1Q84

Reviving this one! I'm moving from Toronto to LA soon. Every shipping rate I've been able to find has been ridiculously expensive for just 20 lbs of material. Obviously I'm thinking of sending my books and what not but now I'm kind of thinking I should just lug those in my suitcases and send lighter things later by mail. Anyone have specific Canadian East --> US West shipping experiences?

Wow! You're like my exact clone. I didn't do so hot in my last two years of undergrad because I didn't do so well in Greek. I'm 27 and I just completed my B.Ed as well with a 3.9. I thought it better to apply to an MA first and did so, will be attending Fall 2013. I want to make sure I have the best chances and to be the most prepared that I possibly can for my Ph.D run, so I feel very comfortable with my decision. Good luck to you, whatever you choose!

I'm almost in the exact same position as you! I took for granted that I would be all excitement throughout this entire process (I can't wait to move out of my sleepy suburb, explore new places, meet new people, etc.) but now that it's getting real, all the other emotions are rushing in. Agreed

Now that all the dust has settled after applications, registration, etc., of course the next hurdle presents itself: tuition payments! I'm not a very good money person, I'll be honest. My school has several options and I'm not sure if some are patently better options than others, though I'm going to hazard a guess that full-year payments are definitely for an elite few. Anyway, here they are: The second last one (5-month Automatic Deduction) seems to be the best choice: no fees and I can change my plan for the next semester if I need to. The only catch for that option is that the first instalment is due July 20th. Also, I can put a down payment now to reduce each monthly payment by however much I want. This also seems like a good idea, especially so that my bi-weekly fellowship payments can easily cover each instalment. Any help or opinions from more money-savvy folks than I would be greatly appreciated!

This is basically all you need to know. Make sure the laptop you're getting has expansion slots and then fill them with as much as you can reasonably afford. I'll second a preference for SSD as well. Jumping up from 2GB RAM to 8GB has been a most enjoyable experience. ETA: I love my iPad mini. Reading on it is a breeze and I get no eyestrain at all. Something about the choppiness of Kindles and such really turn me off. It feels far more "artificial" to me than a regular ol' LCD.

To add to this, if you have an Amex in your home country (in my case, Canada), then you can simply call them and ask them to transfer it over for you. Gold Rewards The card that I have at the moment is really good for collecting travel rewards so it'll be perfect for saving up enough points to visit home (or elsewhere!) every once in a while. ETA: Out of curiosity, I just googled and found that there's a referral bonus for those cards. The referee (you) would get 60,000 points (equivalent to about... 2 and some change economy flights within North America) and I'd get 15,000 points. Not spamming, but just thought some of you may be interested. Getting 2 free flights ain't bad for signing up for a credit card! PM me if you want a referral link

I have a general question: if I'm starting my program this fall, then I'm guessing I'd wait until next year to try and attend these conferences? I noticed the one that proflorax posted will be occurring in Oct 2013 but the proposals were due yesterday A month into the program is probably a little to rushed to be going to conferences, right?

You're quite right, jenste! I applied a couple weeks ago and never received some of the forms in the mail that they said they would send me. Thanks for the reminder to follow up with them.

I don't think you should worry too much.... there's lots of other cylons out there for you to meet!

My goodness! I could have sworn all these websites I've been reading have said "F-1 visa" but that must have been my mind playing tricks on me. Looking back, they never actually appended visa to the word. Yes, I already paid my SEVIS. I had a mini-heart attack when I read about the MRV. I did not budget for another burdensome bureaucratic fee! On that note, SEVIS received my fee and they said they mailed it out May 3. I still have not received it... I've been trying to reach them by phone but no response. I'm kind of worried now because I thought my printed out receipt would be enough. ETA: I just called SEVP and they said that they're doing away with sending out printed receipts and that the internet receipt and the one they send are "mirror images" of each other. So I really hope my internet receipt is fine. Thanks for all the info (as per usual!)

Sorry to hear about that... that sounds awful. I would contact your school and ask the international students office their advice. It doesn't seem right that they would require proof of funding for the second year. I mean everything is really conditional. If they want to keep going down that path, why are they not concerned about you losing the RAship in the first year? ----- Unrelated question: I'm a Canadian citizen and we are allowed to just go straight to port of entry and apply for an F-1 there. I don't want to wait until I get to the border but I'd rather go to the consulate and get it over with there. Is this even possible? On all the US Visa Services - Canada website, I'm not even allowed to book an appointment! Anyone have experience with this? Does this mean that I don't have to pay the MRV fee?

Tangentially, I feel like I "over thank" in my emails. I mean I'm very appreciative of professors helping me but I feel like I thank 20 times a day! Does anyone think it might be a bit irritating? How can one avoid this pitfall while still appearing appropriately thankful?

I use best to sign off almost exclusively. Oops.

That shouldn't be the case. On my I-20 application form, I simply left the funding part blank and had my grad director email the office of international students stating how much funding I would receive. Then I received the I-20 from the school which guarantees a certain amount of funding (in my case, enough to cover all of the basic minimum requirements for enrollment). I don't think it's right for them to require proof of $50k when clearly your attendance is predicated on their funding. I would talk with the whoever handles international students at your school as they often have a lot more knowledge of the bureaucratic process than the grad director of your department does. Good luck!

I was hoping someone would say this! Thanks. I mean my initial instinct is to just take it and make myself happy. But I know that there are harsher market realities out there too...

So I have the option of taking a creative writing seminar in my first semester (flash fiction!) along with two other required courses. My logic in registering for it is that I want to balance out rigorous, theoretical courses with something designed to flex my creative muscles, especially because I haven't been able to schedule time in my personal life for as much creative writing as I would like. I think it'll be good to have that balance in order to keep myself sane when I plunge into grad school after 5 years away from academia. It's actually the course I'm most excited about taking. But now I'm having nagging doubts about it. Do you think some schools might look down on me seeing a creative writing seminar on my transcript? This isn't meant to belittle creative writing specialists; as I stated above, I have great love for the craft and practice. I'm more worried about what some schools might think about it. Will it look like a "bird course" or fluff on my transcript? I don't generally like to dictate my life based on what schools will think of me, but I also don't want to jeopardise my chances at a top tier program because of something avoidable like this. Thanks!

Well this is interesting now as the UCI site differentiates between "qualified" fellowships and stipends. I'm speaking specifically about my MA fellowship, so it seems to be entirely different from stipends (as reimbursement for services) and thus may be exempt. Anyway, I've signed up for Glacier so I guess they'll be making the decision for me!

Wow, same! Guess you set us both straight

Do you plan on crossing the border that often? It's quite expensive... I don't think it's worth it unless you go at least once a month.

Well, I think the vitriol I was referring to was mostly coming from Strong Flat White. But anyway... Assuming you entered the academic world later in life, I would think that they would be able to visually surmise your age. But the last part of what you said is what I'm referring to as a problem: many people aren't prepared for what they're getting into. I agree with the first bit of what you said. I don't have any problem with following your dreams. I think rather that many people are saying "follow your dreams" without any real consideration of not being able to pay rent under tens of thousands of dollars of debt or wasting a decade scraping by on a stipend and not saving for retirement. These are real problems that we'll all have to face, which many (though not all) "follow your dreamers" think will conveniently solve themselves as they sit in the stacks inhaling old book smell.

I think I kind of understand all the vitriol being directed at swagato (the original post did seem have a undercurrent of "pity the old folk," intentional or not) but I think it's also a legitimate concern. No, the interviewers won't ask for your birth date. But they can take one look at your undergraduate dates and know how old you are. Easy as that. I think age discrimination does and will exist on hiring committees, unfortunately enough, and that's why I'm riddling with anxiety about finishing my Ph.D at 35-36. In a perfect world, the 58 year old hiree would be seen exactly the same way as the 28 year old but I really don't think that's the case. Either way, I think it should be something that older candidates should be prepared to face. The responses I've seen so far have ranged from willfully ignorant ("Who do they think they are? They can't judge me!") to naive at best ("I am a scholar and nothing else in the world matters!") I was reading through and most responses bordered on "follow your dreams" pixie dust fluff. I mean, a certain level of passion is certainly required but I think a few years of crushingly awful teaching for a few bucks will quickly resolve that. I don't see the need to be so overly rosy about a situation that will clearly be extremely, extremely difficult, and as swagato rightly points out, probably much more so with age.

I was just talking to my friend who is doing her Ph.D at York U in Toronto and she said that she intends to draw it out to 7 even though she could probably be done in 6 so that she can take all the funding that they'll be giving her. I guess that includes family benefits as well (her and her husband intend to have a kid soon). I don't know, I guess if one puts it that way, 7 years in a Ph.D doesn't seem so bad. But all things considered, I definitely only want to be spending 5.5 too.

Ok clearly I have a lot of research to do! I guess I could start a family plan with my partner... if it's just based on same address. If they need us to be married on the other hand.... well, that case is currently still in court. Isn't it? I know that a lot of people opt for low data plans to save money and then just use up free wifi wherever they go. I don't know if I could do that though since I love to be connected when I'm commuting. And just recently I tried surviving on Starbucks wifi alone and it was so unreliable and spotty that I nearly threw my phone in the trash!

^ Out of upvotes so to express my feelings about your post: Amazing! And so true. I feel a lot better especially because I took the same path as you after undergrad and will be done my MA at 30 and will be starting a Ph.D then and I know I'm going to be grumpy too. Maybe a little less grumpy now.

I'm in Toronto and going to be in LA so... once a year, minimum. When that will be remains a mystery... but I sure don't want it to be December or March. I'm going to LA to escape Canadian winters!