Inyo

Did anyone else get one reviewer who was way out of line with the other two? I got E/E E/VG G/F with horrendous comments from the third reviewer that were completely inconsistent with the first two. And I was not awareded

You can still get the loans if you are enrolled full time, and the FAFSA is the first step. You should also be able to contact your institution's financial aid office for assistance with the loans. Depending on your field, I'd advise against taking out so many loans. It's often better to adjust your standard of living downward while in school than to take out loans (even if you fully expect to be able to pay them pack). No matter what, the interest on the loans is lost money.

I would send an email saying something such as "Thank you for your assistance. UCI is my top choice program, and, should I receive funding, I would certainly attend. Do to my circumstances, I cannot attend a program without funding. Will funding decisions be made prior to the April 1st deadline?"

I'm in a small field where my relationships with everyone in the field matters, so I visited most schools in the fall before getting in. Unfortunately, only one of the POIs had any say in admissions (small subfields in HUGE grad departments can be like that). I think one of the main impacts was that I got very, very nice rejections. The POIs at 3 schools have strongly encouraged me to pursue a post doc with them when I'm done, and 2 have said that they will look for ways to collaborate on research from our different institutions (one actually suggested I do a semester or year long exchange with their program. The visiting was likely good career wise, but mostly because I am in such a small field. Admissions wise, not so much. One thing that helped is that I went to my field's major conference before visiting schools. I made sure to meet everyone at the conference, and so my visits were less out of the blue than they might have otherwise been. If you can afford it, I say go for it.

I have a vaguely related question to this thread, and I'd like to get some opinions. I've got a big engagement ring. The diamond is an heirloom stone passed down through my family, so we/my fiance didn't spend much getting it set, BUT the ring is worth quite a lot due to the large diamond (had to get it appraised to get it insured). I also have tiny hands, so it looks even bigger. I'll be married when I start my program, and my simple wedding band can be worn with or without the (admittedly flashy) engagement ring. My coworkers ALL remarked on how big the diamond was, and so I know people really notice it (I think they were surprised at the size in part because my fiance is a grad student, and I also don't make much money). While I really like having the family heirloom with me at all times, I've been debating if it's more "professional" to store the engagement ring away in a safety deposit box and just wear the wedding band while in school. So what are your opinions about a flashy engagement ring while in grad school?

I think it greatly depends on the size of your field. I plan on emailing the professors at the schools that rejected me to let them know my plans. I'm in a very small field, and there are < 20 people in it with similar research interests to mine. Several of them share grants, and I may end up working with these people in the next few years anyways. The networking I have done has resulted in some of the nicest rejection letters you can imagine (including notes about how they hope to have a post-doc position for me in 5-6 years), and I want to make sure they know where to find me in the future. If you're in a large field and/or haven't been talking much with professors at the schools, then I wouldn't see a need.

I currently teach in a pretty awesome teaching job (as far as the high school world goes), and one of my coworkers as a ~ 2 hour each way commute this year. It has absolutely exhausted him this year. He is phenomenal at his job, and I'm sure the school offered him piles of money to stay (private schools can do that!), but he's leaving after just one year. The (rather large) straw that broke the camel's back was his wife getting pregnant with their first child. She needs to live close to her (better paying) job, so moving isn't an option. He made it clear that the 2 hour commute + small child was absolutely unfathomable, even though he had been coping with the 2 hour commute for a while. Now, all of that said, not to be harsh, but IVF doesn't have great success rates, making it quite hard to time a pregnancy. You may find that you can't get pregnant at all. Or you may end up with twins or another type of complication (which is more common with IVF) that prevents you from attending school after 4 or 5 months. This cuts both ways: I'd hesitate to give up the option of a school that might be a better fit for a child that might never come to be. I'd also be wary of having to commute so far while going through those medical procedures, because it will add additional stress to an already very stressful process. Fertility treatments can wreck havoc on your emotional state (both for psychological reasons and physiological ones--hormones CAN do crazy things to you). Infertility is hard, and there are no easy answers. I'd sit down and talk to your spouse about how you could handle all of these stresses. Maybe talk to a couple's therapist who works with couples going through infertility treatments (your doc should be able to recommend someone). I think the issue here is more complicated than just the commute, the pros and cons of each school, and the possibility of a baby. You have to decide what is best for your family, which is always a hard question.

That's what I thought after spending snowmaggeddon of 2010 in the Philly suburbs. 5 feet of snowfall in 4 days was enough to traumatize this native Californian That said, NC gets more *ice* storms, which is way worse. Plus no one can drive in any amount of snow/ice, so there are alwasy wrecks everywhere when there's even a dusting of snow. Winter isn't cold enough to feel like real winter, but it's just cold/wet enough to make it generally unpleasant out. Spring and fall are wonderful, though. Summer, on the other hand, is just painful. Over the past three years, we've had at least a week total of >100 degree weather with very high humidity. Summers are long, very hot, and very humid. If you drive everywhere, you're mostly okay, but as someone who loves spending time outdoors, I hate the summer in central NC. Summers are lovely up in the mountains, though. All of that said, I don't know how I'd handle upstate NY amounts of snow

That said, it is okay if you make a significant other a priority in your grad school decision! (I keep getting the opposite: "Which location is the best for your fiancé? You should do what's best for him." Me: "I narrowed schools at the application phase. He's really fine with any of my options.")

You haven't mentioned one of the biggest differences between the two schools: climate! As a transplant to the triangle area of NC, I am thrilled to be leaving for another climate. You may have different preferences, though

Thanks, that was interesting! I'm still curious if people have opinions on the benefits of a unique name vs. a very common one.

If you live outside of Cambridge, say in Sommerville or other towns, and away from the main T lines (but on bus lines), you can save A LOT of money. I have plenty of friends who are < 45 minutes from Harvard Square via public transit (though mostly on bus lines) who pay about $700-800 per person per month. Craigslist is your friend. There is no need to spend >1000 per month per person (that is, unless you have the large dog! good luck with that one!) in the Boston area if you're willing to live a bit further out.

I have an incredibly common name. Think something along the lines of "Kate Smith." My While I have a few papers in the review process, the only "publications" I have under my name are posters (5 of them). I do have a very unique full name (Think "Kate McDouglehousen Smith") that I've tried to use as my digital presence, but you find very few things when you google my full name (granted, I control them all, so there's power in that). And many journals/conferences won't list a full name (they go for "K. M. Smith" instead). There is, in fact, another "Kate M. Smith" who publishes in a related field to my own (she's in math ed and I'm in science ed). I'm getting married in three months, and I am largely indifferent to changing my name. The upside would be that I'd end up with a far less common, but not totally unique name. In terms of a possible future as an academic, would it matter to have the more unique name? I do tend to Google people to find information about their work, but right now, it's extremely hard for someone to Google me, unless they have my middle name. My current name is common enough that even if someone Googled "Kate Smith + future institution name" they'd likely find a couple of people. All things being equal, I'm unlikely to change my name upon marriage mostly because I hate paperwork and I don't want to change my name in a million places (SSN card, DMV, main bank, credit card, car loan, insurance.... so many places...). That said, if there would be a significant value to my career to have the less common name, I think I could stomach the paperwork. Do people think it's worth it? And are there other women around who have changed their name before starting/while in grad school? I'd appreciate hearing other's experiences.

I have been doing this, and it does seem to have sped up their attempts to figure out my funding. I would definitely do it.

Yes, and it seems most likely it'll be released on either a Tuesday or a Friday.