FHG

@ergative I hope your visit goes well! It was a very tough decision, but in the end I won't be going to IU.

@DeNovo Thank you for sharing your perspective! I've heard lots of great things from people who've done their undergrad there, and it's reassuring. I'm essentially choosing between there and the city I currently live in, so it's tempting to stick with what I know and like. @ergative I'm in a pretty similar boat! I live in another midwest city with similar COL, and from my experience (and speaking with current students) the stipend seems perfectly livable. If Bloomington is similar, I would think $1000/mo. would be on the excessive side. Where I live, rent can start as low as $400/person (rarer) and be as high as $1000 (1 br), depending on location/condition/roommates/etc. Echoing DeNovo, I wouldn't worry too much about COL since utilities will also be low and day-to-day spending doesn't run as high either.

Looking to bring this thread back and see how people like living in Bloomington. It seems like campus itself has quite a bit going on, but does the city itself have enough things to do for you? That's my biggest hesitation about IU, as the faculty and program seem like a great fit for me. Some of the grad students I met on my visit seemed to echo my feelings, too.

I posted it on the results page, but just popping back in to say I've been accepted to Columbia's MA program! It's not really on my radar though due to lack of funding. I hope everyone else is hearing good news and enjoying their visits if they're visiting!

This is a great question because I've been very curious about it too! The public schools to which I applied have their stipend information available on their websites, if you need to find and compare. The state schools that accepted me have offered $17-18k/year for TAship, and the fellowships I've been offered raise that to $25-26k for the year(s) covered by the fellowship. Since they all 3 offered pretty similar things, I expect it to be similar across universities, but I obviously have no idea. I'm very curious, and I hope this info helps you out!

Thank you both! I'm very excited about them, and Stony Brook actually gave me the best offer.

The rejection was for the Latin American and Iberian Cultures PhD, but I also submitted a secondary application for the MA in Hispanic Cultural studies in case I was rejected for the PhD. The secondary application was easy to submit and didn't cost any more, so I didn't see any reason not to. I can't imagine I'll do the MA if I get in though, since they pretty much told me it would be unfunded, and I've thankfully been accepted to Ohio State and Stony Brook's PhDs and Indiana's MA.

I already posted in the results page, but I finally received my rejection from Columbia! I also put in an application for their MA, so now I have to wait to hear back about that.

Si van a seguir cobrándonos, debería haber un límite a los application fees; es criminal. ¡Te deseo lo mejor y ojalá escuchemos algo pronto! Estaría muy feliz yo en la waitlist.

Mine still just says submitted, so that doesn't help either.

Has anyone here heard from Columbia? When I saw acceptances on the results page, I assumed I was out, but some people have received rejections too. So, I don't know why I wouldn't have received one as well. I also haven't been contacted about an interview, so that makes me think even more that I'm out. Not knowing is the most frustrating part!

I'm sorry as well, Rodrigo! I hope everyone hears some good news soon. I'm really just waiting to hear from Columbia at this point, but looking at previous results I'm not very hopeful. ANGTIP, I was told of my acceptance to Stony Brook during my interview with them. I hope you've heard something since your last post! If you haven't heard one way or the other, it could be that you're still in the running. Best of luck to you!

I can't really confirm that, but I would assume they're entering the final phase and that the interviews are used to make final decisions, so maybe. Hopefully you hear something soon, and I hope it's good news! I'll update here/the results page to help you know where they are in the process. Best of luck!!

I hope it helps, and I hope you hear good news soon!

Borderlands, I agree! I feel like I applied so long ago and haven't heard anything. ANGTIP, I'm not sure because I didn't see anything on their website about interviews. The email said I was on their "short list" and that they wanted to hold an interview. I'm assuming it's the final deciding step, however. My only interview so far was with Ohio State, and my understanding was that it was to check my Spanish since many of their students are TAs. It was fairly short and not terribly formal, so I'm not sure what to expect from Stony Brook.