mmm35

My impression has always been that grad students are more casual and sloppy than undergrads. I've been buying fitted t-shirts and sneakers to get ready for school and ditching my slacks. But then again I am an engineer . . .

As another overprotective kitty mom who is about to fly home with her cat and has researched it a ton, I would not reccommend giving the cat benadryl! The altitude plus medication is very bad for kitty hearts. At least that is what other overprotective kitty moms have said. I believe it is fine on land though. Also airlines vary a lot by how much they charge for carrying on pets, so look around for prices. I think Southwest is the cheapest and the only one which doesn't require written documentation of the pet's health from a vet within 10 days of the trip.

Did anyone here go on an admitted student visit to MIT CEE? If so did you get your reimbursement yet? I haven't and I have not been able to get in touch with the woman there. Is anyone else having this problem?

I seriously considered going to the same school for all three, but ultimately decided not to. One major reason was that I had allready run out of courses to take by the time I finished my M Eng. More importantly though is that I wanted a new perspective on things and to get a chance to learn from a new group of people. The further I got into the process, the more I realized that what I wanted to study would be better to study at a different school. I dont think that "academic incest" is nearly as frowned upon now as it was in the past, but the reasons that it was frowned upon still exist; it is always good to broaden your horizons and avoid getting pigeonholed into your undergrad advisors interests. Can you apply to PhD programs and see if you get better funding offers before deciding to do the MS or PhD at your current school? Overall though, going to a different school may be best for you personally, but I really doubt it would make a difference in getting a govt job. I know that in industry people could care less if you have a masters or not, and I doubt anyone who hired me could tell you where mine is from. But it is always possible to change your mind and want to remain in academia.

I work for a consulting firm that is very over-worked right now so I had no worries of being fired for quitting and I gave about a months notice. People remarked that I had given more notice than necessary and were all surprisingly nice about it. I was terrified that people would say you must have known about this for a month now why didn't you tell us, but no one did. Has anyone else left when you were there? How much notice did they give? I don't think anyone expected me to give more notice than normal just because I was leaving for grad school rather than for a different job.

Nope, Princeton I was slightly worried that MIT has the better overall name too, but you have to be true to yourself, you will be more successful where you feel most comfortable

My choice came down to those two schools (but for engineering). I think it depends a lot on what sort of environment you are looking for as the schools are incredibly different. One school is an Intitute of Technology and the other school doesn't offer professional degrees as it wishes to focus on the pursuit of knowledge. One school is in a city and the other is in a smallish suburban town with fields and a forest preserve nearby. One school encourages its employees to start up businesses and the other (well I have no clue if it does). You should compare research interests first and if that doesn't make your decision visit the schools because they are incredibly different.

Yeesh, the first post asked if you have a real job or not, it wasn't my word in the first place. I even added quotes to try to not offend those who aren't "professionals." You just cannot win with some of the people on these forums. . .

I have a "real" job, a 9 to 5 engineering consulting position. I just put in notice yesterday that I was leaving and nearly had a panic attack. No matter how much you know it is the right decision, leaving stability and lots of spending money is not easy.

Somewhat off topic, but: I have the same last name as my future advisor (and he has the exact initials of my father). Hopefully that won't create any issues of people thinking we're related!

Another random piece of advice, don't break out the winter coat too soon. I remember in college seeing all the freshman from California put on their down coats when the weather got below 40. That is a big mistake, keep the warm clothes for when it gets below 10! I eventually got a huge variety of winter clothes ranging from stretchy gloves and thin wool coats for late fall to the furry wool gloves and down coats in February. It is nice to look at the below zero weather report and know you can still go one level warmer.

A backpack. And if anyone has a problem with it I will say that I am an engineer and therefore allowed to wear a sweatshirt, jeans, a pony-tail, glasses, and a backpack every day and do it unapologetically. I can look good on weekends, and I'm too old to care about impressing people with my looks on normal days. (during my masters program people that I lived with wouldn't recognize me out on weekends when I wore makeup/real clothes because my boyfriend was in town, haha)

Well, I'm only moving an hour away but: I won't miss a job that requires no brain power at all. I won't miss a job that requires no effort at all. I won't miss being lazy. I won't miss being looked down on for being a woman. I won't miss feeling guilty for complaining about my "good" job. I won't miss the traffic, the pollution, the angry people, and the sight of concrete as far as the eye can see. I will miss my perfect apartment, living alone, the diversity, the few weeks when the baseball team is in the playoffs and everyone is smiling and talks to each other, the convenience, the adorable and affordable restaurants, my boyfriend, the time to sit with the cat for hours, and the spending money. I have such a love-hate relationship with this place, but I have a hate-hate relationship with my job and a love-love relationship with grad school. Woo-hoo, one month left! I'll miss my parents a lot too, but I have been missing them a lot for 7 years now. The feeling never really goes away, though you do get more used to it. ( wow I cannot believe its been 7 years :'( )

I'll be in Princeton engineering next year Is anyone starting over the summer? Did you talk to anyone about starting housing and health insurance early? My department told me to talk to the graduate school, but I'm not really sure who to talk to. I guess I will just call the generic number. I'm hoping for Butler apartments with my kitty, otherwise I'll be stuck finding housing off-campus! good luck everyone!

Also, make sure that you enjoy college and do what you really want to do. I think it is rare to have decided to go to grad school all ready when in high school, and it is incredibly likely that you will change your life plans in the next few years. I don't think schools will care at all if you came from a community college. But they will care if you really truly want to be there, try not to get too far ahead of yourself and just enjoy the ride. If you are meant to be in a PhD program, it will show and you will eventually find your way there.