rising_star

Depends more on the quality of the PIs/labs and funding than anything else, I think.

Go to UNC. UNC has programs internationally that you can get involved in once you're there.

Take the funded master's and use your time there to gain research experience to make you more competitive for PhD programs.

Too bad your PI is married and you're involved. Otherwise, you might've just found a less competitive way to a tenure-track position (the spousal hire). Ah well. Just establish some clear personal boundaries (in your head and possibly with your SO) and make sure you stay within them. What munchlax did seems wise. Now I wish I were in a field with attractive PIs!

Housing wanted ads! I totally forgot about those. I got a fantastic place to live that way once. Well below market rent with all the amenities I wanted and close to campus. 1.5 years later I moved out because I wanted more privacy (I had 2 roommates) and because they were raising the rent by 25% to put it in line with market rates. You should definitely place a few and see what happens. Some of it will be crap but some will be worth looking into.

There's a bunch of old threads on here about moving across country, several of which began around this time last year. Lots of advice in those about moving in just your car, by flying out to the new destination, renting a truck, and using a service (basically any option you can think of). Checking those should help.

You may want to check or ask in the appropriate threads on the "City Guide".

There's definitely off-campus housing available for less than that! I have a friend who teaches there and she's moving into a house in May where the rent is either $750 or $800 a month for a 2 bedroom with a yard.

Definitely talk to the Director. It's not about getting the professor in trouble. The department could get in trouble for violating the terms of your contract, which is a much, much bigger issue. If you're supposed to be assisting, then you should be assisting and not teaching. I mean, I've given lectures before when TAing if the professor was out of town but I was always given their notes or slides as well as advanced notice. If the professor you're TAing for can't/won't even do that, then it's completely ridiculous and someone else should be involved.

I have lots and lots of sympathy for your situation. I moved across the country last summer with a dog. And it was a pain finding pet-friendly apartments/houses because most of them don't allow pets at all or only allow cats. I just sucked it up because I like my dog 99% of the time and wouldn't want her away from me.

Oh, an extended stay hotel room isn't a bad idea. You might also try looking for a sublet through your undergrad alumni list or via any graduate programs in the area you're going.

I lived with roommates for years while a grad student. Most of the time, I didn't mind it but I also wasn't friends with most of those roommates. The best experience I had was the first year of my MA when I lived with an undergrad senior. They were very, very responsible and enrolled in an elementary ed program. That year was probably more grueling for my roommate (classes, full-time teaching in a school, plus part-time job) than it was for me. Also, they were a fantastic roommate, so much so that I went to their wedding years later. I've also had inconsiderate, rude roommates and ones in between. It really all depends on you and the other people. For example, the one time I lived in a place with 3 roommates (all grad students, one from my department), it was a complete disaster. On the other hand, two of my good friends from the PhD program decided to live together without having ever met and ended up being roommates for three years. They're still friends. For me, I just realized that I kinda like living alone and being able to do my own thing, without having to worry about or accommodate anyone else (other than my dog).

I've used it but never for a stay as long as a month. At that length, you might want to look into actual sublets via Craigslist or the like.

It really depends. Are the classes master's only, master's/undergrad, or master's/PhD? As a master's student (in a department where most continued on to the PhD), my classes ranger from 5 to 18 people. The biggest ones were the required ones for everyone in the entering cohort (both master's and PhD). The smallest one was a graduate seminar where I was the only master's student and everyone else was a PhD student (taught by my advisor so I took it anyway).

Fancy school. I'm assuming the money is the same at either place since you didn't mention that... If it's not, go with the money.

School #2. What will matter more for your future employment is networking. School 2 gives you the opportunity to start doing that while in school and potentially even intern at a place where you could be employed in the future. But don't live with a friend for free. That really is a recipe for friendship disaster.

Again, don't bother with the debt.

Oh man. The dangers of renting a house are all about the routine maintenance and the emergency maintenance. You need to rent from a good owner that cares about their property or a management company with a good reputation. The last house I rented was from a large management company with over 600 rentals. They had a FT maintenance crew to do all work. This was important because right after I moved in, I discovered part of the stove was broken, which caused a gas leak and led the gas company to disconnect the stove. This all happened on a Saturday. On Monday at 9am, they had a repairman at my house working on the stove. He stayed until it was fixed, except to go get parts. That is a good company. A lesser company might've made me wait a day or two, not cared about the problem, etc. Another great experience I had was renting from a private owner that lived nearby. He owned a landscaping company so he took care of all of the plants and trees outside for me, which was awesome. By contrast, I have a friend that's renting from a private owner right now. She's in the northeast and the polar vortex led to a pipe freezing and bursting in the uninsulated basement. The landlord blamed her, took weeks to get everything fixed, and is holding her responsible for the increased water and electric bill incurred due to the pipe leaking and the heaters needed to dry out the basement. That's a negative rental experience for sure but those folks are out there. Apartments, by contrast, usually have copious reviews online you can read. They also usually employ their own maintenance staff which can make it easier to get things fixed. I live in an apartment now with my small (~22lb) dog. The max size here is 70 lbs per dog and you can have up to 2 per apartment so I do have neighbors with large dogs. I assume they live here because a 2 bedroom apartment is $100-200/month less than a 2 bedroom house and you don't have to worry about yard maintenance.

panicking, that list of advice you gave is familiar to me. I was given it once. In Tegucigalpa, Honduras, which is widely considered the world's most dangerous city (Honduras = highest per capita murder rate in the world). It's just overkill for being in most major cities in the USA. Also, not sure why you think crime doesn't happen in small towns. It does. Just because it hasn't happened to you, doesn't mean it never occurs.

None of them! I wouldn't bother with the debt, especially since you have work experience. Get a job in your field that will pay for your tuition instead.

Minimize your debt, get kick-butt internships, and go to school at SF State.

My impression is that a lot of faculty don't teach in the summer because they use that time to do research. So, I wouldn't bother with the summer courses.

LSU.

Talk to the program coordinator to find out what their graduates are doing. They will be able to tell you if their MA grads are in PhD programs and, if so, where.

I schedule it all in, if that helps. Here's what I mean (though not my actual schedule): 7:30am wake up 7:45am walk dog for 15 min 8:00am return home, exercise for 30 minutes 8:30am shower, get dressed 8:45am make breakfast 9:00am eat breakfast ... 11:30pm go to bed Like I said, that's not actually what I do. But, for example, if I have a meeting on campus that's near the gym, I'll make plans to go to the gym after that and block off an hour of my day. As for sleep, well, I don't have a problem getting enough sleep because I can't function well without it. At some point, I realize I'm better off sleeping for a few hours rather than trying to power through it and keep working. I typically get 7-9 hours of sleep per night, with the exact amount varying based on how tired I am and/or what I need to get done early (by my standards) in the morning. Oh, and I combine my working out time with my mindless tv time. I'll watch an episode of a tv show, like Hell's Kitchen or Grey's Anatomy or The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, on my phone while I'm doing cardio at the gym. I find it helps the time pass plus I want to watch the show anyway so this way I'm killing two birds with one stone. Similarly, if I'm watching TV in my house in the evening, I'll sometimes exercise while it's on, doing a quick warmup, some weightlifting exercises, and stretching. It makes me feel better and less guilty about watching tv (I watch a lot of sports...). I hope this helps!