rising_star

Sorry, thatguy99. I should've been clearer that the part about Mandarin was directed at lisa, not you.

I totally understand having cold feet about a program that seems perfect. I felt that way about my PhD program after picking it and considered backing out and going elsewhere. I didn't and I don't regret going there now. It was ultimately the right decision but it was a hard one because I had to move away from my family and also my decision to move led to a break up with the person I was dating. It was definitely a rough time. Ultimately, MidwesternAloha, you have to do what is right for you, not what any of us think you should do.

You will be in so, so much debt if you take that unfunded offer. Tuition at Temple is not cheap, and you'd probably need to keep working full-time in order to pay your rent (or, if you don't, take out even more loans).

I wouldn't even use percentages if your sample is that small.

This line made me laugh. There should definitely be development between the two. That you can't imagine it is your problem and one you should remedy. To be honest, it's something you might not see until you are a first year grad student and start looking around at undergrads. Probe your professors about why they think it looks good to have taken graduate courses as an undergrad.

Columbia Sportswear makes good winter boots. I know a lot of people that have them. North Face is another option. You might also browse REI and REI-Outlet, just to see a bunch of options. If you wait a little while longer, they'll be even more affordable.

Is it high? Sure. Is it unreasonable? Nope. Talk to current grad students and ask them about their grades/funding if you're really concerned.

It's definitely not the only case where universities/colleges use FERPA to get medical records. I know there has been talk of doing that regarding the ongoing measles and mumps outbreaks in the USA, because the university has an interest in knowing if an unvaccinated student reports to the health center with symptoms and/or gets diagnosed with the disease. I'm not up to date on the Oregon situation but I know it's a case we'll be discussing around my institution in the coming weeks.

You might still be able to get a TA position teaching Mandarin or maybe teaching discussion sections in that language. It's definitely worth contacting the appropriate language department and asking. You can also look into positions in student affairs or general student worker jobs on campus that pay by the hour. Your plan to leave rather than get no stipend for the PhD is a good one. You'll want to make sure you're doing everything you can while there to position yourself well for a funded PhD program elsewhere.

You might be able to get current grad students to help you find a place to live once you move if you can't go out to look for a place. I know there are also lots of housing posts on the grad listserve, which tend to be people posting a place they've lived in before or another listing from the landlord they have and like. If you're willing to pay someone on a site like TaskRabbit, you might as well ask around to see if any current grad students would help you out by looking at places and sending pictures to you.

If it bothers you already and it seems like it's unlikely to change, then perhaps this isn't a relationship that will last. That's fine. It's okay to have a cuddle-buddy or whatever if that's what makes you happy for the time being.

Relo-cubes from ABF are similar to the U-Box service from U-Haul. Depending on your starting and ending destinations, you may have to rent a pickup truck with a trailer to have your U-Box delivered to your location. The other option is to bring your belongings to the U-Haul facility and then load the U-Box there. I note this because, for my last move, U-Haul would not deliver U-Boxes to me so I would've had to pick them up myself. I did have an issue with ABF Relocubes in that they were overbooked (that is, ABF plans for people to have 3 days to load and 3 days to unload but people were keeping their cubes longer than that) but it worked out and I got them pretty much when they said. They estimated 3-5 business days for delivery but, my cubes were available on the 2nd business day (they call you to schedule delivery from the warehouse to your address so I just had them held at the warehouse until I got there). Note also that ABF works with business days, so if you schedule delivery on a Friday, you get the weekend without that eating into your 3 days to load or unload. And, unlike U-Haul, ABF doesn't use a third party so you can check on the status of your move at any time. (ABF also has the option to rent linear feet in a 28' moving trailer, which I've also done. That is harder to load/unload because the trailer is 4' off the ground with a ramp. But, you can potentially get more space at a lower cost using the moving trailer. The delivery works the same as a described with the Relo-Cubes. Caveat: you need 4 parking spots in a row available to park the trailer, which can be a PITA in an apartment complex.)

SLACs want top tier graduates too. I did this for someone on the poli sci forum a while ago but, you should look up the history departments of some of the schools you're interested in and see where their faculty went. For most LACs, the faculty at schools in the top 75 or so pretty much all went to top tier (top 25) programs in the discipline. For the elite LACs, that shifts to faculty from the top 10 schools in the field primarily. You will want to make sure you get some teaching experience but, a course or two as instructor of record is often enough.

That is easier to say when you have systematically benefited from the privileges of being of a certain gender or race. By which I mean that the literature is very clear that, for example, first generation, low SES, and some minority students are at a disadvantage from their first day of college, which affects things like their GPA, their CV (unpaid internships or volunteer lab work are a financial impossibility for many), their summer opportunities (for example, being expected to come home in the summer to watch younger siblings rather than being able to pursue summer jobs or research assistant positions), and much, much more. As an example, not all institutions have similar research opportunities. Should we privilege those who went to schools that offer abundant research experiences for undergrads (integrating them into the class, requiring them for graduation) over those who do not? Without knowing where they went, that's precisely what would happen. Your (HistoryGypsy and TXInstrument11) idea would eliminate the ability of the admissions committee to consider such factors on the first pass. My guess is that this would actually lead to less diversity in graduate programs, which may very well be the goal of some.

I would just add that I kinda hope they do look at the site as it could give them information about their department they might not have otherwise (like how their funding compares, how applicants perceive the program on visits, etc.).

It matters a lot, though the amount depends on what kind of institution you want to work at. See the various posts around here about prestige and academic hiring.

You have to ask good questions to get good answers. Whether or not they have an incentive depends on the program and that incentive isn't really financial. When I was a 1st/2nd year PhD student, the incentive was recruiting someone that would be cool and who I would enjoy seeing in class and in the halls, and potentially collaborating with. At the end of my PhD, so years 3+, I was far less concerned with who enrolled because I was ABD and wouldn't see much of them anyway. I was definitely more honest with prospective students in years 3+, though part of that was also because by then I had a better understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of my department and how it compared to others.

What MathCat said. Send A the offer letter from B. If they want to make a higher offer, they will and you are under no obligation to accept it. FWIW, it's pretty common for prospectives to be asked about and share where else they have been admitted. If you work in a niche area, then it's often pretty obvious to all those involved.

Have you considered sociology or geography, as kaykaykay pointed out? Because it seems to me like your interests may not fit so clearly in a Poli Sci department but would fit in another department, if you were willing to keep an open mind.

Just chiming in to say that not all states have an income tax. Tennessee and Florida come to mind, I think also Texas and Alaska.

It really depends on what you want to do after the PhD. It also depends on how likely the young PI is to get tenure at that institution. If you're tying yourself to that person and ze doesn't get tenure, you may be up a creek without a paddle...

It strikes me as not a very good deal, but it would depend on how much tuition is and how much the TA position pays. That said, you may not be able to negotiate if the program said that is their standard funding package. Instead, you'd probably have to find a supplemental TA position, scholarships, or a second job in order to provide for yourself financially.

Rehearse the basics of writing and the writing process as works best for you. Be prepared to spend some time making quick and dirty outlines to answer each question. Try not to get bogged down in the details of a question that seems tailored to your expertise and make sure you showcase your knowledge of the area that isn't quite exactly what you do.

Rankings matter less than the placement of their recent students. Where have recent MA graduates gone on to PhDs and what percentage of graduates did so? Those are important questions you should be considering, rather than looking strictly at ranking.

You look into all the moving options, so not just U-Haul but the other companies that rent trucks, plus the other moving services like ABF U-Pack, U-haul U-Box, PODS, etc. There are several and you can find them online. To pay for it, you can look into personal loans, 0% introductory rates on credit cards (which would allow you to charge the move now and then pay it off slowly over 6-18 months depending on the terms of the specific card), help from parents, etc. Some programs will have extra funds to help. Some graduate schools (as in the entire grad school, not just your program) offer low interest loans or scholarships to help with moving expenses. And yes, definitely find the threads about moving long distance or cross-country from previous years.