Rachel B

I think it's very kind of your father to be willing to help you afford GW but I completely understand what you mean. When I applied to grad schools financial aid was one of the first things I looked at. My parents offered to tap into their retirement, but there was no way I would let them do that. With that said, you sound like you have a great academic resume, have you ever considered institutional or outside fellowships? What about finding a part-time on-campus job or an internship in DC? These might not cover all the costs, but they may help you attend GW while at least being partially financially independent. I haven't heard back from all my schools yet unfortunately. I'm waiting on TCU, which will hopefully have a fully-funded assistantship to offer me as well. I do know TCU's assistantship is a full tuition waiver and a $16,000 stipend a year for either a teaching assistantship or a research assistantship, both of which carry a maximum workload of 20 hours a week. As for LSU, their assistantship offer is a teaching assistantship for a full tuition waiver and $6,000 per semester. Granted the cost of living is much cheaper in Baton Rouge, LA, the stipend isn't bad. I wasn't given a choice for the number of hours a week I would work. Fully-funded assistantships come with a maximum 20 hour per week workload, though there are assistantships at LSU that carry less of a workload but do not come with a tuition waiver. I did speak to a current grad student at LSU and she told me that as a TA herself she only works about 6 hours a week. The only requirements for keeping the assistantship is to do well at whatever your assignment is and maintain good grades.

You're going to have to weigh the pros and cons for each. Is financial assistance a big factor? How much of a financial burden will GW add? Why exactly did you like GW? What do you like about FSU program-wise? Would you be happy at FSU? Financial aid is a big factor in my graduate school decision, so I personally would choose the school that is going to make it affordable. However, not everyone is in my situation, which is why it would help for you to add more information to your post or make a list of what you like and dislike about each.

Most schools will request that LORs be sent again by the writer even if they have the original on file. Also, some schools may request that letters not be over a year old, so you may want to double check their requirements and plan accordingly.

I'm starting to look at housing options and I seem to be going back and forth between renting an apartment or renting a house. In numerous cases, renting a house is a bit cheaper and it seems like every apartment building I've looked at has horrible reviews online (cockroaches, excessive noise, maintenance men stealing women's underwear-- I kid you not). Another issue is that I'm going to have to choose my housing from 1,000 miles away. So this means no in-person tours. The more I think about housing the more stressed I get. But I'm hoping other grads can weigh in on the pros and cons of renting a house versus renting an apartment. Anyone?

If it guaranteed admission it wouldn't be called a recommendation. Basically the department advisor is recommending the department and or graduate school admit you, but the decision rests on the admissions committee.

As someone who is attending a small liberal arts college, I can tell you that they value the amount of face time students get with their professors. This could be one of the reasons why your duties currently seem kind of minimal. I don't know if this is an option, but maybe you could ask the professor if you could lead study/tutoring sessions, especially around exam time, and make yourself available in the evening or at night, which is something many professors aren't able to do. Just an idea!

I'm more so worried about the gamble of choosing another program with partial funding or taking the gamble in selecting this program with the hopes I'd get the position

I was just accepted into a program that has now become my second/third choice and is one that fits my interests extremely well. The program does not offer any type of scholarships or grants, so prospective and current students are encouraged to apply for an assistantship or internship, which offer close to a full tuition waiver and a reasonable living allowance. I've already applied for the assistantship/internship program, but I realized that interviews for these positions will not be held until late April, several days after the official April 15th deadline. Additionally, the interview obviously does not guarantee I will get the position, and even if I do, I still won't find out until early May. I feel as though choosing this program is going to become a huge gamble provided that I get partially-funded offers from my other choices. Unfortunately, funding is one of the major factors of whether or not I will even go to graduate school. My current financial situation means that if I was accepted into my dream school without any funding, I would not be able to attend. So, I'm wondering if anyone has any advice on my situation with this one school? If I don't get any other offers for funding and choose this program but do not get the assistantship/internship position, would it come off as extremely rude to have to withdraw my initial acceptance of admission since it will already be so late in the game?

Like you guessed, one of the biggest obstacles you will encounter going from a BFA to an MS is prerequisites. I'm an environmental science major and an ecology/biology minor and I will tell you that the M.S. programs I have looked at require a strong background in science as well as social science like policy and law. My advice to you is to start looking at programs you are interested in and see what their requirements are. I don't want to discourage you, but because of the emphasis on science, you may end up practically working your way towards a BA or BS due to the amount of prereqs you may be lacking. Additionally, some programs might only accept a BA or BS in certain fields that are similar or related to the MS program. Life and work experience is important as long as its relevant to what you're wanting to pursue.

It all depends on your institution's policies. It could be monthly or bi-monthly, check or direct deposit. Since we have no idea what school you're referring to, your best bet is to contact them directly or even get in touch with a current graduate student who also has an assistantship.

Bring a coat and possibly boots. Snow is not uncommon in Illinois during March. If you're just bringing a jacket you may end up freezing your tail off. And based off the colleges you have listed (aside from UT Austin), a coat would be a very good investment.

I didn't actually address her by her first name in person, just via email. She signed her email with her first name, so I assumed it would have been okay to address her as such, but then again I know a lot people just don't refer to themselves in the formal. But then when I heard the grad students refer to her formally, I felt really bad. She didn't try to correct me when she replied to my emails though.