serenade

WorldPeaceMaker2010: Just a question, out of curiosity: is the reverse true as well? Is it hard for people with US degrees to get jobs at universities in the UK?

I'm that person!!! Sorry for late response - today is the first day I've done much checking on grad cafe forums. Anyway, I'll copy and paste the email they sent me about no funding on Feb 28: "We have extended an invitation to our Open House to everyone we have recommended for admission. You are correct: at this point we have not made you an offer of funding, and we cannot pay for you to attend the Open House. As a public university, our funds are limited, unfortunately. There is always a chance in the next few weeks that I can offer you a funding package. I will write to you as soon as I know. If you are in the area, of course, please do come to our Open House. And please ask me any questions that you may have." So basically I wasn't among the golden few who got chosen funding, though a chance still existed of getting some. I actually emailed her yesterday (April 1) to inquire if final funding decisions had been made yet, and I haven't heard back. UMD would be cool, and I really like my POI there, but I've heard College Park is kind of a dump, so idk.

Is living in Chicago and commuting to Notre Dame a worthwhile option if I only had class 2 days a week?

Based on these factors, pick the U.S. school. A "lower Ivy" with these pros will far outweigh perceived UK prestige in terms of thinking about where you want to spend the next several years of your life.

Ah, I see. Yes, I'm a U.S. resident (lived in Georgia my entire life). So that means I'd get the standard deduction plus the personal exemption? That would mean $19,000 minus $4000 (personal exemption) minus $6300 (standard deduction) = $8700 taxable income. That would put me in the lowest federal tax bracket, meaning I would only be taxed 10%, which would equal $870. With 3.4% state tax added in ($295.80), that would equal $1,165.80 for federal and state combined, which would only be about 6% of my stipend. That sounds too good to be true!! Am I missing something????

Yay! This is great news! Thanks guys! So since I won't be a resident when I move to Indiana, I don't qualify for the standard deduction - just the personal exemption - right? So taking $15000 as my taxable income, I would pay 10% on the first $9225 (equaling $922.50) and then 15% on the remaining $5775 (equaling $866.25) for a total of $1788.75 So do I then calculate 3.4% state tax from $15000 (equaling $510) and add it to the $1788.75, totalling $2298.75 for federal and state combined? That would only be about 12% of my stipend. Does that sound more or less correct?

Wow! You still haven't heard!? I also had an interview on Feb 12th and heard back the following Thursday (the 19th). I'd call the department secretary and ask when you should expect to hear back. Waiting is the worst!

I have a question about this as well. My stipend will be $19,000. These are the calculations I've done so far but I have no clue if I'm on the right track: From what I can tell, the federal tax brackets for 2015 will be 10%: $0-$9,225 and 15%: $9,226-$37,450. So the first $9,225 will be taxed at 10% (equaling $922.50) and the other $9,775 will be taxed at 15% (equaling $1466.25) for a total of $2,388.75. That's federal. For the state I'm moving to, the flat tax rate is 3.4% so do I calculate 3.4% of 19,000 and then add that number ($646) to the $2,388.75 above to get federal and state together? That would be $3,034.75, which would be around 15.9% of my $19,000 stipend. Am I going about the calculations correctly?

I'm also interested in hearing about how much of my stipend will go to taxes. Is the 15% mentioned above fairly standard? Has anyone had experience having to pay more than 15% in South Bend?

I'm coming to South Bend from the deep wiregrass South in the Fall as well, so I know how you feel! Nearly froze during the interview visit!

One more question: another housing option I'm looking at would leave me with $7600 per year (or $640 per month), all things already paid except gas, food, and university books. Is that feasible?

Thanks! And ha! No, definitely not going to eat out everyday, so this budget sounds doable. The other thing I forgot was factoring in buying books for PhD seminars but that also sounds feasible. Thanks again!

I'm also curious about this because one of the housing options I'm looking at would leave me with about $9500 left of my stipend per year (counting health insurance/electricity/cable/laundry/etc already paid). So the $9500 would only have to pay for gas and food, basically. Also, the said housing is on campus, so gas wouldn't really be an issue except for going somewhere off campus. So then it comes down to $9500 (or $790 per month) for food, and a small amount of gas. Is that doable in South Bend???

I say stay at the same university and find an alternate advisor even if he's not in your specific area. If your original advisor is willing, you could keep in touch with him by email for specific questions relating to your research area. It's actually not all that uncommon for advisors to be somewhat removed from a student's topic area (as long as it's not an incredibly wild stretch of research interests). So if you had someone at least willing to supervise research in your area (even if they're not personally an expert), they could serve as an "in person" advisor and your original one could stay in contact with you by email for specific questions along the way that you would need someone in that direct area to answer. If your wife wasn't already a student there, I might think differently, but since she is, I agree BiochemMom, I don't think it would be beneficial for either of you for her to start over at a new university. So then your options would be to go to new university by yourself or make it work at the original university. If possible, I'd say choose the latter.

I'm in a similar situation, so I understand how stressful it can be wondering if you're making the right choice. But I think it comes down to this: if you can't see yourself going anywhere but OSU, then you should accept OSU and inform the rest that you're out of the running for them. But if there is another school(s) that you might choose over OSU, then I say wait. But from what it sounds from your post, you wouldn't attend Iowa S. even if they gave you an offer. So I think your decision is made. It's just the finality of the commitment that is so nerve wracking, I know.

I definitely think that it's a good sign! If they want to talk to you, it means they're still interested in you as a candidate, albeit in a perhaps different track than you had originally planned. So I would treat it as an interview and prepare accordingly. Of course, there's no guarantee that an interview will lead to acceptance but it sounds like the school hasn't ruled out the possibility of accepting you. Good luck!

Has anybody ever lived in the new apartment complex called the Overlook? Any info on monthly rent? Is it feasible on a grad stipend ($19,000-$23,000)? Also, is it already booked solid for 2015-2016 since it's brand new?

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You're not old fashioned! I also get so annoyed when schools try to make you commit, particularly in late February when plenty of schools haven't even released decisions yet! April 15 is April 15. No exceptions!

UF is a better school academically.

I totally understand this. Made it through the applications. Made it through interviews. Somehow convinced a few schools to admit me. But I keep thinking: "It's just a matter of time before I actually start the program and they realize that I'm in way over my head and was an admissions mistake." And I agree with others on here - coming from a no-name university and being surrounded by people from top schools only adds to this feeling. My new goal is to prove myself wrong for thinking this way - easier said than done.

I wouldn't worry too much about it. For my interview, both of my POI's were out of town, so I just got members of the adcomm for my interview and ended up getting accepted! Although IsleofBlue's experience is probably more typical and indicative of what you'll experience, mine was actually the opposite. One of the people on the adcomm was near my area of research, though not close enough to be a POI, but knew extensively about secondary works in my field and grilled me on them. So I'd say if one of your interviewers is somewhat close to your field, be prepared to talk specifics about research plans. But if not, then it will probably be more like IsleofBlue said: general questions. Best of luck!

Don't give up! I left my interview last week and immediately walked into the bathroom and cried my eyes out for like 45 minutes bc I thought the same thing as you, but I found out today that I got accepted! So it's definitely not an indication. Good luck!!!

Thanks again! When I explained my situation to University A today, they said that I won't hear from them until Friday. They said to "do what I feel is best" regarding the interview with B. (Also, when I skyped with B, they said as soon as I commit, they're ready to make me an offer but I asked if I could wait until Monday after I'd heard back from "another school"). University A said that even if I interview with B, I need to remember that they (A) are "very interested" in me. Is that code that they're planning on accepting me?

Thanks guys! I met someone at my interview at A last week that said he also interviewed with B and they asked him where they stood on his hierarchy so they could determine offers. So I'd like to give B an honest answer but I might just tell B they're my top choice even if I haven't heard from A yet. B is among my top choices, if not THE top, so it's not really lying right?? I'm a terrible liar