Hybrid Nomad

Hello my fellow board-members, I am trying to help out a friend with her possible decision to go to Grad school, and more specifically with her options for funding. Her interests are primarily with Development Economics and related fields. Since she is an International Student, funding options are even more dire than they are for Masters in general. Do you know of any independent scholarships available for Internationals? Alternatively, are there any Masters program which are known to give relatively decent funding? Thanks in advance for your help The Nomad

Thank you for these scary, but I fear rather appropriate points of advice. I have heard similar things both from my own undergraduate professors and from the Chronicles of Higher Education/blog posts etc. However, given that I have made the decision to go to graduate school, I was wondering if you could give some further advice on how to best succeed in gradschool ( and preferably finish without spending 10 years on the PhD)? The general pointers are appreciated, but for me the devil is always in the details. So, given that you have managed to complete Graduate school and get placed in a tenure-track position what are some pointers you can give to an incoming graduate student? What are things that have worked well for you through the years, and what are things that you wish you had known when you started? How did you organize your work, both in terms of general time management and in terms of keeping track of papers,ideas, datasets etc. ? I am aware that many of these preferences are personal, but it would still be insightful to see how others have reached the place that we eventually hope to reach. Thank you PS: On a slightly silly note, is anybody else slightly bummed that now that the pain of rejection letters is fading and the excitement of acceptance is becoming less, a whole NEW mountain of things to worry about is emerging?

I haven't heard anything from Duke either. I am not sure if this is because there were some problems with my application ( there might have been some transcript confusion) and so I am low priority even for the rejection letters, or if I possibly maybe eventually an acceptance is still possible. I spoke to the Department and the Graduate School and the impression that I was given was that I had been "denied" admission though. Make of that what you will, a phone call to the department may be in order.

Oh that stings. I guess its time to update my signature. And although I am dying of envy, congrats.

There are two acceptances now. And from what I have seen last year, rejections will be sent out by postal service. So either I just write them an email now and get kicked out right away, or I wait for the letter to come. Oh bother.

So I spoke to the Duke people and they said the decisions had been made and that rejections will go out soon. So I guess for those who have not heard anything yet that does not give much hope. A real pity, the program would have been a great fit ( in my mind at any rate, they obviously did not think so.)

Hm... I saw lots of admissions/rejections from Duke, but I have received neither. Whats the deal here? Are they hedging their bets and am I effectively wait listed or are they just sending the rejections out in waves?

Hey there First of all, thanks for all of this effort. Since I am an International Student who has never been to Chicago its great to get a general overview and it makes me feel a lot more comfortable with the prospect of flying out to the big bad city. Anyways, I am trying to do some pre-screening of the different neighborhoods and housing options for me, but I was wondering if you all could give me some general pointers which areas I should consider. I got accepted by Northwestern (and boy am I still elated about that) and I would prefer to live closer to campus, rather than closer to Chicago. However, since I am used to commuting, I also would not mind a direct commute. (on the redline, right?) I don't mind partying, but since I doubt I will have all that much time for it, being close to the "action" is not a necessity. I would however prefer to avoid the rougher neighborhoods, because I am still somewhat intimidated by the imposing nature of US cities. I think I should be able to spend between$700 - $800 on rent ( plus utilities?) and I would prefer to live by myself. A studio is ok, although a one bedroom would be really great, too. Do you have any pointers on neighborhoods I should look into? Also, on a more general thing, help me to get excited about Chicago , so tell me what YOU think makes Chicago unique and great? Thanks in advance for all your help ( and also for all the pointers already given)