ScreamingHairyArmadillo

All this talk about clothes is not helping my addiction! I haven't bought clothes in 3 weeks...

All this talk about clothes is not helping my addiction! I haven't bought clothes in 3 weeks...

If you don't mind sharing, who will be your advisor? I was an undergrad geology minor at Case, so I know a few of the profs. I don't know much about them as advisors, but the ones I took classes with (Drs. Harvey, Matisoff, Hauck, and McCall) are all very smart and good professors. They take their material seriously and all of them run a good class. McCall is lovably goofy and Harvey is just awesome.

The department has a monthly (maybe twice a month?) seminar that is always well attended. The talks are usually good, but omg the pizza they get is amazing! Seriously, it's really good and they always get a ton.

I really love the Case campus, but there is still a bit of construction going on in the surrounding hospitals. It's not too horrendous, but can be annoying. The entire campus if very walkable; I didn't bother much with the shuttles which never seemed to be there when you wanted them.

Utilize the Health Line bus if you can. It goes down Euclid very frequently (every 5-15 minutes depending on the day/time) and there are a few stops that are along the campus.

The library system is great, I never had a problem finding what I needed. There's the big main library, KSL, and two others connected to the hospitals. You may not need those though.

Winters are very, very...bad. Very cold, very snowy. The sidewalks are usually kept up, but the wind is miserable. The other seasons though are very lovely.

Depending on what you're working on, you may find yourself at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. Dr. Hannibal is a real character.

If you feel like ponying up the money for a gym membership, I highly recommend the on campus gym 1-2-1. Lots of good classes and a good workout room. I joined my last semester and wished I had gone longer. It's a really good mental break and start to the day.

Let me know if you have more questions I might be able to answer.

You totally have a right to be pissed and should go to the professor who teaches the course. Carelessness in labs is a no go.

I just attended a conference where people (students, faculty, and government!) were asking me to take my shoe off so they could see my insect tattoo.

A fellowship is not an award that comes with strings attached for what you have already been paid. Of course, if you don't perform, future funding can be denied, but you can't be asked to pay back previous awards.

Most of us at some point are apprehensive about how we will do and whether we will finish the marathon. The school wouldn't have awarded you the fellowship if it did not believe in you or your ability.

What you should not worry about is satisfying the university or people on this forum who think you "stole" someone's spot. You earned the position and ultimately it is your decision whether to leave if your needs dictate that. If your family needs you, leave. If you get a better paying gig, leave. That's how our capitalist system works. People go to where the best offer is. The school gives out its fellowships to the best candidates but assumes the risk of people leaving. It's the cost of doing business.

OK, so I read through most of the thread.



Considering you explicitly use 'in general' a number of times, and it's implicit in the rest of the paragraph, I'd say the 'criticism' of generalization is warranted. It goes from being about your specific situation (which, as I said in my first post, seems very irregular) to about an abstract PhD student and abstract MA students.



Again, your situation doesn't define the world of possibilities. I have not found such differentiation as you describe to be the case, and I'm sure others concur.



First, yes, there are distinctions between MA and PhD, but there's a reason another term exists, namely, graduate student. The gulf between MA and PhD students is, in my view, much smaller than, say, that existing between graduate students and faculty. Yes, hierarchies exist: by that token, would it make sense to ask whether faculty should socialize with graduate students, in general, or assistant professors hang out with associate professors? Professors with Professors Emeriti? Some users called you elitist. I wouldn't necessarily say that's the case (I'm actually an unashamed elitist politically, i.e., against populism, but that's a different story), but your implicit connection between academic 'hierarchy' and social relationships certainly can be seen as an aspect of what might be called 'social elitism'. You've expressed worries that socializing outside your station might be detrimental to your prestige or status ('in the eyes of faculty', and so on). That seems to me textbook elitism.

Second, it's simply untrue that, in your (and my) field, people rarely get accepted straight to PhD programs from undergrad. That happens all the time, and is the regular route to doctoral programs, in a small, obscure country I like to call the United States.

Goes to show that some students never grow out of their immaturity. Really dude, grow up, and stop seeing things that aren't there, and picking fights for no reason. It's not fitting for a grad student.

I love my program. I love my advisor, my project, my lab mates, and most of my departmental faculty. I love that we have beer night as a department (granted there are only about a solid 6 or so that go). I love some of the other grad students here, and have made some of the better friends in my life thus far. I love that I have most of the control over my project.

Classes are kind of hit or miss. But otherwise I looooove my program

You getting out of paying it simply ups the interest and difficulty of acquiring loans for all those who come behind you. And in the case of federal loans, all of us who pay taxes have already subsidized your education, and will be on the hook for it if you skip out on paying it as you intend to try to.

It's not the fault of the person who loaned you the money that you borrowed more than you can afford to pay back... It's not like it's a mystery or hard to figure out what the minimum payments will be or when you are required to start paying them. It is also not their fault that you chose to use the loan to pay large sums of money for an undergraduate degree that wasn't worth it.

Instead of advising people to "trick the system", it would be better to advise them to choose wisely when it comes to going very far into debt for an education, and to be wary of the quality of their institution and how well the degree they receive will allow them to pay it back.

I do think that it's amazing that after having this problem with debt for your bachelors that you're intending to pile even more money on top of it for a masters.

This. An SOP is sort of like a cover letter for a job - you wouldn't write about your childhood for a corporate job, would you? I think at this stage reference to childhood is somewhat childish. You want to come off as mature and thoughtful about your research interests, it needs more than "I really liked it as a kid!" An adcom wants to know why you like the subject now.

You can get an idea of apartments in the area using Craigslist. I would just get the names and try to find their own websites (sometimes that can be hard because they can be through the larger rental agency and a quick Google won't do the trick). Otherwise try rent.com. You can sometimes find reviews, though they are usually just written by those that are pissed off.

If you want to try finding just a room, sublet, whatever, try to get as many details as possible from an email/phone call. Do ask if the place is clean, if there's a shared kitchen/bathroom/laundry, and if they have pets. Just be thorough, like any apartment. Ask if they have a contract, and if not, you write one. I wouldn't live anywhere other than my parents' without having a contract.

If you can spare the fee, first rent with a shorter lease so you can have an easy out if the place isn't right for you. That'll give you time to settle in but keeping looking around.

Boundaries are good things to have. While feeling close to people you spend a lot of time with is normal, choosing a grad school is making a life and career decision. It's not personal. It's business.

I've said this before here, but sometimes I think I'm just much less emotional than some of you, or else I'm a cynical realist. You're not rejecting a person, you're rejecting an offer made by a department in an institution. Your profs aren't family or friends; they're professionals doing a job. And, to be blunt, nobody here is special; there were students before you and there will be students after you. You're just passing through, a transaction and a student number. If you've gotten to know some of your profs, then I understand you may feel a little bad, but you don't owe anything in particular to a department or a school.

This. An SOP is sort of like a cover letter for a job - you wouldn't write about your childhood for a corporate job, would you? I think at this stage reference to childhood is somewhat childish. You want to come off as mature and thoughtful about your research interests, it needs more than "I really liked it as a kid!" An adcom wants to know why you like the subject now.

This. An SOP is sort of like a cover letter for a job - you wouldn't write about your childhood for a corporate job, would you? I think at this stage reference to childhood is somewhat childish. You want to come off as mature and thoughtful about your research interests, it needs more than "I really liked it as a kid!" An adcom wants to know why you like the subject now.

Your largest expense will probably be an apartment, so either check out craigslist or rent.com to get an idea of average costs. Schools may also host housing websites, where you could also find a roommate which could lower your costs.

Also look into public transport to decide whether a car is worth it or not.

I had this issue last year, where OSU offered me less money than another school, but the cost of living is so much cheaper here I'm able to save more than I could've at the other school. I'm even starting to pay off undergrad loans! Granted, in the end I did not base my decision solely on finances, as I have an SO that was also applying.

There are really just so many factors going into a decision, the best thing you can do is visit. If 2-3 schools give you actual livable stipends, you should make a decision on fit, advisor, placement rates, all that other stuff that will ultimately shape your career.

Okay, I'm going to come out and put my experience on the table, because that is directly relevant to my following statements. Of the four years of my life I've been in serious relationships (with two different people), three of these have been long distance. My perspective on the long distance relationship, especially for two years, is that it isn't that much of a hardship, especially when you've already had five years with someone AND when you are planning on spending the rest of your lives together. Part of being a good partner is supporting your loved one in their chosen career as far as is possible instead of making it a zero-sum game between the loved one and a career. Plus, getting into six-figure debt (if that truly is your only option - I hope the local schools give you some kind of aid!) is a crazy bad idea. It is so bad that I cannot convey how bad of an idea I think it is. I don't know your field, but chances are you will never, ever make that back, even your partner's income.

Most of our waking lives are spent at work, so being fulfilled in your career is a reasonable goal. Your partner should want you to be fulfilled. Have you talked with him about this? Do you think there needs to be a "sacrifice" of your relationship because that's what you fear, or because that's what he told you?

I should hope, if you are planning on getting married, your SO cares more about your happiness in your career (and not committing financial suicide!) than the short-term annoyance of a long distance relationship.

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pretty much why my stuff is kind of vague...

(although with my name, I meant to type "gal" and not "gay" but meh, that doesn't bother me. :-)

Seriously, was it necessary to write a whole paragraph recalling your high school writing skills and how that's not reflected in the "subjectively graded portion" of your gre? Apparently, your AP English Composition teacher's subjective opinion of you differs from those of the people (and computer) who graded your AWA portion.

I'm not sure if you've worked with grad students before, but your attitude is going to get crushed in grad school.

Let's not sugarcoat it... The backlog in many fields of desperate, unemployed PhDs means it is becoming increasingly hard to get a job even at a CC with just a Master's degree. You will be competing for those jobs with many PhDs. Graduate school, even at the MA level, requires a deep, intellectual dedication to your field (and sub-field). It's not like getting a BA. If you're not sure what you would want to go to graduate school to study, then you're not ready for graduate school. Of course, that doesn't mean you'll never be ready. You just need to figure out what it is you want to do and then begin putting yourself in the best position possible to do that. I agree with the poster above... You're best bet is to take some time off after your BA to try out different things.

Just make sure you're also getting tuition remission and/or health insurance coverage. And you may have to pay some graduate fees. But otherwise a year or two on fellowship is awesome! I have that now and while I look forward to teaching at some point, I know I'll be much more prepared for my coming field season than I would've been otherwise.

And also to agree with an above poster, depending on your frugality, you shouldn't have to take out loans.

I am celebrating (got acceptance notice last night) by continuing my research project. Analyzing my results right now in fact.

Once I know where I'm going, I'm proposing to my girlfriend.

(Seriously.)