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Cryss

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Everything posted by Cryss

  1. Good luck and good vibes to everyone submitting applications!
  2. I was only an adjunct for 1 year a couple years ago, but I've have 1 or 2 unnecessarily rude students. Others might disagree with me on this, but my opinion is stick to your standard of expectations for students while being beyond kind to all of them, especially the rude ones. Remember email is a paper trail. Not that I think you would do otherwise, but always calm down before responding and respond in a way where you won't be embarrassed if your colleagues or superiors read your responses. This semester is tough because everything is online, but if you have the time, I would go out of my way to offer opportunities for this student, and of course other students, to meet with you one-on-one, maybe via zoom, so you can work on their next paper together or go over what was wrong in this one. Maybe even suggest a writing center appointment or organize a class where students workshop their papers with their peers (sometimes seeing a better paper or getting criticism from their own peers shakes them up). I don't think this means you need to be a pushover or anything. You can let them know that this is what is expected in YOUR class and this is what's expected at University. The point is to get students to the level they need to be at (In the most professional way possible). Use your corporate email voice. Lol
  3. I was asked if I would have an in-person class, so I would confirm with your school that there is at least 1 in-person class for you to take so you can answer that question truthfully. Hybrid counts as in-person as far as I know, but confirm with your international student office at your new school. You find out immediately if you get approved or rejected, but the amount of time you need to wait to get your passport back varies from embassy to embassy. Mine took 1 business day, others take like 7-14 business days depending on the size of the population the embassy serves, I believe. Read and re-read the instructions on the embassy's site about what you need when applying. I always take additional documents, but usually, it's just your typical passport, visa application confirmation page, $160, appointment confirmation page, 1 passport size pic, I-20 or Ds-2019, financial documents to prove you can support yourself or are supported by a sponsor (if that's not the school), and finally, the SEVIS payment confirmation page.
  4. Had our visa interview today and got approved! They will be ready for pick up tomorrow afternoon (we did J1 and J2).
  5. Just got an email from my embassy saying they will open limited appointments from July 14th specifically for student visas and petition-based visas. Will keep you guys updated.
  6. Important stuff, thanks for posting. I wonder where that leaves those just starting with new visas and wanting to do a first semester remotely online then start in-person in the spring.
  7. As far as I've heard (from my program), the September deadline isn't school-mandated, it's actually the law (I guess according to USCIS) that if the international student can't arrive by then, they can no longer come for that semester. The fact that a lot of these schools have been cool with us deferring to Spring, I think, is a big plus. Of course, this whole trainwreck of a year is unprecedented, but I was afraid that schools would force students to defer by an entire year since many PhD programs don't allow you to start on a Spring semester. I am glad that (at least for now), we can start in the Spring semester if we can't make it by the end of September. To me, this is what actually seems harsh. Is there a reason you will be charged? Are they admin fees or straight up a percentage of tuition? This seems unfair to me.
  8. Just amending my post to say that the end of September is the correct deadline to make it in the US for the semester, not the beginning of the Fall semester.
  9. No slots where I am either. They haven't reopened the appointment system at all yet, although the country is open.
  10. My school told me that legally, international students cannot begin a semester after it has begun, meaning, if you can't make it in time for the start of the Fall semester, you must wait to start in Spring (and of course you can't enter the US more than 30 days before the beginning of that semester).
  11. yay!!! So happy for you!! I've been hoping for good news for you.
  12. Wait as long as you need. It sure is nice to give a quick answer and free up the waitlist for other people, but you should do that for schools you are sure you will be turning down. Sounds like the responses you're waiting for are essential for you to decide between these 2 schools. Therefore, you shouldn't rush to make a decision when you're still waiting on more information to get the whole picture.
  13. I'm heading to WashU and must admit that the teaching load was absolutely a draw for me. I must say this point is often overlooked during the honeymoon phase of being accepted somewhere and being excited to go, but it is so important. If you'd like more detail, here's what the professor I spoke to said about the teaching load at WashU: "The teaching doesn’t begin until your 3rd year, when you would serve as essentially a TA for both semesters. After this, you teach 1 course each semester of your 4th and 5th years (usually Writing 1, but it can vary widely depending on your situation, interests, the department needs, etc.; normally you’d co-teach an undergrad class with a professor one semester too). Your sixth year (like your 1st and 2nd) is fully funded with no teaching obligations." Imo, 2:1 teaching load for 4 years is a lot, but not impossible. It will be stressful but give you a lot of experience and some people really enjoy teaching.Teaching while writing a dissertation is another story. That would be a big deal and a huge drawback if required. If you haven't already, I'd reach out to advanced and ABD students at Penn State to find out what they thought about their teaching loads throughout.
  14. Considering these points, I'd definitely go with the one offering more money. Furthermore, if you're able to save money during your time, that may help you in the long run with the state of the job market and all. However, money truly isn't everything. If you think you'd be significantly happier at the program which offers less money, that you'd fit in better there, and that you'd regret long-term not accepting, you might as well go that route for your mental welfare (even though this is difficult to predict regardless).
  15. For reasons I prefer not to go into, I was stuck between a rock and a hard place and had to do an unfunded MA. I'm not totally against them. Some people really want an MA and there aren't enough funded MA spots for everyone. However, I will say that I did not have any undergrad debt. Since you already do have debt, if I were in your situation, I would not go further into debt. I would use the year to get a job in the industry, present at conferences if possible, strengthen my application and apply for funded MAs and PHD programs next year. Of course, you need to take into consideration the effects on the economy the pandemic is having. There is a possibility that the same opportunities this year will not be offered again at some schools for a couple years, but there is also a possibility that this school year will be trash anyway, and you'd be better offer trying to make money while strengthening your application. Ultimately up to you based on the things you value including timeline, cost, what your life would look like with more debt while facing placement problems in academia, etc etc. But if it was me, barring any pressing issues, I would not do it.
  16. This just brought a fresh wave of anxiety. I hope this will change by May/June. But that also means that it will probably take longer to get an appointment.
  17. Understandably. Keeping my fingers and toes crossed for you! And also for all of us.
  18. Same. Got laid off yesterday. I was trying to have some savings for moving with my spouse and starting grad school, but everything is so messed up. Strength to you during this time though. It's really hard to simultaneously be thankful for the good things happening when it's overshadowed by this international disaster and uncertainty for a future you began planning for. Can't speak from a place of expertise, but I imagine since the offers are already made to us, they will abide by it as best as they can. This is not to say we won't feel the effects, and funding for the things you listed are indeed important, but we are (*hopefully still*) among the luckier few whose funding packages for the next 5-6 years are still guaranteed. I am worried about the students entering in the upcoming years who will not only be dealing with job scarcity and insane competition for program admission (aka, the usual), but would probably have to worry about the scale and duration of funding. Will we see smaller cohorts with good funding? Or funding for less years? Will they shed parts of the funding package, like health insurance? Such an uncertain time. Crazy that this happened in a matter of weeks.
  19. Yesterday, I also got laid off from my job due to the 'Rona effing up profits. Guess now is as good a time as any to heavily dive into binge-reading science fiction novels, binge-watching shows, and sprinkle some academic reading in there.
  20. I was thinking if things keep going this way, they may offer or require incoming students to defer a year. And if that happens, it will royally screw with next year's application process for sure.
  21. Also, does it even make sense for some schools to push the deadline while others do not? Surely this would not make things easier for people who have multiple offers if some schools require them to make a decision by the original deadline and others extend the deadline. Even if schools do push back the deadline, with the scale of what we're dealing with, when would the new deadline be and how would this be determined? It would be chaos unless there's some standard across the board. Then as @SolusRex mentioned, what would happen to waitlist students, especially those who also have April 15 deadlines to abide by for some offers? So many variables. A tough situation for everyone for sure.
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