geographyrocks

I just found a great example! It helps to spot scams if you've already looked at a lot of houses in the area so you know the going rental rate. http://albuquerque.craigslist.org/apa/4448104627.html Notice the low price of a 3 bed 2 bath: Scam. Notice only one photo that looks like it came from a realtor magazine: Scam. Notice all the funky shapes going on: Scam. Notice that there is no address listed: Scam (this isn't always a scam. Some people prefer to put the intersecting roads instead of an address) And finally Notice the email address: DEFINITE SCAM No one gives their email addresses on craigslist. They use the default email craigslist gives.

Were these Geosciences classes? If so, that might look worse than if you got a D in Basketweaving.

I will most likely be renting site unseen. If you don't want to live in campus housing, there are several options. To avoid renting site unseen: 1) Stay in an extended stay hotel for a week or so while you look for places. 2) Contact current grad students to see if you can maybe crash with them while you look for apartments If you don't mind apartment complexs: Google apartment reviews for each complex you look at it. Google the rental company. Look them up on BBB. Use Google maps to go to a street view of the road to see what kind of environment it will be. DO NOT ever send money when requested through email. You should definitely have either phone or skype contact with the rental company. I don't know how popular it is to skype, but there's no harm in trying. You can also contact current graduate students to see if they wouldn't mind looking at the apartment for you. Citydata.com city forums holds a wealth of knowledge. Definitely read some of the forums on there. Create a thread and ask for opinions. Have you checked the city forum on here? I bet other students have been in your shoes. Renting a house or duplex: This is where it gets tricky. It is highly unadvisable to do this as it is hard to verify landlords that aren't rental companies. Definitely have personal contact with them. Google everything you can think in relation to the house: the address, the landlord's name, crime statistics by street, so on and so forth. Hope that helps!

How did the visit go? From what I've heard about biking, it's totally possible AND a lot of people do it. There is a Walmart maybe a block off Central to the east of campus. So even if you can't find what you need at the plethora of stores that are located on Central close to campus, you can find it there. And crime does look pretty bad when you check out the crime maps, but from what I've read it's not THAT unsafe. As for me, I will have a car, but I refuse to drive. I'm tired of driving. I'm tired of parking. I'll bike to school or take the bus. I'm currently living in the middle of crack central (In a NICE neighborhood with LOW crime rates 1 block from a police station) so I don't rely on the statistics all that much. Anyway, I've been checking padmapper obsessively for a couple of weeks. I keep waiting for a big surge of available places, but it hasn't happened yet. As for the people who are moving a long way, what are your plans? Because my boyfriend's parents are possibly the most awesome parents ever, they're going to "road trip" with us which will allow us to rent a trailer instead of a UHaul. I'm still worried about finding a place seeing as I can't really afford the $600 it would take to visit.

Have you tried Googling him? My advisor is fairly terse in email, but so am I. Email says nothing about a person. So I Googled him and I also spoke to a former student. It turns out that my new advisor is completely awesome! I found all sorts of cool stuff.

Same here. I found out that it was a 6 hour ordeal. Why would I celebrate my graduation by punishing myself?

A thousand times this. It's not that I don't want to move across the country, it's the fact that this seems like an insurmountable task! If only I could win $1000 from the lottery. That would make moving soooooo much easier. I'm so excited that I still have 4 weeks left before moving, but half of my stuff is already packed. I'm so nervous that I'll be taking the free MIT courses online over the summer. I seriously have the doubt going on. I can't believe they haven't emailed me to tell me that they were mistaken yet! Or maybe the doubt comes from being systematically put down by a professor for the past year...

If I would've known then what I know now: I would've applied to more scholarships during my UG. I would've applied to more research opportunities I would've looked into being an undergraduate teaching assistant my junior year of UG I would've went to at least 1 major conference to network I wouldn't have applied to schools where fit was a stretch

I did the SROP between my junior and senior year, but the program was through my UG school and the chair of my department wrote my recommendation so it was kinda in the bag. I'm sure it's much harder to get into research opportunities at other schools. I'm surprised your school doesn't offer some sort of research opportunity. They're generally funded through grants that the school applies for.

This is a cautionary tale to those who read this: It turns out that the admissions department is saying that they never received the decision letter from the department I'm accepted by. If I hadn't called, who knows if they would have figured it out. Now I'm waiting for word from the department. This is SO stressful! I lose my assistanceship if I don't accept by April 15. Ugh!

All I really want to know is if there are others out there like me. I was accepted by the department in the beginning of February. I am STILL waiting for the official acceptance from the graduate school. Without it, I can't officially accept. I'm in contact with the department so they know I'm still waiting. They've also assured me that I am indeed accepted. But there is some issue with a new system, so on and so forth, but STILL! This is just getting ridiculous! Anyone else having this problem?

I'm not a geoarchaeologist, but I just wanted to say that we may share the same school considering your name on here.

I'll be attending UNM in the fall as well. As far as I can tell between reading gradcafe, city-data, and reddit, everything that was true in 2010 is still true now. The best places to look are around campus. There is a ton of housing, but most places are not complexes and most places do not advertise online anywhere so the best thing to do is walk down the streets writing down phone numbers. This part for me is particularly daunting since I'm quite a ways away. What I've learned so far is to avoid anything East of San Mateo. And there are bike paths all over the place so biking is super easy. Side question: were you invited for your visit or are you going on your own? I've been accepted by my dept since then end of January, but I'm STILL waiting for the graduate school to officially accept. It's driving me nuts!

From what I've heard from others, Arizona State is having a bit of funding issues. It may be that they're currently looking for funding for you. At this point in the season, it is completely acceptable to email or call (I hear calling gets better results) to ask if decisions are still being made. I wonder if there is a such a big issue with funding each year...

Don't forget that this time of the year is spring break for schools so that can either be a good thing (they have time to finish looking at applications) or a bad thing (half the faculty goes on vacation). Between sick professors and professors on vacation, half of the classes didn't meet last week in my department!

Well, there you go. Someone has FINALLY stepped up and CURED the obesity problem in the US. You can just STOP EATING! Seriously though, the misinformation from people on this thread is appalling. Yes, there is a large percentage of the population who would lose quite a bit of weight if they walked more or ate less. Unfortunately, there are also those who have absolutely no control due to thyroid issues, stress, genetics, etc. Obesity is a hot topic so there is A LOT of research out there. It turns out that weight loss and gain isn't just a matter of eat or don't eat. So if you wanna yell at the 350 lb guy who's driving down the road with no hands on the wheel because they're both stuffed into a KFC bucket of chicken (true story), feel free. I have! But making a blanket statement like that shows your ignorance.

Play-dates with peers. I LOVE that! And I figure if my SO stayed with me through the hell that was applying to graduate school, we'll be just fine with everything else.

I realize this doesn't cover the more popular departments, but this fits mine: Why there is grade inflation = in order to get funding from the university, the department must show that students are interesting and learning. In order to get more students in this major, they don't grade as hard as they could because they believe a bad grade will lead the student to a different major. If they don't get funding, they can't pay their professors or hire new ones. If they don't get funding, they can't pay for the software or equipment needed. IF there is no software or equipment, they can't teach those classes. So on and so forth. It's a super f'd up process. I'm all for encouraging students who are working hard, but if they aren't getting the material then they don't get an A.

Significant or significance. You can't just throw those words around willy-nilly in a paper since in my field, the word actually has a number to go with it ie significant at the p=.05 level or significant with 95% confidence. Oddly enough, another word is Geography. Oh you're studying Geography? So do you know where *insert city name* is? No, Geography is not the study of where stuff is. lol

That's good to know!

CONGRATULATIONS paolaplease!

I think fit and funding is everything. As for subject tests, I can't imagine they would help since GREs are generally used to thin the piles of applications. I assume they do the same thing with a subject test. I don't even get the need for a subject test. Aren't your grades a fairly good example of how well you know your subject? I guess grades could still be subjective, but so is that damn GRE.

That sound like an interview to me, but I have no idea why he waited so long to do it. Have you spoken to him previously?

I've never met my POI, but we emailed back a forth a bit. He was upfront as to what kind of mentor he would be (he flat out said that he doesn't hold hands and if I don't like a hands off professor, that I wouldn't like him). Lucky for me, I LOVE that kind of mentor! I obviously made a good impression because that is where I'll be attending in the fall. It's very rare that I see anyone in the sciences post that they had a great relationship with a POI and was then denied.

Damn my computer. I typed out this long response, but when I tried to backspace, it decided I meant go back a page instead. Anyway, don't listen to one negative post about ASU. You have considered all the things that really matter. As far as I've heard, ASU is great. It also brings in a lot of research money so I doubt you'll stay in the TA position for long. I was actually thinking of applying there, but I wasn't too keen on living in Phoenix. I like warm weather, but 100+ days with temps over 90 is a bit much. Did you ask your professor about a possible RA in the future? I will be a TA for my first year as well (unless NSF gets off their butts and approves my POI's funding) so I understand the fear about the time commitments, but I think it'll be okay. There have been tons of people who've done it before us. If they can do it, we can too!