fuzzylogician

I think it's entirely fair to ask. I did, whenever I had any doubt. If he is one of the main reasons you are interested in the program, I think you have to ask, and he shouldn't really get offended.

Never done it, and don't know anyone who has, but it's an interesting idea. The webpage works just fine for me. Check out this page: http://linguistlist.org/internship/browse/intern-browse-announceProcess.cfm?id=36008838 I'm guessing you're eligible: "The LINGUIST List offers summer internships in 2015 for undergraduate and graduate students, even for senior highschool students. If you are interested in working with The LINGUIST List over the summer, consider applying for our summer internship program" -- but if you're an international student, I'd advise talking to your International Students Office to make sure you're not breaking any law. The LL just moved from Michigan to Indiana over the summer so I bet no one has fully relevant information about interning at IU, but still I'm curious to know if anyone has done this before.

1. You should ask about funding. Most schools will offer some reimbursement, but the sum may vary, and it's not unheard of for a school not to offer any reimbursement at all. Also ask if they will book a flight and hotel room for you or find you crash space with a current student, or if you are supposed to take care of your own accommodations and flights. 2. No need for a suit and tie. Dress in a way that makes you feel comfortable. A polo and khakis, or a dress jeans with a nice shirt would probably do the trick. Generally, schools on the east coast are more formal than schools on the west, but this varies and also depends on your field. Ask your professors what they recommend if you aren't sure.

I've been upgraded a few times. But my fellowship won't reimburse anything that doesn't clearly say "coach" on it, so I can't actually purchase business class or first class seats.

No.

I disagree. You can definitely list conference presentations before they happen, once you have been accepted (that is, not after just submitting an abstract, but after receiving an acceptance notification). You simply list the conference with future dates. I personally do something like this: [2015] "Catchy title," Conference of awesomeness, Glorious city, August 2015. [2015] "I am so productive," Conference near university town, City, June 2015. 2015 "Yet another presentation," Society conference, Fun city, January 2015. 2014 "Presentation based on my dissertation." Big conference, Some city, September 2014. ...

Well unfortunately these are not often things you do consciously or that you can actually influence. But, for example, the paper topics you have in your first year and second year seminars will probably determine to some significant extent what your qualifying papers and ultimately dissertation will be about. The people you choose to talk to will inform the theories you will think about. Some of this will be determined by the topics the particular instructors you had in your intro courses chose to cover in the particular year you took the class (and topics and instructors change from year to year) and who was accessible and available to advise you on these projects when you were just starting out. Not to mention the school you chose over other acceptances you didn't take when choosing grad schools. The luck of the draw will determine that some abstract will get into a conference and another might not, and you might pursue the one that was accepted at the expense of the one that wasn't. You might study language X for your field methods class, but if you'd done it the year before/after you'd have studied language Y, and the project that would come out of it would be very different. A lot of projects come out of work in these field methods classes, sometimes leading to whole dissertations and research programs. Same for experimental methodologies - you need to decide very early that you want to be trained in that, and have the luck of having the right courses offered at the right time, and the right advisor being around and available (for example, not on sabbatical or busy with a sick family member), and even the right research question that is amenable to being asked experimentally using the tools you have available. In the 1-2-3 year most people are not in a position to articulate their research program -- which is ok and makes sense, because to a large extent that is determined by your research experiences. But by the time you get to 4-5 year and go on the job market, there is not too much you can do to "invent" parts of your profile that don't exist but you wish were there. Not too many advisors will actually have a conversation with you once in a while about how your profile as a scientist is developing (and a lot of people may not want that or may be too intimidated) but as it turns out, my profile now as a 1st year postdoc is determined almost exclusively by what I've done in grad school, which in turn was determined to a very large extent by accidents of topics and instructors that happened in my first year. That determines to a large degree the broader research questions I can formulate that encompass (most of) my previous work and the work I want to do in the future (or at least, the work I tell hiring committees on job interviews that I want to do). This all said, I am of the firm belief that although my research might have been very different had I gone to a different school or had a different independent study advisor in my first year, or if I had not stumbled onto experimental work, etc., it would have been just as good. My character is my character and my abilities are my abilities, so my productivity would have been similar, just that the actual papers and topics (and methodologies, languages of interest, etc) would be different. I think it would have been good either way, just.. different in ways I can't imagine, which is what I mean when I say that early choice points lead to very different possible outcomes.

Congrats! Thanks for the update.

That it ends too quickly. How much decisions you make (often inadvertently) early on affect who you become by the time you go on the job market. How many opportunities you are not aware of.

Yep, doing what appears like getting reimbursed for the same expense twice is a definite no-no. However, asking multiple schools to participate in the cost of travel is not unheard of. Email both departments ahead of time and ask if such an arrangement could be made, since you're combining trips and the overall cost is still above what they will each reimburse you. I had several schools participate in paying for my travel during my application cycle. The only trick is to make sure it's all transparent. If so, and they agree to it, then there shouldn't be any problem at all. I don't think it's that uncommon for students, especially those who live far away, to combine trips like this.

I had a prepaid plan throughout grad school. It worked fine for me, because most places I spent time at had wifi access and I hardly ever use my phone to make calls anyway. It was definitely more cost-effective than a plan. That said, as a graduation present I got myself a smartphone and a plan, and now I can't see myself going back. In your case, I'd suggest starting out with a prepaid plan and seeing what your needs are like once you're there. You can always switch to a plan if you need to. In the US, you pay both for outgoing and for incoming calls. Moreover, usually (and with the disclaimers that plans and carriers may differ here) you pay for calls to numbers of other providers, and sometimes you may also pay for calling numbers of the same provider. You need to compare the details of the plans you might consider joining. Mobile/landline never made a difference for any plan I looked at.

You mean, in about a year from now? Assuming that you have a good relationship with your future LOR writers, you could mention it casually in conversation if there is a chance to discuss it, and at some point in the summer or early in the Fall semester you could ask to meet with them for advice regarding what schools to apply for and how to prepare your application materials. I'd officially ask some time after the beginning of the Fall semester, after the craziness of the new year is more or less over, so your professors have time to sit down with you for a moment. This is different for different schools but I'd say some time around later September or early October. That gives them plenty of time to say yes/no, and for you to find a replacement if you need to. While you're at it, set up a reminder system with them so it's everyone is in agreement about when and how often they should hear from you. There is lots of good advice about this step in the process, once you're closer to it.

I'm sorry, the term protectionist is just so odd to me. Public universities in the US receive funding in part in order to offer reasonably affordable (by US standards) education for the local residents that fund the university through their taxes. Beyond that, the university needs to worry about its finances, and since international students are much more expensive than domestic ones, it makes financial sense that fewer international students can be funded than domestic ones. When someone says "protectionist" I imagine threats and money being paid in ransom to keep someone safe. That's not what's going on here. But yes -- generally, where international students cost more, there will probably be fewer of them that can be funded. Citizenship should not play a role at private institutions since tuition is the same for everyone there, but it makes a difference at (at least some) public universities. That's the same in my field and in other fields. The main question is whether a department has enough money to fund international students that it wants, and since there is more money in STEM than in the Humanities, my guess is that the disparity is greater in the latter fields compared to the former, just because in STEM it may be easier for PIs to decide to fund international students, if they want them badly enough, since they can win grant money to allow them to do that. But again, this is a guess, and still I'd assume that it's cheaper to fund domestic students in STEM, too, so they would have an easier time getting in.

The campus visit is the school's opportunity to try and get you accept their offer (assuming it's post-acceptance). You can attend multiple visits and you are not required to accept any offer, regardless of whether or not you visited. So,try and visit any school that you are considering attending. It will give you a lot of valuable information.

I picked up my debit card on my first day of errands in the US. At the same time, I also deposited some cash I brought with me. There was an option of sending the card in the mail but I was worried it would get lost or not reach me in time, and anyway I didn't need it before arriving in the US.

I opened an account online before arriving in the US, not during a prior visit (think 12-hour flight, very expensive). I chose my school's credit union (e.g.: http://www.mitfcu.org/home/apply/online_membership),which knew exactly how to deal with international students and which offered a pretty good deal. I'm sure there are other banks near your university that would know how to deal with international students even if the branch you talked to didn't. You shouldn't need a ITIN to open an account.

I read a whole bunch of acknowledgements in old theses in preparation for writing my own. I don't think it's about Facebook or anything "modern" at all. It's about the person and their preferences. Some theses from the 70s-80s and such had gushing acknowledgements, and some others from e.g. last year were very short. I personally wrote a very long acknowledgements section. I dedicated a whole paragraph to each of my four advisors, with mentions of particular things that touched me and I want to remember. I have a paragraph for other faculty members, for fellow students, collaborators, personal friends, family members, etc. It includes some anecdotes that they will appreciate and you may not get. I also thank the barristas and staff members at my favorite coffee shops who fed me in the last few months of writing for basically keeping me alive. I'm sorry if you find that too much or "sloppy," but frankly it wasn't written for strangers, it was written for friends, colleagues, and mentors who I can tell you for sure did appreciate it. Yes, I mention my loved ones too, for no other reason than to have their name in there, because their support made it possible for me to get this far and I want them to know that I truly appreciate it. Where else would I thank them than in my dissertation? As you say, it marks the successful completion of an achievement that I would not have been able to arrive at without them. Oh, and I also have a very personal dedication page, that I feel strongly about. I completely fail to see why you should be upset (or care at all) or why you think it'd reflect poorly on me to be sincerely thankful for the love and support that I have received over the years. This is such a personal thing to write, if you write anything beyond a very dry and short text. Maybe you'll be able to see why your criticism upsets me when it's time for you to write one of your own.

This depends on the specific school and (perhaps) program. There is no set answer. In general, public schools have an incentive to admit more local students (because it's part of their mission, and because local students cost less than international ones; in some states, out of state students can become residents after one year, but international students never can). Private schools should generally not care about anyone's nationality, since tuition costs the same for everyone. That said, it's also very possible that certain departments or professors like working with students from certain countries or universities.

In the Humanities the situation is often not as good as TakeruK describes. I would contacting the universities that you are considering, once you have your award, and asking about their policies. There are two common arrangement I am familiar with - (a) the external funding basically replaces your internal funding; you may get a small bonus or not at all; if your external funding is less than your internal funding would be, you get it supplemented to the "regular" amount for the program. (b ) your internal funding is saved for additional years when you don't have external funding, so if normally you'd have guaranteed funding for 5 years in your program and you got two years of external funding, you'd have guaranteed funding for 7 years.

Opening a bank account is something you could do on day 1. Often branches of big banks near the university or the local credit union are good options since they'll know how to deal with international students. You could ask current international students in your department where they have their bank accounts. You'll get a debit card and a few checks immediately. Order more and ask about a credit card if you're interested in building up your credit history in the US (I'd recommend it). Normally for wire transfers it shouldn't take more than 2-3 business days for the funds to show in your account. You might consider bringing some cash with you, as you feel comfortable, in order to make purchases easier until you have your US account set up. That way, you could deposit some money immediately when you open the account and you'll at least have something to start with. Having some cash is also convenient. You could always use your foreign credit card in the US, but keep in mind that there may be a fee. If you rent an apartment, it's very likely that your landlord will want a local check and not a foreign one or your bank account information (unlike in many European countries) so you could do one of three things - (a) bring some cash with you, deposit it, and use one of your beginner checks, (b ) wait for a bit before starting to search for an apartment, until your wire transfer is finalized, (c ) ask a friend to pay for you first month (but I wouldn't be surprised if many landlords wouldn't like that and would want to make sure you have a bank account and some money in it). Finding an apartment depends on the market you'll move to. In many places it'll be very fast. Be ready to sign a lease the same day you see an apartment, so don't start looking before you are set up to pay rent. Check Craigslist or other local websites but always see an apartment in person before signing a lease! Some cities often work with realtors, so it's worth finding out about that ahead of time, in particular who is supposed to pay them (you or the landlord) and how much they usually cost. You don't need a SSN but I would suggest contacting your department's admin person and asking them to write you an endorsement letter that basically says that you are a beginning graduate student in their department, with guaranteed funding of X amount for Y years. That will help show landlords that you are financially solvent and they can trust you. Other things to do early on - - arrange for internet/phone/cellular service. They may want a deposit and it may take them a surprisingly long time to come install your internet, so get started as soon as you have a place. You could start arrangements for the technician's visit before you move in, and pick a date early after your move-in date. These services may ask for a deposit, since you don't have a credit history, so take that into account. - shopping for furniture, beginning supplies. May be worth renting a car and going out of town for that, especially if there is a big discount store in the suburbs. From my own experience, often renting through a foreign website (e.g. through your home country) is cheaper than doing it locally. - at the DMV: if the wait for taking the practical exam are long, you could get a state liquor ID while you wait for your drivers license. It's the local ID people get if they don't drive, and once you have it no one can tell you're not a local person as well. You can use it to buy alcohol but also to identify yourself at any government agency, including using it as your ID for domestic flights. I highly recommend having some kind of local ID instead of carrying your passport around. Honestly I don't think you need 20 days for this, probably 10-14 would suffice, though this partly depends on the housing market you're moving into. Not that it would be bad to have some time to explore the city, but just FYI getting settled actually doesn't take all that long.

These things are so personal, I'm not sure my experience and preferences can teach you anything about yours. That said, personally, I find that I spend more time at home when I'm more comfortable there, and space is a factor though honestly not the most important one (for me). I lived with roommates most of the time when I was in school and then the only space that was really mine was my own room. That was alright, but of course having the right roommates is very important. In large cities, having my own place seemed like an unjustifiable expense compared to having a roommate (never more than one, though), just because of that price difference. I had a studio for one year but I didn't like it. I like to have separation between where I hang out and where I work, and a studio can't really give you that. Since undergrad I actually always try to live in a place that would give me some reasonable commute to work, since I like having the separation between my personal life and my professional life more generally. This would be anything from 35-40 minutes on the bus/train to a 20-25 minute walk. I've always tried to live in a neighborhood that I like and that's removed from where the undergrads live. But these are personal preferences that I've learned about myself over the years. Obviously, someone else might place a higher value on a very short commute to work, or on space, or not having roommates, etc.

People like to talk about themselves. This goes for both professional and non-invasive personal questions. You could ask about their educational path (where did you go to school? did you like it there?), their current position (so you're at the U of X now; how do you like it there? how's the city?), their current research (what are you working on now?), what they like to do for fun, whether they like to travel and where to, if they have advice for students who are just starting out, or if they are older, for perspectives on the field and how it's grown.

You look at the current faculty at universities that you would want to have a job in after you graduate, particularly at recent hires to those departments, and you ask yourself (a) what school they got their degree in; (b ) who their advisor was, and (c ) if there is anything special about their profile (specialization that is trendy, new methodology, etc.). You aim to have a profile like theirs. This takes more legwork than if you can just find a list online, but it'll give you a good idea of where to start if you want to end up in a certain place.

Please don't cross post the same question multiple times. I have removed your other post. The forum this post is in contains lots of resources to help you prepare for interviews. Good luck!

^ yep, if you have the time, definitely start with more general stuff about you and your work, and perhaps questions about the potential advisor's work if you have any. I was assuming a very short meeting, as per the OP, but that's something you should verify.