Strangefox

Thanks!

I hope!

Straaange... I have never heard about that. As far as I know, I paid $140 + SEVIS ($200) and that will be all! But we'll see what they'll tell me at the interview... But I've read all info about getting F-1 on the website of my city's embassy and it says nothing about post-visa $200. Has anyone also paid $200 post-visa?? $140 pre-visa + $200 post-visa + $200 SEVIS = Strangefox is broke!!!

I see... Anyway, sending a passport by snail mail, in an envelope with stamps... I would be afraid to use this method...

And what is this post-visa payment?

Wow

Thank you! And why did you need stamps and an envelope? Will they send you your passport with visa via snail mail?

Ha, I am having an interview this Friday in the morning as well! Good luck to both of us I have not signed a lease yet but I have paid a deposit and I don't believe there can be any problem in either case. I am sure people have been denied F-1 visas but those were people without proper funding or with some other serious problems. Both of us have been accepted to respected graduate programs with full funding and we have no criminal records or such like (right?? ). I am sure we will be fine!

Doing my best

Well, it must be a gut feeling. There are topics that seem more intererstig to you than others, right? Read as much as you can about things that interest you and soon you will see what kind of research has been done on these topics so far and how you can fill some gaps in this research. There are always things that are underexplored, you just need to find them, reading books and asking their authors right questions (asking them in your head, I mean, but eventually you can contact some of the professors, of course ). Good luck!

Why do you feel confused? Do you know what topic you want to research? If you do, choose programs that fit this interest of yours the best. Look at funding they offer. Are there professors with similar interests who could be your advisors? Look at location - do you want to live in a big city? In a rural area? Somewhere hot or cold or warm? Etc.

I thought I was out of the race

Yes, I am exactly the same! I like dressing up and using natural make up

Exactly.

I am glad you all like it!

From a post on "The Chronicle of Higher Education": GradHacker is a collaborative blog for grad students, by grad students. Our contributing authors are all graduate students from a variety of universities and disciplines. We are always accepting new authors or guest posts from any grad student in any university. We are dedicated to creating a community of grads who can benefit from hearing the stories, tips, and challenges of others who are experiencing the same things. The topics that we will tackle are just as varied as the individuals who are writing them, and while the original idea for this spawned from the goal of teaching other grads about technology to ease their lives and help with networking, we want to expand the idea of ‘hacking’ to all aspects of grad life. Posts discuss topics such as raising kids in grad school, how to propose a digital dissertation to your committee, how to volunteer in grad school, the basics of twitter, strategies for being a teaching assistant, and even healthy recipes.

I wonder how it is done technically... We will still have separate modems, right?

I am a littly wary of buying a used modem. What if it will break down in a month?? I think I could buy a modem through Amazon, I guess... I found a section there which is called "Comcast compatible modems".

I don't have other options.... What state are you in (I need that for my Comcast statistics )?

I was lucky to get in touch with another incoming student who was super kind a helpful and looked at apartments I found. May be you can contact your program and ask them to put you in touch with other incoming students. May be some of them are already in Madison and they will be willing to help you out. And as for signing the lease - I will do that when I arrive. Right now I have just paid a deposit.

I wonder what these building will say to me when I finally see them off-line I guess it would be soooo strange really walking along these streets for the first time...

Oh, I don't know the right name. I just call them "fees" But I know that apart from tuition which is covered by funding, there are these fees. Well, Ogopo calls them segregated. And they can amount to around $1000 a year. And they are usually not covered by funding... You can go to your school's website and find there a section which is called "Tuition and fees". Every school has such page. In my school it goes like that: 2010-2011 Fees In addition to tuition, all students are assessed the "University Services Fee," which funds activities, computers and technology, facilities, and student health services: .... And then go the numbers...

Oh May be they do the same at my school!! I need to investigate!

Why will you have to pay so much for fees?? $500 may be fees for one semester but not for two month only!!

So I continue reading about Comcast. Apparently before oredering it I must buy a Comcast compatibale modem (otherwise I'll have to pay for leasing theirs another $7/month). Do I understand it correctly? You guys who are using Comcast, what modems would you recommend?