tourist

Like others have pointed out before, grad school certainly isn't glamorous, and it's solitary, and full of theories that don't always amount to much (first impressions here). I'd say tough it out, but then again I've personally been through a couple episodes where when I realized that something didn't feel right, or wasn't for me, I made the decision to get out of it and try something else. If that's how you feel, then I would encourage you to go with your gut instinct. Good luck.

This. But I can't do without regular smoke breaks. Good luck.

Well, most of my info I got from reading here and talking to students. For the most part, I've been told to stay away from the stadium area or north of campus because of football games and loud undergrads. Other than that, I believe any other cardinal direction should be fine. I found a very nice townhome (and also very affordable) about a mile south of campus, a little south of Bryan Park. It's a very nice area with residential homes and it's fairly quiet. From what I've gathered, the west side should also be nice. I personally wouldn't want to be on the east side where you're too close to the mall and there's way too much traffic. Also, I think much of Bloomington depends on whether you'll have a car or not. The buses run fine, but from my two trips there it seemed that mostly everyone needs a car. Good luck!

So I heard that this weekend the Little 500 went on in Bloomington. Anyone have thoughts on it, personal experiences, etc.? I looked it up on Wikipedia, but I wanted to read the opinion of someone who has witnessed it. What's it like? Thanks.

Ahhhhh.... Fond memories of my alma mater. (not UGA, but an SEC school). Good thing the clean-up crew was there bright and early on Sunday mornings. Truth be told, SEC sports is a totally different animal from Big 12...more rabid. Cheers.

To Medievalmaniac, I think those emails are fairly long. Although I'm in a different discipline from Literature, I think you have to keep them somewhat shorter. Judging by the replies you said you'd received, I guess it varies somewhat by discipline. I kept mine to no more than 10 or so lines, and out of about 25 emails that I sent out I believe only a handful of the responses were longer than 5 lines. My main worry was not to bore them or scare them with the length of info, so if I were just starting out, I'd try to write a few short and sweet emails and see how that works, and then you can work from there. I, too, was unsure of what to write, but if you can think of a template that you can tailor for each school, then you'll be fine. Also, don't gauge your chances by favorable responses either. For me, at least, that wasn't the case.

Depending on how far from Bloomington you live, then it would be a good idea to visit. I live 4 hours away so I could reasonably drive there with no problems. I did the same thing, I signed a lease on a townhome before ever seeing it, but visited it last weekend. I saw the landlord, talked to him, saw the house, the town, etc. It's a good thing to do, if you can. I'd be wary of signing on a place before seeing it in person, especially if the company advertises for it (like many in Bloomington do). It seems like they take advantage of the fact that many people who can't go there before August will just blindly sign and then be in for a surprise.

Hey there, I noticed you'll be attending IU in the fall. I will too, but in a different department. I was wondering what range of stipends IU offers. Mine will be 14k for 10 months. If you don't mind sharing, what will yours be? I think (and hope) that my 14k is enough to survive. Nice to meet another fellow, future Hoosier!

RockEater, that's awesome. Best of luck to you at Brandeis! Who knew that tax day could also be a happy day? Congrats.

At least you'll find out on the 15th. I wish you good luck and hope that you'll both join me in Bloomington in the fall. If not that, then maybe Chicago will work out. Crazy (and good) things can happen in a matter of minutes. Keep your head up.

Have you found out what your placement on the waitlist is? It seems like important information, but I don't know whether they would divulge that.

For bioengineering, I say pick WashU. It has a really strong medical program. Thus, great labs, equipment, and the works. Plus, Nashville can be fun. I may be biased, though, because I've never been to Madison. Good luck deciding.

I agree with that, but I figured since this is a "social science" program where PhD applicants who get rejected like myself get accepted into without requesting for it, then it wouldn't matter. As to people waiting for spots for it, I'm not so sure about that. But then again, I guess a measly email won't hurt. Thanks.

I just have a question about withdrawing. Since I've already accepted my spot at IU, should I notify the Chicago MAPPS program and tell them that I'm withdrawing? I haven't paid one bit of attention to any of that and replied to none of their emails. I was going to wait for my spot to expire after April 15. I don't mean to offend anyone who may be accepting their offer, by the way.

I can't believe this is even a topic. Seriously?

Well, you probably will need a car in Nashville. I know a lot of students went without because they had a lot of money from mommy and daddy, but I had a car the whole time I lived on campus. Thing is, if you want to get out of the campus area (West End and 21st), then you will need a car. The bus system sucks and taxis are pricey. To answer your question. There are plenty of apartment complexes and houses around campus, with the closest and nicest ones being on 21st Avenue, close to Hillsboro Village/Belmont and within 10-15 min walking distance. There are a few 1 to 2 minutes away right on 21st, but they're small and excessively expensive (made for law students). If you're looking to drive, then look on West End past campus. There's a nice neighborhood around Natchez Trace, Blakemore, and even further down close to Charlotte Ave., a neighborhood known as Sylvan Heights. There are some nice townhomes on Acklen Park behind Outback steakhouse, near Centennial Park. I lived in Nashville for quite some time and still do, so feel free to pm me for any other questions. Try Craigslist because I don't know how helpful Vanderbilt Divinity will be with housing. Also, you can always be an RA on campus in Carmichael Towers. Ha.

I'm extremely allergic to fakebook too. Although I see multiple benefits in having a page, I will not be starting one just for 'social networking'. Just can't do it. There's other ways to do that.

Just accepted IU's offer today. Bound for Bloomington! Anyone else doing the same?

Just accepted their offer today. Yay! Bound for Bloomington. Although a scary thought before I visited, I have to say that it's a quaint little town. I also filled out a housing application for a townhome, but if that doesn't work out I'm screwed. For weeks and weeks I've been looking at apartments/houses and I've become slightly overwhelmed/psychotic because of it. Every single complex has some awful complaints and that's just not good. Anyway, enough rambling. I just wanted to say hello and let it out.

Then don't go to Indiana. See what you can do with your waitlists. And then your job will be assured, while most of us bottom feeders will be struggling under the weight of our non-distinguished program burdens . Pretty simple. Good luck! (In all honesty, it's your choice and you know best. Asking it on this forum and reading other people's opinions shouldn't matter one bit.) Cheers.

So are you asking whether you should get your PhD from Indiana specifically or whether you should get your PhD in general? It's a tough market for everyone out there, and to think of Indiana in lesser terms than say a Harvard or a Princeton probably won't help you at all. Because to assume that in a stiff competition between 2 or 3 equally qualified candidates, the one from an Ivy or a "top 10" will get the job over the others is faulty. That's what it sounds like and you seem to be disappointed that you didn't get into one. I think we're all disappointed about our rejections. Would you be feeling more confident about your job prospects in 5+ years had you gotten accepted to one? Don't mean to sound like an asshole, but you're asking for advice and being vague. The fact that IU isn't an Ivy or "top 10" seems to trump all the good things you've written about it.

Well, I was in a similar situation a few months ago when I came home from Korea after some time there teaching English, which is what I assume you're doing in Japan. I thought it'd be easy to find a job back in the states with a degree in history from a fairly reputable school in the area, but guess what? Out of about 40+ applications, I got one interview, which didn't get me a job. I've been unemployed since December. Now, your degree is in art history. It's worse here in the States than you think. My take on it. Go back to school because with a BA it will be immensely hard to find a job that pays more than 20-25k/year starting out (or even a job at all). An MA is a step up and can open doors and I don't know if you want to wait tables for a year. Good luck with your decision.

I wish I were as lucky as the rest of the people who heard from NYU today, even though, sadly, they were all rejections. I've emailed them twice in 2 days asking for my status and absolutely nothing. I mean, seriously, a little bit of tact wouldn't hurt them. After all, we've paid them, if the DGS is right, as she claimed that there were over 500 applicants, $45,000+ in application fees only for history. This has irked me so much that I would think twice about attending if I got accepted. Anyway, congratulations to those who got in!

Hey there. What I've been trying to do is a roommate search on Craigslist. You can either contact someone who's looking for roommates and has a place or make your own post about looking for housing with other people. You should get some hits. You might also get spammed, so watch out. Don't use your main email.

I feel the same way about NYU. On one hand, I paid $90 and want to see the outcome. On the other hand, I want to get it done with and just accept my offer at IU and find a place, because they're going quick. So far, NYU hasn't responded to any of my questions through phone or email, and it's slightly disgusting because I'm 99% sure I'll be rejected and why the hell would they wait so long just to reject me when they've already notified almost everyone?