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Hello fellow Fightin' Blue Hens (that is the name, right?)! I just made my decision official to go to UD for PhD work and am very excited for the opportunity. I got the chance to visit the school last month and found the campus to be aesthetically attractive and inviting. The faculty and staff also seemed legitimately interested in the students and interested in pushing their graduate programs to new heights. One thing I have been wondering is regarding parking. I heard that parking passes are rather expensive (I was told $300), and that many students choose to bike or walk if they live close enough as opposed to getting a parking pass. I am going to be living close enough to bike it easily (3 miles from the hall I will be working at, within Newark), so I definitely want to do this while it is nice out. My question is regarding inclement weather conditions and, more specifically, winter. Do people just deal with the weather in rain, snow, freezing cold and bike it during the winter months? I understand there is also a free shuttle bus from UD, but unfortunately my apartment complex is not on the route (Home Properties of Newark). They say the DART busline goes past, and it seems that is my only other option for days when it is too miserable weather to bike ride. Does anyone have any suggestions as to how easy/difficult they think it would be to go without a parking pass and utilize other forms of transportation (also, is it even cost effective? I know DART isn't free, so at some point I assume I will end up spending as much money on public transportation as I would on a parking pass). Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Still waiting to hear back from ECE (PhD) at ASU here. At this point I would just like the know what the story is there, whether we are waitlisted or basically rejected (or accepted but with no shot at funding). I tried calling the department last week, left a message trying to politely explain my decision to accept or decline another school's offer is due soon. They never returned my call and the website's status message hasn't changed.

Greetings, I am interested in pursuing PhD level research in solar cell design/fabrication. I am happy to report that I received admissions to the University of Delaware for their Solar Power Program (Research Assistantship). I am also waiting to hear back from Arizona State University. (Applied to both through their respective Electrical Engineering Departments) As I understand it, both institutions have excellent programs in the area of solar cell research, with UDel's program being well established and ASU's beginning to take off in great fashion. I was hoping some people on this board might have knowledge of the programs or schools that are of interest to me (if I should attain admissions to ASU) for my decision making. I realize it sounds like I am 'counting my chickens before they hatch' in posting this before I hear back from ASU, but please understand while I am confident in my ability to excel for either institution, I realize these schools have very difficult decisions to make and that I may very well miss the cut. Instead, I am posting this now as opposed to waiting because my acceptance/rejection of UDel's offer is actually due soon. Therefore, I wish to amass all the information I can in the remaining time I have. All I know about ASU's program is that they recently brought a highly regarded professor into the mix at ASU, I believe to begin work on "third generation" photovoltaic materials. I have learned a great deal of UDel's program, thanks to a very informative campus/department tour they gave me, and understand that my research will more than likely be in the area of high efficiency silicon cells. So, for those who have knowledge of either/both programs, I would sincerely appreciate your input/comments/suggestions. Also information about the schools in general or locations would be wonderful! Thank you