bookworm2

Thank you for your kind replies and advice! I decided to take the fully funded program with the commute. I really like the idea of listening to audio books on my commute! Now if they only had audio textbooks, that would be grand!

I know how you feel Swarthmawr. I'm a bit on the quiet side, so I spent a good amount of time thinking about questions I would like to ask the faculty and graduate students. It made me feel confident to have a list prepared. I went to a campus visit yesterday and although I needed to talk to people the ENTIRE time, it went pretty smoothly. I did ask a lot of questions but most of the time spent was faculty explaining their research interests. Best of luck on your visits!

I'm also considering a PhD program that has a substantial commute. Do you have a sense of how many days per week you would need to go to campus? Maybe you could compress your schedule into 3-4 days per week. One idea I'm toying with telling my professors about the nature of my commute and asking if I could audio record the lectures. If you could get audio recordings of the lectures you could listen to them during your long commute.

I hope you get good news soon! When making a decision I like to consider the worst case scenario. Do you think you could get a suitable job in location A that would still allow you to attend your program? Hopefully you'll get funding from the professors, but it would be nice to know if you can provide your own funding just in case. Do you think you could get a job that you wouldn't mind doing for a year in location B in case you aren't accepted this year and want to reapply for next year? If it was me I would look for jobs that appealed to me in these two locations to cover my bases. Once your boyfriend starts residency, how much free time will he have? How much free time will you have? Being at location A might not be so different than being at location B in terms of the time you get to see him if he has to do one of those ridiculously grueling residency programs. I think a long distance relationship could definitely work even though its tough. Best of luck to you!! I hope you get accepted with funding to both schools and can have your choice!

I was accepted into 3 PhD programs, and each program has it's pros & cons. Here's the options: 1. Accepted into program that's a perfect fit for my interests, but NO FUNDING! It's in a location that both my spouse and I would like to live in, but I would have to find an external job which could be tricky. The classes are in the middle of the day, so I'd have to find a job with flexible hours. 2. Accepted into a fully-funded program that's a decent fit for my interests but would spend a lot of time commuting. The town the college is in wouldn't have work for my spouse, but neighboring city does. Assuming we lived in the neighboring city, the school is a 1 hour commute each way. Assuming I went to campus 4 days a week, this would be 8 hours a week in my car! If we didn't move, the school would be a 2 hour commute each way, which is way too grueling to do each day. I would need to get an apartment in the college town and spend part of the week there and drive back home on the weekends. I might be able to schedule all my classes and TA duties 3-4 days a week, and spend the remainder at home. Still I would have to spend part of the week away from my spouse which would definitely suck. 3. Accepted into a program in the town I currently live, but not sure about funding. When I talked to the department head he mentioned a TA position, but I haven't received a formal offer. I recently inquired about this, but haven't heard back yet. This program is the least similar to my background and there's only 1 professor whose research interests are a close match to mine, but we wouldn't have to move and sell our house. What option would you pick? Thanks!

Does the program at the fully funded school fit your interests? Are there people there that you would want to work with? Can you see yourself being happy there? If you can see yourself being happy and creative there it may not matter so much that it isn't a fancy school.

Thank you to the kind posters above for sharing your insights!! The blood is coming back to my face now. ?

I was invited to visit a department where I was accepted into their graduate program. The secretary emailed me my itinerary and I thought I might pass out! I've never been to a formal campus visit before and didn't realize their was going to be a series of one-on-one meetings with several of the professors. I'm glad to have the opportunity to see their school but I'm kind of freaking out at the prospect of talking with all these professors. How did you prepare for this? How did your visit go? Is the experience pleasant or stressful? Do you get grilled? Any advice is greatly appreciated!!

Excitement: Accepted into PhD program with funding. The program isn't a perfect fit, but it's relatively close to my home and there's a couple of professors with similar interests. Worry: Accepted into another PhD program that's a perfect fit, but waiting to hear back on funding. The other graduate program wants a decision soon. I have only a few days left to decide. Desperately checking email every few hours.

Bust out the happy dance! Congratulations to you!!!

Hang in there dftba95! The wait is unnerving and maddening, but it can't last much longer. I still haven't heard back from half the schools I applied to, but I bet that will change in the next week or two. Ways I'm staying sane: 1. Meditation 2. Gym 3. Hanging out with my spouse and puppies 4. Looking for summer employment. (I feel foolish for not applying to summer internships last fall, but I had no idea if I was going to be accepted into grad school or would need to find a regular, permanent job. I also thought I would have heard back from graduate schools and have my life figured out by mid February. Ha ha! )

I've heard that it's okay, as a general rule of thumb, to inquire about the status of your application if you haven't been notified by March 15th. I contacted one of the schools I was waiting to hear back from today and was told I should be notified early next week. Just knowing that the decision will come soon definitely eases my mind! The waiting is the hardest part of the whole process.