cover as many bases as I can. Any thoughts? I plan on practicing my presentation every day to get a good feel for it, but so far I've run out of steam around the 25 minute mark. I'm just not used to speaking that much without any sustained pauses. I was thinking I might bring a bottle of water and possibly some flashcards to help me keep pace, forcing me to slow down by either taking a drink or checking some notes. Does that seem out of place for a thesis presentation? I'm really not sure! It'd be great to hear back and see what everyone thinks, so thank you in advance for your help!

You might be better off posting this in the City Guide forum. Good luck!

I actually had to go through this process for my Master's program while applying to PhD programs (I didn't even apply to my home school) and it wasn't an issue at all. I have a very open relationship with my advisor and he and I were on the same page when I spoke with him about my post-M.S. plans; because I have been at my current school for my undergraduate and Master's degrees, the need and appreciation for a different perspective that I would gain from attending another university was very well understood. Even though I didn't apply to my current school, all of my recommenders were very forthright and happy to help support my application to other universities. So, from my experience, I don't believe that it's a real issue. Faculty members understand the choices that students have to make, because they've done it theselves and because they've had other students do so in the past. As long as you're sure of the choices that you're making and are able to explain to your advisors what you're interested in pursuing after your degree, I don't think you have to worry. Good luck!

These are really useful recommendations, especially the screw on cups. I hadn't thought of that, but I can see how those would really save some time and clean-up hassle. Thanks! That's a great idea! I hadn't considered giving my cats practice runs to get used to the car, but I can definitely see the value in starting that. I'm a few months out, so I think it should be more than enough time to have them conditioned to being in the car and driving around a bit. That's a much better plan than what I had in mind with the one-and-done-car-ride-hail-mary and hope they forgive me for it, haha. Also, I don't have any experience taking pets on a plane, but for my move I do anticipate trips back home that will last a week or so. During those, I plan to ask if my lab mates wouldn't mind dropping by a few times to check in on them and give them some attention. It will definitely reduce the amount of stress that they experience, rather than having them travel with me 2-3 times per semester. Do you imagine you'll know anyone locally who would be able to pet sit a few times a week for you? It might save you the hassle of holiday travel with your cat.

The leasing office for the apartment I will be renting when I move provided me with a form that included the companies that I will need to contact to have services turned one. Comcast and AT&T were on the list of options for internet/cable.

A top-loading carrier is a great suggestion. For vet trips in the past, when it was only one or the other, I had taken to just tiling up the front-loading carrier and dropping one in, but that won't work with two so this is a much-needed piece of advice. My cats tend to be more on the skittish side, so I imagine that they won't want to go outside or be on a harness when I make pit stops (one of my cats was under-socialized as a kitten, so he gets freaked by any new sound he hasn't ever processed before). I'll definitely be calling the vet prior to my trip to get some of their advice. Thank you! I'm planning on buying a large carrier to fit the both of them with some room to move around, but considering this will be their first high-stress situation, I'm slightly concerned that they may get into fights as a result of being anxious. I hope that this doesn't happen, but I'm sure that having some medication on hand just in case will be really useful.

That's solid advice. My cats have had little experience in cars, and even fewer pleasant ones, so I'm hoping to come up with a game plan that is both realistic and minimizes the amount of stress and anxiety that they experience. Because of the number of people who will be helping me move (I'm driving with at least two other people with my own car and a separate UHaul because it's more cost effective for me to move my own things), flying isn't really an option. With my cats though, I don't think I would do it even if it was an option. I have too many (possibly unfounded) concerns about how they might respond to that sort of abrupt and unexpected trauma. I wish I could! But because I'm moving with the help of a few people and the impossibly long odds of getting my cats in a crate AND back in a car two days in a row (without my own wounds and personal traumas), I don't think I could make it work. Alas, I will have to endure 12 consecutive hours of whatever they have to throw at me.

I'm a few months out from moving to a new state, which is about a 12 hour drive from where I currently live, and I have to move with my two cats. I'm not overly enthused about driving with them, and I know that they aren't either, but I don't want to ship them on a plane because I wouldn't feel comfortable with that. I've done a few internet searches about people's experiences driving long distances with their pets, but I wanted to see if anyone on TGC had any experience or advice in this area? So far, my plan is to call the vet and maybe ask for some antidepressants to keep them mellow during most of the drive. Any thoughts? Thanks!

I did end up in East Rock, which is a huge relief. Everyone I knew in the area (read: my future lab mates) all recommended it, so I had every intention of being in that area (even if it does mean I pay a bit extra for my digs compared to other places in New Haven). I'm really happy with my decision though. Have you found a place in New Haven?

Thanks a lot for the advice. I went in and filled out the application for the apartment I wanted and it was no problem at all! I was actually really surprised; they didn't even ask me to provide proof of employment or recent pay stubs. It was remarkably light. I hope that speaks more to their familiarity with graduate student tenants and not to their having low standards! Again, thank you all for the input. It definitely calmed me down before I went in.

I gave the property office a call this morning, to get an idea of what the process will be when I am in town and ready to fill out an application. They let me know that the security deposit is one month's rent with an application fee, which is very reasonable. I then asked if I would need to bring anything with me to complete the application or show them my background, and they said no! No paystubs, no offer letter, no nothing! I found that strange. But it reminded me of something else I'm curious about. From your experience, when apartments do a credit check, how much do they focus on your credit card history relative to your rental history? I have great rental history and have always made all of my credit payments on time, but I don't always completely pay off my credit card charges the next month. I tend to have some carry over credit card debt, but for both of my cards it's less than 50% of the credit line (graduate student income hasn't really let me take care of them the way I would like). Do you think this will really matter? I just want to have all of my bases covered!

This is all such a relief! I was starting to work myself up, so I'm glad to know that given my academic finances, I should still be able to rent an apartment. Also, in the event that my stipend amount isn't quite what they would hope for, I'm planning to let them know that I intend to take out student loans to cover the difference it unexpected financial situations arise. Now all I have to really worry about is saving up enough money for a down payment/security deposit. *sigh* Thanks so much for your replies! I definitely feel better about this whole process now.

Hi all, I've been in the market for an apartment in my soon-to-be new city (New Haven, CT) and hit me just recently: my graduate student stipend might not be large enough for an apartment complex to feel comfortable renting a unit out to me. I've done the math and for the area I'm looking to rent in, I'll have enough money to afford everything, but my monthly income definitely won't amount to 3-4 times the rent. I have a good rental history (2 years at the same place) and a decent credit score, but I worry about income level requirements or expectations. Has this been an issue for others? I haven't yet applied for an apartment, but I have found one that is perfect and now I'm worried I'll get shut down because I won't make "enough". The area services a large graduate student community, so I think I have that going for me, but the cost of living in the region is relatively high and even though the stipends are good, they're definitely only enough to just get by on. It would be nice to know what my odds are going into the process so that I don't get my heart broken. Let me know what you think! And thanks in advance for the advice!

I have a naive question that isn't specifically about New Haven apartments, but since this is where I will be moving, it makes sense to ask it here. If an apartment is listed as being available on June 1 or July 1, and I am interested in moving in on August 1, would I be able to apply for the apartment for my asking move-in date? Or do they expect to only accept applicants who wish to move in during the month that the apartment becomes available? I've only ever stayed in one apartment and I moved in during the month when it first became avaialble, so I'm not really sure how it works for apartments that are listed months in advance of when I would be able to move. Thank you in advance for your help!

The deadline is definitely on the day of April 15th, but I think that time on 4/15 is somewhat variable. I received a notification email reminding me that the deadline is April 15th at 11:59pm, but other schools may want them by the end of the business day (i.e. 5pm). Bottom line: If you're still waiting to make a decision today, the earlier in the day, the better.

My lease isn't up until July 31, so I've been planning around the fact that I'll be living in my apartment through the summer. Plus, with all of my things and two cats in tow, staying with someone isn't really feasible for me. But, I did manage to secure summer funding through my current graduate program (loophole: I wasn't funded during my first summer in the program and since they guarantee 2 summers of funding, I asked and they complied), so it's nice to know that now I won't be broke and homeless before moving to a new state. Thanks again for all of your advice!

Does anyone else have concerns about living in New Haven? I've read through this thread and although there are comments about New Haven safety, they are from a few years ago and I'm interested in hearing a more recent perspective. I've been told by many that NH is on the up and up, but I feel like that can tend to be a pretty relative assessment. On paper, Yale is my top choice and I really enjoyed visiting and touring the campus (which was before I was familiar about New Haven's history of crime) but I do have serious concerns about the area surrounding the school. I don't want to feel like I'm trapped in a bubble. Thank you in advance for any replies!

That's a relief to hear! I've actually been looking into East Rock, which is where basically everyone I've spoken to has suggested. The prices I quoted in an earlier post are for East Rock 1-bedrooms (when searching through Craigslist). I might be able to get a better deal if I visit, which I won't be able to do until around May. In the meantime, I've been trying to predict what finances would be like. Based on what you and others have said, I think my best bet will actually be to visit and find the best apartment that way, in which case I think I might be able to find more reasonable monthly rents. We'll see. But thank you for your reply! It's definitely uplifting.

Well, saving is the plan but it's a little bit difficult. I'm finishing up my master's and it's a funded program, so I get a set stipend each month that covers my bills and leaves little extra. I'm not teaching this semester so I've picked up a part-time job but the pay is barely above minimum wage and I don't wory many hours because I have a thesis to complete. I've definitely considered the ask-family-for-money option, but I'm leaving that as a last resort because things like that never feel quite right to me. Otherwise, I'm widening my search from temporary full-time positions to part time work and odds-and-ends jobs. We'll see what happens, but finances are dicey. I'm looking forward to having steady income for the forseeable future again.

I've actually spoken to a few current students about finances; they make it work, but a few of them also have additional income to help with things (e.g. spouses or partners), which makes comparisons a little difficult. But believe me, I am reaching out to current students, I'm posting on here to get a broader sense from people that I may not be able to contact otherwise. I have done some of the math and my car payments/insurance do suck up an unfriendly portion of the expected stipend, but I am a strong proponent of keeping it for a few reasons. 1. I've heard from several students that having a car is a great idea because although New Haven has a lot to offer, it is lacking in big box and chain convenience stores. Having a car provides mobility to get a broader range of goods and groceries, which will be really important, especially when I start to get tired of shopping at small markets. 2. With a car, I can drive home (Michigan) or on quick roadtrips without constraints that would be placed on me by train or air travel. 3. I would only be living on one income for the first two years (hopefully). After that, my partner will have completed a master's program and move to New Haven with me, which will provide some additional financial support. So, aside from the emotional attachment I have with my car, I think that it'll provide more benefits than the tangible costs that I will lose as a result of keeping it.

Hi everyone, I have a question about the graduate stipend at Yale FES. I know this is pretty specific, but I wasn't sure which forum was most appropriate. Here's my question: Does anyone know how reasonable/comfortable it is to live on the stipend provided by Yale FES (it's something like $28,000)? I've been doing a bit of research and I know that taxes are not withheld by the university, so students will need to file these themselves (which I've actually never done before) and I've heard that Connecticut taxes are pretty steep. In addition to this, I have a car that I have no intention of selling that I still have a good 3.5 years of payments to make on it. Finally, if I do end up at Yale, I'll arrive pretty broke and likely strapped for cash for the first month or so. Finally, New Haven is not cheap. In the area that's been most widely recommended, rent for studios and 1 bedrooms range from $900 - $1300 some with but most of them not including utilities. Yikes. I know this is really specific and if you have any ideas, I'd love to hear them! Otherwise, I might try to post in another forum and contact a few more current students to get their perspective. I'm just hoping to cast a wider net and get as much feedback as I can. Thank you in advance for your help! ACM88

So far I have applied to a few jobs that are loosely associated with my degree and University (e.g. Bontanic Gardens, Graduate School Administration, etc). I'm worried that anything less than a full-time job won't be enough for subsistence. We'll see, but I will definitely look into these suggestions as well.