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thenewkidaw71

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Everything posted by thenewkidaw71

  1. So I am a new grad student at UChicago, and after spending a couple of weeks here I would plan for a little bigger budget. You can find reasonable rent in the Hyde Park area, especially if you are willing to squeeze an extra person in an apartment or live south of 59th street (a word of caution though is that, although you can find some nicer looking apartments between 60th-62nd, it rapidly becomes an unsafe neighborhood), but other expenses are really high. There are only two grocery stores in Hyde Park, both of which seem outrageously expensive, at least coming from Ohio, and my utilities are about twice what I paid in Ohio. There is also no discount shopping center like Walmart for basic goods unless you have a car or take a 20 minute train ride, so you are stuck at CVS or Target. It is a beautiful area and cheaper than many other neighborhoods in Chicago, but it is still city living and the costs add up!
  2. I got wrecked by one reviewer who "didnt think I understood broader impacts." So I guess the bad reviewer thing is true, although I think I would have been on the fence in any case. Can't even be mad especially since the other two reviewers were friendly and informative, just have to laugh it off and move on! E/VG E/VG VG/F "not recommended" Congrats to all winners and HMs! And if you were unsuccessful, eat some cookies and go back to sleep!
  3. Thanks to both of you! I really appreciate the support, and I mustered up the confidence to write him an email last night. It is such a weird situation, especially in the UK where you are required to have your PhD mentor support your application through the process. I wrote him a ton of thank yous and hopefully lessened the ill will by suggesting that I could postdoc for him down the road (which I would honestly LOVE to do if my research continues in a similar direction). Now, to wait and see if I burned the bridge forever
  4. For me, it was a question of atmosphere. Both of my top choices had great faculty, interesting research, and highly ranked departments, so I got to look at the experience I would have at each school. School A had a very positive, collaborative, and social environment, but the stipend was much smaller and I would have to TA for most of my PhD. School B is known to be sort of intense, but it is in my favorite city and they offered me an awesome fellowship package (enormous stipend and RA after my first year). School A seems to place a lot of people in industry/non-academic jobs whereas School B is known to produce a lot of processors. I still don't know which will be better, but those are the factors on my mind! Edit: This is not for sociology, but similar social science!
  5. Hi all, I have made a decision with schools, and now I am working on notifying everybody of my decisions. This is not a problem for the most part; however, I am struggling with informing one very enthusiastic professor about my decision. I feel bad because he is at a school in the UK and has been working on grant funding for me to join his lab, and he has been very enthusiastic about me as a student. It was a really great situation, and their research is a great fit, but I ultimately decided that I wanted to remain within the US system. I know that the answer is that I am under no obligation to join his lab, but I know he has invested a lot of time in me, and I want to avoid burning a bridge as best as I can. I feel bad because this was partially my fault - this was one of my first choices in November, and I told him as much. This situation changed because my funding package in the UK sort of sucked, and I found out about a new professor at one of my admitted schools in the US that aligns better with my interests. Does anybody have any experience/warnings/reassurance that they can provide? I am sure he is aware that I have other options, but it is just a bit daunting because of his enthusiasm.
  6. I was just accepted with funding to Cambridge, and it has totally thrown a wrench in my decision. I have tried to explain my pros and cons for each school, but I am also concerned in general about the difference between a USA and a UK PhD - some people say it doesn't matter while others say it is a kiss of death, so I do not know where the truth lies. If anybody has any feedback or experience, this would be greatly appreciated!! I am a younger PhD candidate and American if that matters. Cambridge - I have been working with this professor since last August, when he helped me to write a proposal for the Churchill Scholarship (I didn't make it past the first round lol but we stayed in touch after). The lab is a really great fit, and the POI is very interested in me, but I am somewhat tentative about attending a UK PhD program for several reasons. I am coming straight from undergraduate and would lose out on some valuable advanced coursework and well as connections for job opportunities down the road (since I would be in the UK). I love the idea of finishing my PhD 1-2 years earlier, but I am worried that this would limit my opportunities afterward. I also spent a year living in Germany previously and consider living in Europe to be a huge advantage. UChicago - Another great fit in terms of the professor, and they offered me a pretty competitive fellowship which would ease the cost of living. I also applied for GRFP under this professor, but that is by no means a given award. The professor is young and extremely productive, and I got along quite well with the graduate students. I think that I would benefit from the first-year graduate courses in a US school, and I really liked the first-year TA experience at UChicago. My main concern here was the atmosphere - I got the feeling that the program was rather competitive and that a lot of the graduate students were unhappy.
  7. Hi all, I know this question has been asked in various forms a million times before, but I am really struggling with three schools that offer totally different experiences. Relevant information: I am a younger student in biological sciences, and I hope to try my hand at academia (but I recognize that in today's hyper-competitive environment, I need to also consider options in industry). School A is a fairly prestigious university in a cool town with a well funded program. There are three professors with whom I would be interested in working here, but none are a "perfect" fit. I really like the location and could live okay (not great) off the stipend, and both the students and the professors were extremely friendly. I think I could have the best lifestyle here, but it is concerning that there is no perfect fit in terms of professor. School B is a less prestigious university in a smaller college-town vibe. However, the POI is a well-respected young professor in my field, and I really got along well with him during the visit. I think that I could do the best research here, and they offered me an extremely generous fellowship to supplement the stipend. Living would be easy, but my big fear is that I will be shooting myself in the foot if I decide to leave academia and have to search for a job. It is also a smaller program, and a lot of other visiting students were non-traditional and/or a lot older than me. School C is a very prestigious university in a big city - the research is really cool and I really liked the other visiting students, but I was a little bothered that both of my POIs did not show up for the visit weekend and have seemed "distant" throughout the process. I am concerned that the stipend would not be enough to live comfortably here and that the program is considered very cut-throat. However, if I were to leave academia, I think this school would provide the best opportunities! Ultimately, this comes down to a question of prestige vs fit - School C is extremely prestigious but maybe not the best environment, whereas School B is a perfect fit but definitely have some disadvantages in terms of opportunities. School A is somewhere in between. If anybody could help me tease out what is important from this information, I would really appreciate it.
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