rising_star

Depends on what your career goals are, and you have to keep in mind that these may change.

You need to learn more about School B. Can you visit? Or have Skype/phone conversations with current grad students there?

I wouldn't worry about the prestige or even the amount of money you get, provided it's sufficient to live on. I turned down a named fellowship that offered more money because I decided the PI was the most important consideration when all was said in done. Sure, I sometimes wish I had the extra few thousand. But, I don't think it's hurt my CV, but that's probably because I've applied for a *lot* of things and ahve gotten a few of them, so I do have some awards and fellowships on my CV anyway.

How much money would you have to borrow to go for a year unfunded? What will the monthly payments be? How much money are you likely to make after earning your PhD? Will the required monthly payments make it difficult to live, restrict where you can get a job, etc.? FWIW, I wouldn't do it. I would wait a year and reapply while asking top school if you can defer and be considered for funding next year.

Do you plan on being completely phone-less? I'm sort of a worst case scenario person and like to have a phone (whether landline or cell) so that I can call 911 in the event of an emergency. If you're dependent on Skype for that, then you're also dependent on power and internet...

Hi wildviolet, I totally know what you mean. My cohort was 15 and, when added with people that missed a semester for various reasons, my first year courses had 18-20 students in them. I basically did not participate at all, not because I wasn't interested, not because I'm shy but, because I find it really hard to get a word in when there are 5-7 students that dominate the conversation and basically run roughshod over others when they have the audacity to open their mouths, you know? Anyway, I can sympathize but don't really have loads of advice to give. I basically only said anything in our fall required class when I felt like everyone was wrong and/or not recognizing the hypocrisy of what they were saying. In a sense, it made people take what I said more seriously, and I was able to get a few more comments in during the spring course, probably because of that. But, in both cases, I made sure that the instructor knew that I knew the material and just wasn't talking because of the classrooom atmosphere. BTW, as someone taking a course on teaching right now, I'm appalled that your colleagues, who are future educators, aren't cognizant of how their classroom behavior affects the classroom atmosphere. Yes, it's on the teacher but it's also on the students since we work together to co-create the classroom, you know?

No. Seriously. Stop reading. Reading is what people use to procrastinate on writing. Don't worry about the transitions yet, just make sure you have all the ideas on the page and that you're fully explaining them. You can go back and add transitions later and, btw, reading isn't always going to help with that.

Yes, you can do this. You need to make an outline, then basically try to fill it in with what you've already done and what you already know. Then you can go back to the literature and add in the supporting information and flesh things out. Basically, you're probably falling into the trap of reading more than you need to and using that to procrastinate on writing. Break the habit.

Absolutely. BUT, do not send the same form email to a bunch of different grad students all at once. This happens all the time and, since we talk to each other, we all know. I typically don't answer these emails unless it's clear that the person is emailing me for a specific reason (very similar research, wants to work with my advisor, etc.) and with specific questions. So yes, seek us out on your departmental websites but read the information we have there before contacting us. This is very, very true. I am nearly done with my PhD, so my perspective on the department will be very different than that of a first year student. I know far more about the funding, working outside the department, etc. than most first years. So keep that in mind and make contact with students that are nearly done and that have recently begun so you can get a more comprehensive perspective on the department. It's also true that there are people that will try to smooth things over and act like everything is hunky-dory even when it's not. Again, this is why it behooves you to talk to multiple people and some that are on their way out, as those almost done have less to lose if something negative they said gets back to the department.

Gauche, it depends more on the department/university culture than whether you teach your own class or are grading for someone else. At my PhD university, grad students always go by their first names. You could try not to but, I think students would be resistant just because that is what they're accustomed to here. By the same token, at my MA university, it was much more common for people to be Ms/Mr LastName, regardless of whether they were teaching labs, grading for someone, or teaching their own class as the instructor of record.

cherubie has given some sage advice. Basically, just read what they have on their departmental website and be prepared to ask them more general questions about the department, the facilities, the funding, the courses they plan to teach, etc. I assume you're already doing this but take a portfolio and make yourself a cheatsheet on every single person you'll be meeting with. Then, you can pull that out and take notes on it during the meeting. But really, RELAX. They aren't expecting you to understand the model they used in detail in that one paper and never again and they aren't going to reject you for not knowing some random detail like that.

In many schools the tuition and fees portion of your award isn't "real" money in that the department just gets a chunk of money from the university to use for that purpose, then uses it to "pay" the tuition and fees. So, at least in the two programs I've been in, getting an award for that doesn't lead to taking home more money.

You might be able to get away with hiring a local research assistant/translator to assist you but whether this is acceptable depends on your project, your committee, and your funding.

I only buy the silk longjohns. They let you breathe while also adding a thin layer of warmth. I dunno, but it's never bothered me and I think that, by now, someone would've told me that I didn't look professional.

You need to email some current grad students in that program, Deadmeat, and find out what the do. Start with your POI's students and go from there.

If you're looking into a condo, you *have* to make sure that they have solid internal management and reserves. Otherwise, you could get stuck with a huge assessment if the roof needs to be redone or the parking lot repaved, for example. I have a friend (non grad student) who moved into a condo and got hit with a $10K assessment in year 1 because all of the buildings needed new roofs and the exterior needed to be painted and the association didn't have enough in reserves to pay for that. The other factor is considering the 6% hit you'll take when selling unless you manage to keep realtors out of the equation altogether. Also, when doing your calculations, don't forget about homeowner's insurance (and whether you'll need separate coverage for high winds or flooding). I know my renter's insurance is like $100/year but that homeowner's insurance in my neighborhood runs closer to $1K/year for the same basic coverage. The difference, of course, is that renter's insurance doesn't cover the structure since that's your landlord's problem and not yours. I thought about buying when I started my PhD and again after my first and second years. I opted not to because the market here has been crazy (condos that were $100K my first year sold for $70K my second year and, in several cases, have fallen in value even further since then). Also, I've had great luck with landlords. I've rented three times from private owners, all of whom lived in town and had an interest in maintaing the property. So, don't be down on renting just because some management companies suck. Right now I'm renting from a big company (seriously, they manage more than 700 rentals) and they're actually fantastic about calling the maintenance company when I need something fixed.

Usually you can sign up for research hours or an independent study to help get you to the minimum number of hours. In my MA program they had something called "Graduate Student Seminar" which was just hours you could enroll in to meet the minimum with no reading or actual facetime required. Everyone always had at least 3 units of that, and sometimes 6 or 9 depending on the person's circumstances.

Craig's List, at least where I am, doesn't capture the entire rental market. There are lots of small owners here with just a few properties that only advertise by putting up a sign and are able to rent that way.

There have been a bunch of threads about this in the past. emorygrad, if you are planning to stay in Atlanta, you will need to look very carefully at the market. Prices haven't gone up in many places in the last 5 years (a long term investor's dream!), which may mean that you'll barely break even when you sell. Also, don't forget that with ownership comes maintenance and that you will be on the hook for things like roof repairs, new water heaters, plumbing or electrical issues, etc., which can very quickly eat into the ~$15K you might save and dwindle it down to practically nothing.

danielcharles, yes and no. Because just because a subfield hasn't been popular doesn't mean that it won't be in 4-7 years when you're on the market. For example, my subfield (not in sociology) was booming a few years ago but now is hiring about 1/2 the number of the people that were being hired in that subfield in 2009 and 2010.

Long johns or any kind of undergarment under whatever formal/semiformal outfit you want! I have a tendency to be cold, so I often wear a layer under whatever I want to be presentable in, plus a thick outer layer.

With my stipend. I had an assistantship which covered tuition, part of health insurance, and paid me plenty of money to live on.

It really does depend on where you are. If you're moving to a new place, talk to current grad students and maybe some realtors or management companies about the timing of the hunt. Where I live, there are basically two kinds of ads posted right now: those for move in either immediately or March 1 and those that are pre-leasing for August. The latter are generally targeted to undergraduates and are often in these massive houses (6bd/6.5ba; 5bd, 5/ba) or are way overpriced. Today while I was running, I saw a sign for two places for rent pre-leasing for August. The first was 3bd/2ba for $1700 and the second was 2bd/2ba for $1100. Those are ridiculously expensive considering that I live a few blocks a way and my 3bd/1ba rents for $850. So preleasing may not always be the way to go. Also, fwiw, my management company doesn't even ask if we're planning to renew until 60 days before the lease ends.

I did a funded master's so I did NOT load up on debt by any means. I did go straight from undergrad and moved over 1000 miles to do so. And I definitely did not do bachelor's level work during my MA program.

I go to these all the time too. But, I'm not as introverted as you are so that's part of it. Usually, I ask them about what their current research is, where they think the field is going, etc. Or, and this probably happens more often, they ask me a bunch of questions about what I do, suggest people I should read and theories I should incorporate, and then just give some general grad school advice.