rising_star

He said college or vocational training. This is important because not everyone wants or needs a college education.

I was actually surprised I was on January's list. Actually, I used to read every single post on this site. Now, I think I read about 0.25% of them...

You can ask about application status and timeline for decisions without mentioning that you're visiting. Then, if you're in, say that you want to come visit.

I imagine that most of the people telling you not to worry much about the social climate aren't minorities. As a minority student, I can tell you that social climate played a huge role in my decision-making. I wanted a place that wasn't full of racism, whether hidden or overt. It DOES matter to me, having lived in places with both. What I placed priority on in terms of social climate is how the grad students in the department were and if there were minority graduate student groups. While I'm one of 3 minority students, and the only one of my ethnicity, in my program, I find that no one treats me any differently than they treat any other student in the program. If you want to talk further, feel free to PM me.

Definitely with Princeton and some area schools because the university has already formalized those relationships.

Meet and greet is the place for posts like this, so I'm moving this one.

A lot of programs in my field seem to be notifying later this year, for whatever reason.

Fly to Illinois, fly to the conference, then fly back to Ohio. Last year I flew to a conference then went from there to a visiting weekend. Yes, I missed some school and work but it was definitely worth it (met cool colleagues at the conference and visited a program that I subsequently realized I would've been really unhappy attending). Yes, you'll miss some class. But it's worth it when you're making a decision about the next several years of your life, imo.

Here's a cut-and-paste (without the details) of what I sent to one prospective advisor last year: "I just wanted to let you know that I've decided not to attend University X in the fall. These sorts of decisions are really tough and I'm hoping (fingers crossed) that I'm making the right one. Hopefully our paths will cross again in the future and maybe we can even collaborate on future research. Who knows, maybe I'll get to participate in the study abroad program you run in the future. Thank you again for organizing my visit to University X, your helpfulness with all of my questions, and your hospitality. I really appreciate it."

I always use "Ms./Mr." until I know the person. It never hurts to be overly polite.

Are you sure Kansas hasn't met yet? Last year their results were out at this time.

Northwestern probably offers more money due to the higher cost of living...

You won't pay FICA out of your stipend.

It replaces the department stipend, AFAIK.

I'm actually at the school that offered me the third-most money because I liked the opportunities available to me here.

I sent thank you emails to the grad students who did airport stuff, arranged a dinner, etc. I sent hand-written thank you notes to the potential advisor and DGS.

I can only think of three times (out of 11) where I got information on funding at the same time as being admitted. And one of those was at the program I was already in.

They'll tell you about funding once they know.

Letters get lost, even when people do send them. One of my recommenders ended up sending his letter three times to one school because they kept saying they didn't have it. The third copy was actually emailed to the DGS, who he knows, and then followed up with a phone call to make sure it got there. Just followup with the professor and let the school know the letter is coming.

My department is cutting in half the number of admits with funding for this year.

I would say yes. See the "Decisions, Decisions" section for some posts on visiting.

Honestly, you probably couldn't get into the university daycare even if you wanted to. At my last university, the waitlist was 3 years long. So, what you're really looking into is private daycares (talk to faculty and grad students with young children), in-home childcare, or maybe having your spouse only work part-time. All have been done by grad students I know.

jackassjim, lots of grad students have children and work something out that doesn't involve paying $1100 in daycare. Start exploring your options.

I visited the two programs I was seriously considering when I applied to MA programs. For more on visiting, head over to "Decisions, Decisions"

I visited every program I seriously considered (2 for MA, 4 for PhD) except the program I'm currently in.