je1230

I actually have not yet had to take my dog to a vet out here. I'm looking for one now. I've heard Animal Hospital at the crossing is good (as mentioned above). I've also heard good things about Beaumont Animal Clinic (which is more likely for me as I don't have a car and it will be closer).

I just finished my taxes for my first year. For the first 4 months of pay (I got my first paycheck in September), I paid about 15% in federal taxes and 5% in state taxes straight from my paycheck. After finishing my taxes in April, I got a check back from the federal for about half of the amount I had paid, so I only paid ~7-8% to federal. I owed Illinois a check for $9. So, taxes weren't actually too bad. I liked having the taxes withheld from my paychecks. Some of my classmates who had to pay all of their taxes, it was seemingly a big chunk of money. On a few other notes on this thread. Those who I know who live on campus don't have a terrible problem with it. They're planning on moving off campus for their second year, but they seemed to enjoy living on campus, being close to the buildings, etc. I personally wouldn't have wanted to do it (I like living a bit farther from campus, it helps to actually leave campus when I go home). And as far as moving, if you have a lot of stuff, I think Penske/Uhaul/Budget renting one way is a good way to go. I rented a Penske truck in my hometown, loaded it at home, drove it here, and dropped it off in Urbana. It was pretty easy (though kinda expensive, I managed to spend about $600 to rent and for gas, though, if I had flown and shipped stuff, the plane ticket alone would have been $350 or so). Penske was very organized and clean. I will note, I had all of my furniture for a 2 bedroom apt, all the kitchen stuff I'd every need, all my relevant college textbooks, etc. It was too much to just ship, since I got all the furniture and kitchen stuff free, it did make sense to move it here.

The website is http://www.weinercompanies.com/. Their phone number, website, and apartment/house availability is on the site. Good luck! Feel free to let me know if you have any questions.

If you're looking for a dog friendly, quiet area, I would recommend Urbana, at least a half mile east of campus (to avoid the undergrad housing). I just moved to Urbana in the fall with my dog and I live in a 2 bedroom apartment in the middle of a residential area. I love where I live. There are lots of parks and the residential area is really nice to walk around. There's a dog park in Urbana too which is nice to let your dogs run their energy off. The buses run pretty far, I personally wanted to stick reasonably close to campus, so I'm about a mile east which is perfect, right next to downtown urbana (easy to catch a bus), but still in the quiet residential area and easy to bike to school from. My landlord has mostly pet friendly places (apartments and houses). They are Weiner Companies. They are pretty good, I haven't had any problems with them and the only time I've had to ask them to do something, it got done within 2 days (I had some bees hanging around my balcony and they were taken care of in less than 2 days). They have several good options for both apartments and houses that are pet friendly. The other good pet friendly place I found was Joe Allen. But, they seem a bit more unorganized (the apartments are nice, the lady who runs most of it is just unorganized). If you have any other questions, let me know.

Yeah, that was last year and I was fortunate enough to be awarded the fellowship. Based on the review sheets from my own application and other's who I've seen, I think that's the best approach (a classmate I had didn't have a good school choice for his research proposal and that was commented on in his review sheets and seemed to negatively impact his reviews).

I wrote my proposal and had a school and research group picked out that would be able to best do that research (i.e. I referenced some of this groups papers and they had access to all the instruments and resources I'd need and expertise on the techniques) and filled out my application as if I was going to that school and research group (not knowing if I would be accepted/able to join that group). I ended up not choosing to go to that school in the end, but I'm doing similar work at a different school. The school that I used was not the highest ranked school I was applying to, but rather, it was the best fit for the research proposal I wrote.

I will add my two cents in here. I just started my first year in a chemistry graduate program. I knew I was going to live alone my first year, but I also knew I wanted to get a dog. I grew up with dogs in my home and actually raised dogs for the Seeing Eye during middle school and high school. So, I decided I would get a dog shortly after I graduated from college, train it over the summer, and bring it to grad school with me. I got a puppy from a rescue and she's been doing great. Yes, I have to come home at lunch on my long days to take her out and I've even had someone come in and take her for a walk on long days I can't get back. It makes life a bit more stressful, but it is much nicer having my dog to come home to. I take her on 2-4 mile walks morning and evening and that seems to be enough for her. I will also say, with my program, right now I have it pretty easy- I have classes and TAing. We don't start research for the first few months and even when we do, we're not expected to get very far since we're supposed to be focused on classes and TA responsibilities. So, I take grading home to do, I study mostly at home, a lot of my classmates like my dog and we'll have study sessions at my apartment. So, it is possible to have a dog in grad school and live alone. I think my dog is pretty happy with the situation and I know I certainly am. Though my experience hasn't been without it's stresses (dog vomiting at 1am and I have to get up to clean it up the night before an exam, dog waking me up at 5am every morning to go out, etc), I have appreciated having my dog around.

Thanks for the input on the previous places I listed. I was just looking at places in Champaign. How is Hessel on the Park apartments- just south of Hessel park on Valley Road. Is that primarily undergrads or is it more grad students and community members?

Paper cut

I'm looking for a reasonable 1 or 2 bedroom apartment under $850 a month that is dog friendly (I'm not sure how unreasonable my expectations may be). Additionally, I won't have a car, so I'd like to be near a bus line and grocery store. I was looking at Town and Country and some of Weiner Companies' places. Does anyone know about the area around Town and Country- how bad is it? Or, for the area between the University and Urbana, south of University Ave. (in particular- 305 Elm St. or 402 Springfield Ave. by Weiner Co.)? How is that area- noisy and full of undergrads? I'm trying to figure out where I might be able to find a decent place- fairly quiet but accessible. Are there any other places in the area that might be quiet, accessible, reasonable, and dog friendly? I'm planning on getting a one year lease and then figuring things out after moving there. Any input would be appreciated. Thanks!

You could say I based my proposal on a previous REU project, but I developed the idea independently and used my summer project as the groundwork (my summer project was developing a method, I proposed an application of that method into a technology stage, making something useful). The proposal was thought up after the project and was further developed to use the method I worked on, but it was not the summer research itself. One of the reviewers gave me a VG in the intellectual merit category because my proposal was similar to the prior research and they questioned the originality.

I got a VG/E, E/E, and E/E. The the very good was justified by a similarity between an REU project and the proposal (it was an extension of the research) and a potential lack of originality because of that. I think my 2 publications, international research experience (through a summer REU), and the variety of research I had (3 summers at different labs and 4 semesters of research at my university) helped a lot. Also, I've been involved in tutoring and TAing, chemistry demonstrations, and starting an ACS chapter at my school which I think helped the broader impacts. I have a question. For those of you who might know. Do we need to follow through on the proposal that we wrote? I wrote that not knowing what university I'd go to (I'm currently a senior in undergrad) and where I thought I'd go changed when the professor I wanted to work for left. Now I'm looking at going to another school, but they don't have the resources to do the specific project I proposed (it requires some special collaborations and equipment). I'd still be working in the same area towards the same goal, but by a much different process. Is that alright? Edit: I would still be in the same field of chemistry, just different research projects, though both towards the same end goal.

Question for someone. What if you got it and you had listed a school that you originally thought you would attend, but have now realized that you are going elsewhere. Is it possible to change? I can't believe I got it!

I just discovered today that University of Illinois is doing weekends by interest- materials chemistry is March 31-April 2.

Penn State: March 4-6, April 1-3 University of Michigan: March 4-6, March 25-27 University of Illinois: None that I could tell (I think you visit whenever you want)