baimeeker

I'll add mine: Binghamton Univeristy I have only attended one class here, but I live in Vestal, so I can probably comment on it. Unless you plan to use the BU bus all the time (which sounds pretty annoying) you really must have a car. The BU buses are very good and do go to many of the most popular destinations, but if you're living off campus you may find it hard to get home. BU is located on the Vestal Parkway, which is one of the busiest roads in the area. Biking is legal, I'm pretty sure, but I've rarely seen anyone do it. The street is dangerous in cars, never mind bikes. Not to mention, just crossing the street to get to the shops on the other side is pretty iffy. Also, forget about getting a taxi. There is one service, but it is laughably unavailable most of the time. On the other hand, there are a lot of places to get food and to shop nearby and the area that has these shops is relatively flat (for Vestal).

Similarly, I am going to UC Davis in the fall and was hoping someone could tell me a little bit about how much living there costs. Online, it looks like most apartments are about 900-1000 per month, which is a lot for my stipend (although still doable). Are there other places that don't advertise? Also, is there a "cheaper" part of town? PS. I refuse to live downtown. I like my peace and quiet :wink:

Most likely, what she means is that they don't usually accept people from the third tier. She's trying to dissuade you from waiting for the school's official response if you have other offers, since some people will really risk their chance to go somewhere else to get into their dream school. It sounds like this doesn't really apply to you since you are happy with the other schools you got into. As far as not hearing from them, schools have varying degrees of communication, and some do not initiate communication at all until they have made a decision. All the same, good luck with everything!

Hey guys! I've noticed a trend where every time I visit a school I get positively thrilled about it for a few days and then am able to think logically about my choice again. I'm making my decision on Wednesday because my life next week will be 10x more difficult and I want to get grad school decisions out of the way. However, I just got back from UC Davis last weekend and am absolutely enamored with it. The impression I'm having right now is that it feels even more like a perfect fit that the other ones did right after I came back, but I'm not really sure if I can trust that impression. I had all of my worries about the area assuaged and loved the involvement of the grad students (as compared with UA). Not really looking for advice here, but just wondering if anyone else has experienced this effect after visiting schools.

So, I recently visited a school thinking that I was going into the interview process, since I had not received an acceptance letter. Within a few hours (thank goodness or the confusion would have lasted much longer) it was established that I had been accepted and that there was a secretarial error. I was the only person there who did know that I was in (I was the only prospective there that day). It's been a week and a half, and although I was promised an offer I have not heard anything back from the program. Although I enjoyed my stay, I don't think their program is for me, and was hoping to let them know soon. But I want to take a look at their conditions before I make my final decision. Should I e-mail them? Or do you think they might still be getting their act together? Addendum: I just realized after reading it back that this is a very silly question. I e-mailed the head of the department. Hopefully he will get back to me soon.

I had assumed acceptance at at least one school with funding, since funding is pretty common in my field. I had one school I knew was less prestigious, but was not sure that it was really a safety school. I had one reach school, which has sent out a ton of rejections but not to me... but I was never hoping to go there in the first place. So far, 5 acceptances, 1 Rejection, and still waiting on 1. Way better than I thought would happen!

Hey... I've got two schools offering fellowships and two offering TAships. When it was only one fellowship, I kept thinking it's not an issue to go somewhere without one, but now that I have two... well it still feels like I have a choice, but now between those two schools. Obviously the schools see fellowships as a recruiting tool, and those two schools were already my favorites going into the application process, but I'm not sure how much more difficult it will be to work through the first year as a TA or whether that may actually be beneficial. Also, it looks like the TA preparation at the schools that I was offered TAships at are more organized than the TA preparation at other schools. I may have to dive right into TAing the second year, although that will probably be easier, since I hear the first semester is the hardest to get used to. So... anyone in a similar position? And also, if it were you, how much would fellowships skew your rankings?

The two recommenders at my school see me all the time, and so they know about everything. However, I am on a first name basis with my other recommender. I have been sending all three of them e-mails to let them know how it's going. I think it would be harder to send the e-mails if I was not doing so well though...

Hey... anyone else been offered a first year VIGRE fellowship anywhere? I was offered two of them, but I'm not sure whether I should be thinking about getting a stab at TAing first. Also, what are the requirements at your program? I have one that wants me to attend extra seminars and one saying there are no extra requirements for first year VIGRE students. Also, for anyone who may have had this in the past, what about your experiences? Did you feel connected with other students, or were there jealousy issues?

Just talked to a girl at one school who has two kids and was very well supported by the department there about leave. I think maybe the way to approach a question like this is to ask if any women in the program have done this in the past and how it turned out for them. If not, you should talk about hypotheticals.

UA... yes. I do know that there were a lot of people at the visit when I was there and not all of them were seriously considering going there. 17 Applied math applicants went to visit. I would say I'll hurry up with them, but honestly I think they're still my 1st choice. Good luck though!

Well... I had 5 and got rid of my bottom one already. That leaves 4, all of which I am visiting. I have one more question for the first one I visited based on my experience at the second one, but I think the first is trumping the second regardless. Two visits to go. I think I will be able to tell after visiting each one which ones I am jazzed about. Honestly though, the funding/teaching issue is really important to me. There are two schools giving me very good fellowships, but I have to learn how to teach as well so that I can do it later. Not sure how good one of the two schools is at teaching people to teach... so... Bottom line... it will be an over all decision, but it may be very difficult.

So... for a bit of clarification... here's the deal. I'm sending an e-mail to ASU right now to decline their offer. I have visited UA and loved it, so I'm not turning it down, since I may go there. But I have to visit the other three schools. Honestly, the ones I'm visiting this week will have a hard time impressing me, since I loved UA and got a great offer from the one I'm visiting last. But I haven't gotten an offer from UA yet, so I can't even weigh the offers properly! Honestly, I haven't heard from two schools, but since I'm not really hoping to go to them I feel fine about deciding before I hear from them. I'm unlikely to make my decision on April 14 BTW... I have a thesis due on the 14th, so the sooner this stressful stuff is out of the way, the better!

Hey guys, I've been hanging out on the results board and can't help noticing how many people are asking other people to turn down offers ASAP so that other people can hear from schools. Some websites even say not to keep more than one offer in your hand at a time! While I totally agree that it's best not to keep offers you know you will not accept (I will be turning one down next week for sure, but I want to wait until Monday so that it will be at the top of their e-mail list when they get back to work), what if you are visiting schools? At this point, I have been accepted to four schools, and am visiting two of those within the next month (I already visited one). I haven't decided either way about these schools. Is it really wrong for me to wait until I've visited the schools to decide whether to turn them down? I'm planning on narrowing it down to 2 after my final visit (early April)... but is that good enough? Also, anyone else feeling this pressure?

I loved it there over the weekend. My other visits will have to work pretty hard to beat that one! I'm from Binghamton NY and I go to school at William Smith College (ie. Hobart and William Smith Colleges) in Geneva, NY

The applied mathematics department hasn't sent out acceptances yet, but I'm visiting them this weekend and I'm really hoping to get in. It's one of my two top picks right now, although I got into the other one already...

I'm visiting 4 schools. There are two schools where I have not been accepted or invited to visit, but one of those schools is VERY close to both my house and my college, so if I do get accepted (currently waitlisted at Cornell...) I can visit easily. Visiting University of Arizona this weekend! I can't wait! They're taking us to the outdoor museum on Sunday...