gretagarbo

I want to move in an appartment somewhere around southern parts of Evanston or northern neighbourhoods of Chicago, and preferable with a roommate. Do you know any good web sites that Northwestern students find house mates or share info on housing options?

Hi everyone, I am an international student who will be doing PhD at Northwestern University. I was offered an admission to Northwestern's International Summer Institute (ISI) program alongside my admission to Phd. This 1 month long program is meant to provide language training (especially spoken English) and to ease cultural integration to American society. I wonder if any of you will be participating in this program this year, or participated in previous years. I need information as well as some advice. I have no clue about the efficacy of this program or whether I need to attend it. The thing is, I am reluctant to leave my parents and my boyfriend a month early. On the other hand, I keep feeling inadequate in my speaking skills while I am talking to native speakers, and I'm afraid I may isolate myself when I study in the US. I am sure I will adapt at some point in my graduate life, but it may take too long and in the meantime it may affect my studies. Current international grad students, what would you advise? Would a month of directed English speaking practice improve my life and learning in the gradschool drastically, or I may as well improve my speaking on my own in the course of my graduate studies? Thanks in advance ps: I have a 113 Toefl score, but I lost all 7 points in the speaking part.

Bruno Latour (only one of the many favorites)

You should get in touch with the possible advisors (professors who train quantitative methods or better, who study China) in both universities. I am sure you'll make the most informed decision after asking your questions and getting to know the possible advisors more personally. I believe it is super important that you can get along with your advisor, he/she is a nice, supportive person who takes interest in your research, and perhaps more importantly, wants to learn from you. As a foreign student who plans working on societies outside the US, I must warn you that it is a great advantage if you find someone closely studying/knowing about the Chinese society (preferably a Chinese professor) in the department you'll attend . However, it is also possible to work with a professor as such as a reader of your dissertation, meaning you could do your Phd in Northwestern and while writing your dissertation, get help/guidence from Yu Xie as your reader.

Hi there! I will be attending NU sociology. I am super excited about it! Recently talked with a fellow NU student, aside from the famous cold winters, I hear it is a great place to do PhD (excellent funding, many research opportunities , super cool professors).

Second the question/request. I am looking for a studio/1 bd. appartment in Evanston or Northern neighborhoods of Chicago or close to the stops of intercampus shuttle bus for Fall 2014. As a Southerner, I need to live in short distance to the campus or can easily access the shuttle, so I won't freeze during the winters. I don't know much about the purple line, whether its reliable in the winter or not, so any input on that would be nice and could increase my apartment hunting zones. Also, I am undecided about how much to spend on housing, it all depends on how much I'll have to spend on other things. Any ideas on how much could the monthly expences of an ordinary (not crazy about going out/has to study study study) NU grad student be? Thanks

just accepted Northwestern's offer. I am looking forward to move to Chicago

the same goes for me. I am 99% certain I will be attending Northwestern. But I still feel the need to hear more about the program, and since I won't be able to go to their Open House, it would be great if other possible or current Northwestern students shared some info or gave some advise. Please PM me!

Thanks!! This is a huge surprise... like snow on a christmas day...in Egypt... or on the moon! You know, I was already ready to apply again the next year since I kept getting rejections. For those of you who feel hopeless because of rejections: don't feel that way! These rejections/admissions are not measures of your worth, nor they are the only things relevant to your purpose and pleasure in life. Please keep that in mind.

(for the recent admits) this 2010 report on grad life: http://nugsa.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/glc-graduate-student-life-report-2011.pdf

OMG!!! Accepted into Northwestern! So happy

hear ya! the same here. what's there to plan now, especially if you are an international and a major life changing move to another country depends on a mail in your inbox?

that Columbia admit was most likely spam. no other news from there so far. does anybody have an idea on when to expect Northwestern responses?

there is a Cornell admission! congrads! still waiting to know more about the columbia admission via phone.

there is a columbia admit via phone! any one claiming it?

yeah. I always assumed 9 month offer can be better than a 12 month, if the amount paid is the same or very close. I mean, it is possible to get extra funding for the summer with a 9 month package, while you have to sustain with what is already offered to you in the case of 12 month package. This is what I assumed though. Maybe someone can illuminate important differences between 9 month and 12 month funding.

last year columbia and northwestern admissions were announced on the 7th and 8th. highly likely that at least one of them will be out today. fingers crossed!

Thanks for the answer. May I ask a follow up: is this standard package sufficient for a grad student? (I don't have a clue about the living expenses there)

Perhaps it is shared somewhere in this forum, but I want to ask anyway: how much is the funding there and for how long?

I was just looking for something like this! Thanks a lot for sharing. Recent admits, any info on the funding offers will be much appreciated.

thank you CUNY admits for sharing info on funding!! I didn't know that they could afford 25k fellowship! I think I will consider applying there next year, if this year's applications turn out to be a failure.

congrads to CUNY admit! would you share with us any info on their funding offer? I heard that they try to give funding to all admits this year.

I am expecting a torrent of results on friday (last friday was a bomb as well)

oh thanks a lot mate! thanks for sharing really.

I feel the same. Hey on the bright side, I always wanted to try sky diving.. from the roof.. kidding (seriously, I think I am losing my mental capacity to joke)