nackteziege

So here's my situation: School A: Well-reputed school that I didn't expect to get into, at all. Funding is a tuition waiver and a livable 9-month stipend for the first two years (after which I would have to work with my advisor on grants, etc. but I've been assured by faculty and students that this is not really problematic); I would be working on research with a fairly new professor. When I visited it seemed like we could get along and work together and he said he has no qualms with co-authoring with students. I imagine I could seek summer funding opportunities through various university institutes/labs/what have you. The program is well-respected (highly ranked for master's but no one ranks PhD programs in my field), the university is a land grant and has opportunities for me to study agricultural/rural issues which relate to my main interest, and I liked the town and campus when I visited. The weather is relatively awful (by this I mean it's windy and winters are harsh) and I would have to make some adjustments to continue pursuing some of my hobbies. The state regulatory environment is very different from the one I am used to in regards to my field but it would be interesting to understand how things operate under a different system. School B: My home school, which certainly doesn't have a negative reputation (I'm not sure how to compare these schools reputation-wise, honestly). I'm finishing up my Master's here and have been offered twice as much as School A through a 5-year fellowship (12 months, so the "twice" is only comparing guaranteed funding, not the potential for summer funding at School A), which means I would be completely in control of choosing when I pursue research and when I pursue teaching, and I would have a better chance of picking the courses I'd teach/projects I would undertake. I have never taken time off school, so this would also take the financial sting off of deferring a career as I really do not have any noteworthy savings. My current advisor is taking a job at another institution (if this weren't the case I would stay, hands down) but is adamant that we will continue working together on projects. The fellowship would clear up time for me to do this. Here, I foresee ultimate research work with a tenured professor whom I certainly respect and get along with, but as I've been here for two years I am concerned with the whole "go get new perspectives" thing (also, this work likely wouldn't start until next fall due to his heavy service commitments). I should be able to get the degree more quickly here because I will have already completed two of the required PhD-level courses and can count some Master's coursework towards the PhD. I will also be able to be involved with hiring on my current advisor's line, which could be advantageous as far as my committee goes. I really do not like this city but I am trying to convince myself that if I lived in a nicer location than I do now I might feel differently...but I also worry that I will feel lonelier here because the familiarity will make me miss the way things are now/have been (I know that sounds really strange, but part of the reason this decision is terrifying is because I am really satisfied with the present and I am so afraid that I will never be this happy again). I feel like it is also relevant to note that in my field many people get a Master's and PhD from the same institution, even though it is almost unheard of for someone to apply to a PhD program straight from a Bachelor's as most fields seem to do (it's even rare for someone to enter a MS program with the sole intent of pursuing a PhD). Thanks in advance for any advice. These next two weeks are going to kill me.

I'm still waiting on a school too and it's driving me nuts. Just reject me already.

That's different than my offer! For me, there wasn't any mention of second year funding. One thing you may want to find out is if the second year positions are awarded based on who has the best academic performance or if you simply have to meet a certain standard to be funded a 2nd year (maintain a 3.5 GPA, for example).

Some schools won't fund international students at all. It's a university-wide rule because universities are funded by taxpayers and it's assumed that most international students will take their knowledge back to their home country and their families haven't been here paying taxes (obviously this might be a contentious policy but it exists). Here the funding is kind of used to lure people into the program. We have a few positions for second years and many seek internships to help pay for the second year of the program. You should definitely ask if they are offering you one- or two-year funding.

Thanks. I still can't really believe things turned out this way. Engineering programs are incredibly well-funded through the types of research they do. Planning usually does not pull in huge amounts of money. At least in my current department, few receive funding when they come in and even fewer have funding both years of the program. To me that seems like a very good Master's stipend. A MURP program isn't architecture but don't expect it to be easy. We take 12 hours/semester (many other programs at this school are 9 hours/semester) and some of our classes are very reading/writing/group work intensive.

It is unfathomable to me that schools think it's okay to let us know less than a month before the deadline for us to accept. I honestly don't know if I can handle the pressure of having another school on the table (especially because the one I'm waiting for is particularly renowned around my department for whatever reason) but I can't help but keep obsessively waiting for an E-mail.

I think generally, planning PhD programs expect you to have a Master's when you apply. Some of them imply that they occasionally take applicants who only have bachelor's but I think it's very rare. I also think it's somewhat rare to aspire to a PhD in planning before entering a graduate program.

Yes, this is very me. I have some truly great options. My initial plans kind of fell through though, and now I'm left panicking over whether or not I want a PhD career or if I actually just was going to stay in school because it was comfortable.

I did the same. I do have a few things from my Master's school but I mostly wear the department-related attire. I also went to our football game and sat in the student section in my undergrad institute's colors...which was risky but totally worth it when we won.

I'm still waiting on one too. I think we're definitely getting into the end of decision season, but I would say you'll hear within two weeks. Also, consider if your schools are on spring break; you probably won't hear over that week.

This is basically me right now. I want to feel like an expert (though I realize I probably never will). I'm in a field with a lot of uncertainty and a lot of complicated challenges, and I feel like there is so much more to be learned and I just don't know if I could go into the professional world already feeling so frustrated with not having the answers. Everything seems to have culminated to this. I made a decision to graduate early from undergrad and only applied to one school for a master's because it was a good fit and because of my partner. I landed there at the perfect time; they had just hired a new faculty member who became my advisor and ultimately a great mentor--I admire her as someone I want to emulate. She is leaving for a new school next year, so had I spent another year in undergrad I would have had a significantly different experience, and she likely would have been working with a different student. She encouraged me to get a PhD from early in our relationship. As I began to apply to PhD programs, she had contacts at the schools I was looking at and made jokes about academic lineage. It just feels like right now I am very well-situated and I've gotten into places I don't know I could get into a second time. While I complain about work like every grad student, the late, late nights rushing to finish research actually are almost thrilling, and while teaching still scares me (I've not had experience yet) I do love when I explain things to people and it clicks. Also, I enjoy writing and have found it is one of my greatest strengths, which makes me want to keep doing it--hopefully in an impactful way. Like many, I will be the first PhD in my family, as far as I know. It's interesting that many here seem to come from non-academic families, because it seems like academics often breed academics.

"If you didn't like Miami, imagine what going to that school in Maryland will be like." (This was because I complained about road closure and the lack of signage leading to a trip taking 2 hours longer than it should've.) "I told my friend about you thinking about going to Maryland; a girl was murdered there like last year!" "I want to you factor travel into your decision. I-95 is just the worst interstate, you'll see." She really, really does not want me to go to UMD.

When did you hear from UNC?! Are you a master's applicant? Visits are so hard, especially when you have to pay for them. I am fortunate that my parents are paying for my trip to what is probably my top choice but will not help with any others, which means I probably won't be visiting one that's further away and if I get into UNC then I might try to drive up. I don't know which you've narrowed it down to, but is there a way to combine trips, maybe?

My anxiety level has shifted. It was about a 1 when I felt like I had all the time in the world. Then I would think about it and get panicked and overwhelmed, in part because I hadn't started anything, and it would go up to about a 3. Now I've had to work on it pretty much constantly for a week to prepare for a conference...and my anxiety is about a 2. I've gotten a good bit of writing in and now it'll be a matter of making my methodology more robust. But the point is, just get started! That was probably one of the scariest parts; I was so hung up on the fear that I wouldn't find a good "story" or whatever...and so far my findings are pretty lackluster and inconclusive, but oh well. It happens.

I would've taken it more seriously. I've fared well so far, but the one I am waiting on is incredibly competitive. I saw outside acceptances more as bargaining tools as possibilities and now it looks like I might decide to leave my current institution after all. I'm not sure what all I could've done to improve my application, but I certainly would've at least recognized my low GRE score in my statement and probably sought someone to actually read over my materials before sending them off.

I love grad school. I'm finishing up my Master's and considering a PhD and I feel guilty for being indulgent. I've been working seemingly non-stop to prepare for a conference on Friday (not even a big conference) for at least a week. I've been staying up until 3 AM and getting 4 hours of sleep. But honestly? Every time the work dies down I start to feel empty. Sure, some of the work is less enjoyable. Sure, some courses aren't the most fun. But at the end of the day, I basically set my own schedule, I immerse myself in topics I am interested in, and I interact with informed, driven, interesting people (which of course is not everyone in grad school, but there's plenty of them around).

Still waiting on UNC about the PhD program. I know someone else on the boards is waiting on their Master's decisions.

Are you applying for PhD programs or Master's? Which programs are you specifically interested in? I think we have a mix of people talking about programs here: http://forum.thegradcafe.com/forum/60-architecture-and-planning/

Yeah, I think it's good to respond. I didn't to one program and eventually got a message from them confirming I received the acceptance E-mail...and then felt awkward.

I don't really have much advice (I'm not in a field with "labs, for one) but I will commiserate with you here. My advisor is leaving and I'm probably going to need to go to another institution for my PhD now...and I was so comfortable with my present situation that now I'm distraught and worried that I should not go on in academia.

I had to do a lot of justifying and answering a lot of questions with my mom; academia is just not a world she really knows. I've endured the "but you'll be an adjunct forever" type statements. People have told me to go get a "real" job. Sometimes it's hard to tell people because it feels pretentious, but most often to me it feels indulgent. In some contexts I've started to tell people that I want to be a professor; giving the end goal seems to make people more understanding.

I applied for Urban Planning PhD by the December deadline and heard back on February 15th of this year.

^ Yes, the 2 for 1 margaritas. Watch out for those. The bus system here is alright and they are working to make it better but you probably would like to have a car. Biking around the city as a whole is kind of scary but confident cyclists do it. The area around Lake Ella is fairly popular for grad students. I know someone who lives in the apartment complex Londontown and doesn't always lock her doors. I think she's really crazy but she's from Miami so maybe that's why she doesn't think anything of it. The areas around campus do experience a lot of burglaries. Criminals know that college students are relatively oblivious to things like locking their doors.

This is probably way too late for you, but in case someone else is in need of advice I'll post. From my experience, GRE scores are not incredibly important to planning PhD programs. They know that GREs are a relatively poor way of assessing probability of success. I just got into a school where my GREs were nowhere near their minimum (my quant percentile at least is significantly lower than yours) and I made a brief mention of it in my personal statement about how I hope the rest of my materials speak to my capabilities. I think other factors (who you know, your recs, your writing, your fit) are WAY more important.

Alright, I'm here right now for Grad School. The panhandle is not very developed, and because I'm from a place where I am 10 minutes from a beach I haven't really gone to a beach up here for much of an excursion. If you're willing to drive about an hour, St. George Island is very pretty (it's in Franklin County by Apalachicola). There is a closer beach but it's not as "nice", supposedly, called Alligator Point. Really, the area between Tallahassee and Panama City is generally economically impoverished, as Tallahassee is a huge economic driver (with government and the university) in the region and many of the other panhandle areas' economic bases are in volatile industries like seafood. I'm a vegetarian and pretty low-key. Top 3s: Bars: 1) My favorite bar is a smoky one across from campus where I can go on a Sunday or Monday, get a draft beer for $1.95 and eat free pizza (Poor Paul's). 2) Eh. There's an area in town called Midtown with a number of bars (I think there's 6 along one strip with 2 or 3 more around the corner from these). Of these, I probably like Finnegan's Wake the best but it is small. There's outdoor space which is good when it's warm. 3) Um. Proof is okay if you go at a time when it's not overrun with undergrads. I'm kind of a bad person to advise on bars because I generally am happy at cheap places where I can get a light American beer. Food: 1) Mediterranean place adjacent to campus called Pitaria. 2) Hare Krishna follwers serve a vegetarian meal on campus everyday for $5 per plate. You get three sides, salad, 2 desserts, and a drink, all vegetarian and much of it vegan. It's pretty delicious and something a lot of people would probably overlook when telling you about food. 3) Mellow Mushroom is a chain pizza place (but like the sit-down style) somewhat near the stadium that has a variety of pizzas that are tasty if you are looking for something different than frozen pizza or Pizza Hut, etc. But I'm going to be very honest. I do not really like the town on the whole. The area around campus is where I live and obviously spend the most time, and I don't really feel safe and to me it feels blighted. The sprawling areas are nicer but I am an infill/central city girl myself. Alright, I live in Frenchtown...on the very edge. I live with my boyfriend which makes me more comfortable; I would not live here alone. That said, I have an approximately 10 minute walk to my building, an even shorter bike (obviously), and never have to deal with on-campus parking unless I am too lazy to walk to the gym (ridiculous, I know) or I'm going to be around after dark. As I said, I'm a vegetarian. Therefore, Mexican restaurants are a great place for me to go and actually have choices. We have a lot of Mexican restaurants and I think they're pretty good. Good margaritas are important to these places to feed the demands of the multitude of (mostly) women turning 21 in town. My favorite one is El Tapatio. El Jalisco is very popular and it's pretty nice if you sit outside but inside is incredibly loud due to the tile floor.