braindump

I have never heard of anyone being discriminated against due to needing a fee waiver or even that this was a legitimate concern. I'm pretty sure it's common for applicants to get fees waivers as they need, especially if they got the reduced GRE fee. I got fees waived for almost all of the schools I applied to and I didn't see this hinder me at all in the process. Most of my application costs went toward the GRE and sending scores/transcripts. I'm wondering where the person who told you this got their information, or if they're just making assumptions.

I agree with the above replies. Plenty of people don't go into academia after they graduate and plenty of people seek out graduate schools with the intention of following into industry/government. As long as you can explain why a PhD would be helpful to your career goals, you will be fine. You also want to be sure that the program you attend has the appropriate resources for you to go into government rather than academia. This is also something you should look into when you are on visits and interviews.

I'm glad to hear it went well All the best to you two in the future!

I agree with this, but it's because we don't have enough information about triangle WSU, not because we don't know how much greater RS is than ST. If we were given that WSU was isosceles with W as a midpoint of RV, then I'm pretty sure we could know angle WSU > 60. It wouldn't matter how much less; RS being just a fraction larger than ST would still make the angle > 60, if even by a fraction. I just wanted to point this out because, at first glance, I made the mistake of assuming WSU to be isosceles and immediately went "it's A" before I realized my mistake.

I didn't have a single letter from a professor in my dept. Granted, I'd been doing research related to the field I plan to join, not the field I'm currently in. I think it matters less where they come from and more the context they know you in. I definitely agree with the others that you should be getting letters from professors who know you in a research context rather than professors who can say "yeah he got an A in my class."

Gonna have to agree here. Found the above post to be an overly negative generalization of what CrucialBBQ thinks your love life should be. No matter how much "experience" (congrats?) someone says they have, relationships are not clear-cut, step-by-step processes; everyone is different and you shouldn't base your relationship based on what others are doing with their lives.

I spent the summer (2-3 months) going through Magoosh videos, reading through some prep books and getting a good idea of how the exam works (this is as, if not more so, important than knowing specific mathematics formulas and so on). My summer research internship had free GRE courses twice a week, which was super helpful. I basically just used this time to lightly familiarize myself with some math I may not have seen in a while, learning how to do the problems quickly (this was the worst part for me), and doing vocab. I think vocab is the most important part to start early, because it's not something you can do overnight. Get the Magoosh vocab app (free), and go through the decks slowly. A few minutes at a time, while you're on the bus, waiting in line, etc., a couple times a day. Nothing hardcore. They separate the words into decks based on how likely you are to see them on the exam. A few weeks after I finished a deck I'd go through it again to refresh, repeating this over and over. Unfortunately I never made it through the whole deck because I got too busy. So I spent the summer just doing a light review, couple times a week, maybe. Nothing too intense, but I went through at least a few different prep books. Then maybe two months or so (not sure, maybe less?) before the actual exam (mid/early fall) I started studying a little more hardcore. I didn't always keep up with it because of applications and classes, but I tried to do as many problems as I could, learn new words, and take practice exams. The latter is really important, especially the (also free) ETS exams online. They're exactly like the real thing and you should treat it as such. No distractions, no breaks, time yourself, get comfortable with the format of the real exam. A lot of people skimp on the essays; I did too, but for these practice exams I actually did them and I'm really glad I did. All in all, I spent probably 5ish months studying, give or take, but a lot of it was inconsistent depending on how busy I got. Hardcore studying was probably less than 2 months. It's great that you're taking it so early; I really wish I didn't wait to take it the same semester as applications, because that was rough. Plus you'll have time to improve if you aren't satisfied. Anyway. I got 165Q, 159V, 5.5W (I think). Not spectacular but I got into some really great programs and I'm now attending my top choice. I was just on the cusp of (what I thought to be) too low to be "definitely safe" and too high to justify going through the stress/time/money again to retake it. So only took it the one time but it was good enough for me. I'm a chemical engineering undergrad and I've always been pretty good at math, average at vocab. Great at taking tests, but not so much standardized tests where time is a huge factor. Did pretty mediocre/above average on my SAT/ACT because I didn't study or care much after I did well enough to get into my undergrad on my first try. Just remember that GRE isn't everything, nor is it the bulk of your application, so don't stress it too much.

Congrats! You were deciding between two fantastic options so you really couldn't go wrong. I'm sure you'll have no trouble at all succeeding at Stanford. Best of luck to you! P.S. Looks like we'll be sharing a campus!

Yeah, I'm not convinced that ivies value sports. Big state schools do, but not private ivies. Are you talking about graduate programs? I really don't think that playing sports is going to give you an "edge" over applicants with relevant research experience.

The best thing to do would be to call the department and ask them to clarify.

Congrats! I know it's not easy - I just turned down a school whose visit I LOVED, and even though I'm attending my "dream" uni, I was still super sad to send that email. As for the rest of your decision, I think that I would have to truly believe an unfunded program to be 10x better and so much more worth it than my other options to choose it over a funded program. But that's just me - I'm pretty sick of stacking up student loans.

Normally I would not recommend staying at the same institution, but in this case, it seems like that might be the better option for you. I don't say this just because of the whole "same institution" stigma (which, as you said, probably doesn't matter as much if you aren't interested in academia) but because I think it's best to be in a new environment with new perspectives. That said, if you are planning on getting an entirely new cohort staying at your uni then you might be getting a reasonable amount of that anyway. Most important in a decision such as this is fit, how much you love the program, and what it can offer for your future. In these things, it seems like your current institution is the best bet. I think it's unwise to attend someplace you aren't truly excited about - if you don't enjoy your work and the people around you, you likely aren't going to succeed. I do agree, however, with the other comment in that you shouldn't base your entire view of the school based on the few people you met. But the fact that you're more excited about your current uni, and that it's a better ranking, and you're more likely to get involved with industry, tells me that it'll be much better for your future (particularly the last bit). And, again, I completely agree with the comment above me: I highly recommend not making this decision based on a few thousand dollars. Yes, you might have more money to spare, but unless one of the programs is not giving you enough to get by (make sure you're taking cost of living into account), then I strongly recommend not being swayed by money. A few thousand might seem like a nice luxury now, but is it really worth altering such an important decision? I think that if you enjoy the research at your current uni, you have connections to industry, and you attend a better-known school, you will succeed and more than make up for it in the long run. I say this especially since you mentioned you weren't really considering the program until they offered you the bonus, which tells me you aren't all that interested in the other school, just the money. Don't lose sight of why you're here: to get an education, not to make money. Just my two cents. Best of luck!

I agree; I think it would be better for you to be in a new environment. Go and see what else is out there rather than being stuck in the same place for 10 years (this is a long time..). If you're still unsure, maybe talk to some of your professors and get their opinion? I think they're going to tell you the same thing, though.

It's very interesting that you say that, because when I had my interviews at Stanford, people who had also interviewed at Berkeley said the opposite: better, closer-knit environment at Berkeley. I guess it must be very different between our fields. Back to the original topic, I want add that I think you should focus less on what the degree says (math vs. stats) and more about what the classes are and what sort of research you'd be doing. Which ones interest you more? I also agree that you can't make a bad choice, because you have two really great options.

Just having read your post, and not knowing a whole lot about the field, it sounds like Stanford is your best bet. First off, I don't think it's ideal to stay at the same institution for all of your degrees (not just because academia views it that way, but also because I think it's important to get a fresh perspective in a new environment). It might matter more if you plan on going into academia, but that, plus your job market bullet point, plus the fact that Stanford is the #1 undisputed stats program, tells me that Stanford might be better in the long-term. I also think it's risky to attend a program with only one professor you'd be willing to work with, because you never really know what can happen. If he can't get funding, or he leaves, you might be stuck. Points to Stanford for having several people you're interested in. To be perfectly honest: I know they're both fantastic schools, but I'm not seeing much in your post that tells me why you're having trouble deciding. Unless there's other significant factors you haven't mentioned, it seems like everything points to Stanford.

I wouldn't call Boulder "extremely expensive." It actually used to be pretty low cost of living, but has been growing rapidly and is slowly becoming more expensive. When I visited, we went on a housing tour, and I the places I saw were fairly reasonable. Decently priced and pretty nice (at least the ones I saw). Most students seemed to share apartments and from what I can remember, graduate housing wasn't super easy to get into. It's a shame you couldn't visit Boulder because Boulder and Houston are two very different places. Houston is a large, wide-spread, industrial city. while Boulder is a small, outdoors-y city. Personally, I would absolutely love to live in Boulder, and I really didn't like Houston much when I was there (I didn't visit Rice). But I know plenty of people moving to Houston after graduation who love it there. I also prefer the Boulder seasons to Houston heat/humidity (I'm sick of living in the South!), which, again, varies by person. I really can't remember for certain, but it is possible that Houston is cheaper than Boulder. For a city, it is considered very cheap. Houston is also so large that the housing varies a ton based on which area of the city you're in. I'm sorry I couldn't provide any input on the programs, but I thought I would at least jump in on the locations! Your lists are pretty short so I can't get a good feel of which program might be better for you. I do think, however, that, as long as you have enough money to get through the program without severely struggling, then you should make your decision based on factors aside from money. I ended up deciding on the uni with the highest cost of living (in the entire country..) simply because I love the program. I didn't visit a program that didn't provide enough stipend for the students not to have to worry, and I wouldn't make a huge decision as this based on a few k. If you love where you go, you'll make up for it in the end anyway. It seems like you prefer Rice and are only uncertain because you're wary of housing and cost of living. If that's the case, then I say go with Rice. If you liked Houston, then I think you'll be fine in terms of housing and cost of living, and you shouldn't worry or let it keep you from choosing the better program.

I wouldn't recommend doing it on your birthday; I'd worry about him saying something he didn't mean just because it was your birthday and he didn't want to upset you, or wanted to make you happy, etc. (hope that doesn't sound too harsh). Anniversary is a maybe, I guess depending on what you guys do, what you talk about, etc. If you make it the focal point of the evening, then it may come off as a big deal, but if you guys are already having "that kind of night" where bringing up something like that wouldn't be completely out of the blue, then I think it would be fine. If you don't get a chance on your anniversary then I wouldn't stress it, and just wait until another day when you guys are having a nice night in.

Congrats! To be honest, I think that what you said here is perfect for relaying to him, particularly the second paragraph. I feel like it might be difficult to keep the talks separate, though (I can imagine them just kind of merging into one another), and I think that if they were one single talk, as counter-intuitive as it may seem, the whole thing may come off as less overbearing? I'm not sure if that makes any sense. But I feel that it may give everything context: you want to know his future plans because you love him, and you're telling him all this now because you want to see what the future holds. After six months, I feel like that's pretty reasonable. I think that as long as you let him know "this is how I feel, don't feel obligated to respond in any specific way," then he'll know where you stand and he'll have time to think about where he stands.

There's a BME/Bioeng thread here if you'd like to join: It says PhD but I'm sure some are MS/MEng applicants too. It might not be too helpful, but I applied for PhD and got my rejection a few weeks ago. I know they had some sort of hold-up in the admissions process (coordinator broke her arm or something, I'm uncertain of the details), so they're taking longer than usual. The results page also shows some recent acceptances/rejections for the MS program.

If you check the results page, there are some acceptances/rejections for UCLA. It doesn't appear that they do interviews and I received my rejection from them last Monday. Hopefully you hear good news soon; good luck!

100% this. If your gut says Stanford, and you really want to be there, then by all means, go to Stanford. But I really can't imagine you regretting the choice to attend a TOP journalism school over Stanford, especially when Stanford's program does not cater to your interests at all. I get the feeling that someone telling you "you'll regret turning down Stanford" is literally only speaking of the overall university ranking (which A: does not matter as much as the program and B: rankings are pretty debatable and really shouldn't be the defining point of someone's life choices) and ignoring your best interests.

It definitely sounds like you're leaning a lot toward A anyway, and it seems like B is not only a riskier option, but also a less fitting one. If you feel like the decision is rushed, then just sit on it for a week so you're sure (you still have time). I did the same thing, and even though I knew where I wanted to go, it helped me be sure that I wasn't making the wrong decision.

Mine were the same way about Stanford! As soon as I mentioned I got accepted, it was as if that was my only option (even though I was still considering other, lesser known/ranked schools). It drove me a little crazy, but it's really just because those not in the field know the name, that I received such a response (my PI started telling people I was going to Stanford before I even made my decision! what's up with that?). I think it's more important for your future job prospects what people in the field know, not what people outside of it do. You might also want consider the fact that if you are taking classes you don't enjoy and doing work you aren't interested in, you might not succeed as much as you would someplace you're doing what you're passionate about. I guess for a Master's, since it's shorter, some people might stick it out, but I imagine it won't be as enjoyable, or as easy. These are just my opinions, so I'm sure you'll be great whichever you decide; these are all great options so really, you can't go wrong with either. In the end, I simply went with my gut.

To be honest, it already sounds like you know which school is right for you. I can imagine it being tough to turn down a school like Stanford, because of the prestige alone that comes with it. But if you don't like the faculty projects, and you don't like the curriculum, why go? Yes, it does have that name recognition for jobs outside of journalism, but I guess that will only affect you if you plan on going outside journalism for jobs. Plus, Northwestern is still a great school and well known for being one. Columbia sounds like it wouldn't be a bad option, either, but I personally wouldn't go without funding. That's up to you, though, if you think it'd be worth it.