LaraAnn85

Well I just met people in the psych department and they were all very down to earth and bright and friendly. I'm definitely not planning on hanging out with the undergrads if I went there! I have been giving it a lot more consideration and I'm actually leaning back toward ASU now. I'm going back to Tempe this weekend to give it a last lookover!

The weather in SD can't be beat 8)

I am incredibly amused reading this thread, the sheer honesty is fabulous. I hadn't thought too much about this kind of thing, but I guess it is an issue. I guess I figure if you go to a big enough school in a big enough city, you're bound to find someone but maybe I'm wrong! I'm deciding between two schools, but for the dating scene I guess one of them having a med school and a law school are pluses eh? :wink:

Thanks and congrats to you too! That is exciting news, I'd choose Stanford too 8) Good luck to you!

When my roommates and I moved into our house last July, the tenants decided to leave a day later than they said they would. But our lease was up a day before, so we were essentially homeless for a day. We had all of our stuff in a moving truck, which we could only get for 1 day without being charged hundreds of dollars as it was already booked for someone else the next day. So we drove on over to the new house when they weren't home, loaded all of our furniture and boxes into the garage, and crossed our fingers that they wouldn't trash our stuff. They left us some angry messages, but that was it. We happily moved into the house from the garage the next day and all was well. That is, of course, until we discovered mold last month but that's a whole different story :shock:

Hey we're not all married or ugly or dorks! I'm 22, single by choice, fun, cute, etc. and I know plenty of other girls in my situation starting grad school in the fall. Not that I'd want to date someone so concerned with dating.... 8) But if you're such the smooth guy that you say you are, I'm sure you will find the one cute single girl right?

I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not! LA sucks but UCLA is in a great area. USC, on the other hand, is in the ghet-to. I am from San Diego and just finished undergrad at UCSD and I would hate to live in LA, but that's a pretty typical San Diego opinion. If you're at UCLA and don't have to commute, I'm sure it's fine. San Diego is definitely less exciting than LA, it's mostly families and military, but there are some cool areas and definitely enough to do. If you have any specific questions at the city or school, fire away, I am a wealth of knowledge. I am very sad to be leaving in August :cry:

This is horrible but made me laugh :roll:

I think I would have loved Purdue for undergrad, but the idea of being in such a small town now kind of freaks me out! I definitely won't base my decision on this, but if I could choose anywhere to be it would be a bigger city, maybe not NYC status but San Francisco or Seattle or something.

Call!!!! I can't believe people have the patience to not have already called, I've spoken to each secretary like 10 times already :oops: Granted I don't give out my name unless it's necessary, but still !

Your situation is tricky but I say take #2. If you are unhappy, a little more money won't make you happier. They have done studies to show that big time lottery winners are typically only "happier" for 3 months after they win! And that's millions, we're taking <10k. My point is that a year from now, if you are unhappy at #1 (and you know exactly how it is going to be already), you are going to wish that you had sacrificed a little cash to be somewhere you love. Where are these schools by the way? I'm trying to decide too....it's hard!

Did you visit and meet your potential advisors? If so, what did you think about them? Give us more information and we can help! I'm trying to decide too....its hard! By Texas do you mean UT Austin?

I was wondering about this in general- do schools do this? I'm on two wait lists, are they going to ask to meet me if they want me? Or do they just take people sight unseen when it gets this late? What if they don't know until April 15th that they still have room for a student? This is all craziness, they should have a match system!

Woosh that must be hard to turn down Northwestern! I guess the weather is better in SB though 8)

Congrats! I wish I knew...Purdue, IUPUI, Arizona, or Houston. Assuming my two wait lists don't come through.... :?: :shock:

Funny, I am deciding between ASU and 3 others and I don't consider the climate fantastic! It's over 90 degrees for a good 6 months of the year! Compared to 3 months of a cold winter....pick your poison! In any case, I don't know how to decide either :? Boston would definitely be better than Tempe in my opinion, but I wouldn't choose based on location (unless everything else is equal which it never is). Which is a better research match? Who did you feel you clicked more with? I think those are the most important things, along with funding and reputation of the program. Please let me know if you come up with any other factors!

Hey thanks for that! I did my undergrad at UCSD, so I'm used to a fairly big campus but nothing like ASU. I really liked the program and faculty, wasn't blown away by the area and school though. It was like 85 degrees in February, that would definitely be an adjustment. I guess I'll either be hating the summers in Arizona or the winters in Indiana, pick your poison I guess. I haven't gotten funding offers from any except for Houston, I bet they will be fairly similar though. It's a hard thing to decide!

Hahaha! Thanks! Gotta keep it bright and cheery right? Now can you tell me which one to choose? :roll: :mrgreen:

I'm planning to contact my 4 probably-wait-listed schools before I officially accept, just to make sure they aren't going to contact me on April 14th (or later?) or something. I want to make a completely informed decision and they should know by then what the deal is.

I've been here for 5 years (undergrad) and I never see grad students. I lived in a complex where there were a few, but it was all undergrads it would be a horrible place to live. I moved out because I couldn't take it anymore. I would suggest University City or Clairmont if you want something affordable and close. If you're willing to commute, Ocean Beach or Northpark are my favorite areas. San Diego is a family town....a wealthy family town....it's hard to find affordable places with youngish people. That said, I will be sad to leave this fall :cry:

Have you not heard a word from them? Not to be a downer but I wouldn't take that as a good sign. I've pretty much written off the program that I haven't heard from. I still haven't made a decision, but at least I know what I'm choosing from!

I applied to a PhD program really late and they are flying me out to visit next week. The deadlines are flexible in many cases 8)

I just found out I got into ASU too. I visited about a month ago and wasn't blown away. The weather sounds pretty bad from like April till October. Last summer the airport was closed because the tarmack was melting :shock: The area isn't amazing but the people were really nice and their program seems really good. Oh decisions, decisions!

Maybe that other person worked with Professor X's advisor/friend/lover, you never know. Maybe that person had better LORs, closer research match, nice eyes :?:

I got an acceptance letter from the department and then an "under review" email from the graduate school, I wouldn't think much of it. The department makes the decision but it goes through the grad school officially, sometimes they are just a little off in timing.