HopefulGrad2B

I got the Predoc!!!!! (And this time it's not an April Fools Day joke) Yay!! I'm a humanist. The e-mail didn't mention deadlines... I bet it'll be in the packet we get in the mail. But judging from what the alternates on here have said, alternates will be finding out in approximately a month, so we might have around that much time to make up our minds! Congrats to everyone else who won and, honestly, to EVERYONE for the hard work I know we all put into these applications, regardless of the outcomes. Best of luck to all with your studies!

I haven't heard back yet... No news is good news, right?!?!

You're welcome! And I know you didn't ask for it, but here's yet another bit of potentially helpful info. My dream program at School A got back to me with more info on their funding policy with the Ford in particular: Just to clear something up, School A's program (which is an Ivy) is offering 5 guaranteed years of generous funding (years 1-4 and the completion year, which in most cases is year 6... since year 5 is unfunded, that's when students try to benefit from outside awards or teach classes... etc.). This is a very specific example but as far as the Ford Fellowship goes, it's probably a reasonably reliable model for other schools' policies regarding the Ford. Again, you should definitely look into your specific fellowships, departments and universities. I hope this was helpful, too!

I also wondered this and asked the schools I got into. Here are their responses. N.B. Two of these schools are Ivies and the third is a prestigious public/non-Ivy... so these may not be the most typical examples. School A: "Since financial support is the shared responsibility of the Graduate School, the department and the student, you will be encouraged to apply for appropriate University and outside fellowships throughout your enrollment. All students who receive funds from an outside source are required to accept the award in place of the above [school name] award. Students will be eligible for a prize of up to $4,000 for each academic year of external funding. Outside awards with a 12 month tenure ordinarily substitute for the 10 month academic year stipend and the summer research award..." School B: "PhD students with an external fellowship of $15000 or more have a choice between: 1. taking the outside fellowship and deferring a year of GSAS funding for a later year (as long as it is before the student's 8th year of study) OR 2. taking the outside fellowship, and taking the "top off." This would give the student the difference in stipend up to the top off rate ($30,000 for 2011-12). For example, if the outside award is $20,000, the student would take the $20,000 from the external fellowship, and GSAS would give her/him $10,000 in stipend. This choice substitutes for a year of GSAS funding. In both cases, a student's tuition and basic health fees would be covered, unless it is covered by the external award. And a student on an outside award is not obliged to teach." School C: "Depending on the fellowship, the application of external funding blended with your university multi-year fellowship differs somewhat but is very possible. For example, a Javits recipient must accept the fellowship for her/his first four years. The [university-specific fellowship] has a four year commitment, consequently some students receive departmental funding in the form of teaching or stipend depending on their progress in their fifth years. If a student is on normative time for [specific department] they may also draw on the [university-specific completion fellowship]. There are also dissertation year fellowships that one may apply for off campus, depending on one's interests. A different situation exists for the Ford Fellowship, as another example. Ford requires the recipient to use her/his fellowship in the first year with the possibility of either drawing on the fellowship for the final two years or deferring the second two years for as long as two years. During this time a fellow may draw on either her/his [university-specific fellowship] or departmental support, depending on the initial agreement between the student and the department. In both cases, the University fellowship is blended with external fellowships." Obviously this varies widely depending on the fellowships, departments and universities in question. In general, schools seem to prefer that their funding be entirely (or mostly) replaced by the outside award so that they can put that money towards financing another student's expenses (i.e. a student without external funding). In my case, I like the incentive School A is offering me (and this is the school I will most likely attend; I'm just waiting to see how my external fellowship results play out). I suggest that you contact your specific departments and the relevant financial aid offices to find out how things would work in your particular case. I hope my post is helpful!

Thanks for your input, ibluz. I'm a minority myself. I was born in Latin America and I bet we have the same first language. However, I grew up in the U.S. and I studied really, really hard for the GRE Verbal section. Luckily it paid off! It's interesting that you think they only use our scores to gauge our likelihood of getting into grad school. If that's the case, then *whew* huge sigh of relief! Since GRE scores are optional, and people have won without submitting theirs, I'd have to agree with ibluz that they're not a very important component of the application. What does everyone else think?

C'mon guys, I thought I had redeemed myself by calling today!! I'm sure everyone's GRE Math scores are phenomenal compared to mine (then again, I'm a humanities person), but I'd really like to know your opinions. I didn't mean to turn this into a chances thread. I already applied, so I'm just curious if there's an approximate combined score everyone thinks might be competitive enough (in addition to the more subjective parts of the application). I know there are around 10 of us on this page right now (and at any given moment, for that matter)... so someone please reply?

Mine says the same, as well. I submitted my GRE scores (even though they were optional) and it says that they were received, but on the left side it says "Consolidated GRE Report file" in boldface but not in the same brown color as the other headings (e.g. Transcripts). Does anyone else who submitted scores have something similar? It's clearly not something worth worrying about; as someone mentioned earlier, it's just last-minute jitters. Incidentally, what do we all consider would be a competitive combined GRE score for a humanities predoctoral applicant? I know some people didn't submit scores and they won't be penalized, but does anyone think a combined 1320 is too low to compete? [720V (98th percentile), 600M (some embarrassingly low percentile)] I hope I didn't mess up my chances by submitting my scores. I got into Ivies and other top-rated programs in my field, notably the program I mentioned on my application, so my scores were good enough for top grad schools... but how about for the Ford? Thanks!

You're welcome! And just to clear something up, all of the numbers I mentioned were for the predoctoral award (i.e. 1000 --> 800 --> 60). If someone wants to call and ask about the other awards, just know that the lady who answered my call was extremely friendly!!

Hey! I hope I can redeem myself for starting the April Fools nonesense. So I called and they said that the decisions would be sent out this week, as we already knew. I asked whether they'd all be sent out at once or not and they said that they didn't know the order, but that they would most likely go out on different days this week. Finally, I wanted to confirm the numbers. It's actually different than what it says on the website!! It turns out that our chances are ever so slightly better! They received 1000 apps of which 800 made it to evaluation and there will be 60 predoctoral awards this year (not 40 like it says on their website)!! So our chances just went up from 5% to 7.5%!! lol Good luck everyone!!!

Hey everyone! Good news! String together all of the capital letters in my earlier post (It should make 3 separate words)... I couldn't help myself. I meant to clarify things at around midnight my time but I got a little caught up with work and forgot to stop by here again. I'm so sorry for worrying you all. I have a feeling that the subsequent posters caught on to the nature of my post and were playing along. For what it's worth the other posters freaked me out!! I hope that makes us even and that you realize it was all in good fun. (If you give me a bunch of -1s, I'll understand, but I hope your sense of humor will trump your indignation!!) I'm sincerely sorry and I wish all of us good luck as we wait to hear back next week!!!

i found out todAy!! i got the PRedoctoral fellowshIp!!! i am eLated beyond belieF!!!!! whO else heard back? gOod Luck to all! yeSs!!!! (please iGnOre The Caps, tHere's A problem with my keyboard).

Thanks michpc, this is very reassuring!! Good to know. I really appreciate your advice!

Hey all. I have another question, if I may. From looking back through past year's Ford threads, it looks like some students found out a bit sooner than others. Apparently it seems like they were able to request this earlier notification. Was this an option somehow on the application itself? I can't seem to remember it at all if it was one. How would one go about procuring such early notification, if it does indeed exist? I would personally feel better making my final decision about grad school after hearing back about the Ford... They're notorious for informing people very darn close to April 15th though... I was accepted into my dream program though and with very generous funding, so I should probably just appreciate that, right? However, I'm currently negotiating funding with another program that I love a lot... And if I got the Ford, that could potentially change a lot for me... Any advice? Thanks again everyone and good luck!

Hey everyone! I have a question about summer apartment leases in Cambridge/Boston. My dept. at Harvard is subsidizing a few incoming students interested in taking a Harvard Summer School course this summer. This possibility appeals to me a lot. It starts in late-June. When would I need to sign a lease by to secure an apartment from like mid (or even early) June? I would then want to live there during the school year but just until the following summer. (I would then use my summer grant money to do some research abroad) Thanks a lot in advance!

Hey everyone! I have a question about summer apartment leases in Cambridge/Boston. My dept. at Harvard is subsidizing a few incoming students interested in taking a Harvard Summer School course this summer. This possibility appeals to me a lot. It starts in late-June. When would I need to sign a lease by to secure an apartment from like mid (or even early) June? I would then want to live there during the school year but just until the following summer. (I would then use my summer grant money to do some research abroad) Thanks a lot in advance!

Sausundbraus and adaptations: thank you both so much for your advice! I'm sorry I didn't thank you sooner. I haven't checked this site as actively as I used to a few months ago. Thanks a million! I'll definitely look into your suggestions. Here's another question for everyone. My dept. at Harvard is subsidizing a few incoming students interested in taking a Harvard Summer School course this summer. This possibility appeals to me a lot. It starts in late-June. When would I need to sign a lease by to secure an apartment from like mid (or even early) June? I would then want to live there during the school year but just until the following summer. (I would then use my summer grant money to do some research abroad) Thanks a lot in advance!

Hey everyone! This is probably a dumb question, but do we have to notify the Ford Foundation whether we got into the school we put down on our applications (i.e. where we would ideally use the fellowship)? I was accepted (yay!) and I've known for a little over a month now but this random thought just occurred to me. My guess is that we probably don't... Do they have ways of finding out for themselves? Or do they perhaps make their decisions regardless? (i.e. as long as you get into a program where you can do work that's comparable to what you wrote about in your application?) Is anyone else dying of impatience? Yeah? Just checking! Good luck everyone!

Hey m41. Between a few responses I've received and my own research, I've come to a few conclusions. On-campus housing, as I suspected, is not an option if one's partner isn't also a registered Harvard student. The only options are off-campus housing either through Harvard Real Estate (i.e. "Harvard-affiliated" housing) or in the private market, i.e. via craisglist, through realtors, etc. Prices in Cambridge are on the high end, but looking into roommates seems like a good solution or even living outside of Cambridge but within commuting distance via the T. I'm personally a fan of the Harvard-affiliated housing, despite the seemingly higher cost. Some benefits seem to include no hidden fees (i.e. not having to pay a finder's fee equal to a whole month's rent, not having to pay the last month's rent), utilities are included, some options are furnished, proximity to campus (walking distance)... So the prices seem higher but if you take into account all of the benefits and the fact that there are no hidden fees (and likewise, if you add all of the above-mentioned fees to the seemingly lower prices you find on craigslist, etc.), Harvard-affiliated housing really seems like the better alternative. Sharing that with a roommate or roommates to lower the cost might make it a more attractive option. I hope that's helpful! For those of you who are LGBTQ, Harvard seems very inclusive and friendly, by the way. Here's another question I have for everyone in general. Is my stipend: 24k/10mo. and 5k/summer decent for Cambridge? (Actually the summer money is meant for research abroad, so I'd only be living in Cambridge for ~10 months/year). I'm starting to wonder whether I should consider negotiating this... Is it even negotiable... i.e. in cases where other universities are offering me more enticing packages? Thanks in advance!

Thanks for these great suggestions!! I'll definitely contact the LGBTQ group. If I find out anything helpful, I'll be sure to post it here for the benefit of future students with similar questions. I love how we all help each other on this site! Thanks again for the helpful input!

Thank you so much for the suggestions!! I'll definitely look into those areas! So does my stipend sound reasonable for living in or around Cambridge? I have the impression that the cost of living is extremely high over there... which worries me, despite the generous stipend! I came across an organization called Harvard Students' Spouses and Partners: http://www.hsspa.harvard.edu/ That looks promising!! That certainly reassures me about Harvard's LGBTQ-friendliness. Does anyone have other suggestions for where to look for an apartment in light of my stipend? I'm thinking that I would like to live within walking distance or somewhere with access to the Red line. I'll talk to my partner to see how we would feel about maybe looking for roommates to make it more affordable in case the stipend's not enough. I'd appreciate any more advice. Thanks again! I'm so excited about Harvard!!

Hey everyone! I tried posting this on the City Guide thread but the Cambridge/Boston sub-thread doesn't seem very active right now. I'd really appreciate your advice about Harvard's LGBTQ-friendliness, especially with regard to housing. Thanks so much in advance! So I've recently been admitted to Harvard GSAS and I'm seriously considering attending! However, I have some questions about living arrangements. I would be living with my partner, who will not be a registered Harvard grad student. I take it that means on-campus housing is completely out of the picture... is that right? If so, then would I be missing out on the first year grad experience? I have the impression that a lot of first year grad students live on campus, have a meal plan and have social lives that revolve significantly around Dudley House, etc. Would living off campus lessen any of that for me? (I wouldn't want to have a meal plan if it meant having to ditch my partner at mealtimes...) If on-campus housing isn't an option for me, then should I consider finding off-campus housing through the Housing office? How have couples, married or partnered, navigated this process before? My stipend is ~24k for 10 months and ~5k summer research and travel funding. But I don't know Cambridge so I have no clue which areas off-campus would be reasonable considering my stipend. My partner will be flying in from abroad with some money saved up and would consider working in the area. Neither of us has a particularly extravagant lifestyle. We would definitely be somewhat frugal and realistic... I just have no clue in which areas to start looking... Finally, if I choose Harvard, when should I start looking for housing? I'd like to be moved in by mid-August; just in time for Orientation and right before the start of classes... I'd appreciate any and all advice!! Thank you so much!

Hey everyone! I really appreciate everyone's helpful posts on this thread! There's a wealth of great advice here! So I've recently been admitted to Harvard GSAS and I'm seriously considering attending! However, I have some questions about living arrangements. I would be living with my partner, who will not be a registered Harvard grad student. I take it that means on-campus housing is completely out of the picture... is that right? If so, then would I be missing out on the first year grad experience? I have the impression that a lot of first year grad students live on campus, have a meal plan and have social lives that revolve significantly around Dudley House, etc. Would living off campus lessen any of that for me? (I wouldn't want to have a meal plan if it meant having to ditch my partner at mealtimes...) If on-campus housing isn't an option for me, then should I consider finding off-campus housing through the Housing office? How have couples, married or partnered, navigated this process before? My stipend is ~24k for 10 months and ~5k summer research and travel funding. But I don't know Cambridge so I have no clue which areas off-campus would be reasonable considering my stipend. My partner will be flying in from abroad with some money saved up and would consider working in the area. Neither of us has a particularly extravagant lifestyle. We would definitely be somewhat frugal and realistic... I just have no clue in which areas to start looking... Finally, if I choose Harvard, when should I start looking for housing? I'd like to be moved in by mid-August; just in time for Orientation and right before the start of classes... I'd appreciate any and all advice!! Thank you so much!

Hey, this sounds great! How I wish this had already existed as I was choosing programs... I'll pass this along to friends of mine who would surely be interested in applying. Thanks for posting this!

Yikes!! I'm applying to 6 schools and my total cost in application fees would be more or less $500 but I'm getting fee waivers for mine, thankfully! My fee waiver request has been approved by both Yale and Princeton so far. I'm pretty sure the rest will work out, too. Here's hoping! For everyone else, I hope that these crazy application costs will be offset by sweet acceptances and funding packages! Good luck to everyone!

Hey! I know how you feel! However, in my case, I'm submitting 20 pages from a 100 page thesis. I'm indicating the cuts a bit more subtly, with ellipses. I'm explaining in a brief note before the writing sample that it's an excerpt but that I've done my best to ensure that the crux of my argument (for the particular parts I've chosen) is still as cohesively presented as possible. They may ask to see the longer sample but I'm really not sure. It will likely depend on the volume of applications they receive and on whether the readers of our samples would be interested enough in reading more of it. Maybe in a borderline scenario or in addition to an interview they might ask for the rest of the sample. These are all speculations... But you're not alone! I imagine lots of people cut down and rework their samples to fit the requirements. I'm sure adcomms understand that.