Strangefox

Ehhh... Trying to stay anonymous here

Hm, that is weird. I know another person from my country who studies in the same university and pays taxes. May be this part: "shall be exempt from tax by that other State with respect to payments from abroad" means that I won't have to pay taxes with respect to payments from outside of the US?? Ok, I just need to read the entire treaty, may be things will get clearer after that...

Cool! Thanks a lot! Now could anybody help me decipher this? Students, Trainees and Researchers 1. An individual who is a resident of a Contracting State at the beginning of his visit to the other Contracting State and who is temporarily present in that other State for the primary purpose of: a) studying at a university or other accredited educational institution in that other State, or b ) securing training required to qualify him to practice a profession or professional specialty, or c) studying or doing research as a recipient of a grant, allowance, or other similar payments from a governmental, religious, charitable, scientific, literary, or educational organization, shall be exempt from tax by that other State with respect to payments from abroad for the purpose of his maintenance, education, study, research, or training, and with respect to the grant, allowance, or other similar payments. 2. The exemption in paragraph 1 shall apply only for such period of time as is ordinarily necessary to complete the study, training or research, except that no exemption for training or research shall extend for a period exceeding five years. 3. This Article shall not apply to income from research if such research is undertaken not in the public interest but primarily for the private benefit of a specific person or persons.

Do you know where I can find them?

Yep, that is what I am trying to do - learn about all this funding and taxes and god knows what stuff. And I must say it is such a hassle!

Oh, what a terrible situation that would be! So if I find out that I will eventually have to pay back everything refunded - will I be able to refuse to get the rufund during these three years? Otherwise I will have to put this money aside anyway. Better not to get it at all.

Thanks for the link! I know about different GSM standards and I am hoping that I will be able to use my phone, but I am not sure... I found my phone on this website and the page says that it can have a European/Asian OR an American mode. I am afraid that mine is not in the American one... But we'll see. Actually, it says this: Modes: GSM 850/1800/1900 - Americas mode (Euro/Asia version has GSM 900 instead on 850) So this probably means that Euro/Asia version is GSM 900/1800/1900. So there is 1900 that ATT uses. Does it mean that I will be able to use ATT sim card?

Fellow non-coffee-addict!!! I also never drink it. My favorite drinks are juice and water.

Well, you can find some cheap stuff in IKEA too. I would prefer to buy that that something used. But I won't be buying a table. I can survive fithout it till the first pay check. I will buy almost no furniture when I arrive - but I will need a mattress, and I certainly don't want a used one. Who knows what may live in it

Thanks a lot for the advice!

One more cell phone question. If I use an operator with sim cards, like AT&T, I can just get a sim card without buying a cell phone from them, right?

Here is a twist. I arranged it so that I can send letters from my school's account using my gmail account. I sent an email this way and a person to whom this letter was sent forwarded it to another person. And apparently when she forwarded it, it came as if from my gmail address! Because when the person to whom the letter had been forwarded sent me a reply and the reply came to my gmail address Fortunately, it's not a problem, because my gmail address includes my name and surname and no strange nicknames But anyway - weird!

I am researching old threads, hoping to dig out some useful info. This thread is great so I am reviving it for others to read.

By waiver you mean a sort of rejection indicating that I can't get SSN yet, right?

In my understanding, master's can be only a plus, never a minus. May be somebody here will disagree... But why should it be to your disadvantage? Some graduate programs don't admit BA's but I have not heard of those who don't take MA's. Whom do they admit then? But anyway it's great that you are thinking about these things in advance. It will save you from stress and unnecessary expenses in the future. So keep researching schools and we on this board will be more than happy to guide you in the application process

I agree with Wtncffts, don't ask questions that are too general if answers can be found on schools' websites. Contacting graduate secretary and professors schould happen after researching all information about programs that is available. This way you will show them that you are a serious candidate. So while it is perhaps too early to start emailing programs with questions, it is not too early to start researching programs. Believe me, you will find a lot of work there. There are so many interesting programs and information on their websites can be sometimes confusing. I remember when I was researching programs last year.... After visiting all those websites several times, I did not know how to arrange all this info in my head So read and compare, ask questions here and then after you find something that neither the websites no people on this board can explain to you, then ask the programs.

Very interesting! Thank you!

That's the thing: I will be paid - a stipend. And some people are saying that it is enough for getting a SSN.

So who misinformed you about your eligibility? Was it your Office of International Students?

Ok, I'll keep it as an option but I'll look into SSN and a state ID card first

Thanks a lot! Now I just need to find a similar page on my school's webite...

I guess my friend ment this state ID card. Anyway, seems like I will need SSN to get it. Because I don't have a driving licence, never had...

Hey Newms, thanks for the reply I agree that SSN is useful so I would prefer to get one. However, the problem is that according to my fellowship's rules, I will work only the 3nd and 4th years as a TA/RA and the first two years I am not required to work (and I probably won't, better dedicate more time to studying and research). So may be in my case they won't give me SSN until my 3rd year... I will search for a page on my school's website about SSN's... Actually, among other things I want to get SSN in order to make an ID card. My friend recommended me to do that in order not to have to carry my passport around. Have you thought about getting an ID card (and I don't mean the one from your school)?

Oh, all this is so complicated! I am starting to think that may be I don't need a smartphone after all. Of course it IS convenient but being able to check email wherever I am is not the most important thing for me. The most important thing is to spend money reasonably. So I agree with Eigen, - I can check email at home, have always done it this way and am pretty happy When one day I will become a rich tenured professor, I will get me an IPhone Or may be even earlier, when someone will give it to me as a birthday present

In order to choose from this list you need to go to each program's website, read carefully what is says, if there is a general fit with your research interests, go to faculty profiles and see if there is anybody who can be your supervisor ( then may be contact these people to find out if they are interested - I don't know if it's necessary for master's in your field), and also read about available funding in the program or about the cost of the program, in case you won't get funding. And only then, having done all this, you will get your shortlist. It's a lot of work so I recommend to start now