Maleficent999

Has anyone heard anything?

Bumping this. Anyone applying this year or successful from last year?

Sooooo. I'm pretty sure this institute is affiliated with the Koch Brothers, which is why I decided not to apply a couple of years ago. Just an FYI for anyone considering it.

Hi all, Does anyone have a successful Horowitz Foundation grant application that they would be willing to share? The word limit is killing me.

I am from Clovis originally and I second the idea about Clovis. I lived in an apartment that was 5-10 minutes from campus by bike in Clovis and was $810 for a decent-sized 2-bedroom in a very quiet complex. I'd suggest looking a bit further out from campus (not south of Shaw Ave. definitely north or east).

Didn't get it, but congrats to those who did! VG/G, VG/VG, G/P. The main comments I got were that I had a really interesting proposal but that I didn't make it clear how my specific program will help me achieve success. I am a first year in my program and the app was due only 4 weeks into my program so I had LOR from my undergrad institution. I'll definitely be back next year with a beefed up application and new LOR.

I concur with the above that dressing casual is fine. I, personally, wore dark jeans and a fitted blazer with a nice blouse underneath. Be prepared with a 1-2 sentence description of your research interests. That's my biggest advice. You'll be asked 100 times.

I attend school in California and they take between 12% - 14% per paycheck.

ASU - apologies for not clarifying.

Just a note: I've heard that some shit has hit the fan at Arizona and a lot of the faculty are trying to jump ship (including an alum from my program, which is how I heard this). I'd look into it before making any commitments.

If they're anything like the UC I attend, they will at least offset the cost and offer to set you up with a host (usually another grad student) if you need somewhere to stay. I think the people that flew in to visit my program got compensated up to a certain $ amount for the cost of their flight but they might not give you the money upfront.

I saw that UC Davis sent out their admits today. If any of you are considering us and would like to private message me for info, please do so. I'd be more than happy to answer any and ALL of your questions 100% honestly. I wish there had been someone on here for me to ask.

Well, I live with a girl in my cohort. I was skeptical at first but it's actually turned out to be one of the greatest things that could've happened. We are a lot alike and not at all competitive with each other. She's becoming a best friend very quickly and it's been nice to have someone around doing the same courses and going through the same transitions. I've also made a couple good friends in my cohort and a few in the cohorts ahead of me so I feel pretty good about that. Adjusting overall has just been different than I anticipated. I haven't been in school for a bit so, for instance, I had my first midterm last week and it was brutal. Not because of the content but just trying to remember how not to freak out during a timed test. haha. My research has been developing more quickly than I would've thought, actually, but it's great. I ended up applying for NSF (though I don't even pretend that I'll get it). The process of applying was good for me because it forced me to think about some things and how I want to go about pursuing my research. It also forced me to get into contact with one of my LoR writers and in doing so, he wanted to read my proposal. Turns out he's editing a book on a topic that is pretty closely related to the line of research I'm working on and he asked me to write a chapter. Soooo that's exciting and terrifying.

That is good advice, thank you!

I thought I would steal this topic from the larger forums and make it soc-specific. As the new application cycle revs up, I find myself wondering how all of us who went through this last year are doing. Unfortunately, I find myself out of touch with some people that I kept up with at this time last year. Whether you're in a semester or quarter system, you've either already gone through midterms or are about to enter into midterm season. How are things going? Is your program everything you hoped and dreamed so far? Have you changed or kept your original research questions? For me, grad school has been pretty much everything I expected. This quarter I am taking stats, research methods, and an professional seminar that has actually ended up being very useful. I am also TAing for a class I would've wanted to take as an undergrad so it's nice to get the information without formally taking a lower division course. Surprisingly, stats has become my favorite class but I think that's because there is so much uncertainty I feel as a first year and its nice to have something concrete. I either know how to do the math and use the software or I don't. Thankfully, I do. I think my only complaint is that I don't (yet) feel a very strong sense of one-on-one mentorship in my program. Our faculty are stretched so thin that its hard to get really into my own questions with them. Perhaps this will change, but I also know this would likely be the case at many R1 schools. I feel lucky to have come into the program with some outside mentors that I can still rely on while I adjust. There are a lot of other things I could discuss, but how is everyone else doing?

I might have missed this, but can anyone link to a social science NSF GRFP successful proposal?

I live in West Davis and I'm loving it so far. It'd be nice if I lived closer to campus but I've been here almost 2 weeks (woah, what?!) and my complex has been VERY quiet, which I appreciate. I can barely tell I have neighbors. BTW, where does everyone go out during the week?! My birthday was Tuesday and we ended up at Sophia's for trivia night (even though we had no idea what was going on). It seemed like the rest of downtown was dead.

So far it's great! I love the vibe and I've been getting settled in with my new roomie. We are basically the same person so we've been getting along really well.

Good luck 2015 applicants! I can't believe it was almost a year ago I was in your same position. It seems like the time is crawling for you right now, but trust me, it will really fly by.

I attend UC Davis and our crime, law, and deviance concentration does really well.

Same about the WoW events. My roomie and I will be at the library resources, SHIP, and financial aid events, plus the ones with free food (wine & cheese, ice cream social, etc.) because, well, free food.

I took the GRE on October 19th and I was fine. But as others mentioned, if you decide to retake it you won't have much time.

Yes, I'm supposed to choose my faculty advisor at the end of the first year. I can certainly seek informal advice from anyone I choose and we don't have a liaison but we do have a department secretary.

Well my lease starts September 1st, as I think a lot in Davis do. Some of my cohort is even moving in this Friday because their leases start August 1st. None of the apartments I was looking at had move-in dates in the middle of the month. It doesn't make sense for me financially to pay 2 rents in September so I'm moving there as soon as my lease starts.