fuzzylogician

Usually RA positions are more sought after because teaching can be more time-consuming and often enough the classes you'll teach won't actually be within your area of specialty. It's useful to have some teaching experience; how much varies depending on the kind of job you may want post-PhD, but there's definitely a point of diminishing returns with TAing. If you can get an RAship, it'll usually make your life easier. The work will often be more related to your own research and may lead to publications, and it doesn't involve all the shenanigans of teaching that can be draining and not rewarding after a while (though again, those experiences are also valuable on their own).

This isn't your first entry, is it? You're just coming back from a home visit and starting the fall semester a bit late? I don't think border security will care whatsoever about that. If it's your first entry, I do believe there's a certain period you're supposed to enter within, not too early but also not too late, and I'm not entirely sure what that is (I want to say 30 days, but don't quote me on that). I have to say no one ever cared at all whether I was missing class for travel abroad when I was a student and reentered the US, it didn't come up even once.

I don’t understand what you mean by current status. Do your mean your grades or progress in your current degree?

Unfortunately, advisors' personal styles is something you either get used to or suffer from. They will not change. You can learn to accept that this is how he is and learn to "translate" his remarks in your head to more helpful ones. (This, through explicit training with friends or even a therapist, as needed.) Or you may want to find ways to minimize your interactions with him, if it's really grating on you. Is there a way not to ditch A entirely but to make B more of your central person and A someone you talk to less frequently? That may be a solution that could improve your qualify of life significantly but still leave you with a chance to stay in academia.

What you said makes perfect sense and should be accepted by any reasonable person. I'd both reach out to the POI and to the school more officially. In case you prefer school 1, I think it's entirely sensible to write your POI to say that you have this other offer that you can't pass on because of the finances, but you'd prefer to go to school 1 if they can match this offer. Let them see what they can do, and go from there. If they can't do anything for you, write the school and your POI to let them know of your intent to decline. I can't imagine anyone being upset, especially if you've already had a conversation about money in the past. You also shouldn't worry about burning a bridge by going to school 2, as long as you're professional and polite about it. Again, this is an entirely sensible decision.

^agreeing with the above. Be polite, but you are entitled to the money they owe you. For what it's worth, this happens all the time. You need to stay on top of them and on occasion, you need to cc more than one person on your email to get anything to happen. It's annoying, but that's the way it often is. Don't give up; follow up periodically.

I can't help with your question but for what it's worth, it sounds like more debt than I would be willing to take on given the circumstances you describe. Have you looked at the programs' alum pages to see what jobs they have now? Ask both programs for that information, if you don't have it yet.

I doubt they’ll let you in early. Depending on the airport it may be possible to just wait there for a few hours and then go through, but some (actually, many) airports won’t really have a place for you to sit for that long. I’d bet it will work out, but there are definitely ways that you could get in trouble and I don’t think anyone here can make you any promises.

These look like homework questions, which is not what this forum is about. If they’re not, you should explain what they are and what you’ve already done to try to pursue the answers.

First off, you're still perfectly fine in terms of visa timeline. Second, you haven't said how long it's been since your last email. If it's been less than a week, give it that long, then email again (reply to the original email, say you're following up since you haven't heard from her, to make sure she's received the email). Mention that you might reach out to your co-supervisors if you don't hear back soon, because you are anxious to get the visa process started. Hopefully that should take care of any going-over-someone's-head problem, but you may still find that your co-supervisors can't make a decision on their own without your PI. You may have to wait until she's back -- but even though it may be a difficult wait, you should still have plenty of time to get your visa. Good luck!

Please don't double-post the same question. To reply, click here:

Take a look at their website and see if/how many current MA students went through the program. That might give you some idea. You might also ask what people do after the certificate program more generally, and maybe ask to speak to a former student or two. You might also try to reach out to current MA students to ask about their opinion of the certificate program, even if they didn't attend it. They may very well have thoughts about it, and it's very likely that they can give you some indication of how their own profs think of it. Masters in general are a money-generating device for universities, so it's hard to say if this program is more or less of that, without knowing more.

You're likely to have all kinds of problems, since both first and last name are often required fields in many (many!) online applications and forms. You shouldn't have trouble entering the US since all of your documents will be in order, but you can expect some trouble with some bureaucracies. You may need human assistance in places where others could just use an online form. It should all be resolvable, but it may be a pain. This thread may be helpful:

Never heard of this happening, but I am not all that surprised that it does. Frankly, it sounds like a terrible idea to me. I absolutely would not want my name on work I didn't contribute to, especially not work written by someone I don't trust (which is anyone who would do this in a first place). Keep in mind that if your name is on a paper, it's fair game in any future application or interview. You might get asked to describe the work, or why you made choice X and not Y, or about alternative interpretations of the data, etc. Unless you're willing and able to defend the work and stand behind it, I really wouldn't want to get myself in that kind of situation. This, of course, not even mentioning the obvious dishonesty involved.

This has very low to no chances of working, but I suppose you could try. I really wouldn't get my hopes up for a positive result, though.

^This. They may not report it. Or they may report it, and it goes to the Dean of Students or similar and then nothing happens. The reason for this kind of policy is often to make sure that students don't get away with serial behavior like this, where it happens once in each class and if it's not reported to some central body, the Prof has no way of knowing that it's not just an isolated incident but instead a pattern. If this is a first offense and it's this tiny, even if it were reported -- again, for the 1000th time -- it's highly unlikely to have any serious consequences. So for the love of god, relax, and don't write 72 word long sentences to begin with.

MAs are less often funded. Do you know what your goals are for this degree? Is it getting a PhD or a job in your field? Can you find out what alums of both programs are doing, and in particular whether they've been successful in achieving whatever it is that you are aiming for? In general, a non-accredited program would be a concern for me, and on the other hand I'd be encouraged by the fact that students at the other program seem to only have good things to say about their program. It definitely isn't always that way. Unless I'm confused, you don't actually have two ways. You have one option in hand and one you are only hoping for. Have you tried to figure out (a) how likely you are to be accepted on a second try, and (b) if you can defer your current acceptance?

Ask your department if there is anything they recommend. Also strongly consider using this time to rest and recharge your batteries, because first year can be very hard.

You might want to look into different companies, including the smaller ones that use the big carries' networks. Sometimes their terms and conditions vary quite a lot. I personally got a prepaid phone to get started, but I know it's possible to get a plan, sometimes by putting down some deposit. Once you're in town, try and see if your university has an arrangement with one or more carrier, or try to visit a branch near the university to find out more. The ones near a university are usually better at dealing with international students than other random branches. This is also true for banks and other places where not having a SSN might cause some inconvenience.

It seems to me that given your circumstances, it'd be very risky to decline one offer without another one in hand (and no word on your chances of getting admitted on a second attempt), if you can't apply elsewhere outside these two options. Personally, I like pretty things and I *do* think that a welcoming campus can have a positive effect on students. However, I don't think it's necessarily a deciding factor in this kind of decision given your current parameters. There are some things you haven't mentioned yet, though. For example, is this a MA or PhD? Are you funded? How do you like the people you'll be working with? Also, is there an option of deferring your acceptance by a year so you can try again with the safety fallback of the offer you already have? If not, if aside from the office building you have a good, funded offer with advisors you like, I would say you should take it. I don't think there will be anything stopping you from working in the pretty library at the other school, if it's nearby. People work off-campus at various locations all the time. You don't have to spend too much time at the less attractive office. That alone wouldn't cause me to decline my sole, reasonable offer.

^seconding this. Most likely, you'll need a new I-20. The information on all of your documents should match. Ask your international students office, they should know what to do. I suggest you do this on Monday, to save time, but I don't think you need to worry. It doesn't take long to issue student visas, and it's only mid-May, so you should be fine.

This is so intensely personal and depends on the situation. I have, in the past, approached some people. Some wanted help, some didn't. If/when I do approach someone, I try to do it in person and in a non-threatening environment, making it clear that they can walk away at any time with no penalty (because obviously, if I notice something, it's usually because they are my students, and I wouldn't want them to think anything they say or do will affect their grade). Ahead of time, be sure you know what resources are available at your school for some of the more common problems people might face (how do you reach out to mental health services? the ombudsperson? the Title IX office or equivalent at your school? who is this person's advisor and major/department?). You might also try and ask the DUS at your department if they know this student and what they think of their performance. It might be that someone is already aware of the problem and is dealing with it. The DUS will usually know. And if you decide to approach the student, you find them at a time that seems as non-intrusive and private as possible, and you just say you noticed that something may be off and that you wanted to them to know that you are there for them, now or later, if they want to talk or ask for help, and you're also happy to help them identify resources even if they don't want to talk to you. At that point, it's entirely up to them.

Sending good vibes your way. I hope everything works out!

Okay, so two thoughts here. First, if this is not a writing-intensive course, writing probably shouldn't carry an overly sized weight in grading. Second, unless there are rules explicitly privileging non-native speakers in some way, I think you need to grade everyone equally. Now, offering extensive writing advice is probably not part of your job description here (again, unless it's a writing-intensive course), so whatever you offer is up to you. For me, it seems that students with extensive problems don't get that much out of TAs correcting their work; many of them never look at their assignments or comments that closely (or at all), and they're often so far behind that they don't know how to pick the major comments from the minor ones, and just get overwhelmed. If there's a writing center at your school, that's really the place to send them to. If you are so inclined, you could offer either a re-grade of the writing (as opposed to content!) component of the assignment once they've visited the writing center, as an incentive for them to actually work on it, or give them an extension to work on their writing, but then grade as you would anyone else. It's up to you and how much extra work you're willing to put in.

Seconding the "it sounds like this is a formality, letterhead not required" suggestion above.