rising_star

Graduate registration isn't like undergraduate registration. There are way fewer students vying for classes and, if it's in your department, they are often flexible about enrollment because they want to make sure students get the classes they want.

Meh, I wouldn't register. I registered at both my MA and PhD program upon arrival and it wasn't a problem for getting the classes I wanted. You definitely don't want to register before accepting their offer...

The relevant discussions aren't hard to find, if you look. Check IHOG or The Lobby or use the "search" feature on the site.

You may find this post helpful: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=730. Plus, I've merged this with a related past discussion on moving. More: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=13761

If you go to the Weather Channel's website, you can look up monthly average temperature and precipitation for almost any city in the United States...

Figuring out how not to plagiarize, in addition to how not to make disparaging, sexist remarks, will serve you well in graduate school. Representing someone else's words as your own, as you did in the quote above, is plagiarism, since you wrote exactly what I wrote. I hope you decide to do what's best for you and I hope you realize that consistently needling other people (in an effort to prove something that isn't there) will not take you far in life. As I've said before, you made it sound like the schools were being mean to you by not giving you more money in consideration of your wife. As I said, I think from the beginning, there's a lot more to the stipend calculus than just that. I'm glad that maybe, maybe you've come to realize this. Actually, I realized something just now. My point has always been that you shouldn't be upset or decide not to go to a school because they won't offer you enough money to support you AND your wife. When I asked for more money, it was to support ME. Do you see the difference? The school wasn't offering enough money for one person, whereas you're trying to negotiate money for two. There is a difference there, whether or not you see or choose to acknowledge it. One vs. two. If a program offered me enough money to live on (regardless of whether that meant living with roommates), then I did not ask for more money. You just want enough money for two when a program's obligation is to you, and not your spouse. To me, that would be like me asking for more money to cover my medical expenses just because it's something I have to pay for and may make things tight monetarily. I think you might get answers more akin to your liking over in IHOG, where other international students could tell you how they negotiated the partner working issue. I also want to say that there are several international students in my program who came with partners and whom they support on what they get from the program plus a small amount ($2-3K per year) in loans. I'm sure you'll lambast me and say that obviously those students are nothing like you but keep in mind that they also have non-working spouses for visa reasons, at least for the first year. Many have had success getting their partner a visa that allows working in subsequent years.

Depends on how you're employed. If you're employed as a TA working for the university, they are required to take out the money. If you're paid out of a fellowship or grant then things do work differently. And, just because it's not withheld does not mean it is not owed.

Ouch! That's super harsh (and I say that as someone that's been following you here and on lj). My MA thesis advisor actually told me that I under-reached and that I should have applied to more of the top programs (although in our discipline some of those are having faculty problems that make that unattractive). In hindsight (having gotten in everywhere with funding), I think she's right and that I should've thrown in UCLA or Berkeley or Washington or something like that. Oh well. I got into places that were good for me, which is all that really matters.

I actually really enjoyed it both times (MA and PhD). MA was fun because I didn't know what I was doing and made it up as I went with the help of google. I switched disciplines and had zero guidance. I actually enjoyed that. I also enjoyed the campus visits (both cycles) as it really helped me see where I wanted to go to school (even if I'm at the one PhD program I didn't visit). I loved meeting potential advisors and grad students as I now have a much larger network of people at the national conference. Plus, I can go to more of the department's parties at conferences and actually know people. This year (third year attending) I spent basically zero time with people from my current program, instead hanging out with people I met via these forums and livejournal, on campus visits, and at past conferences. Oh yea, and when else do you get to blather on about your interests to a captive audience for a couple of days at a time? That said, I think my experiences are so positive because I always had an early acceptance (and I'm talking late January from a Jan 1 deadline). So that really reduced the anxiety since I knew I'd gotten in somewhere. Incidentally, it was the same program both times (early MA acceptance, went there for MA, so already knew I'd get in for PhD). The only frustrating thing was going on campus visits and realizing the department was nothing like what I thought it would be, and not always in a good way.

City/county and state taxes will be taken directly out of your stipend, if applicable. Federal taxes will also be taken out directly. You won't have FICA or any social security taken out of your paycheck. You may get some of the state and/or local taxes back when you file...

Liszt85, you intimated more than once that you should get more money from schools because your wife won't be able to work. In your latest comment, you say that's not what happened at all. Just wanted to point out the contradiction there. Thanks for totally ignoring my point about how while your circumstances may be "special", there are plenty of others that attend graduate school (and that you'll meet regardless of where you go) that have their own "special" circumstances. I don't actually consider begging for money part of getting prepared for graduate school. Getting prepared is finding the best faculty/program, reading things for classes in comps, and figuring out when and where to move. Asking for more money is not the same as those things, in my view. I do appreciate the apology and hope it was sincere. In the future, you really should avoid making such comments about women or you may find yourself the social outcast/pariah of your department/field (which could hurt your career prospects, among other things). In case you think I'm overstating things, just remember that Larry Summers essentially got thrown out of Harvard because of the comments he made about women and science, which the faculty did not like. Fuzzylogician, thank you for the brilliant summarizing comment. You hit the nail on the head. Everyone has special circumstances and departments are unable to accommodate them all (especially since they'd face litigation in some instances if they did). That is all I've been trying to get liszt85 to realize, however unsuccessfully, throughout this thread.

Since this discussion is in The Lobby, I'm not sure why the OP's discipline is relevant. Harvard, Yale, Princeton = HYP. I assume the S = Stanford.

I assume "mood swings" have entered the conversation since I've said I'm a woman. Before it was debating the merits of what I had to say, now you've resorted to these juvenile antics. *sigh* Takes all the fun out of what had been an interesting debate. My position here, and elsewhere, has been that debating facts is interesting, debating opinions is only sometimes worthwhile, and namecalling is always unacceptable. So try to avoid saying to me, or anyone else, that they would "make one...woman" or that their "mood swings" are the only reason for what they write. In a moment of being a mod, I will remind you that such language is inappropriate and will probably result in warnings in the future. But, in response to your argument about the stipend, do you think married international students should get more funding than US students with dependents? What about single US students with a dependent of 15 vs a single US student with an infant? Should the married international student with children get even more money? Do you see how this would be a neverending conversation? Universities are under no financial obligation to support anyone. They choose to offer support to certain students based on their qualifications in the form of scholarships, assistantships, and fellowships. They then offer students support based on the expectation that they will support themselves on the stipend. Yes, the circumstances are different for those on F2 visas but they are also different for those with disabilities, with young children, with sick relatives, with a spouse with disabilities, etc. Do you see that or do you think only those with F2 visas should get more money? And, if so, why? For the record, I'm not trying to convince anyone. I'm trying to share my experience. If you think that isn't the point of this forum, I'm afraid bgk has totally messed up somewhere along the line, at least when it comes to explaining the purpose of this site. Obviously our perspectives are totally different. It seems to me like your pride may be part of the problem (in that you aren't going to ask your wife to make sacrifices on your behalf). There's nothing anyone can do to help you with that. And no, I don't mean that to be mean. I just mean that if someone else has to make some sacrifices for you to get what you want, and that person loves you, the worst that can happen if you ask is that s/he will say no. (Of course there could be cultural norms/practices that prevent you from asking, in which case I can understand.) That language is wholy inappropriate. I already AM a woman, so who is supposed to be making me one? I don't know many programs in the country in my field that are in a position to do that now, because, as I've said before, commitments are to current students and budgets are tight. Another factor, as previously mentioned, is that many programs try to pay all students the same amount so that there aren't inequities among students, which would of course make it difficult for one student to beg/negotiate/barter for more money. Besides just asking for money, you could find out if additional part-time employment on campus is allowed (and, if so, seek easy, high-paying jobs), if there are scholarships for graduate students (through the department, the college/school, the university, or the discipline or sub-discipline) that you might be eligible for.

Last summer (ie, before economic crisis), there were definitely US banks giving loans for study in the UK. Not sure of any of the details though. You may want to look at international student offices and contact them for information on how to fund your UK education. Also, you can look for studentships (like assistantships in the US).

I wouldn't call the financial aid office of the university. I'd contact the program's director of graduate studies instead. Definitely search the university website to see if there are any programs, scholarships, assistantships, etc. that you might be eligible for. When did I become a male science grad? I'm a female graduate student, not in the sciences. I never meant to be condescending but, quite frankly, it's annoying to hear people expecting schools to come up with more money for them because of their particular circumstances and without consideration of whether the school/department is even capable of doing so. I personally am frustrated that my program has cut the incoming class in half in order to have enough funding for current students, given the budget climate in our state and at the university. If people even acknowledged that their could be reasons besides someone being mean to them for not getting more money when asking, I wouldn't address it ever again. But you know what? I keep reading over and over how people are offended that X program didn't offer them more money to match Y but Z did. Guess what? X, Y, and Z are likely not in the same financial position. And, this whole budget thing is affecting schools from the top down (have you heard about the cutbacks at Princeton and Harvard? They sound similar to those at state schools.) Liszt85, do you think that the universities should set stipend amounts based on age, gender, marital status, number of dependents, number of pets, what kind of housing you're comfortable in, etc.? I would argue that they shouldn't since that would be discriminatory. So, in a way, asking for more money because you're married is doing that. Do you see my point (even if you don't agree with it, and I suspect you don't)? No, our experiences are not the same as yours. If you don't want the perspective of others, don't ask, don't comment, and don't reply. Deliberately misreading my comments then saying I lack emotional intelligence because I don't think universities should bend over backwards because your wife may not be able to work in the US shows your immaturity. At the end of the day, I think someone did accurately represent what I said. Academe is a marathon, not a race. Sometimes you have to make short term sacrifices for long term gains. As I said (possibly 3 times?), I went with the program that offered me the most for the future. I have an amazing advisor and that's worth all the things I've had to sacrifice for the next four years. Why? Because I know that four years from now, I'll be in a fantastic position to get a job with a track record of publications, presentations, and securing external funding. To me, those things are the most important. I need to be competitive in what will be a brutal job market. Everyone will be dealing with that. So, as I've said before, you need to make a decision now that will put you in the best position to have the career that you want. I know what I need to do to get a job where I want to work and I chose a PhD program based on that. Do you know what you need to do? If so, what are you willing to sacrifice to do it? Graduate school is all about sacrifices and that starts even before you enroll, as I'm sure you're seeing. Maybe this sounds mean but, it's also reality. If you aren't prepared to make any sacrifices, maybe you need to re-apply next year and hope for better offers. I don't always think faculty realize what the real deal is, especially if they don't read all their emails or attend faculty meetings. I think within my own department there are varying degrees of awareness as to what the financial outlook in our department and at the university is. This is why I recommend being in contact directly with the Director of Graduate Studies at the program, as that person will likely know much more than your potential advisor(s) will.

A thesis defense is one thing, trying to go to the department's happy hour while underage is quite another. The bar we go to won't even let anyone in that's not 21 (same was true at my last program as well).

You also have to keep in mind that they would get that money for working in public interest law and that those jobs aren't plentiful at the moment (at least as far as I understand) as laid off lawyers and law school grads are both competing for them.

Let's just be clear. I'm not saying that anyone should be proud of me. I'm saying that I did what made the most sense professionally, rather than solely looking at stipend amounts and using that to decide. I don't think anyone should jeopardize their career just to have a few thousand more to live on for a few years. I'd rather prepare myself to be the best scholar I can be and do all I can to put myself in a position to get a job I want when I finish, and have some student loans, rather than have none and possibly be in a worse position 4 years from now when I apply for a job.

FWIW, a lot of schools aren't in the position to negotiate because they're seeing their budgets cut, their endowments fall, etc. That doesn't mean that they are unwilling though. It likely means that they looked into it before replying to you and they actually can not. I don't understand why people take this personally (unless you invented these credit-default swaps, in which case a lot of this is your fault). You're interpreting unwillingness without even knowing if the school tried behind the scenes. For example, my department cannot compete with people getting offered $2-3K more than our stipends. I mean, we could but it's our policy to pay all students the same, not to mention that the money would have to come out of someone else's stipend. Why? Because we're doing everything we can just to stay around at a University that's majorly in the hole. And we aren't the only university in this position. If you want to let money make your decision, that's up to you. Money isn't everything. Having an advisor with connections to people you need to know, with experience getting grants and helping students get grants, and invested in your education is far more important than whether you have to take out a couple thousand in loans each year so you can live more comfortably.

I assumed that you could use the search function built into this site. But, if you want, there are some in the discipline-specific threads and some here in "Decisions, Decisions". For instance, viewtopic.php?f=67&t=16110 and viewtopic.php?f=67&t=15863. But I bet if you searched, you could find more. The general consensus is decent pants and a decent shirt. Khakis if you want or black slacks. The shirt should have a collar.

Is earning a PhD your goal? If so, do you think you'd be a more competitive PhD applicant two years from now, while earning the MS at NYU? If the answer to the first question is yes and you don't really know what the answer to the second question is, I'd suggest taking a PhD offer now. I'd also see if you can get more money out of Northwestern and compare cost of living, etc. Sometimes it isn't about taking the most money*, but about going where you will have the best chance to excel. *I didn't take the school that offered me the most money and I don't regret that decision at all.

My friend is in a poly relationship in Columbus, Ohio, which is where Ohio State is (and Ohio Wesleyan isn't too far away)...

Other departments on campus, student affairs office, etc.

I would, without a doubt, take the funded acceptance.

WARNING: I did this last year and it confirmed all of my second guessing.