rising_star

Why not ask you? You're the one that brought it up. I personally don't feel the need or have to constantly promote myself as a graduate student, which is why I'm asking you why you say that "students have to constantly promote themselves." As for the Forum, it began as a place for people to discuss the admissions results that were posted as a survey. Since then, it has morphed into a site where people can talk to others while they are actually applying (the site was initially established after applications were in), get advice on deciding between schools, and get tips on navigating graduate school. Could you tell me how the point of the forum relates to students constantly promoting themselves? I don't really see the connection, but I'm sure that you can elucidate it for me. I delete the information because it's irrelevant. When I write someone with a question about their research, they don't need to know that what class I am teaching or TAing for. They also don't need to know when my office hours are, since it's not like they'll just drop in. So, why tell them? I'm not saying that you shouldn't include "PhD student, XXX Department, University of Y" in your signature, since that is useful information. FWIW, OP, no one in my department (whether they hold a NSF, EPA STAR, Fulbright, Boren, Fulbright-Hays, or other fellowship) lists them in their email signatures. I asked a few people and they all thought it would be weird to do that. I've never listed any of my awards in my signature. They go on my CV, which I'm happy to share when people ask to see it.

Really, all of these questions are things that you should be asking current grad students in the department you are enrolling in. None of us know your department's requirements or your university's so all we can do is tell you what our experience has been. And, in all likelihood, your experience will be different from everything you read hear. That said, here goes. 1. Depends on the department. In my MA department, a full-time PhD student with a TA or RA took 9 credit hours. At my PhD university, that is 6 hours. So, it varies. 2. Ask the department secretary. Stay alert for emails about people looking for either a TA or a RA and then apply to those positions. Why you want one doesn't really matter. 3. Depends. I took 4 classes in the first semester of my MA and again in my PhD. I don't recommend doing this. Given that you don't have funding, it seems like you would just be taking classes. 4. There's an entire thread with advice: Typically, only in the spring and fall semesters or spring, winter, and fall quarters. Usually professors don't teach graduate level courses in the summer, though this varies by department.

It's definitely a matter of perspective. I think you're actually putting more weight into an email signature than it deserves. I can't remember the last time I read someone's email signature. If I did and found "NSF GRFP Recipient" I would think that they were either incredibly self-conscious about their accomplishments or just trying to show off. Neither of those is an impression you want a future colleague or collaborator to have of you. There are lots of other things people could put to indicate that they're part of a select cohort of individuals, like their age, gender, or race, depending on the discipline. Should those things go in a signature? Damis, I think you're just trying to defend what you do. But, what you haven't done is answer the original question. Can you list scholarships/fellowships in your email signature without seeming pretentious? My answer is no. Why do students have to constantly promote themselves? And, if you need to promote yourself constantly, why do it in the signature of your emails which people often skip over? FWIW, if you're using Gmail, it's really easy to delete your signature from individual emails. I have a signature on mine, but I specifically use it just for communicating with students since I am a TA. When I email friends, professors, etc., the whole thing "TA, DEPT 101" thing gets deleted.

Varies by university. My MA university paid once a month on the last business day of the month. My PhD University pays every two weeks.

Is it really as black and white as staying or leaving? Would it be possible for you to find another advisor? I urge you to consult with your department (Director of Graduate Studies, Department Chair) before making any kind of decision about this.

Re: desk chairs If you go to an office supply store like Office Depot, you can often find ratings on the chairs saying how long they can/should be used for daily. I bought one that is for 6-8 hours of daily use and is certified by the American Chiropractic Association. It's a HUGE difference from the cheaper desk chair I'd gotten before. I was able to make it more affordable by using a coupon I got online for 25% off. It has been such a good investment that I don't know why I didn't buy it sooner.

I've never done it and I wouldn't, but that's because I'm pretty picky about what I'm willing to sleep in. My mom actually talked me into getting a slightly more expensive mattress than I originally intended because of how little time you'll spend sleeping and how much it matters to wake up without any aches and pains related to the mattress.

1) Sure, it's possible, depending on what your lease says. If you don't get paid over the summer months, you take out a loan to pay summer rent, set money aside when you are getting paid, or get a summer job. 2) Probably not but talk to some current grad students. I think there's more variation in this than lambspam indicates. I used to live in a college town and while a lot of the undergrads signed leases in Jan/Feb, most of the grads did not. The undergrad apartment complexes really pushed people to resign early in the year, even though the lease didn't end until July 31. By checking Craig's List, the classified ads in the paper, and driving/biking around to look at "for rent" signs, you can definitely find a place, though it may not be in one of the ultra-luxury apartment complexes. I would go through rental companies, if you can. That way you can get a bunch of listings at once and go see them one after another with one agent showing each of them to you. Alternately, you can do what someone else is doing and pay a realtor to do the hunting for you. You probably won't get everything done during the visit, especially if they want to do a background and credit check. Whether or not four days is enough really depends on where you're moving to and how long you want to spend hunting each day.

I'm a bike commuter. I ride a 78 Schwinn Varsity, with upgrades like Armadillo tires and thorn-resistant tubes. It looks sort of like a beater-bike, which is good because bike theft is huge here. The best advice I can give is to give the bike a test ride before buying, whether you're buying new or used. Oh, and invest in either a front basket or a rear rack that you can attach panniers to.

It would depend on when you finish your thesis.

I'm not sure how you'd write a thesis in 1.5 years. It's typically two years for a MS. 1) Yes, you probably have to pay for any credits above what your assistantship covers. But, why would you want to take more credits in any particular semester? Taking more credits isn't going to help you graduate faster. 2) Usually there are thesis units that you can enroll in. At my MA institution, that was a maximum of 6 units, which you took in the final semester when you would defend the thesis. Before that, you could take "thesis research" units or independent study units if you weren't at the minimum number of credits to be full-time (9 credits at my MA institution, 6 credits at my PhD institution). 3) Theoretically. But that would only work if the courses you needed were offered on that schedule, which is unlikely since graduate courses aren't typically taught during the summer. It's also really difficult to do research while taking a full load of courses. More typically, it's fall, spring, fall, spring with the summer used to do the bulk of the thesis research.

No one is stopping you from paying off the loan sooner than the repayment schedule says.

I never said they had different interest rates. The difference is that on a subsidized loan, the federal government pays the interest while you are in school and until 6 months after graduation. With an unsubsidized loan, the interest accrued is added on to the loan amount. So, if you borrow $3000 with a subsidized Stafford loan, you will owe $3000 when you start paying 6 months after graduation. If you borrow $3000 on an unsubsidized Stafford loan and spend 2 years in school, you will owe $3000 + interest of 2 years. Big difference.

All you have to say is, "I have a prior commitment on Monday mornings so that wouldn't be a good time for lab meetings for me". If anyone asks, just say it's personal. Actually, you could probably just not offer up that time as available and no one would really notice. But really, no one plans Monday morning meetings anyway. I would cross the bridge about Sundays when you come to it. No need to position yourself right off the bat as the incoming student who refuses to work on the weekends because his/her partner is more important than the lab. Because that's how it could come across.

That makes no sense at all. You'd be trading a 3% interest rate for 6.8%, meaning that the government loans will cost you longer over the lifetime of the loan. Moreover, if you are taking out unsubsidized loans, the 6.8% interest will be accruing while you're in school. So you're basically trading lower payments for higher payments. Take out the max in Stafford subsidized loans ($8500/year) and use that to pay down your private loan debt while you're in school. But, you're still putting yourself in a bizarre situation post-graduation since you'll have a higher interest rate to deal with. Actually, the best idea might be to to just leave things the way they are now that I think about it. You're not going to save much money on interest, you'll just give yourself more breathing room in your monthly budget temporarily.

Don't bring it up!! Seriously. It will not lead to anything good. There are plenty of people that, for lots of reasons, don't come into the lab on Saturday nights or on Sundays. If you do feel the need to say that you can't work then, then don't bother saying why. Just because you have a long distance SO does not mean that your personal life should then be brought up to your advisor. mechengr2000, the protocol varies greatly. Some TA/RA contracts expressly forbid outside employment while others do not. If you do get a job, you'll want to get one with some flexibility so that you aren't overwhelmed when a bunch of research needs to get done before a conference or when it's late in the semester and you're working on final papers/projects.

I wouldn't do any of these. Well, I guess I would defer and then try to make at least the interest payments. But really, I would take out the max subsidized Stafford loans and use those to pay off the other loan. The key being *subsidized* because on those the government pays the interest while you are in school and until 6 months following your graduation. This is a solid plan. But, I wouldn't bother taking out the unsubsidized Stafford loans in your situation (which you will be allotted and eligible for), just because the interest rate on those is higher than the interest rate on your private loan.

Here's the thing: If you think you've made a horrible decision, you can ask for a release and accept another offer. Before doing this, check with the second school to see if you could still get funding if this change happens. Nothing is set in stone yet and no one is forcing you to stick with whichever school you've already picked. People can and do change their mind, you are definitely not the first. If she gets in off the waitlist, she can ask the program she did accept for a release. There's a procedure for this. Again, you can and should change your mind. I'm not at all sure why you'd pick the big name school over the perfect fit. But, you should do some research on the advising possibilities before you make a switch.

I would just add the following: Be yourself in your SOP. Sure, you can read advice about what to do and follow it. But, you can also be yourself. When I applied to MA programs, I actually told the school that they were my top choice in my SOP. I also added some other things (like how else I would be involved as a student beyond the department) to my SOP. Guess what? They admitted with a fellowship. So, it's not always about doing what everyone on the internet says.

When I was in a similar situation (studying the same topic but changed countries), my advisor told me to get the approval of the folks that gave me the grant before spending their money on something that wasn't really what they originally gave me the money for. In my case, they were fine with the change (it was for predissertation fieldwork so I think they were more flexible because of that). Good luck!

My advice is to do immersion program if you can. You will improve your language skills much more quickly that way.

Are you talking about a class the prof was teaching? Yes, professors have access to grades but only the grades for students current enrolled in the course(s) that professor is teaching. They don't have access to the students' grades for other courses. All of this is governed by US law (FERPA).

If you're trying to graduate, you need to email people and stress that you have not gotten feedback and need to so you can work on the project. Don't be passive about this.

Find your university's teaching center and use all of its resources to help you.

A lot of good stuff has already been said, so here's my take. The first year will, almost always, suck. So, find a way to make it suck less. Figure out which work *has* to be done and which work doesn't, then work accordingly. Make friends with your cohort, or at least some of them, so you have someone to talk to during breaks in class. Remember that you don't have to be best buddies with any of them. In fact, it's probably better if you aren't. Either find a new hobby or stick with an existing one. Write it into your schedule so that it happens. I recommend something that incorporates exercise but YMMV. Use the hobby and any other activities you have to start meeting other people, especially if you move to a new city for grad school. Regarding money: Figure out ASAP whether or not you get paychecks in the summer. If you won't, start planning *now* for how to pay your summer living expenses. If you don't think you'll have enough, plan to take out a small subsidized loan in the spring semester (summer loans require summer enrollment, which could be extra money if your tuition waiver is like mine and doesn't cover summers), put it in a savings account, and don't touch it until late May. If you're having trouble juggling the start-up costs of grad school, take out a subsidized student loan for a few thousand dollars. Your payment after graduation will be under $50/month and you won't be stressed and/or paying criminally high interest rates to a credit card company. Find a good and capable advisor. Note: this may not be the person you thought you'd work with. Interview potential advisors before deciding, if possible. Before forming a committee, ask other grad students about whether or not those faculty get along. Then, run every single name by your advisor before approaching that person. You do NOT want a committee that has their own issues that they bring into the room when discussing your stuff. And, given the time and financial constraints, learn to cook either now or once school starts. I could barely cook when I started grad school but I've gotten better. Seek out food blogs and cookbooks that offer simple recipes. Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything is a great resource (though admittedly, years later I'm still unwilling to make some of the stuff in there due to complexity). If you don't already have one, get a slow cooker so that you can toss food into it in the morning and come home to a warm dinner. On days when you're biking/walking home in the dark, cold rain, it will seriously make you not want to give up. Last but not least, don't date in the department. Just don't do it. It always seems like a good idea at first but, it can get ugly. So just stay away and, if you're having trouble, remember that you'll have to see that person daily for 4+ years after you break up, see them dating other people, hear about their drunken shenanigans and hookups, etc.