Crafter

I am really enjoying reading your stories! I wish I could feel like I am bragging at least once!! But for whatever reason, all my family and friends react the other way around: everybody seems to think they know more about things related to life sciences, medicine and microbes than me (they all know that I have an MD, a microbiology MS and will start my PhD this fall, none of them are educated in life sciences), and yet, conversations go like this: - relative or friend: I am no longer eating bananas because it is bad to your bladder. I read it alters your molecules and degrades your cells. - me (after years of enduring this type of conversations): where did you read that? - relative or friend: in a blog. - me: have you considered that blogs are not necessarily a good source of scientific information, unless it is from a well known scientific source? - relative or friend: but I have a friend who eated lots and lots of bananas and ended up with a bursted bladder. - me: so? that doesn't prove causality at all. - relative or friend: of course it does!! how do you explain such incident?? and so on..... or: -relative or friend (a different one): did you know that ebola was created by the US government!!!????? -me (more enduring): that is not true. Where did you get that from? - relative or friend: read it online. - me: did that website also referred to zombies and apocalypse? - relative or friend: ha-ha very funny. I am serious. You should know about this! - me: I happen to know about that. And no, ebola is not a man made virus. - relative or friend: then, why it holds a patent by the US?? aahhh!!! explain that one, micro girl!!!! (I love them all, though) my life is so hard....

Second this. I got a SSN years ago and the DHS note is only for employment (you will need to apply for the employment authorization card from the DHS in order to work). But as for SSN itself, you already have one and don't need to apply to another one. 100% sure.

I second this opinion. If you care too much about ranking, then search for each program's ranking and go for the highest one. But I think Tulane is a great school and if they are being so generous to offer full funding, you should go there.

Funding comes entirely from the school (different sources, like TA or fellowships, but still is from the school until I get a mentor). I hope that what you mentioned is the case, and that I won't get an email sauing "oops!! sorry, we meant $24k" :S Thanks for all the information you are providing, TakeruK!

I was offered a F-1 visa and for the very reason of having a spouse that needs to work (or go mad, otherwise) we are requesting the J-1 visa. I held a J-1 visa in the past, with a Fulbright Scholarship and my country does not offer a "no objection waiver" to their scholars. So I had to come back. Even getting an F-1 visa was not allowed during the 2 years (or so we were told). Not being able to obtain work authorization for your other half is a serious disadvantage in most cases. Yet, there are "ways out" of the 2 year rule, but there no guarantee that anybody will actually be able to get it. I did not know that AT for J-1s are 36 months long!!!! With my MS I only had 1 year. This is great news!!! (postdoc right away!!! YAY!!!) About the fundings for my spouse. The school only asked for at least $5000 to start the paperwork for my DS-2019. I assume this is just for one year. Now I am concerned....

Offering a tax advise is very difficult because many factors are considered at the time of filing, and each case is different. Ask the international office. Usually, the school has a tax advisor to help students.

As far as I know, you get a new I-20 if you change sponsors (like changing to another school). I don't think that you need a new visa stamp if your is still valid. But make sure to address this questions to the international office on both schools.

Depending where in Ballard you are, I think there is a bus to campus (I was working at Seattle Biomedical Research Institute, so my commute was from Ballard to South Lake Union. I have not much knowledge about getting to UW, except for the medical building around the corner of Seattle Biomed). I also think that Fremont has a bus that goes around the U district, but as I said before, I am not sure. You know what is useful? find prospective houses (or neigborhoods) and use google maps to find it, then search in "directions" and write University of Washington (or wherever you want to go) click the public transportation icon and it will offer the bus route you need to get there. That's the best way to find out if you will be renting a place far away from a bus stop or not, or if you have a direct route or will have to use more than one bus, and offers estimated time too. Pretty awesome. And contratulations for getting into UW!!!! You will love Seattle.

HAHA!! In the same boat here!! I used to need 8-9 sleep hours, wake up rather late when possible. Even when I was up and in school by 7:30 am, I was really awake until 10 am, before that I was a useless zombie. I got an MD and had to be up and at either, hospital or classes by 7 am, had to work 20+ hours per shift every 3 days and that did not change a bit my physiological need for sleep and wake up after 10 am. Then I got my lovely yet too active early morning daughter and my life and physiology changed. Even on weekends or holidays I wake up on my own by 7 am. Can´t stay in bed late because I worry that she is awake and waiting for me to get her out of her crib. That sends my sleepiness to mars. I get most of the household chores done after she goes to bed and end up sleeping no more than 7 hours on a good day. But I don't feel like a zombie anymore. To the OP: I will start a PhD program this Fall, and I also wonder how my life as a scientist-mom will be (in the life sciences, just like you). I guess that multitasking and time management will be the way to go. Still wonder how that will be, since I am the resident cook of the house and keeping up with the menu will be a new challenge while in grad school.

Great thread!! I wish I have seen this before I started my applications!! Besides the "no such thing as safety school" "Fit is the best way to increase your chances, don't apply to schools where none of the faculty is doing research of your interest" (and to this I would add "don't apply to schools where only ONE faculty is doing what you are interested in" -unless that faculty has showed interest in you) and "don't apply to schools you don't want to go -because of the city or the school itself" or "don't rely on school ranking". If I knew then what I know now.... I would have applied to more private schools. As a foreign applicant to US schools, I did not realize how relevant the funding issue was for international applicants!! I got rejected to every single Public School and the main reason I was given (when given) was funding. I found out that most of the schools I applied to only take one or two international students per year and none of them posted such relevant piece of information on the program's website. Some schools post that information but some others don't. Unfortunately, the ones I applied to did not stated anything like that. This is, of course, a generalization and should not be taken as if carved on stone. Many public schools have enough funding to take international students, but my advice would be to apply to public and private schools in a balanced way Out of my 10 applications, only 2 were private schools! I disagree with people saying that applying to, say, 10 programs will hurt your chances. I only got asked where I was applying to in 3 of my 10 applications. And in the 3 of them I just answered with 5 names (out of laziness, not to be secretive). I also disagree with people offering advice about not worrying about GRE or GPA. I used to be very vocal about the poor value of GRE as predictor of grad school success. I still mantain that GRE is a useless way to measure research and grad school sucess. BUT, when it comes to grad school applications, it is part of your entire application package and the better your scores, the higher your chances, whether the schools claims to be reviewing your files as a whole, this is, somewhat bullshit in most cases. If you got mediocre scores in your GRE (or in one of the components that happens to be of relevance to your field) somebody with better scores will likely take your place. With this I am not saying that an average or poor GRE score will ruin your, otherwise, brilliant application, but unless you really have an impressive CV, great GPA and LORs, a poor GRE will be something that will put you in disadvantage. Also, a good GRE could compensate for other small faults in your application. So, study with plenty of time in advance for your GRE. As somebody said in this same thread before: GRE will not help you, but will certainly kill you (if bad). If I new then what I know now, I would have only applied to one school. The one I got in!!!! (and saved lots of money).

Age should not matter. But I guess that certain factors related to age do. For instance, the older you are, the higher the chances of already being a parent. Grad school is hard, and being a parent is hard too. Both things combined should require an extra effort and time management that the younger cohort will not have to deal with (not saying that young students should not manage their time, but it is certainly harder to balance family, extracurricular activities and school as opposed to just balance school and extra curricular activities). I am on the old side of the cohort, well into my 30's. However, I have an MD and a MS before starting my PhD. So I guess that accounts for my starting age. Also, I am married with one 2 year old. When I attended med school and grad school, I was single and married without children, respectively. Now I will start this Fall a PhD program having to balance being a wife, a mother and a PhD student. It is possible and I know many who have done it in the past with most success. But it won't be easy. On the bright side, I feel much more mature in terms of attitude and time management, career goals and expectations. I know that my current way to see things, and priorities will be more advantageous than the way I was during my other degrees. That being said, age should not matter to any applicant or adcom. Otherwise, there would be an age requirement for enrollment.

It seems like some schools take longer than others to update status. Among my applications, I am still waiting to hear from two schools. One of those informed me that I was on a wait list by mid January (because I asked via email, otherwise, chances are that I would have never know that I was on a wait list). The other school has remained silent. Both schools's websites say that my application has been "submitted" and nothing more. I have received nothing but crickets when I emailed to ask. I have already accepted an offer and started the whole registration process and I don't really care much about those two schools, anyway. But schools should inform promptly on any application status.

I have always wondered why there is so little about Tulane in this forum!! Tulane is a good and big school and yet you don't see many posts about it. I wonder what would be the reason.

I got my MS in microbiology with a Fulbright-LASPAU scholarship. I usually include it in my CV in the "awards" section.

You are right, my main concern was ranking. But I have come to learn that other factors are more relevant when added up. Also, what smpalesh said is true, because, at the end, I didn't even make it out of the wait list!!!!

Ooops!! I meant School A. And I have aready sent out my acceptance!!! YAY!!!!

I second this poster's recommendations: Fremont, Phinney Ridge and Ballard are also great options. I used to live in the north end of Ballard, pretty good neighborhood but quite long commute, though.

Seattle in general is awesome!!!!! Lived there and love it. Greenlake is a great area, good for a dog, definitely! It is near school and you will find peers to hang out. A bit pricey but if you find a place that matches your budget, I would strongly recommend Greenlake.

Hi Nibs, if you are still thinking on going to Carbondale and still figuring out housing, My advise would be: get grad housing with SIU, it is sort of cheap, and it comes fully furnished. The lease is for one semester only (actually, from august to december, so even less than that. It should buy you time to check out the town, search for places to live in person and buy furniture on a decent pace. Even, you can use Saluki Express to go to school and in the meantime save some money to buy a car as well. Grad housing is not super nice or anything, but you will survive the few months there while looking for a better place, as opposed to get a place online and hating it for the rest of the lease term (likely, one year).

Getting a 3D printer is a great plan C!!!!!!!!! Now, back to the OP: Are you applying to american schools only? I see you are from Iran. I am not sure if this is a generalized thing, but I know that many iranian students are being rejected when applied to STEM programs because of political issues, regardless of their skills and background. I don't know if this is true everywhere, but there is a post here with a link to a memo from some good school whose name I can't remember, but they have a sort of policy on not accepting applicants from Iran if they are pursuing STEM fields. The recommendation comes from the Department of Homeland Security. Try to apply to Europe next year, maybe? Before applying next year to any American School you may want to contact the grad school and the department and make sure you will not be wasting money and time. But then again, I just read it in a post here at the Grad Cafe, this may not be a general thing. In the meantime, if possible, try to get more research/experience to strenghten your applications for next year. Also, make something related to your area that is yours and will set you apart. The 3D printer is not a bad idea! Design your own.

Unless you have financial support through a scholarship or fellowship, If I were you, I'd go to Tulane. They have a good PH school that is well ranked. Is not like you are choosing to go to the cheap crappy school versus the good and expensive one. If you are looking to pursue a PhD later on, a Tulane degree should open doors to other prestigious insitutions with funding. If you are seeking to get a job right out ot school, Tulane is good enough as well. Being away from your SO may tax your overall happiness. Struggle financially may tax your academic performance and moreover, you have to ponder what your career goals are and if attending Columbia, besides the fact that is an Ivy league, is worth the debt you will incurr. This may be a late response and I am sure you made up your mind already, but just offering my belated opinion

Thank you all for your advise. I will wait a couple of days, but as you all noted, I am most likely going to end up at school B.

In general, I think that the reason for being undecided yet lies solely on school rank and my friends living in that city, because, in general, I think school A may be a better fit for me. I contacted a graduate from school B program and she said great things about the program, but the negative issues were regarding funding (and, as stated before, that is a major issue for me) and she also mentioned something regarding the organization of the program (negatively) and I found some similar comments in the results search here at Grad Cafe... I think I would like to go to school A, but I am afraid of making the wrong decision (if I ever make it off the waitlist) in terms of career. Or maybe I am putting too much weight to school rank. sighs.....

I have been offered admission in school A and wait listed in school B. Application season has been stressful and depressing in most aspects, so I really need to be over with it. But I am afraid I will make a rushed decision that I may regret. Pros: School A: - Already admitted (so they consider me a good candidate right away). - Excellent financial support during the entire duration of the degree. - Great city (but never been there) with great weather - The overall ranking of the school is good, but the program ranking is not that great (however, it is an umbrella program, so I could get a mentor from their highly ranked department). - More faculty to choose from - Better funded than program in school B School B: - Better overall rank than school A. The program by itself is not ranked but I guess that is well regarded as the whole subject is high ranked. - Great city where I have lived before and love it. Have friends there too. Cons: School A - Lower rank than school B School B: - Waitlisted - Program is small and not well funded, but they say that can provide funding for admitted students. - Faculty with funding are not a lot, so I may end up working in a second choice lab (but then again, I may end up in first choice as well). As a bit of background: I am a foreign applicant, so funding is an issue because I do not qualify for most funding sources. So, in that regard, I am happy with School A funding offer. Also, I have a family and need to be in a place where I can balance work/life properly. I am almost decided to just send my acceptance to school A and be over with, but I don't know if I should wait for other opportunities (not that I will get a lot, considering the date. Advise will be appreciated.