rising_star

maru58, it is posted in the right place. PM me if you have questions.

Check TheGradCafe to see how stressed out applicants are and see how long I can keep them guessing. Then, put pressure on them to decide in a week or less without visiting.

Yes, it is absolutely acceptable to talk to current grad students. In fact, I'd think it odd if you didn't talk to them.

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Which one is good for research depends entirely on what your research interests are and whether there are faculty that can support you in the pursuit of those (both financially and academically). You might also want to consider the stipend, cost of living, overall atmosphere/climate of the department, and the placement record of the PIs you would be working with. In your case, I would ask if any of the programs has funding available for you to visit, since that may help you with making a decision. If that's not an option, talk to as many graduate students as you can about their experience, their thoughts on the program and department, and what led them to decide to go to that school. Good luck!

They probably send that out to everyone that has applied so you can send in your financial aid info and be eligible for aid in the event that you're accepted.

I would go to another institution. Partly it's about academic diversity, partly it's about growing and being challenged, and partly it's about showing a willingness to take on new experiences.

You need to get your confidence back. Can you do practice interviews with someone so that you feel more comfortable? To answer your question, if UIUC hasn't made an official funding offer yet, then they wouldn't actually be yanking anything. Some programs do admit students that they can't fund, so I'd definitely be on your best behavior if you haven't received a written funding offer prior to your visit. Good luck!

Are we talking about the US or Canada because there's a huge difference between the two? In my experience, fellowships often come with tuition waivers, though some only cover the in-state portion whereas others covers both the in and out of state portion. The easiest thing to do would be to look up the fellowships on the Graduate School's website since that information is listed and generally easily accessible. It might also be that your SO could pick up a .25 (quarter time) TA/RA position, which would cover most or all of the tuition and fees. Again, this really varies from one school to the next so consulting the school's specific pages about fellowships is your best bet.

I was always extremely honest with visiting students. I will say though that my ability to comment on both the positives and negatives of my program vs others improved as I spent longer in the program and talked more with friends at other institutions. By my 4th year, I was incredibly honest, almost to a fault, with prospective students because, as I told one, I really had minimal stakes in them coming since I'd never be in a class with them and we'd have different advisors. YMMV obviously.

Then I wouldn't return to your undergraduate institution.

You would probably get better answers by posting your questions in the appropriate city threads.

The Boston, MA area is far snowier than Buffalo this season: http://goldensnowglobe.com/all-snowiest-us-cities/ Think ice wine, Niagara Falls, and a short drive to Toronto. Buffalo isn't that bad. I'd totally move there!

My experience is that funding is allocated to departments, who then decide what to do with it. Some pay everyone the same amount, others don't. Some departments make their decisions earlier than others. For example, at my PhD university, the stipends ranger from ~$13K in some humanities departments to $32K in a physical science discipline. The latter department often uses grant money to pay students as RAs, which may account for the higher stipend.

This varies from one school to the next but my experience has been that when you accept the offer doesn't have an effect. YMMV, obviously.

It has value and it doesn't. For me, visiting basically eliminated schools more than it made me want to attend them. Had the programs not been paying most or all of my expenses, I wouldn't have visited at all. And, I never visited my PhD program.

Lenovo often has discounts on their computers for those in education (K-12 or higher ed). Sometimes these discounts are better than their prices elsewhere and other times they aren't (for example, for a holiday sale, the discounts on the main site might be better).

Invite people to join you for coffee, lunch, etc. where you feel comfortable going. If you make invitations, those that want to be friendly will take you up on them. You'll still get to see/hang out with them but without the pressure of being in an alcohol-based establishment. We did this in grad school and it was fine and helped to include everyone. We also had our grad student organization hold events like an ice cream social in a park on the weekend, so that a variety of students could attend, including those with children.

Flip a coin. Heads is Michigan, tails is Cornell. Do one flip only. (Note: the temptation to do "best of 3/5/7" will be there. That is a sign you should take note of.) Then, tell yourself you're going to that school. Sleep on it. Then, see how you feel about it when you wake up. If you're uncomfortable, unhappy, second-guessing yourself, etc., then you sorta have your decision. For similar reasons to juliet, I think you should go to Cornell, FWIW.

Will you have done a master's elsewhere?

Whether you can go three days a week depends entirely on when courses are offered. In my PhD program, it would have been possible, theoretically, if you only took 2 seminars and then attended the weekly colloquium. But, that would definitely mean sacrificing in terms of the socializing, informal discussions, etc., and it would make meeting with one's advisor or other professors more difficult. My program did its best to accommodate childcare needs or commute schedules when arranging TA assignments, so I'd definitely find out now, before going, if the programs you're interested in are willing to do that. I say this because my second year, I was TA for a large lecture that met twice a week and had discussion sections on various other days. We were required to attend both lectures, teach 4 discussion sections, and there was a weekly course meeting for all the TAs. Because of the scheduling of my own coursework, the sections I was the TA for were on a third day of the week. Add in my grad seminars, and I was required to be on campus four days a week during much of my coursework. I think I only achieved the 3 day/week schedule after I'd finished my coursework.

I would ask current students if they've had any trouble with getting funding for 5 years. My grad department used language similar to what you describe as being from Stony Brook but people routinely got funding for 5 years for their PhD.

I received this email today and thought I'd pass it along. ---------- We are actively seeking students interested in obtaining an MA in Applied Anthropology, particularly those with an interest in environmental anthropology , anthropology of biodiversity conservation, and sustainability (we have two faculty working in this area, with regional specialties in Mexico/Central America and the Middle East). We are VERY likely to fund (TA/RA support) students interested in this area. Here is a link to our MA program: http://amec.msstate.edu/grad/Our application deadline is fast approaching (March 15th). Please share this information with undergraduate students in your departments! Thanks so much for your attention. I hope you are all doing well. Sincerely, David David M. Hoffman, Ph.D. Associate Professor Graduate Coordinator Department of Anthropology & Middle Eastern Cultures Mississippi State University P.O. Box AR Mississippi State, MS 39762 662-325-7524

I don't think topic matters as much as theories and methodologies. Someone that can help you with those will be giving you the tools you need to apply to your specific topic. As an example, I did my PhD with someone with a similar theoretical and methodological approach but who had never worked on my specific topic (and hadn't had students do so really either). It worked out pretty well for me!

OMGosh yes! My two closest friends from my PhD program are people that, at first glance, I never would've liked. In fact, I found one of them rather annoying for the first couple of weeks in the program but then we had a cohort dinner, I got to know them, and we just clicked. So much so that that person is someone I exchange emails with regularly now, years after we first met. But initially? I found them kinda annoying and abrasive, including at our departmental orientation events. At the same time, people I got along with at the orientation became those cohort members I never talked to even though initially it seemed like we had a lot in common (research interests, age, personal background).