jacket24

I don't think that people with families should get bonuses to their stipends. I completely support anyone who wants to have a family in grad school but I don't think they should get extra money to do so.
 
I have 2 dogs that can be quite expensive. One of them had heartworms when I got her and juggling that on a grad school income was rough. Having dogs has limited me in grad school. It makes it harder to find housing and I have additional fees for vet care and pet deposits and have to figure out how to either come home on my lunch break to let them out or pay for a dog walker. I recognize that I chose to get dogs though and so I live with the pros and cons that come with that. Why should someone with kids get extra money when I don't? My dogs aren't as expensive as kids but they are still an extra expensive and grad school can be difficult with dogs.
 
Everyone chooses to live differently. Some people choose to have kids or spouses or pets in grad school. Others choose to live in one bedroom apartments instead of studios or decide to have roommates or live near campus. Some people choose to eat organic food. These are all life choices. I think that people should be free to live however they wish to in grad school but I don't think that stipend should be determined based on life choices.

It's April 15th and, after much deliberation, I have accepted an offer to attend Carnegie Mellon this fall. All of the toiling through the whole application process has finally paid off and my efforts have been validated. Now that the reality that I will actually be going somewhere has set in, planning and preparation can begin. I'm excited to get into the lab and get started.
 
I hope all of you are happy with your decisions and end up where you want to be. Congratulations and good luck to you all, and thanks for the advice that you've posted on this website.

It's April 15th and, after much deliberation, I have accepted an offer to attend Carnegie Mellon this fall. All of the toiling through the whole application process has finally paid off and my efforts have been validated. Now that the reality that I will actually be going somewhere has set in, planning and preparation can begin. I'm excited to get into the lab and get started.
 
I hope all of you are happy with your decisions and end up where you want to be. Congratulations and good luck to you all, and thanks for the advice that you've posted on this website.

It's April 15th and, after much deliberation, I have accepted an offer to attend Carnegie Mellon this fall. All of the toiling through the whole application process has finally paid off and my efforts have been validated. Now that the reality that I will actually be going somewhere has set in, planning and preparation can begin. I'm excited to get into the lab and get started.
 
I hope all of you are happy with your decisions and end up where you want to be. Congratulations and good luck to you all, and thanks for the advice that you've posted on this website.

shini, you had my eyeballing a Surface 3 today. It is definitely tempting since you can get it with the type cover for $599 from Costco. That said, I'm leaning toward getting an ultrabook for my next computer. I've been trying out a Chromebook but, I'm frustrated by some of its limitations and will probably be returning it soon.

We made it, guys! We survived grad school applications...now on to grant applications, fellowship applications...later on, tenure applications, etc etc. In some ways, it's like the concept of "the application process" is never really over in academia. It's like a state of life, lol.

But for at least now, I'm happy to think of it as over!!!!

It's April 15th and, after much deliberation, I have accepted an offer to attend Carnegie Mellon this fall. All of the toiling through the whole application process has finally paid off and my efforts have been validated. Now that the reality that I will actually be going somewhere has set in, planning and preparation can begin. I'm excited to get into the lab and get started.
 
I hope all of you are happy with your decisions and end up where you want to be. Congratulations and good luck to you all, and thanks for the advice that you've posted on this website.

I've reached my quota of positive votes for the day, but I hope you're feeling as happy and relieved as I am now that this whole application process is over!

It's April 15th and, after much deliberation, I have accepted an offer to attend Carnegie Mellon this fall. All of the toiling through the whole application process has finally paid off and my efforts have been validated. Now that the reality that I will actually be going somewhere has set in, planning and preparation can begin. I'm excited to get into the lab and get started.
 
I hope all of you are happy with your decisions and end up where you want to be. Congratulations and good luck to you all, and thanks for the advice that you've posted on this website.

It's April 15th and, after much deliberation, I have accepted an offer to attend Carnegie Mellon this fall. All of the toiling through the whole application process has finally paid off and my efforts have been validated. Now that the reality that I will actually be going somewhere has set in, planning and preparation can begin. I'm excited to get into the lab and get started.
 
I hope all of you are happy with your decisions and end up where you want to be. Congratulations and good luck to you all, and thanks for the advice that you've posted on this website.

It's April 15th and, after much deliberation, I have accepted an offer to attend Carnegie Mellon this fall. All of the toiling through the whole application process has finally paid off and my efforts have been validated. Now that the reality that I will actually be going somewhere has set in, planning and preparation can begin. I'm excited to get into the lab and get started.
 
I hope all of you are happy with your decisions and end up where you want to be. Congratulations and good luck to you all, and thanks for the advice that you've posted on this website.

I think it is an interesting question.  One may get discouraged if they aren't in the middle of the bell curve, but others may take it as a challenge.  It is ok to go back to school at any age, and being younger than everyone else isn't a problem either.
 
However, we should note that these are averages.  Your cohort may consist of students along the bell curve, or all older than you, or all younger than you (unless you are 19 or 20.)  I will be 26 when I enter, so exactly at the middle of the bell curve.  However, from what I can tell, my cohort will consist of people right out of college, so I will be the old, wizened experienced one, whereas when I started my masters I was way younger than most people.

To erdingerchamp66's point, cost of living does factor in greatly to what may be considered a competitive offer. The website below provides an estimate for the value of $100 in US cities.

http://taxfoundation.org/blog/real-value-100-metropolitan-areas

When analyzing offers, you might calculate a "normalized funding amount" by multiplying the offer by the comparative value of a dollar in that city. For example, if a school in San Francisco offered you $25,000, you would find the normalized amount by taking $25,000 x $82.44/$100. This approach puts the dollar values on the same playing field for direct comparison.

This line of thinking is certainly tied to not having heard back from anywhere yet. Those posts on the results page are probably a way of coping with disappointment. It's easier, and arguably healthier, to say "it wasn't meant to be" and wash your hands of it than it is to dwell on what might have been.

My first decision was a rejection too but I eventually got into one of my top choices! I'm sure you'll get in somewhere great

Has anyone else found themselves alternating between thoughts of how perfect any of their programs would be and wishing they applied more/elsewhere? I know that I did my due diligence when selecting schools to apply to, but the waiting puts everything into question.

Did I pick this school only because of the name? Would X be more appropriate than Y for my interests? Should I have applied to Z despite a slightly weaker research fit?

I'm sure all of this is a coping mechanism to avoid attachment to any one possibility, but it has become difficult to focus on much else in life with so much uncertainty.

Has anyone else found themselves alternating between thoughts of how perfect any of their programs would be and wishing they applied more/elsewhere? I know that I did my due diligence when selecting schools to apply to, but the waiting puts everything into question.

Did I pick this school only because of the name? Would X be more appropriate than Y for my interests? Should I have applied to Z despite a slightly weaker research fit?

I'm sure all of this is a coping mechanism to avoid attachment to any one possibility, but it has become difficult to focus on much else in life with so much uncertainty.

Agreed. For me, the process of applying was fine since there was at least some outlet for the mental energy. Once all of the forms were filled out and the final application was submitted, the anxiety of sitting and twiddling my thumbs set in quickly while waiting for committees to determine the potential course of a major life decision. The wait is without a doubt the toughest part.

After months of silence, I've finally seen some signs of life. One of my POIs sent me a message to let me know that I've made it past the first round of application reviews. I still don't expect a decision very soon but it's nice to know that the wheels are turning. Although it's far from a sure thing, it's a huge relief to know that my application is competitive enough to warrant further discussion.

Hang in there everyone, we're moving into the later stages of this hellish process. This will be an interesting and stressful month but there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

After months of silence, I've finally seen some signs of life. One of my POIs sent me a message to let me know that I've made it past the first round of application reviews. I still don't expect a decision very soon but it's nice to know that the wheels are turning. Although it's far from a sure thing, it's a huge relief to know that my application is competitive enough to warrant further discussion.

Hang in there everyone, we're moving into the later stages of this hellish process. This will be an interesting and stressful month but there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

After months of silence, I've finally seen some signs of life. One of my POIs sent me a message to let me know that I've made it past the first round of application reviews. I still don't expect a decision very soon but it's nice to know that the wheels are turning. Although it's far from a sure thing, it's a huge relief to know that my application is competitive enough to warrant further discussion.

Hang in there everyone, we're moving into the later stages of this hellish process. This will be an interesting and stressful month but there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

I just got a phone call from Maryland and my heart jumped into my throat (thinking Hopkins was notifying applicants)...until I answered and it was just a WEF survey. This needs to end soon.

For me, funding doesn't matter as much as others would say (as long as tuition and living expenses are covered, assuming PhD programs). I would sit down and establish some baseline acceptable value for each city based on cost of living and anticipated expenses with a little overhead for emergencies then focus on what else is important to you.
 
It may help to set up a decision matrix with set rankings and weightings for each category that you want to consider. For example (the numbers in row 2 would be weighting for each category...arbitrarily set for sake of demonstration): 
 
RANK      SCHOOL      Location      Research      Cost      Funding      Ranking      TOTAL
                                        2                 3                 1              2                 2                
    1        Program A           1                 2                 5              1                 1               17
    2        Program B           3                 1                 6              2                 2               23
    4        Program C           2                 3                 3              6                 5               38
    6        Program D           4                 5                 4              5                 6               49
    3             …                  5                 4                 1              4                 3               37
    5             …                  6                 6                 2              3                 4               46
 
Of course, this will only provide a guideline but it can be a helpful exercise to make you think about the pros/cons of each option.
 
Edit: I realize that the formatting may not display properly on mobile devices but you get the idea.

Chrome Extensions:
 
Adblock, Adblock Plus -- you guys know what these do
 
Google Dictionary -- highlight any word and get a popup definition
 
Checker Plus for Gmail -- Automatically checks email, notifies you when you receive message (especially good for application decisions, interviews)
 
Honey -- Automatically check if there is a coupon code for the site you're shopping on
 
Magic Actions for Youtube -- automatically watch in HD and other cool options
 
New Tabs to the Front -- switches you to new tab right away
 
Block Site -- block sites to help with procrastination