rising_star

Please stop reposting this. I have deleted your more recent posts.

I don't think sending a pointless email makes you look more "professional". In fact, I would recommend NOT answering emails right away because then people may start to expect that. I set aside a couple of chunks of time each day (like 30 min in the am and another 30 min in the afternoon) but otherwise do NOT respond to emails. Why? It interrupts my workflow and productivity to try to respond to emails as they come in. Also, people are generally not expecting an immediate reply. If they were, they'd call you. IMO, part of being professional is setting clear boundaries with others. Like @TakeruK, I don't reply to emails outside business hours. In fact, I try to keep my inbox closed (it's not on my phone so that helps) outside of business hours. The expectation that we should be working all the time as grad students or faculty is unacceptable to me. I know of faculty who have an out of office reply for evenings and weekends to let people know not to expect a reply outside of working hours. While I don't do this personally, I am very clear with colleagues and students that I don't check my email at night or on the weekend, not even when an assignment is due the next day. If I do make an exception to my personal rule, I typically don't tell people about it in advance.

If it's only a year, I'd go with Northwestern.

Without knowing what you're talking about, it's difficult to say whether Great School's location is really "very dangerous". If I were you, I'd talk to current students and faculty about whether it is dangerous in reality or not. And, either way, I'd go with research fit, which means Great School.

I think it's a good idea. A combined 30 hours a week certainly isn't too much.

In your case, if I got the fellowship, I would contact the school you accepted to, tell them about the AMAZING offer, and ask them if you can defer.

What's the ranking and placement like at School L? How does that compare to the placement at School S?

Several years ago there was a robust conversation about this. Maybe try using the search feature to find it? I would also talk to a variety of lenders/mortgage brokers, including those from any banks or credit unions with which your new university has a relationship.

In your situation, I would turn down both offers and apply again next year.

Are you an international student?

Typically a TA position is paid either once a month or every other week. Fellowships vary.

I would do the Fulbright, especially since you aren't excited about your current job or the grad program you got into.

What's your particular area of interest? What's the placement like for graduates from each of those institutions?

Even in an interdisciplinary field*, it's important that you have a solid grounding in the methodologies and theories of your discipline in your proposal. Why? Because without that, reviewers may have the same questions your friend did about how your topic fits in the field and why SW and not another field. You have to provide a compelling reason why this topic must be studied from a social work perspective if you want to be successful. I recommend going back to the key theorists and methodologies of your field and ensure that you're including clear linkages between your ideas and the field itself. Think about the things you read in grad level intro courses which were written by those in social work so that your project fits clearly in the field to those both inside and outside of it. Good luck! *This comes from my experience getting all of my degrees in interdisciplinary fields.

Is the MA offer fully funded? If so, and given what you said to another poster, that may be a solid option given your career goals. It would give you time to take coursework in Chinese and on Chinese literature (though double-check about the course offerings and the departments you can take courses in before committing), as well as time to retake the GRE and potentially present at conferences (at least on a regional level even if not on the national level). That said, I would also gain some perspective from advisors/mentors in your field about your prospects after getting a PhD from USC or UO.

Honestly? I would go to the other school. And, I would patiently explain once (twice max) to your current advisor that you have decided to attend School B for its ranking and because "academic incest" is considered undesirable on the job market. I would also express my desires to continue to collaborate and work on projects together in the future, along with thanking them for helping you gain this acceptance and wonderful opportunity. And then I wouldn't look back. Because my guess is that you can find other former students of this advisor who had a similar experience and that other current students will be glad to see that someone stood up to this form of bullying and intimidation.

You should be talking to someone in graduate admissions at NYU about these questions.

FYI, I voted based solely on weather because I know nothing about your field.

What are the pre-req econ courses you need? Are there options to take them at a public university or community college, so that the tuition might be more affordable? I guess it's a question of how much time/money you're willing to invest in your future now since there's also a financial and time cost to re-applying in the future. Rather than just breaking the news to your LOR writers, I would ask them for advice about your situation before you make a final decision.

Do you want an interdisciplinary studies program? You may want to look at programs in Peace and/or Peace and Conflict, which are likely to have scholars who study genocide and/or the Holocaust. Jewish studies programs will also have folks who study the Holocaust.

"Transferring" isn't really a thing at the graduate level. If you leave without a master's, in all likelihood only 9 credit hours (so 3 courses or one semester) of coursework will be accepted by your new program. You'd also want rec letters from the faculty in the program you're leaving ideally. There have been past conversations (mostly in "Officially Grads" about transferring so I'd recommend reading those before you pursue this option). Have you talked with current grad students to make sure there's no research being done there that you're interested in? Would it be possible for you to complete a master's at this program and then later apply to PhD programs? Given what you've said here, I would decline the offer and reapply. If you aren't excited about a program and the prospect of being it, you shouldn't enroll.

Hmmm... on the one hand, fit matters for a master's, especially if you want to have the best preparation possible for a PhD program. On the other hand, it's also important to be in an environment where you'll thrive. Are you able to pinpoint what it is about Yale that you didn't like?

There have been a bunch of previous discussions here about having a roommate. Use the search feature to find some of those.

You can but you won't get your deposit back.

I would not go in person. I would email or call. I would also check to make sure they aren't on spring break this week.