rising_star

Have you investigated other potential funding sources? You might be able to obtain other small grants ($500-$1500) through professional associations, on campus entities, etc. This is what I did during my PhD to fund summer research as the department had no summer research funding for grad students (regardless of MA or PhD status). However, to avoid having to hunt down so much money during my MA, I decided to do a more local project so that I could minimize my expenses. I also took on a summer TA position and used the "extra" money to support my research, rather than thinking of it as part of my annual budget. As @TakeruK has noted, sometimes sacrifices must be made and you have to financially invest in yourself to succeed.

Honestly, you can handle it if you want to. My mom started her PhD after having me (I'm the youngest of 3). Did it take her longer than some of peers? Absolutely. But she finished and had a career based on her doctorate outside academia. I would be clear with prospective advisors that you have a family and gauge their reaction (if possible through an in person conversation if you're near there anyway). That way, you know if they'll be understanding/supportive. If they aren't, then it will be very hard to be successful and actually complete the PhD even if you do get in.

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.

@gorange94
Gotta say, your plans seem a little hazy to be forking out $20K. Do you have particular career goals that MAPSS will help you achieve? If not, there's a danger that you could spend the time in a kind of interdisciplinary haze, becoming a jack of all trades, master of none, and winding up with a degree that isn't legible to employers.
Edited to add: It would be best to go in to this (or any a graduate program) with some kind of focus. If you don't yet have focus, either a year or two off OR a free degree while you sort things out seem preferable to MAPSS. I have no personal experience of MAPSS, but from what alumni have posted here over the years, I gather that a strong drive and focus seem necessary to make the most of it. 

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

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.

Hello,
so I have met with my supervisor. It went pretty well. We've decided together that I'd keep the same research project but that I would broaden the population that I wanted to study. So my target population are women in general, instead of women of a marginalized community. And instead of doing multiple interviews, I'm going to conduct two to three focus groups with workers who intervene with survivors of sexual assault. We believe I should be able to finish it all within a year. It sounds like a good plan to me! 
 
 

This sounds like a bad situation, and I strongly encourage you to get out and take the other great offer. Yes, this guy is famous; but I'm willing to bet that his interpersonal reputation precedes him, as well. He may make noise about trying to damage your credibility in the field, but if others know of his egoistic and manipulative style, they likely won't give his criticisms much weight. I think it is a much better option for you to escape this abusive advisor relationship and forge a genuine connection with a mentor who will actually care about your needs as a trainee.

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.

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.

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.

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

@Paleoman, did they do an actual walkthrough? In my experience (I've looked into moving companies several times), the estimates I got by telling them what I had and the estimates I got when people came and did a walkthrough were vastly different. I'd also double-check that contract because I doubt a company would agree to an estimate over the phone without giving themselves wiggle room in case you have more stuff than estimated (just to give an example).
@indigopierogy, there are sooo many moving horror stories on the internet. One thing you might do is contact the HR department wherever you're going and ask if they work with or recommend specific moving companies to incoming faculty/postdocs. You may not be able to get a new employee discount but it will give you the names of some hopefully reputable movers.

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?

Just because you're at a bar doesn't mean you have to drink. Similarly, just because something is happening at a bar, doesn't mean you should skip it.* A couple of my close friends in grad school are non-drinkers. They would come to departmental happy hours and other events in bars but drink club soda, Shirley Temples, juice, or soda. 
FWIW, in my experience, you go through this same struggle to find friends every time you move, whether you're in graduate school or not. So developing ways to deal with it now will serve you well throughout the rest of your life.
*Caveat: If you have a history of alcohol abuse, consult with a professional before putting yourself into that environment.

Quite true! I'll also note that if you plan on going into academia, you may find yourself living in a city/town you don't like early in your career. It definitely gives one motivation to publish, get grants, etc., in an effort to obtain a new job in a location you find more desirable. Traveling out of the area on a regular basis (whether that's once a month, once every 8 weeks, etc.) can also be a way to make a location you don't like more tolerable.

You might as well write to the program director and ask, especially since you haven't much to lose. At the same time, I would try to find a way to keep current with scholarship in your field, read work by key theorists, and pay attention to the job market and CFPs so you get a sense of what people are looking for.

In your shoes, I'd reapply next year.

In a similar boat in deciding between great schools with different pros and cons, but here are some things you can maybe ask yourself that might help clarify what you value most:
1.) If you go somewhere with a location/advisor you're not crazy about, how likely is it that you'll be able to stick it out? Are you someone who can enjoy doing research outside of your interests, or if that going to be something that causes your motivation to suffer?
2.) Do you have any specific companies in industry you're interested in? Which colleges have had students go on to work at those companies (or in similar companies)? You might find that one of the less "big-name" schools (lol) has a decent population at a company of interest. 
3.) This is purely rumor and hearsay, so if someone knows more they should correct me but I've heard that MIT isn't the friendliest place at times. I know an undergrad at my school who was accepted and opted to go to the less presitigious school because she didn't like the vibe at MIT. When I was touring a lab at one of my grad acceptances, I met a student who'd transferred there from MIT due to some legal troubles with his advisor at MIT (he didn't go into details, but it sounded like the advisor did some questionable things and the students suffered for it). There may be some excellent stories of how the students come together and work as a team as well, so it would probably be a good idea to speak with a current student at MIT.
4.) Trust your gut! If a day somewhere made you unhappy, how likely is it that several years would change that? If you're going to uproot your life, you want to make sure you're somewhere where you can be happy to go out and work. 
 
Good luck with your decision!

Really try not to be disheartened about being a waitlist, it's a stigma that shouldn't exist and once you're in the program, honestly no one cares who was first pick or not. You will not be judged differently. There's also no way for anyone to know you were waitlisted. Just look at the program for the aspects that drew you to apply to it, and see if you'll be comfortable there for quite a few years. Also, request for skype interviews, just remind them that you were not at the Welcome Week and would like to meet some people to have a more informed decision. Immediately reach out to the professor that showed interests, they probably were a strong ally to you on the admissions committee.

@janaca, if they didn't think you should continue in your program, they wouldn't have passed you. Your job for the rest of your time in the program is to prove the naysayers in your program wrong. That's it. You can quit if you want but that's not what anyone here or on your committee is telling you to do.

First step is to reach out to your first and second choices at Michigan State and BU and directly ask about the possibility of joining their labs. That information is crucial to making an informed decision.

Just because you're at a bar doesn't mean you have to drink. Similarly, just because something is happening at a bar, doesn't mean you should skip it.* A couple of my close friends in grad school are non-drinkers. They would come to departmental happy hours and other events in bars but drink club soda, Shirley Temples, juice, or soda. 
FWIW, in my experience, you go through this same struggle to find friends every time you move, whether you're in graduate school or not. So developing ways to deal with it now will serve you well throughout the rest of your life.
*Caveat: If you have a history of alcohol abuse, consult with a professional before putting yourself into that environment.

You might think too about 20 years from now and regretting not getting out of your comfort zone.  I went to college, law school, and business school within about 90 miles of each other in Michigan.  When I was 40, I finally took a job in DC.  From there, I lived in Connecticut, Louisiana, and now Arizona.  I wish that I had expanded my horizons and left Michigan earlier.  And it's not because I dislike Michigan, but I think that I was stagnating for 20 years.

If you want a basic example of categories, the budget templates in Excel might be helpful.
@Adelaide9216, the easiest/ best way to save is to pay yourself first. I have an automatic monthly transfer from my checking account (where my paycheck is direct deposited) to my savings account. Once the money is in savings, I try not to touch it other than to invest it into my retirement account once I have a sufficient emergency fund (the amount I deem sufficient has gone up as I've made more money and had more expenses). The automatic transfer is basically what all financial advisors recommend.