psych21

I am close to my delivery date and must say that pregnancy in grad school was much easier than I anticipated. My professors, clinical supervisors, and bosses at my assistantship were/are extremely supportive. My first trimester was not so good with lots of nausea but was doable--even though classes were intense that semester. I did comps in my second trimester and found that baby gave me a zen aura I normally don't have... I'm extremely type A, but for comps I studied a moderate amount and never got anxious. A total win! Also, the timeline (delivering in June) made me extremely conscious about the fact that I could not procrastinate on proposing my dissertation. I worked my tail off and proposed in late April, making me the first in my comps cohort to propose. (Have done absolutely nothing on it since.) Got two months of "working from home" for my assistantship which will be my maternity leave (which is awesome--I am technically not allowed to do that, I don't even get paid sick days based on my contract), and I will start that AFTER baby is born--I plan on working until I deliver unless something goes wrong. Sitting at my desk with a huge belly and some Braxton Hicks right now. I'll be back right in time to start the fall semester when I will resume coming to the office, practicum, and data collection for my dissertation. I was/am prepared for any problems (including potential leaves due to illness, etc), but luckily so far everything went smoothly!

I meet with my advisors (have two) as needed. Sometimes that means twice a semester, sometimes every two weeks, sometimes weekly, depending on the issues. Most meetings last 30-60 min. We email regularly, though, and I feel he is up to date in most of what I do. (I tend to be over-involved).

Oh yes, travel and relax... best options. What I did: The summer before starting my program I went out with friends nonstop, sort of to make up the fact that I would be gone for the next 6 years. (In my country, most people stick around their hometown for their entire lives) I didn't read a thing to "prepare" and I didn't feel it was needed, either. I moved to my PhD city 3 weeks in advance and took my time to get settled.

I actually heard about many roommate success stories that started on Craigslist.

Yup. Passport with F1 visa + I-20. Then they will ask you a million dumb questions about the things stated on your F1 + I-20 just to check that you are indeed coming here to study (i.e., why are you coming to the US? What will you study: degree, major? When are you graduating? How are you paying for it? Where are you going to live? - with more or less questions depending on the officer's mood that day). Admissions letter might be a good idea, but I'm willing to bet you won't need it.

Me and my dept also couldn't show proof of full funding for the entire program and thus I had to come on a F1 visa. My husband is in F2-land. F2 sucks.

Fellow international student here, who (somehow successfully) navigates the (very dumb) insurance world. Without employer sponsorship and without access to the Marketplace the NYU plan might be your best option (believe it or not...). Given your stipend as a student you'd probably be eligible for Marketplace plans, but shouldn't count on it until you can really apply. However, the Marketplace is closed now, and will only open again in November. Federal health care and free hospitals seem to be curse words for some people in this country, I wouldn't say them out loud too often.

I was also a high school teacher for 5 years. Dang, we do care.

I don't know. I don't see why they would make a fuss. In my experience F1 interviews were much easier than B1/B2 (tourist) interviews. They tended to check whether you met the requirements for F1, ask you what you're going to study, when, where, for how long, look at the I-20 and bank accounts to make sure you have the money, etc., and that's it. Not like B1/B2 where they do want to look at everything to make sure you're not going to stay illegally afterwards.

Should be enough. They typically want to see that you have enough to cover the number listed on the I-20.

I am on F-1 and only needed to show proof of funds for the first year. No one even asked about the second.

I never had to show any immunization reqs at the airport in the many times I've been back and forth. (only to my university in my first semester because mine does have immunization reqs)

When I did it, no one was contacted. Haven't heard of any case in which they contacted them, either!

In my field, counseling psych, we can't. It's pretty common for (US) students to have part-time practicum positions at VA hospitals, and international students don't get to do that.

Sorry, I don't have experience with anything like this. However, if it was me, I'd drop. The risks appear too large, especially given that you haven't been able to get that high of a grade in tests so far. You're also lucky you still get to drop this late in the game, I know my school's window for withdrawing is earlier.

Like Eigen said, I'd also double check if you can even stay in your program. In my program one C and you are on probation, second C and you are kicked out. One D or one F, kicked out.

Counseling psych programs typically have a strong social justice component and allow you to practice, which sounds like what you are wanting. The Univ of Tennessee even has a social justice/advocacy track in their counseling psych program.

I am in a counseling psych PhD program and our program also offers an MS in counseling psych. Funding is available but very hard to get as PhD students get priority, thus most MS students are not funded. Research opportunities are ample--I usually see the opposite thing, MS students not taking advantage of them. I'd go with counseling psych if possible if your end goal is a PhD program, as counseling is accredited by CACREP and the PhD programs in counseling psych are accredited by APA. That means MS programs in counseling psych tend to align more with APA standards. The main reasons not to do Experimental Psych, in my opinion, are the introductory counseling skills classes and practicum. With a MS in counseling psych you will have intro skills classes that most PhD programs then will waive; also, you will do a full year of practicum and then you can count those hours toward your AAPI internship application. Otherwise you'll have to get those classes and prac hours in the PhD program which will make the whole endeavor longer.

I will have to say, though, that living in Kansas without a car is one of the most difficult things I've done in my life, no kidding. (Harder than writing a thesis and a dissertation.) I felt like I was freaking TRAPPED in my apartment. Public transportation around here is an effing joke. I live in Lawrence, but have lived in Emporia as well, and been car-less in both places at some point.

Blurry, I'm sorry, those are the real numbers. It's what they estimate as cost of living. In my opinion they are always higher than what they should be. Ask your dept about the possibility of writing a letter showing you will be able to cover those expenses. It's my understanding that a J1 visa (visiting scholar or exchange student--they count PhDs as "visiting scholars") requires you to show proof of funds from a SPONSOR (hence the reason for not using family funds as main source of support) for the ENTIRE DURATION of your program, and that a F1 visa (student) requires you to show ANY proof of funds for the FIRST year. That's why I opted for F1. However, the F2 visa is extremely tough, so if you can shoot for J1 and don't mind the "two-year back home" requirement (which has the possibility of a waiver, but not everyone gets it) then absolutely go for J1.

I had the most old school phone before grad school, and when I started my PhD I got a Blackberry. I love it. Best part? Emails. Oh, and I have it with Virgin Mobile, which means I pay $35 a month with no contract. I'd say get some Android phone on Virgin, they are cheap and your monthly bill will always be $25.

I stay in touch with my MS advisor. We still collaborate on articles, presentations, etc. In fact, I present more with her than with my current PhD advisor. I email her whenever something big happens (but so far my big news were good), we have seen each other a few times, flew together to a conference, will fly together to another one, etc. I think it's a very important relationship and she kind of helps me stay connected with my MS field, which is not the same as my PhD field (but my professional goals lie somewhere in between, so I'm fine, I just need to stay tuned to both fields). Shoot emails whenever you can, let them know how you're doing, ask about how they're doing. They'll appreciate it! After all, they believed in us enough to write letters recommending us, so they think we'll have interesting stories to tell.

Oh yes. I'd list it under "presentations," even though you didn't "speak the words" at the conference, you created the work and your colleague presented it. That's what collaboration is all about

It's a happy story here, with a happy ending. While my family strongly supports education ("the one thing no one can take away from you is what's in your brain," used to be my dad's mantra while growing up) they think my Ph.D. takes too long and they would have LOVED to see me stop after my masters. But that's not me. I live, breathe, love academia. I have truly found my place in the world, and they can sense that. I don't have to conceal the "nerdy-smart-bookish" part of myself to have friends anymore, like I've had to do everywhere else. Plus, I'm an international student and it takes me around 24hr and 1500$ (x2... I'm married) to go home. My family and friends (except 2 friends and my sister) would love it if I was living in the suburbs of the capital city in my country, raising my second child (or even the first... as long as I had a mini-me running around) and being a successful practitioner, like I was before coming here. However, I knew it was all temporary and that I'd eventually be a poor grad student again. Luckily my husband is really supportive and loves it here! (loves his graduate program too) Although I know deep down he might have enjoyed that comfortable life, and I know he's wanted children for a long time now, he knows I would be miserably unhappy without being allowed to do my PhD. He sees how happy and fulfilled I am, he is happy and fulfilled himself, and I couldn't have asked for a happier ending. Oh... and although my family misses me horribly, Skype helps a lot; so does telling them about scholarships, presentations, publications, and all those academic successes. They can't wait until the book chapter I wrote with a professor is finally printed and they can have "a book that I wrote." They realize I would never have had those opportunities at home, and they are really supportive.

People, when you ACCEPT offers, it means you INTEND TO GO THERE. (Unless something horrible happens, or something like that.) Not that you're still on the market. They're counting on your commitment. So, no, you should not stay on waitlists.