RNadine21

I'm on the fence about the process. I applied to four schools. Faculty members at all four schools seemed very optimistic about me, despite the fact that I didn't think I was that great of an applicant (3.2 GPA, 3.0 in my major GPA, one research internship, no conferences or senior thesis, etc.) School A really reached out to me and two faculty members showed a lot of interest in me, but there was a serious lack of communication in the department. The department head would tell me to visit one weekend (my favorite was telling me I could come up the next weekend....yes, I can put together a weekend trip to another state in one damn week) and faculty members would tell me to visit another. Then I was offered a doctorate fellowship, but I initially turned it down because I wasn't 100% positive I wanted to commit to a PhD. Well, I was unaware that my acceptance depended on my accepting that offer...after many emails, I found out from the head that the two faculty members committed to other people (while ignoring my emails) and there was no room for me. By the end of all this I was beyond done with this school and had scratched it off my list even though I could have waited for an official decision. School B was basically my last choice. The program was good but I wasn't excited about the location. The faculty was great there, but I wouldn't have gotten a response before I had to accept another offer so I withdrew my application. School C was my dream school. Great faculty members, well-known institution, great city that's closer to home but still far enough away to make my own life. Unfortunately, one faculty member didn't get the funding for the project I wanted to work on, and I wouldn't have received a response before having to accept an offer so again, I had to withdraw. I was however annoyed that a month later I got an email from the same person that acknowledged my withdrawal, saying my application had just passed the first stage and was available for faculty members to view....uhhh, yea. In retrospect this wasn't so bad, I might still be waiting for a response from this school, which would've killed me. So I'm going to School D in August. I completed a research internship here, and while I loved the city, I wasn't sure about the school. My biggest issue was a lack of public transportation (I'm from a city farther north and never really needed a car....or a license for that matter :/). However, the application process went smoothly and I was personally called to be notified of my acceptance (the person who called knew me from the summer before). I'm now very happy with my decision, and I'm looking forward to at least getting my license this summer....maybe a car if things work out.

Yea, my sexual orientation never came up in my applications just because it's not relevant to my field. I am however lucky in that my new city has a growing GLBT community and my school is actually starting a group for graduate students I think I've only brought it up so far with the girl I'll be rooming with, just because I wanted to make sure I can be myself in my home.

I've friended a couple of people on Facebook, but I probably won't actually meet anyone until August since the people I do know of at the moment are spread out around the country.

OMG yes! I'll be so glad to be rid of high-strung and conniving pre-meds who pay for answers to physics tests (I'm not bitter at all, lol) I won't miss the shallow people who came to this school to party on South Beach all the time. I won't miss Miami drivers, or most Miami people in general (no offense if anyone here is a Miami native, just too hardcore for me.) ----------------------------------------------- I'll miss the actual city. I get bored out in the suburbs, but I can't help but smile when I go through the city. What can I say, born and raised in a city. I'll miss the school spirit. I'll miss my friends of course.

Wow, I wonder if this is an issue with the entire school. I applied to the Biology program but asked to have my application deleted when I accepted another offer a month ago. I just got an email yesterday saying my application is up for review by professors....from the same person I emailed a month ago.

I'll be back in my hometown, working and hanging out with family and friends until I move to my new city. I definitely need the money lol.

Hey, I'll be at the College of Charleston this fall. The beaches in the area are really nice and I'm in love with the city. I haven't been anywhere else in the state, but I've heard different things about Clemson. Everyone who goes there loves it, people who don't call it a hick town. It seems like it depends on the person; I know that personally I couldn't handle such a small and isolated town. But congrats!

I don't go to UVA, but my friend is the first openly transgendered person there. He's had a good college experience, but from what I've heard the community still has a long way to go. I still remember when we were freshmen, another friend of mine at UVA told me that some authority figure had commented that he was surprised that nothing happened to our trans friend. But things have changed a lot; my trans friend has spoken at at least one orientation, so it seems like they're really pushing diversity. Overall, I think you'll be alright.

Do you need a motorcycle license for a scooter? I think I read that somewhere but I could be wrong.

I figured I'd add my own question to this topic: How are people finding roomies? I'm looking at Craig's List right now, but I wanted to know what others are doing.

I suppose it depends on your subject. I'm graduating from a well-known research university and all my TAs just wore jeans/shorts and tees, basically what everyone else wears (maybe sneakers if it was something like Organic Chemistry). The only time I ever saw my TAs dressed up was if they had something else to do later that required nicer attire. I do however plan on dressing up a tad just because I look young to begin with and I want to set myself apart from my students....but that's mostly to satisfy my "OMG I don't look old enough!" issue.

I'm glad you're sticking with your decision. I watched a friend face a similar decision (follow her heart/dream school or her boyfriend) and she's following her boyfriend. I won't go into details, but she's basically become a bitter bitch and is taking it out on others. Two hours is alright, and if it's meant to be then you guys will do whatever possible to make it work. Good luck!

Too true. I think a lot of my stress that I was expressing was from things that I can get people's help with and am not getting. But you're right, it's up to me now to get all of this under control. Truly, thanks for the honest truth; sometimes I need it.

Thank you so much everyone! I think I just felt like I was way behind somehow and right now I'm trying to focus on establishing myself as a separate person from the rest of my family (love my family to pieces but...I'd rather not repeat their mistakes). I definitely feel a lot better though

Haha, I can't drive or ride a bike so I completely understand. I'm basically useless without a good public transportation system.

I'm so happy with my career path. But I also enjoy history and anthropology. I'm the fool that watches the History Channel for hours. Although then I'd have to be less lazy and read all the time. For whatever reading isn't fun when it's an assignment (however, historical fiction is my favorite genre). Ooo, or art. I often wish I had the time/flexibility in undergrad to continue taking art classes. LOL, typical Gemini here, can't make up my mind.

So I've been thinking about this from watching the post about renting with bad credit. I don't feel prepared to be a real adult in any sense - emotionally, but especially financially. 1. I don't have a credit card. I never wanted one when I was younger since I saw how my mom was irresponsible with them and ruined her credit (her credit is still shot for various other reasons). I eventually learned that I would need one, but no one has helped me with the process of getting one. So here I am, almost 22....and I've never had a credit card. Now I'm worried that I'm screwed because of it. 2. I don't have a savings account. My mom helped me open up my checking account and that's it. I do plan on opening one up before I graduate, but I still feel far behind. 3. I'm now also scared of renting now. I'm currently renting with my mom as a co-signer (our landlord had us all use our parents as co-signers since we're undergrads). Obviously, my mom's crap credit popped up and I ended up paying double the deposit. I really don't want to go through that again. Thankfully I'm the one who pays my rent or my landlord would have my head. 4. I'm already going through crap with financial things. I had to fight with my mom to help me fill out my FAFSA because she "didn't know" what to do (P.S. she's been filling it out for the past four years). We're still arguing about whether I have to file my own tax return or not. I've been asking her for at least a month to send me my W-2s so I can ask someone and she keeps "forgetting". I know she's been stressed but really? You can't put papers in the mail? I just feel at a loss right now. No one has taught me how to handles my finances and now that I want to take the initiative to build a good financial foundation, no one wants to help me. Literally, the only advise I've gotten so far is to get a credit card through my bank, and that was from my friend. I'm just so frustrated that I don't feel....like I'm in control of my life. I'm about to start grad school - shouldn't I have control over my life by now?! HELP!!

Oh man, this is me basically. I was so accepted with my first acceptance. Then i turned into "Should I wait as long as possible to respond?" Then it came to the point where I didn't have anymore time and decided to accept the offer. That turned into "Am I making the right choice?" and moved to "Am I alright closing the book on these other schools since they haven't gotten back to me yet?" Now I'm at "Can I survive grad school and be an adult?" I feel like the questions won't end for awhile. But I try my best to remind myself of the realities - I got into a good program in a city that I love, the prospects honestly weren't looking so great at the other schools, and I'm more prepared for this than I think I am. Just try to stay positive, and congrats!

Thanks so much! I interned there this past summer and had so much fun

I just wanted to bring this topic back up and add my own situation. I'm most likely moving from south Florida to South Carolina, and I'm at a loss right now. I have no idea how to go about finding a room, or if/how I should get my furniture up there. Any advice?

Just....wow.... I'm going through a similar situation at my current school. A lot of people have well-off parents who bought their nice cars and pay for everything, and it's annoying at best and downright depresses me at worst. I still remember my freshman year when a girl rolled into the laundry room with a cart (the carts we usually use to move in/out) of clothes and announced she had 30 loads. Who has that much clothes?! It's a little worse now when my friends want to go out and eat and buy drinks and pitchers of beer and I just want to be able to keep up with them. I'm so sorry you grew up in such a horrible environment, but it's great that you've found a wonderful support system. Good luck to you!

Yea, I might have to. The thing is at this point I'd only accept School #3 over the school that accepted me, so I'm not sure if I should just withdraw the other two applications now and continue harassing the professors at #3.

I'm flip flopping between NC State and College of Charleston. Charleston has a great reputation in marine biology, great location, ability to work with multiple organizations including NOAA, and I interned there this past summer so I got great connections which also helped me with other schools and I'm sure will help me in the future. But it's not too accessible an area for someone with no car (such as lil ol' me) so I'd either have to beg my family to help me get a car or get really creative. NC State, has a good program, but in Biology, and the program is currently getting revamped (previously the zoology dept) so it's a little of a mess at the moment. But I liked the people I've talked to, it's in a decent-sized city that's more accessible without a car, and it's a new environment (which I'm craving at the moment). Plus it's a bigger school than where I currently am, so lots more new people to meet! So we'll see....

So here's my current situation. I have one acceptance, but I have until the 15th to make a decision. I'm waiting to hear from three other schools: School #1 - I just got over some drama with them (for those who didn't read my previous post, I was offered a fellowship to switch from a Master's to a PhD candidate, apparently took too long to think it over, and the two faculty members I was talking to committed to other candidates in the process and neglected to tell me. I heard from the distraught program director). At this point I'm sure it's useless to contact other people in the program and I've lost the desire to attend at all after seeing a very obvious lack of communication within the program. So I suppose I should just withdraw from that school, right? The director outright told me I wouldn't get a response before the 15th in light of all this. School #2 - I contacted two faculty members and they at least got back to me and told me they'd consider me. But I haven't told them about the 15th yet. I did however tell the secretary and she told me the school is on rolling admissions, so I should let the faculty members know about the date too. However, this is my last choice. So.....I guess I should withdraw from this school also, right? School #3 - My number one choice. The secretary told me my application is currently being reviewed and reminded me to stay in contacted with people since you must be fully supported to be accepted. I talked to two faculty members who were very interested in me last semester. I emailed both twice already and I've heard nothing. Should I try a third time and explain the date situation or give up hope? *Sigh* I can't wait for all this to be over.

I agree, go ahead and explain the situation. As long as they haven't already rejected you it'd be worth it to visit IMO.