vaporeon

I wonder if what I need to vent about is valid, but here goes: I have an NSF GRFP fellowship, and yet I'm still working for my advisor A LOT of hours. I asked him about what the expectations were this year, now that I don't need to get my stipend by working in his lab, and he basically told me that he wouldn't "be able to" give me as strong of recommendations or as much attention if I don't continue working on his lab. I think that could be true--after all, I'll be working more closely with him if I work on his project, but it also felt to me like a thinly-veiled threat (i.e., "keep working for me or I'll screw you in the job market"). I didn't want to just quit, because I know he needs grad students in order to get all the work done, and the work is interesting to me, but I would have liked some acknowledgement that I'm working for free, and that I should also be free to pursue my own project. After all, I thought that was sort of the point of the NSF GRFP. And also, aren't there some kind of laws against this? Or are we grad students completely powerless?

I'm not sure the last part of your statement is true. Last year there were 5 admitted to T&L, and I believe LPO had closer to 10.

FWIW, I did not get a call; I got an email. (last year, LTD)

@jaaaayciee I think my first year, I would have found it detrimental to my teaching. However, my fourth year, I decided to go full-time for my master's rather than teaching at the same time, and I found your professor to be correct. The program was geared toward teachers, and I wound up working full-time because I had the time even while taking a full load of classes. It also depends on what type of school you'll be working in. I worked in a school where I had to write all my own curricula and had multiple preps. If your school is more supportive, you may have the time to do both. Do you have the option of taking just one course during your first semester until you get a feel for how demanding teaching is?

I graduated with $60k in debt, and yes it was worth it as it got me a job making more than double what I had previously made, and it got me into my dream PhD program. But I don't have any dependents.

TF?

I'm not in your field, and I think it varies a lot by field. Harvard offered me $20k, and Columbia $16k. Vanderbilt offered me 2/3 tuition, which was the best deal of them all, but all three options were still a pretty penny.

There's really no telling. The pool of applicants may be very different this year, which could increase or decrease your chances. I would say if you got waitlisted you were at least close, so that should provide some comfort. Here's a thread that may be helpful:

$60k. I'm 2 years out, and in my first year of my paid PhD program, and the debt is down to $37k, which I realize is still a lot. However, my current stipend is enough that I can keep paying on my loans.

I included two references in mine, because I couldn't figure out how to meaningfully talk about my prior work or my interests without citing a few papers. I did not have any direct quotes though, and kept this to a minimum. It worked for me - accepted to my dream school!

FWIW I did the expensive MA in order to get into a top-5 PhD, and I don't regret it at all. However, I have no dependents/spouse to worry about burdening with my debt.

@day_manderly Is the program you're applying to quant-related? Either way I think the 2nd score will be better, but if you'll be using qualitative methodologies, there's no question in my mind.

@day_manderly I would say 2nd, but one thing to think about: does that 2 point difference in quant mean a much larger difference in percentile ranking?

I do think it's too late (or very, very close) to retake. The website should tell you how long it takes to get scores back.

You can search here to see past applicants' acceptances (and rejections) and sometimes they post their scores, gpas and other relevant info.