Neist

Yup! And west Texas is arid enough that temperatures drop quite a bit at night (similar to much of the southwest). So even if it is in the 90's during the day, it should drop quite a bit after dark. That's the nutty thing about deserts, they might be 100+ during the day, but they can drop close to freezing at night. Crazy. May the schwartz be with you!

http://www.usclimatedata.com/climate/lubbock/texas/united-states/ustx2745 Averages look pretty similar to Oklahoma, so you'll definitely have the opportunity. You have to go pretty far south in Texas before average temperatures stay somewhat warm.

How's the weather where you're at now? Pennsylvania isn't too bad, but they definitely have a prolonged winter compared to Oklahoma. I'm not sure I'd really need any specialty clothing for Penn. Maybe some heavier winter pants. Winter pants are fantastic and comfy. That said, I'm probably not a good judge. I've worn sandals, in the rain, right above freezing.

If you're leaving OKC, I think you're getting the better deal rather than staying here. Haha. And I'm sure you'd be a great friend! We can be internet buddies! Also, I totally think of this scene when I think of the programs you applied to. I think I'll at least make strong acquaintances. I think I'll generally be older than everyone else, but everyone else will have the same nerdy interests as myself, so anything's possible. Yay for at least one friend! I think I'm going to stick around on these boards, even after this cycle. It's a friendly environment. I've tried to get through Moby Dick for years, but it's just so dry. Someday I'll get through it. Someday.

I'll have to look it up. Thanks! And I wouldn't mind being friends. I'm a good friend, actually. I do have high hopes! I think one of the major reasons I'm devoid of social life is because I work full-time, I'm married, and I have a kid. I haven't had much time for anything during the last several years, but now, with funding, I can actually have a rich student experience. I look forward to it!

I actually really don't have anyone to tell outside of my parents and my spouse. I have pretty much no friends or acquaintances. Hope I can change that in graduate school. Also, I finally made my way into this thread. Hi everyone.

I'm so happy for you! If for no other reason for the fact that you won't have to fill out another 20-odd applications next year! Also, it's good to see the bottom. It makes you more motivated to make something of yourself. It's for that very reason that a lot of very, very motivated students are from lower-income backgrounds. I'm sure you'll do well at Northwestern! It's not that weird. I accepted my offer, and I was paranoid that I fudged up the acceptance, at least until I got a notification of my student ID number. I'm still a little bit paranoid that I screwed something up. Although enrollment starts on Monday. Guess I'll know then... Edit: Just checked, and I actually have an enrollment window, which means I'm official. Whew! It also tells me how much credits I'm bringing in. I have no graduate-level degree, and I'm coming in with 215 credit hours. I'm going to set a record.

Woo hoo! I think we reinforce the stereotype that academics wear thick glasses, but who doesn't wear glasses anymore? Although, I mostly wear contacts now. The extreme refraction from my lenses was becoming so great that it was giving me migraines by mid day. I still love my glasses, but they don't love me. Shame it's so difficult to get corrective surgery at our level.

Wow. Congrats!

Nice to meet you @kingsxrocks! I completely understand this, and I echo your hesitation. I certainly don't mind putting in the work for a PhD, but I'm not sure if it's a good decision, and with a library degree, I could simply work somewhere and do my own research, on my own time. I don't need a PhD to do research. Also, what sort of jobs were you hoping to land eventually?

My wife is a cosmetologist, and I've never seen her natural hair color. I've known her for 13 years. Every so often I see the roots of her natural color, but that's it.

I'm actually a little bit of the opposite. I used to be pretty out there. Blue hair, punk, went to four of five shows a week. Now I look like I should be selling sustainably-raised, organic bean sprouts at a farmer's market. I do share the glasses with you though. I have terrible eyes. I think I'm around -11.

One more tidbit. Some schools definitely have higher acceptance rates, but they might offer poor funding. These programs' funded student percentages can approach percentages similar to higher ranked programs' acceptance rates. In short, getting into a funded program is pretty difficult, no matter where you apply. Very few places can afford the luxury of funding lots of students.

Ditto here.

Well, that's unfortunate. Let's hope that they revise it (or make a different plan) in order to maintain support for lower income spectrum professions. I'd probably be okay in my career path, but I can't imagine that professions in high demand with low potential earnings, like social workers, will ever make enough to outweigh the cost of their education.

Higher earners? My assumption is that the program is designed to alleviate the financial burden of public servants (which often get paid quite little). Is it being abused some how?

Slightly off topic, but it's fairly aggravating when you read someone's work you really love, and then you find out they don't work in academia. Ergh. That happened to me multiple times. Or they work in a completely unrelated discipline. Or have retired.

I'm pretty sure one program I applied to is just going to forget I ever existed and tell me nothing. An automated email would be nice, honestly.

Oh, I'm definitely finishing this program. The question is if I want to carry on to a PhD beyond that. That's a lot of extra years and the job market in history is pretty terrible. It's something I'll heavily consider a year or so into the program. Maybe the job market will improve a bit. It's pretty bad right now (in history).

There really isn't a good way to know what one's chances are. The simple answer is that you need to be the best applicant to fit in a program (research-wise) and be the strongest applicant given that fit. However, even then, there's a litany of reasons why a person might not be accepted, and these reasons are rarely explicitly stated, even if they are known to occur. People on these boards might be able to better estimate your chances if we knew your stats, but it's impossible to say without them.

My wife is getting a bit tired of me being and school, and I can't say I blame her. I've been in school for the entirety of our 10 year marriage. I think we're both getting worn out. More than a small part of me has strongly considered stopping with the program I was just accepted into. I could easily find jobs with only those degrees.

Welp, here's hoping it works out! Maybe there's some sort of crazy circumstances leading up to these delays. However, even if there are, it certainly would help if they communicated a bit better.

In a few decades we'll be able to look at the Facebook page of presidential candidates going back to their teenager years, so I'm pretty sure this is just an awkward phase transitioning to more public identities. In forty years, no one will care, I'm guessing. Ack! Sorry to hear that. Get some rest! And get off of Grad Cafe, if it helps.

I should also note that there isn't a large number of people who've actually utilized the program yet. The program's 'qualifying payments' only began perhaps 10-12 years ago? Only a few people have experienced the process, but a number of the librarians I work with haven't had complaints of any kind.