rosali

@fuzzylogician Thanks for your response--it's given me more concrete things to consider than my nebulous "is this just not a cool move, or is it really a terrible thing to do" question. I'm fairly certain that the school won't lose funding (I got a partial scholarship, but it's internal, and I haven't accepted it--I assume it will go to someone else), and admissions is rolling until June. I don't think I'd be burning any bridges as it's a taught Masters' program, and my contact with professors in my department has been minimal. I don't have anyone I can talk to about this in my day-to-day life, so thanks again--I really appreciate your help! **Edit: I do want to add that I was given a two-week deadline to accept School A's offer, and was unable to get an extension due to offices being closed for Christmas break

Hey all! I'm in a bit of a dilemma (as are most people on this forum right now, I assume)--I was accepted into two great Masters programs in Europe, and because of weird timing and issues with reference letters, ended up accepting a spot in my second choice school before hearing back from my first choice school. I'm wondering about the ethics of withdrawing from my second choice school--I don't want to be a jerk, or inadvertently make enemies of anyone in my field, but I do want to go to my first choice school! Also, I was wondering about the April 15 deadline--does that apply to European schools as well as American ones?

I'm in a similar situation, but for a Masters. I got into both my programs, got a decent scholarship to my 2nd choice, and have the chance to apply for some at my 1st choice, but nothing guaranteed. Unfortunately, I can't visit them though, since I applied to Masters programs outside the US. This is far more stressful than I anticipated. *EDIT* ALSO, congratulations on your acceptances!!!

Hello everyone! I'm happy to be on this thread, because it means I got into both programs I applied to, but also FREAKING OUT, because I don't know which to pick. I applied to two very good schools for a Masters degree, and got into both programs (!!!!). Program A gave me a partial scholarship right off, and I've applied for some competitive full and half scholarships for international students (like me). I've interacted with faculty from this program via email, and they were nice enough. I also had to put the deposit down for this program, because I was accepted pretty early and couldn't extend the deadline as long as I needed to. I have no scholarships for Program B yet, but I do have the opportunity to apply for some. I enjoyed my interactions with faculty more--they seem very friendly and supportive--and the program is internationally more prestigious. Both programs offer similar areas of focus for what I'm interested in, and seem like equally good fits for my academic interests. WHAT DO I DOOOOOOOOOO?

I don't think there's really a bad time to send someone a gift--they'll most likely appreciate a gift from you whenever you can send it! Personally, I'm planning on giving my recommenders gifts whenever I happen get the chance to go to campus (I live in the same city where I got my undergrad degree). I'm making them bagels, because I love baking and that's my specialty. Otherwise, I agree with Psygeek--something small and light that you think they'll appreciate is a perfect gift!

I have a slew of backup plans, ranked from most to least outlandish: -Become a shepherd in the foothills of Catalunya -Open a bagel truck where I make fresh bagels and sell them with interesting flavors of cream cheese -Teach English abroad -Teach English in the US -Taking the prerequisite courses for a speech language pathology degree and then applying for Masters/PhD programs in that I've thought quite a lot about this.

Hello everyone! Throwing my anxiety into the mix: I'm only applying to a few Masters programs--two applications are in for linguistics programs in Ireland, and I'm working on one more for a program in Barcelona. They say that I should be hearing back within a month or so of applying, which is drawing near for the Ireland programs. I'm freaking out hard, especially since I'm not applying to very many places.

My current reading isn't really related to titles mentioned in recent comments, but I'm always up for talking about books, so I'm joining in. Currently reading Chernow's Alexander Hamilton, L'enfant bleu by Henry Bauchau, and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (because the other two are pretty heavy/dense, and I need something to lighten it up.) L'enfant bleu is tangentially related to my academic interests, but I'm currently taking something of a break from heavy academic reading. I've got some lined up for after I knock out at least one of the three I'm currently working on (yay Lacan!), but for the moment it's just for fun.

Awesome. Thank you guys so much; your input is so helpful!

I'm in the process of writing emails to POIs (not going to send them until after finals are over, though), and I have some questions about etiquette. 1. Can I send emails to more than one professor in the same department at the same university, or is that frowned upon? 2. How much familiarity should I demonstrate with their work? Like "I've read some of your recent articles and they're really cool and intersect with my own interests," or "I've read everything you've ever written"? Somewhere in between? 3. How much should I include on my own work? "My undergraduate thesis was on......and I'm interested in studying.....as a PhD student," or should it be more in depth? I've had literally no guidance in this process, and I really want to do it right this time, so any help you can give me would be much appreciated! -Rosali

Yeah, customs officers in the US aren't especially nice to foreign travelers. I've seen them be kind of rude to people with foreign passports, only to be really nice to me once they see I'm American. "Welcome home!" and things like that. It's a weird juxtaposition. I wonder how reentering is going to go for me this time. My visa situation is kind of weird (because Andorra doesn't issue visas), and I think that's something they look at. Also, a good number of people think Andorra's a made-up country...

It's funny, I'm a pretty well-travelled American, and I've never had an issue returning to the US. I think my American passport, and the fact that I look like I'm 12 really does the trick.

I definitely think there are some trolls. Probably not a lot, but definitely some. Why waste the $100 on the application fee if you're going to reject the acceptance with such vitriol? Some ridiculous vendetta against NYU?

I've only lived in my current home for 6 months, and I'm worried about all that, too (except taxes, because...Andorra). Also worried about how I'm going to break the news to my parents (who think I'm going to move back in with them) that I'm going to be living with my boyfriend (of 5 years) when I move back to Massachusetts. My parents are wicked old school.

Guys! I'm fairly sure I'm getting rejected from all my programs, but I found some really awesome ones I didn't even know about to apply to next year! I'm getting all excited again! Also, I'm making channa masala for dinner, and that's exciting too!