thevphone
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Posts posted by thevphone
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I think program A is a no brainer! Besides, if they accepted you that means that they think you'll do great! And I'd tryst their judgment, since the admission committee definitely know what they're doing.
However, at the end of the day it's all about the fit: where and with whom do you see yourself working better?
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I agree with @NeverTooMuchTea! The mentality of Phd and MA's applications in Europe are very different from the US.
I was accepted into a bunch of Ma's in Europe (Linguistics, in the UK and the Netherlands). I accepted three of them, and then decided later on where I wanted to attend, because the deadline to decide was like in two weeks and I hadn't heard back from all programs. It's not a problem to do that in Europe because you don't have personal contacts with professors before starting the program, there's no money or wait list involved (at least in the Netherlands), and the faculty is definitely not as involved in the admission decisions as in the US. It's also not as competitive as in the US, and programs don't actively try to keep you when they accept you. They don't do that with Phd applicants, so why should they with MAs?
Of course, if you want to back out, you should still do that in a timely manner!
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On 4/4/2018 at 9:13 PM, skim497 said:
YAY. PM me if you're still interested in teaming up to try to find a house/apt/living space
Sure!
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19 hours ago, FishNerd said:
I have finally made my decision which is a HUGE relief! The only downside is that I did have my decision kind of made for me since the environment in one of the departments I was accepted at and visited is not an environment I would be happy in for 5-6 years. But that does go to show that if you have the ability to visit a department before accepting you really should since a visit can help you be aware of major red flags you might not know about unless you visit.
I totally agree! That's why I'm probably going to the school I had the chance to visit. Going to the one I didn't visit seems riskier
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On 2/4/2018 at 1:11 AM, brainlass said:
My two cents:
School A: Sounds like you are hesitating here because of a dearth of information. I know that uncertainty makes an option seem unappealing, but the answers to your outstanding questions may actually be good. You just don't know yet! I suggest you reach out to the POIs and their grad students to get as much more information as you can about the atmosphere of the department, the lab cultures, mentorship styles, etc. Maybe you could arrange another Skype call, long-distance tour of the lab space, etc. On a personal note, I moved from Albuquerque to Toronto when I started my undergrad. Yes, Canada is cold, and I know firsthand that the first winter can be a shock. However, you really do get used to it, and a big coat goes a long way!
School B: Possibility of a joint supervision is good, but you need to inquire about whether that is possible. Different departments can be more or less accommodating for cosupervision situations, and there's also the possibility that the two professors may not get along. Definitely something to investigate before you commit.
Thanks for this suggestion! I've been reached out and I'll hopefully get more info. But if I don't get enough info I think I won't go to school A.
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I've been accepted to two programs and I'm stuck! I don't know what to choose
I'd like to know what you guys think, and have an external opinion.
Premise: schools have the same prestige in my field, and they offer me about the same money (also taking into consideration the cost of life).
School A: 2 professors are a great fit (I'm citing them in my thesis) and I had a skypecall the other day with one of them. BUT I did not visit the department, and the only contact I had with the faculty was that 30-mins skypecall. Not enough to know whether you could work well with someone, in my opinion. Plus, I know that I would hate the winters there, because it's really cold (school A is in Canada). So basically this school is great on paper, but it would be a blind choice.
School B: The professor who would be my POI is a good fit, but not as good as those in school A. However, there's another professor in school B that's really great, and a joint supervision with the two of them would be perfect (I don't even know whether that's possible). Moreover, my potential POI has a lot of connections in my home country and does a lot of fieldwork there, which would be great for me, both in terms of networking and RA-ships. I also visited the department a month ago and fell in love with it, the athmosphere is really great, I'm sure I could work well with both professors I mentioned (we're very compatible in terms of character) and I have a couple of friends in town, so moving there would be easier. Finally, school B is located in a somewhat warmer place.
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16 hours ago, brainlass said:
I know it depends on the department, but I've heard that they can be willing to match competing funding offers, if that applies to you!
Yes that's exactly my situation, so it should work! Thanks!
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3 hours ago, brainlass said:
Hi, I've gone to UofT for the past four years for my undergrad. Yes, the stipend is unfortunately pretty low relative to the cost of living in Toronto. However, many students supplement that stipend with additional summer TAships, NSERC/SSHRC/CIHR funding, etc. They all report that it is livable. Living in Toronto, the biggest expense is definitely housing. The caveat of that, though, is that you will certainly need to have a roommate or two, and you will probably need to consider housing outside of the downtown core. There are plenty of places on the subway line that would connect you to the campus area.
My experience is limited to living in the downtown core within walking distance to campus. I can give you some concrete estimates of cost for that radius: If you are living with 1-3 roommates, you can find a decent place for 800-1000 CAD a month, including utilities. It is possible to find cheaper places if you're fine with basement apartments. A studio is more like 1300-1500, which would presumably be out of your budget range on the grad stipend. Daily cost of living is not so bad; there are cheap food options to be found (try groceries in Chinatown/Kensington!). The main challenge will just be finding a place to live that doesn't eat up the whole stipend.
*Note that the info provided above is under the assumption that you are referring to the St. George campus of UofT. If you're looking at the Scarborough or Missaussaga campuses, housing is cheaper and you'd probably live closer to campus.
Thanks for the info! I will see whether they can increase my stipend or something
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Yeah it'll be over in a few weeks anyway. Hold on!
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Hi! I just got offered a phd position at the University of Toronto, with a stipend of 17k CAD. Is it enough to live in the city? I have no idea about the cost of living there, and 17k seems a little low.
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15 hours ago, Charlie Moon said:
Still haven't heard from Georgetown (my area is computational)..... are they being super late or should I just expect a no from them ?
From what I know, they communicated admissions about a month ago. I was invited to the open house and later I was told I am in the wait list, but for another concentration.
I think that if you haven't been rejected then you should be in the wait list too. Maybe e-mail them just to make sure!
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On 8/3/2018 at 9:26 PM, MandarinOtter said:
This has got to be a troll, right?
University Of Chicago (Sociocultural) Anthropology, PhD (F18) Accepted via E-mail on 7 Mar 2018 ♦ A 7 Mar 2018 - Damn feeling good but hard to make my final decision! Accepted: Chicago, Stanford, Boston, Virginia, Emory, Brown, Pennsylvania, Australian National University, Toronto, Indiana Bloomington, Clark University, Cambridge, Leeds, Amsterdam, Uni Heidelberg, Universitat Hamburg, Max Planck Institute, St. Andrews, Manchester, and École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales. Wait-listed: Yale, UCLA, Columbia, Rutgers, Georgia, Vanderbilt, Duke, UC Berkeley, North Carolina, and Cornell. Rejected: Harvard, UC Santa Cruz, UC San Diego, MIT, Oxford, UCL, Edinburgh, Michigan, Leiden, London school of economics, Sussex, SOAS London, Alberta, Aberdeen, Sydney and Uni. British Columbia.
That's definitely a troll... Phd applications in Europe are completely different, you have to submit a research proposal in accordance with a professor there. It's just impossible to submit more than one or two applications per cycle.
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It doesn't sound like a bad nor good e-mail. I think it just means that he doesn't have questions for you / has everything he needs for the dept to make a decision. At this point I would just wait, in the end it's just a few days
good luck!
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hot wings
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On 1/3/2018 at 3:00 AM, skim497 said:
@thevphone Political Science! I really wouldn't mind having a roommate or two if that's what it takes to pursue my academic/career goals lol. But I would love to live in a pet-friendly apartment/house!
I'm in for Linguistics! If we end up going to SBU we can also team up with someone else and try to find a house! I heard that it can be easier to rent a whole house, as opposed to find a room
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@skim497 what's the program you've been accepted to? I'm also considering going to Stony Brook this fall!
I have some friends doing their PhD there, and they manage to live with their stipend, but they do share a house with multiple roommates. They also told me not to look for on campus housing because it's generally more expensive than what you can find off campus
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A couple of weeks ago I went to visit a university where I was already accepted, and I was super anxious because I thought that they would get to know me and realize that they had made a huge mistake. Instead, they were vey complimentary and really made an effort to keep me there, and I kept thinking stuff along the lines of: "They must be bullshitting me", or "I am really not THAT good. They know that it takes me forever to read articles"
So thank you guys! This thread is making me feel incredibly better! I am not alone in feeling this way
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black death
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give away
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pocket money
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Hi! I think @Sandmaster's advice is great.
I think an MA is your best option right now. You'll be able to improve your GPA for sure and and get another LOR (most programs require at least 3). And you'll get more experience, which is always good
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21 hours ago, SoRim said:
has anyone heard from UPenn or Stanford at all? I haven't seen anything on the results, but I just want to make sure
I applied to those universities as well! For Stanford I did not receive an invitation, and they sent those out yesterday/today, so I'm basically rejected. Same for UPenn, I was interviewed like ten days ago, but they're starting to post acceptances and I did not receive any!
These two plus the rejection for Yale make three rejections in 24h!
Luckily I already got an acceptance, so I can deal will all of this more relaxed!
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new birth
The Positivity Thread
in The Lobby
Posted
Congrats!!!