Inspekt

I got the same letter too, and I am also fully funded. I was snooping on their website and I also talked to our faculty representative. It seems like if you are fully funded you aren't very competitive for this award since you must have some demonstrated financial need. It also hurts if you are currently employed since that can bring down your need.

Is there a trader joes in ann arbor? I'm trying to decide between Philly and Ann Arbor. Has anyone lived in both places that could give me some insight into how you liked both? I can see myself living in both a city or a college town so any advice would be helpful. Thanks!

This is the way I've come to see EdD vs. PhD: The Ed.D is a practitioner's degree. People who get an EdD go on and work in the education field, usually in administration, government, or business. The PhD is a research degree. People go on and do theoretical things, teach, and many go into the same fields as those with EdDs go to, but the degree's focus is on research. That said, the EdD at Harvard is particularly research driven...Seeing how academia is PhDs are usually biased against EdDs I'd say if your long term goal is a faculty position, that's something to consider. To be fair, I've definitely seen a few higher ed faculty with the Harvard EdD sprinkled about the top programs. I applied for the EdD but was offered the masters so I'm glad that's a choice I don't have to make!

I went to a 6 school information session in Miami for the top education schools: Stanford, Harvard, Penn, U. Michigan, Vanderbilt, and Columbia. Every rep said they are looking for at least a 1200 and It would be much more difficult to get in with a lower score. I'm sure there are minimums but I doubt it is ever as simple as the highest GRE wins. I didn't get much higher than 1200 and things turned out alright for me.

Where did you hear PhD student will definitely have funding? I was told to expect absolutely no funding from teacher's college by the director of admissions and a professor in my area.

Actually on second thought, living in Clayton would be okay if you lived in the area called "The Moorelands" and had a 2 bedroom apt. Those are actually pretty affordable and in a great area. Try there if you want Clayton, but I still think Midland and Delmar is better bang for your buck. PS if you are moving to St. Louis, let me know. I will be moving from my current place at the end of July. It's nice, 1800 sq feet w/ a basement of the same size, 2 bedroom, study, sunroom, dishwasher and washer and dryer in unit. 5 Min drive 15 min walk from WashU, plus my landlord is great. All that for only $1,000 a month.

Did anyone else wind up applying for this? I put my app into the national pool earlier this week.

Nice way to start the weekend!

Wow that was awesome. Thank you so much for the detailed info it is very helpful!

Search has been down for me for some reason, I'm not sure why. Could you post a link to those threads? It is good to hear it is possible. I wasn't sure if the bank would consider that stipend as a reliable form of income to get approved for a house/condo. Sure seems like a better idea than renting if you can get a decent price. As for questions, what do you know now that you wish you knew before buying your place? Do you have any tips or was there anything that was unexpected? Did you buy in your first year, or did you rent first and then buy? Any other advice you think would be useful is appreciated! My thoughts are to work as an RA my first year and use the 10 -15 k I save on room and board (plus some of my own savings) as the downpayment. Just wanted to make sure my plan was a feasible option. Thanks.

So If you have 4 years of guaranteed funding in writing, is it possible to purchase a house with your stipend as your main means of income? I'm guessing you'd still need a significant downpayment. Has anyone tried this or know if it is possible? I figure if I am going to be at a program for 4-5 years and with the housing market and interests rates lower it may be a decent option to consider. Thoughts? I have never owned a home and I'm not really familiar with the process.

Good grief I don't want to hear that you can go snow shoeing there. haha, I knew it was cold but !!!!! I have some other options with a little better funding so now I"m just trying to find the best match. We'll see. Thanks for the info on housing. I didn't even consider trying to purchase a place during grad school, but it might not be such a bad option these days with the housing market and interest rates so low. And being there for 5 years...Hmm... Thanks!

So...is anybody not going to deposit at Stanford? 8)

I heard ann arbor is kind of expensive. Is a stipend of $16,500 going to be enough to live comfortably? It's a 9 month stipend. What are typical stipends U Mich students have recieved in the past?

It's admitted. You accept an offer of admission. Sounds a little strange to accept an offer of acceptance.

Hey Hailmerry, On second thought you are right. It would only make sense to pay it back as slow as possible if you have an interest rate below inflation, which is probably around 4 or 5% now. I didn't realize the rates were at nearly 7% these days! I'm glad I was able to lock in my 3% rate. Also, people should be careful that their repayments are not just paying interest only (as mine were at first...) and that some is actually going towards the principal. Basically the moral of the story is every one has to do these calculations for their situation, otherwise they may be losing money! Still student loan debt is one of the "best" kind of debts (if you every have to go in debt) because they are so flexible about working out affordable repayments. However, I would not go into significant debt for grad programs for the reasons I talked about above....

It is positive, but your fate rests with the deans, the funding and the choices of the other admits. If they were not interested in you, you would have been rejected. Beyond expressing your interest there isn't much you can do but wait. They can't give you chances because the school cannot predict what students will do this year, although you can be sure almost no program has 100% yield. What happens last year has no bearing on what admitted students choose to do this year. Much of it has to do with what students decline the offer, what they want their income cohort to look like, and if they have the money to fund you - all of which you have no control over. It is fine to call to express your interest, ask about the waitlist size and if they rank. It might be helpful to ask if there is anything you can do to improve your chances of admission from the waiting list. Beyond those questions there is basically nothing you can do except wait. Make sure to accept an offer at another school and deposit (if you have another choice) because you might never come off the waitlist. In the event you are taken off the waitlist and choose to enroll you will forfeit your deposit at the other school. Think of it as an insurance policy.

actually the only program I would consider taking a loan for would be B-School and the MBA. Even law schools these days are too much of a crapshoot unless you are in a top tier program.... Good luck!

I owe around 40k from undergrad and I would never consider taking out another student loan under any circumstance. If you are interested in a PhD, apply to PhD programs and get funded. You should not have to pay to get a PhD. Many PhD programs will let you get a masters in passing, so if it turns out the PhD is not for you you can always leave with a masters. No I am not advocating scamming out a PhD program for a free masters, but it is an option if you know the PhD is not right for you. While doing what you love is a nice dream, when you get out of school reality will hit and $800 a month student loan paytments will not take a back seat. It's time people get realistic instead of doing what "feels good." Use a time value of money equation and actually calculate out if getting a masters or PhD is profitable long term. You may find that working those 5 years and saving means you actually make more money down the road. The opportunity cost of having no income and living on loans for 5 years can be pretty significant. Shop around for good interest rates and think about consolidating your loans. 6.8% seems a bit high for a student loan interest rate, but then again I consolidated in 2005 when you could get rates as low as 3%. One person I knew even found a rate of 1.7%. That means the lender is actually losing money long term because of inflation! It is always wise to pay back student loan debt as slow as possible. If you can invest the extra money you'd pay on your student loan and get a rate higher than your interest rate you are actually making money. This isn't a credit card, drag that sucker out. Again with the time value of money and inflation, a dollar today is worth more than a dollar tomorrow. It is truly amazing how basic personal finance is not required in high school or in college.

Hello I found this on the website you just linked to: The process of applying for admission to graduate school at Penn State requires the following application materials, some of which are submitted to The Graduate School (items 1 and 2 below), and others that should be sent directly to the Graduate Program in Acoustics (items 3 through 9 which includes a copy of item 4): 1. An official GRADUATE SCHOOL APPLICATION. 2. Application fee. 3. Official transcripts (two (2) copies). 4. Application for a U.S. Visa which includes financial verification documents. (This applies to Foreign National Students Only and is not required for Distance Education student applicants). 5. GRE General Test scores. 6. TOEFL scores (Foreign National Students Only). 7. Two letters of reference sent to the Program from people who are in a position to comment on the candidate's education and/or abilities. Reference letters must come directly from the individual authoring the reference and should be on institution or company letterhead. Forms are not provided. Letters not sent directly to the Acoustics Program by the authors will not be accepted as a part of the application package. 8. Resume. 9. Statement of purpose. Were there specific professors you were thinking of working with?? It seems strange they would not have anyone in your area of specialization. You could always see if they will refund the $100 if you withdraw your application. I have heard of some schools refunding the app fee if you withdraw.

Hey Gang, I'm thinking of attending Penn in the fall. Need some advice on Housing, though. It has been suggested I should apply for a GA position on campus, has anyone done/heard of this? In Ucity and West Philly what are some average rents and size of apartments? I have a lot of stuff and I would probably be living alone. Are there grocery stores nearby? I am usually a daily shopper. Thanks!

PhD or Masters?

I've lived in St. Louis for 8 years and I love this city. WashU is the perfect area with the Loop, Forest park, Metro Link, and Target/grocery store/mall all within a 10 minute drive. Forest park is absolutely awesome and everything is free, except for golf. It is much larger than central park in new york and has a 10k biking and jogging track that surrounds the whole park. Best thing, it is directly across the street from WashU. Where to live. Have fun living in clayton if you like to pay a lot of money for a lot less space and not a whole lot to do. It MIGHT be worth it if you have a kid to send them to clayton schools, but I'd even doubt that. Clayton is a business govt district of St. Louis county, which effectively closes by about 6pm, unless you want to go to a really overpriced bar and/or Tapas restaurant. Most people send their kids to private schools, which are religous and single sex (unbelieveable that there are still all boys and all girls schools...to me at least.) Live in a loft if you want to pay a lot of money for a little bit of space and a new stove. Yay! Oh and many of them make you pay for parking, especially if you live downtown. By the way downtown st. louis has NO Grocery stores (yes 0), No Walgreens, and No Target so it will take you about 20 minutes drive anywhere to get food and supplies. They say they are building a grocery downtown, but honestly, it will probably be small and you'll still find yourself driving 20 minutes to trader joes and target... I have lived all over St. Louis. By WashU, in Maplewood (10 min south), in South City (booyeah crime studies) and now I live back by WashU in University City. UCity is by far the best deal of all. Look for places near the intersection of Midland and Delmar - it is absolutely beautiful, totally safe, and the best bang for the buck anywhere in St. Louis. The best part is you have a less than 5 min commute to WashU, 15 min to UMSL, and all the places I mentioned above (loop, park, grocery) are within a 10 minute drive. You will not go wrong if you live near Midland and Delmar in University City. The thing about St. Louis is there "isn't much to do" if you don't know where to go. There are tons of blues bars downtown, the missouri botanical gardens, tower grove park, the HIll (italian spot), the budweiser brewery, city museum, the Landing (bars), Central West End, Clayton, Soulard, South Grand then there is St. Louis county.... There is a lot to do and the beautiful thing almost everything is Free. As for crime it really isn't that bad. I mean you have to live in a pretty shitty area to be worried. Be smart, it's a city. Most of the crime is concentrated in areas north of Delmar (the loop) and to the East side. I would also avoid South City until you lived here for a year or so and know where are the good and bad spots. Really living in Soulard is for morons who bought overpriced lofts. It's much better to drive there and go to a bar than live next to a bar, and nothing else.

Waitlist for Higher Ed PhD here....

It sounds like you are referring to the enrollment deposit. Pretty much every school will have some form of enrollment deposit they require you to pay if you decide to accept their offer of admission. Most are usually $300 - $500. This money might be used to pay your fees, or it could be held and refunded in full upon graduation - every school has a different policy. Depending on your financial situation you may be able to request that the enrollment deposit be waived, but it is probably case by case. This isn't a rip off or weird. Every school I have been admitted to so far has some type of enrollment deposit.