DrEgg

I would follow Physwimic's suggestion, but if it makes you feel better, I just got a reimbursement check for a late-March visit last week.

I can relate... I am getting increasingly frightened about the math I will be expected to know for my program (Management). On paper I don't think my preparation looks that bad, but my serious math courses were taken during the freshman year of my undergrad - 9 years ago. I am trying to prepare by doing some of the MIT OpenCourseware courses. They are good and make me feel better, but then I look at the lecture notes for the "Math Camp" I have to attend this summer and I panic. I am pretty concerned about being able to handle my coursework in the Fall. Anyway, I don't know if your anxiety is "common", but you are certainly not alone either - I am right there with you!

I'm headed to Yale for a PhD. I am also likely going to look mainly in East Rock. I am also wondering though, does anyone know if many grad students live a little further out and commute in? It seems like you can find some nice, relatively inexpensive places in surrounding areas - some even on the beach!

sokipdx, I grew up in the Worcester area and my parents and most of my family still live near there. Depending what you like it a city, it is not nearly as bad as many of the people on this forum would have you believe. Like any city, there are bad parts and the area around Clark (Main South) is indeed one of the worst. That said, I believe the Clark campus itself is probably pretty safe. I wouldn't venture too far from there on foot at night though. Other parts of the city are actually quite nice. Many have seen a lot of redevelopment in recent years, and there is a massive redevelopment project downtown called City Square that is now underway. I would say that you probably will want a car. Worcester is a fairly sprawling city and public transportation is practically non-existent. On the plus side, having a car is pretty easy - there is lots of parking pretty much everywhere. Having a car would also allow you to access many of the nicer areas outside of the city proper. If you have specific questions, feel free to PM me. I know the area very well.

Hi Everyone - I will be moving to New Haven this summer with my wife, as I will be starting a PhD program at Yale in the Fall. As multiple people have suggested already on this thread, we plan to look for housing in East Rock, and maybe Wooster Square. We have also been wondering though, do many grad students live in the surrounding towns and commute in? It seems like you can get some nice places (maybe even near the beach!) in West Haven, Hamden, etc. and only have a 15-20 minute drive. Do many students live in such places? I also realize that living further out would likely add the need to pay for parking on campus. This appears to be fairly expensive, I believe about $600 per year. Aside from the cost, is the parking pretty good? I.e. do you get a spot in a nicely located garage or lot? Thanks in advance for any insights!

If I am accepted anywhere, I have been thinking about rewarding myself with some sort of e-reader/tablet. My field will require reading lots of journal articles, which tend to be online in PDF format, so having an e-reader to look at them on would be nice. Along those lines, if anyone has a suggestion on the best e-reader for that sort of thing, I would love to hear it! The big requirement is that it can handle PDF... I also plan to celebrate with a couple bottles of really nice beer (I'm a beer geek) that I have been saving.

Honestly, I would probably look for a job to go back into consulting. I would make a lot more money, but I know I would be miserable.

Haha I feel this way too. I know I can't email them at this point, but I really want to. I talked to most of POIs way back in October or November (although I did follow up when I actually submitted my apps... but even that was a couple months ago...). I am convinced there is no way they will still remember me. Oh well, not much can be done I suppose.

I would definitely let them know about these things. I just emailed my programs a couple days ago because I just found out about a publication. I sent an updated CV that reflected this info. Most (though not all) replied and were able to include it with my materials. I just emailed the department coordinator or the email address given for the PhD office on each school's website. As a caveat, I was only really successful with school's that had Jan 1 deadlines or later, so if you had deadlines of early December it might be too late. Nevertheless, it probably doesn't hurt to email them and try to get the info included!

I had a dream where I was in the process of taking my comprehensive exams, but had not really prepared at all. It was pretty frightening, but I was at a good school. So, I'm not sure if I should feel good that I had (presumably) been accepted to a good school two years earlier or scared that I was on the verge of being kicked out of said school.