MidwesternAloha

If I get accepted, my parents might say "oh that's nice."

If I get accepted, my parents might say "oh that's nice."

Pinterest baby/wedding announcement surprises and some of them actually work for this type of announcement! I saw one that's a real egg and you Crack it open and it has a note inside with whatever you want it to say!

Depends how much you'll make after achieving the graduate degree in your field. If you will make enough to easily pay the debt, go for it. I personally already have 30k in loans from undergrad and I won't go to grad school unless it's fully funded. I don't want to be 40, still paying bills

I would announce it to them in skywriting. Or maybe have the citizens of Australia join hands and spell out the acceptance letter with candles.

Depends how much you'll make after achieving the graduate degree in your field. If you will make enough to easily pay the debt, go for it. I personally already have 30k in loans from undergrad and I won't go to grad school unless it's fully funded. I don't want to be 40, still paying bills

UM. Still a great school, and no debt.

I always joked that I was going to move to Peru and start an orphanage.

My backup is to become a Paralegal working in an intellectual property firm or a firm that deals with a lot of arts-based clients!

I'm going to let my partner pick a city to live in on the east coast and follow him there, then reapply in the fall! I'm sure there will also be a lot of crying and whining and ice cream eating.

Stay where I am working now, travel a lot probably, or as much as I can, maybe try to get involved with local university research, and try again next year.
 
Read: Cry a lot.

And, for what it's worth:  I belonged to some "women in science/medicine" groups, where women had legitimate strategies planned for like, the MONTH they would get pregnant during which year of grad school/med school and so forth, and the experienced mentor/professor women totally agreed and encouraged it.
If you want the best of both worlds, there's a way to make it happen.  Long story short, weddings and grad school DO mix.  If you're lucky, you'll have a good PI with a good mind who realizes the importance of it.  I currently work for a graduate program, and the PI groans about "why do all the grad students think it's time to get married/pregnant/etc" but he secretly loves and totally understands it.  Gives the parents-to-be weeks off work, etc.
 
Additionally, I recently read the handbook for one program I am interviewing at, and it had a section all about the structure for time off for weddings/babies and how many times you can "use" it while you're in school.  Thought that was pretty neat.  I respect the recognition from academia, that personal lives matter, finally.

Just something nice! Maybe a tunic sweater with dress pants, anything from Ann Taylor or New York & Co/Express that will keep you warm. A cute cardi, scarf and slacks, with some boots.

It's incredibly hard to create these itineraries. The grad students here run our department seminar series and when it's my week to create the visiting scholar's day schedule, I normally do not get everyone finalized in their time spots until the afternoon of the day before the visit! I can't imagine how much work it would to coordinate a large number of visitors at the same time!! Just another way I learned that the administrative staff are amazing!

Sorry, I'm a Nervous Nellie! Just need a place to express my mild anxiety about the first event being a dinner with faculty, "in whatever you wore while traveling."
Be casual?!? Yeah okay. Lol.

You're liable to hamstring yourself by preparing questions ahead of time. Good departments are looking for people who are bright and conversational in science. 
 
While particular questions about the program are fine, in some sense, the #1 thing faculty are looking for is for you to be engaged and quick on your feet with questions that pertain to what they've been talking about. You don't need to prep; you need to pay attention. If someone spends 10 minutes talking about their research, asks you if you have questions, and you ask a canned question about the graduate program... that won't reflect well. 

I was recently admitted into a program that's very high on my list -- so high that a couple of the other schools that invited me to interviews, while great, are no longer places I would consider.  I decided to cancel 2 of my remaining 5 interviews (going to 3 more). Has anybody here done something similar?

I figured that although I've wasted the costs of the flights that have been booked on my behalf, by canceling these interviews I would at least waste no more of the program's money (on dinners, bars, etc) or their faculty's time. And perhaps more importantly, I don't want to potentially take up a spot from somebody else who wants it more. I'm also still in college and don't want to be constantly missing classes for 5 weeks in a row... 
 

These are great ideas, I'm asking these at my remaining interviews!

I got asked SO MANY TIMES at my Ohio interview "do you have any questions about the program?". So when professors I was interviewing with asked me this, I asked about things not related to research, but more about their mentoring philosophy: How they approach teaching their grad students to write papers (or if they expect them to already know how), how hands on they are in the lab, what kinds of grants are available to apply for (which you can find on the program website but sometimes just seeing "training grant" doesn't mean much), and also about what opportunities there are to present your own research. This helped me figure out what the labs are like/what opportunities I'll have other than just what the subject of research is.

I concur! It's not about appeasing your family. You can always have a big reception or renewal 5 years down the road. My husband and I kept having to change the date for our wedding and finally we just went to the courthouse and told the family we'll have the big ceremony when time and distance allow. It's about being with who ya love

Also- you can get a GREAT education from plenty of schools outside the Top 20!  You get out of it what you put into it!!!

And, for what it's worth:  I belonged to some "women in science/medicine" groups, where women had legitimate strategies planned for like, the MONTH they would get pregnant during which year of grad school/med school and so forth, and the experienced mentor/professor women totally agreed and encouraged it.
If you want the best of both worlds, there's a way to make it happen.  Long story short, weddings and grad school DO mix.  If you're lucky, you'll have a good PI with a good mind who realizes the importance of it.  I currently work for a graduate program, and the PI groans about "why do all the grad students think it's time to get married/pregnant/etc" but he secretly loves and totally understands it.  Gives the parents-to-be weeks off work, etc.
 
Additionally, I recently read the handbook for one program I am interviewing at, and it had a section all about the structure for time off for weddings/babies and how many times you can "use" it while you're in school.  Thought that was pretty neat.  I respect the recognition from academia, that personal lives matter, finally.

Also- you can get a GREAT education from plenty of schools outside the Top 20!  You get out of it what you put into it!!!

Also- you can get a GREAT education from plenty of schools outside the Top 20!  You get out of it what you put into it!!!