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coyabean

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Everything posted by coyabean

  1. I second the sincere card and a gift more personalized than expensive. For example, one of my profs is a reformed hippie. LOL He is NOT letting a bald spot interfere with his ponytail. I noticed at some point that he color coordinated the rubber band on that ponytail to his outfits. And you could tell if he was having a good day or not based on how askew the ponytail had become. So, I collected hair bands in all kinds of colors and wacky shapes and stuff and put them in a box. It MAYBE ran me $7-8? But what ethics committee could hate on a box of, essentially, rubberbands? So, creativity and personalization can help overcome the price concern and it removes the skeeviness of a gift with an obvious dollar amount attached. And to echo fuzzylogician everyone I sent a letter to called or wrote me back to say how much it meant to them. I'm talking people who think emotions undermine reason here. Dr. Ponytail loved the gift and got a huge kick out of it but what really touched him? I commented upon his linguistic worksheets he handed out in class. I told him, sincerely, that they really helped me order information and that i'd kept them all in a folder and use them as a reference (and that I will probably steal them for my own classroom one day). This seemed to really float his boat. So, just recognizing all the work folks have put into being good at their profession by way of a personal, sincere note is probably more than enough.
  2. BWAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA!!! I like you. You're a keeper. I'm totally gonna start doing that. "TEN KIAS FOR A STUDIO?!!!" "Girl, they are crazy! That's two Kias." I hadn't even looked at the tuition because i knew from the beginning that full funding was the norm. So, when I got the letter I think I kind of swooned? There is so much about this process that is about readjusting your baseline for "normal" and this is just one of them. A year ago the idea of being considered an expert or scholar and thinking of these ivy covered bastions of advantage as MY bastion? Was inconceivable. Now I'm seriously discussing hundreds of thousands of dollars? That's, like, 20 KIAS! LOL
  3. Soooooo, with a couple months to kill and not much to really do I'm even more angsty than normal. My latest emo freak out is courtesy of my fin aid award letter. I saw all these rows of numbers and got nauseous. Seriously, I looked at it for 63 seconds, closed the browser and haven't been back. This was four days ago. It just seems like a HUGE financial investment in someone who sometimes forgets which way is east and which way is west. I mean, if they knew me there's no way they'd lay out close to half million dollars educating me...is there?!!! I know, intellectually, that it is not a "real" problem. I have friends who did not get in, some who had to settle for less than they'd hoped (a different school, an MA vs. PhD, location), and many others who will be taking out huge amounts of loans. It's a weird manifestation of the imposter syndrome, I guess. Any future clinical psych folks want to offer some discounted e-counseling? LOL
  4. Great question. I've wondered this myself. I think I may be harboring a leftover childhood fantasy of plugging into an existing episode of Friends -- except with some people of color and no Ross and Rachel on and off again relationship. From what I observed of my future program most folks are so busy with coursework and research that there's little group joining beyond professional membership in the big discipline association. And more folks have families so there was a lot of talk of how to balance relationships and child-rearing with coursework. This suggested, to me, that few people were inclined to care about extra-curriculars. It mostly seems to informal where I'm headed: folks reading each other's work, catching a drink, participating in something political like you mentioned. But I'm interested in the experiences of others.
  5. Yeah, I figured you'd be fine. Again, I've never heard of a stipend so high that one doesn't qualify for a loan. Good luck to you!
  6. Ha! I'm far from an arts major but after all I went through to get here I decided to decorate mine as well. I went for a look I'm calling Glam Grad. It's essentially a kaleidoscope of rhinestones all over my entire mortar board. I couldn't figure out how best to trick my tassle but I would have LOVED a GaGa-esque stream of dangling stars. I was inspired by what I really wanted to wear that day: a tiara. My suggestion is a day trip to Micheal's or Hobby Lobby and something that means something to you.
  7. I don't have much of anything useful to add but I did want to commiserate. Like someone else said a book is a just an easy way to manage these moments. I do it all the time and I have NO problem talking to people. In fact, when I try not to talk to people my insides rebel. It's as painful as it sounds. Yet, I keep a book with me at all times to pass down time. I think maybe your cohort members are of that same mind and perhaps their insides don't recoil when they stay silent? It may take some time to warm everyone up. I am wishing the best for you as I, too, have high hopes for a social match with my cohort; hopes I'm constantly trying to manage downward.
  8. Well, alrighty then. Go with the person with links! LOL
  9. I've never heard of a school's COA being so low that a student on a stipend couldn't qualify for a loan. Seriously, never. Most schools include things like living alone, books, travel and transportation expenses above and beyond all of your tuition and fees to calculate that COA. It's designed to be a generous estimate. I pulled out some old admissions counseling guides from my former life and every school listed has a COA at about 175% of their published tuition rate. ETA: also, I'm not positive that your stipend is considered "aid" for these purposes. I don't have my award letter yet but my best friend has her's from UNC. she has a fellowship, tuition waiver AND an additional diversity fellowship and she still qualified for loans...at a state school...with in-state tuition. Really your stipend is a salary, not exactly financial aid.
  10. Oh Gawd! LOL I'd kill for a reading list!!!! And I already took my ID pic, too!!! We can email ours in and have our ID ready to pick up. It's all I can do not to email it just yet. I just know they'll look at it and go, "dweeb, you're 90 days early!" But I doubt I'll be able to hold out for much longer.
  11. you are Kittraverse and i'm right there with you!

  12. My to-do list is dwindling and I, literally, have nowhere to go, nothing to do and it's driving me crazy!!! LOL It's so sad I've actually started CLEANING!!!! Gah!
  13. I lived in Chicago for a year and half. That's how long I made it. I call it my survival limit. When I visited to scout it out it was May. Chicago in May is heaven on earth: the lake front, the breeze, the wonderful people, the Navy Pier, the shopping. SOLD! Well, I moved in October. It snowed a week later and it didn't stop until April. I spent Thanksgiving watching a holiday parade on the Mile. I cried the whole time. Or, I think I cried. When the tears freeze before they fall it's hard to tell. I actually broke out in some kind of hives I was so cold. I just started itching like crazy. Later someone said that's a very early sign of hypothermia. To say I was unprepared would be an understatement. I called my parents like a big baby and made them drive a U-Haul through those retched mountains to come get me. I think it is Oprah who said Chicago is so great that if the winters weren't so bad everyone would live there. It's population control and it sure did work on me!!!! LOL I'll take a muggy summer in exchange for a mild winter. In fact, it's in the mid 90s in Carolina today and I'm not going to complain one bit because I know I'll still be wearing shorts in October.
  14. That's hilarious. USF kept sending me notices about registration and paying the bill even though I declined their offer 10 minutes after they offered it. :/
  15. No letter or anything DJ, I just stopped getting a bill. Very nice, I know.
  16. YOu may want to move this to the The Bank forum but in my experience my loans were deferred once my financial aid package had been processed by the new program. That shows up in the federal student aid database. I didn't have to send proof or anything. But, I'm not with Sallie Mae. This is just for the standard Stafford. I'd call them ASAP and let them know you are enrolled.
  17. 5 yr stipend and tuition remission + additional diversity fellowship with a 1200, low quant. almost all of that was verbal. LOL not an impressive GPA either so I think it was a combination of gre and research experience.
  18. I get paid once a month but my friend is going to UNC and she gets a lump sum.
  19. Ditto for me on the love/hate and the drive for research. I love the South. It is so much a part of who and what I am but then being that familiar with it means you know what there is to hate about it, too! But some time in Chicago and NY (where I was actually born but don't tell anybody) always has me craving to come back home. I can kinda see hating B'ham though. LOL My sub- sub-topic is also very regionally focused, without me ever really thinking of that until lately. But you can't talk about about my topic without talking about HBCUs and they are overwhelmingly attached to the South. My advisor is from NO and does a lot of work there so I imagine I'll be making that trip with her eventually. Not to mention all of the history with HBCUs in the area and the post-Katrina response, etc. I've talked with Allen Tullos at Emory a great deal. I think he also has a lot of NO ties. Several people in my department do, actually. So, yeah, I'm sure I'll be making that drive.
  20. You get more and more interesting all the time.
  21. And I just noticed that you'll be studying southern history! You could not be in a better city or at a better school to do it! So fascinating. There's a rumor that they are starting a center on southern education at Emory and I can only hope so. It's a unique history with a unique set of circumstances and people; most of which is yet unexplored. You're gonna have a ball!
  22. You guys must have come from up north or out west. I was raised in the Carolina heat. Some of that time even happened BEFORE central A/C. I'm talking oscillating fan in August. I'm a soldier! I looked at several apartments in midtown. I'm very excited to go exploring. Any suggestions? Riotbeard, you have an excellent point. I have been a lot of places in my time but I have NEVER been as hot as I was in New Orleans. I'm not even sure hot covers it. You could drink the air. Is that hot or something else? Like Hades, perhaps? And then there was decidedly rankness to that drinkable air. *shiver* Love NO but I don't think I could manage it four months out of the year.
  23. Thanks captiv8ed! I ended up going for ease. I'm sure I could have found something cheaper but it's hard doing it online. So, I went with a complex within walking distance of campus with the intent to look for something more long term once I'm there six months or so. And I envy you for moving with a built-in support system! So awesome that this is an adventure for the whole team. And I have had minor nightmares about running into my advisor while I'm shopping for cucumbers and her being all, "um, what are you doing here?" LOL I already think my excitement freaks her out a bit. Every time we have talked I've mentioned some article or something I read and it seems to throw her off. I'm not a gunner; I'm just very, very, very excited!
  24. That is my way of thinking! I figure if I'm going to be OCD and broke either way I may as well be in Atlanta. I just signed a lease today for mid-July. Just having a date of arrival has made me all warm and fuzzy. And O/T: You cannot be the oldlady; I'M the oldlady! LOL
  25. In one word: YES!!! I'm such a planner so just kind of sitting around is a killer!!! I want a packet! A brochure! A letter! Something, damnit! I pass the time looking for an apartment online -- I decided that 60 days is a reasonable, i.e. not insanely OCD, amount of time -- working on an article I have a revise and resubmit on (yay!), reading and all that jazz. Like grad_wannabe I'm trying to get squared with my parole officer (haha), pare down clothing and clean my apartment in stages. How far in advance is every one moving? I'm looking at the end of July/first of August. Is that too creepy? I won't go hanging around the department or anything but I thought I could get settled and start figuring out my way around. Unlike some folks my life here sucks so I don't really want to hang out here and soak up this city. LOL I WANT OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!
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