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nechalo

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Everything posted by nechalo

  1. I agree with Eigen completely. This is classism in the sense that those who can afford to take the test multiple times will have the opportunity of having higher score. At least before schools could look past that by seeing exactly how many times the test was taken; schools could separate someone who did well on the test once with someone who just kept on testing until they got the same score. This is only going to lower school's opinion of the GRE. Bad move.
  2. nechalo

    Los Angeles, CA

    Thank you, Sigaba and Outwest for your advice. That sucks to hear that LA killed their PT! I just think everyone getting around mainly by car is not sustainable - that's my biggest personal issue with the car culture. Although, I'm from a car city (Columbus OH is pretty spread out and PT here sucks... but we do share rides if we're all coming from and going to the same place) and understand why people use cars and say they are necessary. I'll probably get one down the line, but with only a $28k stipend and no current car... I just will have to see what my budget looks like after I settle in. I still have the map of the Big Blue Bus service I picked up when I was on my visit. I'll look into others. But that will probably be just to get around and see different parts of the city. For my first year, which is mostly classes and TAing for me, I think I'll live in Weyburn Terrace or elsewhere close to campus, just for convenience. After my first year I plan to move to a cheaper place, maybe in the Palms area. I figure I can just take the bus to UCLA, tether my phone to my laptop and get some work/emails in, and with the money I save I can afford car insurance and leasing a (or buy a cheap) car to explore what I missed of the city my first year. Does that sound like a plan? I've seen decent places in Palms for as low as $800 for a studio. Sometimes, even with a stove.
  3. I am also a bit disappointed at the price of university apartments, $1260/month for a studio in Weyburn - yikes. From what I've heard even the immediate surrounding area can easily be a bit cheaper. University apartments are nice options just because they are guaranteed and there is not as much of a worry about the landlord/maintenance/etc. I'm thinking of watching padmapper.com like a hawk about 3-4 weeks before I would move. If I don't see anything particularly great I'll just go with Weyburn and eat the cost - just at first. My plan is to move away from campus after my first year (once done with classes and just doing research and a little teaching) so I keep telling myself that the high cost and other craziness of finding a place in a new town is only temporary. It will be easier to find an apartment and easier to to find something a lot cheaper, especially farther from campus, once we're already there, have friends/word of mouth, and are able to see properties in-person.
  4. I ended up deciding on UCLA (chemistry). I am looking forward to it; will be either starting this summer or fall.
  5. nechalo

    Los Angeles, CA

    I'm from the midwest (OH) moving to UCLA for chemistry this summer or fall. I currently have no plans on having a car at least for the first year, then maybe I'll save up and buy used or lease if I can afford to on my stipend. With all the talk about insane traffic I don't understand why more LA people try to live car-less or at least carpool with other people going from point A to point B. It seems like a good way to save oneself from a some of the LA chaos. Well, I'll try it at first at least. With my grad school research and some public transportation I shouldn't get too bored of everything within a reasonable bus ride/walk from UCLA. I do admit I would have a hard time existing without a car in my current location, Columbus, OH... (it is similarly a car city, but we do carpool a lot - It is common for one person to pick up 3-4 others just so only one car is used. It's more personal. I guess that's the midwest for you.) but during my first year here I didn't have a car here either. It's purely financial at this point - I'm broke and just can't afford a new one or maintaining my current one (it's about ready for the dump )
  6. As a current OSU undergrad I've always had next year's housing pinned near the beginning of winter quarter, at the latest. I had no idea that was different at other colleges.
  7. I'm split mainly between UCLA, Northwestern, UC Davis at this point. Just between us though, UCLA is at the top. But, I haven't visited yet - coming this Thursday for chemistry! Anyone have any recommendations about what to do/check out in the westwood and surrounding areas while I'm visiting? I'm staying for a couple extra days, because it's a top choice of mine, to get a better feel of the place...
  8. I sent a message to the UCLA chemgrad e-mail about if there are potential fellowships and they said I would have to apply myself and pointed me towards the GRAPES database (http://www.gdnet.ucla.edu/grpinst.htm)... sounds like a headache. I haven't looked at it thoroughly but haven't found much of what I was looking for, several are for doing research at a specific place for example. One for student athletes. A couple more were just loans (I selected fellowship/grant)... :/ Has anyone else had more luck? I've been looking mostly in the Palms area, and I do see some decent apartments in the $800/month range. I wonder how bike-able UCLA is from there though, I know there are buses but I dislike the idea of always having to rely on them. Are there any other areas you would recommend that are relatively close to campus? (I've heard K-town recommended before, but it seems that would require a pretty long commute...)
  9. Ha, I appreciate your insight. I figure I could ask about higher stipend/fellowships, while mentioning my financial concerns, to at least hear if they have anything more to say. I'm not sure how to go about talking to adcoms about money and not come off as needy/entitled but the ability to live comfortably is part of the decision. Plus, the fact is that after adjusting for cost of living it IS the lowest offer I've received. I'm not surprised because I understand UC schools have been through their fair share of financial strain (another reason why I don't really want to push it). However, if it comes between UCLA which fits closer to my research interests, and a higher ranked school giving more money... well research interests can change anyway... (not to mean I'd sell myself to do something I don't want, that would go against what I'm going to grad school for in the first place, but a more equal offer between the schools would help de-cloud the decision) It's good to know there's still hope to hear in March. I won't sweat it too much now; I haven't even visited anywhere yet. A lot can change.
  10. Yea I feel similar, fortunately I just have a few classes left. Next quarter I'll be taking just ONE class (the last senior class for my major), I expect it to be an awesome quarter (and it will be spring )
  11. Thanks for your response. I am trying to work out my cost of living there but it's not looking too great. It's too bad because UCLA is a great mix between having my specific research interests and being a highly ranked school, but it seems everywhere has their faults. (some of my other favorite schools are one that has just the research I want, but is not well known overall, and another that is highly ranked and has a lot of awesome research but doesn't have anyone in the niche I like the most). I'm still hopeful there may be available fellowships, but I wonder if because I haven't heard back yet I'm not in the running. I looked up the teaching fellow thing and that seems to be only for students who have advanced to candidacy although maybe I was looking at the wrong thing.
  12. Does anyone know how funding works at UCLA? I received the offer letter about the "minimum" $27500 but no information on extra fellowships. I thought this was a little strange because UCLA would be the most expensive place for me to live and mostly everywhere else offered additional fellowships straight away. I believed it was pretty common in chemistry programs; a couple of them were just for the first year but that would help a lot with moving. I don't know if I should e-mail and ask if there are possibly other forms of aid given + stipend or sit tight because maybe that info is still to come?
  13. Hehe, maybe chemistry departments are just a little more straightforward than others. I'm also chem and this is what I've seen: UC Davis: Congratulations on your admission to UC Davis UCLA: UCLA Admission UW: University of Washington Admission Offer UMD: Congratulations!!! GaTech: Georgia Tech admission Northwestern and NC State were more reserved, with the former giving a vague subject and the latter just asking me to sign into my account. Will update when the rejections/any other acceptances come
  14. Yes. For the past year I've been a little obsessed with UC Davis. It's also not in the top 20 but I identified research interests very well with a few professors, especially one in particular who is currently my favorite across all schools. I also think I would really like the climate and city, even though it's not coastal and is a pretty small college town (but still very close to the state capital and not a long train/car ride from another major city). The fact that there's a whole wiki devoted to the small town including stuff to do/history also gives the impression that the students and residents there are generally very happy and proud of the place. I don't know of anyone else this app cycle who has applied though, except one random result in the database. I fortunately did get accepted to Davis! But also to a much higher ranked school offering a stipend/fellowship deal that is a little larger (together with a lower cost of living). Most would probably go for the higher one (much more commonly talked about here) but I've found myself still leaning toward Davis... (not to mention any of the other schools on my list). I told myself to just not stress, to enjoy the visits and get a better feel for them before I make any decision.
  15. California Institute of Technology (Caltech): March 1-3 or March 22-24 Cornell: March 2-4 or March 30-April 1 Colorado State: Feb 17-19, March 9-11 Georgia Tech: March 15-17, April 5-7 Montana State: March 1-4 MIT: March 30-April 1 New York University: Feb 16-18, Mar 8-10 Northwestern University: March 8-10, 15-17, 29-31 Princeton: Feb 24-27, March 2-4, March 16-18 Scripps: Feb 23-25 or March 1-3 Stanford: March 1, 8, 15 or 22 (may combine with a Friday visit to Berkeley) SUNY Stony Brook: March 9, March 23 UC Berkeley: March 1-3, March 8-10, March 15-17 or March 22-24 UC Davis: February 16-18, March 11-12 (one is more condensed than the other) UCI: March 2, 9, 16 UC LA: January 27, March 2 or March 23 U Chicago: February 16-18 or March 8-10 U Florida: February 17-19 or March 16-18 UIUC: Feb 17-18 or March 2-3 or March 23-24 or March 9-10 (Pchem) or March 30-31 (Pchem) UMich: February 2-5 UNC Chapel Hill: March 9-12 or March 30 - April 1 U Oregon: March 16-18 UPenn: March 16th-18 USC (Southern Cal): Feb 16-19 or March 1-4 or March 22-25 UT Southwestern (Interview): Feb 2-4 UVA: March 15th-16th University of Washington: March 9-10 Yale (General Chemistry): March 22-24
  16. I think I was grouped into theoretical.
  17. Me too! but not one I mentioned in my SOP... I was thinking maybe she's just in charge of the e-mails. I'm so excited! Now to wait for info on the stipend/any fellowships. I've already got a cost of living spreadsheet going and it's not looking awesome, relatively speaking. We'll see.
  18. Location is often a very important decision when choosing a grad school (and rightly so!). Some people choose schools right around where they currently live (I know of many people that are applying to Purdue; I live in Ohio and many people aim to stay in or near the midwest). Some need somewhere their significant other could also move. Some want to plant new roots (personally, I tended to apply as far away as I could without being labelled an international student...) And since you're going to live there for several years, you need to LIKE it. I'm assuming that just about everyone would like to get away from research now and then and enjoy life - that's fine, and more than healthy. For some, they would like a warm climate to enjoy or a city with a lot of entertainment options, or a location they could pursue a hobby (surfing, hiking, skiing, fishing, whatever).
  19. But the deadline was originally January 11th. It sort of sounds like a last-minute application but it stood out enough to be reviewed and accepted in record time. It's just interesting to me; of course this whole process is pretty mysterious anyway. I'm still waiting for a couple of my top choices (not necessarily UCSD) and alsowondering if there's anything else I could have done to stand out.
  20. Wow, Congrats! Why did you apply so late, though? I submitted in December and haven't heard back at all...
  21. I received an e-mail from a professor I mentioned in my SOP (who was also on the admission committee) and following that, an e-mail from the school. My status page online still hasn't changed though (no "View Decision" anywhere) I had confirmed everything was submitted and complete back in mid-December.
  22. Hehe, I know the feeling checking for new e-mail all too well. I have fortunately heard from one of my favorite schools (Northwestern) with a nice fellowship too so that has helped quite a bit. But I actually felt my research interests fit better at two other schools, neither of which I've heard from and I can't help but wonder why. This is not an easy process for anyone - for schools or us.
  23. I'm also still waiting on UT Austin, but not losing hope just yet. If we're going to hear back it'll be probably be by mid-February at the latest though (that's the timeframe I heard when I e-mailed to ask) Also, for me: UCLA, UCSD, and UC Davis (for which there have also been some acceptances already)... Perhaps these places are just scrambling to get together the best fellowships/aid available before admitting us
  24. I agree. Good job, UCLA is one of my favorite schools... hopefully the rest of us will hear back before March! Is it true that they're having visitation weekend next week?
  25. Georgia Tech's pre-application is free, and that's all I turned in before getting my acceptance from them (submitted beginning of December) NC State is free to apply for domestic students/
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