FishNerd

Accepted at Howard University

Your first and most important priority is yourself. No one else is going to care about your future more than you will, and you have worked hard to give yourself this opportunity. You deserve it, and you should make the most of it. Other people will do the same for themselves. FWIW, PhD admissions are competitive enough that very good students end up getting rejected simply because there aren't enough spots for everyone, so it's not going to be impossible to find someone good to fill a spot in April (or later, for that matter). And in any event, this is not up to you; this happens every year and your POI will know how to deal with it. (And you can stay on good terms with this POI even if you don't attend that program; you'll see them at conferences, and who knows, maybe you'll get a postdoc there one day. It's totally normal for good students to have multiple offers, and they shouldn't be offended if you decide to take another offer.) Again, you've earned the right to do the best for your own future. As long as you're undecided, everything you do is fair. Once you've made a decision, that's when it's time to communicate it as quickly as possible. But take as long as you need first.

The best thing a potential advisor said to me at a visit was "No matter what you decide, when you do, you'll convince youself it was the right choice - so it really doesn't matter!"
Obviously it DOES matter and this decision is going to determine a lot about your life but honestly I thought that was kind of comforting? I haven't made an official decision or signed anything, but I know what school I'd like to go to. And as long as I get off the plane for my visit and it isn't a total nuclear wasteland and as long as my potential department doesn't throw rocks at me, I'm kind of deadset on going. 
And it terrified me. For like 3 days I couldn't sleep because I was saying goodbye to all the potential lives I'd lead at other schools. And after that brief mourning period (it honestly kind of felt like the 5 stages of grief) - I have just been so hype about the school I'm pretty set on. I've been researching apartments. I've been looking at cool places to eat in the city. I've been looking at the faculty and kind of falling in love with it. 
So long story short: mourn the life you could have lived at another school. Let it go and let you in an alternate universe enjoy that life and then just get HYPE about your new school. This change is terrifying but it's so exciting! 

My partner and I have both been accepted at two of the schools we applied to together! Which means now we will be able to make a decision rather than just going to wherever we were both accepted. Also at one of our schools we've each received higher paying fellowships! Now here's to hoping our visits will help us in our decision process.

@TakeruK, wow thanks so much for this breakdown! I'm relieved I probably won't have to immediately have it figured out by the time I start. My fellowship will be valued at more than $10,000 so I will definitely be looking into all this more. I'm not sure how much will be withheld on the TA paycheck so that's a missing gap I will have to fill to figure this all out. As soon as I know where I'm going, or even during my decisions process, I will definitely be consulting my aunt so we can crunch the numbers together.
This is such a big change for me because my stipend was so piddly during my master's that what taxes were taken out were negligible, so I've really never worried about taxes before (other than normal yearly tax filings of course). But having super good offers is a great place to be in so I can't complain if I have to jump through a few hoops to get it all figured out.

Ah, sorry. In baseball, upon being acquired by a team, that team has full control of that player as long as that player is in their propriety system (aka, the minor leagues). Once a player has been developed, the major league team is careful to bring him up only once they're sure he's ready because once he's played for a certain amount of time (measured in years) he's eligible to become a free agent, and teams have to bid to sign him. Obviously, from ownership's perspective, it's much more cost effective to control a player for as long as possible, integrating him into your system and getting the maximum amount of return from his arm/bat for as long as possible. 
The analogy holds for a BA admit, though I'll admit that, like you, I think the MA track is much better for many scholars. However, Ivies and other top 10-ish schools hire almost exclusively from each other, so if it's simply one big family, then isn't it reasonable to want to get a student into the family ASAP? At least, that's one way of thinking about it. 
Again, I agree that MAs are fantastic, and in many disciplines they're well-respected and important (philosophy, to cite an example in the humanities), but some English departments are weird.  

I did forget to say something above: you (probably) don't have to worry about it for the 2018 tax year since if you are starting this fall, you will only have 4 months of income at most from non-withheld fellowship. So this is something you can figure out once you are settled (yay). 
The IRS page I linked is a little confusing (I'm really glad that I never had to properly parse it). But if I understood correctly, you only need to pay estimated taxes if your total tax owing and your tax paid thru withholdings is more than $1000 and that your total withholdings and possible refundable credits (to apply against the tax owed) will be less than 90% of the total tax owed this year (or less than 100% of the total tax owed in the previous year).
So, for the 2019 tax year, you basically would have to be in a case where the tax on the fellowship itself is more than $1000 and your withholdings from the TA work is less than 90% of your total tax owed. Since you say that most of your income is from the fellowship, the second condition is likely true. So, if the tax owed from your fellowship is more than $1000 then you might have to pay quarterly taxes unless you increase your withholdings. Your effective tax rate is probably around 10% if you are a resident taxpayer that can claim the $12,000 standard deduction. Therefore a quick check is that if your fellowship is valued at $10,000 or more, then you should look into this a little further. 
If it is more than $10,000, then you should see how much is being withheld from your TA paycheck. Multiply that by 12 and that's an estimate of how much tax you would have already paid by the end of the tax year. Then, estimate the total actual tax you'll pay by calculating 10% of your total stipend (maybe 11% if you want to be safe). If the difference between actual taxes to be owed and your withholdings is more than $1000 then you might want to think about increasing the withholding. If it's only a little bit over, the fine is not very big so it's up to you to decide if it's worth acting on. 
See here for info on changing your withholdings: https://www.irs.gov/individuals/employees/tax-withholding 

So I'm not big into sports so what do you mean by "extra two years of control"? I am just very curious as to why top schools would only choose/prefer BA only applicants and would love to understand why they have this preference. Personally, I'm a big proponent of getting a Master's and I actually had no idea that it could potentially limit the type of schools you could get into for your PhD.
My partner (who's in English) and I both got our Master's since we were unsure if a doctorate really was the path we wanted to take. I know some people definitively know after their Bachelor's that a doctorate is what they want, but I love that we both got to confirm during our Master's that getting our doctorates really was the path for us. Also I don't think either of us quite knew the type of research we wanted to do and I really think if we had tried to immediately do the PhD route without the Master's in between we could have ended up in programs/projects that were very poor fits for us. Both of our research interests have changed during our Master's. I have definitely sought out different types of programs and advisors than I would have at the end of undergrad and I think I am much, much better for it since the field I will be going into is much more marketable for jobs than the field I would have likely chosen at the end of undergrad. I genuinely think Master's programs are a good test of whether academia is the right fit for a person and if you just want to stop at that degree you usually have more flexibility in future job prospects than if you had jumped head first into a PhD and ended with that degree (at least in my field). Obviously getting a Master's before a PhD does lead to more time in school but I honestly had no clue that having a Master's could be a detriment to acceptance to certain PhD programs. Does this hold true for those with Master's applying for faculty positions in these types of institutions too?

This difference caused a huge problem at my PhD school a few years ago when the school decided to switch from withholding taxes on fellowships to not withholding them in the middle of a tax year. This caused some people to have to pay penalties to the IRS because they suddenly needed to pay quarterly taxes and the school made this change 2 quarters into the year. It worked out in the end---the school agreed to pay everyone's fines but it was a stressful time for all resident taxpayers (non-resident taxpayers still have withholdings from fellowships).
Now to answer your actual question. No, your tax rate is the same for both sources of income. When you file your taxes at the end of each tax year, you will likely have a W-2 for your TA work that shows how much you earned and how much tax was withheld. You will also get another form for your fellowship that will show the same thing (but no taxes withheld). At my school, American students got the 1099-MISC for their fellowship income, but it can vary I've heard. Non-resident taxpayers like me got a 1042-S. 
So. when you file your taxes, you add up all the income from all sources and then you (or the tax software) determines how much tax you are owed based on your income. It is compared to how much tax you already paid through withholdings and you probably have to pay the difference since you did not have taxes withheld from your fellowship. 
However, there is a complication. The IRS has some rule where if you have a tax owing of some amount then you must pay taxes during the year, either through withholdings or quarterly estimated tax payments. Of course, the IRS doesn't like it when you are late on tax payments throughout the year and will charge interest on accumulated taxes but they have no problem on holding onto your withholdings until you file your return! For more info see this page: https://www.irs.gov/faqs/estimated-tax. For my friends in the above story, they were 100% paid through fellowships so they definitely had to make estimated tax payments.
In your case, if the TA is the majority of your stipend, then you are probably okay. But it would be a very good idea to figure out how much total tax you will have to pay in one full tax year. Then you can ask your school's Human Resources department to increase your withholdings from your TA paychecks so that by the end of the year, you would have paid enough taxes so that you don't have to make estimated tax payments each quarter and/or you don't have to make a giant lump sum tax payment each April. 

I think you should keep this in the front of your mind. You are so close that it doesn't make any sense other than to just tough it out. It sucks that the classes are a bit of a bore but it doesn't sound like you're the type to give up based on the above statement. Honestly about a year into my Master's I hit a slump and was always questioning why I decided to take on the project that I did and I struggled with finding the motivation to keep moving forward. I eventually moved past it and came to love my project and the knowledge I have gained during my Master's but it did take some time for me to realize just how much I was learning and progressing in my education. I'm not saying that will happen with you but it did eventually happen with me and it allowed me to figure out what type of research I wanted to pursue during a PhD. What helped me through my slump though was honestly talking about it with other graduate students because they had the same feelings I did and it sounds like you have people in your program that you can vent too. The venting about my situation with others in a similar situation helped me a lot in feeling justified in feeling frustrated and dissatisfied. I can't say venting was what helped me move past my slump because it just took time for me to move past it, but in the moment the venting with others in my program/lab helped me in not feeling alone through all of it.
As an outsider looking in at your situation it really sounds like your program is doing its best to give you good and valuable experiences in your field. Perhaps the courses are not the best but I found that in my field it wasn't the courses that mattered during my Master's, instead it was other experiences (conference presentations, lab training, scientific writing) that I really needed further knowledge in and my Master's provided that. If you feel as if you are gaining good experiences outside of the content of your courses then I think your Master's is doing something to advance you further in your education/career. It sounds like your internship and travels have to be beneficial to your field so maybe try to focus on the good that you are getting out of your program rather than the bad (though as I say above if you need to vent about the bad to not feel alone in it I think that can be good at times too).
So honestly from what you say here it really sounds like you are burnt out and after so much school it is easy to feel that way if you aren't enjoying your classes. It really sounds need a break and I think you will get a great break this summer during your internship! Just keep in mind that there isn't too much of the current semester left and keep that internship in the front of your mind as motivation. If pursuing a PhD is what you want after you finish your master's I would suggest keeping the negatives about your current program in mind and watch for those red flags when looking for PhD programs. But if you are feeling super burnt out after your master's it might be best to take a break and work for a bit before jumping back into school.
I'm not sure if any of my words will be helpful to you but I do think it's perfectly normal to sometimes regret going certain paths and it just takes time to come to terms with that and figure out how to manage being dissatisfied in your life. Since the routine is what is bothering you maybe try to break it up as best you can so that it doesn't feel so boring and disappointing. Look forward to the travels you do! Make a plan (like hanging out with people you like to be around, going hiking, going to eat at a restaurant you love or whatever things you like doing that makes you happy) every week to do one thing you can look forward to and that could maybe help break up the routine. I hope you figure out how to change things up so you can get out of your slump.

My partner and I have both been accepted at two of the schools we applied to together! Which means now we will be able to make a decision rather than just going to wherever we were both accepted. Also at one of our schools we've each received higher paying fellowships! Now here's to hoping our visits will help us in our decision process.

When supervisor is like: Let's do idea for paper 1 (redo some messy group experiments from my 1st year) and submit it, 2 (theoretical paper on my thesis), and 3 (random idea I had last week)  - you can be first author on all <3 I feel so accomplished today

I have been in a long term relationship with my partner for quite a while now and we got our master's together and now in the fall we will be starting our PhDs together. Since we are both in academia our situation is a little different since we both have times when we are absolutely swamped, so it's really easy to understand that and just let the other person catch up with everything they need to do. But I'm gonna try and give some advice as best I can into how we make it all work.
I think one of the biggest things for us is us trying to make sure we are on the same wake-up and bedtime routine because then that means the times surrounding those times of the day are spent together. Also we really try to make sure we spend time not working after we wake up or before we go to bed and instead enjoy our breakfast and coffee together or enjoy winding down for the night after dinner. I really think if you have the ability to be on a similar schedule as your partner then that allows you to see each other much more frequently through the day. If you aren't on the same schedule you can easily end up just barely missing the opportunity to spend a little time with your partner. I usually wake up when he does (5:30 a.m. )for his 8 a.m. classes even though I don't absolutely need to wake up at that time and I'm totally not a morning person. But this allows us to spend all that time together before we need to leave the house. Also when we are really on top of things that wake up time allows us to work out together in the mornings/meal prep (chop veggies) for that evenings dinner.
I think one of the things that helps us a lot is even if one of us is working at home we try to be in the same room as the other person (unless we do need absolute solitude) so we can still chit chat when the person working needs a break or someone's brain to pick about something. Also while chores aren't fun we try to do them together when we can so we can have the time to catch up during that. We also almost always try to cook dinner together or at the very least eat dinner at the same time. I guess all of my advice so far is to just try and spend time together, even if it is just day-to-day stuff, but I would imagine that doesn't work for those who need a break from their partner now and then (I guess my partner and I do tend to be attached at the hip a bit...) But I do recognize that doing non day-to-day stuff also really helps keep relationships thriving.
For you to be able to do bigger things outside the day-to-day activities together during grad school I think the most important thing is time management. It took me a looooong time to figure out time management during my masters, but once I did, my partner and I were definitely better for it. It did allow us to do non-day-to-day activities more frequently (i.e. going out to eat or to the movies, going fishing or hiking or other things that we enjoy doing together). I find that the best way for us to do these fun activities together was for us to plan on X date to do whatever it was we wanted to do. This allowed me to figure out what I needed to do before that date and usually meant I was very productive in getting things done so I could feel deserved in taking the break with my partner. Basically we had to prioritize spending time together and I think that is maybe one of the most important things we learned during out master's. Of course setting aside a certain date isn't exactly spontaneous and sometimes spontaneity is great for relationships. So at times we would just shirk our responsibilities (when we knew we could get away with it for a day or weekend) and just do whatever the heck we wanted to do besides work even if it just meant a day of Netflix together.
It is absolutely OKAY to not constantly be working during grad school (take some weekends off!) and it's OKAY to take unplanned breaks to have some fun! If you want to go on a vacation with your partner then make those plans and do it! While during grad school you of course have to be productive and get things done in a timely fashion, sometimes you just need to make time for other things because that will ultimately make you a more productive student. When I realized that it was okay to not work all the time, I started to treat my grad school responsibilities as more of a 9 to 5 job (I mean more realistically I was working from ~8 to 6 or 6:30 with a lunch break) and became much more productive. It meant that I needed to make the most of those hours I set aside for work and I did. It meant that I had so much more downtime to look forward and wasn't as likely to goof off at school as I was before. It meant my partner were so much happier because we had made the point to prioritize our life in addition to prioritizing our responsibilities to grad school.
I know this went a bit long but as I was writing it I came to the realization of just how much better off my partner and I were when we better managed our time and prioritized us. I think prioritizing your partner and relationship is one of the biggest things for a relationship to remain on solid ground. It allows your bond to remain strong and by making time for your partner that shows how much you care for them. I know I went a bit stream-of-conscious-y so feel free to ask me to clarify something if its unclear.
 

I may be going to DU in the fall for my PhD and just thought I would pose a few of my questions on this thread in hopes that some people have some possible answers. I want to have some better ideas about housing in the area as I weigh my decisions on where to attend this fall.
I've seen that the light rail connects quite a few areas of the city (different suburbs/neighborhoods?) and that it extends for some way to further areas. Does anyone have approximate times on travel from the different suburbs/neighborhoods to DU via light rail or car as well (since I will have a car)? I guess I'm mainly asking if commuting is still very traffic heavy if you don't have to take I-25? Are there any areas you all would suggest or avoid when looking for rentals? Lastly, does anyone have any tips for looking/applying for rentals in Denver since the renting market is super competitive?

This is a bit late... but I was accepted to Columbia yesterday!! 

Accepted off the waitlist at UNC-Chapel Hill!! SO THRILLED  

Got my first acceptance! Syracuse Composition and Cultural Rhetorics sent me a very lovely email. I’m crying from the happiness and excitement. 

I just got into Columbia!!!!! I actually did not post on the board, so that must be another. I have been rejected from all 7 of my other programs, and this was the last place I was waiting on, and I just got accepted. Oh my god. I am beyond happy, grateful, and shocked. I've been looking at options for next year assuming I'd have to apply again for another round. YOU GUYS. 

The best rejection comment yet. 

My partner and I have both been accepted at two of the schools we applied to together! Which means now we will be able to make a decision rather than just going to wherever we were both accepted. Also at one of our schools we've each received higher paying fellowships! Now here's to hoping our visits will help us in our decision process.

My partner and I have both been accepted at two of the schools we applied to together! Which means now we will be able to make a decision rather than just going to wherever we were both accepted. Also at one of our schools we've each received higher paying fellowships! Now here's to hoping our visits will help us in our decision process.

I have been in a long term relationship with my partner for quite a while now and we got our master's together and now in the fall we will be starting our PhDs together. Since we are both in academia our situation is a little different since we both have times when we are absolutely swamped, so it's really easy to understand that and just let the other person catch up with everything they need to do. But I'm gonna try and give some advice as best I can into how we make it all work.
I think one of the biggest things for us is us trying to make sure we are on the same wake-up and bedtime routine because then that means the times surrounding those times of the day are spent together. Also we really try to make sure we spend time not working after we wake up or before we go to bed and instead enjoy our breakfast and coffee together or enjoy winding down for the night after dinner. I really think if you have the ability to be on a similar schedule as your partner then that allows you to see each other much more frequently through the day. If you aren't on the same schedule you can easily end up just barely missing the opportunity to spend a little time with your partner. I usually wake up when he does (5:30 a.m. )for his 8 a.m. classes even though I don't absolutely need to wake up at that time and I'm totally not a morning person. But this allows us to spend all that time together before we need to leave the house. Also when we are really on top of things that wake up time allows us to work out together in the mornings/meal prep (chop veggies) for that evenings dinner.
I think one of the things that helps us a lot is even if one of us is working at home we try to be in the same room as the other person (unless we do need absolute solitude) so we can still chit chat when the person working needs a break or someone's brain to pick about something. Also while chores aren't fun we try to do them together when we can so we can have the time to catch up during that. We also almost always try to cook dinner together or at the very least eat dinner at the same time. I guess all of my advice so far is to just try and spend time together, even if it is just day-to-day stuff, but I would imagine that doesn't work for those who need a break from their partner now and then (I guess my partner and I do tend to be attached at the hip a bit...) But I do recognize that doing non day-to-day stuff also really helps keep relationships thriving.
For you to be able to do bigger things outside the day-to-day activities together during grad school I think the most important thing is time management. It took me a looooong time to figure out time management during my masters, but once I did, my partner and I were definitely better for it. It did allow us to do non-day-to-day activities more frequently (i.e. going out to eat or to the movies, going fishing or hiking or other things that we enjoy doing together). I find that the best way for us to do these fun activities together was for us to plan on X date to do whatever it was we wanted to do. This allowed me to figure out what I needed to do before that date and usually meant I was very productive in getting things done so I could feel deserved in taking the break with my partner. Basically we had to prioritize spending time together and I think that is maybe one of the most important things we learned during out master's. Of course setting aside a certain date isn't exactly spontaneous and sometimes spontaneity is great for relationships. So at times we would just shirk our responsibilities (when we knew we could get away with it for a day or weekend) and just do whatever the heck we wanted to do besides work even if it just meant a day of Netflix together.
It is absolutely OKAY to not constantly be working during grad school (take some weekends off!) and it's OKAY to take unplanned breaks to have some fun! If you want to go on a vacation with your partner then make those plans and do it! While during grad school you of course have to be productive and get things done in a timely fashion, sometimes you just need to make time for other things because that will ultimately make you a more productive student. When I realized that it was okay to not work all the time, I started to treat my grad school responsibilities as more of a 9 to 5 job (I mean more realistically I was working from ~8 to 6 or 6:30 with a lunch break) and became much more productive. It meant that I needed to make the most of those hours I set aside for work and I did. It meant that I had so much more downtime to look forward and wasn't as likely to goof off at school as I was before. It meant my partner were so much happier because we had made the point to prioritize our life in addition to prioritizing our responsibilities to grad school.
I know this went a bit long but as I was writing it I came to the realization of just how much better off my partner and I were when we better managed our time and prioritized us. I think prioritizing your partner and relationship is one of the biggest things for a relationship to remain on solid ground. It allows your bond to remain strong and by making time for your partner that shows how much you care for them. I know I went a bit stream-of-conscious-y so feel free to ask me to clarify something if its unclear.
 

This is amazing! @FishNerd and I have been going through the same search! Congrats!

HUSBAND GOT INTO HARVARD
 
I CAN'T EVEN CONTAIN MYSELF HOLY OMGGGGGGGGGGG IS THIS REAL LIFE?????!!!!!!!!!!!

Finally heard back from Florida State- accepted with funding, which means my husband and I finally both have acceptances to the same school!