j.alicea Posted January 30, 2019 Share Posted January 30, 2019 @Bopie5 word, I’m familiar with Elgin. Yeah idk I love chi, don’t get me wrong, but sometimes I feel that ive spent too much of my life there, and I am looking to explore the rest of the country, and ideally take a semester to live abroad while I study for the language requirement for QE’s. Question about California living to you and @kendalldinniene, is the cost of living really that bad?? I’ve looked at some city guides and it just seems outrageous to me that a studio could cost someone 1400, and I’m hoping they just had bad luck cause they were moving from out of state and didn’t know anyone or visit far enough in advance... I mean 1000 for a studio is doable (not reasonable, but doable), but 1400??? Plus utilities????? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pdh12 Posted January 30, 2019 Share Posted January 30, 2019 @j.alicea sadly true. i have a friend in SC now and is paying exactly that for a studio. Dismal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j.alicea Posted January 30, 2019 Share Posted January 30, 2019 Wow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Wordsworthian Posted January 30, 2019 Share Posted January 30, 2019 Anyone else apply to Penn State's MA in English program? In the past couple of years it looks like people started hearing back around this time and I cannot stop checking my application portal! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havemybloodchild Posted January 30, 2019 Share Posted January 30, 2019 (edited) 11 minutes ago, j.alicea said: @Bopie5 word, I’m familiar with Elgin. Yeah idk I love chi, don’t get me wrong, but sometimes I feel that ive spent too much of my life there, and I am looking to explore the rest of the country, and ideally take a semester to live abroad while I study for the language requirement for QE’s. Question about California living to you and @kendalldinniene, is the cost of living really that bad?? I’ve looked at some city guides and it just seems outrageous to me that a studio could cost someone 1400, and I’m hoping they just had bad luck cause they were moving from out of state and didn’t know anyone or visit far enough in advance... I mean 1000 for a studio is doable (not reasonable, but doable), but 1400??? Plus utilities????? Even cities that were reasonable are getting ridiculously expensive. Here in sac, for instance, a few years ago I had a gorgeous little one bedroom on the grid for $650 a month, now you’ll be damn lucky to get a studio for under $1100. That’s a studio with no amenities and fifty year old shag carpet in the bathroom. California refuses to do anything to curtail drastic rent increases and keep its lower income population secure. We had a measure on the last ballot proposing some form of rent control in areas largely impacted by gentrification and everyone voted nope, basically. That being said, if you know folks it’s obviously easier to find something for less, and it varies by area. Also a lot of the UCs and CSUs have under and graduate student housing to try to make living here doable for less. Edited January 30, 2019 by kendalldinniene Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bopie5 Posted January 30, 2019 Share Posted January 30, 2019 9 minutes ago, j.alicea said: is the cost of living really that bad?? I’ve looked at some city guides and it just seems outrageous to me that a studio could cost someone 1400, and I’m hoping they just had bad luck cause they were moving from out of state and didn’t know anyone or visit far enough in advance... I mean 1000 for a studio is doable (not reasonable, but doable), but 1400??? Plus utilities????? Sometimes, definitely yes. I live in a really expensive area, and if you're not willing to have roommates, you're definitely going to end up in the $1100-1500 range for a studio. However, I have several friends who found houses or condos to split with roommates, and their rent is in the $650-800/month range including utilities. So if you can swing something with roommates or even housemates, it's much more workable. However, there's also the fact that gas is realllllllllyyyyyyy expensive out here. Like lucky to be under $3.30. AND sometimes even when you can find cheaper rent, it's usually because you're outside of the city center area, which means more traveling, sometimes with traffic, which means more money spent on gas. And also, groceries can skew really pricey too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barshmie Posted January 30, 2019 Share Posted January 30, 2019 Is anyone on here the Columbia interviewee? I'd love for you to enlighten me about what's going on with that. I know Columbia doesn't interview everyone they accept for a fact, but I still think it might give us some insight into their timeline. Plus, we can all congratulate you ❤️ . Re: rent. I lived in Manhattan for a long time and the Columbia stiped would worry me(32600 before taxes ?) if I had the fortune of having such a problem. My two bedroom in West Harlem (very close to Columbia) was $2900 total, I paid $1450 for my room before utilities. It was a beautiful apartment on a park, but still. And my apartment was rent controlled. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
placeinspace Posted January 30, 2019 Share Posted January 30, 2019 9 minutes ago, bardie said: Re: rent. I lived in Manhattan for a long time and the Columbia stiped would worry me(32600 before taxes ?) if I had the fortune of having such a problem. My two bedroom in West Harlem (very close to Columbia) was $2900 total, I paid $1450 for my room before utilities. It was a beautiful apartment on a park, but still. And my apartment was rent controlled. I decided to cut NYU from my list of schools for 2 reasons: 1. the grossness with the comp lit dept. 2. the insane cost of living in NYC. I haven't had a roommate since freshman year of undergrad and I just could not fathom trying to live happily on even the very generous NYU stipend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havemybloodchild Posted January 30, 2019 Share Posted January 30, 2019 10 minutes ago, bardie said: Re: rent. I lived in Manhattan for a long time and the Columbia stiped would worry me(32600 before taxes ?) What kind of taxes do grad students have to pay on their stipends? Lol I feel so in the dark. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
placeinspace Posted January 30, 2019 Share Posted January 30, 2019 Just now, kendalldinniene said: What kind of taxes do grad students have to pay on their stipends? Lol I feel so in the dark. Grad school stipends are not taxed, so each spring you will have to pay back your relevant taxes to the IRS. I'm not sure what the rate of taxation is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havemybloodchild Posted January 30, 2019 Share Posted January 30, 2019 Just now, placeinspace said: Grad school stipends are not taxed, so each spring you will have to pay back your relevant taxes to the IRS. I'm not sure what the rate of taxation is. Interesting...thanks for the info! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northwestnative Posted January 30, 2019 Share Posted January 30, 2019 1 minute ago, placeinspace said: Grad school stipends are not taxed, so each spring you will have to pay back your relevant taxes to the IRS. I'm not sure what the rate of taxation is. At Oregon State, at least, our stipends were distributed monthly and were already taxed as normal working income. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
placeinspace Posted January 30, 2019 Share Posted January 30, 2019 (edited) 1 minute ago, northwestnative said: At Oregon State, at least, our stipends were distributed monthly and were already taxed as normal working income. Really?? Maybe this varies program to program then. EDIT: The internet tells me that if you stipend comes from an assistantship, then it is already taxed. If not, like from a fellowship, then you need to disclose the amount as income to the IRS on your tax return. Edited January 30, 2019 by placeinspace Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northwestnative Posted January 30, 2019 Share Posted January 30, 2019 10 minutes ago, placeinspace said: Really?? Maybe this varies program to program then. EDIT: The internet tells me that if you stipend comes from an assistantship, then it is already taxed. If not, like from a fellowship, then you need to disclose the amount as income to the IRS on your tax return. Ah, that makes sense. Thanks for looking that up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barshmie Posted January 30, 2019 Share Posted January 30, 2019 34 minutes ago, placeinspace said: Really?? Maybe this varies program to program then. EDIT: The internet tells me that if you stipend comes from an assistantship, then it is already taxed. If not, like from a fellowship, then you need to disclose the amount as income to the IRS on your tax return. Taxes would total $1,460 for the Columbia stipend (32600)either way, but there is an additional New York City tax on top of that (I'm not sure how much this would be) if you decide to live in the city. Does anyone know which programs offer graduate student housing? Ugh... i'm totally putting the cart before the horse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sav Posted January 30, 2019 Share Posted January 30, 2019 10 minutes ago, bardie said: Taxes would total $1,460 for the Columbia stipend (32600)either way, but there is an additional New York City tax on top of that (I'm not sure how much this would be) if you decide to live in the city. Does anyone know which programs offer graduate student housing? Ugh... i'm totally putting the cart before the horse. This doesn’t exactly answer your question, but maybe it adds something to the discussion. At my program, the taxes are already taken out. There’s also a state tax here but I pay that separately when I do my taxes (it’s not much) so maybe it’s similar there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jadeisokay Posted January 30, 2019 Share Posted January 30, 2019 i know everyone faces rejection and competition is tough but getting a first rejection still stung. at least i have a vacation coming up to look forward to, i guess. victoriansimpkins 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
placeinspace Posted January 30, 2019 Share Posted January 30, 2019 8 minutes ago, jadeisokay said: i know everyone faces rejection and competition is tough but getting a first rejection still stung. at least i have a vacation coming up to look forward to, i guess. @jadeisokay I'm so sorry. A vacation and change of scenery will definitely help to put it into perspective and I'm sure you'll feel a bit better after! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jadeisokay Posted January 30, 2019 Share Posted January 30, 2019 (edited) thanks. i'm hoping by that point (beginning of march) to either have good news somehow with my other apps or have at least all decisions in. right now distracting myself with a paper that's due tomorrow. it's analyzing a zine written by queer women about their identification with bruce springsteen's music. it's very much up my alley so it's fun to write. Edited January 30, 2019 by jadeisokay magnegresswrites 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pdh12 Posted January 30, 2019 Share Posted January 30, 2019 did y'all see the random UT AUstin comp lit acceptance?!?!?!?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spectrum-in Posted January 30, 2019 Share Posted January 30, 2019 59 minutes ago, bardie said: Taxes would total $1,460 for the Columbia stipend (32600)either way, but there is an additional New York City tax on top of that (I'm not sure how much this would be) if you decide to live in the city. Does anyone know which programs offer graduate student housing? Ugh... i'm totally putting the cart before the horse. I'm at Columbia's MFA for fiction right now! There is graduate housing available, but it's usually reserved for International applicants/applicants who aren't from the Northeast. I pay about $1200 a month for my apartment with one roommate that's really close to campus. That's pretty cheap for the area, where non-Columbia housing apartments can easily be upwards of $2k for a studio. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bopie5 Posted January 30, 2019 Share Posted January 30, 2019 I don't know if waiting for decisions is somehow counterintuitively spurring me to have greater confidence in my academic self, or if I'm just bored out of my mind and trying to keep myself busy, but the last few days I have been nonstop submitting my poetry and academic papers to various magazines, journals, and conferences. Or maybe I'm just a glutton for punishment looking to ramp up the amount of rejections I receive in the next few weeks/months! LOiseauRouge 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havemybloodchild Posted January 30, 2019 Share Posted January 30, 2019 2 minutes ago, Bopie5 said: I don't know if waiting for decisions is somehow counterintuitively spurring me to have greater confidence in my academic self, or if I'm just bored out of my mind and trying to keep myself busy, but the last few days I have been nonstop submitting my poetry and academic papers to various magazines, journals, and conferences. Or maybe I'm just a glutton for punishment looking to ramp up the amount of rejections I receive in the next few weeks/months! You're an inspiration! This is what I intend to start doing tomorrow. Fingers crossed for you Bopie! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bopie5 Posted January 30, 2019 Share Posted January 30, 2019 (edited) 5 minutes ago, kendalldinniene said: You're an inspiration! This is what I intend to start doing tomorrow. Fingers crossed for you Bopie! Thank you thank you! Fingers crossed for you as well--keep us updated on how things go. And let me know if you want some recommendations for journals/magazines for poetry. Edited January 30, 2019 by Bopie5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havemybloodchild Posted January 30, 2019 Share Posted January 30, 2019 1 minute ago, Bopie5 said: Thank you thank you! Fingers crossed for you as well--keep us updated on how things go. And let me know if you want some recommendations for journals/magazines for poetry. Any recommendations would be amazing, actually. I have a book about publication opps for poetry but it's pretty outdated. Also any advice on conferences would be super helpful too, I'm just starting to learn about them (thanks to the lovely people of GC). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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