pea-jay

country road

Depends. Do you have a lot of stuff or a little?

Does a seven year old bankruptcy count? Been current since.

Congrats on both admits. If your ultimate intention is to return/stay on the West Coast, staying at USC would be a good idea, especially given tuition assistance and rent savings. Save your money for NYC trips. As for the program, I can't speak to USC but NYU's is fairly well known. The connections you will get through USC will be invaluable in So Cal, more so than NYUs.

fair-weather fan

It's definitely age related. I made it through Undergrad school OK but my last stint in Grad school in the 90s I was less than successful at those. My last true all nighter came when in March of 98 when I was 23 and had this paper due. I resorted to White Castle coffee and stomping around outside in the frigid Chicago night air to stay awake. And that was it. After that I have never managed less than 4 hrs of sleep. Fortunately I am at my most productive 9pm - 2am when my family is in bed. I'm also lucky that 4-6 hours of weekday sleep is OK so I can make this work. But as to the all-nighters...well that time in my life is in the past.

message [in a] bottle

Good sites and love the Loan-o-meter. I'd have to make more than $100K/yr to afford full tuition at NYU. I'd need to clear only 40K at Baruch. Shoving that needle ever closer to a decision...

best chance

text book

Colleges should really send out notification and complete funding information (scholarships, grants, federal loans, assistantships, etc) all at once. That way we can make a decision and be done with it. Both my schools have yet to put that together. If they did I could accept or turn down Wagner, giving them a better handle on how many students they can admit and shorten the wait time for those on their unofficial waiting list. Right now it's just a mess.

Normally I would be fretting over taxes on that date but hey, why not obsess over something else?

I think the key word missing here is "median." As in half of the jobs pay better. Or worse. 100K is entirely realistic...if you get into upper management. Even in out of the way rural locations, upper management is very well compensated. I've already put in a total of 12 yrs in the workforce, in various capacities (8yrs related, 4 not) and I have managed to climb above $50K. My urban counterparts make easily 10-15K more (again, I really am located well away from things). Coming straight out of a master's program without that job experience, the degree will only help so much both on salaries and the job opportunities themselves. I'm hoping the degree, connections and work history will lift me into at least the $85K-95K range, figures I did see advertised for those with a masters AND job experience.

Any relevant internship can be useful when you begin your job hunt. Given today's abundance of laid off workers, a diverse background of work experience (internship or not) can only help on that job search, compared to a degree alone. Also could be good for finding future connections down the road

even for those who *did* get notification, NYU won't have the financial aid details for another few weeks. Their target is a week or so before the deadline to declare intentions. Now how am I going to say yes or no without those details before hand? Not realistic.

orange juice

Four years in the Tidewater taught me the fewer bridge/tunnels you have to cross, the better. I remember sitting 2 and half hours parked out on the middle of the HRBT bridge portion while they extracted a truck from the NB tube.

Congratulations on the admit! The CUNY MPA program also has an older than other schools median age (33) and flexible class offerings. They've also been answering my emails, which NYU hasnt and I havent been ruled out for GA/RA or scholarship opportunities either. That and the fact they are overall less expensive is starting to sway my decisionmaking.

If possible, locate a diesel. They're more efficient. Dont forget that some directional moves are more expensive than others.

Who doesnt? I moved to Europe and had to worry about the 220V blowing out my stuff. Personally like Metric other than Celsius so that wasnt an issue. Fortunately the 220 stuff and 110 stuff is all made in China now so it is easily replaced.

I have the same challenge. I am trying to figure out how much is too much and whether the private school costs will be worth it the extra debt as compared to the state funded one. As of this point I have no financial info from either so it is pure speculation. That said, I would be supremely happy if I can get out with under 30K in debt (have none right now) and a well paying job. Given the fact that I have a diverse and decent level of work experience, swinging even a 60K loan might be doable after graduation, though I prefer not to pay that much. We'll see.

dog walker

ice breaker

Life is too short to live by other's expectations of you. Blindly following other's advice and regretting it down the road can leave you bitter and without a way to fix it. Your parents want *they* think is best for you because more than likely, it may have been what worked for them. To a certain extent you too can see the comparative security in what they are offering. But you also know or feel uncomfortable about this. Looking at your posts, you seem to have an idea of what you want for yourself. Unless you plan on being miserable, take up drinking alcohol or some other self destructive behavior you need to make peace with yourself. And if that means going against your family's wishes, you need to be your own advocate and make those decisions yourself. And where those goals are incompatible (dangerous assignments and raising kids, do one before the other). Change as the circumstances warrant. And contrary to popular opinion, you won't intimidate all men by having a degree (or two...). Nor should marrying outside your race be considered wrong (although I understand what you are getting at). I dated and married outside my race...may have made things more challenging at times but it's a much richer cultural experience for my family. Thanks to that, my children's extended family now consists of a crazy mix of races, ethnicities and immigration experiences. Hopefully your parents will find a way to love you as a person, not a possession AND respect the decisions you ultimately will make for yourself. Listen to them respectfully but stand up for yourself on why you will do what you want to do, whether it is school or relationship-related. Live YOUR life...not someone else's Good luck!

Price it out with movers and do-it-your self van rentals. All moves are NOT created equal. If you are moving out of an area other people are leaving from you'll pay $$$ to move. On the other hand if you are going against flow, it'll be much cheaper. I paid 1600 to move a large 2br house worth of stuff moving from CA (after selling off many items). A year later I paid maybe $160 to return to the state. It literally was 10% the original price and a total eye-opener.