iowaguy

For those of you that have an office set up at your home, do you find a printer a necessity? Trying to get a home office set up for the next 5 years of PhD... I have a laptop, 2nd monitor, file cabinets, and bookshelf. Anything else you would recommend? Thanks in advance!

How much would the total difference in cost be between the two (including cost of living), and how much higher would your earning potential be if you had a M.A. from #1 vs from #2? That should answer your cost question... I also like to think bigger picture: assuming the cost/benefit is equal (#1 costs more but more earning potential), would #1 allow you to achieve your life goals/dreams moreso than #2?

IMHO, if you think you want to end up in NYC, you will likely make more Northeast contacts/network if you're attending a university in that region. Plus the prestige is huge! 2 years of your M.A. will go by very fast. The pedigree will last you a lifetime...

What kind of background do you have in math/science/statistics and what do you hope to specialize in regarding EEB?

Under the Sustainable & Healthy Communities: "thus eliminating any new fellowships" sounds like no more EPA Star fellows in that category, no? (maybe she meant to write "Safe & Healthy Communities?) Interesting that no other category mentions a reduction in the number of fellowships? I'm with you, I can't imagine they would just eliminate one category... Will be interesting to see if there are any STAR fellowships at all offered next round...

I wouldn't start a Caltech PhD program if you seriously thought that you'd quit halfway with just your M.S.?!? There's no guarantee that Caltech would grant you a Masters if you dropped out/weren't performing up to expectations... Sounds like you're nervous that you won't be able to cut it at Caltech? I'm not saying that to diss on you, but it comes across that it's a concern of yours... Why would you want the stigma of a Masters (failed PhD). Why not just get your M.S. somewhere if you thought that's what you ultimately wanted from grad school? You might burn bridges with most/all of your professors (letter of reference writers) if you drop out...

If you're already accepted, why do they need your GRE scores? Didn't they ask for your GRE score on your application?

If you're going to do a PhD someday anyway, and the Columbia program is one of the top in the field you're interested in, why not just do that PhD now? What are you going to gain by doing a Stanford MS and then a PhD somewhere else?

Depending on the school, they might take your highest Q score from one test date and your highest V score from another test date, in which case your little "trick" might work. Other schools take your best overall test date, in which case your trick wouldn't work. I personally think a NS looks VERY bad, like you're trying to work the system (I debated doing something similar by skipping the AW section to leave more energy for the other sections, but decided against it). Just take the test and do your best on all sections...

Well, you didn't mention your SO in your original post, that changes the dynamics. But, just to play devil's advocate to what Deadmeat says - if your relationship doesn't work out, will you regret attending School B and not enjoy your time there anymore?

In my new PhD program, there are more classes that I want to take than I will have time. Plus I have read a PhD student should try to minimize classwork so as to leave more time for research. Which got me thinking, maybe auditing classes is a good compromise? Would get to know different professors that way (recruit some of them as committee members) and exposure to new thoughts/ideas in classes without "homework" that would detract from research time. Anyone out there use auditing as a strategy in your PhD program? How do you choose which classes to actually enroll in vs. which ones to just audit?

If you don't get into school B take the job. Then, re-apply after a year or two if you're still interested in a PhD.

I'm thinking of buying a house in the Old West Durham area, as I hear it's safe & looks like could easily walk/bike to campus from there. Unfortunately when I visited campus back in October I didn't check out the OWD area. Have you scouted out the neighborhoods around campus? Thoughts?

Omaha is my favorite Midwestern city, I travel there about once per month to catch a concert, nice restaurant, etc. Omaha has a thriving live music scene! But you'll definitely want a car, IMHO. It's a very "sprawly" city, especially as you get out towards the western part of Omaha. There are some nice trails in the city, and there is one that heads south from Nebraska Medical Center (Field Club Trail - not too far from UNO), but unless you live somewhere near a trail you will want your own set of wheels. Omaha is not very bike-friendly on the roads (especially during the winter) and as Murklins mentioned not very bus-friendly either. I will second what Murklins said that the area around UNO is not sketchy. The sketchy parts of town, IMHO, are south Omaha and north Omaha. The Old Market is a very happening spot, always some live music to be found and lots of diverse restaurants. Also, Benson and Dundee are communities with lots of nightlife options. All of those areas are not too far from UNO (in a car). You'll love Omaha, best of luck!

+1 Getting What You Came For is another one that I read and enjoyed.

I think competition for PhD spots in future years is going to be very tough due to lack of funding. # applicants has been increasing at all of the schools I applied to, and with future funding on the decline you have a very bleak picture for future FUNDED Phd spots, IMHO. If it's a good school and a liveable stipend, I would personally accept the offer. Many POI's let you craft your specific research path within their lab, assuming there is some overlap with their background/strengths. My research interests don't align exactly with my POI, but we overlap some and by tapping into a couple of committee members (who overlap with me in areas that my POI doesn't) I hope to have access to all of the expertise that I'll need for a kick-ass dissertation. YMMV.

I think things are a little tough this year in the sciences. Federal grants are delayed/reduced and POI's are trying to figure out if/how to get funding for PhD students. Hang tight, lots of students are in the same boat...

I live solo and eat very healthy - lots of fruits & veggies, fish, shoping at the farmers market, etc. Mostly cook at home. I budget $450 per month for food (average of $5 per meal per day). Healthy body = healthy mind.

More money, lower cost of living, at a better school with more interesting professors and smarter fellow students (future peers). Seems like an easy choice to me...

I like the idea of living with a fellow graduate student, but not one from my small cohort... Too much interaction if you're working together at school and also living together, IMHO.

How "guaranteed" should funding be if it's offered to you? For example, one university offered me 2 years of funding from a fellowship, and then basically said after that, your advisor will provide funding through funded projects as an RA... Problem is, with all this talk of funding reduction from the federal (and some state) budgets, I'm trying to make sure I don't get 2 or 3 years down the road and wake up one day to no funding from my PhD program. I would ideally like to see 5 years of "guaranteed" funding before I commit to a PhD program (which would involve quitting my job & moving across the country, among other personal sacrifices). Thoughts? How "in writing" do you make sure your funding is and exactly what are you looking for as far as a "guarantee" of funding for your PhD program, and for how many years? Thanks in advance!

Well, I got a 168 on verbal knowing the equivalent of Mannatan's difficult flash cards (I also had several other brands for a total of a few thousand words, but Manhattan's advanced was the toughest set). If you can ace the equivalent of Manhattan's advanced flash cards then vocab isn't going to be your weakpoint on the GRE and I would recommend you focus instead on reading comprehension, quantitative, time management, etc. To echo Midnight's sentiment, I only came across one word on the entire GRE that I didn't know, and I was able to use other cues to figure out that it wasn't the right answer to the question... What is your target score for the verbal section?

Bless - couldn't you walk from there in less than 1/2 hour? How many people share the house & do you have your own private bathroom? If I attend Cornell I'm planning to buy a house & rent out a room/bathroom but it seems like many/most houses only have 1.5 baths. I'm not so keen on sharing a bathroom, and suspect that renters would feel the same way. Has this been your experience in looking for a room to rent? Maybe it's different in Ithaca where housing is fairly expensive? I have been examining this website about Ithaca neighborhoods & attractions: http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=117776032342166628487.00048bfe5183a13c668f4&ll=42.443728,-76.500378&spn=0.078414,0.104799&source=embed

Manhattan's has 2 levels of 500 word flashcards. The "advanced set" is pretty difficult. You can view a demo here: http://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/gre-flashcards.cfm Click on "advanced" and see if that's what you're looking for. Be sure you know the definition well before flipping the flashcard, some words that they teach (and I saw a couple like this on my actual GRE) have unusual definitions (often a different part of speech) that aren't the same as their mainstream definition.

Manhattan has these types of questions (I think they're called critical reasoning). Magoosh also has a nice lesson on them: http://magoosh.com/gre/2011/a-reading-comprehension-question-type-resurrected-critical-reasoning/ I personally think they're the easiest type of reading comprehension. You don't have to read through a tiring, multi-paragraph passage (which can be quite long in the 2nd verbal section) to be able to answer. The questions/answers are very logical. Just read the passage carefully (make sure you understand exactly what it is saying and also what it infers) and check each answer against the question.