The Knife

I was accepted to 1 school I really liked (but not my top choice), 2 that were middle to bottom, and one that was the safest safety I could find. At first I was reluctant to visit all of the programs because I didn't want to be bored and I didn't want to waste the resources of a department I wasn't very interested in. In the end I decided to visit all 4 because I felt that they all deserved an equal chance to impress me. Just because a school looks good on paper doesn't mean it's an environment in which you'll be happy. It could turn out that you feel awkward or unwelcome in your top choice program while your bottom choice is full of people that you really fit in with in a city that you love. It's a free trip, you might as well take advantage of it. The choice of grad school is a decision that will effect the next several years of your life, so you shouldn't make it without being as informed as possible.

Out of curiosity, how to get a job as an ice cream truck driver?

Thanks everybody for all of your suggestions. I'll definitely check them out!

Unfortunately, there's no way I can live with my parents, so going home isn't much of an option. Working at a national park sounds pretty awesome though!

I graduated last May and have since been working for the college that I went to. Unfortunately this position ends in May, my apartment lease is up in June, and I won't start grad school till mid-August. Fortunately I'll be funded for grad school, but that leaves me about 3 months where I won't have an income, plus a month and a half where I won't have a place to live. Is there any advice out there for potential jobs for the summer? It's too late for me to apply for a research internship in my field (most apps were due Feb. 1), but I thought it might be cool to do something a little different anyway. The whole travel-the-country-living-out-of-your-car scenario won't work for me (too bad) because I still have bills to pay, but it would still be cool to try something a little adventurous/unusual. I saw something about a Disney summer job, and I figure there has to be more programs like that out there too. Thanks!

I'm bumping this topic. Can anyone give me numbers on the cost of living in Norman? Specifically, how much would rent be for a mid-quality apartment or possibly a house near the OU campus? I'm trying to compare financial offers, but it's hard to determine cost of living for smaller cities. If you have other things to say about the city in general, that would be helpful too.

You would think that for $50-$90 for an application fee, they could bother to send something a little more substantial. When I applied last year, 2 schools didn't even bother to send me any form of rejection.

I should warn you all, it was standard practice at my elementary school to teach all of the students the alphabet backwards. To this day I still know it just as well as forward.

It's seriously weird to not know where you'll be living in 4-6 months. I've always had my life well planned, so this is the first time I've ever not known what I would be doing several months from now. It's very unsettling. At least if I had rejections I could move on with my life!

Seriously, and this is my second year putting myself through this. Just be glad you're not a med student who applies in September and doesn't hear back till May. Good luck on your interview tomorrow!

If you look through the results list, you'll see that even for the same department in the same university, acceptances are not always sent out on the same day.

One of my professors suggested that I also ask how women are treated in the department. This might be less of a concern in humanities fields, but in science (and especially physics) women are often outnumbered and can occasionally be subjected to severe sexism. If you are female, this is a very important point. Also, you should ask the grad students how they feel about the department: How reliable is the funding (i.e. do students often get kicked out after a Masters degree)? Is there a lot of conflict between professors in the department or different departments? Are they overall happy with the environment of the department, university, and city? This would also be a good time to find out which professors are easy to work with/get along with.

Christ, you guys are negative. I guess it's different in every field, but last year when I applied I received my last rejection letter in May, and 2 schools didn't even bother to send me any response at all! Really, just because your schools have sent out some acceptance letters, they definitely haven't sent out all. Usually applications are grouped into definite yes, definite no, and then a maybe pile. Those in the yes group get the first wave of letters. The no group might receive rejection letters right away, or they might wait until all the positions have been filled. The maybe group gets put on a waitlist and those people are picked as the need arises.