plisar

Be careful, no matter what, United States tax code says any income spent on tuition, fees, books, etc is FULLY taken off of your taxes. Even if it is subtracted initially, I guarantee you an accountant would claim it and get you a refund. I work in graduate financial aid, and have confirmed this with our head accountant. He said this will not change from state-to-state or school-to-school. Plisar

Totally wrong. Our senior accountant at my school has said the direct opposite of this.

Congrats westcoast!!! So so far Michigan has admitted one IR (email) and one American (postal). Interesting! Congrats westcoast and jim!!!

What field are you in?

Eeek, who is making tuition remissions taxable? I thought that was always considered non-taxable.

The economy is AWFUL. Unfortunately, this is vastly affecting graduate programs, especially at private institutions, but it's clearly hurting public institutions as well. Harvard Soc was considering not admitting anyone this year. This is definitely the worst year in years for graduate school admissions. It is ROUGH.

Someone in the department told me. I have no stake in the decisions there, but you're absolutely correct, that was brutal.

Duke?

Chicago only admitted six people this year. You needed luck to get in.

HIGHLY unlikely, I'm afraid, as much as I would like to hear back from them as well. As has been stated before, Michigan is extraordinarily behind with their decision making process. I'd be surprised if we hear back this week, and to-be-honest, if everything I've heard on this issue is correct--next week may be a stretch as well.

I really don't think that anyone can do either. There seems to be few sources out of Northwestern, but given that their visit is likely within two weeks, it seems EXTREMELY late for this program to still be making decisions.

As my advisor says constantly: a reject isn't a reject until the letter is in your hand. Until then, you are allowed to have some hope!

Duke is fabulous! Even if you don't have a choice, a good choice will be made for you! However, I wouldn't lose hope on your remaining schools just yet.

Confirmed, I have heard the same thing. I was simply asked not to repeat it, but I don't see any harm at this point.

These two will probably be early-to-mid-March. Unfortunately, Georgetown and GW are notoriously bad with funding--very few Ph.D. students are admitted with funding and I'm not aware if that situation improves once a student matriculates.

This is absolutely true (I have confirmed that number with two different sources), but I think the person you were speaking with is downplaying the significance of the funding issue...

I hate to say it, but I have a bad feeling about NWU, for those of us who are still waiting. I can't imagine, given their visit dates, that they can really afford to wait to make decisions much longer.

They admitted, I would imagine, less than 90% of what they admitted the year before. Unfortunately, I cannot go into more specifics. Let me put it this way, you are absolutely right, it is an outlier -- but it is the reality.

UNC Update everyone, and I believe this to be fairly credible: UNC has admitted a number of students already and will send out rejections at some point this week or next. If you do not receive a rejection, it is likely you will be on an internal waiting list. In other words, it's not out, but I wouldn't count on it either.

I find it a little strange that they can't even hire at a 50% rate. 16.4 hours a week? Very underwhelming, especially for a school I would love to go to...

Wisconsin package came in. 41% TA /PA = 10.5K for 9 months... Wow.

Michigan's visit is the 13-15. There is no way to prove this, but it isn't a rumor -- it is set. As far as where they are in the process, they should be done, but it is doubtful that they actually are. With their spring break occurring next week, you'd imagine that they need to make some decisions by Friday or there will end up having trouble getting people to their visit weekend which is only three weeks away at this point.

I don't think "oh calm down" is a necessary thing to say. She's perfectly within her right to react however she'd like...

Comparative politics.

Next week.