Anonymouse124

Turned down funded Ph.D. offer and provost fellowship from CUNY Grad Center! I hope this helps out a GC'er out there!

Let's say, if the professor signs their email with first name, and then you keep calling them Dr. xyz or Professor xyz for a long time, you might come across as too distant (happened to me before). but I also don't really know what's the protocol: should I switch to first name? should I ask? Asking is a little too awkward for me -- in that case i'd rather be too distant than asking. Switching to first name might offend people, but then if they introduce themselves by their first name or sign their email by first name, and then I call them as how they refer themselves, can they really blame me??? 
If a prof signs their full name, of course you should be formal. 
Ugh this is such a hot potato question

In off the waitlist at Loyola

There are some folk I've seen at Harvard who have external supervisors from other schools among the Ivy coalition — you might inquire with Yale how possible it is to have a professor from Columbia, etc. on your committee. Taking classes at these schools is certainly possible.

Declined fully funded offer and additional fellowship at UIUC! Hopefully that helps a GCer out there!! 

I will be doing the same for the MA today (also fully funded w/ fellowship).

I'm glad the MAPH program is working well for you, clearly there are benefits to it. But, I would be a little hesitant to accept this as one of the benefits; I was shut out last year (with only a BA), and came to a similar realization. As a result of my shut out, I spent a serious amount of time reading both recently published scholarship by current faculty in my area of interest and by current or recently graduated students. I also re-read my SoP and thought, "Wow, that's a cute lil narrative about my undergraduate experience, not really a great grad school application though." The point here is that just having the rejections as feedback ("you did not do this right") and the perspective granted by a couple months of not being in an academic environment led to my application being much stronger and more mature this year. I don't doubt that you have a much better understanding of the field currently than I do, but I also think admissions committees have different expectations for students with only a BA vs students with an MA of some sort with regards to their currency in their chosen field. I just think that to advocate going into debt in order to strengthen a PhD application is a little extreme, especially as there are other ways to strengthen it (the one that worked for me being time and reflection). Academia may be an elitist beast, but we can still try not to feed it. 

If you are very confident that the shelter would look after her well, it is not the worst option, since you've said they're a no-kill shelter. But you might be able to find a better local rescue, perhaps ones that specialize in senior cats or those with medical issues. Even if the shelter is no-kill, a cat with health problems may be there for a very long time. Some rescues have better environments than shelters.
However, given that you say that the issues may be behavioral, I would probably take her with me and see - it's my attitude that getting a pet is a commitment for life (but if you are unable to care for her, the responsible thing is to find somebody who can - I'm not trying to make you feel bad about this.) You can do some research in advance to verify that there are good local shelters/rescues that you could take her to in your new location if it is still needed.

If you keep her, I would recommend you sign up for some pet insurance. It is likely that you wouldn't be able to get any of this covered, if there's anything in her vet file showing this is "pre-existing", but you can avoid such high bills in the future. If there's nothing in her record, I suppose it is possible that pet insurance could cover much of this (there's no diagnosis yet, which might make a difference). You'd have to read the small print. If you're in the US, I've had good experiences with Healthy Paws.

I took a gap year after my first round of applications (to MAs alone - none of which were even funded Good god) and got into my dream school. It’s a top ten and in the city I was living in at the time and it felt like everything was falling into place. I felt like I’d won the lottery; I spoke to professors, toured campus, bought the obligatory sweatshirt, listened to Heaven is a Place on Earth on a loop, but when it came time for me to take out my loans through FAFSA, I couldn’t do it. I was looking at paying back approximately $130k in loans and interest over the course of thirty years for an MA that would last one single year. I had been lucky enough to have been granted a full ride in undergrad and the realization of what the cost of the MA would be didn’t really hit until the night I was applying for loans. I spoke to my best friends, my family, and my professors. I cried a lot. My family thought I was being stupid, but my friends and professors supported me, convinced that I could get into the PhD programs I thought were out of my league. 
So I took the year off. I spoke with professors on skype and over email, I conducted independent research, wrote a whole new writing sample reflecting my new interests, developed a new personal statement, and it paid off. I would not have developed my current research interests if it hadn’t been for my previous application cycle. I learned so much and now have six acceptances to fully funded programs.  
All this to say, sometimes the first journey is practice for the next one, but also: if it’s not funded, don’t do it. 
(Edit: I didn’t even apply to the “dream school” in my second round because the fit was definitely not it. I wouldn’t have been in a position to make such a call in the first round.)

Turned down UC San Diego today! Hope that helps a GCer out there  

I took a gap year after my first round of applications (to MAs alone - none of which were even funded Good god) and got into my dream school. It’s a top ten and in the city I was living in at the time and it felt like everything was falling into place. I felt like I’d won the lottery; I spoke to professors, toured campus, bought the obligatory sweatshirt, listened to Heaven is a Place on Earth on a loop, but when it came time for me to take out my loans through FAFSA, I couldn’t do it. I was looking at paying back approximately $130k in loans and interest over the course of thirty years for an MA that would last one single year. I had been lucky enough to have been granted a full ride in undergrad and the realization of what the cost of the MA would be didn’t really hit until the night I was applying for loans. I spoke to my best friends, my family, and my professors. I cried a lot. My family thought I was being stupid, but my friends and professors supported me, convinced that I could get into the PhD programs I thought were out of my league. 
So I took the year off. I spoke with professors on skype and over email, I conducted independent research, wrote a whole new writing sample reflecting my new interests, developed a new personal statement, and it paid off. I would not have developed my current research interests if it hadn’t been for my previous application cycle. I learned so much and now have six acceptances to fully funded programs.  
All this to say, sometimes the first journey is practice for the next one, but also: if it’s not funded, don’t do it. 
(Edit: I didn’t even apply to the “dream school” in my second round because the fit was definitely not it. I wouldn’t have been in a position to make such a call in the first round.)

Turned down UC San Diego today! Hope that helps a GCer out there  

I took a gap year after my first round of applications (to MAs alone - none of which were even funded Good god) and got into my dream school. It’s a top ten and in the city I was living in at the time and it felt like everything was falling into place. I felt like I’d won the lottery; I spoke to professors, toured campus, bought the obligatory sweatshirt, listened to Heaven is a Place on Earth on a loop, but when it came time for me to take out my loans through FAFSA, I couldn’t do it. I was looking at paying back approximately $130k in loans and interest over the course of thirty years for an MA that would last one single year. I had been lucky enough to have been granted a full ride in undergrad and the realization of what the cost of the MA would be didn’t really hit until the night I was applying for loans. I spoke to my best friends, my family, and my professors. I cried a lot. My family thought I was being stupid, but my friends and professors supported me, convinced that I could get into the PhD programs I thought were out of my league. 
So I took the year off. I spoke with professors on skype and over email, I conducted independent research, wrote a whole new writing sample reflecting my new interests, developed a new personal statement, and it paid off. I would not have developed my current research interests if it hadn’t been for my previous application cycle. I learned so much and now have six acceptances to fully funded programs.  
All this to say, sometimes the first journey is practice for the next one, but also: if it’s not funded, don’t do it. 
(Edit: I didn’t even apply to the “dream school” in my second round because the fit was definitely not it. I wouldn’t have been in a position to make such a call in the first round.)

Turned down UC San Diego today! Hope that helps a GCer out there  

I took a gap year after my first round of applications (to MAs alone - none of which were even funded Good god) and got into my dream school. It’s a top ten and in the city I was living in at the time and it felt like everything was falling into place. I felt like I’d won the lottery; I spoke to professors, toured campus, bought the obligatory sweatshirt, listened to Heaven is a Place on Earth on a loop, but when it came time for me to take out my loans through FAFSA, I couldn’t do it. I was looking at paying back approximately $130k in loans and interest over the course of thirty years for an MA that would last one single year. I had been lucky enough to have been granted a full ride in undergrad and the realization of what the cost of the MA would be didn’t really hit until the night I was applying for loans. I spoke to my best friends, my family, and my professors. I cried a lot. My family thought I was being stupid, but my friends and professors supported me, convinced that I could get into the PhD programs I thought were out of my league. 
So I took the year off. I spoke with professors on skype and over email, I conducted independent research, wrote a whole new writing sample reflecting my new interests, developed a new personal statement, and it paid off. I would not have developed my current research interests if it hadn’t been for my previous application cycle. I learned so much and now have six acceptances to fully funded programs.  
All this to say, sometimes the first journey is practice for the next one, but also: if it’s not funded, don’t do it. 
(Edit: I didn’t even apply to the “dream school” in my second round because the fit was definitely not it. I wouldn’t have been in a position to make such a call in the first round.)

I took a gap year after my first round of applications (to MAs alone - none of which were even funded Good god) and got into my dream school. It’s a top ten and in the city I was living in at the time and it felt like everything was falling into place. I felt like I’d won the lottery; I spoke to professors, toured campus, bought the obligatory sweatshirt, listened to Heaven is a Place on Earth on a loop, but when it came time for me to take out my loans through FAFSA, I couldn’t do it. I was looking at paying back approximately $130k in loans and interest over the course of thirty years for an MA that would last one single year. I had been lucky enough to have been granted a full ride in undergrad and the realization of what the cost of the MA would be didn’t really hit until the night I was applying for loans. I spoke to my best friends, my family, and my professors. I cried a lot. My family thought I was being stupid, but my friends and professors supported me, convinced that I could get into the PhD programs I thought were out of my league. 
So I took the year off. I spoke with professors on skype and over email, I conducted independent research, wrote a whole new writing sample reflecting my new interests, developed a new personal statement, and it paid off. I would not have developed my current research interests if it hadn’t been for my previous application cycle. I learned so much and now have six acceptances to fully funded programs.  
All this to say, sometimes the first journey is practice for the next one, but also: if it’s not funded, don’t do it. 
(Edit: I didn’t even apply to the “dream school” in my second round because the fit was definitely not it. I wouldn’t have been in a position to make such a call in the first round.)

Turned down UC San Diego today! Hope that helps a GCer out there  

I love my Swissgear laptop backpack! It's a pretty sleek design and it has a professional feel to it. It also has a doctor's bag style hinged opening which makers it really easy to fill with books, notebooks, snacks, etc. I carry all my course materials in it for 10 hour days and have plenty of room. It's a really durable fabric so I think it will hold up well over the years.
I also have a long term shoulder issue (one of my shoulder blades doesn't sit in the right place) and this one doesn't cause me any pain (provided I don't over fill it).

Ahhh thank you so much!!! ?

Does anyone know where to find that list of things to consider/ask faculty and grad students on prospective visits? I've been searching for ages and haven't been able to find it! Thanks in advance!!! 

My puppy will just be getting to the age of not being a total menace when I start my program in the fall. Thank goodness!!!!!!!
Here she is asleep on a carrot....

Hello! Apologies if this has been asked before, I didn't see a thread with this specific question. I was wondering how people go about looking for an apartment and roommate while living out of state? I am assuming it is best to go a month or to ahead and look in person, but I've only ever lived in on-campus housing so I have no idea. I will be moving to Philadelphia if that helps. Any tips are appreciated.

I'm in the same boat (including moving to Philadelphia)! Following. 

It seems there are a few of us in the city--it'd be great to connect with like-minded folks and exchange thoughts on how to approach decision season! 

Would be down for a meetup!