juilletmercredi

No, but I'm really upset that they discontinued the Minority Fellowship in Psychology! It's so weird that they discontinued that one and kept up the one in neuroscience to me, but *shrugs* that's life.

All I have to say is, good luck to all of you still in limbo, and may your grants be funded! I got flat-out rejected, no chance of HM I'm just waiting to get my comments back so I can haul my ass in gear...Z's comments (who didn't get funded last year, but did this year) really helped and I really want to pore those over not just for NSF, but in general to see where my grant writing needs improvement.

Well, I got Honorable Mention, no alternate status. My letter came somewhere between Thursday and Saturday (I was out of town until this morning and found it in my mailbox when I came home), and it was dated April 7. I'm not too upset. After NSF gave me nothing at least I have this I can always try again next year!

The job that you have will affect how much of the loans are unsubsidized. Graduate students are eligible for up to $20,500 in student loans per year, and up to $8,500 of that amount can be unsubsidized. I think that your income will affect how much of the total you take out will be considered unsubsidized. Check out that glitch. I noticed that the Ph.D institution that I selected did not give me the option to get loans nor gave me any information on it (I needed to take out Stafford loans for moving expenses -- I was coming straight from undergrad and had nothing saved). I later found out that's because there was a loan request form that I had to complete, but there was nothing anywhere that indicated that -- not on the financial aid website, not in the materials they sent me, not in my student account. I had to call the school directly to ask. So if they haven't even offered Stafford loans, call the institution and talk to them about how they expect you to finance this program since you don't have $60,000 just waiting to be spent.

I got a rejection notification earlier today. My area is social psychology and my last name starts with B. I wonder why I thought I had a chance From the wording on the FastLane website and in the e-mail, though, it sounded as if they were letting people know whether they got the award or not first (not by last name but by field), and then were releasing a list of HM later. From that assumption, it seemed to be that people who were notified that they were not selected could be notified later that they were an HM. The website says this: "Due to the complexity of the current budget situation, the 2009 GRFP awards will be announced in installments based on fields of study and other factors. The first installment is now available on FastLane. Awardees, as well as Applicants not recommended for funding, have been notified by email. Recipients of Honorable Mention and any additional Fellowship award offers will be forthcoming. Applicant ratings sheets will be available after all award announcements have been made. We thank you for your patience. " I am happy though because someone from my undergrad received the NSF, and I think this is the first year that someone from my undergrad has received it (I have checked all the prior years). HBCUs are generally not represented as baccalaureate institutions for NSF winners. (Tuskegee also has one awardee, As for bias -- well, I don't know if the awards are unfairly biased towards top programs (top programs do attract top students and top professors), but it is true that even if you just look by baccalaureate institution some schools have many more awards than others. For example, there were 44 offers made to those who completed their BA/BS at Berkeley, 32 to Harvard, 26 to Stanford, 21 to Brown, 18 to Yale. Many equivalently-sized universities don't receive the same amount of awards. I mean, it's possible that the best Ph.D scholars just go to better undergraduate schools, but it does pose the question of whether your application, all things being equal, would be looked at the same if you had gone to Stanford or Harvard instead of Amherst or Williams (top two liberal arts colleges in the country; Amherst got one award and Williams got 3.)

I'm not discounting anything until I get a letter in my hands telling me I wasn't selected! Seeing as NSF just rejected me earlier today (thanks NSF) I'm hoping on the Ford Good luck to everyone!

I tried to visit the FAFSA USA website to see if the forms were really less time-consuming. I couldn't get past the first page because when i attempted to submit my information to the site (just basic demographic information), I kept getting a "login error." This could possibly be a genuine error, or it could be an attempt to force me to call them. Calling carries a higher price -- it costs $40 to file online, but $50 to call them and have them walk you through the steps. It also costs $30 to refile every year. This company reports that the FAFSA can take up to 5-6 hours to complete online, which is completely ridiculous. The Department of Education reports that the FAFSA can take up to 2 hours to finish, but generally in my experience (I've been completing the FAFSA since 2004 when I went to undergrad) it takes around 30-45 minutes tops if you have all of the information that you need in front of you. It takes even less time to complete a renewal, especially if you are entering graduate school and do not have report your parents' financial information. I also checked out a competitor, FAFSA.com. That service charges you $80 for filing your FAFSA. And faster and more convenient my ass. This service asks the EXACT same questions as the fafsa.gov.edu website, in the exact same format and order. It would take exactly the same amount of time to complete as the FAFSA from the government website because of this. These website are, IMO, scams. The fafsa.ed.gov website is FREE -- hence the name "FREE application for federal student aid" -- and the FAFSA does not take hours and hours to complete. Collect all of the information you need ahead of time and it should take you under an hour to complete. The comparison to tax filing does not hold up because tax code is complicated and tax professionals can save you thousands of dollars by helping you find loopholes -- there's not the same kind of process for student aid, it's relatively straightforward. Besides, you can file your taxes electronically cheaper than it costs to use some of these FAFSA-filing services, for something that is inarguably much less complicated and time-consuming! Considering that you can save your FAFSA information online and return to it when you have a free moment, and that calling the FAFSA people is free (and they are very friendly and helpful -- I have called them a few times before), don't do it. That $40-80 could be better spent on helping to cover GRE fees, application fees, flights to see your schools if you have to pay for those, an interview outfit, or buying a gift for your recommenders.

I think the statement that GRE scores do not matter is incorrect. I think it is more appropriate to say that they do matter, but that admissions committees evaluate your application holistically, not just in terms of your GRE scores. Some people with great applications and mediocre scores will be accepted to great programs; that doesn't mean they don't matter. It just means that other factors in your application may have mattered more at the time to the priorities and needs of the program. For example, my psychology program doesn't admit anyone with less than a 1200, but once you have over that mark a 1250 has just as good a chance as a 1550. When discussing potential applicants after interview weekend, GRE and undergrad GPA were never mentioned; the quality of undergrad institution, famous mentors, and previous research were discussed, and the most important factors were fit with our lab (who's going to get along with everyone?) and previous research experience (who will have a smooth and easy segue into working in our lab?) On the other hand, my public health department stacks GRE scores a bit more and will look more favorably upon higher scores, all other things being equal. How much scores are worth is idiosyncratic and depends on the department and program. In addition, I would be wary of not taking the GRE seriously and saying that it "doesn't measure anything" or "only measures how well you can take a test." If that were the case, graduate departments wouldn't use them. Apparently, most graduate programs find some use in using the GRE as a metric. It is accurate to say it's a game that one needs to learn how to play, but that's what graduate school is like, too!

I vote work because if you want, in the future your job will probably pay for you to go back for an MS. And if your ultimate goal for getting an MS is job opportunities, well, here is one staring you in the face

With the whole car business, I suggest that you buy maybe an inexpensive car that does well on gas -- like an old Honda or Toyota or something. My boyfriend just bought one for $1500 (here in New York, a 1995 Civic) and there are many to be had in Atlanta, as well, for $3,000 or less. There are some places that you can live in Atlanta that will allow you to bike, walk, or MARTA everywhere, but they are few! I agree that Midtown, Virginia Highlands (the Atlanta neighborhood, not the one in Fayetteville), and Decatur are the best places to think about moving if you would like to be close to Emory, would prefer not to own a car (maybe join Zipcar?), and want good schools.

Just a few things - Personally, I live in Washington Heights (172nd and Haven Ave). Me and my roommate share a 2-bed, 1-bath for $1850 a month ($925 each). I have been told it is large, and comparing it to other apartments in the city, it is a nice size. The Washington Heights/Inwood area (north of about 165th, near the Columbia University Medical Center) is one of the most affordable areas left in Manhattan, and it's pretty nice. I live near the George Washington Bridge, which is great for getting into New Jersey (my fiance lives in New Jersey) and there are lots of cool little shops and places to eat here. A friend of mine lives further north on 191st and she bought her studio, so she'll have a nice investment when she finishes. Columbia University is easily accessible from Washington Heights -- 1 to 116th. The A will get you to the NYU area (W 4th stop) in about 35-40 minutes. There's A stops at every couple blocks all the way up to 207th St, and the 1 goes all the way to 242nd in the Bronx. Other places in Brooklyn that I don't know much about, but I know some of my colleagues live there: Park Slope (a bit pricey but you can find good deals), Williamsburg (same), Sunset Park. If you have really good credit you can buy an apartment, even, and sell it later. Brooklyn, it seems, is doing a lot of redevelopment for buying. As for Queens - Astoria IS really nice and reasonaly priced, and if you are going to Columbia, it is great. It's right over the bridge. It's a little ride from NYU but if you live on the NRW you can take it to 8th St-NYU and be there in like 40 minutes to an hour depending on how far in Astoria you live. Another nice place is Kew Gardens, but it's far. I don't know anyone who lives in the Bronx, for what it's worth; me and my friend on 191st live the farthest north of anyone I know. My salary is $27,000/year (around $2100 a month) and it's pretty good. You can definitely live on it. I still manage to save about $200 a month and pay all of my rent and utilities/bills and have around $700 left afterwards. I travel to New Jersey a lot, get my hair done at the salon once a month, I like to shop for clothes and shoes, eat out, etc. I know people are like 'how could she possibly do all that on $2100 a month' but I'm just very frugal and I think a lot before I spend money...most of the time. Also, JSYK, the fee for the 30-day-unlimited metrocard is going up to $103 on May 1.

I'm currently at Columbia's MSPH. Unless they have offered you substantial funding or there are people here doing what you would really love to do in research, I would say that your choice is between Johns Hopkins and Harvard. (I've heard that socially these are not necessarily the best places to be, or the best places to be in the long-term, but I don't know the validity of these statements and both are highly-ranked schools so for a master's degree, it doesn't even matter.) I mean, the difference between Hopkins and Harvard are negligible -- Hopkins is 1 and Harvard is 2, and they have similar resources and facilities. One difference is location -- Harvard is in Boston and Hopkins is in Baltimore, which is closer to D.C. if you'd like to do any kind of government internships, but I would assume that both students get Washington jobs fairly easily. I think at this point it comes down to cost (anyone giving you any grants?) and fit (where do you feel more comfortable?) Columbia is a great school as well, don't get me wrong. I love it here, and I chose it over Hopkins (largely because of the location and the fact that I got into a Ph.D program here). I didn't even apply to Harvard because I didn't want to go there. But if you're getting a master's and your focus is on jobs after school, those places may be the best, even though Columbia's MSPH alumni network is rock solid.

SIPA is a very good school as well, and has a strong alumni network. A degree from there will not be as prestigious as Harvard's, but will certainly be notable and get you excellent positions. And as already mentioned, $130,000 in debt is a lot especially if you don't plan to make $200K+ to pay off that hefty monthly bill. Also, are you even sure that you can get that much in loans? Stafford loans cap out at $20,500 a year for graduate students, and assuming that $130,000 bill is evenly split between two years, that will leave you with an extra $44,500 to finance each year -- either through private loans (if you have the credit to do so, or a creditworthy cosigner) or whatever other means. Personally, I would head towards the money.

2 hours really isn't all that long to make once-weekly trips. I live in New York and my fiance lives in New Jersey -- I journey down by train to see him every weekend, and it takes about 2 hours to get there. They cannot force you to make an 'advanced' decision before April 15; so simply tell them that you are so sorry, but you have not heard word back from your funding source yet, and you need their decision before you can make a decision, so you won't be able to decide until at least April 13. They can still make an offer to someone else after April 13 and not screw anyone else out of money; but unfortunately, as much as we want to consider all other applicants during this process (and certainly should!), we must put ourselves first. Don't screw yourself out of anything that could be potentially good for you.

Oh, in my field we don't compete with each other, either. It's entirely collegial, and there's a lot of collaboration going on. Also, the DGS in both my departments told me straight up not to worry about classes -- they're the least important part of the package, now. We're not encouraged to compete with each other in any way, and we all study vastly different areas -- our department is interdisciplinary, so in my cohort there are two people studying sociomedical sciences and political science, two people studying SMS and anthropology, one person studying SMS and history, one DrPH student who is just studying SMS, and me -- SMS and psychology. It's not that...it's just the feeling that, well, everyone at your program is *better* than you and that you don't belong with these incredibly erudite, accomplished junior scholars. Like I said, it's wearing off as I begin to hold my own here and get really grounded in the research that I like to do, because it's becoming evident that I was well-prepared for this and belong here as much as anyone.

If you've never read it before, you probably don't have to worry about it, but to substantiate my claim: San Francisco State University, MSW program: "Please do not call to inquire about the status of your application." UC-Berkeley, Architecture: "Please note: We request that you do not call or email inquiring about your application status. If we are missing any of your application materials, we will email you." Stanford iCME: "We are unable to answer inquiries regarding the status of any application. We will contact you if your application is incomplete; be sure to keep your e-mail address updated. Please refer to the Application Deadlines for the approximate time when application decisions will be made." UCLA Biomedical Engineering: "Do not call the Department for the status of an application." (in reference to completion status) University of Maryland, Pharmacy: "Please do not call the admissions office to inquire about the status of your application." UIUC, Computer Science: "Please do not call or email the department or the Office of Admissions and Records. No information concerning an applicant's file or admissions decision can be given to telephone or email inquiries." University of Chicago, Humanities: "Please do not call the Admissions Office about the status of your materials during this busy period, as we will be unable to fulfill individual requests during this time." (This time refers to between December 1 and January 15.) Yale University Graduate school: "Please do not call regarding status of materials including the receipt of transcripts, letters of recommendation or test scores." Texas A&M Computer Science: "Please do not call or email asking the status of your application." ...a LOT of schools do this. It is usually listed on the school's admission website, so I urge you to double-check your school's admissions website/FAQ to ensure that you're allowed to call and check on the status of their application. A lot of schools do this for good reason. If you have 250 applicants to your program, would you want 250 people calling you (all between December 15 and late January, when you're supposed to be on vacation or at least trying to get some research done) to ask if you've received their transcripts, letters of recommendation, statements of purpose and other supplemental materials? The best you can do in these cases is double-check to make sure that your own institution sent the transcripts and that your letter-writers sent their recommendations. Some schools have online tracking systems, but for the other ones you more or less have to cross your fingers.

Haha, I like Minnesotan's advice about the undergrads. I'm closer in age to the upper-level undergrads at my university than I am to the majority of my doctoral cohort, but I feel the same way as tooyoungforgrad -- I'm 22, and came to this Ph.D program directly after undergraduate college. Sometimes I feel like I should've "enjoyed my youth," worked for a few years, traveled the world, etc. I have to sit down and, practically, tell myself 1) The only job that I really want to be doing is research. I couldn't do any meaningful research with a BA -- I'd just be a lab grunt -- so it made the most sense for me to enter graduate school directly after undergrad. 2) I AM enjoying my youth. I'm in an amazing program, I've made good friends here, I go out on the weekends, my fiance is nearby. 3) I probably wouldn't make much more money had I gotten a full-time job with just my BA -- the average salary for a BA in psychology is the same amount as my salary as a graduate research assistant, LOL! Besides, my doctoral cohort is fun and I also hang out with the master's students a lot, who are still graduate students but they tend to be younger. I just know that a lot of them will be graduating and moving on at the end of next year (spring 2010) but then a new cohort will come in...

YEP. Imposter syndrome starts early. I started feeling it right after I got accepted to Columbia -- I was convinced that the department had gotten my transcript confused with someone else's, or had misread something on my file, and that they were going to call me back and tell me no, we made a mistake. Of course that never happened and I'm here now, but it's continued into this semester. I felt even more intimidated when I first met my cohort -- they were all older than me and had lived abroad and completed master's degrees; I was the only one without a degree higher than a bachelor's. Once the semester got underway though the feeling began to fade. I feel more than capable of the work that I am given here, and I'm on par with my peers -- I don't feel behind them or like I know less, only that they've had more life experiences than me. I also found that we had all intimidated each other :mrgreen: After we got to know each other we started hanging out, and we're all friends now, and I feel like less of an imposter and more like I really belong here. I also got elected to the doctoral students' association executive board, which gives me a feeling of permanence.

This is late, I know, but for anyone who checks this forum later: it's totally possible to have a good life in New York on $5,000/month! Shima is coming with two people so it's a bit trickier, but in the less expensive parts of New York (Washington Heights, Inwood, Harlem, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx) you can find a nice two-bedroom apartment for $2,000 (or less -- me and my roommate pay $1,850 for ours and it's spacious by New York standards). My monthly stipend is a little over $2,100 a month; my rent + utilities usually come out to around $1,000/month, leaving me around $1,000 for food, other necessities, and fun. It's enough. Unless you like hanging out at bars every weekend and ordering $100+ drinks a night you can easily have fun and a good life out here. I know graduate students getting by on $20,000/year stipends (mine is around $25,000/year, for 12 months) and less. If you want to come here, it's possible, you just have to do some planning.

I went to college for four years in Atlanta without owning a car. It is doable, but it's very annoying. If you can afford to get a cheap clunker (nothing with payments, just something you can buy outright and that will not be expensive to maintain) I would do that, even if you live close to a MARTA station. I lived within walking distance of a MARTA station and had friends and family in the area who would pick me up from the station if I wanted to go home or go out and it was still a pain in the ass -- it took me 2 hours to get home, when my campus was about 20 minutes from my home.

I applied to be a graduate hall director at Barnard College this March. I had a year and a half of RA experience and a year on my residence hall association, plus some other experience, and I did two great interviews (feedback from the interviewers). I'm not sure what the competition was like, because I didn't get the position. Looking back, I should've applied to more RD positions (I should've applied to Columbia's! But I think by the time I thought about it, it was past the deadline), but then I thought that I might not want to be a GHD or anything -- I decided not to do it my senior year of college and I had SO MUCH MORE FREE TIME. Being a resident assistant is already very time consuming; being a resident director is even more so. Now I'm here, and I live in Washington Heights with a roommate, and although I sometimes miss the duties of being an RA (and the free rent -- I could save SO MUCH MONEY every month, pay off debts and some interest on my student loans, if I had the extra $925 every month that I'm shelling out in rent), I'm sort of glad I didn't get the position. I'm content with being swamped with work and being able to go out (whether go out means a bar or the library) whenever I want, rather than worrying about the duty days that I have.

It ranges all over the place in my field -- my package is a nice size. Tuition remission, most fees covered, health insurance, and $27,000 over 12 months (but it's counted as salary, so it's taxed. It comes out to about $25,000 after taxes, or a little over $2,100/month) and funding to go to at least one professional conference a year. But my funding is only for 3 years, so I have to find funding to write my dissertation. I go to a good program and I was only lured in my the fact that my advisors assured me they rarely have a student not finish because they can't find the funding for their last 2-3 years. I live in NYC, but that doesn't really have much to do with the size of the package. A nearby graduate school gives $18,000 a year (I don't remember whether that's over 9 or 12 months, though) and even in my school there's a lot of variability. I guess I should mention that my funding comes partially from the NIH, so that's why it's relatively high; a lot of the students on departmental or institutional funding have slightly lower amounts. But most of the graduate students at my school that I've spoken to make around $2,000 a month.

I'd like to add to the emphasis that deferment on loans from undergrad is NOT automatic. You have to contact your lender and inform them that you are in graduate school, and usually, they require some sort of proof like a transcript or a special letter from your new school's registrar's office. However, federal loans can most certainly be deferred during graduate school, and your subsidized loan will remain subsidized -- you don't accrue interest until you are out of school after the six-month grace period. Private loans all depend on the lender, but most private lenders will grant you a deferral if you are still in school. This website talks about loan consolidation: http://www.loanconsolidation.ed.gov/bor ... nsol.shtml Consolidation seems most helpful if you have loans from a lot of different lenders, each with a minimum, and you can't keep up with your monthly payments. The consolidation will combine them all together under one interest rate and lower your monthly payment to one base pay. However, consolidating your loans also extends your repayment period, which means you will pay more interest in the long run. You also can't consolidate loans that are in in-school status, which means you probably are not eligible to consolidate anyway. You also cannot consolidate federal and private loans together. If you're going to be in school it's not in your best interests to consolidate your loans. You can defer consolidated loans, if you qualify for "renewed deferment benefits," which basically means that a consolidation loan may restart the clock on your deferments. I think that while married persons' loans were once considered 'together,' they're not anymore. So just because your spouse is in school does not mean your loans will be deferred, and vice versa. My loans are deferred. I only had about $9,000 in Stafford loans from undergrad, all unsubsidized. They accrued interest while I am in school and are continuing to accrue interest now. I have some credit card debt that I need to attend to before I worry about that interest, so right now I think the re-capitalized principal on my loan balance is actually a little over $10,000. As soon as I start getting a chance, I will begin paying down that interest. I also had to borrow some money this year for graduate school (relocation expenses), which came out to $8,500. This loan is subsidized, though.

Be careful. Some graduate programs/departments/school specifically state that you should not call them to ensure that all your materials have been received.