geographyrocks

I used Craigslist to find housing and then compared the housing cost. I will warn you that Boulder's housing market is outrageous! Living with 5 roommates will still run around $600/month if not more. I made a spreadsheet of each place i was thinking of living. I found the median rent for a 1 bedroom on Craigslist (places you would actually live), cost of transportation (because in Boulder it's really expensive to live close to school), and then used those cost of living calculators to estimate the other stuff. Then you factor in what your stipend is and see if you can make it work. It's definitely possible to live on UNM's stipend, but I don't know what the teaching load is in other departments. As for not teaching the first year, I hear it's awesome and the desired way of doing things. By the way, congratulations on getting in everywhere!

Did you take any science classes during your undergrad? even if you funded yourself, you still have to meet the prerequisites.

No, it is not normal. Most people are stuck with the standard rejection letter unless they had prior contact with a POI. Even then most people get the standard letter. I would take this email at face value.

I don't really know of any 3 year PhD programs. I'm told it's difficult to get it finished in 4-5 years. So the Ms might be the better way to go since you're much more likely to finish a masters in 2 years.

This website has some useful general information about funding grad school. It also has links to national databases and a scholarship directory. Despite the name of the website, this is useful for all graduate programs. I hope this helpful to some people! http://www.onlinemastersprograms.org/financial-aid/

I've always figured that if I could still walk, it wasn't serious. I should probably reevaluate that since I know this feeling guilty for missing class is all in my head. I just need to repeat to myself: "it's pneumonia. You're allowed to miss class for pneumonia."

I'm so pissed right now and I have nothing to direct my anger towards. Somehow, I came down with the flu which turned into bronchitis which turned into walking pneumonia with a side of sinus infection. I have been sick for 17 freakin days now. I can barely complete my schoolwork because my head is pounding. Antibiotics have done nothing. All other medicine has done nothing. And I refuse to continually miss class, but when I tell my professors about my situation they look at me like I'm crazy and say I shouldn't be in class. But if I cancel, I feel like I look like a slacker. I'm really starting to worry that I have something serious. I need a punching bag that looks like a germ. I would punch the crap out of that thing in between my lung-busting coughs. I would punch it right in it's stupid, replicating face!

This is standard. You have to send official transcripts after you graduate to prove that you did indeed graduate with a Bachelors or Masters. Congrats on the admit!

I got the flu on the second day of classes. The flu turned into bronchitis. I foolishly tried to take Mucinex DM so I could sleep through the night without coughing. Instead, it created a non-productive cough while suppressing everything else so my bronchitis turned into atypical pneumonia. I started on antibiotics yesterday, and now my nose won't stop running. Luckily (that's a sarcastic luckily), I only had two assignments from one class and 200 pages of reading for my second class along with my TA duties, my research, applying to an internship, and developing a second research topic. Oh, and I need to fill out a progress report for a small grant I received. I almost miss the first semester now. I want to say that at least everything is uphill from here, but I'm scared I'll get TB next or something crazy like that. Is it too crazy to start wearing a mask and gloves everywhere?

Boulder generally receives around 600 applicants so I'm surprised that they are almost through a first pass of applicants. I'd say most programs tend to notify around mid-February.

As long as you meet the requirements, you should apply!

Review board

For those of you who applied to UNM, the applications will be reviewed next week, and they hope to have offers out in the beginning of February.

That's not entirely true. Most PhDs are funded. There are a lot of masters programs that aren't. DU for example. They offer the chance to win fellowships, but there is no guaranteed funding. A lot of Masters programs that are oil related aren't funded.

Holy crap! Did you see those stats? That's why most advice is simply guesswork. I would never imagine someone with stats that low would be accepted into Princeton.

I vote for Prospective Graduate Student. There's no wondering about the contents of that email.

CSM receives a ridiculous amount of applications so 1) there may be nothing wrong with your materials 2) even if there was, they may not be able to tell you. And I agree with sjoh197, you are much more likely to get a response after the April deadline.

The GRE and certain grants "give" your information to schools. I'm currently in a PhD program, but I still keep getting emails from Notre Dame about their Masters programs.

That really depends on what type of place you're looking for, how far you're willing to commute, and of course, how much you're willing to pay. The Highlands (the area around Bardstown Rd 31E) are close to the University, but they are very expensive. Most of Germantown is inexpensive, but there is a lot of good block bad block going on in that neighborhood. Parkway Village (directly east of U of L) is mostly college students, reasonable rates, and you can find houses to rent instead of apartments. Audubon Park, Prestonia, and Camp Taylor are relatively close. I have no idea if they have many rentals or how expensive they are. The east end in general (St. Matthews, Hikes Point, Jeffersontown) is pretty safe, but it can be congested and pricey. Think thousands of soccer moms who all drive SUVs. Hope that helps!

The good news is that Louisville has made significant improvements over the past 6 months. They have expanded bike routes and new electric buses. While I don't want to discourage you from attending (the business and medical schools are excellent!), the crime around campus has been getting worse. The neighborhoods east of campus are a lot safer than anything north, south, or west. If you're looking for more of a subdivision feel (which would probably be best with 3 kids), you're looking at 30-45 minute commute. I encourage you to look at the parking areas and rates as those can get really expensive. And while some students used to live in Southern Indiana and commute because it's much cheaper (and less congested), the bridges are now under construction (and will be for a while) so that may not be as good of an idea as it once was.

Did you read this thread?

Do NOT do this! Yes! The beginning of the spring semester hasn't even started yet. If you ask them what you can do, they will say nothing because there really is nothing you can do at this point. Just try to calm your nerves. Chances are that they haven't even sent out all of the interview invites despite what they said. People could cancel. They could do several rounds of invites. It's really hard to know. I completely understand and sympathize with your panic, but there really is nothing to do at this point. Edited to add: No, you are not rejected. If you were, you would receive an email that explicitly states that you are. Hell, I've seen people receive acceptance letters mid-April with full funding packages.

Harsh news: your scores do not meet the minimum requirements for those schools. MIT requires at least 100 on the TOEFL. Those are top tier programs where many of the applicants will have close to perfect scores. Aside from that, you don't provide your focus or whether you want a masters or PhD so it's hard to offer any other advice.

I saw that there was a post in here and my first thought was: Holy crap! Did someone hear something already? Patience is not my strong suit.