GreenePony

Anyone know of good dog-friendly walking trails in NOVA? I know there are couple of dog parks in Alexandria but I don't trust my new darling puppy off leash quite yet, even in a fenced in area. The parks website is good for listing dog parks but I don't see walking trails

She's adorable! To make up for the downsize, DH and I are planning on taking our puppy (she's 1-ish so I guess not really a puppy) to dog parks regularly (apparently ever house in Alexandria has one within a mile of it), and getting dog puzzles. My cousin's dog was laid up for a while and they seemed to entertain her well enough.

I have a friend who got accepted off the waitlist for GW's mstd ma program. It came a couple days after the deadline for the first round people.

How does the concentration work? I noticed that the Anthro and American Studies (soooo much cross over) had a lot of museum studies focused classes. Do you just take anthro classes or do you take mstd classes too?

It was about 12-13k without counting grad students this year. So not tiny (most of the places I applied for ug were <3000 total) but not UT by any means. The liberal arts portion of the degree requirements mean that you take a good number of classes outside of your department, so I have very few friends from my own department but more from the other colleges. There's an unfortunate emphasis (it's slowly dieing) on dating and marrying early there so unless you are really sneaky about it, people are going to know and judge. Also, DH and I met in a somewhat large student organization with a lot of people from the different colleges so it was almost inevitable that someone from either department found out. Even with a relatively small department (I think ~30 walked with me) I didn't really recognize 1/2 the people in my department at graduation. I knew after a year I didn't really want to work in it so I took just the classes I needed to and spent more of my energy in my minor where I knew I wanted to work (They cut the BA portion so I could only minor )

You might have already seen them, but I really like petfinder.com's interface and I found that more rescues in my area post on there or petango. I would try and limit the time you spend on these sites if you are planning on waiting a year. I started looking a year ago and it was just torture knowing we couldn't put out an application yet so the dogs I saw were likely going to be gone by the time we could. One thing you could do now is decide if you want to go through a city "pound"/animal control or through a smaller rescue (not all are breed based). If you want to go through a smaller one, you may want to contact them to say you are interested in the future in possibility adopting from them once you feel you have a good emergency medical fund (excellent idea by the way, my cousin and her husband spent ~3500 last year on double knee replacement for their dog when she tore her CCLs) and see what their adoption process is like, what they are looking for in an adopter, etc to get feelers out and show that you are interested/responsible. Are you looking for a pure-bred or a mix? I know people who can go on and on about their Heinz 57 dogs, and others who love knowing a bit more about what to expect with breed type. DH and I made it through a really successful homevisit last week and am now inbetween that and visiting the dogs the rescue thinks fits us (we decided a foster based system would be best as someone has already started on manners and its easier to gauge the personality in a relaxed environment). It's a waiting game since the rescue is volunteer based but I'm really happy we're doing it, especially since they pull from shelters and from owner releases.

I think others have definitely covered what I think about grad/ug relationships (not being in a role of authority over, fit within norms of department/school, doesn't violate any rules or statutes, etc)- my husband and I met while he was in grad school and I was in undergrad at the same university (may have talked about this on another thread). If there was a chance he could be a TA for me, I probably wouldn't have gone for it because of the potential conflict of interest and how it would look to professors/other students. Even with him being in a totally different school within the university (engineering/compsci v. arts and sciences) some people still threw a hissy fit because there is still a hinky sort of perception. To them, it didn't matter that we were less than 4 years apart and the only classes we ever had in common in ug and grad school were the university required classes that everyone going through the ug had to take- and we took them several years apart (he did ug at the same school). Rather, they saw a more advanced student in a superior position potentially taking advantage of a younger, inexperienced student. Sure you could say that you don't care what other people think, but I don't think that is a wise position to take, especially in academia. Some concerns can be soothed by proving the contrary, but you still need to be careful in this sort of environment.

I got a new one on Sunday (after saying how exciting it is to move to DC) "When you buy pepper spray, don't buy the regular kind, go to the PX or army-navy store and get the kind with the extra stuff to really show the burn."

I'm leaving in August but if you guys have any questions- DH has lived here for the past 8 years and I've been here for the last 4. About the heat- it will get worse, a lot worse. This past month has actually been pretty pleasant as far as Waco goes. Starting in June/July you'll get into the 100s and it will probably stay there for a couple months. August will probably be the worst and evenings will get "chilly" starting mid-November but I've needed an actual winter coat once or twice a year, if that (we got a light snow the other year and the whole city freaked, I had to drive DH to work in Woodway and the other drivers were far more terrifying than the actual conditions). Speaking of the drivers- summer is pretty good as far as traffic goes (even year round the only "real" traffic is between 7-9, and 430-630 and pretty much only on 35 and 6.) But once the students come back be very careful. Parents like to get their little girls big SUVs in case they get in an accident. As long as you're aware you should be okay, just some of them are just idiotic on the road (or with bikes). Take advantage of Cameron Park (take U Parks towards 35 away from campus and just keep going till you pass the convention center). It's a pretty awesome urban park (during the day, a little sketchy at night). If either of you are runners the "The Toughest Half-Marathon in the State of Texas" (Bearathon) and 5k goes through campus (run by Student Foundation) and Cameron park in the spring. There's also a pretty good disc golf course on campus and in a park near Lake Waco. The Mayborn Museum Complex across from campus is just awesome (I'm a little biased) and they just reopened the historic village out back. If you guys get your ID cards now, students get in free there and the other campus museums (Armstrong-Browning Library and Martin Art Museum). Every Wednesday in June and maybe July there will be activities and hands-on stuff (one of the staff is a blacksmith and he has a little shop set up out there).

On my university supplied estimate they said 900 a semester, I can't imagine that's actually accurate (but then in ug I never spent more than 250 a semester, last two semesters I spent <50 each time, even with reading classes). I joined my field's national organization partially so I can get a discount in their bookstore which has a lot of the books I imagine I will need.

Anyone have any thoughts on a commute from the Franconia metro station to city center? I was shocked to find a townhouse (with a basement for DH's man cave!) in our price range out that way but the hour commute worries me.

That's one of the many reasons why I do not want a puppy. My parents got the dog I grew up with when he was 2-4, still very puppy-ish while still (in theory) being able to hold his bladder for more than 2 hours. While DH wants especially young, he hasn't had to be one of the primary caregivers for an animal in years and he will be working from home- also there is an older adult that I am just smitten with. He sounds and looks so much like the dog my parents had. The rescue is foster based so I at least know that the seniors aren't going to be pts from lack of space. I've been noticing an obscene number of HW+ dogs lately. I know Texas has a higher risk because of climate or whatever but it's a simple monthly pill. I've had textbooks that cost far more than the yearly prescription. It's just ridiculous.

I think my mom has a pair very similar to what you posted from sears. I never thought of lands end either (I usually just think of them for backpacks) Thanks!

My university posted this yesterday (since a senior was quoted in it) and thought it was pertinent, if a little common sense. http://www.usatodayeducate.com/staging/index.php/ccp/is-studying-destroying-your-vision

That makes sense then. I've only given it a cursory look. I don't need a roommate and my husband and I have decided to try to stay out of the district in a more family-friendly/young professional area.

There is a housing site for GW students, but you need to claim your ID/email before you can log on. I think it has a roommates section. It may even be a link from the my gwu site

I would be afraid that it would compromise your style/voice in it. I know even between my husband and a good friend, I'm more likely to retain a better sense of "me" if I have a friend edit it since he has read my writing longer and is used to the quirks that come from where we grew up. That being said, I did send my SOP to a number of people to read so I could be sure that it would be well received by someone who wasn't used to my writing style.

I didn't mention anything about my high school experiences, or if I did, I did it sparingly since most of them weren't pertinent to the program (Marching Band, FFA and Model UN)