hj2012

Hey there! Congrats on your acceptance. I personally think it would be extremely difficult to attend GMU without a car. Public transportation isn't great, the area close to the school is very residential and not particularly walkable, and it's difficult to get to grocery stores and other shopping areas. I would recommend that you think about buying a cheap used car if you can, as this will greatly increase your quality of life. Mason is a heavily commuter school and I don't know anyone who attends without a car. That said, your best bet sans car is to try to live in an apartment complex that is along the Mason Shuttle route (http://shuttle.gmu.edu/), though nearly everything with easy transportation options will be quite expensive. In terms of areas to consider... you might look into the Old Town Fairfax area, as it's close to campus and walkable (with relatively easy access to grocery stores, restaurants and bars). The area around the Vienna Metro is another option, as there's a shuttle that goes directly from the metro station to GMU. You could also look into places near the Prince William County campus and commute every day via shuttle. Hope this helps -- let me know if you have other specific questions!

I personally would not apply to schools that I wouldn't be excited about attending. What's the point of wasting the time and money for a school you ultimately would not attend? I ended to mostly top schools with a few others mixed in, but I would have been thrilled attending any of thethe ten schools I applied to. That said, I would be shocked if there weren't great schools for your interests outside of the top 20. If the only thing turning you off from a school is that's it's ranked, say, 23 in comparison to 19, then I might do some self evaluation about how much you're willing to compromise on prestige to achieve your goals. If the answer is that you reeeeally need to be at a top 20, that's totally fine! But I wouldn't waste my money applying to lower ranked schools. Just my two cents!

There's always a ton of incoming Korea ETAs with a background in Japanese, so you could likely find a language partner that way. Consuming media is another great way to keep up your language skills (reading a newspaper article a day, for example). My only note of caution is that you are coming to KOREA, not Japan, and I encourage you to devote yourself wholeheartedly to acquiring Korean. It always makes me sad to meet ETAs who make it obvious that their first and foremost interest is in Japan, and if Japan had an ETA program they would be there instead. It's a touchy subject among Koreans as well, considering the history of colonialism, so you will want to be careful with your language study in the homestay context as well. Good luck!

Just send them your standard declining email. If you want, include a brief note that financial considerations played into your decision to turn down their offer.

You will learn Arabic faster in an immersion setting, but in this case I don't know if the personal factors make the sacrifice worth it. You are going to be behind your peers regardless of whether or not you go abroad, so my sense is that you should plan to make up for this deficiency with serious, full time language study after your MTS and before applying to PhD programs. I would look into yearlong intensive Arabic study, perhaps a program like CASA (UT Austin in Egypt). Good luck!

Perhaps this is a misunderstanding on my part, but I took "unfunded" to mean absolutely nada, as in no tuition waiver, no RA/TA appointments, etc. The poster's son is not getting any funding for his second year, either, so it does not seem that the university has a plethora of funding options. External fellowships and awards are great, and I think eligible students should definitely keep them in mind! But most of these fellowship/award programs are extremely competitive, even more so than gaining PhD admission itself. And, to be totally frank, if a student is not competitive enough to gain admission to a funded PhD program, I question if they would be competitive for external fellowships as well, particularly the ones that provide enough to cover tuition+living expenses (NSF, Ford, Soros, Mellon, Woodrow Wilson, etc).

What is his field? I think it's unthinkable for him to continue without funding, but especially if he is in the humanities I would seriously consider the ramifications of the decision to continue. You're looking at 4+ years at the very least; realistically, many people take 6, 7 or 8 years to graduate! Furthermore, funding isn't just a matter of money. It is an indication of how the school views you, and how competitive your son will be for opportunities in the future. For example, if he is unfunded, that means he will not have the TA or RA experience necessary to be competitive for jobs in his field; he will not have grant money or fellowships on his CV, etc etc. Taker's suggestion -- complete a Master's at his current institution, then apply to funded PhD programs -- may be the best compromise. (I also must echo that you are likely putting a lot of pressure by telling him it's unthinkable for him to stop now...not to mention totally unrealistic, as attrition rates hover around 50%.)

Congrats on your acceptance! There's basically.no where in the area around Mason that's unsafe. It's very suburban and quiet. What are you looking for in a housing situation? A room share in a house? 1 or 2 bedroom apartment? How far are you willing to commute every day? That'll help narrow down your options.

I think it's always a good idea to get professional experience before attending a professional program, for both financial and academic reasons. I applied to professional IR programs straight out of undergrad and got into a number of good places, but all without funding. Now I've been living abroad for a few years (which ironically geared me toward a humanities PhD, so I ultimately didn't reapply to IR) but among my network of friends who applied to IR schools, the ones who worked a bit before applying have all done much better than my friends who came straight out of undergrad. Your current job options sound great, but I would also look into programs like Americorps or consider going abroad to teach English for a year, especially if you don't have any international experience yet. Also, consider using your time off to retake your GREs, as funding is often tied to things like GRE score or GPA. Good luck!

All three towns are college towns, as far as I understand, with (relatively) little outside of the college itself. But she will likely be very bored in Blacksburg. There really is very little to do around the area.

I answered this question for grad school apps that asked for a diversity supplement. I talked about my tutoring experiences outside the classroom and traveling as well.

Regardless of whether or not you retake the class, the failing grade will be calculated into your AMCAS GPA if you're thinking about U.S. med schools. No clue how they do it in Canada, though.

I totally understand this feeling. I'm an east coaster currently living in Asia, and I've only been able to see my family twice in the last two years. While it's good to be going back home to the U.S., I'll be relocating to the west coast....which strangely feels like another continent away from my home in Virginia!

It depends. Are there any weaknesses in your application (low GPA, lack of relevant coursework, etc) that an MA would fix? If not, I don't know if it would be worth the loans. If you decide to apply Fall 2015, I would recommend applying to a larger number of programs, and perhaps a couple funded MAs as well. Honestly, though, with just four schools it could have just come down to luck! And the waitlists are encouraging signs for next year...you might consider emailing the DGS at the schools you applied this year and asking for ways to improve your application as well. My sense is that it would be better for you to go on the job market and make some money than go into debt for a year...but that's my $.02. You might also look into Americorps programs, as I know that many of these are still accepting applications. Good luck to you!

Yikes -- so, even if you get an apartment at school, you may be facing a long commute to your field placement a few times a week! In that case, it's probably not worth it to pay the extra $$ for an apartment...have you tried getting in contact with the disability services office at your school? They might be able to point you to some accessibility options for you. Good luck!

Bsharpe raises a good point. Would you have to commute every single day, or would it be possible to work out your schedule so you only go a few days a week? Personally, I hate commuting, so I would rather pay to live closer to campus than have to spend 2+ hours in traffic every day. But I think this depends on the person.

I think top-30 is reasonable, although I would echo GirlWhoLived in saying that rankings are not as important as overall "fit" in terms of your areas of interest and your methodologies. My only other pointer would be to have a native speaker carefully read all your materials (SoP, writing sample, etc). While your English is good, your posts show that you still make little errors every now and then. With a good SoP and writing sample, I don't see why you wouldn't be competitive for top PhD programs, though it's impossible for anyone to predict PhD admissions. ^^ Good luck!

Work experience isn't usually all that important for PhD programs, although your experience sounds related to your future research. Also, what do you consider to be "respectable"? It may be in your best interest to retake the GRE considering your low GPA.

The unfunded program is not worth it, especially if you already have $40,000 in debt from undergrad. As difficult as it may be to turn down that "dream" program, I really encourage you to make the rational decision.

What is TWU? If multiple professors are saying no, there usually is a good reason.

When did you apply? If your programs aren't rolling admission, I would just send an email to the program coordinator or DGS directly.

Your V score shouldn't be a problem, provided that you do well on the TOEFL. I would aim for 105+.

You could look into teaching test prep, the SAT or the GRE or, if you're in NYC, the SSAT. It pays well, though the work may be equally soul-crushing. Good luck!

New School immediately comes to mind, but they're also known for poorly funding their students. Perhaps Columbia, Hopkins or Minnesota? From what I know, Marxist perspectives are not as common in political science as they are in other fields, like Literature, Philosophy or Sociology. If you're firmly committed to doing work on Marx, you might also want to check out some interdisciplinary programs like Duke Literature, Chicago Committee on Social Thought or Stanford MTL.

What are you interested in methodologically? A project on the legal/political dimensions of human trafficking would look very different in comparison to, say, an ethnographic project that focuses on ritual in Luzon tribal groups. Considering your lack of background in anthropology, a masters might be best for you. A good friend of mine transitioned from a B.A. in Politics to an M.A. program in Anthropology; she said it would have been impossible to go straight into anthro because of her lack of field experience. (This may differ depending on specific subfields, though!) That said, you probably don't need to limit yourself to someone working on your country of interest (in this case, the Philippines). I imagine that you could be mentored by a number of researchers with expertise in Southeast Asia, your theoretical interests, and your chosen methodology/subfield, whatever it happens to be. Good luck!