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renster

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  1. I had an experience something like this when working on my thesis. The biggest piece of advice I can offer based on my experience is to make sure that you communicate with your thesis sponsor. By that, I don't mean tell him / her that you have no drive left - I mean that you should try to formulate the difficulties you are having into specific questions and bring them these issues. In my case, the lack of motivation became the greatest when I felt like I had lost track of the main question behind my research - sounds silly, but this is surprisingly easy to do, especially if you have had to modify your thesis question during the process of research. Having a poorly delineated question made the project feel like it would just continue to drag on and on, and made it really difficult to break down into manageable tasks that I could tackle one at a time - each task seemed to necessitate some other task, which necessitated some other task, ad infinitum. Once I had refocused, I was able to create a specific set of steps which I could jam through and finish the thing. I think that contacting my thesis sponsor with specific questions earlier would have eliminated a good portion of the slog of the process because she helped me refocus based on the questions I was asking.
  2. This topic has already been discussed in another thread and the consensus was that the cuts by in large will not affect the grad students. Cost of health care may rise from (I may be misquoting) $12 / month to around $43/month. Too bad, but this is still quite affordable. As for the rest of the issue, I have read repeatedly that the state has invested too much money in their tier one research school (which brings in a lot of people and money to the state, has high standing in many fields) to take a course of action which would make it less competitive to prospective / current students. So I'm not too worried about this issue. Your friends have funded History MA degrees? That alone is pretty awesome. I don't think they would get funding pursuing an MA in most schools.
  3. For three of four acceptances, I was sitting at my desk at the lab. For the last acceptance, I was in the library and walked into the hallway to take the phone call - it was my top choice school and I was jumping up and down like a nutter.
  4. I just accepted a spot in the Speech Pathology Grad Program. Very excited to start! Would love to meet up with other students sometime once the fall arrives - I'm from New York and don't know a soul in Wisconsin.
  5. If you are going to have a long distance relationship in both cases, go with A. In fact, go with A anyhow. You don't want to sacrifice your top choice school for a relationship that "has a pretty good chance of falling apart" - and then regret your choice of school when it does fall apart. Good luck!
  6. If you are going to have a long distance relationship in both cases, go with A. In fact, go with A anyhow. You don't want to sacrifice your top choice school for a relationship that "has a pretty good chance of falling apart" - and then regret your choice of school when it does fall apart. Good luck!
  7. It sounds like you really want to go to Stony Brook. If the debt is not too much of a consideration, go where you will be happy.
  8. Be careful with this issue, I have read a post on this website somewhere from someone who had this situation and whose offer was later revoked by the school (the department he applied to could not get the waiver for the low GPA). I would definitely continue to try to get information, even make a trip there to resolve the question. I would not accept this offer and decline other offers until you figure this issue out. If you don't hear back by tomorrow, I would consider this school a dead option.
  9. Unless Stony Brook is significantly more prestigious than CCNY, I would go to CCNY because of the reduced tuition and living costs. Does the prestige really compensate for the cost? I am assuming that since you have no science background, you'd probably go to Stony Brook for 3 years as well.
  10. First of all, congratulations at getting in! I understand your disappointment about the lack of funding, but given your belief that you may not have a better shot next year, you should consider the offer if this is what you really want to do (i.e., nothing else would make you happy). It may work out if you are willing to kiss some butt and really work hard to stand out in your internship placement. However, it does sound like the continuance of your teaching internship is almost completely dependent on your ability to impress the college you are placed with, which is dicey because there are so many variables involved, many of which you will have no control over - such as the personality of your boss, location of the school you will have to teach at (NYC is huge - this could really be an issue if your program is in midtown and you are placed in an outer borough, for example), NYC / NYS budget concerns, and the quality of the students. Also, I would ask about how the teaching placement works - i.e., very specific details as to what you need to do to satisfy the institutions. You also may consider how well you work with various populations of students, and how happy you would be if you got stuck at a college with difficult students. Can you accept at this school and initiate a transfer application during your first year in case you do not get funding for the second year? Finally, you should consider the costs of living in New York City - surf craigs list to get an approximation of rents, etc. It can be pretty expensive if they aren't offering you student housing. Tough decision - good luck!
  11. - Both schools are top ranked; - Both have great research opportunities and great faculty; - Money is the same at both schools; - Both programs prepare students for both medical and school based positions, but emphasize research; - Visited one school and loved the program but not the city / cold weather; - Have not been able to visit the other, but have visited area and liked it very much; - Easier for my boyfriend / family to visit the cold weather city and the cold weather city school is (very) slightly more prestigious in field, but definitely more prestigious overall; - Cold weather school is located in a "liberal" city (a plus); - Other school is located in a "conservative" city (not sure if this would be a negative) but have long been interested in living in this area; - Will possibly transition into PhD program wherever I go, and so am looking at potentially living in this area for 5 + years (and if I do this, likely that my boyfriend and I will break up b/c he is tied to our current location).
  12. Are you considering any other programs? If you not considering other programs, then are you willing to spend the money (on a master's degree?) if you don't get into the PhD? If so, I would accept the offer and wait to see if you are then admitted into the PhD program. If you are not willing to pay for the masters, try to determine the likelihood of your acceptance into a PhD program if you were to apply again next year. If you feel that there is a high likelihood, either decline and try again next year OR accept, wait for the PhD result, and if you are not accepted into the PhD withdraw. You may wreck your chances at getting into that particular school for next year if you withdraw, however. Another thought - does the program ever allow people to transfer into the PhD program in the second year? If so, this might also be a good option. Good luck!
  13. That is a lot of debt for a writing degree, but I see the allure. How many years is the program, and would you have to pay for all of those years if you went to Columbia, or is there a chance of funding down the line? How great of a chance of funding? Do the jobs that graduates of the Columbia program get justify the debt - i.e., would you have a reasonable shot of making enough so you wouldn't be hurting terribly after graduation? Also, it might be helpful to do an analysis of how feasible it would be to earn the amount of money you would need to pay off your Columbia loans in a number of different scenarios - best case scenario, normal scenario, ok scenario, and worst case scenario. Hard decision, good luck!
  14. I think you may need to include more information in your post. From what you have stated, I am not sure why you are considering NCSU - it does not seem to be as related to the field you want to study. If you really are interested in NCSU for some reason you did not state, then I would suggest doing some follow up research re: how strong NCSU really is in your field. I would not go on the word of the director alone, especially if he did not give any specifics.
  15. Bump. I am under the impression that bowing out after placing a deposit was highly looked down upon / runs the risk of potentially important burning bridges, particularly if one was interested in becoming a professor. However, this is just hearsay from various sources... any wisdom from experience out there?
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