scarvesandcardigans

Agreed. When I toured or contacted properties I would always ask what kind of students/clientele the complex would tend to attract. Once, a leasing manager asked me about my own personal tendencies and then explicitly stated that they look for quiet, responsible students. If you are looking for serious, studious roommates, they'll probably want the exact same thing, so at least neighborhood/complex agreement will be likely.

That's awesome! It sounds like it was very down-to-earth, which is kind of cool. Thanks for sharing!

^ Exactly what I was going to say. I'd check with my program advisor or consult the graduate assistantship handbook (if there is one available) to see if there are any restrictions. Socially, I don't think it's really detrimental. I believe that a lot of people will understand that having money in the bank is a priority and if your students see you, it shouldn't be a problem. If anything, you'd get a chance to talk with them in a non-academic setting, and maybe they might feel more comfortable approaching you in the academic.

^^^^^ 100% True. A lot of places in the price range listed can be all-inclusive if you distance yourself from campus. The closer you get though, the higher the prices go and the more 2/3/4br places you'll find.

Congrats! Go pack! I'm sure you will love it.

How is everyone holding up???? It's been a couple of weeks and nobody has been around to say anything - I hope you are all alright!

No problem! And if you have any other questions, don't hesitate to ask!

Hi niketon, esotericish and I wrote some responses to your living cost post in the Raleigh, NC thread. Here's the link so you don't have to go searching much:

The department at NCSU has a very involved and well-rounded linguistics program, with a good concentration in sociolinguistics. In fact, this weekend they are holding conferences (LAVIS IV and SECOL 82) that cover a wide variety of topics in linguistics, especially on linguistics in the southeast. Multiple departments are participating, ENG, FLL (I will be a Hispanic Linguistics MA student in the fall), etc. The programs, from what I understand and know about my own, are also very flexible in allowing you to take what you would like to better tailor your education. Some students in my program are even taking undergrad English linguistics courses. They have plenty of options as far as coursework to make sure that you are getting the information that you need, and their professors are very willing to work with you to make sure that you are on a good level. You can also easily look at graduate minors (only 3 courses), such as cognitive science, which really overlaps in your department, but allows you to take courses in other departments that might help you narrow down what it really is that you want to do. (Example: I'm doing the cog sci minor, and gearing it toward expanding my knowledge of psycholinguistics and English linguistics.) They really know how to work their connections, as well. My professors are already discussing research topics (mildly) with me and making me feel like an integrated student even though I haven't even started yet. It is my opinion that the linguistics programs at NC State are very underrated. Professors have provided me with testimonials from graduated students that have pursued PhDs, gone into the work force, teaching, everything. There is a wide variety of output/placement for graduates of NC State, and professors are always complimented on the knowledge of their PhD students, even though they're only studying for the MA. I can't speak much about Syracuse, but this is what I can offer about NC State. Best of luck to you!

Pretty much everything esotericish said is true. You'll be hard-pressed to find a nice apartment in the $500 range if you want to live alone, however having roommates makes rent decrease significantly, and a large portion of apartment complexes near campus are 2-3-4 bedroom places, and there are also houses for rent. One bedrooms are expensive close to campus, ranging from $600-$1000, most of those including utilities. A place with 3 or 4 bedrooms will run you anywhere from $300-$600. One place I'm looking at is a 4br/4ba apartment with $340 all-inclusive rent, including parking, but it is a 10 minute drive from the campus. It's doable to find a place in your price range, but you'll either have to sacrifice quality, distance, or living alone, if that's what you want to do. So, as far as transportation, having a car is ideal, especially in the campus area. But, I noticed that you've posted in International House of Grads, so if you're coming from outside of the United States without a vehicle, then there are plenty of other means of transport. The buses can be decent, the Wolfline is packed during peak hours on popular routes, as with any bus, and there are other systems such as CAT that charge a small fee to use, but it has a wider range of destinations. Something cool about the Wolfline though is that they have a live-update website that shows you where all of the bus lines are during running hours. If you will have a car, a parking pass for a graduate student runs anywhere from $200-$300ish, for the year, and if I'm not mistaken you can pay by month as well, but that is outlined better on the parking site. You also have some time to decide since parking registration opens in July. The only place driving becomes a slight inconvenience is in the downtown area. If you can walk or get on public transport, you're probably better off if you aren't totally familiar yet with how the downtown roads work. It's a lot of one-way streets, and there are plenty of parking garages if you ever decide to head that way. Utilities themselves are not bad in Raleigh if you know how to use them well (turn off things you aren't using, maximize heat, don't run your thermostat at outrageously high temps, don't run water when you aren't using it, things of that nature). My mother works at the utilities commission in the city and had college students call her because their electric bill was $150 OVER the cap that they were given (around $90), which is well above normal for this time of year. Heating a space around 600 sq ft (as far as electric goes) ranges from $30-$100ish based on the season. A lot of apartment complexes have built-in water/sewer fees, my knowledge is that this runs $15-20 a month depending on your usage, but most places that I have seen/spoken to say it's a $15 limit, and you pay if there is a difference. I will honestly say that if you're going to be a grad student, you can sacrifice cable TV. Internet costs are low, somewhere in the family of $20 but they can be higher. If you do want to watch TV shows, use Netflix online (unlimited streaming of TV shows and movies provided by Netflix) for $7/mo. It's got plenty, and a trial month is free. I hope this was of some help. If you have any other questions, please feel free to message me!

I agree. I think we are in a cultural transition that is seeing the slow, but sure acceptance of tattoos in the work force. I'm fairly certain my employers have noticed that I have one, well two visible, but have never asked about them, though I'm sure they are not the type to get tattoos themselves. If they ask, sure, I will respectfully discuss the matter, because I want to be respectful toward them and vice versa. I just hope that this acceptance mindset continues to spread further. Sigaba summed it up pretty well with, "Is an artistic statement of one's individuality a worthy distraction from an intellectual statement?" I believe that presentation, professionalism and maturity speak greatly about someone, at times more so than the artistic pieces we choose to have.

Yoga block

I'm on a mailing list for Linguist List that sends a daily email of abstracts, with links, sometimes job postings. If I see one that catches my interest (since it's all languages, not always only Spanish/Hispanic or English), I will browse the abstract. Currently I'm reading a book authored by one of my undergrad professors. I'm not sure if that counts, but it has helped me develop ideas for my own research.

I also want to know what's going on here.

I might be incredibly biased, but the external research and experience opportunities that NC State offers are invaluable. Many students that I know in similar programs have internships and jobs with places like IBM and SAS (one of those students is a math undergrad). RTP is also an excellent place to look, in general. If a program doesn't have many people doing what you want, then maybe you should look at the job placement of the graduates in that program and compare to what you want to do. What kind of funding are you looking at? One thing that someone else told me was to go where the funding was best. The last thing you want to be worrying about is trying to find a job or paying off loans. If the funding specifically is about the same from each school, then I would look at the faculty list and see what program can offer you a wider pool of faculty members to collaborate with. I would not want to be stuck in a school with only one professor in my specialization even if they offered me the best package I could have gotten. I might not have a lot to offer aside from the fact that I have seen a lot of people have success at NC State, but I wish you the best of luck in your decision!

I'm kind of in the same boat about living with someone during grad school. My last 2 years in undergrad I lived alone in an efficiency, and it was hard to socialize because I was always the one having to go out since you can't really entertain guests in an oversized closet. I want that private space, but I also want to make friends and have a social circle since I will know absolutely no one. The only difference is that almost all of the other years that I had a roommate, something went wrong. It was probably because we lived in cramped rooms and my roommates usually had boyfriends over 24/7 or didn't clean/respect the space, which caused tension, and I am incredibly introverted. One of my boyfriend's friends will be in her senior year at the university that I am going to, and she is quiet and clean, I guess pretty introverted like me, and has offered me a pretty good deal about living 2 people to a 4-bed, 4-bath apartment for around $600 each, all-inclusive. The only "problem" is having to commute every day, and then what happens when she graduates, but otherwise it's a pretty good offer. If I don't live with her I'd probably live in a studio apartment by myself. I reached out for roommates in the local housing Facebook group but got anxious when I started getting a bunch of offers. It might be nice to live with multiple people to diffuse tension though.... Thoughts?

The headings for my CV are in this order: Education Research & Internships (since they were all part of my academic experience and not outside) Academic Experience (this includes any study abroad experiences I had and a brief 4-5 relevant course list) Papers & Presentations Foreign Languages (relevant to my field) Employment Extracurricular & Volunteer Work (this includes any honor societies, projects, etc that I have been a part of or helped with outside of academia) For each item I list I provide one or two sentences for a description or expansion of details, duties, experiences, etc. It all fits on two full pages. Good luck!!!

Congratulations! Welcome to the pack! I might not be in the same department, but my funding is TAship in CHASS, department of Foreign Languages and Literatures. It's not much ($10K) but it's livable. Even in our department the professors seem to be taking their sweet, sweet time to finalize who gets the funds, for all who are curious about funding across the university.

It looks like a lot of students received decisions between March 7 - 17ish, give or take a couple of days. They were all Masters students though, I didn't see any for PhD. It might be that they just reviewed Masters first and are now moving to PhD. Have you had any other contact with the department?

Now this is a story I want to hear.

Interesting thread...requires some thought. I think if I had to choose 4 dream jobs, I would choose: 1. Interior Designer / I wouldn't say I'm truly qualified for this job, but I have worked in real estate and I have taken multiple art and design classes in college and in high school so I feel like I could probably combine those in some way. 2. World Journalist/Traveler / I have worked some in journalism and enjoy traveling, and I would love to be able to contribute to world news by traversing different countries, learning about new cultures, and sharing what I learn. 3. Wedding/lifestyle photographer / I love love love photography and I want to capture special days for couples in the most natural and beautiful way possible. 4. Professor / This is the one that I am taking my time to earn. I want to expand and inspire minds like my teachers and professors did for me!

I think considering how close it is to April 15, you could probably contact the programs if you haven't already done so. This is simply my opinion, but I would much rather go to a school that made the effort to accept me and give me an offer earlier, because it means that they were truly interested and invested in me, than a program from which I have to solicit an answer. I think the only way you'll feel "trapped" is if you wait for those potential offers to come after the 15th, and you have already committed to the program that has made an offer. This can definitely be a tough situation to handle. Best of luck to you!

I would add checking out Apex to the list. It's roughly 30 minutes if you take 64, and it's a pretty drive, and from my experience less crowded than I-40. As far as realty/renting goes, inventory is down in the area, and turnover is occurring rapidly (I work in Triangle area real estate), so I wouldn't say it's too early for places to be listed, but checking frequently is a must. Best of luck!!