Warelin

Hi there and congratulations on being accepted to graduate school! I've made a 14 hour move from the north to the south for one program, a 13 hour move for another, and I'll be doing a 13.5 move to the midwest for my PHD program. I also drive home for the holidays which often meant 1-2 very long car rides. When we travel, we try to have some turkey for our dog to eat. This usually results in her being very sleepy and she ends up sleeping for about 12 hours of the car ride. She'll wake up when she notices the car has stopped and it's time for a bathroom break. She goes to sleep immediately afterwards. I'm not sure if the same would happen for cats. I have heard that "Feliway" helps cats by helping them remain calm. If you're using a cat carrier, spray it on the crate 5-10 minutes before placing the cat inside it. The 'cheapest' way of traveling depends on a number of factors. If you feel confident driving a U-Haul, renting a 10" or 15" truck is likely the most affordable rate. This would not provide enough space for all the animals though so you'll both end up driving for all 13 hours. I'd recommend a stopping point if this is your first major move. Alternatively, U-Haul and other companies have shipping containers. U-Haul calls their version "U-Box". I'd recommend getting one more than you think you need as a precaution. You only get charged for as many as you use. The rate depends on how far the boxes are going and generally take 5-7 days to get to the new location. ABF U-Pack offers a cheaper rate if you're willing to drop your stuff at their facility and pick it up at their facility in the city you're in. In a lot of cases, this would result in an additional 15-20 minutes of your time, but might result in you needing to rent a cargo van or U-haul truck for a shorter period of time for the transfer of items from the box to the truck.

“Acceptance of an offer of financial support* (such as a graduate scholarship, fellowship, traineeship, or assistantship) for the next academic year by a prospective or enrolled graduate student completes an agreement that both student and graduate school expect to honor. In that context, the conditions affecting such offers and their acceptance must be defined carefully and understood by all parties. Students are under no obligation to respond to offers of financial support prior to April 15; earlier deadlines for acceptance of such offers violate the intent of this Resolution. In those instances in which a student accepts an offer before April 15 and subsequently desires to withdraw that acceptance, the student may submit in writing a resignation of the appointment at any time through April 15. However, an acceptance given or left in force after April 15 commits the student not to accept another offer without first obtaining a written release from the institution to which a commitment has been made. Similarly, an offer by an institution after April 15 is conditional on presentation by the student of the written release from any previously accepted offer.” -April 15th resolution. In short, it only applied to schools offering you a financial aid package that includes a graduate assistanceship appointment or fellowship. It does not apply to admissions but schools are free to select the dates which they notify applicants and expect applicants to notify them of their decision.

I'd like to add a small note here that the April 15th Resolution applies only to funded offers and only to those schools that have signed onto it. I know that a great number of SLP programs are unfunded and aren't bound by it. With that being said, I wish you the best of luck into getting into your top choices and hope that you hear back soon.

First things first: Congratulations on your decision to pursue a Master's degree! Taking the first step is always the hardest part. Based on your other posts, I understand that you're interested in a Natural Resources MA/MS. I found some of the information you were referring to here: https://dnr.cals.cornell.edu/graduate/field-assistantship-opportunities Qualifications: B.S. (M.S. for those seeking a PhD.). The successful applicant will have a strong background in some combination of rural sociology, energy development, environmental psychology and/or political science (experience in all three areas is not necessary). Applicants should have a record of outstanding academic performance (e.g. >3.5 GPA), strong GRE scores (>75th percentiles), and comfort with working in rural communities. From the way this is worded, it sounds like the minimum requirements are a 3.5 GPA, 75th percentile GRE scores, and comfort working in rural communities. It doesn't sound like that specific position will consider anything below that. The page goes on to explain that the GRE score is only required of US applicants but does require proof of English fluency for international applicants. Have you taken TOEFL or IELTS? Were you planning on applying for this year or next? It says that applications are due today (April 15).

YESSSSSSSSS! I'm so glad this one worked out for you!

April 15th is the deadline for accepting (and rejecting) offers of financial support for universities part of the CGS. There might be a different university deadline for offers without financial support.

Congrats on making your decision! It really is one of the best feelings, isn't it? What does coursework look like at each school? What opportunities for teaching are available at each? How do you feel about living in each city? Does the average graduate student in each city live alone or with roommates? What does conference funding look like? Are there opportunities available outside of teaching? Are there enough professors with different interests in case you realize you'd like to explore something else? Are there enough classes at each university to choose from or does the cohort take the same classes?

Congrats! That's really exciting! I know this one was your top choice so I'm happy it worked out.

We'd be very diverse applicants! I don't imagine Math programs get many applicants with an English BA and MA! WUSTL already has my heart though!

@bigfluffybearcat: Getting everything sorted during application season is complicated, isn't it? There are so many factors to consider that we might not pay much attention to at first. In an earlier e-mail correspondence I've had with PSU, I was told that the majority of students get accepted from the MA to PHD but that it isn't a guarantee. The odds are better than not but I think it is important to note that people who have done well may have been passed on by Penn State and gone elsewhere. You might also find that interests change and that Penn State might no longer be where you want to be either due to academics or socially. This could happen anywhere, but it might also be good to consider how much easy access you have to an airport if you decide to go elsewhere after earning your master's. According to Numbeo: "You would need around 23,894.69$ in Seattle, WA to maintain the same standard of life that you can have with 18,000.00 in State College, PA" With that in mind, $45 over the course of a year isn't that much of a purchasing power in difference. I'd imagine that your purchasing power in Seattle would increase if you have no hesitations in sharing an apartment with other graduate students. Penn State does provide a RIDEpass (for $15 per month) program to graduate students living more than .75 miles from the campus Blue Loop or Red Link. That does mean you'd be expected to walk at least 15 minutes to get home though. If eligible and approved, you would have to pay for the entire year (July 1st to June 31) which would equal $180. If you live closer than .75 miles away from campus, the monthly cost for the pass is $79 per month. It seems like it would take 38 minutes to get from Penn State to Target via Bus. State College is a lovely town and strikes me as a nice place to walk. It may or may not be fully covered by the bus. Having only one form of public transportation available though could result in certain buses not showing and causing significant delays and overcrowded buses though. Another concern might be that there might not be as many options available to leave town if you were to present at a conference or wanted to go to a concert. I've had friends who went to Penn State for undergrad and they've said that the buses in State College can be hit or miss. I've heard more positive than negative, but the negative feedback I've heard seems to mostly occur when there is snow. It's good to hear that both programs are flexible in allowing you to switch. Most programs are flexible but there are some that have their English program and Rhetoric program as distinct programs so switching between the two might be harder to do if not impossible. From my experience, programs want students to succeed when they're teaching undergrads. Programs will do everything they can in order to make it less stressful for you by providing as much support as they can to make you feel more comfortable inside the classroom. Alternatively, you could always ask if they'd consider letting you be a TA in a large lecture or be a writing center consultant during your first year. It may or may not be an option they'd be able to offer depending on the university's structure. Some universities start you off in the writing center or classroom while others consider one or the other only at later stages. Some universities want you to have teaching experience before allowing you the option to be in the writing center whereas some expect you to have writing center experience before you earn teaching experience. Sometimes, the structure is more flexible at some universities. If you can manage to cover those additional expenses you've listed with the grant, it could put you in a really nice position and allow you to cover things like the cost of conferences, housing deposits, and travel. There are also some schools which provide a 'bonus' to your stipend if you bring in outside fellowships. It might be worthwhile to explore this option but I'm not sure what the restrictions are.

I got the same weird e-mail except I never applied to them. I think it has to do with the buttons we pressed when we took the GRE.

I think there are benefits and drawbacks to both scenarios you've presented. I'm going to try to remain unbiased based on the two schools you've mentioned. Penn State: Pros: Would allow you to start next year. Small Rhet-Comp program. Funding for 4 years if accepted into PHD program. Interesting and varied coursework. Mentoring program. Cons: Admission into PHD program isn't guaranteed. There is a possibility that you won't get into a PHD program after applying. (Note: This is true for any MA program that doesn't automatically enroll you into a PHD program). University of Washington: Pros: Location (You indicate that you'd prefer to be in an urban environment). Great transportation system. More diversity. More progressive political view. Cons: Expensive city. Limited coursework? As a result of this, I have some questions. Are you 100 percent sure that you're interested in Rhet/Comp? Do you have previous experience in taking rhet comp courses outside of Freshman Writing? Have you looked at the courses both universities offer? Are there courses at both universities that you'd be interested in taking? If you decide you're not interested in Rhet Comp, would both schools be open to allowing you to change your concentration area? Seattle is generally more expensive to live in, but it might be easier to find a roommate/ live outside the city. Are you open to either? Penn State is expensive since it is one of the biggest state colleges. A lot of apartments tend to not have washer/dryers in units and you might have to drive to a laundromat if there isn't one on site. Are you okay with that? How important is it for everyone to live near by? How important is being able to live without a car? How important is it for you to have opportunities outside of academia? What other opportunities to both colleges provide for earning additional income? Note: @TakeruK beat me on asking whether you'd be able to combine UW's funding offer with your Government's offer.

Going into any unfunded humanities degree is generally not worth it. $60,000 borrowed at a 6% interest rate would result in a monthly loan payment of $666.12 over 10 years. This would result in $19,934.90 being paid in interest during that time. This number will likely be higher if the cost doesn't include the cost of living in NYC. You mention that you'd like to be a literature or writing professor. Generally speaking, that is not what MFA graduates do. Those jobs generally go to people with either an English Literature PHD or a Rhetoric/Composition PHD. (It's also worth noting that these jobs are rare even then as less than 1/3rd of teaching jobs at universities are tenure-track) Sometimes, MFA graduates become Creative Writing Professors; but the current trend is that you'll need either an MFA + PHD in Creative Writing or an MFA + PHD in Literature or Rhetoric/Composition in order to do that. More schools are looking to do hires where one person can take on multiple teaching responsibilities. With an MA degree and substantial teaching experience, community colleges might be a good place to get a tenure-track job if you were interested in teaching writing. The candidate pool has the possibility of being larger though because you'd be competing with applicants that have earned an MA and a PHD.

Congratulations!

It really is hard to say, @kjgv22. It might have. It might have not. Sometimes academic budgets change after application season which also result in a loss of funding for some departments. Sometimes, students take an extra year and get departmental funding which could result in one fewer spot for the upcoming factor. As far as I know, I've never heard of a department retracting a funded offer after the student has accepted it. I think there are conditions in the contract when you accept that protect you against those scenarios.

It's a rare occurrence, but it happens from time to time. It generally occurs when more people than anticipated accept their initial offer. Usually, they move onto the waitlist as a needbe basis. My guess here is that they extended 2 offers for the one waitlist spot guessing that only one would accept. I'm sorry this happened to you though.

That's interesting. The differences between the two lists is a difference of about 120+ plus universities. You'll likely need a release if you accept and withdraw. If you don't accept, there's a chance that you're funding will expire after April 15th. Chances are that you won't need to pay for a semester if you withdraw. I've never heard of a university not giving a student written permission to withdraw after April 15th. Depending on the school, it may or may not burn bridges.

Carnegie Mellon is a member institution. http://cgsnet.org/institutional-members (Listed as Carnegie-Mellon University)

Sorry about that. I had to temporarily lock it down because people were vandalizing the forms and deleting a lot of the data within it. I restored it to an earlier copy and have been approving people who request access. I'm hoping to reopen it back to the original settings soon.

Congratulations to @ClassyBrat420, @Cassifrassidy, @kem2486, @melian517, @heysickah and @PricklyParoxysm on your recent decisions!

From my understanding, schools try their best to lock up class size around April 15th. My guess as to what happened in June was that somebody who committed had to withdraw for personal or family reasons, which is what caused such a delay in an acceptance. It's also the reason why schools send out "interest" feelers before then to see who would be open to accepting a later-than-anticipated slot.

Thanks for the tag, @Hermenewtics. April 15th or after tends to be the biggest "shaker" of movements. This happens at all "tiers" of schools since a lot of people are trying to decide until then and others are unaware that they can make a decision before that date. As for how soon you'll have to make a decision, that varies from school to school. If offered admission on April 14th, a fair number of schools would expect you to make a decision by the 15th. Some might give you a few days longer as a grace period. You could always request to visit campus but you might not get the "full picture" of campus due to it being the end of the semester. A lot of pressure might be applied to offers extended on April 15 or after because they're trying to get things figured out for next year, especially if it's a program that starts you teaching right away.

I'd like to add a note here that there might be some programs that offer joint degrees. Washington University in St. Louis (WUSTL) for example allows you to pursue a joint degree in Comparative Literature and English or Comp Lit with Chinese, French, German, Japanese or Spanish, as well as a certificate in Translation Studies or an emphasis in Drama. They also have a track in Comp Lit for International Writers. I'm not as familiar with Comp Lit, but the English side of things at WUSTL is very interdisciplinary.

Overall, school reputation does not pass onto the department reputation. As examples, let's look at the University of Chicago, which ranks #3 for National Universities by USNEWS. It's considered to be tied for the #1 Business School and the top program in English. It's also ranked #4 for Best Law School. At the opposite end of the spectrum, it's ranked #39 for Best Medical Schools: Primary Care and #29 for Public Finance and Budgeting. Indiana University is ranked #90 for National Universities by USNEWS. It is also considered to be the #1 school for Public Finance and Budgeting, #27 in Business, #55 for Computer Science, #32 in Law School and #42 in Health Care Management. Washington University in tied for #18 in National Universities by USNews. It's ranked #23 for Business Schools, #49 for Computer Science, #18 Law Schools, #3 for Audiology, #12 for Biological Sciences, #1 for Genetics and #1 for Fine Arts. Program rankings vary a lot and rarely ever match the University's ranking. How do you feel about living in either city? Are there people you're interested at working with at both universities? Are the jobs that alumni at school B the type of jobs you're interested in? How do you feel about coursework at each? What about the teaching or research requirements at both?

Here's to hoping this one works out for you!