Leahlearns

Okay, I just found an ad for an apartment at half that price...good development.

Thanks! I will definitely look into Greenwood.

Maybe the OP has already dealt with the problem, but if you haven't is there a Dean of International Students who you could talk to?

I'll be in Seattle. From the ads I've looked at, it looks like you can get from various sections of the city to the university by bus fairly readily. If I was able to save a lot of money on housing (by living farther away from campus) I would consider driving out there. Otherwise, I don't plan to bring/have a car.

So I will be going to school in a pricey city. I don't know what sort of stipend I will receive yet, but I will be attending a master's program. However, I've been advised that I should start tackling the housing question ASAP. It seems like I could get a studio apartment (1 bedroom) for just under $700/month. That's the cheapest I see. I would really rather not share (a two bedroom) with a stranger although I know people do it all the time. The $700 would include water, but nothing else. Is it ridiculous to hope for a stipend that would allow me to do that? I just have no idea what people generally pay for housing in cities...Oh and we're talking about unfurnished.

So I was only accepted at one school. I submitted my FAFSA before their deadline. I am still impatiently awaiting financial aid info. However, a friend of mine who is already in grad school (although at a different school and in a different field) told me that the earlier you submitted your FAFSA the more likely you are to receive funding. Now I did not see this information anywhere. However, I could have overlooked it. I was filling out one or two other forms *rolls eyes.* It seems to me if what she said is true I've been a bit misled. (Although there is no point being bitter now-- what will be, will be.) Still, all the school website said was that they strongly recommended submitting your FAFSA before the priority deadline. I did that. But, I turned it in the week of the priority deadline. Is this likely to hurt me?

Thanks everyone. As an undergrad, even though I was at a small school, I didn't feel as though the advising was all that great. (I switched advisers midway through because I wasn't satisfied and still wasn't particularly impressed.) I was responsible enough to figure out what I needed to do to meet graduation requirements, etc. on my own. However, there are some things that given that I was considering grad school from fairly early on I wish my adviser had urged me to do. They weren't requirements, but they would have improved my chances quite a bit in this whole process. I ended up doing okay on my own, I guess. Still, I feel like my situation going into this process could have been better than it was and I am trying to avoid feeling the same way if and when I apply to Ph.D programs. As an undergrad, at least early on, I don't know that I knew what questions to ask. It does seem like advising should be better in a MA program and this time around I do feel like I have some idea of the questions I should be asking. Still, if there's a good book out there I would read it. I don't want to waste my time. I appreciate that advice. But I feel like we're talking about the kind of book I could skim within an hour. Then I could go into a meeting with my adviser and say, "I heard it's wisest if I want to be able to [whatever] to [whatever] does that sound right to you?" thereby making my questions as specific as possible. I will look into what people have recommended here. What I have seen reviewed on amazon thus far doesn't look like what I'm looking for.

I'd like to find a book on getting to most of out grad school. I'll be in an MA program, but I will probably apply to a Ph.D programs later. In any case, I'm looking for a book written by someone who knows the game who could tell me things they wish they had known when they started out (in terms of planning, choosing classes, choosing an adviser, doing research, landing internships, the whole nine yards...). Any suggestions?

I took the same route as Duli. When I talked with my adviser my senior year in college about the possibility of going to grad school she urged me not to apply immediately. She said your odds of admission are better if you spend some time in your "target country" first. I taught EFL, which seems like a very common route, but I found it to be extremely worthwhile. If I hadn't been accepted this time around, especially given the economic situation at the moment, I was planning on looking for another EFL job in China just in a new location.

Thanks! Best of luck to you as well. I'm not that worried about 2010. But, I had no idea that this process would be so dragged out and I hadn't expected to feel as stressed as I ended up feeling. It'll just be so nice to just live completely in the present for a year. It seems that people often look back on this time of their lives with fondness, but at the moment I am very eager to get to a point where my life is more stable/ I'm moving around less, even though I realize my ability to move around/explore has also been a result of privilege. Maybe I'm stupid to think that grad school is a step in that direction, but I sure hope so.

It's over. I have heard from all four schools. Rejected at three, in at one, but that's all I needed. OVER, OVER, OVER. I am so happy. I applied to MA programs because I thought I needed to build more credentials in order to have a decent shot at getting into a Ph.D program. I don't know that I'll necessarily take the Ph.D route, although I am very seriously considering it. But,the prospect of going through this all again in 2010 (not so very far away) has me tired already. Not to say it wouldn't be worth it---

Rejected at Stanford. It's all good though. This process is officially over for me and I am so relieved.

Waiting for one...I e-mailed them yesterday to ask when I might expect to hear, but they haven't responded.

In at UW-Seattle--really excited. I e-mailed Stanford yesterday asking about my status, but still haven't heard back. At this point it doesn't matter all that much. What a relief.

I've thought about e-mailing or calling. In the end I always decide to give them another week. At this point I'm going to be very surprised if it's not all bad news. Somehow it seems less painful to not initiate the pain, even if it seems extremely likely that that pain will come sooner or later. I do think it's a little ridiculous that I haven't heard anything yet from two schools. The applications were due in early January! The fact that they sit on rejection letters really bugs me--those are the letters that should take the least time and effort to prepare. However, I don't think making an inquiry could in any way negatively influence the outcome.

If you don't mind me asking, where were you in Taiwan/ what were you doing? I spent 2 years in China. If I don't get accepted this time around I think what would probably make the most sense is for me to head back to a Chinese-speaking environment. Otherwise, I'm afraid I'll just end up getting off track. I've only been in the US a few months and my language abilities are declining so rapidly. Anyway, I'm seriously thinking about trying to find work in Taiwan or Hong Kong so I'm curious about other people's experiences there. I've never been. I was living in a rural/very poor part of China. I'm ready for something a bit more cosmopolitan.

Thanks! I haven't actually heard from UW-Seattle. (I applied to the China Studies program.) I'm hoping this means that they are waiting to send out letters with financial aid info and not that they are just being slow in sending out rejection letters. They sent out an e-mail saying that they would be notifying us by snail mail which means that it may be an entire week after they send out letter before I hear because I'm on the other side of the country.

Random question: I thought that somehow had posted that they had gotten into UW-Seattle's Japan Studies program. Of course, now I can't seem to find that post on the result page, but I'm probably just in too impatient a mood. In any case, if such a person is out there, I was just wondering if financial aid information came with your acceptance letter? Thanks. On the question of experience in terms of Asia/foreign languages I feel like it's one of those things where you have to get to a certain point to realize just how little you know and just how much there is to know. I think if you've reached that realization (as it sounds like you have) and you are still raring to go, you're in good shape. I think it's about (or should be about) motivation and dedication.

That's pretty bad. I don't think that I can top that. If you wanted to be really nice you could send their PR department a note cluing them in. But, I'm not sure what would motivate you to go out of your way like that after that letter. Geesh. I thought that Harvard's taking FOREVER to send out rejection e-mails and then receiving an e-mail from them that began "Dear all" was pretty bad. If you weren't even going to bother with individual names why did it take you an extra month (since acceptance letters were sent out) to get this silly e-mail off? Of course, I knew that I had almost certainly been rejected. The rejection itself didn't particularly bite, but that "Dear all" first line certainly made me roll my eyes. However, the trouble I went through (from abroad, I might add) to get ETS to send out my stupid GRE scores was by far the most frustrating experience of this whole ordeal thus far. The first person I talked to was downright rude (and this was after I had sent them countless e-mails only to repeatedly receive a link as my response!) The second person I talked to was polite and seemed conscientious. But then I learned a few weeks later that one of my schools still had not received my scores and ended up having to pay for them to be sent out again.

I haven't gotten in anywhere yet. I have two more schools that I'm waiting to hear from. (I only applied to four. However, I would be happy to attend any of them.) However, it seems extremely likely that this will all be over by the end of this week. Either I'll be in or I won't. The second possibility will mean that I will have to go back to the drawing board. But, you know what? At least I will be in a position to take control again. The fact that this state of not knowing, and not feeling as if I'm able to move forward/make any plans until I know, will probably be over by next week at this time is what's keeping me going at this point. Thank God for that.

I got a rejection e-mail from Harvard as well. (Still haven't received the actual letter, but I think I can wait on that one...) I'm assuming I just haven't heard from Stanford yet because I'm on the other side of the country. They didn't e-mail you did they?

I'm just an applicant as well, but if I were in your situation I think I might talk to a professor from my undergraduate institution whom I trusted and who knew my work (maybe one of the people who wrote you a recommendation?) and without asking directly about how to "flip" the situation maybe just pry for a bit of advice or insight into why this might have happened. I think ideally this would be best done either over the phone or in person because I think there is a lot more room for misinterpretation communicating via e-mail. Also I think taking the initiative to talk to him/her in person or over the phone would show that this is really important to you. I'd say something along the lines of "I was really hoping to be admitted to (whereever) and was a bit surprised that I was rejected again. I had strengthened my application through X,Y, and Z. I was wondering if you might be able to give me some insight into what I might be doing wrong/ what the best next step would be given my current situation?" That's just my instinct. I'm as clueless and mystified by this whole process as anyone else. You have my sympathy...

hmm...i assume that means i'm not in at harvard. i wish they'd just send me that rejection letter already. seems like that would be the easy part...i imagine you could have a work study student take care of all of those in a few hours tops.

I didn't do so hot on the GRE either and that has me worried now. I only took the test once, but I spent a few months beforehand preparing pretty intensely (on my own). I think, even if I don't get in this time around, taking the test again would be fairly pointless. I'm simply not a good test-taker and I'm certainly not raring to hand more money over to the incredibly incompetent ETS. I remember reading in one of those many books on how to get into college that the SAT scores matter more than colleges are willing to admit, but less than applicants fear they do. I bet that's probably true here as well.

Theresatwist: Congrats on Columbia! I'm sorry about the funding situation, obviously. Will you wait to hear from Harvard and Stanford? I don't know if they've made all their acceptances already and are just slow in sending out rejections. There were some posts saying that one or two people had gotten into the MA program at Harvard in the results section in mid-February, but I found it strange that those people didn't post in this forum. It also seems that if that were true those who were rejected should have heard by now too. Ah, mind games! Meanwhile, I've seen nothing on Stanford anywhere. I think my first choice is probably UW-Seattle. They did send me an e-mail a few weeks ago saying letters would be sent out by post in early March. This would be early March. Of course, I'm on the other side of the country. This has to come to a conclusion within the next two weeks or so, right? I'm talking about master's programs here. I feel like my sanity is seriously on the line. If they're going to reject me let's have it and be done with it already.