2015ponderings

I will be starting a political science Ph.D. program in a different state this fall and am hopeful to get involved in the community in some way. Political science or education related opportunities would be preferred. What kind of outreach or volunteering have you all done or considered? How did you go about contacting people to get involved? I browsed the forums and did not find much on this in general let alone tailored to political science graduate students. Any thoughts are appreciated.

Yes, 1-3 are correct. Thanks for the input.

Related to this topic, and I'm hoping to get some feedback on my specific situation. I am currently deciding between two programs. Each has their own strengths and weaknesses but are relatively comparable as programs, including funding when accounting for cost of living in the areas. I thought I had made up my mind (let's call it 95% sure) and was set to tell School A this week that I am accepting their offer. But... in the last week or so I received an email from School B offering me a few extra thousand dollars for half of my program length. That brought my previously 95% sure self to about 75% sure. Previous advice in this thread indicated it would be inappropriate to leverage funding with a school that isn't your top priority, which I had no intention of doing with School B since I didn't consider it my top priority... this just kind of happened on their end, I guess. I know School A has potential to offer incoming students a little more on top of the standardized stipend, though I am unsure of specific necessary conditions. Both schools are aware of being one of two programs I am deciding between and know who the other school is (through ways other than me). Should I flat out tell School A my funding is now better at School B, as suggested in this thread? Should I try to be as subtle as possible, or just flat out ask? Money talk in a situation like this where it isn't really like a job offer that can be negotiated makes me a little uneasy. Thanks in advance for any and all suggestions!