KLPLANTER

It is definitely reasonable to ask. Flying in from abroad for visitation is intense. More power to you. The biggest factor in your decision should be whether or not faculty are willing/able to support your research. You can determine that via email.

sorry to mis-sex/gender you. it can be offensive. not interested in starting dialogue. My intention was to police you, which I did, and I would do it again.

I don't speak on behalf of all women, but I will always speak up in these types of situations. Dude uses slur, I'm saying something.

it is not supposed to be an insult. Just because you are not personally offended does not mean that it's not offensive to other women, who you do not speak on behalf of. "No need to make a deal of it" is where you stand. That the term was directed at you, is not really relevant. The word was used. It's offensive. You don't get to hush a conversation just because you personally are not offended. Your contribution says something about you personally, and not the conversation in general.

says more about you than about the fact of the matter.

WOW exile "douche" from your vocabulary before you start in your program. Super offensive

OMG dont--they specifically say not to.

People, stop contacting departments. Setting yourself up for the following scenario: Committee sitting around reviewing applications and your application comes up. "Oh yeah, that's the prospective student who nervously and impatiently emailed us. How unprofessional. NEXT."

It happens and has nothing to do with good or not good program. It has to do with how not-for-profit organizations abide by local and state-level laws for distributing money and also how local bureaucratic systems are designed.

Your funding package will likely NOT put you above the federal poverty line, which means that you'll have various state and federal taxes taken out each pay period (of course) but you'll end up getting almost everything back as a fat check at tax time. Make sure you file though!

Okay so the two biggest things to understand about your funding package is 1) whether or not the package offered includes the tuition waiver and 2) whether it's a 9 or 12 month offer. (Context: I'm transferring from one phD program to another.) At my current program, my total funding package is 24k a year. Sounds nice, especially with a way-low cost of living. However, this package includes the value of my tuition waiver, which is ~6K a semester, 12k a year. My current funding package is also only for 9 months. Summer funding is optional and competitive among grad students. So 24k - 12k = ~12k, to split over 9 months. My cash in hand is about $1,300.00 a month. $12,000 of my contract offer is basically ghost money. It's there and it's mine, but it's actually a tuition waiver. This is not always how it works. One of the schools I'm interested in offers 19k over 9 months + tuition waiver. That means 19k cash in hand AND you don't have any tuition costs. School A offers you a contract at 30k and school B offers you 15k. The actual value in terms of living wages can be very different if school A's offer is 30k and tuition is $10,000 a semester and the contract assumes the waiver will come out of that contract cost. School B contracts at 15k and that doesn't include the tuition waiver, it's just 15k over 9 months. Throw in school C, which offers you 14k cash over 9 months, a tuition waiver, and guarantees 3k summer funding for your first three years....you have to weigh the options!!!!

thank u @pingaling for making a solid contribution to this thread <3

dude, dont listen to us. you need to be listening to the faculty in those departments. they are all similarly ranked so the best school for you is the best fit for you. also, we aren't even in grad school yet, let alone the profession. Why would we have any idea which program is best? we know nothing!!!

Loyola grad admissions sent out an email to let us know they were still reviewing applications. Saw sender in inbox, felt a rush.

Based on your track record so far I think it's safe to say you can expect that.