Teaching Faculty Wannabe

If I were you, I would go to UCLA. If you like UCLA, if you have a good advisor or good potential advisors, if you have good and reliable funding, if you can see yourself at UCLA and would be happy there, you should take this opportunity given to you. MIT does have prestige, but I don't think that why you should choose a place because of prestige. There is also no guarantee you will get in next year, sorry to say. So, do what feels best in your gut. Good luck!

Ask here:

Thank you! It is definitely a huge relief! I hope everyone gets to this point soon, and I wish everyone else the best of luck as well!

Yay! Congrats! This is great!

I would definitely ask someone who works in the graduate school office, a grad student in your department, and/or your future PI. Looking up health insurance can be confusing (the school I plan on going to has two health insurance types/premuims along with two different premiums for vision plans), so getting a definite answer from the school reassured me. Good luck!

That is a tough decision. I sadly don't know much about anthropology and how to get a job after doing graduate school in that field, but the fact that you have a good advisor should definitely be something of importance. In my mind, more important than the ranking on the university, but since I am limited in my knowledge, I feel like I am not the best voice here. Good luck!

Hmmm, I see. That can be concerning and I see why you are hesitant. I would maybe contact some grad students already in the department and see what they say and maybe you can get a vibe that way?

Going to UConn! Welcome everyone else who is as well (I hope I am not the only one)!

I'm out, y'all. I am done playing this waiting game with schools. I plan on attending UConn this fall! Good luck everyone!

I don't know about U of Arizona, but I did my undergrad at NCSU in MSE. MSE and ChemE share the same building, which I think would be useful for you since your research interests seem more materials-based. I know that some MSE professors at NCSU do semiconductor work and I wonder if you could maybe have two advisors or be allowed an MSE professor be in your committee. At NCSU, there is a separate campus for engineering called Centennial Campus. On that campus, there is this facility called Monteith Engineering Research Center (MRC) where there are clean rooms for semiconductor development as well as tons of equipment for material characterization. There are also a lot of industry partners on the campus. Raleigh is part of the Research Triangle, which means that there a lot of companies in the area. Good luck with your decision.

From what I've seen, school rank doesn't matter too much at the PhD level. The research you do. The papers you publish. The advisor you work with. Those things are important. Good luck!

That's awesome! Congrats!

Dinner party

I just visited UConn Storrs and UConn Health for a weekend. I THINK I will be attending there.

Hi there! I am deciding between two schools, but I am leaning towards UConn over BU. I hope there are other fellow incoming students to UConn. I will be starting Fall 2019.

I got the same offer. I am not going to take it, though, since I have better offers. Good luck to you as well!

Yeah, they told me that sadly not everyone was able to visit UConn. Like I said, if you have any questions, don't hesitate to PM me or something. I was actually nominated for the fellowship by my POI, and was informed about receiving the fellowship before I got the acceptance letter. I will say that the BME department is newer (only a couple years old), so it seems like they are still trying to figure out things and get established. However, there are tons of faculty and they are hiring even more. I met about eleven BME professors or so, and every one of them was super nice. The environment seems really collaborative and it also seems common for professors there to be affiliated with another department, so research is interdisciplinary, which I really like. Also, I just got rejected by University of Rochester. Haha, it hurts to be rejected by two schools in less then 24 hours, but I'd rather know than not know.

Also, have you heard anything from University of Rochester?

Thanks! It's alright. It wasn't really my Oh cool! You got into UConn as well! Yay! Nice to meet you! I contacted my POI there about funding and she hasn't gotten back to me yet, but I will let you know more when I find out. I actually got two fellowships, an external one that gives me money for my first year and a UConn one that gives me some funding for five years. So, my situation is a bit complicated. However, I will also have to be an RA or TA. I know some about the program because I was able to visit last weekend. I think the stipend for most graduate assistants is about $30,000 a year, depending on the funding your POI has for you. Tuition is covered, but I think we would have to pay for some fees. Health insurance is not covered but it is not as expensive as typical health insurance because UConn has a union for its grad students, which means that grad students have a lot of people looking out for them and we would get great benefits at a low cost. You will probably TA for one semester. It isn't required, but it seems like the BME departments really encourages. So, you will get funding by TAing and then the semesters you will be an RA. I would reach out to your POI and/or the BME department there. If you have any other questions, please let me know. I think I am leaning more towards UConn, FYI.

I haven't rented a townhouse or a house before, but I feel like a realtor can show you both. There are also many online sources/phone apps you can use to find places to rent, and the school you are going to attend might have its own online resource for finding off-campus housing. When renting a house or townhouse, you might just have a landlord instead of management. You want to ask them about their rules, if utilities are included, if they will cover the maintenance of the house, etc. Good luck!

You could always email the department to ask about next steps or when you will receive the letter.

I just got rejected from Caltech. Woooo.

Hey everyone! I wanted to start a forum where people can ask questions about various topics related to adulthood, especially for those that didn't have to worry about it much until now. So, feel free to ask questions about: Health care and health insurance Budgeting Having a pet Owning a car Renting and renter's insurance Finding an apartment How to files taxes Having children Moving and its costs Vacationing And else you can think of FYI, I am nowhere near an expert. I created this to get a discussion going.

Fancy hat

Hi there! Taxes are not typically withheld from fellowships, but are usually withheld from stipends for TA and RA positions. I only know this from doing tons of research. I have included a lot previous forums about this subject. I am sorry it is a lot, but taxes are super complicated and I am still trying to figure them out myself. I hope this helps!