juilletmercredi

I'm adding in my vote for School #2. -It has what you want to do, which will influence your PhD admissions as well as your experience at a PhD program -Your stipend will go further in a place with a lower CoL (and from a grad student living in the most expensive city in the U.S., believe me, that will make a difference in your quality of life) -It has a PhD program which you may be able to segue into especially if there are tons of people there doing the kind of work you want to do -Sounds like they really want you if they were willing to increase your funding -You say "public Ivy," which makes me think of a Berkeley, UCLA, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Penn State, Texas-Austin, UIUC, etc. (Those are some of the bigger public names in my field, and many others as well). I would say most of those places have just as much name recognition as a Harvard, Stanford, or Yale, and in my field some of those places are higher-ranked than some of the more well-known prestigious private institutions that people think of when you say "Ivy League." They also have enormous alumni networks. I know a LOT of Penn State and Michigan alumni who would hire another Penn State or Michigan alum before they hired a Harvard alum, lol. Both within and without academia those places have good clout, so I wouldn't worry about the prestige factor too much.

I wouldn't make a decision on the basis of $2000 a year for a PhD stipend. I also wouldn't worry about the move too much. You only have to do it once. Also, fellowship vs. RA doesn't really matter too much if you can pick who you want to RA for. You're going to be an RA on a fellowship, too, because RAing is what helps you get jobs by way of publications. My first two years I was an RA and my last 3 years I've been on fellowship, and they have been indistinguishable from each other. (TAship vs. fellowship is different, though.) It really depends on how far apart the reputation is. Top 10 to top 20, I would think, doesn't really make that big of a difference; you can probably have access to most of the same opportunities from both places. Top 20 to not even in the top 100, however, makes a much bigger difference. The caliber of students doesn't necessarily mean more competition to get into labs, because most schools build cohorts with students with a wide range of interests who don't necessarily want to work with the same people. In my cohort, I was the only person with interests like mine and the only person who was 'competing' to work with any one particular person. Like others pointed out, having more competitive classmates can expand your thinking. This one sounds like it's going to have to be a gut decision, although I'd be leaning towards School A, too.

It depends on your school. There's only one person in both of my cohorts (two-department program) who I spent any substantial amount of time with during my first two years; that's because she was in my lab and became my friend in addition to being my classmate. Most of the other student in my cohort, I did not spend "tons of time" with. Sometimes I had classes with them, but we had divergent interests and so we had at most two classes together. Other than that, I rarely saw them, even though in my first two years I spent a lot of time at the school in the lab or the grad student research room. I also don't think it matters if you and your roommate are "complete strangers." What you want is someone who pays the rent on time, is clean and reasonable and moderately friendly without being overwhelming or clingy. I've had one roommate who was otherwise a stranger because she worked all day and partied all night (she was not a grad student - it was a summer subletter I had for my spare room). I didn't care, lol. I also had two roommates who became friends, one of whom I am still friends with today. One of them (the one I am still friends with) was a master's student in my department, and the other one was a master's student in another department but within the school of public health. Just because we were in different programs didn't mean that we were complete strangers; you can get to know people on dimensions other than academic ones. In fact, it was really nice to have non-cohort people as roommates because while we sometimes talked about our interests in public health, we talked about other things, too. Me and the second roommate shared a consuming love of shoes, and so we went shoe shopping together. Me and the first roommate loved to party so she introduced me to some cool master's students who I hung out with a lot in my first 2 years. You will sometimes think about things other than school, lol. Living with another grad student is great because they understand your struggle, but there's nothing wrong with living with another young professional - some of them have similar struggles (like lawyers who have to get billable hours or management consultants who are never around because they fly 75% of the time or whatever. We're all workaholics). The most important thing is to live with someone who you can live with. If you like to let dishes "soak" for a day you need to find someone who is okay with that; if you like to clean the tub out every time you step in or out you need to find someone who is okay with that. If you plan on having friends on your couch every weekend from varied states, you need to have someone okay with that, although good luck. So on and so forth.

New York (Manhattan) is higher, at 216.7%. So are Queens and Brooklyn actually. If I had a choice, I would not want to do grad school here. I love Columbia but I hate New York's cost of living. Also, I went with my institutional stipend and not my NSF stipend, which is slightly lower (only slightly, but enough to put me in a lower bracket).

You can't. You just choose a reputable moving company and go from there. FWIW, I used a moving van in NYC and I have never had bed bugs. The bugs are very unlikely to be living in a moving van, as they have no source of food. Yes, technically bed bugs can go dormant for a year without feeding, but that's only under certain conditions. Most bed bugs can only survive a few months without food. I have traveled to a lot of places in the US and outside, and I've moved to several different locations in NYC. I never did anything special (aside from never accepting used furniture, clothing, or mattresses), and I have never gotten bitten by a bed bug much less had an infestation.

I'm from the South, loved living in the South, and would love to return to the South if I got a job or faculty position there. So my response is biased, but I think a lot of people have stereotypes about the American South and living there that are untrue especially if one is living in a large urban area (Atlanta, Raleigh, New Orleans, etc.) I think that you should try to negotiate for a higher package with School A. Ask them if there is any flexibility in the package - say that you really love their program and want to come, but given School B's attractiveness in terms of both reputation and stipend support you're having a difficult time making your choice. Then see what they say. If they see it as arrogance, I wouldn't want to go there anyway - I think a little bit of negotiation is okay. It's very likely that they are unable to budge because of financial considerations. In that case, I think it depends on "barely sufficient." Personally, I don't think I would choose a lower-ranked program where I have to struggle to survive over a better-reputed program where I have enough money to live on. In addition to thinking about my comfort for 5 years of my life, I'd also be thinking about future prospects; although rankings are somewhat overhyped, the relative reputation of your graduate school does have some impact on where you can look for tenure-track jobs. Examine the reasons that you feel you would be happier at School A, especially if a rational think-through produces School B as a clear winner for you.

Given that you don't get to choose and Fulbright chooses, my answer is based upon that - and I think that any of these programs will get you where you need to go. Michigan is probably the cheapest, BUT they won't necessarily be the cheapest in real dollars as their cost share may be less. Harvard is very expensive, but they are also a very rich school with a LOT of money. Columbia has a lot of money too, but their endowment can't touch Harvard's - Harvard's endowment is $28 billion whereas Columbia's and Michigan's are only $5 billion. University of Chicago has a $4 billion endowment. I agree that had you the choice, Harvard would be the best choice - just because in a field like public policy/government affairs where there are thousands beating down the doors, the Harvard name will make you stand out a lot and can nab another look. But Chicago, Columbia, and Michigan are also great schools. Chicago and Michigan for an OOS student are not "much" cheaper than Harvard and Columbia.

Assuming that the programs are truly very comparable and attending one or the other wouldn't make much of a difference in your career, then it has to do with what you want. I did my undergrad in my hometown and so I wanted to move away for grad school, so only one of the grad schools I applied to was in my hometown (and it was top 10 in my field). If you want to stay close by to help your family out with those issues, and always be available to them to help out, then staying home is definitely a viable option. You can grow and develop close to home as long as you protect your time and seek out new experiences. If you want to get away from all that, though, and not been seen by your family as perpetually available - or if your family is really annoying (like mine can be sometimes) - then moving away may be a good idea. Especially if your family constantly hits you up for money (honestly, I would rather not live too close to my family sometimes, lol). And yes, definitely don't let guilt hold you back. It's your life and you have to do what's best for you (and your immediate family if you have a spouse or dependents). My aunt is in the hospital right now and I have enough money in the bank that if I needed to fly home in a few days, I could. That's what airplanes are for, I always say.

Everyone feels that way at some point during their program. I am a 5th year and I still grapple with trying to understand why my advisor thinks I'm a great student. I feel lazy and not as productive as the scholar down the street (the theoretical one) who publishes 3 papers a year and dreams about data analysis. And yes, I've definitely dealt with feeling like I was drowning in work. It gets better over time - you learn to manage your time better, including learning to write in some relaxation time. And you won't have courses. Now, as a dissertator, I read for pleasure and go out with my friends and cook dinner most nights. When I was in coursework - especially my first year - I felt like I was barely keeping my head above water. Stay the course, and try your hand at scheduling your time and sticking to a (realistic) schedule. Take note of how long it takes you to do things. You are smart enough, but more importantly, success in your grad program has nothing to do with intelligence. Everyone who was admitted is intelligent. It has to do with desire, hard work, and perseverance. Most people who drop out don't do so because they aren't smart (many of them are brilliant) but because they realize that the PhD is not what they want anymore, for whatever reason. I don't think I'm that smart, but I'm a hustler. You just have to put your nose to the grindstone and work work work (within reason, of course - make sure you sleep, eat healthily, and get some exercise, and have some fun. I make it a point to sleep 6-8 hours every night, regardless of how close a deadline is).

I have ebbs and flows of motivation. I kind of just go with it - I do easier tasks during that low period and more challenging ones during the highs. Usually what renews my motivation is something that reminds me why I entered the field in the first place - reading an exciting new article, a conference, a visit to another institution, a research talk, etc. So get involved in your department and go to talks and brown bags and seminars, and read articles every week. That will keep your knowledge AND motivation up. That depends on your advisor. My advisor definitely did not give me a topic to work on; I selected my own topics and worked on them more or less autonomously from the beginning of my program. He gave me more guidance in the execution of those topics in the beginning of my program, but the data analysis and writing was up to me. Now I am a fifth year and I usually just tell him what I am going to do and show him a timeline and the plan, and he nods and says he'll read my drafts, lol. But don't assume that your advisor is going to suggest a topic for you; if you want him to suggest a topic for you (which I don't recommend), then ask him if there's any directions that the lab wants to go in that he hasn't yet been able to explore. But it's far better for you to take a look at the data yourself and think about really interesting ways that you can take the lab; you'll get points for being proactive.

Yes, you are, and that's if you live in upper Manhattan or the outer boroughs. A studio or one-bedroom can run you much more. You can't get a rent-controlled apartment in NYC unless you have a close family member who is passing it to you. There are rent-stabilized apartments, but they aren't much below market rate - the biggest advantage to rent-stabilized apartments is that they can't raise the rent above a certain percentage from year to year. I lived in a rent-stabilized apartment in my first 3 years in the city, and like I said, it wasn't much below market price in the neighborhood I lived in ($1800 for a two-bedroom in Washington Heights). You can't find a dog-friendly roommate? Advertise on CL. I would have been THRILLED if my roommate had a dog and would have even participated in feeding it and walking it. I love dogs, and I know several other people in the city who love dogs but don't have one for various reasons. When I moved here, I was advised by the off-campus housing office not to start looking for mid-August/September lease start dates until after the Fourth of July. It's certainly too early to look now - nobody will hold an apartment for you until August. I would say start getting a feel for the market and prices in May, and maybe start looking in earnest in mid-June, especially if you are willing to move a few weeks early (like August 1) for the opportunity to lock down a really good apartment and beat the rush. The TC area is MUCH more price-friendly than anything by NYU. I live in Morningside Heights, a 5-minute walk from the 1 train and a 10-minute walk from the A/B/C/D trains, and I can be down by the NYU campus is about 40 minutes from here. Of course NYU is a bit spread out so it kind of depends on which part of the campus he needs to be by (I commute to the NYU law school nearby Washington Square Park for a volunteer thing every other Saturday). It takes a bit longer on the 1 (local train) but the A or D runs express to West 4th St. So Morningside Heights, Harlem, Hamilton Heights (which is the area between Harlem and Washington Heights - from about 137th St to about 157th St). Those places are more affordable, relatively safe, and will take less than an hour to get to NYU if you can live nearby an express train. I think once you get kinda far into Washington Heights/Inwood you start running into a 1 hour commute to get to NYU (and a 30-40 minute commute into TC, which isn't bad - I used to live in Wash Heights and commuted to Morningside. It will kind of suck going to NYU, though - I took a class at NYU, I lived right on the A, and I would say it took me about 40-50 minutes to get to NYU on the express). Another option may be Queens close to the city - Astoria, Long Island City, Jackson Heights. That will be easier for him than you - if you live on the N/Q/R or the E he won't even have to switch trains to get to NYU; you could switch once and get there. I don't know much about Staten Island or the ferry - the ferry I think takes 30 minutes and then getting to NYU from the ferry will probably take another 15 minutes (you could take the R). But I would be more concerned about how you are going to get around IN Staten Island, like to the grocery store and such. I'm pretty sure you need a car to travel around Staten Island, as there's only one train line running North-South up to the Staten Island Ferry and is mainly for commuters.

I think that an MSW offers more opportunities than an MFT. I'm in a related field and it seems like I see tons of openings for MSWs but not many, if any, for MFTs. If you are in-state for UCLA and it's affordable, I think I might pay a little bit more to go there unless it was going to plunge me in some kind of ridiculously unrepayable debt.

Well, it depends on how much you really want to go to grad school in fall 2013, whether you think a next round of applications would yield better results, and how much money you would have to shell out at UChicago. Do you have significant savings? Given that your signature says you are currently enrolled at Northwestern, I'm guessing no. That means you will likely have to borrow about $25,000 at least to live in Chicago during the MAPSS, which isn't terrible but also is not ideal. Do you think the MAPSS will significantly improve your chances of getting into a PhD program in history next application cycle? More than spending a year doing other kinds of free improvement of your application, like working on writing samples or trying to publish something? Is that kind of improvement worth $25,000 to you? That would determine whether or not I would keep MAPSS as an option or decline. If you think that the program has something to offer you wrt getting into PhD programs next year - enough that you are willing to go at least $25,000 in debt for it - then I would say wait until the acceptance deadline for MAPSS, and watch to see what JHU is going to do. If it gets to the acceptance deadline for MAPSS, and you still want to go but haven't heard from JHU, then accept them. If JHU accepts you off the waitlist AND funds you, you will just have to withdraw from MAPSS explaining that you got accepted to a PhD program. I think this is more acceptable in master's programs AND I think that your first priority should be to yourself in this process.

Yes. Most people do this, in fact. Sanity is overrated, though. I also definitely do not spend 20 hours a week on my TAship. I would never get anything done. When I taught my own lab, then I spent about that much, but I was designing my own homework assignments and grading like mad. After a while you learn to minimize the amount of time that you spend on it. I think including class time and office hours (6 hours a week) I probably spend 12 hours max on the TAship I currently have, and that's on a week that I have grading to do or a lecture to put together. On weeks that I don't have grading or lectures, maybe 8-10 hours.

I've heard that grad school is the last opportunity to meet a large group of intellectual and ambitious people at once False! I think it's more *difficult* after you aren't in school anymore, but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Lots of people meet their SOs outside of school contexts. I think graduate school is as good a place as any to meet an SO. I think if you have common sense you can avoid a lot of the "cautionary tales". Being a serial dater within your workplace is a problem regardless of whether that's a graduate program or an office; breaking up before finals is no worse than breaking up before a big client presentation or account is due (in fact, the latter two are potentially worse); cheating is cheating, and douches are douches. You have to decide ahead of time whether grad school is worth giving up your life. To me, personally, it is not. It depends on the way you go about it. You could meet your life partner in your graduate program. Or you could have a spectacular breakup with someone. There's no way to predict. Are you a douche? Do you have a problem interacting with people you have broken up with on a regular basis? Do your emotional travails consistently interfere with your work? It depends on your dating style. The other thing to decide is whether you want to start a two-body problem. I already had an SO when I came to graduate school, but if I had not, I would NOT want to date other PhD students simply to avoid the dreaded two-body problem. My prospects are already dim enough without trying to bring another non-portable person with me, lol. FWIW, there's not a lot of interdepartmental dating in either of my department. There is one successful couple in one of my departments, but otherwise people typically come to graduate school with an SO or date outside of our program. I don't view people who date or don't date as any particular kind of way; it really depends on the way they go about it.

It would depend a lot on the program and the field. In my primary field (public health), if I were offered, say, a full time project coordinator position with the opportunity to take 1-2 classes a semester and possibly finish in 3-4 years, I would do that. The kind of work that I would do in a PC position here would be amenable to graduate admissions and I would be working closely with the faculty, which is important for admittance to a PhD program. TA pay sucks and if I were happy in the working role, that would be desirable. A lot of project coordinators here earn their MPHs that way. Actually, in my secondary field I would probably take the job, too. However, in my secondary field an MA is not required for admission to PhD programs, and many many PhD students start out as a "pseudo-RA" (lab manager/research coordinator) and do that for 2-3 years before applying to PhD programs. They take a few graduate-level classes, maybe earn an MA. And if the difference in time-to-degree was only 1 semester? Oh, heck yeah, I'd take the job. TA pay sucks. I don't see why you couldn't do direct networking with the students. I see the project coordinators who work in my lab far more often than I see the other graduate students in my department, and I work with them more often, and I am co-authoring papers with two of them currently.

Does your university have a writing center? Most universities do, and you can probably meet semi-regularly with a consultant there to help you with your writing. Bring a piece of work that you want to improve and ask for help, and they'll work with you not only on that piece itself but on general rules for writing. You also may want to pick up some resources on writing, like the book How to Write a Lot or The Craft of Research. There are a lot of books out there on the process of writing, and writing journal articles in particular (there's a book called something like "How to write a journal article in 12 weeks".) I know some researchers who have struggled with writing. The only way to get better is to keep writing and continually review your own work. FWIW, I consider myself a strong writer and I definitely outline when I write. It helps SOOO much to plan what you are going to write ahead of time. You always have something to refer back to if you get a little lost. I also don't write linearly. When I am writing a journal article, I start with the methods section. That's because that's the easiest section for me to write, and getting something on the paper makes the paper less intimidating when I return to it to complete it. I start with methods, then write the results; typically, I then write the introduction and discussion. I started using Scrivener and I think it's a useful app because it encourages writers to think holistically about their writing and not necessarily linearly. A blank Word document is both intimidating and not useful, IMO, but with a Scrivener project I can house notes and research and writing all in the same area and I can move sections around easily.

I don't think global reputation of the university matters much unless you intend to go abroad. What matters far more is your research productivity. If you can go to Calgary and be productive...then it won't matter as much where you went. Which university is a better research fit for you? Where do people work after finishing the PhD at either school? Generally speaking, I think you should follow the money, but I think that depends entirely on how you are comparing the packages. Does UBC offer you enough funding to live on? Comparing $25,000 and $35,000 is different from comparing $16,000 and $30,000. In the former case, I would say go to whichever school is the best fit for you - you can adequately live on either of those stipends in most locations, and it's my opinion that as long as you can adequately live on the stipend provided the most important consideration should be research fit and job prospects. But in the latter case, $16,000 isn't enough to live on so I would lean more towards the latter package. So even though the funding is substantially better at Calgary, can you live adequately on the package at UBC? Your field also matters. If you are getting a PhD in philosophy or English literature or history, program rank will matter more since the field is glutted. If you are getting your PhD in accounting or nursing, you'll likely be able to find a job even at a lower-ranked school. But again, ranking matters but not as much as your productivity. If you publish papers and present and meet with folks, then your CV will speak for itself and you can get more jobs.

^That depends on your university. There are some universities that like to hire their own graduates. There are some departments that don't mind having a lot of people who do research all within area X, but take different perspectives on it - my department is like that.

I'm sure it varies by field, but in my field there's a decent demand abroad for professors with US degrees from top schools. It also depends on where you want to work - Europe is difficult because they already have their own market of scholars, but I think it's easier in Canada and probably easier still in Latin America, although you may need Spanish. I don't know whether you need a postdoc for Latin America, but it's my sense that a postdoc is still a plus in my field for Canadian positions.

This is field dependent, but in my field going to the same place for your BA and MA isn't really a big deal IF the place is the best place for you. If you went to Michigan in undergrad and then stayed there for your PhD in my field, that wouldn't be a bad thing because Michigan is an excellent place to do your PhD. So if the Notre Dame program is the best place you got accepted to for you and your interests AND you are funded there, don't choose a program that you like less just for variety.

Follow the money! Unless the money is at a bad program that never gets any of its students into PhD programs. But generally speaking, if it's a decent program that will give you good preparation, take the money and run.

^I agree with the above. Wait until you have funding decisions. But right now, I would rule out Houston since you have a funded offer from another school.

I actually haven't found too many Android-specific apps that I like for school (I have an Android phone, an iPad, and a Mac and I've found the Apple apps overall better geared towards my personal productivity) but here are some general apps available on multiple platforms: Evernote: Note-taking app available for Android and iOS/Mac OSX. It syncs across multiple devices and the Internet, so any notes I take I can see on my Galaxy S3, my iPad, my Mac, and any Internet-connected computer. Dropbox: Online cloud storage. I use Google Drive more, but I have some shared folders with my adviser and colleagues on Dropbox, hence the app. Google Drive App: I can access my Drive documents through my phone (and any computer). Useful, because I recently started storing pretty much everything in the cloud. Wunderlist: A to-do list app that I like a lot. They also have it for iOS and Mac OSX, so it's useful in that I can sync my to-do lists across devices. I can set reminders for them, check them off as completed, add subtasks and notes, etc.

School B. Do not underestimate the time suck that TAing can be, or how important summer funding is. You can get SO much work done over the summers. You can always fly home and visit, or your family can visit you, and if you are in art history and want an academic job you need to get used to having little control over where you live.