biisis

$15/hour seems quite reasonable!

It's a maybe. You would need to find external funding or internal work after the first year. Both options exist, but aren't guaranteed from the outset. Most students in this position get through, but not without stress and a fair amount of poverty. I would contact your program to research the availability of internal work opportunities & their rate of pay, and try to chat with a current International Student in the program to get their perspective.

It's usually pretty easy to crash. Just dress professionally and don't look conspiratorial.

#2 just sounds sort of petty compared to folks who have actually experienced racism, sexism, homophobia, etc. No need to make a personal history statement into a diversity statement if you aren't, uh, very diverse. I see in your profile, however, that you hail from Bangalore? And I assume that you're applying to a Western school? You could spin that into a discussion about international communities, the exchange of knowledge and culture, and perhaps how these factors will influence the way you apply your training (back home? abroad? towards development? towards invention?). That could be a fertile topic to develop, rather than the perceived slights you experienced at a college that the admissions committee has likely never heard of.

Free free free free free. Go for free.

McGill's AHCS is a good pick. NYU's MCC is also quite nice! It's really just a question of finding a rad prof, I think, rather than jumping through the hoops of a feminist/womens' studies supplementary degree option.

Sleep.

Do ask him if he feels familiar enough with your work and aptitude as a student to write you a strong letter. You don't want his assessment of your mediocrity.

Maybe there's something about the nature of the methodologies/philosophies of the departments in question that your prof disapproves of, or doesn't think that you'd be well served by. Often times prestigious programs can be a bit behind when it comes to emerging questions in the field. Perhaps there are rumors about these departments and their treatment of students (or other professors). If so, you should try to speak with current students at these departments, to assess whether or not these rumors are factual or even likely to affect you as a student. Other possibilities: a ) they want to discourage you from entering academia on the whole b ) they don't think you should apply to these programs, because they see some flaws in your capacities as a student and don't believe that you would be a competitive candidate. All these things have been known to happen. I'd have a follow up conversation with them to really explore why. If you're hearing the same advice from multiple professors, there's probably something to be learned there.

Def. not if you're an international student (in regards to internal funding). I think out of state students are required to take on california residency after a year, so that they can get the same perks at the in state students for most of their program. That first year, however, may or may not be extra expensive.

No need to be overly specific, or to focus on the event in wholly negative, apologetic terms. You could say something to the effect that you're really committed to studying this field and that you continued to pursue it in the face of a medical emergency in 2007. But now that you're all better and are prepared to undertake this big PhD project with renewed vigor. It's a good idea to mention it, but an even better idea to weave it into a narrative about your personal drive/perseverance. Good luck!

There's always going to be redundancies between different parts of your application (especially the CV). Do they specify a page limit? Because in other circles of academia it's not uncommon for CVs to spiral into 4 or 5 pages (including publications, talks, grants, classes taught, etc.). Not sure how you business folk do things, though. My advice would be to try and build the best resume you can-- the most resume-yiest resume-- without fear of repeating yourself elsewhere. The admissions committee is looking for a nice, graphically easy summary of your experiences and accomplishments.

Yeah- I don't see the problem in asking your letter writers for re-writes for your next application. They might still have your old letter on file, saving them some time. It's always awkward leaving one program for another, and maybe you're magnifying that feeling into this aspect of your application? It probably won't be such a big deal for them as it is for you.They might be curious as to why you're leaving your program, but they either want to do the best they can by you for your future, whatever that may be, or they really don't care at all, and one letter's the same as the next for them. Such is life in academia. You won't have been the first to ask for a second letter. As always, pick letter writers who know you best, with good credentials. Online professors probably aren't that. Based on your previous admissions, it seems like your former batch of letter writers was a good bunch. Best of luck! I hope the process goes well for you!

1 piece of advice re: application process: think of it as a part time job. It takes up a lot of time and seems to never end, but it you sort of mentally budget for it, and spread it out over time, it can almost be sort of exciting.

Give it a shot! Please do! It sounds like you'd regret it later if you didn't try. I don't think these are insurmountable problems.

I dunno- it's hard to really quantify this sort of stuff at the graduate level. From the studies that have been published on the graduate adcom process, it seems to go in 2 steps: 1) Cull the bottom half of the pile using test scores 2) wade through the rest, measuring all the aspects of their application, with diversity being a factor to keep in mind. So if you make it through the culling you might see a bit of interest in recruiting you on the basis of your ethnicity, but it wouldn't be the sole factor either. Your fit as a candidate (primarily focusing on the subject/geography/method of your proposed research) with the department's current offerings and future direction is always going to be the biggest determinant.

Illicit tobacco has many impacts. So many that it gets assigned as someone's homework, and then they write about it on here. This is an example of how the illicit tobacco trade affects the international community. Who have better things to do.

Can't confirm anything- but man oh man, it sure seems like the Californian system can't do right by its international students these days.

Get an ESL editor to help you, rather than a proposal writing service. Irregardless of the quality of the proposal-for-hire websites(and I'd say it's dubious) these services are academically dishonest and leave you in a bad position when you actually have to go about researching the ideas you propose. If your proposal is bad because of the ideas rather than the writing or clarity, well then, that's not a problem that you can fix with money. Talk with your advisor and peers to figure out why your proposal is presently bad and what you need to do to fix it. It's your work, you should do it.

A good letter of recommendation will in most cases be unread by a student- ergo we may not be able to give you a really complete answer! (Being able to look over potential letters and decided after the fact if you'll submit them strikes me as a little of the far side of ethical).

There's Fulbright? But that requires about a year of admissions prep from start to finish.

One thought to add is that it's hard to find enthusiastic professors for independent reading courses, even in the best of circumstances. Most of the time professors don't receive any compensation or recognition for their work from their departments/faculties when they take on independent students, so the motivation can be pretty lukewarm to start with. In short, to some degree it may be them rather than you. Also - you joked about counselling, but why not see that through? Lots of schools (perhaps your school?) offer free mental health services to students- a very sweet situation. I know lots of folks who have benefited from having a skilled professional someone to chat with. Worst case scenario, you'll be bored for an hour, but best-case scenario you'll get some human empathy and maybe access for some great resources. Finally, even if one is BFFs with one's cohort, it's really nice (some may say vital?) to get away from the departmental bubble and catch up with life outside. Maybe you'd fancy volunteering with a student group on campus, or striking up your own (even informal) group around your translation interests. Is there an East-Asian studies department whose listserv your could get on? I'm always wowed by the number of cool events happening across universities. (Failing that, Meetup.com can be cool, even if just for second language conversation groups). I hope that things start to look up for you. Socializing is way hard, but there are other pleasures to be had in the academy. It sounds like your research is really rewarding, and that you're set to follow your passion into your PhD. Hold in there!

Don't do it. Stick to 3. Imagine that your admissions committee consists only of tired, over-worked police officers, one month away from retirement, who are assuredly too old for this shit.* *this shit = anything outside of the parameters of what you were specifically asked for in the application instructions.

No way to know, dude.

I believe that every school that receives a fair amount of admissions (most school's you'd want to apply for, I'd reckon?) will use quantitative metrics to cull the first round of applicants. If they have an overwhelming pile of applicants, it's the fastest way to cut that pile in half. If your score is in the bottom of the pack, the rest of your application may not get looked at at all, irrespective of whether or not a department states publicly that it has minimum requirements for the GRE. Just retake the GRE. source: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/07/14/scholar-explores-how-graduate-admissions-committees-view-measures-merit-and