latte thunder

Do you have undergraduate loans already? I would just call that lender and see what they can do for you. I'm assuming you don't have much credit established yet so they might be able to help you the most since you already have an account with them.

Don't let anyone on here worry you, you'll be fine. Yes, this does mean that they wanted you less then some of the other students. So what? That doesn't mean you aren't capable of the work, and it doesn't mean that they don't like you or want you there. Remember, plenty of people didn't get in at all! I'm assuming there were non financial reasons for your decision, like maybe this school is decently ranking or has decent job placement. If so, then worry about that! Worry about what YOU'LL get out of the school. Yes, you might be paying a little more for it than some other students, but that's not going to stop you from getting what you want! Of course, student loans are not to be ignored, but there are probably other ways you can alieviate some of the financial pressue. I would suggest you try to get funding in another department for the first year. I have no idea what school you're attending, but some of the larger schools will probably need GAs in departments you may not have thought of, like finanical aid, undergraduate advising, university development, ETC. Since you want to become a professor, you might be able to find some of this experience useful. Yes, TAing would be extremely valuable experience, but so would undergraduate advising. Perhaps there is even a part time position with the school that would give you a tuition reduction? Doing extra work might put a strain on your academics (depending of course on your time management skills) but it's only one year. You'll be fine.

This area should be fine. There are a ton of shops and grocery stores in this area (as well as a bus line, if you need it) so this is a pretty good place to start if you aren't familar with the city. Also, its decently north of campus, so you shouldn't get completely swamped with undergraduates either!

This may or may not help, but double check to make sure your employer doesn't offer education leave. Especially since its in your same field. Otherwise, what do you want to do after you graduate? If you want to stay in the same area and maybe get a promotion, then stay at the home school. If you want to do reasearch in your feild somewhere else, you also might be better off staying. You'll have your Phd and 6+ (plus however many years it takes you to finish) years of experience. Depending on your field, this may very well make up for the lower rank school. Yes, if you go this route but choose the other school you'll still have 6 years experience and your Phd, but the benefit of going to the better school may not be worth any hardship on your family. Especially without the extra work experience. Of course, if you want to teach or do something else where the school will actually matter, then go to the far away school.

Hahahut, Can you tell us where you will be studying in the US? Contrary to what Cndnrgl21 said, there is NO bank that is all over the US. I'm not an international student myself, but I've known internation students who have assumed BofA is national; however, despite the name, it is definately not. I think the closest one to me is like 400 miles. Also, if possible take into account any summer research positions you may have. Of course you may not know what/where these will be know, but if you do it would be in your best interest to find a bank that has branches in both locations. Generally, there is a penalty for closing an account in less than 6 months, just something to consider.

The only thing that concerns me is that students don't always have a choose in whether or not that go to an "easy school" There may be people who are smart enough to handle going to a notoriously hard school like say, Uchicago, but who can't afford anything more than community college. For example I know of plenty of people who have gotten into OSU, but can't afford it and go to Columbus state community college for a couple years instead. An entire year of CSCC cost less than one quarter of OSU, so if money is a concern it's an easy choice. Even when comparing state schools, not all state schools were created equally. I don't want to pick on any schools in particular, but we all know that not all state schools in our home state have equal educational value (and typically, the cheaper they are the worse they are, which again is a disadvantage to the poor). It penalizes them to get an A in math in a school where just about everyone can get an A. That doesn't mean they didn't try hard or aren't capable of more, the grading scale could have just been easy. What happens when two people apply to grad school and one has an A average from private school in classes where the average is a B and the other has an A average in a communityschool/lower tier state school where the Class average is an A? That second student may have also scored an A at the private school, but wasn't given the opportunity. Of course I'm not saying it's fair the other way around either. Kid 2 may have NOT been able to score as highly as Kid 1 in same enviroment, but this metric doesn't tell us that. However, this metric may inspire confidence that it does. It's a little scary to think it possible for a adcom to dismiss kid 2 because they think that this "schedule point average" has fixed this discrepancy.

Not really, unfortunately. MOST campus realtors are terrible. They charge ridiculous rent to live in housing that is often not quite up to code. They get away with it because most student's don't know any better. On the other hand, a lot of the properties are in disrepair because student's don't take good care of them! For good or for bad, there really isn't any way you can make sure you don't get screwed over by a Landlord. I would look for properties based on your preferences (location in this case) and based on what you can afford. Of course, try to avoid realtor's whose tenants have had to put the rent into escrow a bunch of times/eviction happy landlords (you can check this out on the clerk of courts website) but this doesn't mean you'll like your apartment. Worst case scenario, you move in a year. I would suggest that you try to find the nicest apartment in the nicest area you can afford. Hopefully, this will mean that the lanldlords care about their property and a landlord that cares about their property is really the best you can ask for. Perhaps you could focus on realtors that have campus property, but aren't exclusively campus based. These might not be as unscrupulous towards students.

Tough one. I say grad school in the Fall, but ONLY if your wife's job situation turns out as planned and that is enough for your famiyl to live off of. Somebody said something about Jobs fulfilling short term goals, but that edication is long term, and I think that's true. Of course, the situation is different with Kids, but even though your family might have to make some adjustments now, your kids will also benefit from your increased education (and probably increased financial security down the line). Especially if they're young now. It's much easier having broke parents when you're 1 then when you're 16. Again, this is only if you and your wife are truly in a place to care for them next year. I would work away happily at my current job while trying to make sure I set my family up for success for next year. Make sure you have substantial savings for a rainy day fund, make sure you all will have benefits next year, make sure you all will have food on the table, etc. Also, this isn't a subject that shows up often on theses boards, but don't be ashamed to look into public assistance if you need it. Those funds are there to allow people like yourself the opportunity to better themselves while still taking care of their family. You said that this is probably the best time for you to go back to school, so use the next year to really make it fesible.

No, I'll be in Planning. But this is information I got directly from the graduate school, not my department.

I feel you. I constantly fo through facebook to see where classmates are... I try to pretend like it's motivating me to be better, but it does make me feel like a failure sometimes! It's bad when you see someone else achieve their dreams but the worst is when someone is doing everything YOU want to do! I have a HS friend, who was two years younger but one grade below (and I was already a grade ahead, so this tells you how young she is!). She went to havard and has since started her own non-profit! A non profit thats dedicated to her traveling the world on a whim to "bring awareness." This year she's been all over the US, Jamaica, vietnam, laos and thailand. She JUST turned 22 last week. SO super jealous. All the time. I have a few classmates that have titles like "director" or "senior partner" ... am I supposed to be there at my age? I feel like I'm not only behind, but that I'm not even in the race! I don't even know where in the race I should be right now!

You can get a GA or RA position after you start there. This doesn't have to be in your department either, i think just about all departments hire them. The downside is that you have to wait for someone to quit, get fired, or graduate before they will post anything.

Hi, I asked my BF about this complex the other day (he did undergrad at OSU). He said it was full of undergrads, and is basically a 24 hour party. Downtown may be a good possibility? The City pushed for a ton of condos to be built in the downtown area but a good number are still vacant, so the prices have come down. You can difinitely find something under 200,000 and I did a quick search and found a one bedroom condo for 113,000. Downtown is a very easy drive to OSU about 10 - 15. This would double during evening rush hour, from about 5-6 PM but I've never had trouble getting around any other time of the day. Except game days of course, but then you'll even have trouble WALKING to OSU. Oh! you should also be able to take the bus from here. Big plus. Sawmill is another idea, it's kinda like a slightly older (people wise, newer buildings) extention of the bethel/henderson area, but your commute will be longer. I don't think I've ever made this drive so I can't say for certain, but during the weekday it would be atleast 20 min. Probably more like 30+ during rush hour. Anywhere else in Columbus and I think you'll really have to extend your commute. There may be stuff on the southwest side, around the frank road area but to be honest I'm not so familar with this side of town. I know they put up a bunch of housing right before the recession but before that this area was much more indrustrial. Still kinda smells weird, but you can get a house under 100,000. This area is a lot more working class/lower middle class and has a bit of sprawl, so may not be fun for a grad student.

Yes, really. Compared to other Ohio Cities, Cleveland is grimey. Again, if you are from an older major city it's no problem. But if you are from a nicer, newer area than it's something to take note of. Personally, I like Cleveland. But I'm sure you've heard stories from your Classmates like "OMG we tried to get on the bus and I was SOO scared" or 'OMG I can't walk across campus at night." Again, its not really dangerous if you stay on campus, but the LOOK of the campus can make some people uncomfortable. Also, Little italy and Cleveland heights are just as far off campus as East Cleveland! Not to mention student parking on E118th is about a block away from E Cleveland. Unless there has been a massive change in appearance since the last time i was in Cleveland (last month) there is quite a bit of urban grime in the area. You can pick and choose which suburbs you like to hang out in, but that doesn't deny the others' existence. Don't believe me? Walk over to the E120th RTA stop. Yeah, you can get off at the University Circle stop and walk a mile to your car if you want, but you can't really deny that this is part of the campus area.

I think these are questions that only those two departments can answer.

I think Morrill is the border between the two. I don't know what you're comfortable with, however I can't in good faith recommend you live there. It doesn't look like The wire, but that area is run down. Although It's getting gentrified and some of the houses are nicer it's not a street you'd want to walk down at night. It doesn't look that bad on google maps near highstreet... but this HAD to be taken on a sunday morning! That ugly warehouse on High St is a drive thru/liqour store, which always attracts some undesirables and once you get a few blocks down Morrill you'll see where the boarded up houses start. LOL, I feel like I sound like a spoiled rich girl here, but I actually checked out two places on this street the last time I moved (I bet I even know which listing you saw, because few of these houses have been fixed up) and you can find better places for the same rent a few blocks north. Beck st closer to Parson is a better option. Even though parsons itself can scare a lot of people you should be pretty safe here. South lane is a very ugly street but the streets inbetween and including Beck and Forest have some nice homes. Try to drive around this area first, and see if Parsons is something you could live this close to. Also, note that the area across Parsons ("swanson's addition" I think?) is extermely poor. Not working class, but poverty stricken poor. I promise I don't spend my weekends at the country club, lol. I actually spend quite a bit of time on Parsons and South High! I want to be as honest as possible because I know people have different comfort levels with this type of thing. You should be OK in italian Village. I recommend you stay west of 4th St however (and again, as close to High as possible). This area is very gentrified... however you may feel about that. Kinda rubs me the wrong way, but it does tend to make areas safer faster, and give some sense of community. I prefer areas with a REAL sense of history; not the kind you buy but the kind you live. If you like this neighborhood you might also like West, which is directly northwestish of Victorian Village. http://www.harrisonwest.org/

Hmmm... Most of the streets in German Village are like this... with 3rd st being the exception. That's the main business area and might be what you saw? Traffic typically isn't that bad around here, so you don't normally have to reverse down the street to let someone through, but you will have to pull over for other people every once in a while. Of course there will be stuff availible for September/August, but much more that are closer to campus than in German Village as GVs population is more families/young professionals than students.

Clintonville is a good area, but you might have some trouble finding affordable houses for sale as a lot of the houses are rental properties or still full of yuppie baby boomers. I would suggest the Bethel/Henderson road area as well, especially around the Kenny rd intersection. I'm not sure what the name of this area actually is; I've always just heard it referred to by the street names! A lot of the people who live in this area are grad students/upper classmen or recently graduated and there are quite a few condos for sale. I think this would be your best bet. Just about anywhere off of those two roads are safe areas, but the closer you are to Kenny or 315, the easier your commute will be. You may be able to find some houses on "campus" which is basically the square created by 11th to the south, 4th to the east, Hudson to the north, and 315 to the west. I would question your Realtor about how easily you'd be able to sell after you graduate, as you would almost definitely not want to live here if you didn't have to. It's not particularly dangerous, but is full of kids and other people who would be attracted to rent targeted at students. For any other incoming students reading this, there are plenty more safe options to rent in Columbus, but buying might be more of a hassle. LOL, its kinda funny that you liked the wider streets AND German Village! This area isn't a hassle to get to campus, buses run up and down high street all day, and its about a 10-15 min drive. You WILL NOT be able to walk it. There is also an express shuttle that goes from campus to German Village on fri/sat nights (with stops near the arena district and the short north) so you'll be OK if you have an alcoholic change of mind. I used to live in German Village (and now I'm right across the highway downtown) and my best advice is to find a place in June. Seems to be when the cheapest apartments open up. Check out the brewery district, Merion Village, and Shumacher Place as well. I'm not sure what you comfort level is as far as neighborhoods, but it would probably be best to stay North of Hanford (gets unsafe south of here), and West of Bruck (more so for the looks factor, as this is an ugly, but not dangerous area until you cross Parsons). I would not advise Hungarian Village, it looks so close on a map, but it's...hood. For lack of a better word.

NO! don't do it. This area is called The Hilltop and it's one of the worst in the city. What type of things are you looking for in a neighborhood? Do you care about school districts, or proximity to OSU? Maybe we could recommend something.

What field?

Can you give any more information about where Scioto Woods is? Like some of the major streets around it? Marble Cliff is a nice, safe area, but you don't need to go to far before you end up in some not so nice places. Iif you really want to explore columbus you'll need a car. There are a lot of places the bus simply doesnt go.

I've felt kind behind as I waited 3 years after I graduated from undergrad to apply to grad schools. However, I used these three years to find out for certain what I want to do and how to get there so I'm glad I did. I've learned a lot about where I want to work, how I work best, what truly motivates me (not doing something just because I'm supposed to) and what mark I want to leave on the world. I don't think I would have been sucessful had I gone to grad school after undergrad because I needed to see some of the end result of school (jobs and real life) before I could plan for it. So my advice, 1. DONT apply to school just because you don't feel like your ready for the real world yet. I've seen people go this route, and it doesnt really get them the answers they think it will. If you're in this boat, join the peace corp or teach for america. You will certainly learn something new about yourself and will probably look at the world from a new prespective (also, after a few years out its hard to go back and have these experiences). Apply to school because you really truly want to learn more and you need the extra degree for a specific job. 2. Don't underestimate what schools you'll get into. Even if you have under a 3.0. The really do take the human element into account so take the time to visit and get to know professors. 3. Make sure that you get advice from everywhere you can. Especially if you aren't going into academia. The work world puts stock into name recognition (not just harvard, but also that school down the street) more than rankings, and nobody in HR reads US news and world report (Here, they just pass around avon catalogs ) . I'm definitely not saying that Harvard is never a good decision, but it's truly overkill if you want to say... work in a local school district. 4. Student loans are serious things; much more so for grad school than Undergrad. Undergrad is more of a life experience, and its worth the debt. However, Grad school is about a job (whether academic or not). For example, if you want to be a librarian and it pays 50,000 a year, then don't take out 100,000 in debt for an MLS. I don't care if it is harvard (look at advice #3). 5. If you don't have a specific job or industry in mind, then you should probably take a couple years off to determine that first. Too much education can hurt you as much as too little. For example, you find out that you really want to be an accountant...but you have a master's in Psychology. You probably aren't getting hired. It'll be hard to convince an employer than you're more serious about this career change then you were about the years of school you just went through to do something else. 6. There's more than one way to skin a cat. Meaning there's more than one field you can study to get to the same end result (job). Do some informational interviewing and see what other people studied. You'll probably be suprised and this may lead you to find other programs you can apply to.

I dunno if you should bring up the other offer. It might paint a bad picture of you if you go (expecially if you have THAT prof for a class). Maybe just call and ask what they can do? Say you (obviously) really want to attend, add in WHY you want to attend (specific classes, profs, or whatever) but explain to them that you're struggling with the financial side. Make no mention of the other school. They want you, you want to be there, so just try to work together to figure it out and see what you can get.

So, Last week I thought I knew where I was going. I made my decision based primarily on cost (School A gave me an assistanship for 3500 a year which I believe is the most this department can offer) but also based on cost of living, friendliness of Prof and students and the fact that it was cold here and this school is further south. This week I've been thinking. School B hasn't given me any aid, and chances are I won't get aid until at least after the 1st quarter. It's my local state school, so this is around 4,000 out of pocket which I can pay for. Something possessed me to call the graduate school yesterday where I luckily managed to talk to the person over the other graduate assistantships. He said that it isn't that impossible to get something after you've started. Basically he said, "A lot of students get fired after the first semester, quit because it's too much work, or drop out for personal reasons. The departments will lose funding for the next year if they don't fill these positions so they scramble at the last minute." This made me call my Aunt, who went to grad school at School B back in the day and is currently a prof now. Although she's in a different field she's familar with both schools and told me that the cost is not that much of a difference between them and that I should go to school B. There are other non finanical reasons as well (B is in a MUCH bigger city, my home state is the reason I even want to get into planning, boyfriend/friends family in the area, on both my highschool and college alumni associations, etc) This is a lot of rambling, but basically my mind has changed. This is for a masters, and I don't think I would want to go to school A for a Phd later, but I don't want to burn bridges. How do let them know I changed my mind?

Is Facilities Management a part of Urban Planning? I see that the Pratt institute offers this program not as a specilization under Urban planning but as its own major. Are you doing the MS in Facilities Management? If so then you should probably check with the school to see how much their alumni actually make and how many get employeed in the field. Then really look hard at the numbers. Take their average alumns first year salary, divide by 26 then multiply by 2. This is what you'll be making most months (slightly less than dividing by 12 as you'll be getting a couple 3 pay check months) unless you work for a bank or something and actually get paid on set days of the month. Take away about 30 percent for taxes/health insurance/retirement deductions, then take away rent for the area in which you'd like to live (probably 1500+ in NYC), a few hundred for utilities (if you live alone this is very possible), the cost of transportation, any credit card or other payments you may have, another few hundred for food, how ever much you'd like to spend on entertainment, and about 10-15 percent of your gross for savings (at the least and this is very important). Of course theres room to play with these numbers, but be realistic and give yourself plenty of leeway when making a budget. How much do you have left? Figure it costs about 100 a month per every 10 thousand you take out in loans. How much can you afford to borrow? If you're doing the Urban Planning program with a minor in Facilities Management then I would not take out 60 thousand to go there. Remember, you'll have to compete with the actual FM students when you start job hunting and an Urban Planning degree is definitely not going to guarantee you a salary to pay that type of debt off (not many degrees would), especially without a lot of relevant work experience (assuming since you're going straight from undergrad). It also won't guarantee you a facilities management position. Perhaps you should check with the pratt graduate school to see if there are GA positions outside of the department. If it's really what you want to do and where you want to be, then try to find a way to pay it outside of loans. Maybe defer a year and save up and apply to more outside scholarships? Also, have you considered doing an MBA and/or getting a certificate in Facilities management? Possibly cheaper options and If you just want to go directly into the work force anyhow, this probably won't limit your career aspirations.

You should call and ask them. instead of asking the department directly, you could always ask the graduate school. They're probably too busy right now to worry about who you are, what program you're in, or even your name, so asking an administrative assistant a quick question probably won't get back to your department.