rising_star

It's not just $40K in loans for MAPSS, right? You'd have to pay for living expenses too? That seems ridiculous to me. If you do great work in a master's program, it will help you get into a good PhD program. So go where you won't have debt hanging over your head, get involved with research, write an amazing thesis, present at conferences, etc.

This really depends on the state. Where I am now and where I used to live, you could only gain state residency for tuition purposes by having a non-student spouse or by working and not being in school for 12 months in the state. As such, no grad student is eligible for in-state tuition, even though they can be a state resident in other ways (by having a driver's license, voting, etc.).

I don't think you need to look outside of the US to pursue your interests unless you really want to. I also think there are more career paths with a geography master's (or PhD) than your profs have told you. For example, a fair number of geography grads get government jobs at the local or regional level, rather than at the federal level. So that's definitely something that's out there. As are any number of private sector jobs that aren't ESRI or consulting but are looking for someone with a particular skill set. The degree really is what you make of it. Why? Because in one geography department you'll find someone doing climate reconstructions based on tree rings, someone else reconstructing fire history based on fire scars in tree rings, someone exploring the convergence between political imaginaries and anarchist political theory, someone doing policy-oriented social science work, and someone else working on a new method for classifying specific crops based on remotely sensed imagery. And at the end of it, they'll all have a degree that says "Geography", you know what I mean? I also don't agree with the approach of finding someone that needs a Thai speaker. Why? Because then you'll have to work on whatever that person wants, rather than working on what you want. Not that I'm expert or anything but I did apply to MA programs in fall 05 and PhD programs last year, with great success both times. What you really want is an institution that offers classes that you want to take, an advisor who will help you not only figure out what you want to do but also help you do it, and funding. None of that requires leaving the country or selling yourself to someone just because they want a Thai speaker. Oh, and if you're interested in sense of place, you should read some Yu-Fi Tuan. Also, I have no idea why you would need 2-3 pgs of Why questions. Did they give you a reason? If you want to talk further, feel free to send me a PM or email.

Through your department, you can apply for an out-of-state tuition waiver if you aren't able to secure other funding.

The Journal of Historical Geography. That could have been you. We'll still take you, if you want. Honestly, I think every strong human geography program has a bunch of critical social theorists, many of whom are Marxists. They aren't just running around but in some cases are running the whole show. Gotta love it!

As a point of clarification, I just want to say that I have never heard of any geography programs doing interviews. Some will invite you to visit campus (either paid or not) after you get accepted but interviews just aren't done. Your chance to wow and impress people really comes in your personal statement, since a lot of programs don't ask for writing samples. In addition, I wouldn't underestimate the value of making contact and discussing interests with potential advisors beforehand. 1) You can learn that someone isn't accepting any new students (which would save you the money of applying). 2) You can see if your interests actually align or if the faculty are doing research on new things which aren't reflected on their webpages or in their publications yet. I'm big on the meaningful contact before applying to schools because it saved me from wasting money (person I wanted to work with wasn't taking on new students) and because it was from that contact, and hanging out when he came to visit my MA institution to give an invited lecture, that I got to know my advisor and was the basis for him accepting me. Apparently he never even read my file... (Yea, he told me that, about 7 months after I got here).

Check with your university and see if they offer any kind of health insurance for graduate students. If you're fairly healthy, what you really need is a plan with a decently high deductible so that it will kick in if something major happens but has low monthly premiums. A lot of schools, particularly in the Midwest and most places where grad students are unionized, has health insurance coverage at no cost to GA/RA/TA folks. At other places, the school subsidizes your insurance. Also, there's the possibility of staying on your parents' plan depending on its rules and regulations.

LOL, my advisors (current PhD and past MA) would probably murder me if I tried to use Keynes to talk about capital accumulation, which is fine because my inclination is always to use Marx for that. As for starting with discourse, that assumes that discourses exist a priori before material conditions and possibly that discourse shapes material conditions and not the other way around or in a dialectic. In other words, I'm totally on board with you thepoorstockinger. Maybe you should join my field?

This only matters if the OP wants to pursue GIS or remote sensing. And, even then, it's possible to pick up all of the skills if you're a hard working master's student. I'll also add that many programs offer a GIS certificate that one can pursue as a non-degree student. There won't be funding for these but they will give you a chance to take graduate courses and demonstrate your skills. Some programs will let you transfer a certain number of courses from the certificate to your degree, which is something to look into. Yea, they do seem vague. Since your GPA isn't the best, OP, you'll need to be pretty specific in your statement of purpose and make solid contacts with potential advisors. So far I've read Southeast Asian development and GIS. These could go together but often don't. Geography programs emphasize in-depth fieldwork, so you'll probably have to narrow your interests down to one particular country, particularly for a master's. I totally agree on the language skills. Valuable asset for doing fieldwork (see above). In general, I would tell you (as I just did over on the Geography forum) to look for master's programs. Why? Because the majority of the MA/MS programs in geography offer funding to their students. I know your professor mentioned Washington but be aware that it's one of the top programs in the country with an incredibly competitive funding situation (in part because they sometimes only give out 1 quarter of funding at a time, though I hear they're working on this). I don't actually know schools that are strong in Southeast Asia but you'll probably want to look for programs with resources within and beyond the geography department. Geography is interdisciplinary and it can be key to find other folks on campus (in history, sociology, anthropology, etc.) that you can work with and to help you along the way. BTW, I don't think the question of "Why they are still considered third world countries" is one that you should list in your statement of purpose. There are already a host of answers to this question readily available. It becomes more interesting if you can present versions of development that contest this status as third world.

In a nutshell, yes. If you look at the CVs of a lot of geography professors, you'll often notice that they did their bachelor's in another field. Personally, I switched to geography from the humanities without having ever taken a geography course. It wasn't a hindrance when I applied to MA or PhD programs. Definitely look for MA programs, maybe even at the schools that are MA-only (as in, they don't offer a PhD). Make contact with potential advisors before applying. Good luck!

Note: not in English, never have been, never will be I would definitely be specific about who you want to work with. List as many as is necessary. Definitely write different ones for different programs. I was quite successful with this approach in a social science discipline. Why? You have to tell them that you're a fit with them and show them. Show them who could supervise your dissertation, who you plan to take courses from, that you can form a committee, etc. I think the more in-depth you can be, the better. Teaching experience won't get you in or kick you out. They'll probably throw you into teaching freshman comp either way.

Congratulations! Honestly, visiting isn't all it is cracked up to be. I'm at a PhD program in a place I never visited and I do enjoy it. Good luck!

Yes, geography programs are selective, just like programs in any other field. The GRE score required depends on the program and the rest of your application.

Good luck!

This has gone on for far too long. Stop the insults. No more namecalling. Stop the speculation about things you aren't even making educated guesses about. Also, if you want to know where HKS graduates are actually getting jobs, you may want to take a look at this publication: http://www.hks.harvard.edu/var/ezp_site ... s-2006.pdf . You'll note that while 60% of graduates got employment in the public or nonprofit sector, 39.5% got employment in the private sector. Who are we to declare that the OP is going to HKS to get a job in the public sector when that may not be the case?

Where were you last year or in spring 06 when I needed you?!?

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Honestly, I doubt the time stamp on the email matters. I sent my stuff after 5pm in the school's time zone last year and it wasn't an issue.

There are lots of variables. I have to do a year of international fieldwork for my dissertation, which makes graduating in four years difficult, if not impossible, even though technically it's a 4 year program. That said, the advice I got was to take 5-5.5 years to finish so that I will be able to go on the job market with publications out or "in press", rather than merely "submitted".

Got my rejection today. Already predicted it though.

The "P.S." was directed at everyone, not just you. I thought that was pretty clear since I said that everyone should watch their language. Specifically, you were mentioned because you wrote "vannik, your writing is borderline nonsense" without actually explaining why or refuting what vannik said. That is incredibly rude and inappropriate here. Younglion wasn't named because s/he already apologized. If you have a problem, take it up with administration. Nobody's taxes are bailing out anyone with student loans unless you mean that there are people with student loans who are benefiting from government programs like WIC, food stamps, and welfare. That said, there are plenty of people without student loans or mortgages benefiting from those programs too. Why not do some research on what happens with student loans (and how they can never be discharged in bankruptcy, for example) before getting on a high horse that says that if you don't do exactly what the loan companies say, you will obviously default. Alternately, if you want to continue to tout that line, find some facts/statistics/evidence to back it up. I doubt you'll find any other than what the loan companies themselves put out. I think slowbro (hey, fancy seeing you here!) makes an excellent point. The 8% thing is arbitrary. There are many people that can put more than 8% of their income towards their student loan payment. Who are we to say that post-graduation the OP couldn't? The OP may want to check out this website: http://www.ed.gov/offices/OSFAP/DirectLoan/calc.html. It gives repayment amounts for federal loans based on different payment schedules without telling you how much you have to earn. Then you can use math like vannik was suggesting to figure out how much you would need to earn to live comfortably.

First, congrats on not picking U-Haul. There are some awful U-Haul stories on the net. When I drove cross-country, I actually had to do it in 2 days. My aunt and I took turns driving in 2-2.5 hour stints (we were driving through some really boring terrain and it made it so you never got too sleepy) and we split a 26 hour trip (according to Google maps) into the two days, though I think we drove longer the second day. We also didn't drive at night at all because we left early and stopped for sit down lunch and dinner each day. Made it a lot less painful. I recommend pre-scouting some hotels at various locations on the trip (for example, our first night we stopped 40 miles past where we had planned because we weren't tired) and keeping their numbers and rates handy as you travel.

Think of it this way. If you don't get into another school, do you want everyone at the school you go to to know that they were always your second choice? Do you want the faculty and other grad students to know that? My guess is no, since that would start you off on an awkward footing. I recommend not telling them, especially because there are no guarantees that you'll get into the other school with funding.

So what you seem to be saying is that vannik's calculations based on the $100K salary are wrong. And yet, you haven't refuted his (or her) math. Just because loan agencies recommend something does not make it necessary, which I believe is what vannik has been trying to show by showing how the payments would affect the take-home pay of someone NOT making $242K/year. P.S. Watch your language, math123 (and everyone else). No more borderline racist remarks and no insults.

1) I'm moving this to the April 15th forum. 2) If you check there, a lot has already been written about how to accept. Generally, email/online notification is fine provided you mail the hard copy just after April 15.