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livmoredyles

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Everything posted by livmoredyles

  1. I'll be in North Carolina and could get a decent condo for $80,000... However I feel like no one is thinking about the appreciation aspect. Sure you will be paying towards interest however that $80,000 condo or house you bought 4-6 years ago could be worth $120,000 later. So who cares if you mortgage (which would be equal to the same dollar amount as the rent money you'd be throwing away) is solely paying down the interest, when you sell you get to reap the benefits of the appreciation. Now this is dependent upon when the market hits a bottom of course, which appears to be within the next year or so...but is this making any sense to you all?
  2. NYC and Philly aren't that much more expensive to live in when compared to each other. So either way you're rent will be ridiculous. If you're doing anything International you're always much better off at Columbia since it has a more established rep. and better name recognition. Also every masters student at Penn GSE gets a 5k scholarship, it's not special and will not have a large impact on the amount of debt you'll have in the long run by any means. So if you're taking on debt I would go with the safe bet which is Columbia...and congrats on getting in!
  3. Hey you all, I've been lamenting over having to pay rent for the next few years so below is my rant on buying a house vs. paying rent...feel free to contribute: So if you're getting a PhD you'll be in the same place for 4-6 years most likely paying rent. But rent sucks! It's just money thrown out the window. If I paid only $500/month over a 5 year period that's $30,000 down the drain! BUT if you choose to buy a house (especially with the market being close to a bottom now) you could be paying slightly more for a mortgage, gaining a tax deduction because you have a mortgage, and gaining equity from your home. So instead of leaving with $30k down the drain, you could leave with an extra $30k profit or more! PROBLEM: My stipend, as I'm sure like many others, sucks! I feel as though I'm being pigeonholed in that I make too little to invest in a home, so I'm forced to throw my money away renting. Is anyone else going through this dilemma, any advice?
  4. Not necessarily reputation, though that does matter but go with the top 10. Simply because you never choose a school based off a couple thousand dollars difference. I'd rather miss the couple thousand while I'm still young, then miss it for the rest of my career if #21 doesn't make you as much of a competitive applicant for positions. Graduate school is not the time to try to get rich, if you have a lot of money you would have no time to enjoy it, settling for being broke just like everyone else and focus on your work. Being a PhD student is not a career, worry about choosing between two jobs with higher paying salaries later on in life.
  5. The fact that you are still on the waiting list is a good sign, the longer the better. People always delay telling the schools that they will not attend, but they always inform the schools that they will attend promptly. I'm sure it will work out for you...I wish you the best of luck and to get as much relaxation (ie yoga, going to a movie, reading a good book) as possible this weekend. I know it may be hard but you can do it. I had a really hard time waiting to hear back results so i totally understand how you feel!
  6. Well ladies and gentlemen the enthusiasm has finally hit after a long phone call with my adviser our game plan for the next few years...it is too true! Im in!!!!
  7. I'm pretty confident about my work I'll be doing, I feel this is where I'm destined to be...but admittedly after I found out I was even invited for an interview I was convinced it was a mistake, it wasn't until I was interviewing with a professor and she had my statement of purpose right in front of her that I realized they weren't confusing me with someone else. Then to get accepted was something close to a miracle, although I applied and somewhere inside must have thought I had the potential to be accepted, to actually BE accepted was something short of a miracle. A top program really wants ME....what?!?!?!?!?!
  8. I'll be starting my PhD there this fall! At my interview they gave us a UNC key chain and I have had it on my key chain every since for good luck. I'm really excited (especially about the low cost of living)!!! I'll have to buy the sweatshirt once I arrive. I think our arrival would have been more fun had the won the NCAA championship...Go Heels!
  9. Their graduate student housing and it's pretty pathetic. The walls are brick, the floors are a cheap dark colored tile. The furniture is the typical cheap university furniture. You'll have a roommate, they are small, you wont be able to park in front of your building (if you have a car) and they are overpriced. If you plan on being their for a few years go ahead and bite the buck an buy some furniture. You can always get a good deal from someone selling furniture on Craigslist.com and when you're done with it you can sell it. Best of Luck!!!
  10. So i find out I got accepted to a Top 10 PhD program in my field, called my family and friends to let them know the news...everyone was excited except for me! I'm totally blah as if I hadn't heard back anything yet. Has anyone else gone through this or is going through this? I want to be ecstatic, this is a dream come true, but yet I'm just normal. I really want to be happy! :|
  11. I think your choice is pretty easy too...the MA program. Getting into an unfunded PhD is pretty much a rejection, but if it's possible that your future career will be lucrative enough to pay off the debt then I guess that's fine. BUT the MA will make you a more competitive applicant and will lead to a fully funded PhD program. Also you'll likely be able to transfer some of your MA classes to reduce your course load for the PhD. Also you'll have letters of rec. from professors that are more well known and well connected in your field. That will help you out tremendously come PhD application time. During the summer in between the 1st and second year you can study again for the GRE, blow it away and be an extremely competitive applicant and not in the poor house due to a non-funded PhD program. Seems like a no brainer to me.
  12. livmoredyles

    h

    The prof. implied I would not be accepted unless I was funded through this grant. Also I feel I would be annoying if I contacted her since she asked me to wait until the 15th, which in their time isn't very long, but for me it's FOREVER! After doing some research just now I think they are trying to get an increase in the number of slots. NIH said that this is allowed but must be approved, so I think they may be waiting for approval which worries me considering the status of our economy may lead NIH to not be as financially generous. Keep your fingers crossed, I feel like I wont be able to breathe until April 15th and I have so much work to do.
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