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jaywalker

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Everything posted by jaywalker

  1. 22.2%...1 PhD acceptance, 1 Masters acceptance, and 7 rejections (including my dream school). But after seeing first-hand just how competitive this process is, I am more than happy with my results! I'm also at 25% for outside fellowships (accepted to 1, rejected from 3). I fully expected this rate to be 0%.
  2. Yeah I made a profile there, and I already sent some requests. But I've only heard back from one person (who already had a roommate)...I get the feeling that a bunch of profiles there are old and inactive. So I figured I would ask here to hit a different angle. Have you used the housing site? if so, any luck?
  3. Hi everyone! I'm starting a PhD program at GWU in the fall, and I'll be moving to the DC area in August. If anyone is looking for a roommate, let me know!
  4. By the way, I just want to mention that I got rejected from my top choice today, which was obviously very upsetting. But seeing this forum really helped me to put my future back in perspective. I have an offer from a PhD program with a phenomenal outside fellowship which is paying for everything and giving me the opportunity to work for a government agency. All things considered, I really don't have much to complain about!
  5. I wish there were some kind of national convention for First-Gen/Low-Income/Minority graduate students where I can meet you all! That would be sweeeet! My parents are Jamaican immigrants who definitely come from modest means. My dad never finished high school (nor did he get his GED), and spent years of his life dealing drugs and working odd jobs. After ending up in jail, getting separated from my mom, getting kicked out of his apartment, nearly getting deported, suffering multiple nervous breakdowns, and dealing with multiple health problems, he is now living with his brother and working a minimum-wage job. My mom started college at age 17, right before getting pregnant...4 times. She finally got her BA at a community college when she was 38. Now she's an elementary school teacher, getting master's credits through a teaching fellows program. But needless to say, we all grew up in poverty...roaches, rats, hand-me-downs, cereal for dinner, eviction notices, 6 people in a one-bedroom, the whole nine. All of my siblings dropped out of college. I am still the only one of them with a bachelor's degree. I'm also the only one in my entire family to pursue a PhD, and the only one to even consider studying math. So i'm definitely the odd ball in the family. Honestly, I never felt too close to my relatives, and I took the first chance I got to move away from home. I still remember how out of place I felt in my first days of college...kids who went on happy family vacations, kids who paid tuition out of pocket, kids who owned laptops and iPods. I remember meeting one girl who had never seen a roach! But I realized that I only really felt out of place because I was defining myself by what I didn't have, instead of by what I did have. I had ambition, drive, intelligence, goals, an open mind...and those are traits that I had in common with all of my friends in college. So in the end, I had an AMAZING undergrad experience, despite working my way through school and having thousands of dollars of debt now. Even now, as nervous as I am to go into the unchartered territory that is grad school, I feel comfortable knowing that I have everything I need to get everything I want. Instead of dwelling on the somewhat discouraging messages I've received from professors and staff, i'm deeply encouraged by how far I've come, and by how far others have gone (including everyone on this thread!)
  6. It's looking like I'll also be at GW in the fall for a PhD in Math. Moving to DC will be bittersweet for me, since I LOVE the city, but I had my heart set on somewhere else. But I'll definitely be making the most of it. If anyone is looking for roommates, let me know!
  7. Thanks for the advice everyone! I've emailed the CUNY director to let him know, and he said he would be in contact with me sometime this week. Hopefully with good news...
  8. That was actually me! I still can't believe it! I'm scared that any minute now, they're gonna email me back and say "We're sorry for the mistake, and we wish you the best in your graduate studies..."
  9. If you love both programs based purely on academics, then you can't go very wrong with either one, I'd say. So I would definitely take the location into account. I've never been to San Fran, but I've lived in Boston/Cambridge for the past 7 years, and I currently work at MIT, so I'll speak on that. I think Cambridge is the better college town (perhaps the best in the nation). It has a very young 30's and under demographic...very clean, and lots of people live an active, healthy lifestyle. I'm pretty sure it's colder than San Fran on average, and we definitely have a longer winter. But I would never call this city ugly just for that reason. And we actually had a really mild winter this past season. As for the "girls" argument, MIT is actually a lot more gender-balanced than people think. Not that it matters much...you can always go elsewhere to find women. Be warned, our nightlife ends at 2am (our public transportation ends earlier)...not sure how that compares with Berkeley. Like I said, both programs sound amazing, so I wouldn't think too much about which has better academic outcomes. If you're committing to move to a city for a few years, make sure it's the right environment.
  10. Woah! I forgot one important caveat...apparently, NPSC member universities who accept NPSC fellows agree to waive tuition and fees for up to 6 years. So if I let CUNY know, they'd have to decide between accepting me and waiving everything, or just denying me.
  11. Here's the position: Last week, I got accepted to GW for a Ph.D in Math (yay!!!)...however, I'm on their wait list for funding, which means I may or may not get any support from them. Yesterday, I called CUNY (my top choice) to check the status of my application, since they haven't told me anything yet. The director basically said that I'm on the wait list for admission. About an hour ago, I got an email from the National Physical Science Consortium saying that I am being sponsored for a graduate fellowship ($20,000 a year, up to 6 years...YAY!!!) The fellowship only sponsors grad students at certain partner schools...lucky for me, both GW and CUNY are on that list. Now this is where strategy comes in... I REALLY want to get into CUNY, and I'm thinking that if I let the director know that I won this awesome fellowship, he'll be more inclined to admit me off the wait list. BUT, that might also make them less likely to give me funding from the school (I hear CUNY is notorious for bad funding). And NPSC's award by itself won't be nearly enough for me to survive in NYC. On the other hand, if I don't let the director know, I might not get into CUNY at all, and I'll be forced to go to GW, who might also be stingy with money. So the question is: do I play my hand and tell CUNY, or wait and see what the dealer gives me? Any advice would be much appreciated!
  12. Did anyone here apply for this fellowship this year? Has anyone heard anything from them yet?
  13. I think the word "science" is the 2nd most popular...it has 27,084. Can you find the most popular city? My guess is New York with about 5,000.
  14. Rejected as well, though not unexpected. Congrats to all the winners...to the victors go the spoils!
  15. This question came to me while I was looking at the most recent Math postings. I noticed that there were over 6,000 math-related posts, but I thought to myself: "There must be another subject with more results..." So I started a quest to find the most popular grad school field! Psychology was naturally my first guess, which easily beat Math with 8,618 results. Then I tried English, which surpassed Psych with 9,790 results. I thought this might be the final winner...but yet another field emerged on top. With 10,924 results, the most popular field I've found so far is...Computer Science! Can you find a more popular subject? Related question: Can you find which WORD gives the most results? I don't think any word can beat "University".
  16. That scared the hell out of me!
  17. Every time I click on a new page of this thread, another page is added on by all of the users posting!!! I love how crazy this is...reminds me of waiting for the ball to drop on New Years! I'm almost 100% sure I'm not winning anything from NSF, but the excitement from this message board is still so palpable. Best of luck to you all!
  18. Comparatively speaking, it should be cheaper to rent in Waltham than Boston proper. There's FAR more upside to living in Boston than there is to living in Waltham. I'm sure in its own context, Waltham is livable...hehe
  19. It's fine...I caved and called them last week, and heard it from them before I saw your post. So you weren't the bearer of bad news. I hope you come off the waitlist though!
  20. To take my mind off the agony of waiting, I've been browsing through the math topics looking for something that might be relevant to me. But the pickings are slim! I don't bring this up to complain...I just find it very curious! Is this forum a reflection of the percentages of math majors in the world who specialize in Stats? I know there's a stigma that Statistics is easier than Pure Math...is this coming into play here? What are your thoughts?
  21. Right now I'm reading the Mistborn trilogy by Brandon Sanderson...currently on the 2nd book, The Well of Ascension. It's a nice sci-fi/fantasy trilogy that deals a lot with political theory, class and power structure, religion, etc. I highly recommend it if you're into that kind of stuff!
  22. Haha I'm not surprised that you're not a fan of Waltham...you shouldn't be. Waltham is rightly cheaper to live in, since there's nothing there. BUT, with persistence and quick action, you can definitely find an affordable place closer to civilization. What kind of place are you two looking for (1 bedroom to share, 2 bedroom, house, etc)? If you're looking to share 1 bedroom, you can definitely find good options in Somerville. The Porter Square commuter rail station is nearby, which can take your fiance to Brandeis, and from there you can get to BU with 2 trains (about a 45 minute commute). I don't know what your price range is, but i'm living in a 2-bedroom apt. in Cambridge right now (close to Somerville) for $1300 total a month (so I pay $650). AND when I was looking for apartments, there were cheaper options, but less convenient for me and my roommate. So there are better options within the city! Please don't live in Waltham!
  23. I would recommend either Somerville or Inman Square. They're roughly the same distance from Harvard (although Somerville is pretty big), which is about 20-30 minutes on foot. Porter Square is especially nice, complete with trains, buses, supermarkets, shopping, bars, etc. The other (cheaper) option across the river would be in Allston. Less access to public transportation, and a little "louder" than the first two, but it'll have everything you need. If you're very lucky, you might be able to find a studio in any of these neighborhoods for less than $1300, but it's rare. Most people get 2 bedrooms or higher since studios and such are so expensive. But keep searching for deals...Craigslist is your friend
  24. Good to know. I'm honestly not too worried about living like a bum...i'm used to it. I spent a year teaching/tutoring Calculus for far less than minimum wage while living in a tiny quad inside of a high school. At least this time, i'll have a fancy degree at the end of it. I applied for GRFP, but I doubt i'll be chosen for it. But hope springs eternal!
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