Bird Vision

I believe this still misses the point I was making: houses are basically terrible investments. Your opportunity cost + repair expenditures will likely end up being more than the money saved by not renting. This does not even factor in the heartache of buying a house or the stress of selling it. Sure, you might be able to pay for it, but why would you? Most of us are not in a reasonable position to buy a house. Renting is not this evil thing that will ruin your life. Don't try to keep up with the Joneses. You're in grad school, your life/career path has already deviated - this is one of those effects.

If the adcom decides to reject you because of it, then so be it. Be honest and direct. If that does not get you in, do not try to subvert it. Edit: Maybe I misunderstand, but under what circumstance would the clicker situation be okay?

It's significantly more complicated than this. Most people say that you should own a home for AT LEAST five years, and that's only to break even. If you have enough money for a down payment, you're likely much better off throwing into an ETF and saving yourself the headache of home ownership. If you're going to stay in an area after your PhD, that's one thing. Otherwise I say (in most cases) just rent.

It's likely that the link expired. This post was created more than a year ago.

The biggest thing is to be realistic. Excel is your new best friend. I keep running one-year projections, and update them as I go. You should know very closely what you'll be making, so allocate funding according to importance. You may find that you plan to spend more than you'll make - can you make cuts, or do you HAVE to take loans? Don't forget about taxes. They're a big part of your budget. In the US, some grad students have to pay estimated tax every quarter. One last thing: just because you budgeted x dollars for y category in z period does not mean you have to spend it. Use excess funds to pay down loans or save for next period. PM me if you need more help.

1. (This section will be full of generalizations) When talking face-to-face, Americans offer help like candy. It's easy to ignore people or be lazy when communicating online. It's probably not you, as long as you're being nice. 2. Rental scams definitely exist, so be careful. They're less common with rental management agencies, but still possible. However, there are other problems with signing a lease without seeing the property. You cannot verify the condition of the apartment, and you don't know the condition of the neighborhood. If you're so inclined, you can say where you'll be going, and maybe someone here can help. Good luck.

So your transcript shows evaluations for each of the ~30 classes you took? This seems like a thorough analog of Pass/Fail at other institutions. How was it determined that you were eligible for classes that had prerequisites?

Obviously I do not know the details of your situation, but there seem to be three possible scenarios: your peers are way overstepping their boundaries, they have something to gain from you not going to grad school, or they see something about you that you don't. Only you can rule out these choices, but for the sake of discussion, I will assume that the second and third statements are false, leaving the first. In that case, you know yourself better than anyone else. As long as you don't take it to heart, there is no harm in asking why they believe that, and it may provide insight. Further, there is no shame in discussing it with a professional, if that's something you'll consider. Questioning your readiness shows a maturity that many here do not possess. That said, I will not opine on whether or not you are ready to be a graduate student.

You seem very self-assured, so I'm sure you're going to pursue this no matter what I say. With that in mind, this will be my last post on the matter; I don't wish to play chess with pigeons. Why are you doing a PhD if you want money and connections? In my field (econ), people with this mindset generally end up hating grad school and lamenting the fact that they could have gotten an MBA and gone straight into finance. Especially in Europe, where salaries are low compared to the US. I urge you to determine for yourself why you feel you have to do two PhDs to maximize the benefit, then reconcile whether these motivations will allow you to succeed in graduate school. As a final note, it seems that you believe a grad program takes 40 hours of effort a week. In many cases this can't be farther from the truth. Whatever you decide, I wish you good luck. I would like to hear what you choose to do, and how it goes.

Not to be brash, but this seems absurd. What do you really get out of it? Do you want to be known as the person who got two PhDs in surprisingly similar fields, and half-assed both of them?

When they mean leaving the state, they're referring more to not maintaining continuous residency i.e. not renting an apartment over the summer. Vacationing/visiting family during breaks is fine, as long as it's not months at a time. You may not be going to a UC school, but this is a good read: https://www.ucop.edu/residency/establishing-residency.html

I believe this topic is much better suited (and would be much more relevant) for specific fields. Departments in grad school are essentially independent, and a student's perspective of their Accounting department will not be beneficial for another student in Social Work, for example.

Please note that I am completely unfamiliar with European grad school and funding. Can you not withdraw yourself from the ESRC competition, and accept the university scholarship? That seems like the ideal situation for both parties.

In regard to the above, I was told that most grad students have multiple roommates. They did say that the best way to find private accommodations was to put yourself on the waitlist for as many apartments as you could. However, if you are looking for a 3BR place, you're probably going to spend $3,000 a month.

Respectfully, the second half is inaccurate. In the US, full-time employment is 40 hours a week. A 50% employment is 20 hours a week - the standard for a part time job. When universities reference 50% appointments, they are saying that you will be paid 50% of the amount that someone working that job full time would be paid. Similarly, a 1/4 or 25% appointment is 10 hours a week, and compensates as such.

I'm in a similar position; I'm considering moving to UCSB with my wife. I come from a very cheap city, so the idea of paying $1500+ for rent kinda blows my mind. I just submitted an application for family housing, and you should note that estimated wait times for family housing are 26 months. I will discuss getting by in SB/Goleta on a TA salary when I visit in early April. If that grants any insight, I will let you know.

I'm going to ignore the ethical dilemma here simply because you have already accepted the other offer. You have already burned your bridge at Program A. Just send a short, polite email stating that you will not be attending their program, and that you are sorry you made a premature decision. There is no need to explain why. Expect to never have a good working relationship with the people at Program A.

I don't mean to discourage your passion for economics, but if scoring in the 61st percentile in basic math is the best you think you can do, how well do you think you will fare in your first-year classes? I understand that we're all stressing about get that one magical acceptance, but we cannot lose sight of what comes afterward; grad school is HARD. It will likely be significantly harder than any schooling you have ever done. Just keep that in mind. That said, I'm sure it's possible to get accepted to a PhD program if you scrape the bottom of the barrel. Good luck, and I hope you find what you're looking for.

If you want a shot a pretty much any Econ PhD, you need at least a 160. The top 30 or so "require" 90th percentile which is 165/166. It is imperative that you retake the GRE if you are serious about this. And study for it. Being a math major doesn't help much for the math on the GRE, other than having a proclivity for calculation.

Are you in a hurry to graduate? Would it be prohibitively expensive to finish in 2020? I personally would wait in order to have the best profile possible. A good compromise might be to apply to your absolute top choices this year, and apply again next year if you are not successful.