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I agree there's variation between in fields. There's also variation between prestige of different universities/programs in how much they offer. Have you considered yours might be an exception? I'm not speaking (only) about my personal experience. It's a well-known trend that many grad students have to take out loans for their living expenses, especially those that don't fit the mold of '20-something, with parents of means, and no external adult responsibilities or family to support'. https://theprofessorisin.com/2014/01/22/the-shame-of-ph-d-debt/

The dirty secret of most grad programs is the stipend is rarely enough to live on especially if you're in an expensive area, don't want roommates, or if you're an 'atypical' grad student (read: have family to support, don't have parents to support you, have a health issue, or any external adult responsibilities). Most grad students take out student loans to fill in the gaps in their living expenses, but many don't ever talk about it because grad school is supposed to be 'free' and our packages are 'fully funded'. It's a bit of an issue actually...

Also same. This field job is done Aug 1st and classes start Aug 30th, so I'll have a month to relax. Pretty much the best of both worlds.

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I'm currently in the field in a tech job, so I'll be working all the way through! Also thinking of writing up a paper for a previous tech project from a few years ago.

Hey, I don't live in VA so my info is second-hand, and I'm more on the ecology side than biomedical, so I can't speak for specific program reputation. Also, I know nothing about the biotech industry. But since no one else has answered... The general ranking order for those schools (the whole school reputation, not speaking on specific programs) would be UVA>VTech>VCU. That's just based on general name recognition/perception, but do take it with a grain of salt for all the reasons I said. (Anybody with greater insight into VA schools, feel free to chime in!) I know VCU has a fairly well-regarded medical school. UVA is well-regarded all the way around(including their medical school). VTech is no slouch either, but I'd say UVA comes out on top in terms of 'prestige'. UVA also has the more active alumni network of the three. VCU is right in Richmond, so if you like city life that's what I'd pick. Richmond is a nice mid-sized city, but it comes with typical city problems with higher housing costs, traffic, crime, congestion, etc. But it's definitely not NYC or LA in terms of cost of living, traffic, crime, or congestion! Which is to say, those things would be a factor, but not a huge one. I'd say Richmond would be the more expensive place to live of the three, but maybe the most fun? Car recommended, but if you lived close to campus, you could maybe get by without one. UVA's surroundings are suburban, and I know nothing about them. Probably in the middle in terms of cost of living/fun. UVA is also HUGE, so you'd probably find lots to do, and people to socialize with if that's important to you. Car necessary. VTech is in Blacksburg, and people in Blacksburg will tell you it's a college town, meaning a small suburb. But imo it's on the rural side of the suburb spectrum. Car definitely necessary.

Sounds like a good sign to me! I wouldn't count my chickens before they hatch, but definitely put your best foot forward when you go (yes, it's an interview!). Research experience and recommendations are more important than GRE and GPA, but I still think your application could be competitive for MS positions with your 2.5 years of tech experience--especially if you spun it correctly on your CV/applications. It looks like one school is interested already! They literally said they were impressed with your application!

Since others have given the standard, neutral "you should seriously weigh what's most important to you" type answer, I'll give my unvarnished, unmeasured advice/opinion. So fair warning. ABSOLUTELY DO NOT WITHDRAW YOUR APPLICATIONS TO BE NEAR YOUR BF. This happens to so many people. It happens in school situations (undergrad, grad school, med school, residency). It happens in jobs. It happens just in picking a place to live. It rarely works out well, and it's rarely worth it. I mean it. I can't tell you how many crying friends I had in college who wasted their fun years of undergrad pining over a high school bf hundreds of miles away they only saw during winter break. My best friend from high school did not even go to college because she chose to move in with her bf in another state instead. IMO this tends to be a very gendered conversation in terms of who moves for who in hetero relationships, but I don't wanna assume. And tbh I'd give the same advice to anyone in any kind of a relationship. I have middle aged friends who tell me their greatest regret was moving for their bf/gf/husband's/wife's school/job/whatever and putting their lives on the backburner. Even when things work out perfectly, (and they rarely do) there's almost always resentment and scorekeeping that eats away at both partners over time. Cuz one person feels like they've sacrificed. They gave up a network or support circle or career plan or whatever. Like, at this point, I don't even advise married people to move with their spouses if it's something temporary. Like, if Spouse X has to move across country for work for a year? Stay home! Say I'll see you in a year! In this case, for an opportunity like this, especially when none of us knows what grant funding our competition for seats will looks like next year (especially given the political climate) you'd be taking a huge gamble. I think it's a mistake. I kinda don't have an upside to this though, because I also don't think long-distance relationships are a great setup either. When they work, it's because they're temporary, and the people in the relationship already had a good foundation before moving apart. That is the case for you and your bf, OP! But...they're an awful lot of work. Like, expensive (travel), time consuming (travel), emotionally exhausting (loneliness, paranoia, being unable to do typical couple things) work. And you'd be doing it for half a decade, with both of you in vibrant cities, surrounded by interesting, engaging colleagues, at a formative time in your lives. My advice to everyone who has ever asked or will ever ask about long-distance relationships is to not. Relationships are tough already. It's just easier to be with somebody you're physically near. That's not to say I don't see people making it work every day! It's very possible! But it will be a sacrifice, and you should go in knowing that. In any case, don't withdraw your applications. I'd try that 3 1/2 train ride and Skype before I even considered it. (Jk, I'd NEVER consider it)

My teeth have been on edge literally since the deadline (2 weeks ago for me). I caved yesterday and emailed my prospective PI to see if he had any updates. Told me the process had just started and would take "~3 weeks or more" but he would keep me posted. FYI, I applied to William & Mary in late Jan, and their deadline was on Feb 1st. I know it's super early, but the results page is showing both acceptances and rejections are already trickling in from W&M. (Mostly for humanities, a couple from physics). Is it too early for me to be reading into things? I've been mulling over whether "3 weeks or more" will be closer to the 3 weeks, or the more all day

Emailed my (hopeful) PI yesterday to see if he had any updates on my admission status (William and Mary Biology Dept deadline was Feb 1st). He said the process has just started and will take "~3 weeks or more" but he would keep me posted. Part of me is not surprised because it has only been 2 weeks since the deadline. The rest of me is concerned because historically, a lot of people on the results got word from W&M in late Feb. Some of the humanities applicants are already getting acceptances/rejections! Obviously, those departments could have had earlier deadlines, but it's still driving me crazy!

oops, sorry!

Hi all. I'm very new here. Only applied to 1 school (yikes!) but I've been in communication with the PI I want to work with for a little over 2 years. Had a meet-and-greet with the entire Department in November that he arranged. I'm hoping that good will goes a long way, because I literally only have one shot this season! The deadline is Feb 1st, and I've been biting my nails since I submitted my application. I just hope they don't drag out the decision until March--or worse, April.

The Professor Is In writes about this issue a lot. I can say for sciences, you usually get a tutition waiver and and stipend that you're supposed to live off of. That stipend can be an RA, TA, or Fellowship. But the dirty secret is A LOT of people can't live on those stipends. I second what everyone else said about asking your program and the students in it directly. Many people end up taking out loans in grad school because that $15,000-$20,000 stipend isn't so easy to live off when you factor in University fees (even aside from the tuition waiver, sometimes there are additional fees that go to the Department or college itself), the fact that sometimes you are only paid for the 9 month academic year instead of the 12 month actual year, research costs, travel costs, conference fees, health insurance premiums, cost of living in an expensive city, kids and family obligations, and heaven forbid any medical problems. Sometimes you're only guaranteed funding for a limited time. Sometimes your PI's grant dries up. I've heard horror stories where grad students have gotten external grants, but when those grants are spent the Department tells the student there isn't any funding for them because they gave it to someone else once they got the external money. So yeah. Really double check how much money you're getting, and under what conditions that money is allotted. Then ask other students to see how they're living.

Applied - MS William & Mary Hope - Neither of the profs I want to work with got their funding via EPA grants, my letter writers gushed about my brilliance, my experience and SOP blow adcom away, and I get accepted Dream - I get word of said acceptance in early Feb, plus full funding with a tuition waiver, and an offer to start my research early over the summer--with summer pay! I start planning to move and find housing that is affordable enough that I don't need a roomate, close to campus, and comfortable. Guesses - I'm going to side with optimism, and say I get accepted. Don't hear it until March(but hopefully well before April!). And I end up having to choose between living close to campus/spending a boatload on housing/number of roommates I need to afford the place.

Hi everyone. I'm currently stressing over finishing my applications, and it seems like William & Mary splits the content you'd expect to go in a statement of purpose into two different sections? The last two questions are "Provide any additional information regarding your background, extracurricular activities, or general experience" and "Write a statement composed in your own words describing your career plans and the reasons you wish to pursue graduate study" It's an online application with space to enter your answers (I'm writing/editing mine in a word document so I can paste them in once I'm done). The open-ended questions have either "short response" size boxes, or "long response" size boxes, but no word or character limit. The latter has a long response box, and the former a short response box. Obviously the one that says write a statement is the one asking for the statement of purpose, but the question before it asks for "information regarding your background". So would that be the place where I talk about the whole first generation college grad thing, or should it be in both? I don't want to have an anemic statement of purpose because I put 30% of the information in another question, but would writing that info twice be redundant--or worse, rub the admissions committee the wrong way? The third to last question asks for a description of all research experience btw. I'm applying to their MS Biology program.