passere

I guess my question would be, what's the best I can expect to get from student health insurance? I'm looking at some of the co-pays and out-of-pocket maximums, and... yikes. Does anyone have a plan they love? Or do they range from "eh" to "yikes"?

I am absolutely terrified of what my health insurance is going to look like. I've gotten an acceptance to one of my top choices, but their health insurance coverage is... less than satisfactory. I haven't gotten the official funding offer, either, so I don't know if it will be included in funding. Many applicants probably never think about health insurance when considering an offer!

Thank you, that's really good to know. I discussed my chronic illness (juvenile arthritis) in my SOP as it was a big reason I chose my field, so if a program admits me, they know what they're getting. I'm taking a year off now between undergrad and grad to get my health in a better place, but I don't know if I'll need to do it again mid-program.

I applied to both and haven’t heard anything. At McGill I applied to the medical sociology MA. I know! I was thinking the exact same thing.

I agree, is it time for us all to start emailing professors? I don’t want to expedite my rejection though XD

I received an unofficial email from UCLA 2 weeks before the official decision letter, so this is certainly possible. I don’t know if the official letter was delayed by the department, the graduate college, or both. Regardless, acceptances from UCLA have still been trickling in, and no rejections yet. I don’t think these things are consistent enough for us to say what can and can’t happen, as much as we want to ? Congratulations @toolkitsocio!

So my UCLA decision letter was actually available from their status check link (available on their "steps to apply" page) at least 1.5 days before it was posted to my application portal. I was checking for it after the unofficial decision email I got 2 weeks ago. I found the decision letter Sunday, but I didn't get the email to check the portal where we submitted applications until Tuesday. The letter on my portal is even dated 1/28, while the one I downloaded Sunday is dated 1/26. Do any other graduate colleges have independent status checking tools like this?

That's really helpful. Does anyone else have really good advice they've heard?

My background is in biomedical engineering, minor in linguistics. It sounds crazy, but when I say I want to study medical sociology, it sounds slightly less crazy XD I knew I wanted to study medical stuff when I picked undergrad, but engineering was not the way for me!

I'm one of the few who have received a decision this early, so I'll give as much info as I can and answer some of the questions I see here using what I know from my very small sample size. The email I got wasn't an official offer from the UCLA graduate division, more of a welcome from the sociology department itself with some details about the offer and visit days in March. It seems like UCLA is rolling out acceptances gradually. I didn't get notified on the same day as others on the results board. I got the email around 10:30am Pacific time. This hasn't changed at all for me for UCLA. The portal still looks exactly the same, and the status check that UCLA grad division offers doesn't even have a decision on file for me. Only one of my applications (UToronto) shows "under review," the others just say submitted or received. So... now back to worrying about all the rest of my applications! XD (Not that this hasn't eased some of the anxiety.) If you have any other questions that I might be able to answer, ask away! I've also been frantically gleaning information from this forum, so I'll help how I can

Ferry landing

I went to IIT for undergrad. e2e4 gives good advice. Many students live in Bridgeport, which is usually pretty affordable and very close. I lived there 3 years. Bronzeville is also an option, but I don't have experience there. Chinatown is very accessible by bus, I worked there during my senior year and it was a super easy commute (less than 10 minutes by bus). South Loop is accessible by train or bus, but more costly. IIT students receive a U-Pass, which gives unlimited rides on public transportation (buses and trains) while classes are in session. Try looking at the IIT Student Community Facebook page, because you can also find other international students looking for roommates.

Thank you! I'll check those out.

Thanks! I'll have to look into those.

If you're still looking for bloggers, I would love to help out! I usually blog about health and disability. I think an article about how the disability/medical accommodation process works for taking the GRE could be helpful. I just went through it and there was very little information on other people's experiences, which would have helped me navigate the system a lot better.

What are some strong PhD programs in medical sociology? I'm especially interested in those with quantitative focus. Many thanks!