long_time_lurker

You shouldn't look at it as a waste, these are courses that will lead to your MPA degree which you will always be able to use in the future, in particular if the academia route doesn't work out, or not right away. Tenure track jobs as you know are dwindling and hard to get, so if you can work a day job and adjunct on the side until you get one, you will be better off. Whether or not the credits transfer is really a function of: 1) whether the coursework you've taken in course X corresponds to the coursework in course Y at New University, and; 2) How reluctant New University (or more importantly, New Department) is to award transfer credits for a variety of other reasons (chiefly, $$$).

What other field is it that you want to go into? Work experience counts more than what you did in school 11 years ago, but the field may make a difference.

The long and short of it is he tears his generals a new one and then admits that he is going to lose. The clip from the original film is here:

I second the nametag thing. I find icebreakers and introductions a waste of time. The students aren't paying to socialize. I get right into the meat and potatoes from the 1st minute of day 1. It sets the right tone that you are there for business, and the students like it too.

I wouldn't leave off your degree(s) on an app. It could come back to bite you in the behind later on. You never know how long you will be at this job. My wife who used to have a job in her field hasn't for 3 years. For over a year now she's been in retail. She started $2/hr higher than everyone else and she was fast-tracked into management because she has her Master's - they know she's capable and is responsible. The pay is better too - though $12/hr still sucks when you used to make 60K - but for retail and in this economy it's not half bad.

Compared to where, Europe? Tipping at restaurants and bars (not to mention for cab rides, deliveries, etc.) is customary all over the US. It is not just for exceptional service. Anyone in the service industry makes a little over $2/hr. This is customary. Now before you think I'm just attacking you, it sounds like this bar really does suck and the bartender may indeed be a dope who is just there to chase tail. In that case you give him (and by extension, the barback, food runner, and back of the house none of whose fault it is) his $1 and you leave. There are lots of bars that are not obnoxious and don't charge covers. It also helps to go during the week instead of on Friday and Saturday nights. Those are "amateur nights". Well, then don't go out. If you can't pay, you can't play. I don't see why the bartender should have to pay (he has to tip out on his sales) to serve you; it's not his fault he got stuck with a cheap grad student (no one made you do it!) who gets paid to sit at a desk all day. It's a free country and you can do what you want, but you shouldn't be surprised at getting a negative response nor should you be surprised if you get poor service when you don't pay for it. You can always get a 6-pack at the corner store if it's that big of a deal to you.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but Newark is one of the most crime ridden cities in the US. My cousin went to RU-Newark and I am friends with someone who works in Newark. It is not a comfortable place to be, especially at night. With that being said, it is easy to get to, so commuting is not a problem. They also have campus housing (at least for undergrads) so you may get lucky. The campus area is not that bad (though not good) especially during the day. There are some gentrified areas like the Ironbound district the OP mentioned. The main issue is that you need to be very careful with where you move to, because the downtown area is a work in progress, so from block to block things change very quickly, and the bad areas of Newark are very dangerous. (edited for weather) If you look up the weather in New York, it's almost the same in Newark, except a few degrees hotter in the summer, and a few degrees colder in the winter.

This is a very good website for determining what your take home pay will be. It comes very close to what I get from my employer. http://www.yourmoneypage.com/withhold/ma.php Just be careful if you have another job. Your cumulative withholding will be too low, and you will end up owing money on April 15.

Not at all, as long as you tip. That's the big issue, really whether you order alcohol or not. The bartender may at first look at you askance because there are people who order water or soda just to be cheap. If you tip your $1 a drink then all is well. In fact if you become a regular the barkeep probably will not make you pay for the soda (it costs almost nothing).

Why? If someone can take advantage of a market inefficiency, that makes him a good consumer. When the grocery store has a sale on 2 lbs. of sugar for $1, you would seriously argue that I ethically should buy the 6 lb. package for $3.99 instead of 3 2 lb. packages for $3, just in case some guy who only needs 2 lbs. can buy his for $1? Would you also argue I am being dishonest to the store because I really want 6 lbs. of sugar? Let's say Joe Blow applies to work at Goldman and would prefer to work there, but JP Morgan calls back first and offers $150K to work there as an analyst. Joe Blow should turn down $150K because Goldman is his first choice and some other guy's first choice is to work at JP Morgan? Better yet, if Goldman calls a month after he takes the job at JP Morgan and offers him $160K, he should stay there just because he owes it to the guy who dreamed of working at JP Morgan, or because JP Morgan invested time and money on recruiting and training him? Lastly: Plenty of people take the NYPD and FDNY tests because, despite being hard - sometimes deadly - jobs that aren't very high paying, they pay a living wage and offer comprehensive benefits. It's a way to feed your family while you wait for something else higher paying or less demanding to become available. Meanwhile some people who dreamed their whole lives of doing these jobs - many times people who would be 4th or 5th generation On The Job - don't score high enough on the test to make the cutoff for the next Academy class. God forbid you were in a burning building, would you want the more capable person - even if it's not his dream job or one he will stay in for more than a couple years - to be your rescuer, or the less capable guy he deferred to because it was the "ethical" thing to do?

A fellowship is not an award that comes with strings attached for what you have already been paid. Of course, if you don't perform, future funding can be denied, but you can't be asked to pay back previous awards. Most of us at some point are apprehensive about how we will do and whether we will finish the marathon. The school wouldn't have awarded you the fellowship if it did not believe in you or your ability. What you should not worry about is satisfying the university or people on this forum who think you "stole" someone's spot. You earned the position and ultimately it is your decision whether to leave if your needs dictate that. If your family needs you, leave. If you get a better paying gig, leave. That's how our capitalist system works. People go to where the best offer is. The school gives out its fellowships to the best candidates but assumes the risk of people leaving. It's the cost of doing business.

1. There's no reason you have to socialize with these people if you don't want to. Do what you need to do at school, and go home. You're there to earn a degree, not socialize. 2. If you want to socialize, and they're going to a bar, you can go and get club soda. A lot of people who go dry (whether on their own or being in AA) will still go to bars and have club soda. It's a way to hang out in a bar and no one will give you a hard time, and you won't have to go into a song and dance about why you don't drink. Just make sure to tip your bartender. 3. Bars are good networking places (even if you go without your cohort) but so are churches, social clubs, etc. The good thing about bars is that they don't require a commitment.

If anyone is a light user like me, Boost Mobile is the cheapest. You only have to put on $10 every 3 months. My wife got that one. I am going to use the data so I pay 35 cents a day to use the web. Calls (I haven't made any yet) and texts (I've done 7) are only 10 cents a minute which is way better than AT&T which charged 25/20 cents and made me add 25 bucks every 3 months. If your phone is attached to your ear or thumbs then this isn't for you but I've only spent $4.90 in August. 13 or so bucks a month (10.85 for the web and a few minutes of calls and a few texts) is hard to beat for unlimited web.

Virgin Mobile and MetroPCS have the best plans for unlimited data. 35 for Virgin and if I recall correctly, 40 for Metro. Neither as far as I know use the IPhone though. I was in the market recently so this is as of a week or 2 ago.

That was funny.

Honestly the first time I heard the term "industry" on a visit I thought I was with the wrong group, like with Chemical Engineers or something. Then I realized they just meant outside academia. I think it's a dumb term too, but I can see the use of it if you're with a group of academics (or students who aspire to be in academia) because it succinctly states your interests without getting into details. The only thing I don't like is when people say it as if it's beneath academia, as in "Ooooh, you want to get a job in industry". I thought the OP's take on it was bizarre considering that those who would reply they want to work in academia are the ones who typically get stereotyped as having no idea what they want to do, or not wanting a "real" job, etc.

Get crazy, get wild.... actually I have a hard time watching that show sometimes because that's all the people who are my neighbors. It's a guilty pleasure making fun of them though. Back on topic, and I can't believe no one mentioned this: Curb Your Enthusiasm!!

I don't think that will work in Chicago. Rents are astronomical in Chicago compared to outlying areas.

Your PhD is years away. You're 3 years from finishing your undergrad. You're seriously going to put on a happy face for that long? And who's to say they won't come up with some other reason to cut you off? Find a job and establish your independence. School, and your brain will always be there. You need to be self-sufficient so that they no longer have anything to hold over your head. Riverside is a big enough school that there should be people with apartment shares so you can have low rent and you can scratch out a living. Your parents can still claim you as a dependent for 2011 but by virtue of living on your own in 2012 you will take the tax deduction which will put you on your way to becoming eligible for assistance. It's absolutely imperative that you do this so you regain control of your life. As long as you're not self-sufficient you're still essentially a child. FDR said it best: "...true individual freedom can not exist without economic security and independence. Necessitous men are not free men.”

If the abuse is as bad as you say it is, then there is no argument or thinking to do here. You already made the right move in moving out. Now you stay out. You let your mom & dad know exactly why. Now you can't have your cake and eat it too as far as school - this may mean putting off school for a year or two so you can work to support yourself and more importantly so you can establish yourself as independent in the eyes of Uncle Sam. To me though that seems a small price to pay for getting out of a toxic environment. If you have a very close friend with mutual trust, you can get married. On the FAFSA that automatically makes you an independent student in regard to financial aid. Assuming you both aren't making much money you'll instantly be eligible for Pell Grants and Subsidized and Unsubsidized loans.

Case closed. No John Hancock, no liability.

Yikes. OP, check out Oradell on Craigslist. Found this listing just by putting in nice towns I know near the GWB. 850/mo for a 1 bedroom and in an absolutely beautiful place to live (my mom and her husband live in a nearby town, so I'm familiar with it). You can actually take a bus into the city (so no driving if you don't want to) and the train to Columbia in under an hour door to door. The bus is only $134 a month so you're saving about a grand a month. I'm sure there are plenty of other examples if you look too. I found that one by spending less than 2 minutes.

Ditto what Zorah said. Family comes first. I would try to finish the Master's program though because in Meteorology, both from my cursory check now and from when I was interested in it when I started undergrad 15 years ago, you basically need a Master's to get a job. If you only have a year left, let's say, I think you can tough it out if you know come next year you'll be home and done with the experience. There's definitely no need though to torture yourself and do a PhD (or at least not where you are) or to work in some lunatic's lab.

You may as well fill out FAFSA and see what happens. It's free. Grants are few and far between for grad school. If you get that kind of aid it's going to be merit aid which often isn't governed by FAFSA anyway. However the FAFSA will help you obtain a subsidized loan (at least until July 2012, then there will be no more subsidized loans). You can also get an education loan from someone like Discover Student Loans (that's who I used and they were great) for lower rates than the government offers, something like 3.5%. Those accrue interest immediately though. Also, at least where I did my loans, there was no prepayment penalty. In fact, I actually paid off a loan in full the same semester (thank you Netflix stock!). I will say though that you're almost always better off paying up front and not taking loans. Then you're not paying interest. The exception is if the money is invested somewhere earning more than the interest you are paying. In my case, I would have been better off hanging on to the stock, but I didn't want to keep paying 6.8% interest on 20 grand.

According to the text, it doesn't start until July 1, 2012, and it seems like this only applies to the loans people take out on or after that date. So it seems like many of us, at least, will be spared or not get it as bad as future students. On the one hand, I don't mind that they shifted the funding towards Pell Grants; I know I wouldn't be in a position to even care about this if it weren't for Pell Grants to start with. However the fact that this is still a drop in the bucket compared to the money spent fighting wars overseas is indeed infuriating.