Warelin

Quick note on Berkeley! People who come in with MAs are definitely in the clear minority among Cal's students, but it does vary wildly year to year (or at least has in my time here, admitted four cohorts ago). In the cohort that just finished their first year, for example, only one student has an MA (there are more if you count MFAs); in next year's admitted cohort, though, 5 of the 11 students do. I'd say the average number hovers closer to three-ish, so anywhere from a third to a quarter of the cohort. I wouldn't not apply simply because you have an MA!

It's always good to have an update! Thanks! My knowledge on Berkeley was based on information from earlier years. With that being said, the trend does seem to be getting more ma-friendly. The program I accepted has generally been mostly ba-only; my specific cohort is evenly mixed. Other programs I was accepted to also seem to be similarly balanced. I think programs are trying to take a more balanced approach as well as working to lower their time to degree average. Fit still remains the most important factor.

Are they both offering similar amounts of funding? Is there a professor you prefer? Is there an area you prefer? 

I think that this is a very personal question and that you should always consider your answer carefully.
Are you home enough to care for one? If you plan on going home for Christmas or insert holiday here, you'll either need to hire a pet sitter or crate train. Or be prepared to drive with a dog in your car.  Do you have enough time in your schedule for at least 2 daily walks? (On average, it's recommended that healthy dogs get at least 30 minutes of exercise twice a day. (If you're gone for an extended part of the day, do you have the budget to hire a dog walker? Do you have enough time to research food for your dog? Are you financially ready? Do you have enough money to cover the dog's expenses. Some expenses may include annual vet exams and vaccinations, food, toys, beds, shampoo, cleaning supplies, grooming costs, and unexpected pet emergencies. 

As a side note: If you decide to adopt a cat or dog, be prepared for a lot of apartment and house rentals to be unavailable as an option and be okay with that. I've seen way too many people adopt a puppy, then get bored 2 years later when the puppy is no longer new and abandon them at the pound when they get bored and want to live somewhere that doesn't accept pets. Roughly, 33-50 percent of housing will not accept pets.
I've traveled with my dog for the past 6 years. We've moved into multiple apartments and houses across multiple states. I've never been interested in a place that wouldn't have both of us regardless of how nice the location or apartment or house was.

As a side note: If you decide to adopt a cat or dog, be prepared for a lot of apartment and house rentals to be unavailable as an option and be okay with that. I've seen way too many people adopt a puppy, then get bored 2 years later when the puppy is no longer new and abandon them at the pound when they get bored and want to live somewhere that doesn't accept pets. Roughly, 33-50 percent of housing will not accept pets.
I've traveled with my dog for the past 6 years. We've moved into multiple apartments and houses across multiple states. I've never been interested in a place that wouldn't have both of us regardless of how nice the location or apartment or house was.

I think that answer really depends on how much time you have to devote to each application and how many applications you can afford. There are several schools that do offer fee waivers. (Note to everyone: I'd be more than happy to point you in the direction of fee waiver policies if I'm aware of any at schools you're interested in.) Some schools will also accept GRE reports after acceptance if you ask even if their official page states otherwise. I think the majority of departments do want to ensure that they get the people that can contribute to their department the most and would be happy in their environment. Last cycle, I taught 5 classes at the undergrad level, took 2 classes for my MA, had a 8 hour graduate student research appointment, and applied to more than 15 colleges. My total cost was under $800. I ended up rejecting an offer from a top 10 school in rhet comp to attend a literature program in the top 35. I attended both open houses and was impressed by the city, faculty, and atmosphere that the literature program had. I had to get permission to miss classes during the second semester but I think the visits allowed me to gain a better understanding of all the colleges I did visit.

Flexibility and pay will never be enough of a reason to enroll in any program if you don't love the field. I think one of the best quotations I've heard is this:
"Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life."

There are plenty of jobs out there that offer flexible scheduling, decent pay and benefits. No job is worth it if you feel the stress will continue and you'll have a mounting debt.

For PowerPrep and the Kaplan test: Were there questions on antonyms and analogies? If so, those questions are no longer on the GRE and haven't been for a few years now. Instead, those have been replaced with text completion questions and sentence equivalent questions. The passages also feel longer than when I first took the test so that's important to consider in order to budget your time considerably. Some of the test also requires you to select more than one answer and will only award you if you select all the correct answers to the test. The qualitative section has also changed to include multiple correct answers in which all answers must be selected in order to be awarded credit for the being correct. I'd say that whichever one better mimicked this situation is likely to be more accurate on your exam. Questions that have multiple answers will tell you.
 

Hello GradCafe Community,
I would like to introduce myself as one of the new Admins on TheGradCafe! I’m excited to join the community and serve it in any way I can.
As some of you may or may not have noticed, TGC recently changed ownership. We have long viewed TGC as one of the most valuable communities for future and current grad students. It is our honor to be in a position to help this community continue being a top resource.
In recent years, the forum ownership was unable to dedicate time to help grow the community. We are excited to announce a renewed focus on growth and engagement. We realize the members are what make this community great and it is our intent to stay in the background and provide the resources to allow the forum to flourish.
While we hope for a smooth transition, there are always bumps in the road. We ask for patience as we work through them, but are confident this community will continue to offer tremendous value for years to come.
What to look for:
Reinstate blog posting (look for an exciting announcement regarding awards for top posters) Recognize top contributors on the forum each month with prizes Implement feature requests Improved server hardware for peak traffic season(already complete) Improved look and feel on the non-forum pages(thegradcafe.com, thegradcafe.com/survey/) Adding resources to help potential grad students along their journey(content, faqs, tools, etc.) An open ear to suggestions...we are eager to help and if there is something that can improve the community, we will do our best to add it If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me and I will be happy to discuss!
See you around the forum!
Thanks,
TGCA

Flexibility and pay will never be enough of a reason to enroll in any program if you don't love the field. I think one of the best quotations I've heard is this:
"Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life."

There are plenty of jobs out there that offer flexible scheduling, decent pay and benefits. No job is worth it if you feel the stress will continue and you'll have a mounting debt.

Play to your strengths, not to your weaknesses. You have a lot of incredible experience that can be discussed in your CV and SOP, and like @CulturalCriminal said, I don't think you need to focus on explaining yourself. The successes my husband has seen outside of school in his two years between undergrad and starting at Harvard this fall (publishing a couple book reviews and a short story) very likely contributed to his acceptance at his dream program, so the work you've done outside of school can be just as valuable as what you've done in school.

LIFE IS TOO SHORT TO WORK IN A DEAD-END CAREER YOU DESPISE!!!!!!!!! 
Sorry I had to scream that at Billy Mays volume, but it’s too important not to yell at the top of one’s lungs. 
With all due respect to your dad, he’s flat-out wrong. That’s the attitude of people who despise their jobs and careers. If YOU don’t think law is right for you, then it ISN’T!! I applaud you for taking the absolutely terrifying but necessary-for-your-soul approach of hitting the reset button. 
Listen, I’m not saying that practical realities shouldn’t be considered. After graduation, I needed to pay the bills, so I got a job that, while boring and utterly irrelevant to what I want to do, is nevertheless convenient in the short term (good hours for me and decent pay). Am I happy about it? Well, let me put it this way— I’m not jumping for joy when I get to work every day. But am I anhedonic at this point? No. Though my job sucks, it keeps me out of debtor’s prison, puts food on the table, exposes me to the business world (however I’m not impressed), and gave me sufficient time to prepare for grad school (both as an applicant and a person). Thankfully, I won’t be doing it much longer. But it played an important role in my life these last few years. 
I can’t promise that hitting the reset button will work out for you on the first try. I sincerely hope that you aren’t shut out, and I’ll be crossing all crossable appendages for your success. But if this cycle doesn’t go the way you wanted, then hit the reset button again and hustle your way to happiness. You might have to take a stopgap measure (like I did) that doesn’t provide much in the way of short-term happiness. But if you keep looking toward the long game, and work your ass off, I’d venture to bet that you’d have a good probability for success.
The most important lesson, however, is that you’re the one who defines your own happiness and success. I don’t care how trite this sounds, but DON’T GIVE UP and DON’T allow yourself to become content with misery or bitterness. I’ve seen both destroy many people, but you don't have to allow yourself to be destroyed! There’s no limit to how many times you can hit reset. Life’s too short not to. 

I speak for everyone here when I say that I, FreakyFoucault, of the Grad Café, by the utter lack of authority not vested in me, hereby declare, in the most solemn of asseverations, that you, @Warelin, also of the Grad Café, are forthwith granted tenure at the institution of your choosing!! 
Have a nice career! 

THANK YOU, @Warelin and @Wall7213. Husband is nervous about heading to Harvard for his visit, so this is reassuring and helpful.

Since my friends have already answered your other questions, I thought I might jot down some notes here. Funny enough, husband did reach out to one professor almost a year before he applied (when he was debating taking a Master’s offer at Cambridge). He never responded, but that ended up being the first professor who called him from Harvard. Did it make a difference? Unlikely. He probably never even read husband’s email. But others have found success in contacting professors at prospective schools I think. We didn’t contact anyone else. I do recall some applications asking you to note faculty you’ve had contact with, though. 
This has less to do with what the school explicitly wants and perhaps more with the experiences of those who have applied at those schools. Kind of like how husband and I now know a bit more about what’s harvard was looking for, others who have applied to schools you’re interested in may have found that reaching out to professors did or didn’t work for them. 

From my understanding, fellowships are not taxed during the semester, but you are responsible for paying federal taxes on it when you file taxes. Stipends and Fellowships are not taxed social security or medicare because grad students are exempt. However, each school may have various fees that you are responsible for, a portion of the healthcare bill you're responsible for paying and the cost of books throughout the semester. I think a fair estimate is that you'll be taxed 10-12 percent of your stipend. But International rules of stipends earned in the US may vary country to country so it's best for you to consult someone at your school that specializes in that to determine what, if any, portions should be saved for such a case.

The current living wage for each school does not tax anything, so everything listed is pre-tax.

It reflects the purchase power of the stipend in that city.

To All: My apologies for anyone trying to make edits in the past 12 hours. It seems someone adjusted the settings to make it a "view only" document and locked it up. I've made the document public and have prevented any editors from changing the access. This should cause the issue to never happen again.

It is! Any information that anyone contributes is extremely helpful and I'm sure future applicants would be grateful. I know some schools change their funding frequently to adjust for COL whereas others haven't had an change in years or don't announce their changes.

A 1-1 teaching load means you'd be teaching one course each semester.
A 2-1 teaching load means you'd be teaching 2 courses in the fall and 1 in the spring.

@TakeruK Is there any chance this can be pinned?

Let's take a look at this financially and assume the following. 95,000 is loans is borrowed at the current standard rate of 6 percent for unsubsidized graduate loans.

Over 10 years, that's a monthly payment of $1,054.69. In addition to the 95,000 dollars borrowed, you'd be paying $31,563.37 in interest. You could elect to pay the loans over 25 years at a monthly payment cost of $612.09. Doing so would result in your total interest being $88,625 or nearly double the amount you borrowed.

 

Admissions is often something we'll probably never understand. On the opposite end of the spectrum, I applied to approximately 16 schools and was either accepted or waitlisted at six of them. My interests were diverse. I was accepted into at least 1 program from each major field of interest.
I ended up rejecting a fellowship with higher pay at a "better ranked" school because I felt I could better achieve my goals and get the support I needed at the school I ended up choosing. I also felt there was a better connection with the faculty and staff at this school and felt that the area was one I'd feel more comfortable with. Often in times, I feel that we may not consider the location enough and the impact it has on our growth, lifestyle, and so forth. While we'll spend a considerable amount of time in the class, is the location something you'd be happy with? Some people need the city to be very bike friendly; others don't mind the need for a car. Some prefer being in the hustle of a city; others prefer to be secluded. Division 1 Sports might be huge at some schools and non-existent at others. While you may wish to not attend these events, it may impact the students you teach and how they behave on certain days. Some departments are huge; others are smaller in number. Both might impact how often you see certain members of your cohort.

The good news is that there are several schools that do offer funded MAs and that may offer you the opportunity to continue on to their PhD. Schools that come to mind are the University of Nebraska, University of Illinois, Pennsylvania State University, and Indiana University. The advantage of a program such as these are that some offer automatic acceptance into their PhD program upon successful completion of coursework while also allowing you the flexibility of either applying to other schools if you find your interests have changed or allowing you to leave with a Master's degree if you find that you no longer wish to pursue a PhD.