rising_star

Fulbright stipends increase if you have a spouse or dependents accompanying you in the field. I believe the same is true of Fulbright-Hays.

starofdawn, there are lots of lunch options that don't require refrigeration. One of my former standbys was a pasta/quinoa salad with frozen veggies, canned beans, and some sort of dressing. The frozen veggies slowly thaw and keep the whole thing cold even if you don't have a fridge to stick it in. Plus, since it's vegan, you don't have as many worries about food poisoning due to temperature changes. Another option would be to purchase a mini fridge for your office or to invest in those insulated lunch bags and some ice packs that you can use to help keep things cool. One of my main cost savings methods as a grad student was simply to not eat lunch out.

Besides waiting tables, you could look for a part-time job in an office answering phones, which would probably give you time to do your work while you're there too. Tutoring and dogwalking are definitely viable options for MA students too. Other ideas are working in a bookstore or movie theater, lifeguarding, after school program assistant (if your classes get out early enough), and any sort of legitimate work from home gig you can find.

This post might help:

Around the 2 week mark is when I would send another email.

Basic Brother printers, like the one Monochrome Spring linked to, go on sale ALL THE TIME. Like every other week. The basic model that duplexes automatically is often on sale for $69 from any number of office stores, Newegg, or other online retailers. I wouldn't pay more than $79 for it because I see it for that price on a regular basis.

There was an episode of House Hunters (set somewhere in CA) where the guy, a professor, insisted that their new home must have a big bathtub because he does all of his writing in the tub. He said it had cost him a laptop already.

Gnome, My point was that as soon as you say you are talking to a counselor, people will assume that you have mental illness. And mental illness IS stigmatized in America. My advice is based on reading articles like this one and others over the years, fwiw.

Do NOT tell them. Mental illness and needing counseling are highly stigmatized in America, even though it should be viewed as just as normal as going to the doctor for a physical or the dentist for a cleaning. But, that doesn't change how people view it. It's good that you're seeking counseling but you don't want to create a bad situation for yourself in your department by telling people if you don't have to. And that includes those who seem supportive.

If I were you, I wouldn't assume this. Yes, there are lots of schools in your area. But, are those schools likely to have tenure-track openings or would you be adjuncting at several of them to cobble together a living? At what stage are the current faculty in your area at in their careers (are they nearing the end and thus near retirement or are they just starting out in their careers)? How desirable is the location for other academics (which affects how many people would apply for any job openings in the area)? While it would be nice to be in the area and near family, you must also be realistic about how difficult that is if you also want to be an academic. I say this because if you're limiting yourself to only applying for jobs in that area, you are less likely to succeed in academia. Your field of psychology is a highly competitive one. This will give you an idea of how many academic jobs were available in your subfield this year. I realize this sounds harsh but you have to reality check yourself here. If you really want to stay with your SO, at some point, career compromises will likely have to be made. It is unlikely that you will both get into a nearby PhD program and get a TT job in the area so that your SO never has to leave their hometown. It's not impossible but the odds are astronomically stacked against it happening. If your SO is really never going to move, even if their desire not to move compromises your career, then you will have to make a decision about love vs. career basically. And, from your posts, it sounds like you'll need to make that decision about a year from now. I should add that my current SO and I are in a LDR and that's fine for now. Neither of us is willing to give up our research or career in order to move where the other is but we both also know that this isn't a permanent situation. In reality, one of us is going to have to compromise somewhat in the near future if we want to live closer together but we knew that from the time we started dating and we're okay with that. You can make a LDR work if both sides want it to. We do, and so it does work for us. That said, I wouldn't be with my SO if they didn't agree to our current long distance arrangement.

Bad idea, especially in your first semester. If it was your second or third year, my answer would be different. Most PhD programs don't let their students teach their own courses in their first year. Teaching is a lot more work than TAing, even if you do as much prep as you can over the summer. You'll still have to review your notes, revise your plans based on what is and isn't working with the course, accommodate current events (as in, if you'd prepped your spring course over winter break, you would've needed to adapt to reference the ongoing Ukraine/Russia situation, just as an example), plus of course grading, developing assignments, and meeting with students. And I say this as someone with a bunch of teaching experience. When I worked for the university as a PhD student and taught, that was a 20-hour a week position but only on the books. Extra money would be nice, yes, but enjoy the fellowship and the extra time it gives you to read in and around your research area. Use the freedom of not working to prepare for comps, to start submitting research proposals (summer fieldwork funding, for example), get conference papers and publications out, etc.

Would it be stupid? No. But, if your SO is scared of moving soon-ish, do you ever think that will change? Because, if not, you have to seriously consider what your career prospects are in that area or if you'll do LDR for years. In my experience, the people I was dating that weren't interested in moving for my career or research were basically telling me that they weren't that serious about me, although never in those words. They were unwilling to make any compromises so all of the compromise would've come from me giving up my research or my degree or my career path to accommodate them. Not saying your experience is or will be the same, just that it's something to keep in mind. FWIW, one of my relationships ended because I decided to move far away for my PhD. I gave that SO an opportunity to have a say in the decision and they ceded it to me, which made it clear (to me) that they didn't much care about our future together since several of those options were within a 3-4 hour drive of their location. Another relationship ended in part due to the prospect of me moving away for research and the SO's lack of desire to come with (even though I had sufficient grant money to cover both of our expenses). Again, showed me they were unwilling to make any compromises and I'm unwilling to be the only one making sacrifices in a relationship.

Definitely get a laser printer, preferably one that has an automatic duplexer (as in, prints on both sides without you having to flip the pages over). I have a Brother that also has a scanner/copier on it, though I rarely use those functions.

In the future, don't discuss grades over email at all. Only discuss it in person. And, at that time, ask the student why they think the grade they received is not correct based on the rubric and guidelines distributed for the assignment. That usually helps them see that they have no real basis for receiving a higher grade.

I almost always give the school I did my PhD at. Most of the people around me have no clue where I went to undergrad (because I've never told them) and I'm quite happy to keep it that way. I don't mind mentioning the school where I did my master's and I do bring it up if it seems relevant to the convo or might be of interest to the person I'm speaking to. So, for example, I was at a conference a few weeks ago and met a ton of people who were currently enrolled (MA/PhD) in department where I did my master's so I made sure to say that I'd done my MA there when speaking with them.

Bell's Double Cream Stout. Or their Expedition Stout. That said, not sure Michigan can top Wisconsin or Colorado for craft beer.

It really depends on your program. In my department, several people (including me) spent part of the time they were writing their dissertation elsewhere. Some did it because they got residential fellowships, others to spend more time with their partners. It really just depends on your advisor, your department, etc. The biggest factor for most is maintaining some sort of tuition waiver, which can be harder to negotiate if you don't have external funding and aren't working for the department.

It wouldn't affect 2014-2015 because those calculations are done based on your income data from 2013.

Also, it's all about the seat. You'll want to test several to make sure they're comfortable for the riding that you are (or will be) doing. I found the seat made a huge difference. FWIW, I refuse to ride on sidewalks. It's not safe and, where I used to live, you'd get a $200 ticket from the police if they felt like stopping you (and periodically they did just to make an example of people).

I'm also a night owl. I requested not to teach before 10am and that's always been accommodated, which means I can go to bed soon-ish (seriously, headed there within the next 20 min), sleep 8 hours, and still have time to get breakfast, walk the dog, and do random small things before I teach. Also, because I write better in the afternoon and evenings, I teach in the late morning so that all the earlier hours of the day aren't a total waste. Oh, and I do sleep 7-9 hours per night pretty much every night. We all make sacrifices. I mostly avoid social media because I spend 1-2 hours a day at the dog park. Time logs are really helpful for understanding where your time is going. If you've never done it, the simplest way is to set a timer to go off every 20-30 minutes and then write down what you're doing at that time. Almost everyone I know that's done it finds they're spending more time on the internet or watching TV than they realized.

Hmmm... sparrow1, this is a tough situation. FWIW, I've gone through something sorta similar. I actually have two dogs. One I got last year and the other is 12ish. The older one has basically always been a family dog because I got her out of urgent necessity (red-nosed pitbull that a guy was just going to use as a bait/training dog because she has zero inclination to fight and I thought that was wrong so I took her) while I was in college. When I did my MA, I considered moving her there, even though it's a giant PITA to find a rental that will allow a 65-lb pittie. But, that dog is such a weirdo, separation anxiety-ridden animal that I decided to leave her where she was. (I refer to where she lives as "doggie paradise." She lives outside of town on five acres. The neighbors have horses and donkeys she gets to run and play with, plus there's deer, rabbits, and other animals to chase.) I did it because it's the best thing for her even though I miss her and it is so freaking obvious that she misses me whenever she sees me. Still, back home is right for her. If I thought she would've done well in her new environment, I would've brought her with me, even though she wouldn't have had her doggie companion (my pit was NOT the alpha and let a 30-lb terrier mix 10+ years older than her boss her around all the time). Anyway, back to your question. Your situation seems pretty ideal for having a dog. I would seriously evaluate the financial impact of bringing the dog (increased rent, etc.) and make sure you won't be financially compromising yourself to have the dog. Also, I'd have some sort of plan in place for what to do if your dog doesn't adapt well to the move, misses your other dog and cat, etc. Side note: How on earth are you able to get work done at the dog park? I'm there 1-2 hours almost every day (some other regulars and I refer to it as our social hour) and I can't imagine how I'd be able to read a book even if I weren't talking to my dog park friends. This might be because my dog is so active and is always running around but I seriously don't know how people are able to do it!

Your grad school probably only cares about whether you have your degree in hand by the time you enroll. So drop the other major if you want to.

My advisor can be like that via email. He was definitely like that when I was trying to decide where to go. It's worked out okay, in part because I'd met him in person before so I knew there was a difference between his email and in-person communication styles. In person, my advisor is awesome. Via email? Not so much. So now, I don't try to handle anything important via email. It works much better this way. If you really can't work with the person, then you should meet with other potential advisors once you arrive and settle in (i.e., not before October). You should view the meeting as an interview from both sides. You're trying to see if their personality, advising style, subject expertise, mentorship approach, etc. will work for you and they're trying to see similar things about you.

Have you seen the post about tattoos/babies? It's pretty awesome. http://theuglyvolvo.com/2014/04/01/why-you-should-never-ever-ever-get-a-tattoo-but-having-a-baby-is-fine/ FWIW, I think it's just fine to be child-free if that's what you and your partner want. Yes, people will ask questions but really it's none of their damn business.

It all depends on where you live. My grocery bill rose by about $12-15/week when I moved across the country, simply because produce is more expensive where I am now (and also because I now live in a state that charges you sales tax on ALL groceries, even produce!). When I was a PhD student, I cooked most of my meals in bulk (so crockpot dinner to last 4-5 days) and probably spent about $25/week. I was able to shop at my local "ethnic" grocer to get amazing deals on produce (avocados 7/$1, sweet potatoes for $.59/lb, cucumbers 3/$1) without having to deal with the loss leaders/coupons/sale flyers. I also used to go to the bulk warehouses (by which I mean Costco) a lot more often because it was only about 4 miles from my house. I never went anywhere else for things like organic spring mix (1lb is literally half the price there as it is in my neighborhood grocery store), organic baby kale (a luxury item I'd otherwise skip), organic baby carrots (for snacking), etc. because their prices are amazing. IYou have to evaluate whether the membership cost makes sense for you. You could also split the membership cost with a friend. The loss leader strategy TakeruK recommends is a good one too. The other strategy I used was to make a list and then see what I could find at a discount grocer. In my case, this was the wonderful Grocery Outlet chain (which my friends call the gross-out). Things are often close to their sell-by date but you could get great deals on fancy cheese, Ben & Jerry's ice cream, organic yogurt, and more. I'd often go there if I had to bring something to a party... I once bought a 20-oz wheel of French brie for under $5 there and then a pack of crackers for another $1 and I was all set to show up to the party. If you have such a store in your area, definitely check it out.