Neist

Some people do not know this, but you have to be accepted by both a program and the university's graduate college or office. Now, it's pretty rare that the latter does not approve of the former's recommendations, so an email like this usually confirms an acceptance because a program's admission standards are typically more stringent than a graduate office's. Congratulations! I'd take this notification as an almost certain acceptance.

Something that might be an option, if you decide to stay, is altitude sickness drugs do exist. You have to take them for a week or two beforehand, if memory serves, but they might help! My application season is pretty much over. My decision should be finalized by the end of the week. Exciting! I want to share my leanings here on grad cafe, but I should probably wait until I make my choice official.

Wow! That sort of interaction would definitely impact my perception of a program. I know that's probably a shallow judge of quality, but that faculty member sounds like someone I'd like to be around. Thankfully, altitude sickness usually goes away after a week or so. If you decide to go, it should disappear! I'm glad your visit went well though.

Neato! Who were you hoping to work with? I apologize if you've already answered this. I've been a bit busy with grading papers the last week or so.

I can't speak of the program directly, but given the budget shakeup at OU recently, I wouldn't stress too much if you haven't received word. I think a lot of departments at OU are still determining how much money they'll have next year.

I was on wait list funding this round and I was eventually given it, but my program told me explicitly where I was on the list. Unfortunately, there's not a lot you can do to improve your odds. You have to hope that someone who was accepted and funded attends elsewhere. Do you know how many funded slots they give? The more they give, the likelier there will be people who rotate into those funded slots.

That's one reason I'm heavily considering the OU dual degree program I got funding in. It's a history of science/MLIS degree, and I've spent the last 10 years in academic libraries. I'm a little bit afraid of jumping into a degree where I'd have to start over.

I think they just batch notify everyone somewhere around April 1 (it's historically always very close it). We got a month or so to go. The crazy part is that they're probably finalizing awardees pretty soon. I mean, they notify everyone, all 20,000 or so applicants, at nearly exactly the same time. I imagine that decisions have to be made a little bit before that point to line up paperwork.

I'm an admit. I'm still determining between BGSU and OU, but I'm another accepted student. Not sure if there's anyone else on these boards. I'm the one and only results posting for BGSU Pop C. this year.

I'm not sure how it is in ACS, but in Pop C, I'm pretty sure everyone gets funding. Given this generosity, I'd find it odd if they didn't give PhD students funding. Now, the Pop C. stipend isn't exactly what I'd call fantastic, but Bowling Green isn't too expensive, either.

I think I'm going to call RPI next week and finally confirm one way or another. I got a notice that I need to decide if I want to renew my lease here at OU soon, so I need to decide whether I'm staying here or not soon. Pretty good excuse to ask, I think.

You do make a good point.

I'm so happy that you finally heard from them.

Fully funded at OU? Congrats! Funding is pretty hard to come by this year at OU. Rumor has it that the history department has actually offered even less funding than history of science. Even if you don't decide to attend, you should be pretty proud of yourself getting it. However, if you are considering OU, you should probably familiarize yourself with the financial situation of the state. I'm not trying to preach doom and gloom (because the one of the two offers I'm considering is from OU), but the university is facing fairly significant budget shortfalls. I don't get the impression that the budget short falls will affect the academic integrity of any program, nor do I think they'll affect any commitments of financial support, but it is something to consider. The only thing I worry about, from a graduate student perspective, is the potential for reduced traveling funds. You can probably google it yourself, but here's a convenient link: http://kfor.com/2016/01/28/ou-board-of-regents-approves-plan-to-save-20-million/ I think I've pretty much decided, but I think I'm going to let it boil for another week before I commit publicly.

I'll do the same, although I don't know exactly when I'm going to finalize my decision.

Out of curiosity, anyone else here have any not-so-clear cut decisions to make about which programs they should attend? It's not that I don't understand my choices, but it's a pretty big decision, and I feel as if I should thoroughly ruminate on it.

Apparently RPI has a recruitment weekend this upcoming weekend, so I'll probably email them next week at some point. They told me that they thought decisions would be finalized, whatever that means at this point, by early March.

I try to drive long distances as little as humanly possible. It's a very uncomfortable experience.

I think you pretty much summed up my thoughts. I'll be 33 when I begin graduate school, and I have similar motivating factors. I hope everything goes well for you.

This is a STS program, mind you, but RPI has yet to reject me. The three posted acceptances on the results were posted from Feb. 4-6. So I've nearly spent a month waiting for my rejection.

Update since my last post in here; I got funding for the dual degree program. Wait list dreams do happen. It's going to be a difficult decision between my acceptances now. A funded MLIS degree is a difficult thing to turn down.

Stafford loans would only cover about the cost, but you'd have access to federal graduate PLUS loans. They aren't as flexible as Stafford loans, but they are far, far more flexible than private loans. If memory serves, I think there's some repayment plans that PLUS loans don't qualify for. You might want to check into it, at any rate.

If I was in your situation, I'd do it, especially if it's pretty much the only place that has such a program. It sounds like it's a place where your passions can be nurtured. I have some specific, esoteric interests, and I'd readily consider programs that best fit my interests if they allowed me to continue my studies, even if I went into slight debt. Academia tends to create echo chambers, and we really do need more people who conduct research outside of norms. I'm pining for loan forgiveness, too. I'll early teach or work in libraries (I've worked in academic libraries for over a decade). I doubt I'll ever make enough to pay off the loan before the 10 years is up.

Good advice! I've never compared myself to others (probably because I'm exceptionally eccentric), but I'll definitely pre-think of some ice breaker questions. I might be spending a fair amount of time with these people, after all. Well, at least it'll be an adventure. I assume this is for USCD?

How much would you go into debt to self-fund for one year, if you don't mind sharing? I know people are fairly self-funding adverse, but if I did do it, it'd definitely only be for a one year program. I can only speak for myself, and I know nothing about your discipline, but if it improves your career outcomes, even with only a possibility of leading into a PhD program, I'd probably do it. Do you know if the program is of high enough regard that it'd help you get into other PhD programs? That might be something else to consider.