Indiana University Bloomington vs University of Washington

[ergative]

Hi everyone, I have a serious dilemma on my hands and very little time to resolve it. I was admitted to Indiana very early on with no funding, but after talking to some professors in the program, was able to secure partial funding. However, I wasn't sure if I could afford it. I still planned a trip to visit Bloomington anyway. Right before I left, on Thursday, I was offered full funding for 3 years. I'm currently in Bloomington right now and it's a really beautiful city and campus. However, it's a small college town and fairly isolated, though Indianapolis and other cities aren't too far. I was born and raised in a suburb of Los Angeles (Orange County) so even though I like the city, I don't know how to evaluate living here long term.

About a month ago, I was waitlisted at the University of Washington. At the time I told them I would accept if admitted because Seattle seemed like the obvious choice over Bloomington. As my trip approached I wasn't expecting to hear anything from them until after the 15th. However, just this morning they admitted me with full funding for 5 years.

The dilemma is that both offers still have the April 15 deadline. I don't really think this is fair of either of them since they sprang them on me so late in the process, but I don't know if I have any power to renegotiate the terms of the offers. I mean, they have all the power, they can just offer the money to someone else, right? But I feel frozen right now trying to decide with so little time. How can I make such an extremely huge life decision in the span of a day?

They both have great programs in what I want to focus on (computational linguistics) so I am not worried about that. I have had more interaction with people at IU than UW and feel like it is likely a better fit in that respect. But I'm not yet convinced that Bloomington is the right fit for me, even though I like it so far. I don't have to visit Seattle to know that I would love it. Also, they're giving me funding for 2 additional years. That's a pretty important difference that I can't just write off. I keep going back and forth with all these pros and cons and I know it's ultimately a very personal decision. I ultimately just want to know, how would you go about deciding?

[Sprint14]

If you want an urban environment you will not be happy in Bloomington. 

[ergative]

39 minutes ago, Sprint14 said:

If you want an urban environment you will not be happy in Bloomington. 

I'm aware that Bloomington is not urban, I'm currently visiting lol but it is a beautiful city. You're right though, I think Seattle has all the beauty I'm seeking on top of an urban environment, so I'm starting to lean towards UW. Thanks for the reminder though, sometimes I need the obvious pointed out lol

[Sprint14]

48 minutes ago, ergative said:

I'm aware that Bloomington is not urban, I'm currently visiting lol but it is a beautiful city. You're right though, I think Seattle has all the beauty I'm seeking on top of an urban environment, so I'm starting to lean towards UW. Thanks for the reminder though, sometimes I need the obvious pointed out lol

Also remember you are visiting during a nice spell of weather in the spring. Imagine how you will feel about bloomington when it's 90 degrees and humid or 20 degrees and snowing...

[ergative]

Just now, Sprint14 said:

Also remember you are visiting during a nice spell of weather in the spring. Imagine how you will feel about bloomington when it's 90 degrees and humid or 20 degrees and snowing...

lmao good point!!! I timed my visit to be as biased toward Bloomington as possible, but yeah the summer humidity and winter snow are... not great things, especially since as a SoCal native I'm not used to weather that is less than perfect lol. Some rain I can handle, but that weather is worse! I appreciate that reminder as well ?

[Psyhopeful]

How much is your stipend at UW? Full funding is huge, but Seattle is significantly more expensive than Bloomington, I would assume. So I would also look at what your quality of life would be like in each place, based on what you’ll have to spend. Is there potential to get more funding at IU for your last two years?

[accidental_philologist]

Also, you seem to be applying for a PhD. Is three years really going to be enough to finish that? I'm currently at IU Bloomington (in Germanic linguistics -- feel free to message me if you have questions! I did undergrad here and am staying for a Master's!) and while the programs are lovely and the town may grow on you, I don't know any students in any humanities department who have finished their programs of study in three years. It could be really stressful to have to reapply for funding in three years in order to finish. 

If your standard of living would be the same based on your stipend amounts in both cities, then consider that U of Washington might be a lower-stress option. You could certainly finish in 5 years, but maybe not in 3! However, if you would be scraping by in Seattle for 5 years, but living fairly well in Bloomington for 3, then maybe the latter would be the lower-stress option. The PhD will be monstrously stressful, so reduce your worries where you can is what I think!!

[ergative]

On 4/14/2019 at 4:12 PM, Psyhopeful said:

How much is your stipend at UW? Full funding is huge, but Seattle is significantly more expensive than Bloomington, I would assume. So I would also look at what your quality of life would be like in each place, based on what you’ll have to spend. Is there potential to get more funding at IU for your last two years?

 

 

 

 

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On 4/14/2019 at 4:40 PM, accidental_philologist said:

Also, you seem to be applying for a PhD. Is three years really going to be enough to finish that? I'm currently at IU Bloomington (in Germanic linguistics -- feel free to message me if you have questions! I did undergrad here and am staying for a Master's!) and while the programs are lovely and the town may grow on you, I don't know any students in any humanities department who have finished their programs of study in three years. It could be really stressful to have to reapply for funding in three years in order to finish. 

If your standard of living would be the same based on your stipend amounts in both cities, then consider that U of Washington might be a lower-stress option. You could certainly finish in 5 years, but maybe not in 3! However, if you would be scraping by in Seattle for 5 years, but living fairly well in Bloomington for 3, then maybe the latter would be the lower-stress option. The PhD will be monstrously stressful, so reduce your worries where you can is what I think!!

I appreciate both of your responses. Their stipends were comparable based on the COL in each area. I was able to get clarification today about the length of the time guaranteed and my funding source is basically renewable every semester since it entails maintaining a website, so I am no longer worried about the length of funding. Ultimately, IU is a much better fit for me, so despite my previous comments, I accepted my offer at IU.

Thanks so much for your help! And @accidental_philologist, I will definitely PM you with questions!