Jump to content

joefc

Members
  • Posts

    13
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by joefc

  1. i think youre fine with the whole pre-existing condition thing as long as there is no break in your insurance coverage, no? it better be, otherwise im f#cked! but this is my understanding this could help... http://www.dol.gov/e...umer_hipaa.html i wonder if prescription drugs count as 'treatment?' i guess so? then again when i switched from my family's (blue cross) to the one at my job (united), they paid for the medication which I require daily. i had surgery under the old insurance a month before switching over. 4 months later i needed to do a test while with the new insurance, and it was completely covered, as have been all blood tests and prescription drugs which were within the 6 month 'pre-existing' condition clause. once the 6 months are up either way, you should be good, if you can make it that long. have a long talk with each program asap, and ask to speak about benefits options and that it IS* going to affect your decision. that should get their attention, just dont be rude. ...life would be much easier if they were transparent and clear about this stuff... just checked this out, know this doesnt have much to do with it, but in my 'claims summary' there is a huge gulf between prices billed, and the amount actually paid by the insurance, the negotiated rate. if you have to slog it through the 6 month pre-existing condition clause, you can always ask for a discount from whoever you may owe. its my understanding that doctor's offices usually work with you on that as they normally bill incredibly high amounts (some definitely dont though). good luck.
  2. do it. just withdraw from the other one asap, like now
  3. i also emailed one program and said that yes i would be going to a certain school, and then emailed a few weeks later saying no because i got a competing offer. youre fine. even if you already sent in the official yes, you can still find ways of opting out of it. you're good i also had a similar decision between how good a program was and where it was located...though definitely not the most important thing, it IS a big deal. nobody wants you to be miserable for half a decade, not you and not your potential program. then again, you might not be as miserable as you think in this small town, especially since it will most likely be a college town which im assuming tend to be more liberal, unless we're talking college station east texas. can i take a guess that program 1 is ithaca ny and 2 is in california?
  4. it pretty much means youre in. same thing happened to me last week. a couple days later got a nice letter in the mail
  5. has anybody heard from the Columbia GSAS Biological Sciences PhD program? interviews, rejections, acceptances, a timeframe for all this stuff to happen? applied a month early, still havent heard a peep, though i did miss the supposed recruitment weekend anyways (if the interview dates topic is to be believed, which it probably is)
  6. yea i was rejected post interview from cornell the week after, meaning i wasnt even considered for the waiting list. really pissed me off. and really took it personally. i killed the interviews as well as any science talk, was always positive and enthusiastic without being phony, and they never brought up anything about my work or application that was negative. i even talked up the woefully boring ithaca about how i love the outdoors and am sick of the overcrowded city! my gf thinks it had a lot to do with the relocation (a city boy moving to ithaca) and i did ask the students quite a bit about their lives up there and what they did. also i did let slip at the dinner at their amazing five star hotel with one faculty member that if there was one thing and one thing only about the program i didnt like, its that ive never experienced country/community life so it would be a big change for me. shouldve kept my mouth shut! at least, that sounds like a nice reason to not hurt my ego. the reality is likely that i may not have been one of their top choices, and they loved all their top choices that they invited. therefore, i wont be moving to ithaca anytime soon. probably brooklyn instead.
  7. i probably wouldnt have answered if i could talk my way out of it. if youre less than a year from graduating however, maybe it is best to suck it in and walk on eggshells around your advisor in regards to this situation. whats most important is to try and focus on a kickass thesis. besides, it doesnt really seem like a big deal. this is baby politics compared to most things, and youre not really in the thick of it.
  8. i cant relate too much, but going for a phd in biological research i can say that prestige aint all its cracked up to be. you need a combination of everything, not just peoples perceptions of how good the program is. then again, youre going for a masters not a phd and in a totally unrelated field, so maybe the prestige matters more? there are big name and successful professors everywhere. but $$ talks. youre getting a masters which at chicago would cost $$, and afterwards i dont know what the job prospects are for an MA in english, but the less debt, the better! always! you have figure out the equation. how much more is it gonna cost to go to chicago and how much more would you actually* get out of chicago than villanova?
  9. the acceptances for cuny biology are coming out now...they've already had their open house and i believe some interviews. sorry, but all is not lost, you may be on the waitlist.
  10. whewwwwww well, your only possibilities: 1 - come clean 1b- come clean, but embellish why you withdrew from those places i dont think i would recommend giving up on it completely without saying that. you may as well, at least, just tell em and see what happens. what have you got to lose anyways? unless youre really sneaky and can get away with it, which if you went to a program in zanzibar you could. it could probaby come up. but what are the details of your withdrawals? were they very, very early? i.e. were you there for a week, said f$#% this place and left? then you dont have a transcript to show anways. but ya, seems your only way out is to confess
  11. its good to think about these things. previous posts already said alotta great stuff. my one thought: were you gonna get at least a masters anyways? if so, just take the qualifying exam once classes are done, pass it, then drop out and boom! you just got an MA for free. i dont know at all what the job market for archaeology is though, and if an MA would even help?
  12. i dunno anything about applied physics (im in cell bio/biochem), but heres a shot, starting with the most important 1 - which program offers more support and research labs that would give you opportunities in applied physics, and which one offers a more broad research program, if you are not certain what exactly you wanna work in. are there any labs that stand out strongly? (though of course going to a program to work with one person only is not a good idea) also, since its physics and stuff is expensive, do they have the facilities necessary for you to do work, or any place nearby that they use? 1a- those people that you wanna work with/for, email them and ask them if they're actually taking any students this coming year! 1b - try and look at their recent grads if possible. what are they up to? are they doing what you'd like to do? 2- if the programs are pretty damned close for ya, then i would suggest moving on to non-program related criteria. whats life gonna be like for 5 years. do you prefer a hustlin bustlin city or the beautiful scenery and community lifestyle of ithaca? also, when i visited cornell they were offering $31k a year for bio phd students, which in ithaca means you will be living quite comfortably compared to a lot of other grad students, which can be a big deal. imagine not being poor during grad school, and actually being able to put money down on a house (which some grad students actually did with their stipend). but of course, chicago apparently isnt prohibitively expensive either unlike its gotham-ish counterpart, nyc. and chicago, from everything ive heard, is a great city. of course, you probably wouldnt find out because youll likely be cooped up in the lab all day and night anyways 3- ivy league means crap. this is grad school, not undergrad. its your own reputation that you make for yourself in the field and that of your supervisor that matters, and plenty of professors are well known and big names in their fields without being at an ivy league institution. 4- rankings, also mean crap! youre a scientist, have you ever wondered about how usa today or whoever compiles these rankings? whats the criteria? who cares! just look for yourself at their recent graduates, support network, facilities and faculty. either way youre in a great position! good luck
  13. you've gotta be nuts to go to NYU for several reasons. 1- i dont know how you would ever get funding for a terminal masters, but the price of one class at NYU GSAS is about, oh i dunno, between 1-2 semesters FULL time at CUNY! 2 - if youre going into neuroscience, get a masters in neuroscience. there is a good amount of neuro research going on at hunter college. it only makes sense 3- nyu is elite? really? since when? having been a part of a masters program at their GSAS, its vastly overpriced for no reason other than the fact that you are taking classes in greenwich village, a truly awesome place. and even if you are fully funded, what the heck is the nyu degree in physical therapy gonna do for neuroscience? the only great thing ive noticed about nyu that makes it worth any time, other than its prime location (which is $$$ to live in) is that a lot of the professors do stellar research. so do professors in CUNY though, but on average not as many (talking about bio) 4- as someone who is considering an offer from CUNY to go to their phd program, ive seen first hand that they give PREFERENCE to people who completed a masters within their program. a lot of them go right up to the PhD program once they are about to complete their masters CUNY all the way.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. See our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use