maelia8

As an American living in Germany who has studied at university here, I can tell you that as a foreign student, especially without language skills, it will be hard to get a job doing anything besides English tutoring, and usually student visas are limited to earning 400 euros per month as a "Nebenverdienst" (side job). In addition, when you apply for a student visa, the German government requires you to prove that you will have at least about 700 euros per month to support yourself (in saved income, through a stipend, scholarship, or your parents supporting you), otherwise they won't approve your visa request to study there. The proof you show to the Foreigner's Bureau has to be a bank account statement, company work contract proving employment and monthly earnings, or scholarship/stipend award letter. The best options for getting funding are through DAAD (the German Academic Exchange Service) or Fulbright/another American scholarship program (if you're a US citizen), but the application deadlines for all of those programs already passed in January or February (for funding for the Autumn 2014 semester), so I think it's unlikely that you would be able to scrape together outside funding for a start at that time. Unless you have a lot of money saved, or your parents vouch to support you and you can prove this to the visa office, heading to Germany next Fall is probably likely to be unsuccessful. Another thing: If you eventually want to get a Ph.D. in the US, a Masters' from a German university will not be as well-regarded as one from an American university, so I'd recommend you stick to trying to attend a US program or it will probably hurt you in the long run.

I'd stick with dr. or professor until they tell you otherwise, or they start signing their emails with only their first name or nickname. I wouldn't go off of what other grad students address them - they might have a more intimate relationship with the prof and already be on a first-name basis.

Thanks for all of the input, guys! The two ads I've seen that looked like this didn't seem too demanding (children over age 10, walking the dog 5 days a week, etc.), but just the same, I know how easily a situation like this can get out of control, especially in terms of sharing space - you can never know beforehand how the family would react to me having friends over to watch a movie in the living room, or wanting to have a sexual partner over to spend the night in my room … I think that there is just too much potential for tensions to arise. I wouldn't want to be in a situation where I have to worry about getting nagged by "parents" about cleaning up, having friends over late, or walking the dog, as though I were in high school! Although I might save money (which is debatable considering how much money I could make doing the chores independently), it's probably not worth it. @jenste I'm actually not an international student (I live overseas, but I'm American), so I'm not worried about getting a part-time job if I want to - I was actually planning on getting one, provided it doesn't interfere with my studies.

I took two years "off" between undergrad and starting graduate school, and I spent that time working as an ESL teacher overseas in the country of my historical research focus, first with a Fulbright grant and then with a local government program. If you are a historian who specializes in another country or region's history, I would recommend spending your gap year there if at all possible - I got to do some independent research, as well as an internship at a top museum in said country, and it really helped my application. In terms of programs, most of the people I know who took time "off" applied for a Fulbright grant to research or teach ESL overseas, applied to another program that does the same thing (such as GEPIK in Korea or JET in Japan), joined the Peace Corps or Americorps, or did some sort of competitive internship in their field while moonlighting at a day job to earn cash.

I'm asking because all of the cheapest offers I've seen on Craigslist in the area I'm moving to are families with a separate room (and sometimes bath) upstairs in their house who offer a grad student a sizable rent reduction in exchange for doing chores like walking their dog, babysitting or cleaning. I hadn't considered this option (as opposed to just sharing an apartment with other grad students), and although it sounds like a great way to save money, I'm leery of the situation because I've heard some horror stories about living with a controlling landlord/family or issues arising around the chore obligations or the use of community spaces. Has anybody actually lived in a situation like this? If so, what was your experience? If not, do you think it would be a good idea?

What kind of work can you do for eBay or Amazon from home? I'm curious.

I am vegetarian and eat almost no processed foods or sweet stuff (so my grocery list mostly consists of fresh produce, whole grains, and a few dairy products), but I still pay about $50 per week on groceries (including a couple of luxury snacks, like dried fruit and good cheese), because I pretty much only buy organic items. Believe it or not, where I live the organic produce at the farmers' market is even more expensive than the organics at the grocery store (most of it's imported from other countries, since this is Germany and you can't grow anything above the ground most of the year), so I usually don't head down there.

My birthday is today, so for me it always marks the end of the academic year (more or less). I combine celebrating my birthday with partying at the end of the year

I have experience in ESL teaching, so I do ESL tutoring, including for the TOEFL, and I really enjoy it. I charged about $20-25 an hour (my pupils are mostly international students or immigrants who want to become citizens, and I felt bad about charging any more than that). It makes me feel good to know that I'm helping make someone's life easier by improving their language skills in a language they need on a daily basis.

That's good to hear. I already filled out my SLR and got my Cal ID number, so I'm assuming there's nothing else I'm missing.

I think that there is a strong tendency to post things online that you wouldn't actually say in person, including complaints, questions, and a whole lot of whining. I don't know that many students who spend all of their time with me in person complaining about how stressed they are, but I do know a lot of who post on Facebook about it, and if GradCafe is any indicator, it happens a lot when people are posting anonymously as well. Just as people are willing to troll or post insults online that they'd never say to anyone's face, they also feel that it's all right to complain and bitch and moan online in a way they'd never do in person.

I didn't contact any profs, and I was accepted at/waitlisted at several top ten schools in my field. At a lot of top 10 schools, the profs get so many emails that there was even a note on the website of one saying NOT to send them emails as it would only be an annoyance. Unless you have a very specific question about their research (ideally related to a project you're working on) or you've heard they might be retiring and want to confirm it, there isn't really a good reason to write them "just to chat." Reading your CV will give them just as good of an idea of your qualifications, and if you have a good SOP, that will do the rest.

@juilletmercredi I've actually had the opposite experience - I have a very unique name (actually made up, but sounds like it might be an ethnic/foreign name) and I've gone into interviews or events or courses and had the people I'm introduced to be surprised that I am neither a person of color nor a foreigner. It's always awkward when someone says, "oh, I thought you were French …." or when I get pamphlets from the black student union in my campus inbox … just goes to show that people are going to assume what they want to assume based on your name, regardless of the reality. In general, I just ignore it and blithely go on being a badass, regardless of my weird hippie-kid name.

At my undergraduate institution (graduating class of about 500), everybody who chose to walk was called out in alphabetical order (that's how we were listed in the program), regardless of major or other distinctions. Distinctions such as honors were not read out at graduation, but rather at another special event the day before where everyone who had achieved academic honors (summa or magna cum laude, or written an honors thesis, or received a special university distinction award) was honored, about 100 out of 500 students. At regular graduation we also got special cords and ribbons to wear if we received academic honors, were involved in student government, or had been on a foreign exchange program.

Just be short, sweet, to the point, and polite. Be honest about thanking them for what they've been able to give you over the course of the past year and leave it at that. There's no need to go into detail about what the new program is offering.

I frequently put soy sauce on my scrambled eggs (usually with onion and other veggies thrown in as well).

In terms of being intellectual equals, I agree with Munashi that it's vital - but has nothing to do with education level. I felt like I was able to have a better political discussion with my dropout ex than with my ex who graduated with a Masters' degree - the former was just a better conversationalist and a more avid debater. In fact, some of the people I've met who were most wishy-washy and lacking in social/political opinions were people ensconced in the higher levels of academia who either isolated themselves from anything outside of their field, or were too polite/fearful of offending to really get passionate about their beliefs. I'm not saying that this is the majority of academics by any means, but that being an academic/very well-educated person does not guarantee that you will be better at logical argumentation and appear highly intelligent when debating.

I dated someone who was a high school dropout (as an adult, he ended up becoming a musician and a cook) and came from a family with a history of neglect, drug abuse, and extreme poverty. He was pretty self-educated though, as he read a lot of pretty high-level books and was happy to discuss philosophy and history with me. The relationship actually ended up being very interesting and enriching. After spending time with a lot of pretty sheltered young people groomed for the academic path, hanging out with someone with a lot of real world experience was refreshing and gave me new perspective. My not-so-educated dropout boyfriend was never pretentious, as some academics I've dated have been (although far from all), and he was great at getting me out of my comfort zone, off campus, and off the computer. Any difficulties we had were mostly related to personal habits (he was a chain smoker who had begun at a very young age and tried many times to quit), which were only marginally related to his lack of education. I think that your philosophy on life (political and social and religious beliefs, ideas about cleanliness/noise/entertainment activities) is much more important than how many years you've spent in formal education. A great relationship can exist between two academics, but it can also exist between an academic and someone without a high school degree.

I'm from the US West Coast (born in California, lived in Oregon and Hawaii as well), and I've gone on road trips in all of the Western states up to Colorado. I've only been to Ohio, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. in the Eastern half of the country, so I don't have much experience there. I've been to Mexico and Canada on trips with my family as well. For over three years I've been living in Germany, and with that as my base, I've visited: Great Britain, France, Spain, The Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland, Hungary, Italy, and Greece, some of these on multiple trips. Next up on my list is Asia, more specifically Korea and Japan. I don't know when I'll make it on a grad student budget, but we'll see

What if the course isn't directly for a certification, but is from another department closely connected to your own? For example, If you are a historian specializing in French history and your school also has a great French studies program, it might make sense for you to take some courses from that department's catalogue. When I visited my future Ph.D. institution a few months ago, they actually said that this is encouraged in this situation, and you can even do your graduate teaching requirements in that other department if necessary/interested. Additionally, in a lot of history programs, you are required to pick up a third language and improve your second one if it isn't up to snuff for research, so in that case, you'll have to take some courses outside of the department during your first few semesters before you can be tested on your language skills.

I am female and I sometimes take my kindle paperwhite into the bathroom to read books and academic articles while I'm brushing my teeth and flossing, because why not multitask? Not really with you on the toilet reading, though.

Your post could be my diary entry - are we the same person? My boyfriend is actually just about to start his career after finishing school and I feel like I've definitely gotten some flack for moving away to start grad school rather than staying with him while he starts his career. I don't think I could ever prioritize make major sacrifices like that for a relationship, and I bet it's one of those things where you shouldn't do it unless it really, really feels right and you're sure of the decision. If you have any doubts, they will just turn into regrets later. I think at our age and point in life it's perfectly acceptable to make (sometimes selfish) decisions to follow your solo happiness, and it's too early to start worrying about stigma yet

@Maleficent999, please don't feel bad about your decision! I am in a relationship right now with someone I love, but I'll be ending it in two months when I move for grad school, because both of us know that long distance (across continents/oceans, for an unknown period of time) is not something that we want). Beating yourself over the head for it is not worth it, and it is perfectly within your rights to say that you love him but that you aren't willing to give long distance a try. There are many different types of love, and not all of them involve compromise or sacrifice in a relationship. If you feel it's not right for you, then you don't have to give anything up that you feel might negatively affect your move/early grad school experience. I think the move will be a good way to have a clean break and move on in a way that is healthy for both of you.

Sorry, but I have to represent Oregon craft beer here - there is some pretty AMAZING stuff out there. Full Sail, Ninkasi, Widmer Bros, Deschutes, Double Mountain, Caldera …. so many good lagers and IPAs!!

My favorite movie scenes are almost all in comedies: -in "Robin Hood: Men in Tights" when Atchoo tries to convince Robin Hood and Little John not to fight by using an analogy of the Israeli-Palestinian border conflict -the poisoner's logical debate with Wesley in the "The Princess Bride" -the scene in "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" when Steve Martin undergoes a ferocious beating of the legs to prove that he has no feeling in them - in "Trading Places" the scene where Winthorpe steals the salmon fillet from the office, has a dog piss on him, and fails to commit suicide when his gun doesn't go off properly