Bianca

yeah, it's a bitter feeling when professors you know so well and you know they know you and know how good you are act that way.... I had full support from all of my fellow students (since I was the only one from my department to apply to PhD programs in the US ever), but the professors were terrible. I had a similar experience with my undergrad thesis supervisor. She always knew I was the best student she had in years and there was no doubt about it. when I asked her to sign my LORs for post-grad studies in the US she said, 'no problem'. yet, when she was signing my LORs (which I wrote myself of course, as it is usually the case in my country), she noticed I was applying for PhD studies with full funding and said with a clear manifestation of disbelief: "Oh you;re applying for full funding??!" That was so rude, as if saying 'no way, you're never gonna get that. get real!'. I didn't react. some months later, when I got into Cornell and two other PhD programs I told about my success to another professor, the only one that was really supportive of me throught the application process. she the told my supervisor, and she reacted like: "No way, she really got into Cornell? Ok, maybe she was accepted, but she didn't get funded." when this other prof assured her I got full funding, she said: "Oh then she must;ve got the fellowship because of some kind of a special quota for students from developing countries". how disrespectful is that? I was indeed the best student the departmetn of psychology has seen in years and all of the professors knew that. how could she react like that? she should be proud that one of her students achieved this, in many ways she also had great influence on it; instead she was trying to belittle my success, why? was she jealous that I made it further than she did (she did her MA at Columbia, but then went back to our small and insignificant country)? well, in the end, they are the loosers, we won

these visa issues are so annoying and the US seems to have the single most complicated visa system in the world! I have a question that has nothing to do with the J- or F-1, but has any of you internationals (particularly those not currently residing in the US) received the I-20 forms? if not, have you had any info on when you'll get them and if they're already processing these documents? thanks

the only thing that scares me is living in a tiny little town of 30 000. I now live in a city 20 times bigger than that and I see it as too small for me. my ideal city should have at least 2 milion people. so I'm just hoping I'll have enough time to spend some weekends in NYC (some current grad students said it's very possible )

I'm from Macedonia moving to Ithaca, NY. I've no chance of flying to the US now to look for a place, not because of visa issues, but because of money. a trip like that is going to cost me at least $1500-$2000 and I can't afford that. and I was told that looking for a place in August is a very bad idea, only the bad and expensive options are left. so I first asked the current grad students at Cornell what part of the city would be the right one for me (considering my desire to live in a busy area relatively close to the campus) and then started looking online. some landlords don't agree to do rent out their place online, but others do. I also ask them to send photos so I can have some idea of the appartment. and that's how I'll decide. good luck to all of us

actually, the affirmative action in favor of women is completely useless in psychology departments. they're full of women and seriously lacking men, so if they'd wanna have a more gender balanced group of people, it'd be the men who'd benefit from it. anyway, squirrely, since you got in where you wanted, I think it's pointless to feel jealous about the other girl getting in a school to which you didn't really want to go. it would be a totally different thing if that was your top choice and you got rejected from everywhere. this way, just get over it and be happy for the girl.

guys, there must be some crazy party girls somewhere around you... don't lose hope, just learn where to look in my city the spring just arrived and the entire female population immediately switched to skirts. and that significantly simplifies sex life I agree, there must be a connection between the weather and the amount of sex people have in any given location. maybe I should do my thesis on this topic? what do you think? or is it too obvious to even bother? and I definitely recommend my strategy to all soon to be grad students, it works. (plus you loose weight, this sex thing burns calories big time. I gotta grab something to eat...) have fun

I'll need an entire 25kg bag for my shoes and boots only! And the books! I have a huge, beautiful library at my place now, I don't know how I'll leave any of them... god, I'll never manage to move to the US

well, probably it wasn't put appropriately by NotReadyToHangMyself regardless of the context, but I do believe that getting laid helps a lot in fighting stress and fear. so I'm definitely doing it as much as I can

I'm definitely going to live with roomates, not only because it's cheaper, but also because it's more fun. especially when you're moving to a new city (let alone country) wheer you don't know anyone. so I'm looking into appartments/houses with as many bedrooms as possible. as long as I have my own bedroom and we come to a decent cleaning arrangements with the others as far as the common areas are concerned, I've no problem with living with strangers. since as an international I'm not that familiar with the cost of living in the US, do you guys think one can spend $500 a month on rent (including utilities) on a 19k fellowship?

Human Development PhD, Cornell

the thing I fear the most about moving to the US is food. where I come from there are always fresh vegetables out of someone's garden on my table and I don't even know how frozen vegetables taste like. and I basically live on fruits and vegetables (and sometimes chicken, again, from my grandmother's backyard). plus I can't cook, my girlfriend has been doing all the cooking for many years now, so I've no idea what I'll eat. fast food is not an option, mcdonalds and everthing like it makes me sick. how expensive is organic food compared to the regular stuff? everyone from my country that has spent a year or more in the US has gained weight, significantly, even with working out regularly. so I'm terrified...

I make money translating documents for UN organizations in my coutnry and they pay great money so I don't have to work my ass off these remaining months. plus I have some savings and full funding when I start my phd. so, I'll be having fun all summer long!!! 10 days in Berlin, 2-3 weeks on a car tour around Turkey, one week in a city in Serbia that hosts one of the greatest music festivals in this part of Europe and a couple of short trips to Greece (which is only a 2hrs drive from where I live). but first, today the sun is shining after 2 weeks of rain and I'm planing to party all weekend long

Dear Guest, I believe all of us here are in your grad cohort, duh! if you don't feel comfortable about students finding you attractive and expressing that, stay away from academia. it's only normal for students to like their teachers, especially if they are physically attractive (but soemtimes even if they aren't), I believe it's happened to all of us some time during our highschool or college years. I'm an attractive woman and I've had people hitting on me in thousand different contexts and situations. so I've learned how to handle both the wanted and the unwanted attention. I don't see why it should be any different while TAing. plus, as some people said, it can be a great fun if some students see you as a hot TA, and it definitely doesn't show any disrespect from them. if anything, a bit of immaturity. you must be either an ugly person who envies all the good looking people in the world or you're an extreme moral conservative who probably doesn't even belong to the academia. academia is a relatively progressive place to be

jennesy, also by mail, letter postmarked March 31. they're really slow, it's annoying. I hope not having heard yet is a good sign, waitlisted maybe?... good luck

I'm also very confident about my success in grad school. I know I'm not the best researcher ever, but I'm sure I have what it takes to make an excellent scholar. and I've always been the best in my cohort, no matter what I did, so I already have this experience of success which gives me the security that I really am good. (I think all of the people here who managed to get into grad school share this experience of success and should therefore give themselves some credit for what they've accomplished so far and believe they'll do just fine in the future). I feel like I belong to grad school so much, that I can't wait for august to come. the only thing I'm somewhat worried about is adapting to the american mentality and lifestyle. Europe is so different from the States...