rising_star

@cowgirlsdontcry, obviously, as with all advice, YMMV. I was just throwing it out there as an option. I've never hired the movers ABF offers through their website but have instead hired my own via Craig's List. A number of companies offer a similar service, such as U-Haul U-Box, which again means someone else handles the driving. I have lived in an incredibly rural area and was able to use either one of those companies for the move, though I ultimately went with ABF.

Why not apply to schools in the UK, US, and EU, rather than applying to one country/region only?

Research fit is going to be key.

I think that's going to depend on the class. Some of my classes required reading a book a week plus secondary literature while others required reading 4-6 journal articles per week. Those took wildly different amounts of time as one might guess. Similarly, some classes required weekly response papers, others required 1-2 longer papers, and still others required just one long (25-30 page) paper at the end. So, it's hard to say how many hours of work per class.

That's going to depend on the school. You should ask. It's expensive for an institution to buy a bunch of NVivo licenses, especially if people are moving toward Dedoose or other options.

@cowgirlsdontcry, I've used ABF a few times but have always hired my own movers on each end because it's less expensive. Plus, with 2-3 college students, you can more easily supervise what they're doing (AKA, make sure they don't break anything). IDK. Moving a multi-bedroom house cross-country cost me less than what you're estimating to move one state over... If I were you, I'd call or go online and do an estimate so that you can get a better sense of what the actual expense will be, rather than just guessing based on your past experiences. (For reference, I just priced moving a 2 bedroom apt/house from Baton Rouge to Tuscaloosa and the quote was $1783 from ABF U-Pack...)

No funding = no attendance, imo. I would NEVER go to a school without funding.

This is exactly what I was getting at when I asked my question above. There really aren't a bunch of grants that are solely focused on research purely for the sake of research, with no concern of the broader merits/implications of said research. Maybe you can find a private donor or foundation which will fund you for that but it's doubtful.

@meep95, I got a new credit card with 0% interest for 18 months and used that to pay for my moving expenses. It's similar to what @TakeruK was describing except that it was from a national bank (think Chase, Capital One, Bank of America, etc.), rather than my graduate institution. It worked well for me because I knew I'd be able to pay it off in that time frame with the income I'd be arning. @cowgirlsdontcry, a series of questions for you because that seems like A LOT for a move from one state to another (I spent less than that on a cross-country move). Have you considered hiring college students, rather than professional movers to load your belongings? Have you considered using U-Box, ABF, PODS, etc., and having them move your belongings? I did a 2000+ mile move where I hired college students on each end to load/unload an ABF trailer and the total cost was around $1800. As for rent + security deposit, you all may be able to find rental companies or landlords which don't require two months rent plus deposit up front. Most of the places I lived in during grad school required security deposit and first month's rent, but didn't make you pay the last month's rent in advance. I also at one point lived in an apartment where the management company was doing a promotion where they waived the application fee and security deposit, instead charging a flat $75 cleaning fee when you moved in. For my current place, the landlord let me move in without paying the security deposit in advance, knowing that I was in a tight situation financially. Keep an eye out for opportunities like this to lower your moving expenses.

If it's a two year program, people will expecting you to be making progress toward completing the thesis but not to have completed it when you apply. Your rec letter writers should be talking about both the merits of your project, the work you've done, and your timeline for completion in their letters. In your own materials, you can focus on the techniques and skills you're learning and how you'll apply these to the work you do as a PhD student if you aren't sure you can report on specific results/findings yet.

How is the broader impacts aspect of GRFP "orthogonal to research merit" in your view?

3 or 4 is really not much work at all. I was expecting you to say you're applying to 20 programs or something!

Which school is best for "sustainability" is going to depend on what particular aspects you want the program to pay more attention to. Just based on what you've said, you may want to look at schools which focus on agro-ecology, such as Chatham University or University of Oregon. Your best bet is to use Google and search widely to see what you can find.

What do you mean when you say that UCI is "a worse school"? Why did you apply if it is indeed worse?

Your last two questions are ones best answered by the Stanford program staff. It may be that you can't attend the program full-time because of the way courses are scheduled but, it's impossible for any of us to know this. Personally, I'd take the fellowship and the financial savings it brings you.

What are your interests? What areas of sociology do you see yourself pursuing as a graduate student? You'll want to tailor the kind of experience you seek to your goals. If you want to pursue ethnography, you may want to spend time immersing yourself in another culture. If you're interested in survey work, you may try to find a job for NORC. You might also look to see if you can find a job as a research assistant in a sociology lab/department.

More information is needed. What are you planning to do after graduation? Is this for a master's or a PhD? What's the funding situation at each institution?

Ask the programs about job placement. They should be able to provide you with this information.

If you already have significant debt, why not save yourself some money and go to CMU, especially since you know you loved it when you visited?

This is a question that you'll want to ask someone at the school. You may be able to find out this information by reading the Graduate Student Handbook for CMU Tepper.

Make a budget and stick to it. Cook for yourself instead of eating out.

Think about it is this way. If you hear no from the other two schools, will you regret having turned down this offer? Are you 100% guaranteed admission to either of the two schools you're waiting on? If the answer to the first question is yes, then you should accept the offer you have. A bird in the hand is better than two in the bush...

Personally, I'd try to defer the acceptances and work for at least a year. But that's just me.

Not sure what school this is but it's worth keeping in mind that Friday was a religious holiday and many schools were closed. I mean, even the US federal government extended the tax deadline past April 15 this year because of the weekend and religious holidays.

I actually worked out more as a PhD student than I did as either an undergrad or a faculty member...