msafiri

@LuiB, parts of Aurora are actually really nice. The downtown is walkable and has some cute shops. The area near Park Hill lets you have easy access to Denver amenities without paying the high(er) price associated with them. Which is to say, single family homes in west Aurora that are near Park Hill are $50-75K less than what you'd pay to actually be in Park Hill. I'm not at all sure why anyone would say that you can't live near I-70 in Denver... Along I-70 are some of the nicer neighborhoods like the Highlands and Stapleton. If you doubt this, look at the price of real estate in Stapleton! If you can income qualify for a condo in Stapleton, that's a great deal. If you can't though, affording Stapleton would be difficult on a grad student stipend. If you have questions, feel free to ask me. I'm new to the city (lived here under a year) but possibly less scared of neighborhoods than some other posters who are reposting information found online.

I live in Denver. Yes, Golden is small and can be conservative. I can honestly say that, depending on where you are, you may not want to do the commute to Golden from most of Denver. I-70 is about to undergo a multi-year construction project west of I-25 which is going to cause significant traffic delays once it begins. Denver is also more expensive than some of the surrounding towns, which you'll want to factor into your decision-making. If you do go with Denver, you'll need a car to commute to Golden. I'd go with something west of I-25 to make your commute easier (e.g., the Highlands, Tennyson Art District area, Sunnyside, etc.). You may want to consider living in western Lakewood (living near/along the W line would give you an easy option to get into downtown via light rail if you want), Wheat Ridge, or Arvada (the G line will open eventually connecting Arvada/Wheat Ridge and downtown). Hope this helps!

I haven't posted in this discussion yet but I have been checking in on it. I'm 28, almost 29. I'm single. Yes, I've had a few serious relationships, but those were all in my 20s. Both of them ended terribly because, in the end, we wanted different things and I'm unwilling to sacrifice my career ambitions for a partner, especially when that partner isn't open to compromise or giving up something too. I suppose I could be out there looking but, I'm not. I'm focused on school and getting a job when I graduate in the spring, which means working on my dissertation and lots of job applications. My time as a MA student might be more helpful to you. Starting in the late fall of my first year until the spring of my second year, I was in a relationship with a guy I met in my department. In a lot of ways, we were compatible. But, even though he could transfer to other locations with his job, he basically told me that unless I stayed where I was for my PhD, our relationship was over. And I decided that I wanted to work with the top person in my subfield, which meant leaving, which killed our relationship. Do I regret it? No. It was the right thing to do. I would've been unhappy and would've resented him for years if we'd stayed together. So even meeting someone at 22-24 does not guarantee that a serious relationship will lead to marriage and kids. My advice is to just live your life. Not everything happens on a schedule. I didn't intend to do a PhD right after my MA but, the economy was heading into the recession and there weren't jobs open in the fields I wanted to be in (at the time, that was international development). Instead, I decided to do a PhD, in part to wait out the economy and in part because I found something really cool that I wanted to study for years. Based on my old plans, I'm way off track/hopelessly behind schedule. But you know what? I'm happy and enjoying my life.

Clearly I grew up in the wrong church! Is there any particular reason why moscato is generally there? I'm totally curious (and looking up my nearest Episcopal church!)

You can't change the GPA on a degree that's already been conferred. And I really don't see why you would want to.

So, I've never had a long commute for school, though I did for fieldwork as a master's student. I came to hate the 75 minutes each way drive that was between me and my field site. I'd always try to schedule like 2-3 interviews for the same day, or interviews plus meetings or observation or just something, just so it wouldn't feel like I "wasted" trip. And I was lucky as I had a place to stay (guy I was dating at the time) so I didn't have to do the there-and-back in the same day unless I really wanted to. As for doing it long-term, I couldn't do it. Maybe if it was on a bus or subway or train I could do it, because then at least I could read a book, answer email, catch up on the news, etc. But driving it myself? I couldn't do it every single time because it just annoyed me. I'm sort of in your situation next year. I could live in a much more interesting city than the small college town, but then I'd be driving at least 45 minutes each way or spending 90 or so minutes on the bus. I've actually decided against that, even though I only need to be on campus about 3 days a week. TBH, one of the advantages of living in a place you don't particularly like is that you don't spend as much time exploring, hanging out, etc., and thus you spend more time working. And you can't underestimate the proximity to a quality university library and the ability to just browse shelves and books to see where inspiration strikes. I dunno. I've lived in some small places (seriously, I spent 1.5 years living in a town with a population of 6500) and while yes, you get bored sometimes, I also found that they were more interesting than they initially seemed, especially once you get to know the actual community and not just the other university students. Sorry, hit post too soon. I also meant to say that I think the advice to get a 6 month lease in either place is a good idea, provided you don't mind moving 6 months from now if the location isn't working out for you. Only you know you, and you need to make the decision that's right for you, not the decision that's right for me or anyone else offering you advice here.

You didn't list grantwriting and waiting to hear about funding to do research in Q1 but it probably should be in there. It's definitely a difficult phase, especially when you apply for things and then have to wait 6 months to hear back. What to do in the interim can be a challenge. I was lucky in that I got funding but those who don't then go through an even more difficult phase (do I switch to another topic, do I reapply for funding, do I take out loans to pay for the research, etc.). Definitely not an easy time. And the difficulty of the job market and preparing for it exists whether or not you decide to go the academic route. If you want a US government job, you have to learn how to write resumes for USAJOBS that showcase your experience and that demonstrate that you meet the KSAs for the position. All of your experience that you're counting in questions has to be included on your resume, whether it's from paid or volunteer work. For academic jobs, it's really more like a lottery these days. You can do everything you can while in grad school (present, publish, do interesting research, network, etc.), and still be left out cold at the end of the hiring season. That's just the way it goes.

I'm getting more and more into cycling and am currently looking for an entry-level road bike (under $700). I do live in a relatively bike-friendly place (minus the weather!), which definitely helps. I commute via bike to and from campus, and also use my bike to run errands, go to the gym, meet up with friends, etc. It helps that a lot of the stuff I do is within 3 miles of my house, meaning that driving and biking take nearly the same amount of time. My everyday bike is a late 70s Schwinn cruiser. It's a beast (by which I mean it's steel and heavy). I consider this a virtue given how common bike theft is around town and on campus here. I originally paid $95 for the bike, but have done some upgrades (tires, chain, pedals, and adding a basket). There's more I could do but, I like that it looks like a beater, which decreases the risk of theft, which I infinitely appreciate.

So, I don't know so much about conferences, but I do know of cases where graduate students have had their work stolen by their professors. In some cases, students have had entire sections lifted from their work and reproduced in a professor's publication. But, and I really want to emphasize this, this is definitely the exception, a shocking ethics violation, and a thing people are appalled about when they hear it. That said, as a graduate student, you're not really in a position to complain about your advisor stealing your work assuming you want to get a PhD and a job. I haven't heard about this as much with conferences, like I said. I will say that at a conference a few years ago, I presented in the second of two sessions about the same topic and someone in the first session basically gave almost exactly the paper I had planned to give. We didn't realize this was going to happen (obviously!) and it has since worked out because we are friends and collaborators now. And, at least for me, the topic of that paper is one that I've sort of moved away from so I'm not so concerned about those particular similarities in our work. I never had much of an issue with people "stealing" my ideas during coursework, but that's probably because my research topic is very different than that of most of the people I took classes with. (Then again, I also half-assed a bunch of my coursework if I'm going to be honest.) I'd personally be more concerned about ideas from drafts that you send to people to look over getting stolen. But, I only send my work to people I trust and who I know aren't going to steal my ideas. This is important to me because I'm going to be trying to establish a new tradition within a subfield in my upcoming publications, so I'm trying to guard the ideas as much as I can until then. Hopefully no one beats me to it!

I'm not in your field, so take this with a grain of salt. I find graduate seminars to be fairly draining mentally because they require participation and for you to draw on what you've read and also past discussions and outside experiences all at the same time. I did take back to back classes as an undergraduate, sometimes without a lunch break such that I was eating a sandwich while walking to my next class. I don't recommend it for grad school though. You need to make sure you have time to eat (to keep your energy up because you don't want to have it waning during class), and to prep mentally (review readings and your notes, prep questions) before each class. Then after, you want some time to decompress and think about the discussion, ideally.

Honestly, I think you should take your advisor's advice! Don't stress out too much or worry about being more knowledgeable. The first year is basically a crash course that gets you up to speed on the basics of everything you need to know! I always recommend spending the summer doing the fun stuff that you might not have time to do once school starts. Try to start establishing healthy routines, whether that's some sort of exercise, becoming a better cook, getting the hang of 5-10 easy recipes that you can whip up in a hurry or make large batches of on the weekend, etc. Because really, those are the kinds of skills that no one can teach you but that you'll need to survive your first year. Good luck! Hope you have a good summer!

This is going to sound like a dumb question, but I'm going to ask it anyway. Do you have any advice on picking a track for someone whose interests fit into multiple tracks and who took that screening test online and got within 2 points for three of the five tracks? Thanks in advance, and apologies for asking something that's probably kinda idiotic.

Wear whatever you want, provided everything important is covered and you're comfortable. I wouldn't bother with a blazer unless that's part of your everyday style. Several years ago I had a similar first meeting with my advisor and I wore a casual summer skirt, a tank top, and comfortable sandals. It wasn't an issue in any way, shape, or form. As fuzzy said, definitely ask about money if that's a concern of yours. You might also ask about courses/modules, their scheduling, and the expectations. Ask if there's any projects going on that you could be involved with. Be prepared to spend a few minutes discussing your research interests and how you might pursue them. Don't just wait for your burning questions to come up organically. If you have questions, you need to ask them.

A lot of this depends on where you are specifically and what your in-country affiliate does as well. Where I was, there was no Fulbright Commission and the Embassy did not check up on us. But, they could. Also, we could not make up any days, so anything over 14 days meant a reduction in your stipend (aka, you pay them back).

I'm not in the humanities but, I can offer some insight since I'm personally in a similar situation. This may be a bit jumbled so feel free to send me a PM if you have additional questions. My advisor started a new job in the fall and my scheduled graduation date is December 2013 as of right now. None of his current students chose to follow him. Actually, he never even really presented it as an option since, to get funding, we'd have to be admitted as grad students to his new department and that's unlikely since we didn't do our coursework or exams there. Only two of his students hadn't advanced to candidacy and both now have since he left with him as their advisor. They are both going to be taking on a co-chair that will work with them through the completion of the dissertation and, in one of those cases, my advisor is going to just become a committee member. For the 4 of us that had already advanced to candidacy, we had all either collected our data or were in the process of doing so when he announced his decision to leave (it was March 2012 when he told us). So, he's staying on as our advisor and we have a university-imposed deadline of December 2013 to defend and file our dissertations. None of us should have any problem meeting this deadline. Our university hasn't hired anyone to replace him or the other faculty member we lost last year, so there's been a scramble among students that weren't yet through their exams to devise new committees. And, even of those that did their exams this year, there will be some sort of scramble to find new advisors and flesh out committees since many of us lost two committee members due to the two departures. So, none of us followed him. Most of us haven't taken on a substitute advisor. I'm not planning on doing so, though I may take on an additional committee member and will likely rely more on some of my current committee members for the day-to-day stuff. But, we're also all really used to having limited time with our advisor because he used to have a lot of students and then he started taking on more administrative roles within our department, which meant it was harder to meet with him about stuff. That hasn't changed, though it's maybe gotten a bit trickier. I hope this helps. Like I said before, feel free to ask me any questions via PM or on here. I'll try to share what I know.