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confusedChicken

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Everything posted by confusedChicken

  1. Working on it, working on it...

  2. I agree on this as well--think about it. If you're not accumulating interest but you're still paying down your principle balance, then after 4-6 years for grad school your principle balance will be *much* lower, even if you're only putting a small amount towards your loans each month. Ultimately, this could save you a bundle in the long run (for you, on the order of thousands in interest alone). It also means that, as iLikeTrees pointed out, that you'll have more flexibility when other big expenses (inevitably) come up.
  3. ...Not to increase anyone's heart rate...but I just checked to see if ratings sheets were posted. The site is down (Page not found: 404), which means that NSF is probably in the process of uploading everything.
  4. Well done with those--where in the heck did you find them?
  5. Update: The more I think on it, the more I think that I should focus on behavioral neuro for my thesis. Human work is near and dear to my heart (and I still want to integrate it into my dissertation), but I think that I will grow more as a scientist if I broaden my horizons. And so, I've spent a great deal of time emailing/talking to people at both Stanford and Michigan the past few days to assess opportunities and scope out the lay of the land. What I've discovered kind of changes the game a bit, and so I want some (pseudo-objective) input, given the new information. I referenced earlier how Stanford is really strong in human research but not animal (for my subfield anyway). This is still just as true as it was before--there are 3, count them, 3 animal-guys working on material related to my interests (and I'm not really captivated by 2 of them). However, the remaining prof is doing amazing, groundbreaking work that will likely change the whole game, and what's more, the human guy with whom I'm most interested in working has been talking about setting up a collaboration with him. If I were to design a dissertation right now, at this very moment, that project/collaboration would be it. BUT. What happens if I go to Stanford and the collaboration (which is still in extremely nascent phases) falls through? What if I don't get along with one of the PIs? What if (as with happens with many new grad students) my interests change? Although I haven't yet formulated the same mouth-watering project at Michigan, it seems like it may be a safer choice in the long run, given my growing certainty that I should focus on behavioral neuro, because it isn't resting on the back of this one (albeit amazing) project. Michigan's behavioral neuro is some of the strongest in the country, and there are tons of people there working on stuff (with varying degrees of relation to my interests) that I would be happy to jump into. It would push my boundaries, take me out of my comfort zone, and I'd likely become a more flexible scientist than if I stay solely on the human track. BUT. What happens if I'm totally wrong about behavioral neuro? What if I go to Michigan but I can't work with animals because I can't bring myself to perform surgeries or sacrifice them? If that's the case, I may have landed myself in a situation where I won't be as satisfied with the backup options (as opposed to Stanford, where I like what the human people are doing to a much bigger degree). UGH. I know I'm whining a bit, but now I *really* don't know what to do. My gut feeling isn't any help--it switches back and forth every 5 minutes. PLEASE HELP.
  6. I am! Any idea when awards will be announced?
  7. One thought--if you're *really, really* sure that you want to go to your waitlist school, write to the director and administrator of the program and tell them that. It won't necessarily help if you're way at the bottom of the waitlist, but sometimes a little enthusiasm can go a long way. April 15 is still a ways off, and it is likely that some spots will open up as people start making decisions. At the very least, it won't hurt you!
  8. Haha, I thought the point of posting to the forum was to maintain anonymity! @dzk--yep, you win. My choice is currently Stanford v. U. Michigan--but both neuroscience PhD programs, no cog psych involved. So...thoughts?
  9. Like so many others in this subforum, I need some help/perspective in deciding where to go. I've been *really* lucky, and I've narrowed my acceptances down to the two I'd most like to attend. Fundamentally, the choice comes down to a decision concerning the immediate direction of my training (I'm in biosciences and need to decide between working with humans or working with an animal model, though I intend to do both in the long run), because I can always focus on the other during a postdoc. I'm also trying to weigh cost of living, etc., as the fit with both schools is otherwise phenomenal. School A: big Midwestern state school which has a very good reputation in behavioral animal research in my field. There are a wealth of faculty with similar interests, and one guy in particular who would be absolutely spectacular with whom to work (he actually does both animal and human stuff, so it would make the point above moot). The school is more limited on the human side, but good opportunities are still available (and the research coming from the few human labs is high quality). Seems to be a highly collaborative environment--the faculty are excited about their research and seem pretty engaged with the student body. The program is moderately structured with a side emphasis on professional development (grantwriting, etc--very appealing), but there is enough flexibility so as to allow students the ability to create the opportunities they want. Good fit with the social culture. The cost of living is extremely low, but the weather is terrible. School B: smaller, elite private school with the wow-factor associated with the name (can't believe I got in, truthfully!). Incredible reputation for the field overall, and there are several faculty in my subfield with very quality research (and a good match to my interests). Much better fit with the human researchers--there are only 2 people working on the animal side of things--but the opportunities with the human labs are pretty diverse and interdisciplinary. Also seems to be a highly collaborative environment, but I've heard from people who have teched there that it really depends on the lab/PI (and that egos can sometimes get in the way). The program has as little structure as possible, which makes it super flexible but also more difficult to access supplementary opportunities (again, like grantwriting). Again, good fit with the social culture (although it may be more...intense (and perhaps competitive)...than School A). The cost of living is insanely high, but the climate is amazing. So what do I do? Considering a good research fit with both schools (albeit in different areas of analysis) and good vibes from both, do I go with School A, which has a slightly-less-prestigious name/reputation (but would challenge me by forcing me out of my human-research comfort zone), or School B, which has name power and is super strong in human research? All thoughts and comments welcome.
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