blue_mango

Hi everyone! So grateful this forum exists! far_to_go, you mention not getting funding for NVivo from Wenner-Gren. Is it correct to assume then that you've already received your funding package detailing the support they are giving you? If so, would you mind maybe walking us through the process from getting the first email from Wenner-Gren (was it a "no need to apply" or a special "congratulations! we will fund you" email?) to getting the final package. Or did you come by the no-NVivo info otherwise? It seems like the post-notification period is quite the black box! I feel like I have to constantly remind myself that funding or no funding, the process and outcome of these applications is not an assessment of me as a person! Oh but the stress...!! Oh to remember that who I am is not defined by how I do in this.

Hi gldfsh, I'm so sorry to hear you didn't get to do the internship! It sounds like it would have been a great opportunity. Kudos to you for going through the application process and landing the offer!! No small feat, that. I think it's really too bad that there isn't more support for students considering non-academic options. I get that professors are trying to produce professors so that professing can continue, but I think (i) there needs to be more academia-industry flow, i.e. more PhDs in industry from disciplines that tend not to have students go into industry, and (ii) surely it should be up to each student to decide for themselves what they want to do with their lives... I've been a grad student for some years now and I still don't get the whole "in my image" approach to advising. I have not personally had your experince, but I have been wondering about looking for internships. Did you ever consider just telling your advisor you were taking time off to do the internship, rather than requesting their permission? Would you have lost your position?

If you are an international student, the money you actually receive from your school will likely be 14% less than you expect (because schools usually withhold federal tax automatically from international students, from the portion of the income that is taxable). You should be able to tell if this is the case by looking at your statements and/or asking your school. I'm told federal tax is not automatically withheld from non-international students, and they have to make estimated payments on their own. Whether or not federal taxes are being withheld, you may still need to pay state taxes on top of that, depending on where you are.

All the best on your comps/quals, Nrrrdgrrrl! Totally rooting for you.

Hi Smokeydog, Not sure if you've made a decision yet, but I just wanted to tell you that I was in the exact same boat recently. I had an offer from a top US school with incredible funding and offers from Oxbridge with the potential for funding. I'm also an international student, and I also would absolutely not have been able to attend without funding. I chose the US. And I am so very happy I did! Oxbridge was attractive because it would have been much shorter, but in terms of reputation and academic rigor, I don't know that Oxbridge's really any better than top US schools. I've had a good experience of grad school and grad life, and I have to say, a big part of it is because of the funding (and location! -- weather and such), so I think those are big things to consider (along with what students in your potential programs say about the departments' cultures). So, I chose great guaranteed funding over the potential to get funding (which also translates to the potential to not get funding). I totally get what others here mean when they say you can accept the US offer without being legally bound or anything, and then bail on them if Oxbridge works out. I have to say though, that I think it'd be most unfortunate if you accepted a place knowing you might bail, and then bail, only because that means there will be someone out there who could have gotten that spot who won't, and especially given it's a funded spot at a top school, that'd just be most most unfortunate. Good luck! and feel free to PM me if you want to talk more.

Definitely go with the funding.