rising_star

I think PLUS loans have a higher interest rate. Subsidized means that the government pays the interest while you are in school and for the first 6 months following your graduation. Unsubsidized means that either you have to pay the interest while you are in school or it accrues and is added on to the principal (the initial loan amount),

In my department, the committee members write the questions for each grad student based on their research and individual reading lists. So, looking at past questions wouldn't be a very good guide.

Probably not since you'd be getting Federal loans. I imagine the student loan changes that are part of the Healthcare Reform Bill will mean that you'd be able to get loans even if you walk away from your house. Getting private student loans might be more difficult though.

There are several past discussions on whether MAPSS is worth it: Hope that gets you started!

Russophile, Is that the only program you've been accepted to? If so, I'd say go ahead and accept, but let them know you may have to defer if there is no funding available. Also, as a grad student, your first source of loans would be Federal Stafford loans, with PLUS loans after you've gotten the $20.5K of Stafford loans. And, depending on your financial needs, you may be eligible for Perkins loans, which have a lower interest rate than Stafford loans.

I'm not in history but I decided to weigh in on this anyway, in part because I did what you're thinking about doing. I'm currently attending the lower-ranked PhD program because of its emphasis in my subfield and who I get to work with. My advisor is one of the 4-5 names that everyone in our subfield knows, and his name alone opens doors. So, I would pay more attention to who you would be working with at each program, what their students have done and are doing, and how supportive they will be (ie, will they write you a letter with 4 days notice or ignore your emails?) of your progress as a student and your career development. Also, I'd look at some of the intangibles at the schools. Are there professional development workshop/series? What about the speakers they bring in? (They should have a speakers series and I'd be seriously concerned if they don't.) Grant writing workshops? Publishing workshops? Roundtables for you to workshop proposals or papers before submitting them? Those things aren't cited as often but they are necessary and helpful.

I've never heard of any school that lists professors/instructors alongside the courses taken.

Not always the case. My current dept doesn't have such funds, instead the grad students often pay out of their own pocket (and their advisor reimburses them usually).

First, let's clear up one thing. It is highly unlikely that all the good apartments are gone by the summer. I used to live in a college town, within 4 miles of campus, and didn't find my apartments (which were awesome) until July, for August 1 move-in. Furthermore, if you wait, you're likely to get a better deal since if the landlord can't rent to a student by August, they're probably facing at least 4 months of vacancy. So, the price is often flexible, or already reduced. Definitely do NOT panic. Your best bet is to head over to the "City Guide" and see what advice people have offered in the past. You might also want to see if the university has any resources for off-campus housing. Most universities do. What you really want to know is how close to campus people live, how they commute, and the average amount they pay. Most of this can be found out using alternative resources.

There are lots of things that I asked and have been asked about. I'm pretty sure there's other posts about this but I'll offer a few below. - Atmosphere of the town (what's there to do? do people hang out? are cohorts close? nightlife? arts stuff? whatever you're interested in really) - Relationship with faculty (How hard/easy is it to get the advisor you want? Is it difficult to switch advisors? How are the faculty on a more personal level?) - Classes (How easy/difficult/useful is the coursework? Is there flexibility to focus on what you want within those courses? Will you be able to take what you need when you need it?) - Conferences (Are grad students encouraged to present? Is funding available to attend?) - Professional Development (Are there workshops or trainings? Networking opportunities? A speaker's series?) - Housing (What are the options for off-campus housing, how affordable are they, how far away do most people live, and how do they commute?) - Student expenses (are there things you have to pay for that you might not know about [ie, fees, surcharges, supplements]? How do you pay for these? How far does the stipend go?) - How well integrated is the program/department into the university? Are there opportunities to take courses in and/or work with faculty from other departments? - What do you wish you had known before you started the program? - If you had to pick one or two things you dislike, what would they be and why? - What are your favorite things about this program/department/university?

What kind of employment do you want after you finish your PhD? If you want to work in Rhet/Comp as a professor, you're probably going to need some teaching experience. So, if that's your goal, you should probably pursue one of the PhD options that lets you gain teaching experience. Would it be possible for you to continue working for the same firm but work remotely? That would eliminate the studying and need to take another bar exam potentially. Plus, would you really have the time to take another bar exam if you are working and going to school full-time? My sister is a lawyer, and spent 2+ months studying in the evenings after work to take the bar that she just took in Feb (and that was her third one! she's moved a bit).

You will be probably eligible for the standard Federal Stafford loans at the graduate level. Those amounts are up to $20,500 total and up to $8,500 subsidized. The exact amount you are eligible for will be determined by the university after you have filed the FAFSA. You'll get a letter from their financial aid office detailing all of this. Once you do, apply for loans ASAP so that you get them right after the semester starts. The exact timing will vary, so contact your university's financial aid office.

See if your department has a scanner you can use? I typically just use the one on our copy machine, since I can scan an entire book chapter, then email it as a PDF to myself. Or, sometimes, I can get the work-study student to do it if he doesn't have other work to do.

I vote for sticking with your original choice. True story (that I don't think I've ever told here, which is shocking considering how many posts I've made [1500+?]): I was awarded an external fellowship for School B around June, having already committed to School A on 4/14 (or 4/15). I gave serious consideration to changing to School B, particularly since I was torn between A & B when making my initial decision, liked the people at B, and was having some misgivings about A (didn't want to move across the country, bleak univ financial outlook due to the recession). I even went so far as to talk to School B about the feasibility of switching and they said it would be fine, provided I got a release from School A. Ultimately, I decided to stick with my original decision to go to A because I knew it was the most pragmatic decision. I've had moments of regret in the 1.5+ years that I've been here but I know deep down inside that sticking with A was the right decision. In other words, stick with the Ivy. See your girlfriend on the weekends/breaks/vacations/etc. See if you can schedule three-day weekends for yourself so you'll have more time to spend with her. And then graduate more quickly so you aren't 2 hours apart for as long! Or, and this would be even cooler but even less likely, could you possibly take a class at the school in your gf's new city? See if there's some kind of exchange program. Then, you'd get the faculty of both schools and have an excuse to be in that city once a week.

If you commit to School B on 4/15 and later school A offers you funding and you want to change, you will have to ask School B for a release from your commitment before you are able to formally accept School A's offer.

Most loans allow for deferment provided you're enrolled full-time in school. And, if the loans are subsidized, you don't have to pay the interest either!

Actually, in many disciplines, the advisors do give preferential treatment to those who are funded, particularly in the sciences where they are literally funding you to work in their lab... Honestly, attending the top school in your field may not mean you get a good job. There's a bunch of posts here about that sort of thing. While a name-brand school can help, it may not be enough to help you get a good job, particularly if you're in massive debt from grad school. I'm wondering, APHI224, if the difference is that you're in a more professionally oriented discipline? For example, MLS and MSW programs typically don't offer full funding to students.

I don't think it's quite the same as an apprenticeship, particularly if you're taking out loans to do it. Typically apprentices earn some money, otherwise no one could ever afford to do it. More to the point, when you work a traditional job for 6 years, you earn more money after 6 years than you would in your first year. While pursuing a graduate degree may afford you higher education, it does not guarantee that you would be making more money than you would if you hadn't spent those 6 years toiling away for debt. First year out of college I had friends that earned $60K salary, $10K signing bonus, $30K year end bonus. That's $100K!! What did I make? Less than $16K. I have made less money in my four years of graduate school than they earned in salary their first year. Now can you imagine what those numbers would look like if I paid for my degree? Each year, they'd be at least +$60K and I would be -$20K or so. How many years will it take for you to catch up? Or, more to the point, do you really want to pay for 10 years of education in addition to the K-12 education given to you by the government? And, if so, why? For the record, I haven't paid for any of my degrees (BA and MA earned, PhD in progress) and wouldn't. Graduate degrees are only valuable if you plan to pursue particular careers that require them, like being a librarian or licensed psychologist. I'll agree with you that lots of departments can't fund students like they used to and that it may not mean they don't want you. But, at least in my past and current departments, if they don't offer you funding, they are not expecting you to attend and, in fact, will be surprised if you do. If the department doesn't care about its students, that's an entirely different problem and I would be wholly uncomfortable attending. Graduate school is about caring. Your advisor has to care about you enough to support you, advise you, help you network, etc. I'm not talking about caring on a personal level (my advisor doesn't give a damn about my personal life [or that of any of his other students for that matter] and I'm absolutely fine with that), I'm talking about caring about your development as a graduate student, your professional career, and your future. So, I think you're wrong when you say that caring is "a childish emotional label that I doubt ... the departments think about". If you've applied to a school where that is the case, I strongly suggest you don't attend. I'm going to refer again to the numbers I posted above. Starting assistant professor salaries in my discipline are $55-65K/year. That's what my friends were earning straight out of undergrad! So no, getting a higher degree does not necessarily mean one can fetch a higher salary in the job market. If we're talking the US federal GS pay scale, then sure, each additional degree means you make more money. But that is not universally the case, particularly not for those seeking positions in the academy. APHI224, you seem to have a chip on your shoulder about this funding thing. There are plenty of smart professors out there who have publicly and repeatedly said that you should not go to graduate school without funding, especially in the humanities. Maybe you should look them up in the Chronicle of Higher Education? It may help you understand the common wisdom repeated around here.

If you do a 1-year MA, it's really hard to apply to PhD programs while you're still in it. Think about how hard it would be to get good recommendations from professors you've only had for 3 months (or less if you're in the UK for the degree). I did a 2 year MA (the norm in my discipline) and it was a fantastic experience. My final semester, I was taking just one seminar and writing my thesis so there was time for both without a crazy amount of stress.

Honestly, summer sessions never last the whole summer. They're typically 3, 5, or 6 weeks long. So, you still have a summer before and after teaching. For example, I teach in a 3 week session right when summer starts. I then have 10.5 weeks (which I use to travel out of the country to my field site) before fall courses start, and earn some side money from teaching. Magic, I recommend that you actually talk to the program about what the summer work requires before assuming that something like summer teaching will make it impossible for you to get away in the summer. And, honestly, I wouldn't just use Craig's List to figure out where you want to live and how much it will cost, particularly if you're not very familiar with both cities.

I assume it was by email but I can't be sure. I can tell you that it was to the "Spaces of Inquiry" DPDF call.

How well do you get along with the person you would be working with at each school? How sure are you about your research interests? Are there enough faculty to form a committee that will not only work with you but also help you improve your work? What about summer funding?

At least some DPDF acceptances came out today. I only know because one of my colleagues received one.

You might want to look into the International Development programs at Clark University (http://www.clarku.edu/departments/idce/default.cfm).

Get an apartment, ideally with a roommate that's in another graduate program. That way, you'll have someone that understands what grad school entails but how can also motivate you to go out and do things. And, your parents can watch your dog when you go out of town (or, if you get a roommate, the roommate may be able to).