BiochemMom

It's fine. Mom said yes which I knew she would. Just strange. It's a private owner not a company which might be why he's paranoid. When I emailed him mom's phone number I pointed out that we intentionally were renting a place 1/6 of our income and included a mortgage statement showing the amount we pay so we could afford both payments if it sits on the market for a while so that might've helped too. All I know is phew lease is signed.

The more I think about it--I think he's paranoid that if we don't sell or get a tenant for our house we'd pay the mortgage and not be able to make rent. At least, that's the only thing that makes sense to me. Still frustrating cause we need somewhere to go! The house is on the market and we need to have a new place. Ahhh

we're both signing the lease and our joint income is six times higher than the rent. It makes no logical sense. My mother was fine with it but said it was the most stupid thing she'd ever heard. (I thought it was ridiculous as well but the house is perfect for our family so it's hopefully worth it). Now I'm freaking out I've got to start looking again if the owner/landlord doesn't go for it. This is so stupid.

When you go from thinking you've got a place where you're moving to being completely unsure. Ugh. The landlord was totally on board and then suddenly he wants my parents to cosign. My husband and I have owned a house for seven years so we don't have recent rental history is the reason. Wtf? Cause paying my mortgage isn't the same thing?

My last boyfriend (the guy I dated before my husband) lived with me. We broke up and he moved into the other bedroom. Three days later he lost his job. I packed all his stuff and put it in the living room. I told him if he didnt have a job he couldn't pay rent and he needed to find someone else's house to crash in and I didn't care where it was. He moved back in with his mom and I was so happy to have him gone. He's your ex. Don't feel obligated to house his unemployed self. He's an adult and you guys broke up. Tell him he has x amount of days to find somewhere else to go. You'll feel so relieved once he's gone.

Aha you are correct! It came in Friday. It's funny to me because I originally applied to Emory Duke UNC and GT, thinking GT was my backup and UNC would be my hardest to get in. Research matched up best at UNC but they have a history of not taking people from my university and program--only one before me ever from my program. Due to connections at Emory and Duke from my PI I figured they'd be easier and due to GT having biochem in the chem dept and my MS being chemistry coupled with a history of accepting people from our program, I assumed they'd be a shoo-in. After waitlisted for Emory interview and then rejected, and having not heard from anyone else, I quickly applied to UGA on the deadline and got in six days later. So out of my originals, the one where I fit best and wanted most was where I got in and no where else accepted or interviewed me (though GT doesn't interview for this dept) even though I thought it was the longest long shot ever. Fit really is most important. ☺️

I'd like to echo the other side of older parents. My father passed away when I was 27 at the age of 82 and my mother is currently 63 (yes they were far apart!). I knew I'd lose my dad young and I'll probably lose my mother by the time I'm fifty since she's in poor health. However, my father was able to retire and be a stay at home father my whole life and because of his age, we spoke on the phone daily for hours while I commuted every single day until he passed--I was actually the last person to speak with him because my mother was at work. So while my older siblings had much longer lives with my parents (I'm the youngest by a lot due to infertility and my father had children in his first marriage), they never got the same quality time I did due to my parents already being completely settled and fully promoted in their careers by the time I came along. For me, that means a lot and I don't regret my parents age at all. I'll miss my father for the rest of my life, but I was so close to him while he was here every minute was worth it and counted.

I see babies and think, "how sweet. Now please don't expect me to babysit just because I have a kid"

Mine changed six years into marriage--a switch flipped and it went from eh maybe I won't have kids to OMG WE NEED A BABY NOW. My husband had already been at that point for two years. If it happens, it happens. If not, that's fine too. There's never a perfect time to have a kid. You'll always be juggling something--grad school, career, whatever. One day, it'll just feel like the right time for you (assuming you do decide you want one!) and you'll figure out how to make it work.

NCSU is well known for its math and engineering. It has a decent biology program and chemistry but both are severely having funding cuts from the state and biology is reorganizing its departments and cutting several (for example biochem is being rolled into another dept so they took no biochem students this year) It's still a top 100 school for biology sciences but that's not its strong point. I live in NC and have completed my BS and MS in this state

Your thought process regarding tattoos is extremely common among people without tattoos--I really don't get it though. It's a holdover of when tattooing was taboo. People don't get tattoos to be unique and different. They get them for a variety of personal reasons that rarely have anything to do with the desire to stand out. For example, my forearm tattoo--I attempted suicide 3 times in a two year period, the last time 13 years ago. I have a lot of scarring on my left arm from one attempt that even after they were as light as they'll ever be and obviously old scars led to nonstop questions about my mental health. I knew from the moment I was mentally healthy I wanted he scars covered and with what--once my first child was born, it's her name and butterflies (her favorite thing on the planet for two years running so they remind me of her) Anyway, I don't share that with all the strangers who think it's okay to grab my arm and ask about it (usually it's where'd you get your ink done because we live in a military community still and tattoos are part of the culture) and just say, "it's my daughters name" The rare times people ask why I got it so visible I tell them "I have a stunning back piece that's hidden and even I can't see it. After ten years of having it I wanted something I can enjoy looking at whenever I want" also true Mainly I just wanted to say there are multiple reasons and often very intensely personal reasons behind tattoos. And those of us who do make the choice to get inked usually would prefer to not get hired by supervisors who judge us. I've never had an issue though--even my corporate cubicle job had no tattoo policy and a multitude of people with visible tats. It's the new norm. I imagine by the time my daughter is old enough to enter the workforce, no one will have to ask "can I get a tat on my wrist and still get a job?"

Usually you have to have your undergrad institution send an official letter of graduation intent with expected degree date--I had to do that when during my senior summary in my last semester it was discovered I transferred too many courses and did not have half of my hours from my BS granting institution. I had to enroll in 12 hours of anything to graduate so I took 12 hours of random easy load courses and my degree date changed to end of July. It wasn't an issue.

Good! Glad it got worked out! My school gives free gowns for every level because they're paid for in our tuition and fees. This turn of conversation reminded me I need to go pick mine up tomorrow. *sets reminder on phone*

I want to know the story behind this one that just popped up: North Carolina State University Mathematics, PhD (F15) Rejected via Website on 8 Apr 2015 U 9 Apr 2015 Highly suspected that my application got mixed up with another applicant from my school who actually applied for the master's but "accidentally" got in the Ph.D. program.

Traditionally, undergrad robes are in school colors. Graduate robes are black. Masters get hoods and have an oblong sleeve with a wrist opening. PhDs have velvet chevrons on their robes and a bell sleeve and also have a hood. The hood linings are school colors and the velvet color on phd represent degree obtained.

Not that it matters because I accepted my top choice school's offer already, but I'm wondering if GT forgot about me haha. They said all applicants would be notified by March 31, and since I officially accepted UNC's offer on March 27 I figured I'd just wait and see and decline immediately if I got an offer. Waitlist you think? Or rejected and haven't told me?

That'd waste my business suit. (I also don't and will not own dress flats as they are horrible for my flat feet and post baby hips--they hurt so so so much) I worked corporate America for ten years and love my suits more than anything. I relish any chance to break em back out. I also miss wearing heels 24/7 and relish any chance to wear those too since they're not exactly lab conducive shoes.

My husband broke a glass bottle on the porch, didn't tell me, and didn't sweep it up all the way. So now I get to defend my thesis in my suit and heels while standing on cut feet. Grumble grumble.

My grad director and half the profs in the chem department have tats. I have a full back piece, an arm piece, and a half sleeve (on my forearm so incredibly visible but covers easily in business attire and lab coat cause I had the artist end the tat three inches from my wrist. I agree it's field dependent. In sciences, even places like Yale, Duke, and Harvard don't care (according to the aforementioned profs who went there while tattooed). I also double checked employee handbooks at several different types of universities and none had a tattoo policy.

Or pick a PI who is cool with you focusing on finishing coursework asap with minimal research and frontload the crap out of your classes. That's what I did for my MS. Took everything but one class in my first semester and then spent 18 months in the lab 40 hours a week. I'm also the only person from my entering class who is done with my thesis (defending this week) on time. Everyone else pushed their graduation to summer and I suspect half of them will wind up finishing in December.

We're renting a house so it's a bit different cause no roommate share but we've already preleased where we are moving. My husband is transferring his job in June and we're moving early to get used to the area and tour schools for our daughter. But a lot of places are already preleasing for fall.

I don't right now but I played wow from game launch in nov 2004 until wrath of the lych king was released. I actually met my husband on game launch day on wow.

Not an RPer outside of MMORPGs. Board/card games, top 3 in order Dominion Settlers of Catan Agricola

You said you were an introvert. It's possible your personality is preventing you from conveying your passion for research. Sheer passion and drive go a lot further than stats. I would recommend scheduling a mock interview (a lot of universities have career centers that offer this service free for students and alumni) and getting feedback that way.

One thing you will run into is some schools have a minimum 3.0 requirement on the graduate school level regardless of the department requirement. Six schools in my state offer terminal MS Chemistry programs. So does GA Tech and many many others. I attend a funded chemistry program (no tuition waiver but the stipend is much higher than the in state tuition).