communications13

Almost sounds like a weird sort of fortune cookie.

I have three referees who have been exceptionally good to me, and who I have pestered like crazy without the slightest suggestion from any of them that I was being a brat. One of my professors was even on sabbatical and frequently out of the city - if not the country - when my references were due. She would come into the city to personally drop them off for me, which I think was completely beyond the call of duty. I think very highly of all of them and I know that the inverse is also true. I have also started receiving successful responses because of their efforts, so I would like to thank them accordingly. I have been very gracious in my emails already, but I would like to send them cards also.

What I don't really know though, is when I am supposed to send these cards - now? I might be asking for another reference in a few weeks, should I wait until then? Do I send a card after each batch? I don't want them to seem like tokens, either. Additionally, I suspect that I am going to be deferring some admissions this year and probably bugging my referees all over again next year, so I don't them to think that I don't appreciate how much of an inconvenience this all is for them.

Finally, is it appropriate to make additional gestures? I would love, for example, to buy each of them a box of chocolates or a bottle of wine or something like that to demonstrate my appreciation, but I'm really not sure if this is considered appropriate. I don't feel like a simple thank you card is enough.

I lose papers too easily, so I try to be fully computerized. I use a little passport drive so I can carry it anywhere and easily share info with others.

I tend to organize in folders: by project; division of the product; then file name by date and a keyword if needed.

If for some reason it can't go on the computer, it goes in a hanging file, organized by: hanging file of one color for each project with regular folders of the same color for each division of the project; followed by post-it tabs of the same color with date/source keyword info.

Why do people do this? It isn't going to give you a leg up on your competition to remind a POI to look at your resume and credentials. They are swamped, and I can imagine even in semi-productive labs, would rather be doing other things with their time than looking at all of our CVs and SOPs.

I wouldn't email anymore professors.

Also, from an admissions perspective, the professor may not be able to say much: if the professor seems interested, it could be misconstrued as an "in"--and it would be in writing. This could be problematic for the school if you opted to press the issue after a positive response. I view it like a celebrity saying "No comment." It doesn't necessarily mean it's bad. It's completely neutral.

Boulder, CO!

I've lived in Boulder for over 2 years car-free. Boulder is ranked as one of the best bike-friendly cities, which I think is fairly accurate. There are plenty of bike lanes and bike paths, and most drivers are accomodating at sharing the road. It's okay to bike on sidewalks here too. Bike safe with a helmet, a bike light at night, and use hand signals and you're pretty much set. There is some animosity between motorists and bicyclists, but most if it is directed at reckless bikers (namely CU students who don't use hand signals, don't wear helmets, bike too fast, and weave in and out of pedestrians and traffic) and the 'spandex wearing elite bikers', who get mocked regularly in some circles and are accused of hogging the road. I think you'll have that anywhere though. A lot of students in Boulder are out-of-state, and I would say that students pose the greatest risk to cyclists as they are much less aware about how to share the road. There are lots of resources about biking in Boulder if you search the web. Overall, it's worked great for me - I've only been hit by a car while biking once!

The bus system is great for the most part and a bus pass (usable throughout Boulder/Denver on any Boulder local or RTD route) is included in my student fees. If you're considering the Boulder/Denver area, check out RTD-denver.com for info on bus and lightrail routes. The buses are fairly reliable and can get you reasonably close to anything you might need. If you're living downtown, there's bound to be lots in walking distance, and it's a nice city, so there's ample motivation to walk.

I can't speak so much for Denver, but I do know the Denver bus system is extensive and they are putting in more lightrail to be completed soon. I've only used the lightrail system in Denver a few times, but I found it to be not bad if you don't use it at peak hours going through DU's campus. You can also take your bus on the lightrail.

There is also a great local (Boulder/Denver) carshare called Ego CarShare that has a one-time $25 application fee and then has 2 plans - a $10 a month with lower usage charges and a free monthly plan with charges that are $2/hr more. The mileage fees are reasonable seeing as it covers gas/insurance/maintenance. Best of all, they don't charge an hourly rate between 11pm and 6am.

The Boulder/Denver area prides itself on being eco-friendly, so there is lots of initiative to get people out of cars and onto bikes or public transport. Twice a year there is a free "Bike-to-Work Day" event that serves up tasty free breakfast to bicycle commuters at locations all over Boulder. Nothing makes the trip to work nicer than snagging a fresh bagel or some fruit and granola bars on the way! If anyone has specific questions about getting around Boulder or the surrounding area, feel free to shoot me a message!

I live in Florida and it would be very difficult in Fl, Alabama, Georgia, Missississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee, Arkansas, without a car. I also lived in Los Angeles for a while and it would be incredibly difficult to live there without a car.


I did my undergrad in Chicago w/o a car and LOVED it. UChicago and UIC both have train stops close to campus. NYC obviously has great transportation but cost of living probably cancels out that advantage. Portland Oregon has good public transit that goes straight to most of thier universities. I've also heard very good things about Boston, Washington DC, Philidelphia, and St. Louis.

As for the south, Charlotte NC and maybe Atlanta, GA are the only places I can think of that has reliable public transit but it is limited.

To respond for other places in the mid west....it depends on what you are looking for. There is something called mega bus where you can get from city to city cheaply. Say you went to UIllinois in Champange/Urbana which has transit on campus but not as much around town, you would be able to visit Chicago for cheap, so if you're able to live close to campus in Madison, or Milwalkee or Indianapolis etc, there are ways to get to more excitement easily.

The economy has also caused massive cuts across the country in transit. Buses and trains are more expensive, more crowded with less service.

As a Grad student, not having a car is probably going to limit you to schools that are in larger cities, however, most major universities in 'college towns' do have solid transportation on and immediately around campus, the problem really arises when you need to get away from campus, particularly away from the undergrad crowd.

They think you're a stellar candidate but they want to meet you in person before they give the final stamp of approval.

My two cents.

Hello,
I just graduated from UCF with a Bachelor's. I was going to say that the sprawl was awful but if you are from most places in Florida than you already know! Around UCF is sort of like a separate community than the rest of Orlando. Downtown is about 20 minutes away and actually has some cool neighborhoods/restaurants, but it's a little far to drive everyday. I live about 4 miles from campus in River Park Apartments and am pretty happy, but there are a ton of apartments everywhere. You could also live in the Oviedo area close to campus where I think a lot of faculty live.

Let me know if you have any questions!

Your cGPA is fine for going directly to a PhD.

What subfields are you interested in? What sort of career might you want after getting your degree? It's hard to help you narrow your list when we don't know what your interests are.

Most of us also don't know much about most of these departments. I suggest that you go to the department websites and see which departments have labs related to your interests. You can also use the website phds.org to create your own customized rankings, and to find data like job placement rates.

I think your credentials are competitive for most if not all of these. Which doesn't mean that I think you are guaranteed to get in, just that they're not going to look at your application and decide that you're obviously unqualified after a first glance.

I remember reading in the NYT about the grad inflation that takes place at IVY/Private universities. So this idea that state schools are subpar is ridiculous. From what I see it seems our generation is becoming a generation of professional students. Buy now pay later is the motto of most students and it is quite worrisome. I am all about education, but one must also be realistic when deciding what school to go to. The average debt for a bachelors is 25K and the average for Masters is 30K for a total of 55k (average). Becoming an in state resident seems like a great idea. Most state school on the east coast provides special tuition rates to fellow New Englanders. ( I live on the east coast)

Congratulations! As I understand it, the department will contact you about funding (did the letter say they would contact you at a later date?), but you are free to ask. I think its perfectly fine for you to contact your advisor and introduce yourself (if you haven't been in contact before) and also to contact the department and ask if and when there is a visit weekend - perhaps they'll send you an email soon with information about that. If there isn't a visit weekend, you should arrange a visit if you can, to help you decide if you want to attend that school. Congrats again and all the best with your decision!

I'd suggst don't pay a deposit or accept any offers until you're ready to. When a school sends you an acceptance letter, it is not as if you must imediately anwser; depts expect you to wait on other offers and would rather you are sure in your decision than back out I think it is pretty universally accepted that you have until April 15th to make a decision (someone correct me if I'm wrong) and if you are unsure ask the school when they need an anwser by. So visit schools, talk to professors, see how much finaid you have and don't make the commitment until it is one you can stick to. Remember that the academic world is small and if you back out of your commitment, word will get around to other schools.

I'd suggst don't pay a deposit or accept any offers until you're ready to. When a school sends you an acceptance letter, it is not as if you must imediately anwser; depts expect you to wait on other offers and would rather you are sure in your decision than back out I think it is pretty universally accepted that you have until April 15th to make a decision (someone correct me if I'm wrong) and if you are unsure ask the school when they need an anwser by. So visit schools, talk to professors, see how much finaid you have and don't make the commitment until it is one you can stick to. Remember that the academic world is small and if you back out of your commitment, word will get around to other schools.