[UC Berkeley]

I am also coming to Berkeley in the fall! I will be in Civil and Environmental Engineering.

I am graduating from a small liberal arts college in Philadelphia and have only visited Berkeley (and California) once. So I think I'll have a hard time moving to and finding housing in Berkeley. So if anyone's interested in finding housing together, or have any tips about it, plz plz plz contact me!

[How many days off do u get as a PhD student?]

I think that Ranking and the faculty you want to work with are the most important things for your decision. How many days off within one year depends on how your work is progressing. It is not a big problem!!!!!!

Hi, i think so too, but there are many other factors that are important to me.

I see that you are entering CEE in the fall as well. Do you mind sharing with me your decision? Maybe we'll end up in the same place!

[Columbia U Earth and Environmental Engineering]

Has anyone heard back from the EEE department of Columbia? This was my top choice for the last half year until it begins to wear me out waiting for the admission result.

I check Grad Cafe Results Page every single day. Nothing.

I called them last week and they said the results should be out by the end of the month.

It IS the END of the month!

And their application deadline was December 1! Earlier than most of the schools...

Columbia...My dear Columbia...What happened to you... :-( :-( :-(

[How many days off do u get as a PhD student?]

This sums up the situation quite well.

Oh no...Now I am really refraining from getting a PhD...

[How many days off do u get as a PhD student?]

Generally it makes a difference whether you get payed for 9 months out of the year, or 12. It's much easier to go away if you are not being payed over the summer. You should ask current students, preferably internationals, what they do. I don't think there should be a problem with people going home for an extended visit when they live far away and the ticket is expensive, but that's something that may change depending on program and discipline.

What if I am on the engineering school's fellowship? Does that count as monthly payment or full-year?

[How many days off do u get as a PhD student?]

I agree. This might be a better question for a current student. Even if the department/POI says that it's okay to take a certain amount of time off, you'll want to know whether students actually do.

Yes...It might be better to ask the students...I just asked one of my friends and he said that they get to have spring breaks and fall breaks, and also days off in the summer. So I guess it really depends on departments and advisors...

[How many days off do u get as a PhD student?]

I'll just add a general reply: I have yet to see an engineering/sciences program in the US that specifies a number of days off per year. Our job was described as "you work 365 days per year, you get payed 365 days per year" type job...

That said, most of the PIs in my department are fine with people taking vacations- especially the international students who will probably take a month to go home every year or every other year. But it's up to the PI, not something that is guaranteed to all graduate students. I would say a department that officially gives 19 days off per year is quite nice. Of course, even if the department gives them "off", there can be pressure from your PIs to work through them anyway.

I think this last year I took 2 days off at thanksgiving.... Maybe 3 days (not including weekends) off at Christmas... And another 2 days for spring break? University holidays are not really consistently taken by the faculty/grad students where I work. Just something to keep in mind.

I didn't really take any time off last summer, although the summer before that I took two weeks off for a nice vacation with my wife.

Thank you~ This sounds a bit too few to me... But now I know that I need to ask my potential advisors the duration of holiday they can actually tolerate, before making the decision...

[How many days off do u get as a PhD student?]

Hi everyone, as I am making my decision I realized that the numbers of days off in PhD really matter to me. I am an international student, in addition I cannot go on for a year without backpacking somewhere. So basically I need at least three to four weeks of holidays (incl. bank holidays) per year.

I know that PTon officially only gives out 19 days (incl. bank holidays) per year (One of the Engin departments), and I really cannot deal with this fact. So I will really appreciate any answers on the numbers of holidays you get as a PhD student, for the following schools:

Princeton, Berkeley, CMU, Cornell, GaTech, Columbia, UC Davis

I will especially appreciate answers from Engin people, since that's what I am going into.

Thanks!