long_time_lurker

I completely get what you're saying, but what have you been doing and where have you been living for the last 2 years with NO JOB?? Anyhow, is this a field that's hiring? So you can say with at least some certainty that you'll pay off the tuition? There's that old saying, "it takes money to make money". On the other hand, I can't blame you for taking a second look before signing on for loans and starting a program with no guarantee of employment. Have you sent out resumes and pounded the pavement? I'm not talking about just in your field either. I see jobs out there; not all glamorous, but they pay the bills, some even have benefits, and they don't require signing your life away for 5 or even 6 figures of debt.

I'd like to echo the other posters. My credit score is what qualified me for zero interest when I got my car 2 summers ago. That's free money. Also when you count rewards points, you are getting at least a 1% discount on everything. Now on the other hand if you are talking about people who charge away indiscriminantly on cards and then don't pay off their balances, well then I am with you 100%. This is really an abhorrent behavior, especially when the same sorts of irresponsible people expect the rest of us to bail them out when they declare bankruptcy. It's a shame there still aren't debtors prisons.

I'm an expectant father (due early June) so I can't tell you what it feels like to be pregnant but I can relay what my wife has felt like as well as former co-workers, and how grad school plays in: 1. My wife's morning sickness was 24/7 the whole first trimester. She's a trooper though and didn't miss a day of work, and in her job she's on her feet. She is often very tired, though. 2. A co-worker and I did our Masters at the same time, full-time job and full-time Masters. She had two kids already to boot. She did it, but she was definitely more exhausted than I was. 3. My wife is very tired, so I would think with commuting and class it might be a challenge to have the energy for reading and assignments. Also, our doctor said strictly no caffeine. So it's certainly doable. People work 40 hours (or more) and do it so no difference here. 4. We got married in '08 and knew we wanted to conceive this past fall. Since I used to teach full-time the idea was to have the baby in the early summer so I would be here to support my wife the first couple months, and it worked out. I'd imagine you'd want to do the same thing, so you don't miss any classes. 5. I don't know what your husband does and your career situation now or when you get out, but I'm going to make a lot more in a few years but at our ages (33 and 31) we did not want to wait any longer. We had the same issue where a little more than a year ago I didn't think I would be in a program (and mine is 4 years minimum if I'm disciplined and the dissertation goes well). We decided not to let material issues get in the way of what we really wanted (a family). So I would say, don't wait - except perhaps till the late summer to conceive rather than now - because really family comes first and the rest will be figured out one way or another. 6. This is more for after the birth, and maybe you're different but I know I can't study with noise, so I already moved my study (that's where baby's room will be) besides getting the baby's room ready before class begins. So do as much as possible now before you're pregnant e.g. IKEA runs, painting, etc. or make sure your husband can take vacation (I've spent my break on this and one last paper.) Your husband is going to have to realize he's going to have to care for the baby when he/she's loud and that you need your own quiet time/space. 7. Since you're in NY: If you don't have health benefits, the eligibility is a lot more forgiving for pregnant women, as you get counted as 2 people. Once you have the baby, a family can get Child Health Plus if the household income is under about 75K. So if you didn't think you would be eligible, you might be.

Good catch, Juillet. Sorry, OP. Looks like you're out of luck. The hours are the deal breaker.

Let us know when you make your decision. You've gotten some good advice here. My only rebuttals would be that Fort Greene/Downtown BK is farther on the train (30 min from DeKalb) from NYU than Hoboken (20 min) for similar money. Also, in regard to car ownership, I've found besides my "you'll have to take my car from my cold dead hands!" view, it turned out to be cost effective for my wife to keep hers too than move. Basically, the city (Manhattan) is probably too pricey, except Inwood; relatively close places where people tend not to keep cars, like the trendy parts of Brooklyn, Hoboken/JC, are close to transit but the rents are still pretty high. Then the places farther out, will be cheaper and you can keep your car, but then it takes longer and as Juillet mentioned you have to pay for your car. I've found it pays to be farther away - the price with the car is still less than being closer and paying higher rent and I have way more space - but your mileage may vary. If I were you since you have the luxury of time I'd try to find someplace where you get to have your cake and eat it too; low rent, keep your car for convenience, and be close to transit for going to the city for class. Just off the top of my head, Bayonne wins for NYU, it's inexpensive, there's parking (and no alternate side), and it's 45 minutes to NYU by HBLR and PATH.

I have 4 weeks off, weeks 1, 3, and 4 I have my day job, so during week 2 will be my "vacation" to veg out and do nothing, and before I go back I'm going away for MLK weekend to Montreal. In weeks 3 and 4 though I'll be doing a lot of reading and problem sets to prep for the new semester when I'm not redoing my spare bedroom for my baby-on-the-way. The guy in my cohort who is from out of town is going home for the break, and another guy is spending Christmas to New Years with his family before coming back. We'll probably do some problem sets together here and there before class starts.

"Thank you". If you want to reciprocate you may but it's not expected. The onus is on a boss in these situations to give the employee a gift (or card), not on the employee to give to his/her boss. I've gotten a gift from every boss I've ever had. My advisor did the same. None of us in the grad office who got his gift is reciprocating, that I know of.

You haven't been convicted. Re-read the question on the app. It should say something to the order of "have you been convicted or pled guilty...". Innocent until proven guilty still applies in this country. So to any of these questions, check NO.

I missed it, but I vote this for Post of the Month!!

Aaron you hit the nail on the head - if you can do your duties no one cares. I went the "permission from the Dean" route to cover my ass, and that was the only concern - the point of the assistantship is for us to devote time to our studies. I made it unequivocally clear that my studies came first and I would do what I had to do to get my work done. I got the permission in under 3 minutes, and it hasn't been a problem since. I would however make it a point not to mention your job too much to your colleagues. Some people get bent out of shape it, which is b.s., but I've learned to keep my cards close to the vest. I don't think either of us ordinarily do that, but it has worked out well for me in this particular regard.

@sunshine6: A friend of mine lives in Glenolden. Check it out. It's leafy, dirt cheap, and within a half hour of Philly and has a train to boot.

See IRS Topic 455 - Moving Expenses. Basically, just tell the accountant (or better yet, save the $$ and do your own taxes) you moved to do a new job. It's not a fib, as you are indeed a university employee (stipend).

Yes, most of the stuff is either not interesting or frivolous, but it takes literally less than a minute a day to look through. This is the key. For instance, I try to take my wife out once a week, her choice. So we know we're going to go out to eat, wine tasting, whale watching, etc. anyway. A lot of pizza places including one we like recently had a pay $10 for $20 gift certificate promo on Groupon. We bought the maximum, because we do pizza once a week anyway.

Work hard (do other paid employment), make good investments (nothing like making money with money), and use coupons and deal sites like Groupon. Also, keep track of your budget and identify things you don't really need (or for that matter enjoy that much) and eliminate them. This will free up resources for needs as well as splurges, which if you live frugally the rest of the time you can actually do pretty often. The Premack principle does wonders for getting work done.

I know nothing about UC but the best bet is to just ask the directors of the programs. Often rules like "must be enrolled full-time" or "must not be employed while receiving a stipend" are bendable or waivable if you just speak to the appropriate person. You must have some connections from your job with someone who can get the ball rolling for you.

Wow. If I was an investor I would run for the exits.

It's not the writing, it's how you're doing it. Obviously for specifics you should talk to a doctor but the height of your desk, chair, keyboard, and screen are all important. The chair is important too, and you've taken care of that. I think this applies to many of us, staring at screens (or typing) for hours on end.

Same here. Remember, OP, you're there for your own purposes, not your advisor's or department's. Roll with the punches where you must, but in your mind know that you're there to earn your Master's and that will certainly help you land a job whether it's with AccuWeather, TWC, at a hedge fund (there's a huge demand on the Street for this) or a host of others (NWS actually keeps a list http://www.nws.noaa....im/dirintro.htm ) or if you have to there's always the government (with the NWS). Also, you should know (this info is from someone I've lost touch with but I see it corroborated elsewhere online) that you can use your modeling and programming experience in other fields. You could find work doing quantitative analysis. Even people I know in quantitative psych. who have a strong background are very in demand to do statistical modeling.

First, I agree with natsteel. Whether it's right or not, it's not worth mentioning if there's even a chance it's going to negatively effect your odds of admission. Next, for what it's worth, a full professor for clinical mentioned in our course this semester that the discipline tends to attract more of those with mental health diagnoses (e.g. clincial depression) than others. At least in clinical practice it can become an issue of competency, as one must make his/her diagnoses solely based on the attributes of the client and not by interjecting personal experiences. No mention was made whether this would affect someone's admission chances.

Some students will put non sequiturs into their assignments to try and catch you not reading their assignments.

More than likely that was somebody with a BS story trying to get a rise out of people (i.e. a troll). On the other hand, this is no different than any other job in this world. Even religious sisters have these office politics related conflicts. So if this teaches someone a lesson, so be it. I have to admit this would be a funny joke to pull on someone who was actually granted it, to bust someone's chops.

You're correct in regard to it not being City property, but that doesn't mean people can camp out in it or that laws don't apply. It's not as if OWS bought or rented the property. Brookfield Properites doesn't want these people there either but got their hands tied by politicians and other movers and shakers. Brookfield has posted rules for the park as is its right to do and this includes no camping equipment, sleeping bags, sleeping overnight, etc. FDNY finally removed the illegal generators and gas cans yesterday. The only reason the squatters themselves haven't been removed is because they have become darlings of the mainstream media and the mayor doesn't have the courage to order what would unfortunately likely become a violent eviction. (this part after Edit) Also, although it is not Public (as in owned by the City) the park is public in that Brookfield (and any other future owner of Liberty Plaza across the street) has to ensure that the park is open to the public (small "p"). This includes anyone who wants to go in there to among other things enjoy lunch, sit on a bench, etc. As it is now the place is crammed with people's private property and is being used as a de facto headquarters for a private movement. I (and others) argue that this is impeding the public's ability to use the park for its intended uses.

Damn those intransitivities!

I would move beyond just considering the outer boroughs (though Staten Island to NYU isn't bad) and consider NJ. For instance, you can live in Bayonne (in Jersey) and be by NYU in no time via the light rail and PATH. Also don't sweat being from out of town and feeling uninformed. mta.info has great schedule and fare info for the subways, buses, and commuter rail (i.e. LIRR and Metro-North). panynj.gov is good for PATH and njtransit.com also for commuting from Jersey.

Eigen I agree 100% with you in regard to your first post (enough to upvote it). However a good point is raised in regard to there not being enough blue collar jobs available. Thanks to government policies too many jobs like manufacturing jobs have gone offshore. Also, in the trades until a place gets rid of its illegals, it's not easy finding plumbing and electrical work. Getting into the unions (electrical, pipefitters, iron workers, etc.) is an even harder nut to crack. I do agree 100% though that this loan forgiveness just encourages lack of responsibility, and that there should be better vocational education and policies that make blue-collar work more viable in this country again particularly for American citizens. I can see doing income-based repayment but writing off the debt isn't a good idea.