Golden Monkey

As long as we're being useful, perhaps everyone doesn't know about the free office suite, Open Office: http://www.openoffice.org/ Or the free operating system, Ubuntu Linux (which comes with Open Office installed) http://www.ubuntu.com/

Well, I'm 43, so it's all relative!

These are two good places: http://www.newegg.com/Store/SubCategory.aspx?SubCategory=10&name=Desktop-PCs http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/Category/guidedSearch.asp?CatId=6#

Wondering if anyone else is thinking of doing this--deciding not to attend a PhD program this year so that you can try to line up funding ahead of time next year, then reapply? The thought of spending the next year (or longer) well below the poverty level is sounding scary, so I'm thinking of hitting the big "reset" button.

It all depends on what you're going to use it for. I'm in a technology-related field, with a lot of coding and graphics applications. Until recently, I used a PC desktop at home (a 6-core athlon system I built,) and a Macbook at school. My program is extremely mac-centric, and if you just use the same thing as everyone else, it just makes life easier. When I got home, though, I did a lot of heavy rendering on my Windows desktop machine, which was not only much faster than my macbook, but cost less than half as much.

Nope, I think your friend is right. Bring your netbook with you and then you'll have both.

I would agree with this. All other things being equal (particularly the financial end of it,) you start a master's and *poof* it's over. I think it's worth it to go for the big name. If there's a huge financial difference between the two, it's kinda different, IMO.

Oh geez, that doesn't sound good at all.

Bumping this for those of us who may (or may not be) Tempe bound this year.

Hm, at my age, the prospect of living with seven other grad students is... "Hey, it's gramps' turn to do the dishes!" But looking at the cost of living in the area (I've been on hotpads.com a lot,) I guess one idea (might be a bad one,) might be to buy a really, really, really cheap place, which could possibly lower my cost of living. I'd still have to pay utilities and tax, but no rent. One of the benefits of being old is that I have some money put away. I have a month to figure this out, so I guess I'll figure something out by then.

Thanks all for the responses. I did get a reply from the POI that the TA/RAship is generally renewed every year, even though they only specified the first year, so that answers that. And the cost of living is pretty low in the area (might as well divulge that it's in Arizona, which pretty much tells you which school it is too,) so the cost of living is probably pretty close to much of the Midwest. I have a phone conversation scheduled later this week where I can ask things like whether or not I'm allowed to take on additional work somewhere else, etc. I guess this is one of those very rare instances where being middle aged and single has its advantages. I have quite a bit of money put away from all the years of work, no dependents, and a lot of industry skills. For instance, if I could pick up part-time work doing CAD, that usually pays pretty nicely. Also, I'd look into the possibility of doing contract work for a former employer in L.A., since it's a 1-hour flight away. But hey, with no spouse and no kids, no dog even, if I make a horrible mistake, at least I'm not affecting anyone besides me.

Well hey, I got my official letter today, and now I'm even more confused. I finally understand the terms of the funding--it's just that I don't understand what people normally do in these situations. I have a tuition waiver, plus 20 hours a week of TA/RAship worth $13.5k a year, and there is health insurance, but the TA/RAship is only specified for the first year. Even in areas where the cost of living is low, which is true in this case, do people live on this kind of income, or am I missing something obvious? Do people typically get part-time jobs to supplement their incomes? Do they dip into savings or take out loans or something? While I'm thrilled I got the offer of funding, I'm wondering if maybe this isn't going to make any financial sense for me.

Yeah, for us older people, I think there are some factors that complicate matters that probably wouldn't be an issue at a younger age. In your case, it's family, which I don't have. But at my age, it's not so easy for me to throw all caution to the wind and not have a backup plan. I keep wondering things like, "if I don't finish, what then?" Or, "if the funding is inadequate or dries up completely, how am I going to make a living?" And at that point, things like the cost of living, job opportunities in the area, etc., start to come into play.

Thanks! I think you're right. In the (one in a million chance) that I got accepted at the prestige school, I really should visit, since they're close by.

I really don't think it would be even remotely braggy. It's partially due to them that you got in, so it will probably make them feel pretty good too.

I think I'd only start worrying in about 3 1/2 years.

I got a response today, which was that they don't know just yet. Heh, well the promise of "some" funding of an unknown amount for an unspecified amount of time is better than no funding, at least.

Thanks, this makes sense. I guess a lot of it depends on the field. Mine is not in the humanities; it's in technology. Also, being 15 years or so older than the typical PhD student is a factor. This is my first career change, but my academic field is actually pretty closely related to my professional field for the previous 15 years of my life. My professional life actually kind of led me back into school. All of my business contacts are back in L.A., and so I'm figuring that being geographically closer to my business contacts might be of some benefit. I've been doing my best to keep in contact with them out here on the East Coast, but I think being able to hop back and forth on a 1-hour flight would be really convenient, if for no other reason than to say, "hey, what are you working on? This is what I'm working on." Also, it's true about us old people and warm climates. East Coast winters are really not agreeing with me.

I don't think it's ever a bad idea. I've been doing a lot of reading on this (on networking and Linkedin in particular,) and the idea I get is that it's never bad to have a connection... unless the connection makes you look bad, which would definitely not be the case here.

I'm really puzzled over this whole thing too. I have been told I have an offer of a TA/RA, but I don't know how much it pays, or how long it lasts. I'm not sure if that means I'll have to go get a part-time job on the side or something.

How important is location for everyone? At my age, I'm not so much looking for "my next move," so much as I am, "the place I won't have to move from."

Ever thought that going to a less prestigious program might be a better fit for you, for various reasons? I only have 2 responses out of 4 so far (one rejection, one acceptance,) and in a lot of ways, the one acceptance is perhaps seeming like a really good fit for me. I am still waiting to hear from a ridiculously prestigious program (not very likely to get in,) but on the off chance I did, I'm now kind of wondering if it would be the best choice anyway. For one thing, a newer, less-established program seems like it might offer more career growth opportunities. It's also in a part of the country (The Southwest,) I could see settling in long-term, partly due to the cost of living. The more prestigious program (which I have not heard from, and very likely didn't get in anyway,) seems like it has the potential to swallow people in its enormity. I don't think many graduates end up with careers there. In addition, it's in one of the most expensive cities in the US (Boston,) and I can't see ever wanting to live in the area long-term. I also really hate winter.

I think the part that's the most daunting is the relocation. Not that I particularly love living here, but I'm kind of used to it by now, and moving is such a pain in the ass.

Yes, one way. You can get a monthly pass too.

Thank you! Funny thing: I'm willing to post my rejections on facebook, but hesitant to post my acceptances.