Maziana

Well that's certainly misleading... Well, at least you "networked" with him, which could help in the future?? *attempt at positive thinking*

I created a researchgate.net account just so I could read articles for free. After I visited the school, one of my POIs followed me there...

Are you saying that people intentionally chew with their mouths open because they think it makes the food taste more flavorful? o__o

Note that some campuses (like mine) require downloading and installing something in order to get online. So if you want to use a Chromebook on one of those campuses... well, you can't. Chromebooks are great for basic internet access, taking notes, and portability. (since laptops can be heavy and personally, I like having a full-sized keyboard). I've took mine on a few trips - nice to have something so light. Bring a flash drive for files, though you can store a few files on it. For $200, not bad. Wait, can you actually use remote desktop on a Chromebook??? That's amazing. Still, I don't have a desktop, and can't leave my laptop on all the time, so it's not perfect. But still, thanks, I'll try this out.

Good for you! According to the person I spoke to, after accepting a few grad students, and after they started grad work at the university, their POI announced they would be leaving next year, leaving those students high and dry... That sounds like someone lacking empathy to me! What is it with terrible people studying psychopathy, haha... "research is me-search?"

Disney's Frozen. Okay, it's hard for me to say I *hate* much of anything. I strongly dislike it.

A friend told me that a professor yelled at an applicant. The applicant apparently went to her office for an interview, heard that she was on the phone, and waited by the door because she didn't want to interrupt. She waited for too long, and when the prof eventually came out, she yelled at her... Someone else told me there's a professor everyone thinks is a sociopath who, ironically enough, studies psychopathy... Current grad students warned all the prospectives who wanted to work with alleged sociopath professor, but they came anyway - only to regret it. Ugh, I feel you. All the departments I have considered were super white, but at least everyone had the courtesy of not emphasizing my "otherness" in that way! Oh - this isn't an interview story, but speaking of hair... because of grad school interviews, I recently discovered that when I put gel in my hair, it activates the TSA scanner at the airport. LOL.

Visiting schools! I loved Minnesota, but Michigan State offered me a good fellowship, so I'm waiting to visit them before making a decision. Congrats, btw! It must be nice to have made your decision! I keep wondering and wondering what I'm going to be doing in the fall, how I'm going to move, how much money I will have saved up by August, all the things I have to do before I leave... agh! It's exciting, though. My family is increasingly unhappy with my leanings towards Minnesota, since it's so far... Sigh...

0 for undergrad due to a combination of scholarships and financial aid. UNC is truly the best when it comes to financial aid; I plan on giving back to them once I have a real job. I did take out a small loan, but I paid it back quickly after graduation. I may have to take out a small loan due to moving costs/getting a car costs, depending on where I go to grad school, but hopefully not much.

Good point! I do have one visit where they explicitly asked that I wear business casual, so I'll assume that means Thursday night too, to be safe.

When visiting a grad school, all the students referred to the professors by their first names, but occasionally would be like "A- oh, I mean Dr. so and so..." One said to me, after a few months, I'd be able to call them their first names. If I went there, I would certainly take them up on that. As an undergrad, I eventually started to call my thesis mentor by their first name... and one prof whose lab I worked in, I called by the first name soonish, since all the grad students did. I used to avoid saying it to his face though, because I was embarrassed... In grad school, I'll either ask or copy what other grad students do! I think I am an adult now, and should be able to refer to even these amazing, amazing professors by their first names IF and only if they are comfortable with it (maybe not in front of undergrads, though).

I don't have much advice, but I didn't feel so good when I heard another interviewee had completed a total of 4 internships in my field... If you've prepared all you can, then that's all you can do, right? I just tried to act like I was confident and focused on not comparing myself to others... Good luck!

Interesting... I asked a grad student before an interview of mine, and he said casual. I wore dark jeans and a nice shirt - had a nice cardigan but it was too warm to wear it. There were no professors there, though, and some of the students were wearing incredibly casual clothes. *shrugs* I'll see if I get in, haha! I will try to dress up more for my other visits though...

haha, it went very well! Very true about the emailing questions too! Actually, with this prof, he had called me before when I was at the bus stop, and I asked if I could call him back... As a reference for others who might be curious: I forgot exactly what I asked, but it included things about his current research, the students in his lab, funding, and so on. I got a better idea of some specific projects I could work with him on! I chatted a bit too, about the area, and the application. I was nervous at first, but I've had a few other phone chats since, and they all have went very well! Personally, I was talking *after* my acceptance, so my talk might have been different from people in other situations. The few professors I've talked to have wanted me to come, and haven't asked me anything difficult - only about my jobs/research and research interests. Can't wait to visit the program in person! I did have one interview, and even then, no one asked me any weird trick questions... so I doubt there are many professors who do that? In my field, anyway.

I talked to a grad student who said that it's possible to live off a $14.5k stipend for 9 or 10 months. I'm skeptical, since I pay $800 (with a roommate) in rent, and she said her rent was higher. Any thoughts about living on that stipend?

I'm not in grad school yet, but recently I have been printing out customized excel sheets for each month, and writing down how much I spend in each category. For me, this works better than Mint. I like using Mint to get an idea of how much I spend, but it doesn't track things bought with cash, so I find keeping my monthly sheet by my desk and writing down what I bought at the end of every day to be really useful. I like the visual format too - it's better than a simple list of expenses, because of the categories and the ability to feel rewarded when I don't spend any money over a period of several days. I've only been doing this since January, but I plan on adding up all I spent on food and trying to decrease it monthly. I don't shop much unless it's necessary, but snacks are my weakness. Also, I keep a daily/monthly planner, so I write down when bills/utilities are due. Google Calendar would be good for people who don't like writing on paper, because you can get it to send reminders.

Any suggestions if all your furniture is cheap (except my bike, I guess)? My bed, desk, shelves, dresser, and such were cheap/free... so I can't gain much money off selling them. I'm trying to work out if it would cost more to move all my stuff in one go vs. shipping all my clothes/books etc AND having to buy furniture. I can't help but think it might be more expensive to buy furniture once I'm there! Especially since I'd have to rent a truck even then to get it back, and I might not catch good sales since I'd be desperate to sleep in a bed and wouldn't know the area well... Maybe the distance matters... I could be going to a fairly close grad program vs. a far one, so I guess I have time to consider...

I also need to visit first... and for one school, I'm waiting to hear about funding. I hope to rule out a school or two soon, but I imagine my final decision will come only after I've visited the places I'm seriously considering. It doesn't help that my research interests are sufficiently broad that I can imagine myself working with several professors. I need to see if I have a rapport with any professors, or if I can see myself jumping in on a cool research project with someone. I also need to reevaluate my long term goals. Some of the programs I applied to are more focused on research, and might lead to an academic career more easily than others. I've been going back and forth - sometimes all I want is to do research, other times that's the last thing I want to do, and I want an applied career. I imagine I'll figure that out sometime in grad school, but I don't want to limit my options. There's one program I really liked except I was worried it might not offer any options to do applied work. That's something I'd need to visit to be sure of though. I don't know if I'll wait until then, but I'm kind of curious about the NSF GRFP results... It would be safer to assume I won't get it, but if I do, then I could maybe attend a school I really liked but that didn't offer much aid.

I really don't think missing all math questions = 130 GRE. Based on how much energy went into creating the GRE, I would guess that getting 20% correct (guessing; assuming 5 item m/c items) equals a 130... Since the GRE is adaptive, I'm sure the scoring system is more complicated than that, too. Anyway, good luck...

I actually think that article makes a great point! Personally, I can appreciate well-done commercials, but dislike commercials in general because they rarely focus on the actual merits of a product. Instead, they rely on psychological manipulation and positive associations to get you to buy things. And now that I think about it, many people may go out and support Coca-Cola after this ad, and sure, obviously Coca-Cola is not particularly healthy. I don't quite know if I believe it will make a noticeable negative health impact on marginalized populations... but it's a possibility. That said, people who had an issue with this commercial due to it not being completely in English are mostly just bigoted. I saw someone posting on facebook about "diversity for its diversity's sake" and how they hated it in this commercial... that is the kind of person who would be happy if every commercial showed straight, white Americans without strong ethnic ties so they could pretend they are the only kind of people who exist in the USA... and showing anyone different is "too much diversity!!"

^ Never mind; saw another thread!

So can I ask... should people entering a grad school program this fall fill out the FAFSA?

I'm also having a hard time deciding. I hope that visiting will help me get a feel of which location I like, and allow more in depth conversations with professors.

About undergrads: At the time, I was an undergrad junior living with someone getting her masters... so that worked out for us. I tend to put in ads that I have a quiet lifestyle and would like to live with someone with the same. That way I don't end up with people who hold parties when I'm trying to sleep. And then I have long email/phone/in person conversations to be sure they seem trustworthy. It's worked for me so far. When I eventually try to find a roommate, I'll probably say something like I prefer living with graduate students, but mature undergrads are welcome too... I don't know; haven't thought that far yet. No need for the hyperbole...

That honestly probably depends on the school... for some universities, it's hard to find places near campus. If yours isn't like that, then, yeah, it might be a bit too early. Maybe wait until March or April to start looking... *shrugs*