tripax

I can't say that is bad news for me, but I hate waiting...

Does UW have that sort of reputation? What do they usually look for in an applicant?

I know someone mentioned Bridgeport earlier, but I was wondering about safety. What is the crime like on the south side? Craigslist is listing places a lot less expensive than http://www.apartmentpeople.com/ranges.asp has. What is up with that? (I'm looking for places near UIC for a friend.)

Petral6, umm, thats exactly what I meant to ask. Thanks.

I know bringing up a subject like this on an internet forum is often a bad idea, but I have a question. Do (international) students studying the sciences (especially evolution and genetics in biology, and sometimes anthrocentricism in physics) have reservations about coming to the United States to study, where things like Inteligent Design and the Templeton Foundation (which does not seem to support ID, but otherwise supports the convergence of religion and science) play such a large role in what is best funded, the direction of policy, and what is being taught in the high schools (and thus, presumably, untaught in recitation sections)? I am not looking to flame or discuss how big of an effect these issues actually have on graduate level science programs, but rather if these issues are of a conccern to incoming students.

I'd say that while groceries are a bit more expensive than where I am in Ames, Iowa, housing is about the same, although the houses in Syracuse are nicer, with neighborhoods a bit more dangerous. The heating bill is higher, but you don't have to drive as much, since your car will be stuck in the driveway for four months during the winter when it snows. Sales tax is a bit higher there, but there are more thrift stores to buy clothes. Seriously, I am making about the same (higher stipend, but I pay half tuition), and I am able to save a couple thousand dollars each year, plus fly out to Syracuse to visit my girlfriend. So, I'd say 13.5k will do fine.

update about getting funding from start point of none: I talked with a professor in charge of funding, she was very nice, but she said up front that their would be no funding for me. She said land grant universities don't have much flexibility with these things, although if an opportunity opened up (like a prof got funding), she'd let me know.

I've found the advisor/student relationship to be very manageable even though the only professor who has worked in my field didn't like me when I was her student in class. We had at first a cordial and professional (although slightly tense) working relationship, but now things are more relaxed. Don't worry too much about having the relationship go sour and having noone to help you. There are only a few bad apples at any school, so as long as the advisor has a reputation of being nominally a nice person, you will still be able to work through initial personal differences if you remain professional.

of course, but "all ... kids from NJ, NY, and CT"?

I don't know much about the industry, but I know ISU is proud of its connections with biotechnology. They have an office of biotechnology (http://www.biotech.iastate.edu/) and a directory of nearby firms working in life sciences (http://www.industry.iastate.edu/lifesci ... ctory.html). Hopefully that is helpful. The city is fairly small, and entirely dominated by undergraduates. I like to compare the city to a factory which tries to efficiently get alcohol into students. However, I'm on the west side of town, and the east side is a little better, with an old town area with nice shopping and resteraunts, parks and trails, and fast access to the interstate where its 30 minutes to Des Moines and 3 or 4 hours to Minneapolis, Chicago, and Kansas City. The campus is very pretty, and they have good lectures open to the public. There is a hipster movie theater, a dollar theater and a regular cinema. There are two art galleries (I think), a large music venue, an indie music venue, and some bars that have concerts. Tell me what department you are going into and I can give you a little more information, and feel free to ask more questions.

This article talks about comparing private and public elementary schools and talks about the costs of private school http://www.greatschools.net/cgi-bin/showarticle/ca/197 Those prices seem really high to me; for example, here is the costs at the most prestigious private k-12 in my town. http://www.brownell.edu/aspx/ad_costs.aspx I think that a lot of inner city and Catholic private schools offer need-based scholarships to offset some of those costs. At least in my dioscene, this is true. In my expirience there is no difference between the quality of education at many private and public institutions. I went to inner city public schools in the midwest and came out having more classes in foriegn languages, math, and computer science than any of my friends in the honors program at the large state college. Many public schools use magnet schools and honors programs to give gifted students private school level classes, while having general education classes with a much more diverse group than the private school offers. /end opinion

Is this true? I would think that the students would be from Penn, Delaware, NJ and Maryland. Why NY and CT?

Do ask your department, and maybe ask payroll how you can expediate the process. I got my information to payroll early, but my department sat on things, and I didn't get my first paycheck (TA while getting masters in math) untill the begining of October (by mail). Changing that to automatic deposit has spead things up, but you might have to wait, especially if there is a small mix-up, as in my case. Otherwise, avoid mix-ups by being sure of what payroll and your department want, and communicating with them as to if you have the right paperwork in the hands of the right secretary, etc. :oops:

abcd: UIC had my friend's and my application listed as "decision deferred: manual review required" until they made their decision (both of us were accepted). I think that it means that the graduate college is deffering the decision to the department, but I don't know for sure. Good luck everyone. I'm too paranoid to post my profile until I know from all of my schools.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services designates Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) and Medically Underserved Area (MUA), and health care professionals can apply for a J-1 Waiver to work in those areas. To find out more, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services discusses it on a webpage here: http://bhpr.hrsa.gov/shortage/ and the page specific to dentistry is here: http://bhpr.hrsa.gov/shortage/hpsacritdental.htm If you seach google for "Health Professional Shortage Area" or "Medically Underserved Area," and lawyer, you will find lots of links to people who may rip you off, but probably know more about what is going on. Good luck again, and maybe this will be interesting, if not an option for the future.