sarmstrong

Question for anyone at all experienced with the University City area. I need to find an apartment within walking distance (aka., within 20 min. walking) to Penn's campus. My program starts in the beginning of September and there is no possible way for me to apartment search, in person, until mid August because I live overseas. I've spent a lot of time and energy trying to apartment search online (via Craigslist, etc.) but it's been problematic to say the least. Not only is it worrying to commit to a place without ever touring it in person, but the logistics of calling people (time difference), filling out applications and paying for app. fees, not to mention a deposit are such a huge headache for the leasing agents that they tend to just give up on us. Either that, or someone else who is there in the flesh gets the apartment first. On the other hand, I am worried that if we wait until we arrive in mid-August, there will be VERY slim pickings and there won't be any reasonable choices left. So, my questions is, should I continue to try to make the long-distance arrangement work, or should I abandon it and just plan on finding our apartment when we get to Philly? What will the selection be like by that time? Any information anyone could give to help me out with this decision would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

I may ask the 2nd choice school for an extension.

Latte - I wouldn't "dread" going there, I'm just worried that I'd always be wondering, "what if?" The other ones are also considerably more expensive. Elliot - I would love to visit the campus, but I'm living overseas right now, so there's no way. All these phone calls to the school have been in the middle of the night for me .

My #1 choice (by far) told me on April 2nd that I'd been recommended for admission, but because my Junior / Senior GPA was too low, my application has to be approved by the Grad. Division. That very night I called both the Grad. Div. & my own department to try to help the process along, lest April 15th arrive and I still have no official decision. I got absolutely nowhere. I emailed everyone I could think of, then waited. Nothing - not even a response, even after telling them that I had to know by the 15th. Tonight, I decided to call again. First I talked to my department, who assured me they'd sent my application to the Grad. Div. already. Then, I called the Grad. Div., who placed me on hold, came back in a few minutes and said, "I just spoke with your department and they haven't sent over your application yet. Once they do it'll take 7 - 10 business days." WHAT IN THE WORLD??? Besides being utterly amazed by the inefficiency of this system, I am now left wondering what in the world to do! Do I wait, knowing that I will almost certainly be approved (according to my department), passing up the April 15th deadline to accept one of my other offers? Or do I say, now way, this is ridiculous and too much of a risk? It would be so sad to pass up my dream school, knowing that I would likely have been able to go. But it would be SO sad to miss out on ALL the schools. Help! By the way, there are so many other ridiculous aspects of how this school has handled my application, but I've left them out to keep this as short as possible. AHHH! They're driving me nuts!

It's the middle of the night right now, where I live and I'm so glad this post was resurrected because it really describes how I'm feeling. I didn't think I'd get accepted anywhere, but I got accepted to 3 of my top top top choices. I didn't have a #1 when I was waiting to hear and have flip flopped a lot since then. They are all extremely different, and as I'm living overseas I don't have the option of visiting to get a feel for them in person. I've gone through stages where all three have seemed like #1. I finally chose one much more solidly, only to find out that through a technicality I've only been "recommended" for admission and still have to be approved by the grad division. Time is getting short and it's really starting to wreak havoc on my sanity. This is all made much more difficult, as I'm married and my husband is going through the same thing with the decision, except that we're usually leaning toward different schools. As soon as I like School A, he likes School B. Then When I like School B, he likes School C, etc. I FULLY wish I'd been accepted to only one school & am so worried about regret after making the decision. I'm not worried about choosing a bad program because they're all dreamlike choices, but I know I'm going to have a hard time shaking the lingering questions about how things may have been different if we'd gone somewhere else. This is especially true with the school that only provisionally accepted me, which almost breaks my heart. But even the school that has been 3rd choice for the past week or two recently pricked my fancy again today. It's a super small, super prestigious program that I've heard fabulous things about. They've been extremely helpful and the campus is gorgeous. I really feel like I'll be missing out if I don't go there and that's not even as bad as I'd feel about rejected either of the other two offers! Whew. I'm glad I got that out there. It felt good to vent it.

So, I would very much like to go to School A, because it is MUCH cheaper and close to home and for lots of other reasons. However, apparently they have only half accepted me. Because of a low GPA, my application was recommended for admission by my department, but has to be approved by the Dean of the Grad. Division. I assume this is just a formality and that at some point I will be fully accepted. However, I have tried every avenue I can think of to get some more information & have inexplicably gotten nowhere. I called the Grad. Division and the lady I talked to was rude and said she couldn't give me absolutely any info. Then I called my department and that lady said the same thing. I emailed someone else in my department and also my assigned advisor and neither of them has emailed me back even though it's been over a week! I even informed all parties mentioned that I had to know by the 15th. What I initially thought was nothing to worry about now has me worried to the core. A.) Something fishy seems to be going on & B.) I need an official answer by the 15th, as I have other offers to consider! What should I do? Should I just keep calling & emailing? If they still haven't given me an answer by the 15th should I move onto School B? It seems like such a silly thing to get in the way of my dream school, but what can I do? Please please help.

Same here - couldn't go & would love to get someone else's impression.

So, are you saying then, that if you were me and were accepted to Vanderbilt, UCLA & Penn, you'd go Vanderbilt all the way? I've looked at Heyneman a bit and read a few of his articles, but find I have a hard time getting a good feel for the professors when I'm looking at schools. Glad to get an outside opinion. Have to decide by Friday and I'm still soooo not sure which to pick.

All good suggestions. I know most of that stuff, but I haven't talked to any Penn masters students yet. I talked to one from Vandy (she LOVED it) and one from UCLA (also very positive).

Also, I already knew the US News rankings only applied to doctoral programs, but since there isn't one for masters programs, I'm taking what I can get and figuring that if the doctoral program is good, the masters is more likely to be good too.

Yeah, while fit is obviously super important, when all I have is websites with little information, I'm finding it a bit difficult to determine. I mean, I have looked extensively at the websites, the faculty profiles, etc. etc., but I still feel like it's going to just be a big surprise to me what the program is like when I get there. Also, I've emailed these schools for more information (alumni info, course descriptions, etc.) and haven't gotten much response. I DO know that I really like my advisor at UCLA, which is one major reason why it's the frontrunner. I also (from what I can tell), like the program fit better. But for the other two it's been more difficult to determine. That's why I focus on everything else. Plus, let's face it, if the weather makes me miserable, that's IS important!

So, I am currently choosing between UCLA, Vanderbilt and Penn for my masters and have had a lot of difficulty in deciding. UCLA is the clear frontrunner, but, unfortunately, I found out that I wasn't actually admitted, I was just recommended for admission by the Ed. department. Because my jr. / sr. GPA was below a 3.0 (2.98), the Dean of the Graduate Division has to sign a special petition for me to actually be admitted. I'm guessing it's more of a formality, but I've had a VERY difficult and unpleasant experience with trying to get ANY information from them. This is a huge problem, because, of course, the April 15th deadline is fast approaching. I'm planning on sending a letter to someone at UCLA that basically says, "I'd love to attend, but I need to receive a definitive answer by April 15th, or else I'm going to have to go with another school." Is that a good idea? Secondly, what should my Plan B school be? Here are the pros and cons, as I see it. Penn (pro): - Possibly easier location for my husband to find a job - Really exciting internship attached - Ivy league name Penn (con): - COLD - #12 - I don't like the campus quite as much Vandy (pro): - I love the campus - A few thousand cheaper (due to aid) - #1 Ed. program - Better weather - Really nice and helpful staff Vandy (con): - I might get bored in Nashville - Could be hard for the hubby to find a job Thoughts? On any of it? I know it's one of those decision we'll have to make on our own, but it would be great to have some fresh views. Also, if it helps, I plan to either go into consulting or get a PHD and become a professor.

Hey, that's pretty much my take too! I started looking into it a couple years ago and applied this fall. I'm still deciding between programs. I don't know if I know much more than you, because I did the same thing (US News, then look at websites), but I'm pretty excited to go to a program this fall. I'm not sure if I have anything to offer, but if you need any help, let me know!

I'm in the same boat with TC, except with a MA in Int. & Comp. Ed. I keep seeing people posting in the "results" section on Columbia and I keep obsessively checking the website, but still nothing!

I called in a couple days ago to ask if they were sending letters through the mail (as I live in Taiwan) and they said they don't send any letters through the mail. I thought that was strange since people have posted on the "results" section that they received them through postal mail. So frustrating! I'm Social Science & Comparative Ed.

I don't know about everyone else, but there are a couple of schools I'm still waiting to hear from and I just want to know if I'm alone on those schools. Maybe we can all post about schools we're still waiting from so that other people still waiting know they're not alone! I'm still waiting on Columbia (MA in Intern. & Comp. Ed.) and UCLA (Social Science and Comparative Ed.). Anyone else?

I can't tell you what to do (sorry!), but I can at least tell you what $100,000 worth of debt is like. My husband got a law degree that ran him back about $100,000. Then, he didn't pass the BAR! On top of it, I'm aiming to get a masters, like you. He was able to defer for 6 months (which is usually an option), and we've just been saving as much as possible. When the loans come due the payment will be around $900 a month. So, it's like a second apartment rental. If you think you'll be able to afford that AND it's worth it to you to have to do that for years, then go with the more expensive program. If not, don't do it. Don't know if that was any help, but it's the best I've got!

Actually, I live in Taiwan right now, but I'm American. I just came here to teach a few months ago.

Hey Cecil! I got accepted to Vanderbilt's masters IEPM program with a 1/3 Dean's Tuition Scholarship as well! I don't know how many people receive it. But, it is part of Peabody's Financial Aid. Financial aid is any kind of money you get from Peabody, including scholarships, grants, loans, etc. I currently live in Taiwan, but my parents live in California and they received more information about it in the mail a little while ago. If you PM me with your email I'll forward it to you. Basically, though, at the beginning of each semester, as long as you are still "making satisfactory progress toward your degree" you will have 1/3 of your tuition cost reimbursed. You get 1/3 off each semester, including summer. You may also receive other "financial aid" in addition to this. For example, I got another scholarship for $2,000 that will also just be taken out of the cost of tuition. I will also probably receive financial aid loans. I hope that helps. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask me, or of course, Peabody's financial aid office (who would know better). Good luck! S

No one has commented on this post in a while, but I'm still waiting for my decision from Penn! Are other people still waiting? I applied for a masters in International Educational Development. I got an email on Feb. 1st saying that my application was under review and I haven't heard anything since. I even emailed them six days ago and still haven't received a response! And I've pretty much been checking the website every day....

Social Science and Comparative Ed.

Did they say all letters would be out or just PHD/EdD? I'm applying for Masters. Thanks!

I was accepted to the IEPM masters program and received the Dean's Tuition scholarship, but am still waiting to hear back from a few other schools. Seems like a great school so far though!

Yeah, I got an email on Feb. 3 that said, "Your application for admission to the Penn Graduate School of Education has been received and will be sent for faculty review." I'm new to all of this, so I don't know much, but when I got a similar email from GW it took less than a week to hear the final decision. So I'm a bit anxious!

Sorry for the belated reply, but THANK YOU! Very helpful post that I'm sure I'll refer back to many times if we end up going!