MissC Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 I thought I had made my mind up completely. The acceptances had been weighed and compared. There was only one school I hadn't heard back from yet and for some reason in my mind I assumed it would be a rejection (even though their deadline was pretty recent and I haven't seen a single acceptance from the school on here indicating that others had been receiving offers). Today- I got an official acceptance letter from them with full funding and stipend. I thought I had my mind made up and am flying across the country next week to check out the school I thought I had decided on. I haven't officially accepted the offer as I wanted to visit first, but now I'm all sorts of confused. Luckily, the schools are within driving distance of each other so I will actually be able to visit both but I'm feeling like I just took a huge step backwards in the process. The 2 schools and 2 offers are so similar. I am very attracted to the structure and organization of both programs. Both offered full funding and stipend (within $1000 of each other in amount). Both have several POIs that I would be thrilled to work with, and both send graduates on to some pretty cool opportunities. I realize this is not the worst problem to have and that I should be thrilled that I GET to choose. I am just struggling with taking an emotional step back and undoing the "decision" portion of this process. Anyone else think they had their mind made up and then have a dark horse admission suddenly appear? I don't need help deciding- just curious as to whether others have dealt with similar scenarios and how things played out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owlie Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 Congratulations! Something I'd consider when deciding between the two is the city/town surrounding the university. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacezeppelin Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 I'm kind of in a similar position; in that I really have no idea which school I should chose. Its a surprisingly perplexing problem. No one has a whole lot of sympathy, because it is a pretty great problem to have. Still, its been a pretty big source of anxiety. At this point it doesnt seem like you can really make a "bad" decision. I guess its possible that if you had a magic crystal ball you could indentify one school you would be "happier" with, but I think its more likely you will be happy at both. There are a lot of logical factors to consider, but it sounds like you have already done that. If the two schools really do come up tied, then maybe is time to stop scrutinizing every detail and just go with your gut. If you still want to way the pros and cons, you really should look into the cost of living and quality of life in both areas. Its super easy to get very caught up in the school, but you will be living there for quite a while. Its important to be happy outside of academia as well. I doubt their rankings are the exact same. Is one better? How large are the departments / how are the school's finances holding up (budget cuts are a huge pain, even if you have full funding. Think more work for TAs)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madamezubidar Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 Cost of living is an essential consideration - e.g. in comparing Hanover, NH to Cambridge, MA, (about 2 hours apart), the standard Dartmouth College and MIT stipends have a difference in the 1K-2K range, but you can live very comfortably in Hanover on the Dartmouth stipend while the MIT stipend is at the "living wage" level for the Boston area and you'd be living very frugally. The best way to guage this difference is to talk to current students about living on the stipend. Good questions to ask are how much they pay in rent, how many roommates they have, how often they are able to go out to dinner or do other activities that cost more than a couple bucks (e.g. going to concerts or to see a play), and generally whether they find living on the stipend to be a strain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ak48 Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 If the program/advisor and funding stuff is equal (check the cost of living as zubidar said), then it's time to start looking at the 2nd tier stuff: Location Social Life Climate/weather. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pears Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 i was in the same boat! the last few weeks have been a decision roller coaster for me; i got into my top two choices, but being the occasional self-defeatist that i am, i never expected to find myself in a position of choice, let alone a difficult one. i ended up having to look into every factor all over again, from cost to classes. as others have said, "second tier" considerations come into play now. i was deciding between two small cities with access to many outdoor resources and party-loving undergrad populations, so they seemed similar at first glance. after talking to students and non-students residing in both places, what i found is that one had more of a "bourbon and beer" vibe, while the other was "shots and lots of makeup"; i would probably be incompatible with the undergrads of the latter. also, the "bourbon and beer" place is a little more crunchy with more access to the kinds of outdoor things that matter the most to me, so my decision was made there. long story short, talk to students and residents as much as you can. everyone will offer a unique insight, and after talking to 5 or so people, you can start to pick up on the general "vibe" of a place. also, reading between the lines for things like enthusiasm helped a lot, especially when it came to talking about the program, the professors, and social life. also, my decision was essentially made for me when i sat down and created "dummy schedules" for each place. i went through the course listings and made up schedules to compare credit load, class choices, and so on. this is probably easier for me to do as an incoming terminal MA, but, again, my choice was basically made for me, because it became immediately obvious that one program would do my interests the most justice, even though they had seemed similar at first. so, yeah. talk with students as much as you can, and pretend like you're a student yourself (i.e., check out schedule/course choices, housing options, and so on as if you were already enrolled). i thought my choices were neck-and-neck, but after some careful mulling and observation and research for the "little things," one instantly became the obvious choice. hope that helps! motz 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biostat_Assistant_Prof Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 I totally get where your coming from. I could end up in the same boat... I have a great offer and I'm pretty set on going there, but I still have 3 schools yet to notify of an admission decision (expecting them this week!)... I think it'd be great to get multiple acceptances to schools I like, but at the same time, Im halfway hoping I don't get good offers so I do t have to make that decision.... This is pretty much the pinnacle of first world problems MissC 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abeilles Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 i got into my top two choices, but being the occasional self-defeatist that i am, i never expected to find myself in a position of choice, let alone a difficult one. i ended up having to look into every factor all over again, from cost to classes. I know it's a good problem to have, but I sympathize!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissC Posted March 12, 2013 Author Share Posted March 12, 2013 Yea, poor us. Complaining about choosing between opportunities. I think the hardest part right now is that the school are in the same city (so location/weather/entertainment/housing all level out. Also, the programs are in two different fields, so a direct comparison isn't quite as simple. I leave bright and early tomorrow morning for my visits though and I am armed with a kickin' spreadsheet for evaluation purposes. If that doesn't work I may be freestyling with the choice. It's an apple vs. an orange in the same freaking fruit basket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abeilles Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 Yea, poor us. Complaining about choosing between opportunities. I think the hardest part right now is that the school are in the same city (so location/weather/entertainment/housing all level out. Also, the programs are in two different fields, so a direct comparison isn't quite as simple. I leave bright and early tomorrow morning for my visits though and I am armed with a kickin' spreadsheet for evaluation purposes. If that doesn't work I may be freestyling with the choice. It's an apple vs. an orange in the same freaking fruit basket. Best of luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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