quilledink

Great, thank you everyone for the advice! It's really helpful.

Hi all, Does anyone have any advice for getting a credit card in the states with no SIN? I can't get a SIN til next year because I'm not eligible--a fellowship isn't considered "working" for those purposes. Actually, come to think of it, does anyone have any advice for navigating the US without a SIN period? It's been hard to get things like a cell phone and such. Thanks!

Hi everyone, Random question about the winter break at Cornell -- are grad students expected generally to return before the rest of the university? Or is it typical for most people to vanish mid-December and reappear when classes resume in late Jan? The 3 week winter session has me a bit thrown off and winter breaks that long just aren't a thing in Canada, so I'm trying to plan ahead (it's a bit early, I know, but I may try to plan a trip somewhere warm...). Thanks!

Thanks for the advice everyone! Guess I'll just have to make sure my MA thesis is as polished as it can be well in advance! This is great advice--thanks. It's so normal to do an MA here that I forget it's looked down up in the states. I will have started my PhD by then, though, so that should make things a bit easier.

Thanks fuzzylogician! That seems like sound advice--I hadn't even thought about involving my new supervisor, but will definitely do so (my MA research is related, though indirectly, to what I want to do during my PhD). Thanks!

While working on my Master's thesis I decided, on a whim, to submit an abstract of it to a large (and prominent) conference in my field. I'll be starting a PhD in the fall, and I guess I assumed it was good practice for abstract writing--not necessary that I'd get in! But I did, and now I'm wondering: when is it too early to be presenting at conferences? I know that I'm at an awkward career stage--I'm moving from a country where having an MA before a PhD is normal, whereas it's not in the States and so a first year PhD student has much less experience than I do. But still--MA under my belt or not, the first year (semester, really!) in a PhD seems like it's a bit too early to be presenting. Anyone have any thoughts/experience with this? How did it work out? (For reference: I'm in a field which blends humanities and social sciences. Most research is communicated via texts and articles in journals)

Thanks so much for your advice, fuzzylogician. It was really, really useful, and I'm glad to hear about the overall positive impact it seems that it's had. You're right--starting off my PhD while still working on my MA will be miserable, and beginning the program without having taken a break this summer will be even worse. I'd still like to try and finish, but I think I'll set an ultimate deadline (e.g. if I'm not done by X date, I'm out). Thanks again

Hi all, I was just wondering if anyone had gone through the process of finishing their MA while beginning their PhD. My MA program (research based thesis) was supposed to finish this summer, but I'm really behind for various reasons (advisor problems, changing my topic in January, and a bit of burnout as well). I was initially hoping to finish by the end of July, but it's not looking like I will, and will have to keep working on my thesis as I begin my PhD (in the same field). Does anyone have any experience with this? Is it preferable to just get it done, working like mad, and hope there's a break at the end (though I don't feel as though I can)? Or even to drop out of my MA (which I can do--my program doesn't require that I have an MA when I start)? I'd like to have the MA--I don't want to waste the past couple of years, and I'm worried it would burn bridges, but I'm already really burnt out and don't want to deal with working on my thesis while beginning a fresh start (with a related, but different research area) ... Any advice would be appreciated! Thanks

Chiming in here: Ithaca seems to operate on a rental schedule that's pretty much mandated by the school year. I was lucky and managed to find a place in early April when I went to visit...but it seemed that either the housing market was just getting started, or had just begun dying down. Just from my own experiences in the past few months looking for a place--you'll have better luck finding something if you have a car and don't mind commuting into town. There were a lot of (well priced) places to rent just out side of the town, but they're pretty remote in terms of commuting. Otherwise, keep an eye on prices: 1 bedrooms in some areas can get as high as 2 bedrooms in others, so you may be able to expand your search if you're willing to spend the money/the extra room is beneficial... (Caveat: I've never lived in Ithaca. This was just from the whole apartment hunting mess I experienced earlier this month)

Thanks for the tip! I had no idea that this was even a thing. I've already put down the security deposit, but it sounds extremely useful for paying my first month's rent and such... thanks!

Great, thanks! I didn't know that BMO let you do that, or that TD had branches in the Eastern US. I'll definitely look into them And, yeah, the Canadian dollar has dropped a ridiculous amount. I'm trying to put down a security deposit on an apartment right now and the conversion rate is brutal, to say the least...

Just seconding that you don't need a car in Vancouver -- if you're on a good bus route (or within a 5-10 minute walk), you'll be fine. The weather isn't bad enough that it impedes walking year round, and it's often rather nice to walk. There are also a lot of carshare options around -- zipcar and car2go as just two examples. As far as raingear goes--a good raincoat (especially if it's a light outer shell) will do wonders. Most people I know in Vancouver layer year round--so a rainy winter day would look something like shirt/sweather + warm layer + raincoat.

Hi all, I'm moving from Vancouver to Ithaca, NY to begin my doctoral studies in August. Does anyone have any suggestions for banking (and is this the right place to post this)? I'm primarily interested in making sure I can easily move funds between my Canadian and US accounts, at least initially. I suspect by the time I'm 6 months in, I'll be using my US account primarily. I currently bank with RBC, and they do have US accounts, but they charge something like $4/month which is ridiculous. Has anyone seen anything better? (And any further advice on the move would be appreciated!) Cheers, quilledink

Hi ChocoLeibniz! An STS thread--at last! Thanks for starting one I'm also one of the RPI admits--feel free to PM me. I'd love to chat about RPI and their STS program with you! Otherwise, I'm also waiting to hear back from Cornell, Harvard, and UPenn, as well as a few other schools. Best of luck to you!

If you have a Costco membership or access to someone who does, I'd go there -- their warranty has saved me a lot of trouble with computers a couple of years down the line (when Windows tends to be a nightmare). They change up their selection frequently, though, so they may not have something in your price range. I also like Tiger Direct--they've got an amazing selection of computers, a lot of them on sale too. Also, if you have any choice which provice you'll be buying your laptop in (aka moving from one province to the other), I highly recommend purchasing yours in the province with lower taxes -- even 1-2% makes a difference on $700. I speak from the experience of having been foolish enough to not have done so myself...

Oh, I'm glad someone asked this as well! It looks like I'm in the same boat -- mostly because my coursework seems to have balanced rather heavily in my very first (gulp) semester of grad school... and I want to get a head start on languages. I don't have any TA or RA work lined up for my first year though--would five courses be the nightmare I'm imagining it now to be?

Hey there! Yeah, as far as orientation goes, I've decided to try to get into the city a few days early and stay with a friend. Whether or not it's a big deal, I'm still going to be lost (coming from the east cost, never been west!) so a few more days to explore and find my way are probably a good idea, regardless... As far as the grad colleges go, I've actually been accepted into Green -- you're right, it's interdisciplinary, but as far as I understand, it depends a lot on the strength of your application (which is a somewhat long process) and your willingness to apply your research to interdisciplinary ideas (you don't have to be doing an interdisciplinary program, but it probably helps...). St. John's is for international students, I believe... Anyone else getting excited/antsy/nervous about the move and the new school year? Course registration is this week and I'm just a tad freaked out...

Just going to chime in and add that I would also appreciate any advice regarding this as well! I completely freaked out when it came to taking the GREs in the fall (thankfully, I didn't wind up needing them) because I decided not to prepare until the week before. Needless to say, my panic was so great that I cancelled the test... so I'll be retaking them in the fall, and would love to know what people recommend re practice tests and material! Thanks for posting this, oneday6!

Does anyone happen to know how essential the grad student orientation is to finding your way around/being a grad student when you get to UBC? I just realized that the orientation is on August 29, but I don't think I'll be able to make it to Vancouver til the 30th.

Haha yeah! I grew up in Ontario, and Ontario loves to mess with you that way. I'm currently in Halifax, where it can turn from sunny to rainy to stormy to sunny over the course of the day -- though sometimes it just rains (torrential downpour and all) for days on end. Here everyone calls everything "out west" -- very non-specific That sounds beautiful and wonderful! Fluctuations in weather make life interesting, but they also cause migraines... So I can definitely deal with rain all the time. And mild weather! I'm pretty used to grey sky anyways -- Halifax likes it grey from about October(ish) until June... Brilliant, thanks for this! We do the same, for the most part, in Halifax, though I've definitely been caught unawares a few times by the occasional downpour (that's mostly because the wind here is bad enough that most umbrellas are broken within a few weeks, though). I love the idea of carrying an extra pair of socks--can't believe I haven't tried that 'til now. Thanks so much

Hey all, I've got a tangental weather question about Vancouver. Having lived on the other coast for the past few years, I've only ever encountered one downpour bad enough to go through my (allegedly) waterproof backpack and almost everyone's raingear, if it wasn't rubber. I know it rains a lot in Vancouver, but is it more raining-forever-steadily or like the downpours as I described? Trying to figure out if I need to upgrade my raingear at all in anticipation of the extra mm Vancouver gets. And a question I don't expect to be answered, but can't hurt: if anyone gets migraines, do you find them especially bad re: weather? Or is it okay in Vancouver? (the weather on the east coast fluctuates so much that the forecast might as well say "we don't know"). Thanks

Hi there! I'm living in Halifax at the moment (though moving to Vancouver shortly), and the cost of living here greatly depends on where you're living. Living on the peninsula is much more expensive than it is to live further away -- but then you have to deal with things like commute. It's a lot cheaper to rent with someone else than it is to rent on your own. A decent one bedroom apartment here goes for upwards of $800, with some utilities (commonly provided is heat and water -- don't get a place here without heat included, because you'll be screwed over in the winter). Two bedroom places usually go for anywhere upwards of 1000. These are just generalizations, though, and they're all near the Dalhousie campus. The further north you go on the peninsula, the cheaper it becomes. Also, there are some places to avoid: primarily, the Gottigen street area or in that neighbourhood (north is good, northeast, not so much). They're not horrible, but there's a lot more crime (not great at night). Also, closer to the university campuses means more noise on holidays when students are out partying. Halifax is very much a student city, at least on the peninsula, as it has something like 5 universities. If you're thinking about moving further away and communting, be aware that we had a month long bus strike last year. They signed a contract that's supposed to go til 2016, I believe, so if you think you're going to be here then, just keep that in mind (of course, you can always move in the interim). Aside from rent, food here is pretty expensive. Produce generally has to be imported, especially during the winter (I've seen avacados go up to as much as $2/each before). Tax is also 15%, so it makes a lot of things quite expensive. On the other hand, local produce tends to keep its pricing within reasonable limits (so food like apples, really...). If you have any specific questions, feel free to PM me! Edit: what the posters kittie and thepoorstockinger above were saying about the different neighbourhoods still holds true, for the most part

Ah thanks! That's really helpful. I'm sitting somewhere around the 200s right now, so it's not completely awful.... I do think I applied to Year-Round Housing though, but I'm not sure. I'll check on that. Thanks so much!

That was my big stress too. I actually had a prof inform me that without a CGPA of 3.7 I wouldn't be likely to get in without funding--if I got in at all. Fortunately, that was not the case and my funding offer was rather generous. I recommend focusing on all of the other good stuff that makes you a qualified candidate rather than your GPA which is, at the end of the day, a very small part of it. Sometimes your GPA is weighted differently as well, depending on the courses you've taken and when you've taken them (e.g. taking an indepent readings course and getting an A- looks better than taking a second year class and getting an A+). Make sure your letters of reference are strong and that you have a good writing sample (if one is required), and that you can speak well to your other assests. You're definitely bound to get into at least one of the schools you're applying to, and I'd wager you'll get into more than one. It's stressful and we all go through it, but it will all work out in the end And, if you don't get in (which I don't see happening, but worst case scenario), take a year off, relax, and then reapply. Sometimes its about luck of the draw/fit more than anything.

Hey tribesdude, thanks for the tips! I actually applied to residence at UBC, since I live across the country and don't fancy apartment hunting from 4000km away. I'm just sitting around on a waiting list right now -- is it common for people to get a spot if they're waiting, or do a lot of people wind up looking last minute? Thanks so much!