Jae B.

As far a typical top-15 program is concerned, your stipend comes with a TA-ship. For these programs, there are very few matriculated PhD students a year, and of the three admitted AHMA apps at Berkeley for example, I doubt any of them will have a difficulty in securing further fellowships. Perhaps at a large PhD program, one that admits around 20 a year, you would have competition in applying for fellowships, but even so, how plausible is it that student A is selected over student B since his funding is slightly greater?

For the record, I'm not trying to be arrogant, and yes I am irritated, but none of my frustration is directed at you personally, so please don't take it so.

My intention for starting this thread is merely to let those know who have multiple offers to notify already. Especially those institutions that they have no intentions of attending. And if you're holding out at all, I sincerely hope that it is pure confusion and not because you're trying to add a few more dollars to your check. Yes, I am aware that you, ResPublica, are not necessarily referring to money, but in essence you are, you stated that it is important to be in a higher funding tier, which is more money, and by being in that tier you will have more opportunities... I don't buy that.

The higher up we move the more selective and competitive it gets, but what funding tier one is in could not, should not, and in a rational world would not matter to a committee allocating further fellowships. ***Unless perhaps you refer to a quite large PhD granting program.***

You severly misunderstand. The idea of holding out for more funding is to get in a position to receive grants, research assistantships, dissertation fellowships, travel grants, ect as the degree progresses. My concern in this respect is not that I have a better apartment but that I have a fuller C.V. full of the research opportunities afforded to me by having been in a better funding tier during my graduate studies. Personally, none of my offers are oozing with money, so it behooves me and my family to wait and see if something better turns up, which is a significant possibility according to one of the adcom members.

Your reply reeks of arrogance and irritation. While I disagree with the notion of posting a thread like this, I at least made an attempt at civility when I replied.

Yes, my intention is that those people who already know where they do not want to go, but were accepted, to let them know. Although to sit on offer "until the last minute" as you put it, in order to extort more money from a program by holding your decision hostage is quite juvenile. The adcomm here at UPenn has on numerous occasions said how frustrating it is when applicants wait until even April to notify them, the understanding is that they notified accepted prospectives in mid-to-late January, it is professional courtesy to likewise be reasonably punctual in replying.

Also, as far as how ones future CV is concerned, to think that a difference of a few thousand dollars a year of a stipend given to you during your graduate program has any significant bearing on your marketability is ridiculous. What is important is where the degree is from, what published works one has, the quality of your dissertation, what those on your dissertation committee have to say about your potential, your prior teaching experience, your current research interests and pending publishing rights, what international fellowships and research one has achieved, and your fit for the department at hand. To assume that any school would say: "wow, applicant A received $17,500 a year as a stipend from Stanford, and applicant B received $18,500 a year as a stipend from Duke. Let's give the tenure-track position to the guy that was offered a grand more, because that means he's better." C'mon. Really think about what your saying here. To think that an institution would even take this into consideration is like saying that when your shopping for a new car you choose to buy the Volvo over the Audi because the Volvo has a bigger ashtray. While that might matter slightly to a heavy smoker, it is just silly to think that it should be considered important. There are 50 more important things that matter to an institution when reviewing job applications than who received more in funding, especially when it varies from year-to-year and region-to-region and even school-to-school in the same region on the same year!


To hold out on notifying a school for the sake of trying to bleed more from them, especially in a year when you are damn lucky to have gotten into anywhere, is unbelievably infantile and predatory. If this is how any of you choose to make any of your life decisions than maybe you should turn down all your offers, and instead go to Haiti and sell cans of Campbell's soup for $8.00 a can to the newly homeless and destitute.

Hi all,

I have a serious dilemma. Does one W on a transcript hurt my chances when applying for a master in public policy?
I have a good cum. GPA and work experiences. However, does one W hurt when applying to places such as Georgetown and Brown--that's where I would like to apply.
I would like to apply to places that has strengths in domestic health policy. I plan to make a career in DC.

Cum GPA: 3.5 - Political Science major


Work experience:
-1 year of Epidemiological research on burn victims in the US and HK at medical institutions in the US and HK
-2 years of scientific / medical research at the Department of Medicine and Department of Plant Pathology within my school
-1 quarter (10 weeks) as legislative intern for a State Representative
-1 quarter (10 weeks) as congressional intern / assistant to regional representative with a U.S. Senator who is a leader in healthcare and financial reform
-1 quarter (10 weeks) as congressional intern with House Majority Whip in DC


O, I have done all of this by the end of my junior year of college. I'm still a baby or no0b....

Thank you very, very much!

Mr. Cheeseman

---I will NOT miss a long 40+ hour work week on my feet. While I know grad school will be a TON of work, it is the kind of work I enjoy--- a steady, comforting work, not a job that requires me to kiss peoples' asses on a regular basis.
---I will not miss the area I live in. I grew up here, and I'm really ready to leave and grow up a little bit.
---I will not miss having to answer the question: "So, what are you going to do with an English major? Teach?" Yes, I am, but at the college level and I will be a superstar professor, thank you very much!

I will miss my family, a little bit. And free time! But, thankfully, LOST is ending before grad school, so that cuts out a lot of my TV time...

I'm always hunting for messenger bags made of leather and canvas with good metal hardware. I bought a Fossil bag two years ago that has held up admirably, and it looks very well-loved. I actually use it as my daily knockaround bag as well, so it sees a lot of use. I've been using messenger bags for years, so I don't have any neck or shoulder pain to speak of, although my bone structure is probably altered from the years of one-shouldering it.

I *have* trained myself to not overload it with books, however. If I know that I'm bringing extra books onto campus, I'll carry a cute reinforced canvas tote to spare the seams on my nicer bag.

I think you should definitely talk to the professors. I don't really see how this can backfire. What do you have to lose?
If there is a professor you have been in touch with, talk to him/her as discreetly as possible. If my understanding is correct, there might have been some negligence on the lady's part, so perhaps she simply does not want the faculty to know and get into trouble. Just make sure to phrase your email carefully not to get her into too much trouble since you want to maintain a decent relationship with her. The problem with Stanford's system is that it takes up to 24 hours to generate an account to be able to submit your reply, so if they had not sufficiently explained the mechanics in advance, this is something you might be able to use as a reason for your late reply.

Perhaps you should also consider the other offers you have received. You can always go back to Stanford for your doctoral degree.

I included a recommendation from my favorite community college professor with both of my graduate school applications, and I was accepted to each school with competitive aid for master's programs. If you take your time in community college seriously, graduate schools will, too!

I graduated from high school with a 4.0. Then I spent two years in community college, taking aggressive course loads. My last semester was about 25 units, including chemistry -- not my cup of tea! Like you, I already knew I wanted to go to graduate school, so I participated in courses and activities related to my topic of interest in addition to my general education courses, even though many of those extra units would not transfer to a 4-year school. I graduated from community college with a 4.0.

I can't say my journey was without stumbles: Up until the beginning of my sophomore year, I planned to transfer to San José State University (for journalism and graphic design), but then I suddenly decided UC Berkeley was the only school for me (for media studies, American studies and public policy) -- right before applications were due. The CSU and UC systems have a few different transfer requirements and courses, and of course have different major requirements. I ended up taking all of my required transfer courses and major prerequisites for Berkeley in my last semester of community college -- so if admissions accepted me, it would be without knowing how well I did in the courses they cared about most, or if I'd manage to finish them all. I was so happy and relieved that they accepted me anyway!

I successfully transferred to UC Berkeley, and am graduating on-time as a double-major this semester (yay). So, if you plan carefully, you can go to community college, accomplish all you desire and still graduate in a 4-year time frame.

I wrote proudly of my experience in community college in both of my graduate school applications. And community college was a great experience for me. I never said I went there for financial reasons, because that was only a part of the value -- although I do have zero debt from college. Going to community college was an excellent beginning for me: I remained active and relevant in my locality -- where I plan to have my career -- and I made connections with people of different ages, life experiences, professional backgrounds and goals, and not just twenty-something academics.

Community college was relevant in my graduate school applications, because I did a lot of work towards my graduate school ambitions there.

My community college not only served as a great launching pad, it's also been a great support network for me. They awarded me a large transfer scholarship, and my work there helped me secure two other large renewable undergraduate scholarships. Many of my professors there still advise me today. A few of my community college friends transferred to Berkeley as well, so we have a community at Cal, too!

Heck, I include my community college A.A. degree in my e-mail signatures.

My advice to you is, make the most of your time anywhere, but only go somewhere you'll be proud of your work. If you go to community college, go the extra mile; challenge yourself inside and outside of your major fields. Think of it as a smorgasbord. Make yourself well-rounded. Take classes and do extracurricular activities related to your future graduate school interest. Build yourself a network of contacts related to your interest. Develop relationships with local scholarship programs, so you can afford to transfer. Try to take as many classes as possible for letter grades, to impress schools with your achievement and transparency. Use community college as your time to shine in a smaller circle. Respect it. Ace it.

In no way does community college rule out graduate school, as long as you excel there and at the 4-year you transfer to.

Good luck!

Sorry about your luck.

I know it might be a bit bruising to your ego and I don't know the discipline you are pursuing but I think you might want to consider applying to universities with rolling admissions. Many major, quality institutions have rolling admissions. You may be able to put that fellowship to use and it might be a good idea to pursue an MS now at one of those institutions.

Could not agree more. Wow. Just, wow.

Funnily enough, we did speak honestly, and he laughed when he saw all of the animosity directed at me. "They didn't understand you at all!" He's decided to accept the offer, but he's only going to finish the masters at the school that gave him the offer, which after I pushed him, he negotiated up. He's also planning on applying for several paid internships, and jobs in the area to supplement his income and resume.

He understands where I was coming from, and said he can't promise he'll be okay with following me in 10 years, but that we aren't there yet and I just need to slow down and focus on the present. Which he's right, but it's not typical of most type-A people to live in the moment. So we'll see, but hopefully we can make it work, even with our very different career goals. I love him a lot, and he loves me, and in the end, that matters more than any career.

edit: Also, thank you for your nice reply. I'm not quite sure why I got so much venom, but I thought the best thing to do was to respond to everyone's thoughts.

In addition to what has been said: you need to build a great relationship with your professors in the field after you transfer to a 4 years university. Be an outstanding student in the class, be proactive/participate in discussions, visit the professors' office hours to be known (but with good questions). If the professor likes you, s/he may even invite you to grad seminars. Getting supports from your department professors is crucial. People know each other in the academic circles and it goes a long way.

I included a recommendation from my favorite community college professor with both of my graduate school applications, and I was accepted to each school with competitive aid for master's programs. If you take your time in community college seriously, graduate schools will, too!

I graduated from high school with a 4.0. Then I spent two years in community college, taking aggressive course loads. My last semester was about 25 units, including chemistry -- not my cup of tea! Like you, I already knew I wanted to go to graduate school, so I participated in courses and activities related to my topic of interest in addition to my general education courses, even though many of those extra units would not transfer to a 4-year school. I graduated from community college with a 4.0.

I can't say my journey was without stumbles: Up until the beginning of my sophomore year, I planned to transfer to San José State University (for journalism and graphic design), but then I suddenly decided UC Berkeley was the only school for me (for media studies, American studies and public policy) -- right before applications were due. The CSU and UC systems have a few different transfer requirements and courses, and of course have different major requirements. I ended up taking all of my required transfer courses and major prerequisites for Berkeley in my last semester of community college -- so if admissions accepted me, it would be without knowing how well I did in the courses they cared about most, or if I'd manage to finish them all. I was so happy and relieved that they accepted me anyway!

I successfully transferred to UC Berkeley, and am graduating on-time as a double-major this semester (yay). So, if you plan carefully, you can go to community college, accomplish all you desire and still graduate in a 4-year time frame.

I wrote proudly of my experience in community college in both of my graduate school applications. And community college was a great experience for me. I never said I went there for financial reasons, because that was only a part of the value -- although I do have zero debt from college. Going to community college was an excellent beginning for me: I remained active and relevant in my locality -- where I plan to have my career -- and I made connections with people of different ages, life experiences, professional backgrounds and goals, and not just twenty-something academics.

Community college was relevant in my graduate school applications, because I did a lot of work towards my graduate school ambitions there.

My community college not only served as a great launching pad, it's also been a great support network for me. They awarded me a large transfer scholarship, and my work there helped me secure two other large renewable undergraduate scholarships. Many of my professors there still advise me today. A few of my community college friends transferred to Berkeley as well, so we have a community at Cal, too!

Heck, I include my community college A.A. degree in my e-mail signatures.

My advice to you is, make the most of your time anywhere, but only go somewhere you'll be proud of your work. If you go to community college, go the extra mile; challenge yourself inside and outside of your major fields. Think of it as a smorgasbord. Make yourself well-rounded. Take classes and do extracurricular activities related to your future graduate school interest. Build yourself a network of contacts related to your interest. Develop relationships with local scholarship programs, so you can afford to transfer. Try to take as many classes as possible for letter grades, to impress schools with your achievement and transparency. Use community college as your time to shine in a smaller circle. Respect it. Ace it.

In no way does community college rule out graduate school, as long as you excel there and at the 4-year you transfer to.

Good luck!

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I started out at a community college, and I just got accepted to my first choice grad school just coming out of my undergrad, so I don't think it's hurt my chances. I think the community college enrollment is more of a factor when you are trying to get into undergraduate institutions than graduate ones. Although be warned, some four year colleges don't transfer credits from community colleges. I didn't consider that enough when I was applying in undergrad and so it took me longer than I expected to graduate.

Sorry above poster reflected my thoughts exactly. Didn't see that there

This would depend on how many years you spend in a community college and where you go after the CC. In any case, definitely address it in your graduate school application and explain your reasons. Some sentence like, "in spite of my high school success, I decided it would be a prudent financial decision to initial enroll in a community college" would probably be all the explanation they needed. This might be a little cynical, depending on the extent of your financial disadvantage, but tying this decision into a story about pursuing academic excellence in spite of financial difficulties could be an asset to your application.

I hope you do not mind some unsolicited advice: transferring from a community college only saves money if you take classes that your four-year school will count towards your BA or BS. I recommend knowing in advance what four-year school you want to attend (or at least having a very short list of options) and asking that school how many transfer units they will accept, and which courses from your community college will fulfill requirements for your bachelors degree. Otherwise you might end up wasting money and time taking classes that will only earn you elective credit, or will not earn you credit at all. I know a lot of people who have spent an extra year or semester in college because they stayed at community college for two years and then were unable to transfer all of their units into their new degree.

If you go to community college for financial reasons thats perfectly acceptable, although there is still stigma attached to it because some of the people who are there are those who got such terrible grades that they couldn't get accepted into a 4-year college. Just go and get straight A's, transfer to a 4-year college and they may give you some financial aid or scholarships. If you're grades are really stellar right now that might be a possibility right off the bat, maybe apply to some places and give it a shot, don't sell yourself short. If you end up having to go to community college to start it won't make a huge difference once you get to undergraduate. Grad schools do typically give out full ride scholarships, in the form of tuition remission, assistantships and stipends, but that is usually only if you're going for a PhD. My advice would be to check out some 4-year colleges and see if it's possible to get some financial aid or scholarships from them if you can, then wherever you go make sure you get great grades (above a 3.7 or an A- average) and you'll have a good chance of getting support once you get to the grad level. Good luck!

I think you make some really good points, and I have a generally similar impression, but I'm still a little worried about career prospects. Of course, a lot of the outcome is up to me - my research, research activity, publication rate, etc. - but I don't want to do all the right things and get pigeonholed in a dead-end nonprofit because my school's 'brand' isn't strong enough. Not saying this would necessarily be the case at GMU (or even someplace like Auburn), but I still want to try and reach as high as I can. What do you (or anyone else) think of my chances at other mid-table schools?

Would you be attending as a non-degree student? If so, expect to pay $200-$300/unit at a state school. Not sure what costs are like at a private school.

As a non-degree student, I paid $230/unit (I think) for lecture courses and $300/unit for a lab course. I looked into costs in an adjacent state, since we were considering a move at the time, and the costs there were fairly similar.

Long story short I was rejected from every school that I applied. The day after I received the last rejection letter I received word that I had been awarded a very generous fellowship to be used towards any grad program. This created a rather awkward situation for me. I essentially had to swallow my pride and write to every person/school that rejected me to see if they might reconsider.

The good news is since then I have had correspondence w/ various faculty who now want me in their lab. Yay! But now I am feeling even more confused emotionally. Both myself, and the profs I talk to, seem to be experiencing an odd guilt complex. To add to the scene I am not sure if I am really "accepted" or not, online my application still says rejected and I have yet to see any paperwork. Also due to confusion between profs and admins I am not even sure if I can be accepted this year due to paperwork rules.

This scene reminds me of weird dating dynamics of being dumped and then getting back together out of pity (or money) rather than actual desire to be with each other. In some instances I was rejected from lack of funding, in others I was simply rejected for not being a good enough fit/competitive enough of an applicant. Ugh! I am dealing with weird depression/buyers remorse/impostor syndrome from all of this shifting back and forth. I know that I want to go to grad school, but I am also dealing with an unusually large dose of self doubt right now.

What is going on? has anyone else dealt w/ a weird scenario like this?

Well, there is many out here. If you are staying long enough, I will recommend you to visit Toledo or Segovia, which are close enough from Madrid for a day trip. In Madrid, must see places are Reina Sofia Museum, Prado, and Thyssen. If you are soccer fan you can visit Santiago Bernabeu. You should go to the Austrian and Borbonic part of Madrid: Puerta del Sol, Opera, Plaza Mayor and also visit the retiro (Sunday is better).
You can have some beer with tapas in La Latina, or in the area close to Plaza Santa Ana.
Gran Via is nice, Calle FUencarral is pederastrian and is nice for shopping.
Night life is plenty of it, but depends which kind of places/music you prefer.
Send me MP if you want to know something else .




Nice to hear that! Im applying to Master in Public Policy. Where are you applying? How is funding going? What's your Major? Mines is Political and Government Science, with Major in Political Analysis in Complutense.



Hi Pepe! I coulnt apply last year to the Caixa scholarhip because didn't have the TOEFL. I'm applyng Caja Madrid, Caja España, Beca-Prestamo Santander-ICO and Mutua Madrileña (para hijos de mutualistas que lleven mas de 20 años).
Congrats for your fellowship! Uf, I would love to have a full coverage scholarship.
Where are you applying?
Do you know more ppl is our situation?

You're an asshole

BJeeeeesus!!
OMG

Lets get real here!

1. When you say you are too-good to admit for a particular program, it actually means that you deserve a better program and you can get that. When Adcoms look at your profile, they can also figure that out, so you might get rejected.

2. You are too-good to admit in a particular program, but you still apply there for a backup. You should understand that there are other too-good to admit students who will think the same way and apply there for a backup. When Adcom reviews the application of these too-good applicants, its possible that there were some too-too-good applicants who had better profile/LOR/SOP fit than you, and they were accepted and you got a reject.


When I say lets get real, I want to stress on the 2nd point. I personally dont think adcoms will reject a candidate who is too-good because thats what adcoms are for - to select the best of the applicants. Also, a very honest advice, nobody is too-good, the world is full of smart , harworking people. You show me a too-smart guy.. in a moment I can bring someone who will make him look dumb as a rock.

Good Luck

A lot of what I want to say has already been said by other people, but I feel compelled to say something anyway. I will be celebrating my 20th anniversary in 2 months, so I like to think that I have bit more experience in keeping a relationship together than most.

A marriage, or any relationship, works only when two people are willing to support each other, despite the sacrifices that such support entails. It involves accepting the other person the way they are, even though you wish they were slightly different.

Reading your post, I get the feeling that you seem to want to shape him into your idea of success. Has it ever occurred to you that maybe he has a different idea of success? Have you ever considered the idea that he might not want to be a rock-star academic? Has it ever occurred to you that he might not WANT your "advice" on graduate school? Maybe he just needs someone to listen to his woes; someone who will say, "Wow, sounds like you had a rough day!" rather than telling him what he should do about it. Maybe he wants to be treated as an intellectual equal even though he didn't get into quite as good of a grad school as you did.

FYI: I come from a family with many strong, successful women. For example, my sister Chrissy (who paid for her graduate education by first becoming a NSF fellow, then a Hertz fellow) has been the "successful" one as compared with her husband, who still works part time so he can pick up their kids from private school. She has a Ph.D., he has a M.S. She is a tenured professor, he is a research associate in her department. If you were to walk into her house, though, you would not know which one was more successful. They treat each other with respect and kindness.

I could give you more examples of the women in my family and the men who married them, but I won't bore you. Just trust me--the attitude you have is immature, and not at all conducive to convincing a male partner to stay with you. ("Keeping" makes him sound like a pet or a trophy.)