VioletAyame

Also remember to factor in the cost of living where each program is located. $1500 can mean very different things at different places.

I addressed all my POIs as Dr. and Professor in our email correspondences and kept doing so until we talked for the first time. Usually then they'd introduce themselves as [first name] and then I could start calling them so. As far as I can tell in our discipline, most prefer to be on first name basis with their grad students.

I found the ETS PowerPrep practice tests to be quite accurate compared to my real test score, so I would say study did help and you definitely improved your score a lot. It's surely not a fluke, congrats! Regarding if your performance would stay the same 6 weeks from now, I would say you need to work to keep it that way. 6 weeks can be quite a long time and you can forget a lot of things comes test time. Maybe devote at least 5 hours per week to go over the vocab, read some passages, do a few math problems, and take a practice test one in a while to keep the skills and knowledge fresh on your mind. I think since you don't need to improve your score anymore, if you do that amount of minimum maintenance, you should be good to go in 6 weeks.

I think you should contact them directly (call/email, although I heard that call usually yields better result). Are you applying for a Masters or a PhD? Have you checked the result page to see if people have posted results from the same program yet? And when you say acceptance letter, do you mean you're already accepted and are noe just waiting for the official letter? Each department does things differently, even in the same school, so people in Econs wouldn't be able to tell you much.

Haha well I fail the last criterium - I did my undergrad in the US and have been here a while - but other than that I'm also international and I believe we met on the 2014 Comm thread OP, there's a 2015 thread going on in the Comm subforum You should check it out, and even though I don't really know the logistics of applying for afar, I can answer most questions concerning the application process itself, so feel free to PM me if you have any question. Good luck!

Oh no problem! I decided to say on campus too, just for the convenience and safety during my first year. Have they sent you the contract yet? Oh and I forgot to introduce myself: I'm moving from California to Ohio this fall to start my Ph.D in Communication, so I'll have a lot to learn in and out of the classroom Nice to meet you all!

Sometimes I think about this. Then I realize it's future-me's problem. Let that one figure it out. My problem is the cross-country moving and how to survive (and maybe thrive) the first year.

I think you should go with Milwaukee, especially if you're not concerned with the cold. I am, and I still chose to go to my best-fit program. No regrets yet. Will probably get some comes winter though, but you likely won't have any. Do you have any other concerns regarding location like friends & family, SO, cost of living, housing availability, etc.?

From what I've seen during visits, I definitely prefer a smaller cohort. My first visit consisted of 12 prospectives, and the program expected an incoming cohort of 7-10 students (they did not invite all their admits), and that to me is the perfect size for a cohort. I think that's small enough for everyone to have adequate interactions with each other but not as small as a 4-5 people cohort so there's still a good chance you can find someone you click with. My other two visits had 18-22 people and expected a cohort of 15-17 people, and I already felt that's a little bit too much. Is program = cohort and division = department in this context? I'm guessing since 20ish students/year x 5-6 years = 100-120 students total That sounds awesome.

Well for sure it's a matter of personal preference. Whenever I had 3Q in one test I felt like my brain was on fire and couldn't function towards the end of the 3rd Q section. It's a long test, and when I was that tired at the end, I'd much rather read some long passages than try to read a graph and compute some percentages. I think we agreed on the non-label part there. About whether or not a 5-section is the unofficial standard, I'm not quite sure. I personally don't know many people who have taken the test in real life, but I remember last year during the peak on the GRE season, a lot of people on this forum were taking the test and not all or even most of them had an experimental section.

Huhm what's the difference between the non-graded and the research block? As far as I know the non-graded one is non-graded precisely because it is for experiment/research purposes, meaning they're the same thing basically. And I don't think ETS will label anything as such, since if a test taker knew the block is non-graded and/or research, what would prevent him/her from skipping the entire section or answering randomly? Then what kind of data would they get? The experiment/research only works when the test taker knows nothing and treats it like any other sections, like in a blind study. So the standard test will be 2V-2Q, possible one more of either one, 5 maximum total I think. I had 3V during the official test and 3Q in the few sample tests at home, and 3V is definitely more manageable IMO.

It was NOT a fun way to grow up; I would not recommend it To my parents' credit, they did not push me to do anything I didn't want to - I myself did all the pressuring. I was just born that way I guess. While other people learn to buckle down and get serious, I had to learn to relax and take it easy. I'm definitely more fun now than I was at 15 So yeah, being serious and overachieving did give me a lot of advantages, but now if I see a kid like that I would try to talk some sense of balance into their head.

I think a little bit of buyer's remorse is normal. If you look around the board you can see everyone's emotions all go haywire after the big decision. By choosing one program you did give up the potentials of all other programs, but I find it very helpful to focus on the details of that one particular chosen program: make housing arrangements, explore the city, talk to your POIs and current students, etc. For me that did the trick of replacing the endless possibilities I had pre-decision with this more vivid, concrete picture of my future post-decision, substituting quantity with quality in a way and keeping my excitement up. On the other hand, thinking about reapplying in case things don't work out is like thinking about divorce before getting married: it is helpful in a way by reminding you that you always have a way out, but it may not be the healthiest way to begin your commitment.

I always find that disctinction a bit hazy, and I've heard many different opinions about those 2 labels. I didn't go to high school in the US, so not until my college years did I get to know what they mean. I have to say they're a very American thing. We do have the archetypes of the overachiever, bookworm and teacher's pet, but not particularly in line with the connotation of being a nerd or a geek and in no way are that derided in high schools. But if you mean being (overly) serious about grades, follow rules, super do-gooder, then yes I absolutely was one, and still am, even though I didn't do anything on the list!

TakeruK is right, you only have to prove 1 year of funding for the F1 visa. But 250k is a lot of money even if you find a job and stay in the US to pay it back. If not, if you have to return to your country, it'd be an incredible amount of debt to have. Just something to consider.

Completely agree. Things really change from when you start applying to when you start hearing back, having interviews and visits, and talking in-depth to more people. Programs go up and down your list throughout the process. We have a whole "If I had known" thread, but in all actuality most of them are things you couldn've have known without going through it in the first place.

I feel you. It took working for about a year for me to realize how much I actually enjoy school and decide to apply. Now that I'm about to start my program, among all the self-doubts and the bleak job market, I have to remind myself how bored and apathetic I was to rekindle my desire to go back to school and be in a line of work where I can constantly learn something new.

I think you should probably apply to a mix of out-of-state and in-state programs, and if possible veer towards those which offer funding like Britt32011 said. Make sure they're all programs where you'll be happy to attend and where you can succeed, then wait to see which ones accept you, then decide on the most financially viable one. I hope that makes sense

If you check the Interviews/Visits subforum, going back about 2-3 months or so (around late January to early March), you can find a lot of threads with tons of questions and advice about Skype interviews. That's usually the time of year when interviews happen

Thanks for this thread guys. I was doing my budget earlier, and it seems like I've overestimated food expenses by allocating about $300/month for groceries, $100 for eating out and another $25 for toiletries and other necessities. Need to go redo the budget now

Check with his current advisees as well as other students in the program. Talk to the DGS. I find that even if your POI is a bit standoffish, if the overall enviroment is supportive and switching is to a degree normall, it wouldn't be a huge problem.

I was concerned with this too (not for any particular reason, everybody seemed very nice. It's just that I usually don't trust first impression and also think that I might change my focus later on), so I always made sure to ask around (both faculty and current students) how easy or hard it is to switch advisor. Most programs don't require me to settle on a formal advisor until the end of my first year; the formal process (paperwork) to change advisor is pretty much the same; but there's a clear difference in the department culture on how or if it should be done, how common it is and if anyone should get offended by it. It's an important factor for me and I finally decided to go somewhere where it's not a big deal to do this and your old advisor can still be on your committee without any issue.

Agree that it would be more appropriate in the City Guide section. I also think this can be a very helpful topic for a lot of people in the process of moving right now, so it'd be great if the OP or mods can move it there and keep in thread intact (everything related to storage posted here instead of breaking it into different locations) so we can have all the general advice in one pool.

I think your best bet is just to keep bugging the department and/or the graduate school and explain the discrepancy and ask what should be done about it. Mayebe try calling them? I heard that usually does the trick better than emailing.

LOL. First time I took a bribe in my life! To the OP: It's a bit strange that they're offering you a fellowship this late in the process, but I don't think it means anything other than they believe in your ability to succeed in graduate school The reason for the switch might be that someone turned down the fellowship and they picked you to replace - however that's just my theory, I actually am under the impression that most fellowships are non-transferable. Regardless of the reason, it's a good sign - they seem to have faith in you and you have more time and money to devote to your research. Don't think of it as welfare - I'm international too and I was offered two fellowships! I think the difference in stipend and lack of service are nothing compared to the extra tuition they have to pay on our behalf for all 5 years