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boringusername

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Decaf

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  1. It's unprofessional to discuss the pros and cons of working with various professors on a public forum. Even if you substitute your potential advisers' real names for "Professor A" or "Professor B," it's not hard to tell who you're talking about. Mentioning someone's health problems ("so-and-so had a heart attack") is beyond the pale. There's a private messaging feature. Use it.
  2. One thing to keep in mind is that graduate school is not merely an extension of your undergraduate experience. The coursework phase is brief (usually 2 years, sometimes 3 depending on your program). Even at huge R1 universities, graduate level course offerings tend to be limited and of a very uneven quality. You might be excited about the prospect of taking grad seminars now, but once you're a few months into it you'll probably find yourself eager to move on to quals/prelims, research, and dissertation writing. Don't go around thinking grad school is all about the coursework; it really isn't at all. Here's a suggestion: be extremely selective about the courses you take. If the course offerings don't jive well with your research interests, enroll in independent reading courses instead. This is especially important if the professors you want to work with aren't teaching graduate classes. The coursework phase isn't so much about absorbing new material, it's about making good faculty connections.
  3. Contrary to what a lot of folks around here think, bargaining is not usually an option. Funding budgets don't tend to be all that flexible. My advice: take your already generous offer and don't attempt to wheel and deal. This kind of behavior has the potential to tarnish your relationship with faculty, staff, and your fellow grad students.
  4. Another critical factor that seems to be missing in this debate is Princeton's lack of teaching requirements. This really should not be viewed as an asset. Want a job? Then you absolutely need to have teaching experience. When visiting be sure to find out how many graduate students teach and what opportunities are available for honing pedagogical skills.
  5. Has anybody heard from their respected programs regarding registration, orientation, stipend checks, etc? I'm itching for some news.
  6. Another thing: I've heard that under Michigan law you or a third party has to have viewed the premises before you can sign a lease. Can anyone confirm this?
  7. I too haven't been all that impressed with the search results from UM's housing site. It seems that everything is very picked over already. Even my cursory glance at the Ann Arbor craigslist postings has yielded more promising results. I did get a kick out of the pictures of filthy apartments littered with booze bottles, though! At this point, I'm thinking it'd be better to find a more liveable/affordable apartment farther away from campus. Maybe in one of those larger complexes? Also, I was under the impression that UM does offer grad student housing for single students. Here, for instance: http://housing.umich.edu/northwood/overview/index.php . I'm not sure how desirable that would be, but it's certainly an option. Anyway, good luck with the search!
  8. Are you guys beginning your housing search already? I'm not quite sure how to proceed.
  9. Forget it. I withdrew today. I'm already committed elsewhere; no sense in complicating the process.
  10. Oh, I'm not so sure about this. I have a friend who was admitted to UIUC for Soviet/Russian history (her interests defy periodization). She's particularly into womens history.
  11. Ooops. That should've been in response to this:
  12. I got the invite too!
  13. I haven't heard anything and nothing has changed on Wolverine Access.
  14. I'd appreciate a synopsis of your UM visits as well. I can't make it out there until early April.
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