Shamrock_Frog

EEEEEEE! First acceptance! I'm going to get a phd!

EEEEEEE! First acceptance! I'm going to get a phd!

EEEEEEE! First acceptance! I'm going to get a phd!

This is 100% false. Wanting something for yourself is not selfish. Wanting something at the expense of others is. Grow up. 

By gas I'm assuming you mean gasoline and not as a utility? It would be strange to have an apartment include electricity but not gas.
 
On paper I think it should be enough but you have to remember that stipends are not tax-free, so your $640/month may be a little less than you think. Personally, I think that living in the midwest you probably shouldn't get an apartment with utilities paid for. It's nice to never have a surprise but at the same time it's really only so hot that you NEED air conditioning maybe 2 months out of the 10. It does get cold, but it's usually much cheaper to pay for heat than for A/C.
 
My advice: Try to estimate your net stipend (stipend less taxable income), and then make a budget for things. 

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FRUSTRATION LEVELS: X 1000 :angry:

Eh, I'd just be like "can I have my chair back?" but I've been out of school and worked in the real world long enough to have my soul crushed by sh*tty people so I don't have the patience for passive-aggressive behavior. Too blunt? Fine.

Guys, I have just received the results from my written qualifying exam -- and I passed it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My mother did this.  I was mortified.  It's hard as a 17-19 year old to know how to set boundaries with an insistent parent.

I didn't read all of the pages so it may have already been mentioned but one thing I would add is a Kindle/tablet.  I hate doing readings on the computer and it's literally thousands of pages if you want to print everything for a semester.  I found that my kindle was a good compromise. I put everything on my Kindle that was assigned for the week and then only printed what I needed for papers or projects. I could keep it with me all the time and pull it out whenever I had a spare minute.  Textbooks are also cheaper for the Kindle if they're available.   

maelia8, I guess I'm what you'd consider a "bad" dog owner because I do leave my dog in her crate for more than two hours. When she's in her crate while I'm gone, she's chill. If I leave her out, she gets stressed out and chews something (shoes, blanket, pillow, anything she can find), which tends to make her sick. So, it's actually for her safety more than anything else. If she were to swallow a piece of blanket while I'm gone and choke, I would never, ever be able to forgive myself. In her crate, I can control that and keep her much, much safer than I could in my apartment. Also, dogs sleep like 18+ hours a day. Mine sleeps in her crate while I'm gone.
 
As for exercise, I live in an apartment. I'm not usually gone more than six hours at a time and, as previously mentioned, my dog is definitely in a crate while I'm gone. I walk her ~1 mile every morning, take her out again when I get home, and for another 1-2 walks in the evening. In addition, we go to the dog park 4-6 times a week for 1-2 hours. And, she gets regular playtime with my neighbors' dog who is about her size and activity level. Now that it's getting warmer and it's light out later, she gets more activity, including longer afternoon/evening walks and more time at the dog park. And I do all of this alone (it's me and the dog). So, I just want to be clear to maelia8 and everyone else, that using a crate and living in an apartment don't automatically mean that your dog is suffering. Yes, you have to consider it carefully. Yes, there are tradeoffs to spending part of my early evening at the dog park almost every day, but I have a happy, healthy dog who spends several hours a day in her appropriately-sized crate and gets excited about going in there when I leave because she knows it's playtime when I get back. Crates by themselves are not cruel.

Eh, I'd just be like "can I have my chair back?" but I've been out of school and worked in the real world long enough to have my soul crushed by sh*tty people so I don't have the patience for passive-aggressive behavior. Too blunt? Fine.

Compared to where, Europe? Tipping at restaurants and bars (not to mention for cab rides, deliveries, etc.) is customary all over the US. It is not just for exceptional service.


Anyone in the service industry makes a little over $2/hr. This is customary.


Now before you think I'm just attacking you, it sounds like this bar really does suck and the bartender may indeed be a dope who is just there to chase tail. In that case you give him (and by extension, the barback, food runner, and back of the house none of whose fault it is) his $1 and you leave. There are lots of bars that are not obnoxious and don't charge covers. It also helps to go during the week instead of on Friday and Saturday nights. Those are "amateur nights".


Well, then don't go out. If you can't pay, you can't play. I don't see why the bartender should have to pay (he has to tip out on his sales) to serve you; it's not his fault he got stuck with a cheap grad student (no one made you do it!) who gets paid to sit at a desk all day.

It's a free country and you can do what you want, but you shouldn't be surprised at getting a negative response nor should you be surprised if you get poor service when you don't pay for it. You can always get a 6-pack at the corner store if it's that big of a deal to you.

'Academic in-breeding' is an old-fashioned way of thinking that stems from a time when all academics were rich white European men who could travel wherever they wanted. Times have changed, therefore, many people's opinions have changed. Some people still have this pretentious and out-dated view and I personally feel sorry for them. It is a naive view, in my opinion. You can go to a different school and end up being more closed-minded than staying at the same school. Changing locations does not mean better education, it depends on a multitude of factors. And given that your decision was pragmatic and based on funding, I think you may have made the right choice (not to mention you said it fits your research interest best which should be the number one factor in  making a decision!!).
 
I wouldn't worry about it, if an employer's only reason to not hire you is because you went to the same school for your undergrad and grad then I'd say good riddance, I wouldn't want to work for that pretentious and ignorant employer anyway.

Hi All,
 
I am planning to study for a master's degree in USA in the field of Human Computer Interaction (generally taught via Computer Science of Information studies).
I am an international student and I don't have a US citizenship, therefore I am looking for external scholarships/fellowships/grants. The problem is that there are "tons" of sites for scholarships' search out there, and one must focus in order to achieve success. I want to request your advice in finding the best (lets say 10 best) sites for the above purpose. I will be happy to hear about good sites from your own experience and not just about the results received after typing "10 best scholarship sites" in Google.
 
Many thanks in advance  .

Eh, I'd just be like "can I have my chair back?" but I've been out of school and worked in the real world long enough to have my soul crushed by sh*tty people so I don't have the patience for passive-aggressive behavior. Too blunt? Fine.

Eh, I'd just be like "can I have my chair back?" but I've been out of school and worked in the real world long enough to have my soul crushed by sh*tty people so I don't have the patience for passive-aggressive behavior. Too blunt? Fine.

Eh, I'd just be like "can I have my chair back?" but I've been out of school and worked in the real world long enough to have my soul crushed by sh*tty people so I don't have the patience for passive-aggressive behavior. Too blunt? Fine.

DAMN SON. My friend at Vanderbilt got an extra 10K per year for like 3 years, so that certainly helped her decision (38K is luxurious in Nashville!). Would certainly make me look real hard at your fit as UC Irvine!

Talk about it.. I'm about to go visit a potential PhD program (with paid hotel+flight). My hotel roommate is an Ivy league undergrad (at the same ivy league where both of his parents are well known professors). He has multiple pubs and went to the most expensive private high school in the US.
 
And here I am at a no-name university, lol

Oh my. It's a funny feeling, because it's something I only really get when I'm ruminating (which actually happens to be quite frequent...). Think about this for a second--have you interviewed at these programs? If so, did you feel out of place talking to the people you'll be working with for the foreseeable future? For me, the conversations actually went really well, and I was unexpectedly accepted just a few days after interviewing with, as with you, a top program in my field. I'd imagine you felt the same, that once you actually got down talking to these people, you were more conversant than you expected. Also, if you got into top programs, you probably had some pretty important people writing some pretty awesome letters about you! That isn't just based on grades, but on what they see out of you on a regular basis as it relates to your skills and creativity relevant to the field.
 
That said, I don't know if the feelings ever go away, at least until you're done. A recent PhD graduate in the lab that I'm currently working in said that her greatest feeling in defending her dissertation was "Wow, I actually know stuff!" Her feelings of inadequacy lasted for the entire duration of her PhD, and it was only while defending that she felt she was deserving of her place in the academic world. 

Whens the latest you can expect to get accepted? So far, Ive heard nothing about acceptances. ITS ALMOST MARCH and I'm freaking out!!!

Heard back yesterday via phone and I got an acceptance for UW Immunology!

I don't have an acceptance yet but I have another interview. :/

Have you ever worked for a major corporation? They pay moving expenses. S.O. does, and I know exactly how much they pay for gas (and if they'll pay for a plane ticket or make you drive based on the distance of the move), number of days they'll put you up in a hotel room, number of days you can rent a car, and even that they'll hook you up with a realator during relocation. Even smaller companies will do something (like pay for gas/give a small stipend) to get and keep people they're really interested in. Moving is a pain. The only way you get around that is to hire local talent only, but it can get difficult to fill high skill jobs from a local applicant pool. Grad schools are on a tighter budget, so moving packages aren't typical. This comment is either a troll or posted by someone who has also never worked in the corporate world.