nackteziege

It's not just the act of turning down the schools...it's the stress over whether or not you're making the right choice, whether you're giving up better experiences, the fear of burning bridges in a small field.  I don't know; I was deciding between my current school and a place I went and visited, and when they're only accepting 5 people per year you feel sort of connected to them.

It's not declining that may burn bridges, it's waiting until the last day and declining that I felt may have been irritating, since as I said, the cohorts are small (in part because the departments aren't funded well enough to take on very large cohorts).  Further, I had an offer of aid at the school I chose which I did not disclose to the school I declined until after I declined (they asked), so I thought it may have been seen negatively that I did not try to negotiate.
 
And yes, if you really want to go into it, sure, both programs were good fits and I could have succeeded at either, no doubt.  But the whole process has been stressful and emotional because it's finally accepting that I'm a] losing a great advisor who was a fit on both and professional and personal level (someone I've worked with through my master's but is leaving the school) and b] making a life choice (PhD) which might result in breaking up with a long-term partner.  So, I'm glad that for you the application process was simple and rational, but I'd appreciate you not discounting that some of us don't accept change as readily or have conditions that make decisions so straightforward.  I can understand the frustration people have expressed over some users seemingly sitting on too many offers, but to come into the thread to tell people how they allow to feel seems pretty unnecessary.
 
I also didn't say anything about writing letters "stained with tears" or directly say that I was "emotionally troubled".

It's not just the act of turning down the schools...it's the stress over whether or not you're making the right choice, whether you're giving up better experiences, the fear of burning bridges in a small field.  I don't know; I was deciding between my current school and a place I went and visited, and when they're only accepting 5 people per year you feel sort of connected to them.

^ I've been bawling basically since Thursday over this between just the general stress of the decision, in part due to the fact that in the end, I would have to reject a great program.  At least you managed to stay at home; this all started for me while I was sitting in my office at school and people like my prospective major professor were around and trying to make conversation.  So, the bawling, I get it.
 
I've drafted E-mails to 5 people.  Just gotta start hitting send...

I've heard the mental health services in Tallahassee are less than fantastic, but that was one person's opinion.  The capital has political opportunities, but I wouldn't necessarily expect it to have more medical opportunities.

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).

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).

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).

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.

You still haven't heard anything? Gosh, when will you know?

"RELAX. You'll get in everywhere!"

My least favorite line ever

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.

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.