Karoku_valentine

The letter system is just idiotic. With a regular 1-100 system, all those problems would go away, as everyone would get the grade they deserve, and the inflation factor would be minimize.

Mine has the same conditions, except for GPA which is just 3.0, I think.

I went to like 10 interviews, 4 of them were final interviews.

Just state one bitchy comment regarding people who boasts about their grades and say that is tacky. Make sure the person you dislike sees the comment; otherwise it won't make a difference. In sum, when you dislike something and you can't ignore it you have two options: 1) Confronting the person, 2) Say indirect things in order to make the person stop. It might sound slightly immature, but 2 is the best approach to avoid awkwardness.

I was confused because I read one post here. Yes, you can have multiple I-20s, but once you pay your sevis fee, you will need to do some extra work in order to change to a different school.

I think once they issue the I-20, you cannot accept other offers, even if you want to, since your Sevis number is already taken. I receivedthe I-20 two days after it was issued. In the case of India, it might take a little more. Call them and tell them it's been a month and you've not received it yet.

Travel to Mexico. Right now is the moment, since everything is cheaper because of the depreciation. You can go to colonial (which are way cheaper than beach cities) cities like Guanajuato, San MIguel Allende (very popular among American retirees), Puebla (2 hours away from Mexico City and with excellent gastronomy), and Guadalajara. Also, if you want more touristy town -beach-, there are tons of them, but they are more expensive (Cancùn is the second most expensive city in Mexico, above of Mexico City). Also, Mexico City has a lot of museums and attractions. You can really travel for little money here. Flights to/from NYC are around 400-500 (4-5hours) and flights from LA are like 3 hours and cost 300-400. Overall, you could travel for 1000 USD for a couple of weeks. Try it.

I am a little curious about why do you think your abilities do not match with those required by the Master. If you were funded at three top schools, it means you had the mathematical background to finish the program and that you were among the best applicants. Therefore, you should have the ability to finish the program. That must be out of discussion. Any illness will dampen your performance at any department. So, even if are able to change departments, which I find unlikely to happen if you were admitted to a program, your performance is still going be sub-optimal. You could ask the programs to defer your admission because of your health condition. If it is a serious condition they will understand.

I guess it depends on the industry and the country. In my case, my master does not seem to impress employers and they sometimes were reluctant to hire me for positions requiring some quantitative skills, even if I was able to do the job or learn how to do it. I still landed a position at a financial institution, and may be able to bridge the gap with a lot of working experience. However, I consider the Ms in Statistics could really give me the knowledge I am longing for, and the skills to do advance statistical work.

That does not change my post. Even after finishing your PhD, you will face that dilemma in the UK and their crappy immigration system. In Germany you might be able to collaborate with more researchers and might land a better academic position (or industry). Overall, Germany is better than the UK. If your goal is to get an academic in your home country, you should consider the reputation of your university in your home country.

Congratulations! That is a very big achievement. Said that, I think you have to consider what do you want to do after finishing your MS. First, it is well known that Mathematics is not an easy field to find a good job (depending on the location), so you want to be in a country where you can have better job prospects. UK is not that place, and it has a terrible migratory system, which does not allow you to stay there after finishing. Germany is a country in expansion and is recruiting international students with good language skills, plus you already have a scholarship. I would say go for Germany.

Some schools offer funded Master's to top candidates, or candidates they consider top. I think it mostly depends on the field of study and how much money the department has. The bigger the department, the more likely is they will have spare money for funding.

Got it. It sounded to me like you switched to the PhD permanently as you were still undecided.

Why did the adviser get angry when you told him you wanted to be a PhD student? I mean, he had contacted you earlier because he thought you were admitted to the PhD, then why would he be mad if you finally switched to the PhD?

For those interested in Colorado State University, I think they will start giving spots to those in the waitlist. I just received an email from the Head of Admissions asking me if I was interested in CSU.

I was admitted. I am going there on August 5th.

I think it is a bad idea. Most people I have met have returned to Mexico/home countries after getting their MPP/MPA degrees from renowned universities. Also, why do you want to get government job in a country where you are not from? Government jobs are, in general, poorly paid compared to the private sector. Also, depending on the school, many MPP/MPA offer limited skills to sell in the labor market. You could get an MA in Economics and work in policy-related issues. If your goal is to stay in the United States, then you should pick either a STEM degree (if you are not from NAFTA area) or something that is marketable in the private sector (economics, finance, etc.).

You will have no problems getting your visa. Good luck!!

I did a Bachelor in Social Sciences, and I did take some Statistics (mostly applied quantitative) and some Mathematical courses (Cal II and III, and some matrix algebra). During my master's program I took econometrics, statistics and all the required Math since I was thinking about pursuing an Econ PhD, but I realized I wanted a PhD because of the statistical skills, so I decided to apply for Statistics instead and got admitted. Currently work as a risk specialist after my master.

Just to leave something clear, Mexico has a better system to process passports and visas: you only schedule an appointment and you will have your new passport in one hour after your appointment (worst case scenario is 2-3 hours), unlike Canada and the United States. Also, you do not need a Mexican visa to visit and stay in the country for up to three months if you have an American visa/fly from the US. The US embassy in Mexico does not only process renewals. I got my B2 and my F1 visas there (I have no idea about the consulate in Tijuana), and I have seen Chinese and other nationals in the American embassy. Also Takeru-k already said you can do that in Mexico. The US embassy in Mexico City is pretty efficient too. I recently got my B2 visa (tourist): I went to the embassy on Thursday morning and by Saturday in the afternoon I was picking it up (basically it took them one day to process the application). I remember when I got my first F1 visa it took around 3-4 days to get it (kind of Thursday and got it on Tuesday). Since the US embassy in Mexico City is most likely one of the biggest (top 5) in the world in terms of volume of visas processed, they had to make the process very fast. Canadian citizens do not even need a visa to study in the US (http://canada.usembassy.gov/visas/visas/student-and-exchange-visas.html). So the odds are that you can get your visa quicker in Mexico than in Canada. Check the available dates and put them together so you can make a quick trip to Mexico. Also, if you are starting your PhD you need to get another visa, which is not something unusual. By the time your sister gets married (outside of the US, as your post originally said) you will be studying your PhD in the US, so you will be legally in the US. I have the impression jujubea did not read your post well. Now, it is true that sometimes it is more difficult to apply for a visa when you are outside of your birth country, but given that Mexico/Canada are so close to the USA and any other country is not, then it is not unusual to have applicants from other countries.

Hello. I think it depends on your abilities and, most importantly, networking. Most programs in International Affairs do not give you very useful skills in the labor market, and not everyone can be a diplomat or work in the government (plus it more profitable to work in the private sector). Therefore, if you want to work in the government, you need to have a very good network of contacts, which you will only get in top schools. Now, if you want to be employed anywhere with a relatively good salary, try to look for jobs with the highest quant component. If a program gives you that, you will probably be more employable. Still, if the program gives you no real skills, then attend the highest ranked program.

That might be the case. Still, for IRPS it was pretty common, and none of those students had a major in linguistics or education.

In UCSD, students from different backgrounds were language TA's. So you had people who studied business, accounting, and others teching Chinese. So, I guess it depends on the school and the demand of language TA's. So in UCSD, it was pretty common. I was even offered a language TAship without even asking for it. Just ask the department before going there and tell them about your situation.

In my humble opinion, since you already know there are scarce job prospects in any industry for a Russian History PhD. I would urge you to consider that you must attend to a top-10 program PhD if you want to pursue a career in academia. Even better: move to Russia and do a masters over there. Once you are back you will be in a pretty good position since your Russian skills would be top and you would have a Master in the country of your specialization. I am pretty sure if you play your cards right, this might even be more valuable for good PhD's than a generic Master in a good university like Chicago.

You have to accept in order to receive some official documents. In my case, I accepted and received the i-20. But in the case of Virginia Tech, I received a mail with just a letter saying there was no funding, then I declined electronically.