fuzzylogician

I would have probably said 'yes' and provided and explanation but since you've already made a decision and submitted the form, I don't think it helps to worry now. Just wait and see what happens, and explain what kind of "experience" you have if they ask at the visa interview. Clearly, as you say, they are not really worried about the kind of experience that you have, so this should all work out.

Your behavior is commendable, but if she's not planning to tell anyone then this is not going to improve. Give her the chance make arrangements with another professor to help advise you--maybe she can make that happen without revealing her medical condition, and if she does then it's up to her to make that choice--but if she can't make this happen then unfortunately you'll need to tell someone. It's not your fault that you've been put in this position and for now it's probably not hurting your progress too much, but it'll take time for your advisor to be fully back and you'll need the extra support. I don't see a way around this.

I'd say do what you need to do to ensure you'll have a place in grad school next year. If that means accepting the offer now, then do that. Since you don't have funding (yet) and given what the professor told you, I think it'd be ok if you later get a funded offer from another school and decline this current offer. You can't hold out any longer if you are to secure a position, so now is the time to think of yourself and not someone who is potentially wait-listed. Good luck!

I agree with the other posters. While this is a sad state of affairs for your advisor, it's unfair of him to dump his professional obligations on you. You should tell him you need more advising and also help with the undergrads and see how he reacts. Likely, the end result will be that you start working with a second professor, either in an official capacity as a new advisor or unofficially in a supporting capacity until your advisor recovers. This is something that your advisor should help you set up (or, if he is unable to, then someone else in your department should help with this). If the response you get doesn't sound good, move on to someone higher up in your department (DGS or department head would be my choices). If you're uncomfortable approaching someone in your department, contact the ombudsperson at your university. They will be able to help you deal with this situation.

I didn't have an apartment or an email from anyone when I applied for a visa. At most I had the address for the hotel where I would be staying (can't remember but I think actually applied for a visa before making any kind of travel plans, so I would not have had a hotel either) but definitely nothing more. Unless things changed drastically from 5 years ago, that's all that was needed. OP - you could look through students in your department who might have leads or be looking for a roommate. I think the best strategy is to contact current (international) students and ask how they found apartments their first year. They'll be able to tell you when you need to start looking, how to look, what resourced are out there, and what areas are good places to look in.

Actually the concept of a joint PhD between two departments is not uncommon in Europe, which is why I think it's a well-intentioned question. These things are done quite often; since there are not course requirement in a European PhD, sometimes you will get people who spend some (lots) of time in some other university (e.g. in the US) and then end up with a joint degree. It's not unheard of, and I think that's what the OP's professor was suggesting. My concern was about the need for secrecy and resigning one program at the end, which indicates that something is not right with this plan the way it's being conceived of by the OP right now.

I think it's a legitimate question that stems from either misunderstanding what some professors were advising (e.g., an arrangement that does not involve secrecy) or receiving bad advice. People can think up crazy solutions to serious problems, including ones like those the posters here have warned against. Either way, your language here is uncalled for.

I am going to lock this thread, as it clearly is not being used to discuss the original question that it raised. For future reference, both publishing a personal message in a public forum (kokoschka) and sending someone an insulting personal message (ProspectStu) don't really say much of anything positive about your character. You are in for a rude awakening in graduate school if you think your "abrasive" character will be appreciated as a positive trait. Stop this back and forth at once, or you'll both be suspended from the forums.

First off, congratulations! I agree with what's been said above. At the end of the day you can postpone telling your advisors some, but not indefinitely. Lets hope that their interactions with you will outweigh preconceived perceptions about pregnancy during graduate school. At the same time, the best way to try and help yourself is probably to try and find the people who will be more supportive and try and work more with them than with anyone who you suspect will make your life harder. Is there anyone in your department who you trust and can consult with? Are there other parents among the students? They will have direct experience dealing with different faculty members and will know who among them is less tolerant. Maybe there's also a faculty member who you trust and can consult with? When you're ready to share the news, I'd start with those who I consider my strongest supporters and maybe even get their advice on how to approach the others. There might also be groups on campus outside your department that could help you deal with some of the steps. I think these concerns you're having are not uncommon among new/expecting parents, unfortunately. I think my general thought is just to get as much support as you can, and be active about seeking out those individuals and groups who might be able to assist.

See here for figures from previous years:

Ideal solution in my opinion: try and continue on to a PhD but make sure to get the MS along the way. Sounds like it's too late for you to apply to other schools for next Fall, but you have a chance to continue at your current school. The research/advising at your current school fits your needs and you'll probably be able to finish a degree faster where you're at now as opposed to a new school (adjustment period, classes and all). This also allows you more time to consider and re-consider this decision without repercussions, because if a year from now you decide you actually don't want a PhD, you still have the MS and not much is lost. Really the part I'm uncertain about is how it's possible to want a research job in industry but not necessarily like research in academia -- are they that different from each other? Seems to me you need to like one to do the other, and you need to think about what kind of job you'd like to have after you graduate and then what qualifications are required for that job.

See here:

OK, then lets get rid of some of the noise that's secondary or not helping you make a decision at all. - Funding is good at both places (I'm not sure being able to stay for 6-7 years is necessarily an advantage, but lets put that discussion aside). - Interdisciplinarity doesn't matter - Crime rates are similar; from what you've stressed as important the location of the city seemed secondary. - Grad communities both seem supportive (maybe in different ways) Seems to me that it comes down to research fit. - School A: very well-connected prof, 3-4 people who could serve on your committee, two with immediately relevant interests. - School B: one faculty member publishing and doing well, one junior faculty with close enough interests. two very famous profs close to retirement age who I think it's dangerous to count on. they might be replaced but we don't know with whom or when. Based on that, school A seems like the better choice as it provides more options, whereas B is less certain though it might work out as well.

A printer is the kind of thing you can always buy if/when you find you need it. I do my printing at the office so while I have a printer at home, I almost never use it and I'd be just fine without it. I'd suggest starting without one and seeing if you need it after you've started school.

I got documents to fill out from my school's medical office before I arrived in the US. They required some vaccinations, all of which I already had so it wasn't a problem. I think there were some things you need to have done before arriving in the US (e.g. for Hepatitis if I remember correctly you to already have 2 out of the 3 shots before arriving in the US, the third one you could get there). I think it wasn't for the F1 itself, but it was still required in order to be able to start studying on time; as mentioned above if you can't enroll on time, after a while you'll be in violation of your student status.

Some questions. - With regard to school B, the main issue I would be concerned about is the faculty. If they are old, they may retire. If two of the three current faculty you are interested in will be gone in 6-7 years, what will your committee look like? How will this affect your ability to finish a dissertation in your chosen area of interest? Did people in the dept talk at all about hiring new faculty or did these POIs tell you that they are not going to retire soon (which you can't really trust anyway)? It's a real concern. - What do you plan to do with the PhD? If you want to stay in academia, the higher ranked school is probably a better choice; if getting a non-academic job is likely, the school with name-recognition might help. - I understand the stipend from school A is less than school B, but is it enough to live reasonably well on? - Is it important for you that the department be interdisciplinary, or is it just "nice to have"?

Apparently, you cant. http://www.cilawgroup.com/news/2008/04/29/foreigner-can-i-donate-money-to-a-political-campaign/

Taking out so much money in loans for a MA in the humanities is a poor decision. You have a great sounding funded offer, and I'm not exactly sure why you are so torn now. Seems like a no-brainer - go with the funded offer, especially since you say there is a great advisor and better fit for your interests. You can get your MA there and then go to a better ranked school for your PhD if you think that's so important.

What is your end goal and how do these schools support it? You wrote about how you felt while visiting and how the schools might support your current research, but what's missing is what you want to do after you graduate. Do you want to do a PhD or go into industry? Does one school have a better placement record than the other in terms of industry and/or in terms of academia? You definitely don't want to suffer where you end up going, but you also don't want to make a decision that will leave you at a disadvantage later on just because you preferred the 'friendlier' place now.

Look at recently hired assistant professors who have jobs like the ones you might want to have when you graduate. What kind of degree did they graduate with? Is it all psych or all neuro? if there is a healthy mix, it probably doesn't matter much which one you choose for your chances of getting these jobs. If there is just one or just the other, you have your answer there. Either way, your research will count a great deal more but lets not kid ourselves that your advisor(!) and institution name don't matter at all. Your letters will come from different kinds of researchers at these two institutions and even if your work is the same, your application packet will look different.

Typo fixed! OP: maybe I've been corrupted by my US institution, but I am an international student and did my MA in a EU institution. I can't imagine anyone there thinking that this is a good idea.

Ask the department, as they will be the ones funding your offer--not the international students office, even though they issued you the I-20. It's great if there was a mistake or misunderstanding and the sum you got offered is larger than you thought, but you don't want to get stuck with the bill if the mistake is in the I-20 and not the original offer, so you need to make sure that the department has this extra money for you.

Email the coordinator and ask. If you don't get a reply, you could also try a POI or someone else. There is a good chance that people will still check their email during the break. I'm going to guess that the magic April 15 date also applies here, but you should make sure and also ask for an extension so you can go through the interview and then decide.

RNadine, I'm so sorry to hear that this ordeal with the difficult committee member hasn't yet resolved itself! I remember your previous post and the distress it caused you then, it's terrible that the situation is still ongoing. I think it's important to bring someone in, and as you say - start with your advisor. You should be very honest with your advisor about the financial as well as emotional difficulties that this person has been creating for you. Since assigning blame isn't going to be useful here, I think you want to come in with a goal in mind that you will graduate by a certain date, and therefore will defend and file your thesis by a certain date. This is precisely where your advisor and other committee members should be championing your cause and defending you against this person. I think it's a perfectly legitimate request to have an agreed upon set of things you need to do and also at the same time a date for a defense and graduation! If you can have a written document specifying tasks you need to accomplish and these dates, and if everyone but this person agree to this plan, that's an important step for dealing with this person. If this person is notorious for being difficult, then people also have experience in dealing with this problem. Maybe you can get these people with more experience to lead the effort to solve the problem? Also, if there is no way (or will) to try and force his hand from within the department, then there are ways to do so without -- there must be an ombudsperson at your university who has had experience dealing with such situations. If you can't agree on a defense date and an end to the changes (when everybody else agrees they're unnecessary), then maybe it's time to get this external help. But before you do anything, if you've been putting up a brave front, I think it's time to be very clear about all the ways in which this is hurting you and trying to work with your advisor to end this situation.

I don't think there's any real difference between the two. Skype might be more convenient if you have a computer but not a phone or if the call will cost you money, and you might be able to see your interviewers if you have a camera; phone might be better if your internet connection isn't great so you'll be able to hear each other better. In terms of content, I don't expect the conversation to be any different on the phone vs. skype.