AnnaGG
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Posts posted by AnnaGG
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On 1/17/2019 at 12:33 PM, Esenabla said:
congrats to the two who posted their invites to visit day at notre dame!
do either of you (or anybody here) know if they're done sending out invites? if so, should not receiving one (my case, as of now) be interpreted as a rejection? this may be an overly-optimistic thought, but i live pretty far away from the university, so i thought that distance could possibly be a factor as to who is offered the invite and who isn't
I think everyone who’s under consideration has been invited and international students will be doing online interviews. If you’re in the USA distance makes no difference.
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I'd like to share some valuable advice for those who are planning to come with spouses to the U.S. I know the application process is not over but it might help you plan better...
Do not go for an F1 visa. Request a DS-2019 form from the institution and apply for J1. That way your spouse will be able to work in the U.S. Not enough people know this information and I see fellow students struggle. In case you are afraid of the 2-years home residency requirement - fear not. It does not apply unless your program was sponsored by the U.S. Government or your country.
Wish you all best of luck!
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On 6/18/2018 at 6:34 PM, jriveracal said:
Help me?
Program: PhD in Sociology
Schools Applying To: Harvard, UC Berkeley, Princeton, U of Michigan, U of Chicago, Stanford University, University of Pennsylvania, UCLA, Brown, Northwestern, NYU?, Wisconsin?
Long-listed Schools: ?
Interests: Sociology of poverty and culture. Parenting practices and their relation to the reproduction of inequality.
Expectations from Programmes: Remarkable professors not only as academics but as people, cutting-edge research, vast resources, access to funding, prefer suburban areas or close to suburban areas [I have two kids, would be easier to not raise them in a dense city].
Undergraduate Institution: UC Berkeley
Major/Degree: Soc
Graduate GPA: 3.91
Undergraduate Minor:
GRE: My diagnostics rn are both 149. Shit, I know. Verbal I can definitely see improving- vocab is the only thing really stopping me but I am working on that. My quant seems pretty much hopeless tbh.
TOEFL:
Age: 25
Languages: English
Work Experience: As an undergrad I worked in research for sociology [4 positions over three semesters- 2 paid, 2 unpaid], city and regional planning [1 position for 8 months, paid], Berkeley law internship [unpaid] at the death penalty clinic and Berkeley law research for a semester- unpaid...all overall were for 2 years. I am now employed full time doing research within a center at UC Berkeley. My prior work experience is unrelated- teen mentor for 3 years, retail management for a year, and serving tables [point being that I have worked non-stop since I was 17, not sure if this is relevant to note...I know when applying as an undergrad transfer I was told it was important to show I was working while in school....]
SoP: Drafting it, finding it hard to disassociate my purpose with my life experience. I think it will be pretty decent in the end.
LORs: 1 from soc prof who I have worked directly with doing research for for 2 years and she is now becoming dept chair of soc....another from a FT faculty who I took 2 classes with who offered to write a letter for me and is helping me with my SOP, and one TBD....either my current boss, the director of the berkeley department for which I am now working [but worried because she likes me a lot but doesn't know my work that well and tends to have a lot of typos....orrrr my GSI that I had for 3 semesters who gave me 3 A+ so he knows I'm a good student and knows me as a person.
FEEL FREE TO GIVE ME ANY ADVICE ON WHICH 3RD LETTER WOULD BE BETTER. DEFINITELY NEED SUGGESTIONS.
Concerns:
1. My GRE will be average AT BEST.
2. No academic/journal publications yet
3. Still unsure of what to do for my writing sample, I have a research paper that got a good grade but is not relevant to what I want to study now, or I have an ethnographic type of paper but I would need to add 10 pages to it.
4. I also took a semester off [what would have been my 3rd semester out of 6]. So I'm not sure if I should explain that or not...?
Any and ALL advice would truly be appreciated. And sorry for typos, I'm at work and just tried to jam this out fast lol.
Nothing wrong with striving for Harvard, we've all been there.. but with an ok GPA, poor GRE and no publications you really need some safety schools
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TOEFL does not boost application. It is a pass/fail kind of thing. As long as you can prove that your English is in working order - you're good. TOEFL WILL NOT be chosen over GRE in any way and will not compensate any deficiencies of the GRE score. If you can waive the requirement - just waive it. Sending the TOEFL score will only cost you money.
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On 3/16/2018 at 8:41 PM, plugandsocket said:
Current ND student here. Happy to field questions from any incoming students.
Hey! Incoming ND student here too. I have a question about housing. I'm currently in between Campus View (looks pretty but expensive) and Village Terre (affordable, but no pictures). Do you know anyone living there? Do you have better suggestions? I'll be coming with my husband, so co-rent of a larger house is not an option.
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On 3/8/2018 at 3:00 AM, plugandsocket said:
Hi, welcome to ND! Congrats on your admission!
As for apartments, on campus grad student housing includes Fisher and O'Hara Grace (though that one is getting torn down...next year? Or the next?)
Some technically "off campus" but within walking distance include The Overlook (pricey), The Foundry (also pricey), Stadium Club Apts, Village Terre.
If you have a car/are willing to get a bit farther from campus: Riverside North, University Park, Runaway Bay Rentals, Williamsburg on the Lake
Let me know if I can answer any more questions! Again, welcome!I was looking into VIllage Terre as my first choice, because of affordable pricing. I couldn't find any pictures of what the apartments look like inside. Do you know anyone who lived there, or maybe you've visited? Are they dingy?
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@plugandsocket does that rent include utilities? Can I PM you to discuss?
@abcd128 Wow, well that's definitely encouraging
Thank you for easing some of m major anxiety
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5 hours ago, ThePastelCalico said:
Okay I don't want to be morbid or anything, but I really need help. Anyone have any advice for addressing that nagging thought in the back of your mind that tells you you aren't good enough to be a sociologist? I honestly believe right now I'm going to look back on my Wisconsin rejection and always feel that everything I do academically will have that shadow cast on it; even if it's not visible to anyone else,, it's a heavy heavy shadow.
I need help, advice, or general good vibes. I don't want to feel this way, but I'm so scared of regretting my choice in attending a program like I regret going to my undergrad institution.
I am sorry you feel this way. My initial reaction was what? you got accepted to three universities and you're still unsure? but when my bite of jealousy subsided I was able to see how you'd be bothered and would wonder what is it that UWM wanted that you didn't have. I was only accepted to one school and had to question their standards if they thought that I'm good enough. But that's not the point. The point is there are humans in those universities. They aren't gods or clairvoyants and I believe making the choice is just as difficult for them since they can't be sure they're betting on the best of the best either. People drop out from the best programs. And succeed in okay programs too. Look up a list of where world's Nobel laureates graduated from and you'll see it's a very broad range of schools. Some of those people got rejections too in their time and someone might have regretted turning down a renown specialist because one of their recommendation letters was not exactly stellar. It's a betting game for everyone, in a way. They way I look at it, it's not worth putting on a pedestal a school that didn't select you. Their rejection doesn't make it unreachably good. It's just that you're not the horse they're betting on and that's okay. Instead, I want the school that chose me to be really really proud of it some day. You can even choose which of the three schools will get to put your picture on their "distinguished alumni" wall.
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3 hours ago, Pepé Le Pew said:
Anna,
It’s likely that a good portion of the inhabitants of the city live under 23k, so it’s quite feasible. The cost of living in this town is low enough that many of us stick around after graduation. So long as you don’t have to spend a lot of money on transportation, you’ll be fine.
Oh yay! Thank you. The move has me all sorts of anxious and material worries are the most.. well.. material.
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I'm here to revive this thread
I have a very specific question. I'm moving to South Bend this fall with my husband who will not be able to work due to visa regulations. We can be pretty frugal, if need may be and I'm a good cook. Would 23K per year be enough for two people? Rent and utilities will pretty much be unchanged. If we go for a $700 studio that will leave us with $14,600 a year, minus tax, for utilities, food and whatever strictly necessary expenses we might have. Will this be enough? I am very worried.
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I am 29, married, going to grad school this fall. I am an international student and I do not know much about grad moods and culture, but I can't care less about what others will think about me being married. If anything, I think it's a great asset to bring your best friend with you. You'll know that you have your support with you at all times and that your life is more or less on track. Finding your soulmate is a huge blessing and it's going to be great comfort to you through grad-related hardships. Congratulations!
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2 hours ago, soc126 said:
After the visit day at Notre Dame, I'm leaning that way at the moment! I'll be visiting Ohio State next weekend and then hopefully I'll be able to visit IU for their visit day.
After seeing how the visit day at ND went, I'm sure the visit days at the other two schools could sway me. ND's funding package is probably the best though. I'll keep you updated on what I decide! Congrats on being admitted at ND, I saw that you weren't able to attend the visit day so if you have any questions about it, let me know (:
I wish I could have visited ND! I heard from another applicant that the visit was convincing so now I'm just imagining how it went that it was such a positive experience. Flying across the Atlantic for a few hours would have been ridiculous, so I had an online interview about 2 weeks before the visit day
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57 minutes ago, socl said:
Delurking here - I only recently discovered this site and it has been helpful to see notifications rolling in.
Has anyone received a rejection from Maryland or Cornell? I saw some acceptances posted on the results page awhile ago but haven't seen any rejections. The grad coordinators were appropriately vague when I called last week.
Thanks!
I didn't get anything from Cornell and seeing how there are no rejections posted, and last year there were announced mid-March, I just assumed the same and scratched Cornell off the list
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@pinoysoc I'm pretty sure Vanderbilt has already finalized decisions. Their rejections go out by snail mail so take longer to arrive.
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17 hours ago, soc126 said:
Hi all! First time poster, but I've been lurking for awhile. I thought I'd add my acceptances/rejections here!
I'm in at Notre Dame, Ohio State, and IU-Bloomington.
Rejected from UWM, Northwestern, Minnesota, and Duke
Still waiting on UIC, but I'm not hopeful about it and I wouldn't attend. Anyways, best of luck to everyone still waiting on decisions!
What are you gravitating towards? I'm going to go with Notre Dame and wondering if we're gonna be there together
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@yeez, someone just posted an admit
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13 minutes ago, yeez said:
@AnnaGG Yes, it was this weekend. If you mean invited to visit but declined to come, I'm not sure, but I doubt it. ND sent out invites before most other programs sent out acceptances and fully covered travel expenses, so people would have no reason to not check it out if they received an invite. I think one or two people couldn't make it because of weather.
If you mean turned down an acceptance offer, than no. Offers are not out yet. We were told that the adcomm is meeting this week. If I get accepted, I will most likely attend. The funding is excellent and the campus has so many unique resources related to research and funding. The program is the best fit for me as well.
Thank you for the thorough reply. I had an online interview on February 6th and they said offers would be made two weeks later, so any day now. I'm just jealous of the people who could actually come and am holding my fingers crossed for an offer. Great fit for me as well. Maybe we'll both end up attending.
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18 minutes ago, SkunkStyle77 said:
Too lazy to read all the old posts. Just to make sure, if we haven't heard anything from the universities for which we applied, does that mean that we are probably expecting a rejection? Because then, I will be probably joining the rejection club, too.
Not necessarily. I suggest you check the results page for your univeristies and see if they've notified admits and when. That should give you a better picture
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As of today, out of the 6 schools I applied to I got 4 official rejects + 1 implied from Cornell = 5. Notre Dame interviewed me and I cling to them with all I have. If there's anyone else here who was interviewed by ND or invited to visit this weekend, I hope you all got accepted to other universities that are higher on your list and you can say "no, thank you" to Notre Dame.
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So I see someone posted an admit to Cornell. My inbox is empty. Anyone else heard from them?
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Corona virus effect on international students
in Decisions, Decisions
Posted
I am a current international graduate student, so even though I'm in a different situation, I understand your concerns. However, I would like to offer a more optimistic perspective. The new academic year will start on sooner than in five months. No one knows how the virus will develop till then, but even if things do not get better, I don't think a travel ban can be sustained for so long. By that time I am positive there will be better coping mechanisms in place. I really doubt that come September travel bans will make sense anymore. It is natural to worry about something as momentous as grad school in these difficult times, but there is still light ahead!