thr0waway

Definitely rotate earlier, because sometimes professors extend tentative offers to people who rotate earlier in the year, and then the later rotators don't have as good of a shot. Also, a lot of professors will want you to continue your project after the rotation is over, so you'll have more projects to juggle later in the year.

you may not get your choice of advisor, since the professors you want may choose the better students

take the one with better funding. programs that don't provide full funding to their students don't really value them

Go to UW. The fact that they offered you full funding at Princeton means you're probably one of their top admits. And you know what they say about being the smartest person in the room - it means you're in the wrong room. Also, if you reapply for PhD programs after you do your Master's, you might even have a worse chance, because (a) your research during your Master's program may not be as good as your undergrad research, and then you'll have to explain what you've done for the past couple years ( b ) since you effectively had 6 years instead of 4 to prepare for your PhD, you'll probably be expected to have done more stuff

What exactly was he hoping to do with his life? I can understand doing multiple PhDs if you really liked research / the job of a grad student, but if he wasn't interested in research this is beyond me

Ask the grad students how they are funded and if possible try to find out if the professors are funded by the department at all, or if they have to bring in all their own grants

It's better to live alone if you can, so you can let parents/significant others/other people stay over without having to bother your roommate, and besides there's more space in the fridge, and you can play whatever music you want all the time.

Nobody cares how old you are (unless you look noticeably older or younger). You probably look about their age anyway, so they'll never suspect unless you tell them. Most people in my cohort started grad school when they were 22 or so. So your age difference would be negligible. And the older you get, the easier it will be for you to relate to people of all ages. (I noticed I could relate to a lot more people once I started grad school.)

You should talk to current students at both schools before making your decision. Ask them a lot of questions about their lives, department requirements, specific professors, etc.

How sure are you that these professors will accept you for his/her lab?

These are all excellent questions.

Turn it down if you're sure you won't go. It's nice to do it as fast as possible so you free up room for other applicants.

At Stanford I have three years of guaranteed funding, which comes through fellowships, RAships, and TAships. Generally you get an RAship if your advisor has money to fund you, and otherwise you need to apply for TAships on a quarter-by-quarter basis. Years 4 and 5 are not guaranteed but I think most people don't have to worry, because their advisor has money to give them an RAship, or they can appoint them as a TA for their class.

You should definitely ask people in your program, and also try to find numbers for how many people drop out after each year

In general they would expect most admitted students to be in your situation. So just tell them you're really happy about the offer but are still waiting to hear back from other schools. It's not awkward at all because it's completely normal