rising_star

How does the fellowship/RA amount compare to the cost of living in each place? My understanding is that Singapore is very expensive so 3000 dollars may not be enough to meet your needs. In that case, I'd go with VA Tech so you don't have to worry about debt or loans.

If they're not offering you funding now, don't presume that you'll get a RA after showing up at either place. Hold off and apply again unless you want to pay full price for your degree.

Devil's advocate: How will you feel if you go to school A and you don't get to work in your dream PI/lab? If you think you'll then regret not going to school B, just go to school B now and avoid the potential drama. You can always try for a postdoc at school A in dream lab later. On the other hand: what if your interests shift slightly? In that case, it would make more sense to go to school A because you'd see/experience more options due to the rotations....

Penn. It seems like an easier transition plus you can start building connections while in school to help you get employment in the area (where you seem to want to be) after graduation.

Princeton.

Hmmm... I feel like maybe I'm less boring than I thought. I've never done the following: gone skydiving backpacked somewhere/anywhere camped for more than one night (aka, nothing other than a slightly rougher version of car camping) read the Harry Potter books or watched the movies (*highfives RunnerGrad*) read/seen Game of Thrones owned an iOS-based device (iPhone,iPad, MacBook, etc.), though I do have a first generation iPod mini whose battery lasts about 20 minutes somewhere...

Cirque du Soleil soundtracks Keb' Mo', Marc Broussard, Hugh Laurie, and other blues musicians Accuradio.com. They have certain sections designed for your workday like "Get Motivated" or "Concentrate." I usually just pick a genre I like, such as chill or jazz, but there are lots of options (bonus: if you use adblock plus in your browser, you don't hear the station's ads).

This definitely depends on the country. My experience in the USA has been that non-tenured (aka, assistant) professors are expected to do advising as part of their departmental service.

Given that it's a professional degree, I'd follow the money. You're going to get your jobs based on your internship and practicum experiences (and the references you can get from those) more than anything else...

Oh, I have a brand I buy that is organic and contains no weird ingredients. I wasn't saying that I buy crappy pre-made stuff, just that I do buy premade/pre-packaged food.

I like the idea of eating local food. But, I also lived out west for several years. Lots of produce is grown in Arizona, California, and northern Mexico, where water is increasingly scarce. I'm not actually sure that it's a good thing to buy some of the produce I like (broccoli, leafy greens, and other water-intensive veggies) under those circumstances. Same with buying local beef given the damage grazing has done to rangeland in the West. There are politics with everything. Anyway, I just focus on buying things I like that are healthy. Yes, I buy processed food because I don't have time to make my own pasta, for example. I buy canned goods because I don't have time to can or cook my own lots of the time. I wish I did but, I don't. I'm realistic about my limitations. I buy frozen tortellini so I can make a quick dinner when needed. I buy Lean Cuisine and Healthy Choice frozen dinners so that when I'm rushed for time, I have something I can pull out that's relatively healthy. I buy crackers so I can eat cheese and crackers as a quick snack. I buy pre-made hummus and pesto because I don't own a food processor and don't care to buy tahini or pine nuts and do that work. It is what it is. I don't grind my own peanut (or other nut) butter and no longer live close to a store where you can. But, I don't eat these things all the time. For the most part, I cook meals for myself, relying heavily on my slow cooker and quick recipes. Yes, that often means I'm opening cans of tomatoes or beans to put in but, that's just what it has to be. I buy frozen vegetables because fresh where I live now is both poor in quality and expensive in most grocery stores (and before you suggest the farmer's market, I'll just say that I do go when it's open, which is June to October). Foods to avoid: most seafood, especially most farm-raised seafood. Or really all seafood if you think about it. Probably also most meat, anything with soy or corn, anything sprayed with pesticides, anything grown outside the USA... I mean, if you're trying to be responsible then you'd need to avoid all those things. I don't actually avoid all those things, though I only eat seafood or other meat rarely. Other than Girl Scout cookies, I don't eat packaged cookies, though I do make my own on a regular basis. Foods to buy: avocados (assuming you can find good ones), fresh fruit and vegetables (again, where possible and affordable), dried beans and lentils, sustainably wild-caught seafood (MSC certification), chevre, plain yogurt (not Greek yogurt given its environmental impact), and organic meat. It's probably impossible to make food choices that are environmentally, socially, and ecologically responsible simultaneously for most of us. *shrug* I accepted that long ago.

I can't write in the morning. I've tried for maybe 7 years and now I just accept it. I do other things in the morning: organize notes, make outlines, prep for teaching, grade papers, re-read something I've already written for edits/changes, but I very rarely produce new text in the morning, regardless of when I wake up. One thing that helps with productivity, for me, is to have a set morning routine I do before I start working. Mine is wake up, walk dog, short workout (10-25 minutes), eat breakfast, then sit down for work. But still, I don't usually write in the morning. I get what you're saying about having trouble writing at night but, for me, I just shifted the stuff I usually put off (teaching prep, grading, editing) into the morning so I can work a solid 8-9 hours per day without having to work past 9 or 10pm, which has become increasingly important to me over the years.

Which option would be the least expensive?

Isn't the Korbel school in Denver? The cost of living in Denver is probably lower than that of DC or NYC, so you'd need fewer loans in that sense...

vitayz, it's a nice idea but the OP's field isn't one where funded master's are abundant. The master's in international affairs is basically a professional program, unfortunately. But, people do get tuition scholarships and it's worth holding out for one, OP.

There are other threads on cross-country moves. You'll want to price all the moving options: United/Allied, U-haul U-box, truck rental (U-haul, Budget, Penske), ABF U-pack, ABF relocubes, PODS, and more. A search engine can help you find all the options. Sometimes where you are moving from/to rules certain options out because they don't service your route frequently (as in, you may have to wait 3-4 weeks between when they pick everything up and when they deliver it depending on your cities).

DON'T DO IT!!! And yes, the capslock was intentional.

I approve of this plan anyway. It's all I can do not to order myself some Domino's for dinner once a week...

Overnight oatmeal with nutella? Recipe please!

Just because you can't see it doesn't mean it doesn't exist! Also, while many know about the correlations with bad teaching evals, that does not stop universities and colleges using them when they consider whether to rehire someone. I have colleagues (junior assistant professors) who have been told to do whatever they need to raise their teaching evals so that it isn't a problem when they go up for tenure. This in spite of everything we know about teaching evals that you indicate, Gnome. Now imagine someone in a teaching only position. Let's say that you want to include critical discussions of a sensitive topic, like abortion in your course on social policy or gender studies. Should you be able to? Probably. Will it upset some students? Yes. Will they take it out on you in your teaching evals? Probably. If those evals are the sole basis for determining whether or not you are rehired (and, let's be honest, this happens frequently), this means that you have to change your teaching to accommodate what students want (or in this case, what they don't want to hear about). I'm confused about your point about teaching approaches. People change their approaches all the time. I doubt professors were using PowerPoint or other presentation tools 15-20 years ago, but they are standard today. I have had students look askance and confused when I don't have a PPT presentation open at the start of class. The new "tools" I'm being asked to use (primarily technological/digital) require me to rethink how I've taught things in the past and change them around to make them more interactive/multimedia-friendly. Does this always work the first time? Hell no. If it did, I would be a teaching genius and educational consultant at the upper echelons. People have whole PhDs in this field so it shouldn't at all be surprising that not everything one does in the classroom works, and certainly not the first (or second or third) time. But, hey, if you've never seen these kinds of things, you've had some really awesome professors and you should be grateful for that. Just remember that there are lots of other situations out there in America's 2000+ colleges and universities.

TakeruK, I think your last paragraph does a nice job of explaining why a tenure-track is needed for teaching-only positions. Treating them the same as permanent staff doesn't make sense because they are unlikely to have the same 12-month demands to be in the office as permanent staff. Tenure already exists in many public school systems, in part thanks to unions. But it does not exist in those same places when you teach at the collegiate level, which makes no sense. If I read you correctly, your objection is that people who teach don't need tenure in the same way because they aren't doing anything controversial, can't have writer's block for a few years, etc. The writer's block equivalent is probably trying new techniques/approaches and getting lower teaching evaluation scores. But, I think that's field-specific. There are lots of opportunities for people to mire themselves in controversy while teaching in the humanities and social sciences. For example, the recent effort by some SC lawmakers to withdraw some university funding because instructors are using "gay material" could lead to repercussions directly on those faculty, especially if they are adjuncts. The freedom of tenure for teaching would give instructors the chance to try new things, teach subjects that make students uncomfortable, and give grades lower than a B without fear that these things will get them fired due to poor reviews from students.

It's as easy or hard as you want it to be. There are loads of suggestions here about ways to meet people: meetup groups, taking a class or attending events that you're interested in, joining an activity club in the town/city, groups for young professionals, etc. I'm not sure why you're limiting yourself to all grad student things though...

A very American saying is "A bird in the hand is better than two in the bush." That is, take the guaranteed funding from UIUC. Just because they say there is a good chance funding will be available once you come does not mean that there definitely will be. Also, as an international student, you have to show ability to pay for the program to get your visa. Go with UIUC.

I never made reservations in advance. It isn't a problem unless there's a dog show in town, in which case you might have trouble getting a room and/or rates may go up. There are also lots of other pet-friendly hotels depending on the individual owners. I also stayed in a Days Inn, Belmont Inn, and something else I can't remember. The website I mentioned before will let you search for pet-friendly accommodations in a city AND tell you if they charge a pet deposit or fee. I didn't book in advance because I like the flexibility of stopping sooner than planned or driving longer if I'm not tired. That said, I also never arrived anywhere at 3am. I did the bulk of my driving during the day, with an effort to avoid rush hour in any city I was driving through. So, I'd wake up at 8am, hit the free breakfast (if there was one, there isn't at Motel 6) or get breakfast, then get on the road around 9. Stopped between 12:30 and 2pm for lunch and then the dinner stop was usually wherever I was staying for the night.

Alright, reviving this topic due to March Madness and the weekend. Does anyone else hit up Trader Joe's and just buy random singles in the hopes that something will be affordable and good? I managed to buy some sort of dark double bock that only costs $1.17/bottle and had 9% alcohol. Strange tasting but the cost per ABV can't really be beat, can it? If I knew the name, I'd tell you all! Anyone else know of any weirdly good deals like that?