GreenePony

My husband read it Thursday after work and I read it Friday after class so we could watch it Saturday. I was pleasantly surprised with the movie and the book- reminded me a bit of The Giver.

I found an Anne Klein bag at goodwill that isn't specifically a tote, DH calls it a purse but I can fit a small laptop, a couple notebooks, waterbottle and a text or two in it. But what i have an eye on right now is this one- I like the set up http://www.filson.com/products/passage-women-s-business-tote.73036.html?fromCat=true&fvalsProduct=luggage/briefcases&fmetaProduct=1019.

I third (fourth?) the polo idea with the school seal/logo. If a company you work for in the future allows casual-whatever polos are a safe bet and can still look professional. Also, when you go to conferences you can have a presentable way of affiliating yourself with your program without looking too casual or flashing a CV around.

I like what TXTiger2012 said, a short, respectful email is probably the best way to go. I made sure to thank them for the offer, say that it was a difficult decision, etc. I did not say exactly what program I did accept but did say I was staying domestic for my husband's work (which was the main reason). And I disagree that POI won't necessarily remember you in however many years, there is no reason to burn bridges by not keeping them informed, it really seems like common courtesy to me. My offer rejection email was fairly short, maybe 7 sentences. It kept it short enough that if they didn't care they could get the idea of it quickly, but explained enough that it didn't seem like I was rejecting them out of hand and respected their offer and their time.

Good luck with that, my in laws are realizing that their eldest is going to be living in a different state (20 hrs away) then them for the first time ever- he's not even their favorite and I'm starting to see them trying to dig their nails in. It's almost funny (this coming from someone who moved ~23 hrs away from her family for ug).

So after visiting the faire- I decided I wasn't shelling out 250 for announcements- I think we spent that on wedding invitations! If my parents want to, I guess I'll send them a link to jostens and tell they can either buy what they want or make their own. Pretty paper is only worth so much (and I think they still have some of that left from the wedding).

Smart. Ice balls to the face can result in corneal scars. Those don't go away, at least within a decade. (also, if you throw one near my old middle/high school, you'll get a citation from the police- blame my mom)

Re: Thumb/Zip/ whatever drive I would highly suggest one that can go on your key chain. A good friend gave me a 7GB Cruze for high school graduation, I still use it and it's been awesome and I rarely lose it which for me is an accomplishment. The loose drive that I had, kept falling out of pockets and whatnot since it wasn't attached to something and I would hate for something actually important to be on it while lost. I'm sure by now you can get ones even more substantial but I've only filled it up twice, and that's when I had several lengthy playlists saved on it while running a dance organization and keeping some school files on it.

On another (unrelated) forum I remember reading that someone thought it sounds like a gift grab if you send out graduation announcements for anything but high school. Thoughts? This week is the "Bear Faire" for graduating ug seniors and we have the opportunity to order grad announcements and I'm on the fence about giving either set of parents the chance to order them. Yes, it's an accomplishment to graduate, and they could be used to say where DH and I are moving to next for grad school but it just seems... icky?

For those in DC or have gone through renting there- We found a handful of apartment buildings that we like but none have an apartment available currently. We would not move until June/July if we do move to the area (still haven't decided). Should we put in an application to be put on the waiting list or only apply in May/June to places that have open apartments? DH has suggested using an apartment hunter since he used one when he lived in Houston but I don't know how useful they are in DC. Also, my FIL has friends who could help us find a place Pentagon area (since FIL was stationed there in the past), since I have to be in the city regularly for classes would that area even make sense for us? I'm still hoping my mom's friend can find us a place in the capitol hill area near their church but that looks less promising.

There's a more active DC/MD board: you might get more answers there

I'm interested to hear what other people say as well- I hadn't heard anything about Museum Anthropology until I already applied to the material culture/mst programs but it seems like a very interesting idea. I have heard good things about University of Washington's program but also heard that it is getting larger which can be a drawback for some people who are used to smaller programs (like I am coming from an mst program of ~20 ug minors and 30 grads if that).

What are you planning on doing with it? Education is not anywhere close to what I want to do (worked at too many camps, bitten by too many children) but when my mom got her M.Ed. (or at least MA in something related to reading/literacy) it mattered more that she *had* a masters than from where, this is when she was transitioning from being remedial reading (intermediary/secondary) to full time reading specialist (which she had experience in before hand). However, this could be because this was a smaller school district (town of 12000 with a few small villages surrounding.)

Maybe this is just different budgets speaking- but my husband and I are looking at moving either 23 (or so) hours away, or across the Atlantic and I would not necessarily classify it as "super expensive" for the domestic move. To rent a Uhaul and drive it (assuming gas will be $4-5) from Texas to DC is less than a month of rent (~1000) for a full - and fully furnished- two bedroom apartment (~900 ft). I'm assuming you would be moving less stuff if you were planning on sharing space with a roommate so that would also cut down on the cost. I would say Brown- I moved half way across the country from my close family for ug and it was probably the best decision possible growth-wise. The flights back for holidays haven't been that bad so I can still see them on a somewhat regular basis.

I made a point to attend a Christian ug(not my denomination, though) so I would have extra accountability (required classes, guarantee to have least a few with similar views). I will not have that luxury in grad school. When we move, we are making a point to find a church we fit in, and a small group we get along with for the week- that way we have others with similar beliefs and will probably going through the same things (our current one is made up of other young married couples). See if you student services has a place of worship list. Even in the basic info packet, many schools I was looking at listed some of the local ones. Reading also seems to help with accountability- going through book studies, etc.

Funny, most of the married couples my husband and I are friends with, at least one of the people in each couple is in, or has recently graduated from some sort of graduate/postgrad program (exception being my PT and his wife, between them they have 5? degrees and 3 kids so they are just overacheivers).

Just wanted to put this out there- I have a friend at UDel and he commutes from West Chester everyday since his girlfriend takes the train into Philly for her PhD, during the start of evening rush hour it took me under an hour to get from UDel's campus to their apartment and that's driving at or under the speed limit (I'm terrible driving in new places). But the director of the program I had applied to said that most of the grads live in Wilmington (took me about 20 to drive through on my way to WC).

Is there a good resource online that lists the "safer" neighborhoods? We found a place that looks nice, it's a couple blocks from the metro, the rent is twice what we're paying now for the same size but it's a "limited equity cooperative" and that just has me confused. Can anyone explain this? For that matter is "6th St, SE" actually capitol hill area or even safe for that matter?

My DH would agree, I then remind him that he's giving up his TX license and plates in the fall and laugh maniacally. My mom grew up in the Northwoods, she hasn't been back for more than a week at a time in 30 years. 15 minutes on the phone with a relative and she's back to long o's and sounding so out of place. I'm interested to see what happens this fall. DH is an army brat who has lived in here longer than anywhere else, and I have pieces of Penn Dutch, a teensy bit of centex, and in general speak too fast (at least for Texans, I'm perfectly understandable up north).

My advisor is putting in contact with an alumn that had to choose between the same programs a couple years ago so that should help. The thing is, the professors in my mst department all have practical experience- that seems to be the trend. Both programs have turned out numerous professionals (mst is more of a professional than academic degree by nature, akin to how computer science is structured) which is the direction I'm going. Both would benefit me- one as a more generalist and heavy in theory while the other would be more focused in the area of museums I know I would ideally like to work in with the academics going towards my interdisciplinary interests, but knowing the job market a generalist education could be beneficial as the collections departments tend to be fairly small with the budget cuts. The program I am coming from is somewhere in-between. So either could benefit my career goals.

So I am between two programs, one has more of a theoretical focus and the other is more practical. So I asked my mst advisor and the mst director which they would recommend. They're response? "They're both great programs" and "Good Luck" Thanks, guys. That's a big help. Anyone else getting similarly unhelpful advice? (I do appreciate that they are willing to offer advice, I just want more. In all fairness the director did give a hint towards the program where he knows the director- which of course he does, he knows everyone. I hate decisions.)