futuredrb

This is such a great thread!!
Worries: I'm nervous about funding from my top school, which is the school where I'm currently finishing my undergrad. Thankfully I can get a tuition discount, an assistantship, and hopefully have more opportunities in the city that will offset potentially higher tuition.
Excitement: I'm so excited to finally be able to say I'm staying here for another two years. I feel like I'm in the middle of something very important in my work and development with a mentor who means so much to me and my work. He told me about two other opportunities he wants me to have in the coming years that are both VERY exciting. I'm looking forward to having the process done with! Also hopefully getting acceptances from other schools could help get more funding from this school.

I visited one of the programs that accepted me yesterday, and I feel much more excited about it! It's at a university that has a reputation as a commuter school, but the MFA program seems to have a really strong community. Two of the students there invited me for coffee afterwards, and they were so nice and helpful. After hearing their thoughts about the program, it's a much better fit for me than I realized. I don't know if I have funding yet, but they told me my odds were good. Keeping my fingers crossed!

It sounds like a really great environment for you! You'll really flourish there  I've heard, at least in my fields (German and medieval studies), that staying at your undergrad institution for a master's is okay, but it looks kind of bad to stay all the way through your Ph.D. Idk if you plan on going for a Ph.D. after your Master's, but whether or not it's the same in your field might be a good thing to find out if you do. 

Smash that commit button!
Congrats!
ConGrazia!

WOW THAT IS SO AWESOME!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!

Heard back from my top school about funding - full ride!! Hitting the commit button and celebrating this weekend!! Now I can relax and enjoy the end of undergrad. Best of luck to everyone still waiting, I wish the best for you all!

I was the same way yesterday and I found out about funding today! It's almost like you can tell when the news is about to come, subconsciously or something.

I got info on funding from my top school today from two separate emails. Found out my dog has cancer, so then finding out my Master's is fully funded is an absolute dream come true today and much-needed good news. I was on the phone both times when I got the news today - first with my mom, checking my email and responding to a professor, and then with my best friend this evening.

I did my UG and G at the same university. I completed my bachelors early (finished in 3 years, in the US bachelors are usually 4 years), and completed the masters in 2. My university doesn't have a PhD program for my area of study.
I didn't really consciously do anything differently. There is a lot less time spent physically in class (I had 3 classes per semester for my first year, then 2 classes per semester for my second year + thesis hours). I also had an assistantship outside of my department which took up a LOT of my time. This means that I had the ability to (mostly) schedule my own time since I didn't have to physically be in class more than 2 or 3 days. That was definitely a learning curve. My second year was taken up mostly by my assistantship and writing my thesis/collecting lab data, all of which had to be scheduled by me. Especially the first semester, before I started to get into my research, it was hard to not just sleep all day, since I felt like I had so much time (I only had class T/Th mornings, and M evening). That quickly went away though, all of the work started to pile up during second semester/end of first year.
Sorry this isn't super helpful, but grad school by nature is different and you will learn to adhere to a new way of learning! About half or so of the students in my program went to the same university for UG, so that was really cool. It was nice to work with the same professors and continue working on projects from UG, so definitely take advantage of that.
 

Thank you! Well, guess you were right-- third time IS the charm! Proud of ya!! 
This isn't a rejection, but it's one of my faves and I imagine totally relevant to you right now, so I had to share?
 

I think my favorites are the song lyric-based ones. I have been inspired to make a playlist. 
 

Just got accepted to my top choice school with info on funding coming later this month, but there's money! I'm ECSTATIC!!!

I got my first acceptance last Wednesday to Fordham University for their school counseling program. I walked into my lab shift in the morning at school and as soon as I sat down, I opened my email on my laptop, saw an admissions decision email from the school and immediately, my heart started pumping and hands getting sweaty. I was so ecstatic about my acceptance but had to react quietly without causing a disturbance since there were participants working in the lab room. I'm still waiting to hear back from the other three other schools I applied to.

I was just getting done with work for the day and happened to look down at my phone and see that I had a missed call from an unfamiliar number. I have been getting a lot of spam calls lately, and I try to remind myself of that before I get too excited. But when I unlocked my phone, I saw that the area code belonged to a familiar place and that I had a voicemail. I was walking on air for days. 

This is kinda dorky but my girlfriend and I were planning on going to First Friday so we pregamed a bit then headed out. We were tipsy in a used book store when I got the email at 8p. I made so much noise that I think I startled the shopowner's cat that was trying to sleep on the counter.

Got accepted to Columbia's HiLi program when I was checking my email during a thesis-writing break!

Woohoo congrats! Go celebrate?

Just got accepted to my top choice school with info on funding coming later this month, but there's money! I'm ECSTATIC!!!

After reading through all 23 pages, I think I've managed to compile the most salient (at least for me) and still relevant pieces of advice as far as grad school supplies 
Laptop - While most people have a laptop, it was recommended by several people that folks in a new laptop (unless yours is less than two years old) and make sure you get an extended warranty (one that will hopefully last the entirety of your program).  Note: look into funding opportunities for laptops within your department. Some will finance a new laptop for incoming grad students!  Desk - L-shaped came highly recommended, given the extra space. While i love my little desk, I may invest in a larger one by year 2.  Chair (Desk) - Investing in a good chair was stressed many times. You will likely be spending many hours hunched over a desk. get one that will be comfortable for your back, but won't put you to sleep.  Chair (Reading) - a separate reading chair was recommended for those hours upon hours where you'll be reading. a comfortable chair or couch was recommended. Printer - there was some debate regarding the pros/cons of a printer. In an increasingly digital age, I don't think a printer is completely necessary. ESPECIALLY because so many universities have printers available and printing costs included within stipends. But this will depend on the person Scanner OR File Cabinet - One person had recommended getting a file cabinet and regularly organizing it so as not to fall behind (if you are someone who likes having physical copies of everything, then go for this option). HOWEVER, someone then chimed in to say screw a file cabinet. just get a scanner. and i thought that was an excellent idea! just scan everything you need and chuck the physical copies (unless its like your birth certificate or something)  Coffee - Coffee maker, coffee carafe (to keep it warm for those days of marathon working), french press. you get the idea. ALTERNATIVE: electric kettle for tea drinkers  Large Water Bottle - lets be sustainable folks!  Snacks - for those long days  Wall Calendar  Dry Erase Board  Noise Cancelling Headphones  External Hard Drive Dongles - actually didn't see folks write about this, so I'm adding it! Dongles/adapters are constantly changing based on your device. Get the one that is specific to your computer to HDMI and VGA, and you should be set for most campus systems!  Paper shredder - unless your campus has a shredding removal service like my current one has. I'd say take advantage of that Travel - Luggage, toiletry bag, international travel adapter/converter, etc. You will presumably be traveling a bunch! Get the right travel accessories if you can Desk accessories - post its, highlighters, pens Notebooks - it seems like everyone has been unanimously pro-moleskine notebooks on here. mmmm I'm not! What *EYE* recommend is going to your local art supply store, and buying sketchbooks from there. They are usually so much cheaper. And most art stores have artist and student memberships available, so you can get major discounts. I just showed a sale and got all my notebooks and pens for less than $30. Just my opinion  Software - Just some of the software that came highly recommended and that I felt like was still relevant today: Evernote. Zotero. Scrivener. CamScanner. Nuance. iStudiez  Most of this is hella obvious. But some of these I hadn't even considered! And its nice to think about these things early so you have enough time to save up or search the internet for deals. I curated an Amazon wishlist based on the information i listed above. Let me know if you'd like me to post it here and make public! 
And remember: 90% (if not all) of this is OPTIONAL. Let's not make academia seem more inaccessible than it already is. You will excel regardless of whether or not you have these things.  There's always borrowing. lending programs through your university. free services through your libraries. There are options! 
Hope this is helpful to those reading this post 8 years later! It was certainly helpful for me. Aside from curating a great list of things i want, it also helped distract me from decisions this week ://////

Oh, and I almost forgot, Anti-depressants are a MUST!

Just read the Carreira letter, I was running for the door after reading it. I have to have people talk me out of dropping out of Grad School because I feared the rest of my life would be spent trapped in a lab 24/7. I still freak out about it on a daily basis.

...I don't wanna ...I don't wanna ...I don't wanna

Definitely stopping at my Masters degree.

My advice to first year Graduate Students: Change your mind and turn around. Don't go to grad school!