84Runner

I applied to 7 schools: subject GRE: $150 GRE: $185 GRE prep materials: $20 Transcript fees: $27 sending GRE scores: $175 application fees: $525 Grand Total: $1082 Man! Never added it up in one spot before!

Hey everybody, just finished all my apps in the last few weeks, now shifting gears to waiting it out. Who else is out there? Where did you apply? What research are you interested in? As for me: Stanford, Berkeley, Colorado School of Mines, U of Arizona, U of Washington, Oregon State, CU-Boulder Interested in semiconductor device development, specifically PV and LEDs

What about MEATS instead of STEAM?

Let's be honest here. To state the obvious, you have *many* things to work on as a person before any guy in his right mind is going to take you seriously as dating material. If you find a guy who is into how you are right now and you have a kid... good luck, it's going to be a disaster. If you want to be happy, you need to learn to cope with your circumstances. Graduate school will not make you happy. A guy will not make you happy. Even a baby will not make you happy. You need to learn how to take the situation that you are in *right now* and enjoy the positive aspects of it while it is happening. Live in the situation that you are in. Not in the future. There will always be people with "better lives" than you and people who have things you want. You can be jealous your whole life if you want. Slow down. Relax. Maybe you're from a more conservative place in Ohio or whatever, but you're still REALLY young. You have plenty of time. Enjoy not having a husband or a kid. Because once you do... you will get no break. Personally, I'd advise against entering a graduate program; it sounds like you've already got too much on your plate and this could just make you spiral out of control worse. I'm 27 and applying to schools now. I have absolutely "nothing to show for" my life since college, but so what? It was great! I was in relationships, single, traveled, met great friends, even if I didn't "go anywhere". And it was all completely unpredictable. That's just how things are. Relax, and learn to embrace that and I promise you'll find what you're looking for. Drop the timeline you have in your head. I guarantee your life will not go as planned. So stop trying so hard to plan it. Focus on right now. As for your question, I moved for undergrad ~4 hours from home, and then again for a job about 5 hours from home. Both times it was a little tough at the start, but it forces you to come out of your shell. You don’t have to fall back into the same social patterns you’re used to. Be yourself and try to meet people no matter how awkward it seems and I guarantee you will meet a great community. Maybe my honest advice would be to take a few years to move someplace absolutely new to you and just work for a while while you work on developing as an adult. I am so glad I worked for 5 years before considering grad school. And I have better defined goals now. Peace Corps would be a good idea, but seriously consider what's involved first.... It might be a little much for what you're ready for living that far away if 2 hours is a big deal to you. Good luck!