fancyfeast
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Posts posted by fancyfeast
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I'm debating between UChicago IME, Northwestern MSE, and Harvard Materials/Mechanical Engineering. I'm very curious about UChicago's program since it's so new. I've been combing old threads for information, but I think I'll really only be able to decide after visiting
What is everyone considering when making a decision? For me, I'm looking mostly at PI/research fit and student placement after graduation. I know I want to leave academia, so it's really important to me that there are flexible and numerous exit options.
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Only $1500? That seems pretty low. Why are you subtracting $300? I'm assuming for taxes? If you don't mind, it might be helpful to post full details of your financial agreement.
Yeah for taxes using this tax table from Berkeley that I might have not understood correctly - I've never had to pay taxes myself haha.
So the total stipend for the year is $31,000. For the first 5 months I'm paid as a GSI and get a little over $1800. Next 5 months I'm paid as a GSR by my PI and get $2,900 per month. And then for 2 months in the summer I'll be making bank at $3,300 per month. I'm jus bothered by the $1800 for the first five months since it further limits where I can live haha. This is all before taxes and I know in the summer on top of income tax I lose 7.5% to a "pre-retirement tax" and 1.45% Medicare reduction. I don't know if I'll be charged for like health fees etc by the university or if they'll be waived.
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Soooo I just got how the stipend is going to work from month to month.... For the first 5 months is $1800 before taxes... Which, if I just calculated how much will be taken out of that correctly, I'll be left with $1500? Honestly not sure how to survive on that O_O
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Unfortunately, finding a place in August is pretty tough. Most apartments have people sign leases starting in June (ish) so maybe you can try to find a roommate beforehand that can coordinate finding an apartment sooner? Not sure if you have any friends/family in that area or have connected to your cohort at all, but you could ask around and see if anyone wants to help you out in that regards.
Don't do graduate housing. Very expensive for not a lot of space/stuff. Subletting is also a pain.
I was looking at grad housing - it looks like it's like $1000 per month for a studio... To be honest it seems on par with what I found on craigslist. In fact other studios that close to campus seem up be much more expensive. Maybe I'm searching wrong, but I haven't found much housing less than $1000.
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Ah sorry, I should have made that more clear. I paid $700/month before utilities + internet. Most months the total was about $730.
It is certainly doable on a grad student budget (your proposed $2500/month), though keep in mind CA taxes are higher than the midwest - you'll likely have less than $2500/month.
When you get a bike definitely get a legit u-lock + industrial cord if you can, as bike thefts are pretty serious at Cal. The bus system also sucks on north side, as opposed to south/west side where the buses run very regularly.
Not sure how much you like partying/socializing/etc., but I personally would avoid Piedmont street South past the International House. The houses along that street (as you can see if you use Google Street View) are largely fraternity/sorority houses. Friday/Saturdays (especially on football game days) it becomes insanely crazy/rowdy. Not really my scene, but if you enjoy that, by all means look for an apartment there. I would also caution living too close to Telegraph Avenue. On the whole though, it's a really safe community (directly around campus, anyways) so there's nowhere I would absolutely avoid - just some places I would prefer not living near.
Does anyone ever live in El Cerritto? It looks commutable by BART but idk how nice it is to live there.
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Welcome to Cal!
I relocated from the east coast, and I really like it here - great weather, great food, lots of resources for my area of interest. The only thing I don't like about Berkeley is the housing market. It's really, really impacted. I'm not trying to scare you, but when I showed up in Berkeley last year in August I regularly went to open houses with 30+ people competing for one spot in an apartment. Took me nearly 3 weeks to find a place, though I was working with a lower budget (under $1000) than yours. Everything ended up working out in the end, but I'm currently living in the Piedmont St area and I echo SublimePZ's recommendation to avoid fraternity row if you can. It's really noisy, sometimes even on weekdays.Not scared by that at all - sounds about like what I had heard, which is why I'm trying to research as much as possible! I would love rent <$1000 but I'm not sure how feasible that is. The more money I have to spend on food the better really
haha. I like to cook quite a bit and I think food is generally more expensive in California as well. -
I moved from Chicago to Berkeley for undergrad, so I think I should be able to give you some tips. I'm not sure of the exact prices, but I do know that grad housing is really expensive for not that many amenities (see here: http://housing2.berkeley.edu/graduate).I do know that most grad students live in non-campus housing (apartments, co-ops, etc.)
I split a one-bedroom apartment with a friend for $1400 a month, utilities and internet not included. It was one block away from campus on north side with a washer/dryer in-house. When I first started renting there, it was above average, but by the time I graduated (May 2014) it was a little below average. I would say try to find something of comparable price, but beware that living directly in Berkeley is crazy expensive (especially closer to campus). If you're ok with taking buses and/or biking to Latimer or Stanley Hall, which is on the east side of campus at the top of a hill (I see your program is chem, so that's probably where you'll spend most of your time), then I would suggest living at the bottom of the hill somewhere off of Oxford or Shattuck.
Berkeley's living situation is split into three parts - North, West, and South side. West side is comprised of Shattuck and is essentially the downtown part of Berkeley, with a lot of restaurants/cafes/stores. South side is where the majority of the undergrads live - it has stores and retaurants (chipotle, subway, etc.) but is a bit more college-y. This includes the majority of undergrad housing in addition to the fraternities. It is usually much rowdier there, especially during parties (Friday/Saturday nights, etc.). North side is, in my opinion, the quietest area - there are a lot of non-students that live there in houses, with only one real street that has anything (Euclid St. - pizza, burritos, sandwiches, cafes, etc.). The co-ops are also mostly on north side (though a few on south side too), but I don't recommend living there for your first year (http://www.bsc.coop).
My suggestion? Try to find an apartment to split with someone on North Side near the LeRoy/LaLoma/LeConte/Ridge area. It's extremely close and quiet, and provided you have a car, parking is plentiful (compared to South side where there is usually no street parking available). It's unfortunately more expensive than south side, but worth it to me. Alternatively, finding an apartment further down College Avenue (away from campus) on South Side is a good option too - much cheaper than North Side, plus you get to a really nice area of Berkeley/Oakland.
Thanks for your reply! Super helpful!
So when you split that one bedroom with your friend, were you each paying $1400/month or $700/month? My stipend this year is $31,000, which, before taxes, equates to roughly $2500/month, so ideally I don't think I would want to spend more than $1000-1500 on housing (with $1500 being the absolute maximum). I heard that the North side is pretty nice for grad students, so I am leaning more towards finding a place there - I'm guessing that's possible on a grad student budget? I'm not bringing my car and will probably get a bike to get around/the public transportation system.
Is there any place you would absolutely avoid?
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Hi all, I will be moving to Bloomington in the fall to start a PhD program in Psychology. I visited Fountain Park and Woodbridge Apartments just today, but $650-665 seems high to me for rent with no utilities covered.
What do you all think?
I think that's pretty affordable for the location.. Is it a single? If so, then definitely cheaper than places downtown or closer to campus. Downside is relying on the 6 bus. There's also apartments off of Covenanter that are pretty nice I hear.
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Bumping this thread as well! I feel like I need to start looking for housing ASAP and plan to take off work for a few days to check out apartments.
Will be going to Berkeley and am looking for a relatively nice, quiet area to live. I'm female, so safety is a bit more important to me. If anyone knows anything about the grad student dorms let me know!
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Will be moving to California from the Midwest this summer!
How many of you have started looking for housing yet? I don't remember grad student housing really being advertised and I'd rather live in an apartment anyway.
For people familiar with the Berkeley area- how much do you pay for rent? Where are the best places to live?
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We are in similar positions. I never applied to med school, but I want to. I totally get liking research but ultimately wanting to practice medicine. Looking at your situation it's easy to tell you do not do a PhD if medicine is the end goal. I find it hard to take my own advice though, so I understand why you're still debating this. Let us know what you decide!
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Considering rejecting all my offers and doing I don't know what for a year. I looked at MIT and Berkeley for chemistry and I think I like Berkeley better but even then, I am not sure I want to do this. I was interested in med school for a long time and did well in my classes (I even took the MCAT and got a good score), volunteered etc. I work a ton in my lab and find that fulfilling too but 5 years is a long time and in the end I think a career as a doctor sounds more appealing to me.
It's a tough call to make. MIT is more prestigious to the average person, but for whatever reason I just didn't feel this "connection" like I did with Berkeley, but Berkeley is huge and far away from my family and SO. I feel like the decision shouldn't be this hard and since it is I should just say no to all my offers and find scribe/RA job somewhere (I feel like I'm letting down my letter writers, my PI, my lab, etc - all my friends think in going to grad school so I would have a lot of explaining to do haha).
Any input on MIT or Berkeley or the attitude I would need to survive grad school (because right now I am not sure why I am going other than I like doing research) would be great
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Interesting. I haven't gotten either email and don't see anything new on my application page. Did you attend the March 2 weekend? I was at the 9th, so I'm wondering if the first group also hears back earlier.
Weird! I was at the earlier weekend. I didn't get a PI phone call though... I don't get what they're doing haha.
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When exactly was this?
It was like 8 pm PST? Maybe they are going through the applications in sections? I got an email and then checked my application status. I was accepted but a girl I met while there just checked in with me and she was rejected, so idk. I felt like she was a way better applicant than me.
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Did anyone else who interviewed at UCSF these past few weeks get an email from Julia Molla just a few minutes ago?
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For the people going to MITs weekend - did you get an email when you RSVP'd? I think I'm losing my mind because I vaguely remember RSVP-ing in January but I don't have any record of that and haven't heard from them since.
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Not exactly related but for the people going to MITs weekend - did you get an email when you RSVP'd? I think I'm losing my mind because I vaguely remember RSVP-ing in January but I don't have any record of that and haven't heard from them since.
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Wyss Institute is heavily biology-oriented, the OP is interested in inorganic & materials.
I did specify it was biologically-related materials, but I didn't know OP was interested in inorganic "and" materials. Interpreted as inorganic "or" materials. Oops.
Sorry, OP! My n=1 MIT comment may still be of use to you.
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I think Harvard is good for materials - their Wyss institute is, according to some, the doing the best biomaterials research in the nation. If I had taken the chem GRE I totally would have applied.
I heard MIT is pretty intense. I just have one persons account but he said that he felt the department thought it was okay everyone was suffering, and that getting a PhD should be full of suffering, and that a lot of stress was a good indicator that you were working hard enough. I have also heard MIT is better for engineering, whereas Harvard might be better for physical sciences.
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Hi. I'm pretty much expecting a rejection at this point but I don't feel too bad about it, because for me Scripps wasn't a top choice. I really only ended up applying due to the free application lol.
I heard from a former grad student (now a post doc at Columbia) that Scripps has been in the red for quite some time. I don't know how much that affects anything, just an interesting thing I heard.
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I'm visiting - either second or third weekend in March.
To be honest there are only two cons for me thus far - cost and location. SO is for sure going to be in Boston next year, and California is... not so close to Boston. I don't really want that to affect my decision, but it's definitely in the back of my mind. I'm mostly curious about the culture of the department - I will work for whoever doing whatever as long as the department is not totally insane and my advisor treats his students fairly.
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work smart, plan your experiments carefully and intelligently. I've seen plenty of 3rd, 4th year students come in 6 days/week for 10 hrs/day and still have no papers published. Some established professors aren't willing to publish findings that aren't significant enough to get accepted to very good journals even though the materials are good enough for a decent journal.
I've seen this too - in my own lab even. Is the reason for lack of publications that far into ypur degree always due to the PI not wanting to publish in a lower tier journal or can you really get that unlucky with a project? I want to avoid this issue for myself lol.
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Interesting thread topic - like you I have typically seen organic chemists working the longest hours in my department and the department I'm in right now is respected, but by no means as intense as top schools. I tend to be a person that likes clear cut working and non-working hours. I'm willing to work longer closer to deadlines, but I don't want to work for someone who will ask me why I wasn't in the lab at 2 am.
Unrelated, but this just reminded me of the PI at my school who apparently has remote access to all of his student's work computers so he can see if they go on Facebook or Twitter during the day. A postdoc in my lab called it an invasion of privacy to his face but he just shrugged it off lol. Not working with someone like that either.
Declining Offers 2017
in Engineering
Posted
I had to check because I couldn't remember but it looks like this year it's gone down to 32K, which is comparable to what Northwestern offers. Still not too bad!