OnEdge

I'm pretty excited too, although after all the stress/excitement of the last few months it seems like a weird lull is setting in. Quicky question about the MyFinAid page--in my GSPP acceptance I was given a scholarship, but on MyFinAid there is nothing listed under the "My Gift Aid," and the "My Net Cost" is the full out of state cost. Is anyone else's GSPP scholarship not reflected on that page?

I wasn't able to attend the GSPP open house today. To anyone who was there - can you share your general impressions that might help those of us still making decisions?

At GSPP keep in mind that you can do a GSR, GSI, Reader or Tutor positions and have partial or full fee remission (depending on the number of hours) plus get a salary. I think those positions might be a little bit more difficult to land in the first year within GSPP, but you can get one of those positions anywhere on campus at other departments. You would still have to pay the out of state tuition, but the salary and a small loan would definitely help.

Accepted with $1,000 fellowship. Has anyone received anything higher than $1,000? Based on the big game they were talking following the $50 mil donation, I was expecting a bit more...

Does anyone have any more detail on what the $50 mil Luskin donation is going to be used for in the short term (i.e. the next 2 years)? I read the school's story on it, and it mentioned fellowships, endowments, new faculty, and adding a couple of programs. But I would think that the 2011-12 school year (and maybe even the 2012-13 school year) would be too early to see any real dramatic changes in the faculty, facilities, programs, etc. Is it worth it to attend with the hopes but ultimate uncertainty that you would reap the direct rewards of the money? I was accepted to Berkeley and applied to UCLA, but I'm having trouble seeing myself choose a program with more uncertainty but also a fair amount of potential for growth (UCLA) over a program that is high quality as is but isn't necessarily going to have the same investment over the next two years (Berkeley). Any thoughts?

In your mind, what are the greatest strengths and the greatest weaknesses of the GSPP program? What made you come all the way from the East Coast to attend? And living situation-wise, do you live in Berkeley or outside of the city (like in Oakland)? What are some good apartment hunting websites for the Oakland area? And I'd also be interested in hearing about research assistant positions specifically in the first year--how hard are they to get, are there ways to increase the likelihood of getting one, etc Thanks for taking the time to answer all of our questions!

Anyone get emails so far tonight?

My sense of grad schools is that they have the strongest relationships career-wise where they have the strongest alumni network and also where they draw professors from. GSPP has contacts in the San Francisco Bay Area, WWS in New York and DC, etc. The further out you expand beyond that network, the weaker those relationships are. I feel like that's one of the most important reasons people going into grad school should have a good sense of what they want to do as a career, because the geographic scope of its network is a pretty major consideration. I'm applying to WWS, but I'm leaning towards GSPP right now for that very reason--I don't want to be in NY/DC, I want to stay on the West Coast after graduation. The opposite consideration holds true as well, so I would be careful going to school on the West Coast if you want to be in NY or DC

I got the letter today too! Looks like some just took an extra day to arrive.

Any letters received so far today?

Has anyone else not received word from GSPP? I haven't gotten any emails and was (unpleasantly) surprised to not find a letter today. I live in Colorado, is there a reason a letter would get to the East Coast before it gets here?