Rutabaga

Thanks! Yeah that might not be a bad idea to do it before I leave then. Paying rent/mortgage in two places would be hard, but honestly I would have to do that even if I was renting though... I can see your point about houses in that sense! And there are definitely some nice looking houses for cheap as well. A house just seems like... so much more responsibility! Plus higher utilities and what not.

People seem really down on condos in this thread and the other! This isn't the sense I've gotten at all from people who actually own condos. Also if you get a proper assessment of the condo (and building) and read your contract fine print your chances of being slammed with a big fee in the near future are pretty slim. I would much rather worry about that than things like painting, yards, termites, and various other house issues. I am definitely concerned about the mortgage qualifications though. I have a good paying job right now that I would leave for my PhD, but would it be possible to apply for a loan before I quit? I wonder how they calculate these things!

home early and nothing from JHU in the mail

I think I would assume I would get to keep my tuition waiver even if I lose my stipend but that could way off. However, even if you do have to pay tuition it would be a lot less than otherwise since you generally just need to take the minimum to stay matriculated. So it would be like 1-3 credits, plus hopefully you would be in state by then (if at a state school).

I still have no status on my JHU application. I have a feeling this week should yield some news one way or another though!

Pro: They have a lot of good electives, especially if you want to do health, gender issues, international affairs, budgeting, or urban issues. Career center very on top of things. Excellent alumni network and internship placements. Very flexible schedule. Going part time not an issue at all. If you want to do quant you can, they offer all the classes. The requirements for quant might be more intensive at Gtown though. A lot of well known faculty members. Con: yes, expensive. must look at idiotic undergrads wearing Uggs when you walk around on campus (but the undergrads suck at all the DC schools)

Love it! Don't have cable so I'm gonna netflix season 2 eventually.

Wow, someone got 30k for USC! I'm applying to the wrong schools! lol

I have everything going to my current school email, so a bunch of random events I have no intention of going to, emails re: group projects, and a few list serves I'm on. Nothing I look forwards to reading...

Do you think there is some amount of latitude in how you do spend the money for the visit? I am thinking I will drive and spend the money on a hotel close to campus instead. I already booked a room on price like and it was almost $300 for two nights with taxes and everything. I had $400 for the visit. Is this bad form? I mean, I need somewhere to stay when I'm there!

I agree with the above assessment. I just want to add one con: Location within DC is pretty inconvenient. It's not really metro accessible because that part of town is too snobby to have wanted the rabble to be able to get to it easily. pro: part of the consortium of DC schools. So you could also take a class at GW, AU, or UMD if desired.

Aw, I'm sure you'll hear something good still! It's just bad luck that the first one you heard from was a rejection. Hopefully we'll have some more schools on the board tomorrow!

Because we have a basic social contract and in return for giving up certain things I expect my government to try its best to establish a level playing field and care for those who are unlucky in health and business. Who else is going to do it? The church? No thanks. Charities? Again, not ideal because the funding base is much too small and there is no legal mandate for the provision of services. I can see the anarchist argument for doing these things in small collectives instead, but I really don't think that's a feasible alternative in the US.

It does look like someone was accepted on the 19th of Feb last year via email. So maybe? Does anyone have a sense of where they are going so far based on what they have heard? UNC is looking more and more appealing to me (and not just cause I'm waiting for everyone else!)

If only I could my PhD in attending to the needs of cats instead of this policy business! Is it too late to apply to Cat U? I know I'd be good at it!

Without a doubt. Causality here is a little unclear! Perhaps more of a feedback loop really!

I would probably say because most people in the social sciences and humanities spend more time working with social issues and the human condition, perhaps making them more apt to support measures that try care for the disadvantaged in society. Scientists are just in for the money :wink:

Oh no! Did you look onto the status page and see something? Nothing on mine still for policy.

haha, you would say that since you're in the "hard" sciences!

In regards to consulting forms going to a top private school will be a BIG help. A lot of these firms (like LMI) partner with certain schools (Harvard, GWU, etc.) for fellowship programs and summer internships for students/new graduates. In terms of earnings potential I can't really say, but I know starting salaries are at least two times as high as what you'll see with a nonprofit or working on the hill. However, keep in mind that if you do get into federal government agencies the GSA schedule becomes pretty generous once you reach the higher levels.

I am admittedly a bit clueless about the whole funding process, but I keep seeing summer funding mentioned. I was sort of working under the assumption that I would just have to make the 20K (or whatever I get) last the entire year. Do people sometimes get additional funds on top of that amount? Is this associated with an RAship usually, or can this also be being a TA for a summer class or something? Obviously more money is better than less money, but I just wondered if someone could give me the basics of summer funding and what funding cycle looks like? (I mean I assumed you'd have insurance all year, do some schools really not cover you over the summer?)

I knew I should have mentioned my cat in my SOP!

Waiting for JHU GWU (public policy) Harvard

Is anyone else really temped to buy a condo for wherever they end up for grad school? I mean, I figure I'll be there 4 or 5 years, the market is in a good position to buy, and you can pretty much always rent stuff out near campus. Plus I'm moving someplace so much cheaper than I am now! I can get a condo for like 150k! But... something tells me it's not quite this easy. I mean.. condo fees, and appliances, and my fear of doing really poorly in school or something! Is anyone else pondering these things? It's just so tempting! Anyone who actually owns a condo have any advice?

I applied to PhD policy programs at GWU and American. I also applied to some health policy programs, that are structured differently since they are house in the dept of public health. So far I'm in at one of my health policy programs which I'm really happy about! So we'll see what I end up doing.