Postbib Yeshuist

Thanks. That gives me something to go off. I'll be going over it in detail with the FinAid dept, of course, but I just wanted to get a sense as I create a mental picture of what next year will be like financially.

I've been offered a fellowship that covers full tuition and fees plus a $16k annual stipend (technically needs to be renewed each year). What can I expect to be taxed? I will only see the $16k as actual income, but the tuition & fees aren't technically labelled as a "scholarship." I am not looking for "legally binding" answers, so to speak, just general experiences, idea, places to look, etc.

You will not be required to accept money from the first institution, and I'm sure they will appreciate the chance to offer their scholarship to another candidate. Go with the second offer since it sounds better. As nice as a scholarship is, you owe no loyalty to those who offer if you haven't yet received any money. Go with your best interests in this case.

Personally, I'd say Purdue. Solid funding is hard to ignore and the fact that it's the #2 school is additionally impressive. The ability to focus on your studies without ever having to worry about finances is a tremendous blessing and, regardless of what others night say, financing your education on loans when it could otherwise be free is just bad financial planning. Loans mean your first several jobs offers are paying that much less (not o mention it'll be harder to get good interest rates on a first house, etc). I'd also add that Purdue is most certainly not in the "middle of nowhere." It's certainly not massive, but it's got its own scene. Try looking up "Western Carolina University." THAT'S nowhere. I guess my thought in the end is that location is always temporary, while debt can last for 15, 20, 30 years. A few years at Purdue, studying at one of the best schools in the country while drawing a VERY generous stipend for a Master's student is more likely to set you in good stead in the long run than living in an admittedly cool city, while you borrow the equivalent of the mortgage on a first house. Then again, I'm 36 with a wife and son, so I tend to be a bit more pragmatic than I was right out of college. (Though to be honest, making money right out of college was pretty nice )

Accepted the offer from SMU for a Ph.D. in Religion & Culture.

As it turns out, the letter came today, so I'm decidedly happy.

Fixed.

Damn you, Voice of Reason! (And I wasn't exactly going to use the wording in my original post, but yeah, I know you're right. Sigh.)

Just be aware that owning a house can be an expensive proposition. It's certainly worth it, but you have to pay taxes, you're responsible for your own repairs, you'll likely pay more for utilities, etc. And I'd say forget those that say the interest deduction is worth it. It's not if you truly understand the math at the prices you're looking at (I haven't been able to deduct my mortgage interest in 5 years because the standard deduction is higher every year). As for renting, I'm willing to bet you'll piss off everyone of your tenants since you'll be there to see every time they don't take care of your house. "What???? You put a 1/4" hole in my wall to hang a picture?!?!?!?!" Finally, you're not going to be able to get out if finances take a dive. You can literally walk away from an apartment and not suffer much beyond a lost deposit. A house that falls through ruins your credit for a VERY long time (more than 7 years, because the bank will pursue you for a year or two after you fall). I say all that just so you know some of the dangers going in. That being said, owning a house is awesome. If you have the finances to do it and don't foresee the need to move in the next 5 years, go for it!

I would say start now. Maybe even visit one day over the summer and see who you can speak with.

I feel your pain. I teach at a predominantly minority, low-income school and I'm older than the parents of some of my kids. And I'm only 36!

A one-way U-Hual is always an option or, if you're adventurous, you could install a hitch on your Civic and rent a U-Haul trailer. The latter would likely run no more than $100 or 2 and you could fit a LOT in there. Just remember that buying furniture when you arrive will more than likely be the same cost as just moving the furniture you already like across country.

Sounds a lot like Papers which, was (perhaps still is) the standard. I like Papers, to be honest, but it's not well-suited for the humanities. No idea about Mendeley, but I defintely believe that these types of programs do a better job of organizing PDF's and making them easy to find than I ever could.

I was all set to give u on my plans for PhD this year when my #1 choice came through with a last-minute "someone else declined and you've been bumped up." The letter has been mailed, but I want to go ahead and say yes and be done with the waiting. Since the financial offer is still key, I need to know what it is before I give a final decision. THE MAIL IS TOO SLOW!!!!! Would it be rude to e-mail and say something along the lines of "I know this may be unusual, but I'm so excited about the prospects of working w/ you all, that I wonder if you could send me a digital copy of the acceptance letter so I can make my decision one day earlier." (Yes, I know it sounds silly, but I'm totally pumped and can hardly contain myself.

Hang ten

Anyone else accepted to the GPRS at SMU/Perkins? I'm expecting to get my letter today. I live about 45m away, so meeting up is easy for me. Also happy to provide input for any headed to the metroplex to study.

You guys make me soooo jealous. Buying a one-way ticket to the Big Island and teaching high school math there until I died was my backup plan if PhD didn't pan out. Aloha! BTW Multiple, I think you'll find that even $2500/mo will make saving difficult. Hawai'i ain't exactly known for being cheap...

Heck, take until April 2011 to mull it over. No one says you can't start your PhD, complete a year and THEN decide. People drop out all the time. If you were good enough to get into all your schools and get solid offers, you may be experiencing the "crash" that comes after everything's said and done. Law school will still be there in 2011, so go PhD for the year in between. If nothing else, you'll have some good grades to show and you'll be that much more competitive when you apply. Also, as a bit of a side note, you might want to really research what law school entails. I think you're going to find that "fun" is anything but what it will be. What you saw was "new and exciting," which is often a deceptive first impression. When you get into the nitty-gritty, cutthroat atmosphere described by so many, you may regret your decision not to follow your PhD more than any other decision in your life. Then again, you might love it.

Let me change that question to be what I think is the critical issue: if you go to a lower-ranked school, will you be challenged in such a way that your work will mature to the point that you're competitive with others? The answer to your question is "sure." After all, you could be the next Cornell West or Edward Said. But if you're not going to shake your field to its foundations, you're going to need a program that pushes at every turn to do better. The PhD application process is brutal and ridiculously competitive (acceptance rates are almost universally under 10% at the good schools, with 3-5% being the norm). You'll be competing against 150 others for maybe 5 spots. A poor reputation from your school only sets you back and it's likely you won't have been pushed in a way that your app stands out. Long-winded answer, but you asked a complex question

Though I was lucky and got bumped up from the wait list at my first choice, I was 100% prepared to turn down my safety school because (1) the financial package would have been an incredible strain and (2) because the "fit" for my project would not have been ideal. I saw it this way: I could have either spent an additional year reapplying to be sure I couldn't do better (it's rare that your second round of apps are worse than your first) or I could have spent an additional year, or two, or three, or... applying for jobs with a non-competitive PhD. Like I said, I got lucky in the end, but I had decided on the first option of taking a year. Nothing would be worse than to finish and find you're unemployable...

I'm getting a tad confused here, since it sounds like the posts above are speaking mostly to reading the Bible in German. If my French exam was any indication, the likelihood of translating the Bible is extremely small while the probability of translating an excerpt from a German theological journal is extremely high. Are the books listed here good for that particular purpose as well?

^ This.

I actually am prepared to turn down a PhD offer (with an almost identical financial package) because it would require moving and either selling our house of paying a mortgage + rent, and that's with only a $550/mo payment and 30% equity. An education is important, but it's not worth financial ruin to do it... On the other hand, I kind of don't agree that you would need to work part-time to succeed. You might get a full time job in your new location and go to school part-time. It could affect your financial aid, but I just finished an advanced master's on only 70% tuition assistance while I taught high school full time, coached, had a baby boy and was the sole source of income for our family. It was tiring, but I pulled it off. I think you could too, so that might be something to consider.

I'd also add that you'll now stand a bit above next year's applicant pool (at least at the institutions where you reapply) since you can (1) maintain and build on those contacts for the next 8-10 months and (2) you can demonstrate growth, commitment, and a stick-to-it attitude. Be sure to stay in contact with those profs, even visiting in person if possible (or at least going to your field's annual conference).

I answered "yes" to everything on the poll but the first choice. I think choices 2-5 should ALL be done, personally, and for each prof. The only question is, what to give them?