Should I stay or should I go?

[TheWalkingGrad]

So, I'm facing a dilema. I'm not American and I'm currently living in my home country. I've applied to PhD programs both in my country and in the US, but since in my country is in the southern hemisphere our school calendar is different: we start the year in March, have winter break in July, and finish classes in December. Because of that the acceptance notifications also come earlier, and in December I was accepted in a great program here in my country (it is the best university here, and the program has a grade 5 out of 7 in the national ranking, which is not exactly the best, but it is really well renowned). The catch is that the funding would take a couple of months to start, and I need to move states. 

Last week I got an acceptance notification from a program in the US, and I believe it's a very good program with a pretty competitive funding package. Since my end goal is to teach somewhere other than my home country, it makes sense to do my PhD in the US, since the universities are more "prestigious". I decided to accept the offer in the US, and classes start in the fall.

The issue: I had already enrolled in the program in my country because I wasn't really optimistic about my chances in the US. Classes start in March and go on until the end of June. Should I take the first semester here before going to the US?

Pros of taking the first semester here: 1) I'll be taking a couple of methodology courses, which is great because my undergrad and Masters didn't really cover that, and I'm pretty sure I'll be needing it in the US; 2) Last year I went through a break up and had to move back home with my parents, and I've been dying to move out; 3) The move would be to a huge metropolis, about 10x bigger than my already big city, so it would be a pretty interesting experience. 4) I'm afraid my brain will turn to mush and I'll be too out of rhythm if I take a semester off.

Cons: The courseload is pretty intense here, so I'll be working like crazy, and I'm pretty sure I won't be able to transfer the credits; 2) I haven't had a vacation in forever, and could catch up on some fiction books and videogames, learn to knit, maybe take a road trip; 3) It would be cheaper to stay at home (but my parents said that since I was fully funded for all my undergrad and Masters, they would give me money to stay these 4 months in this other state); 4) I have 2 cats that won't be moving with me to either place, so I'll miss them dearly, so an extra semester with them sounds great (it sounds dumb, I know).

Most people tell me to start university here, but I'm still torn. Help?

[VMcJ]

18 minutes ago, TheWalkingGrad said:

 4) I have 2 cats that won't be moving with me to either place, so I'll miss them dearly, so an extra semester with them sounds great (it sounds dumb, I know).

It doesn't sound dumb at all. I also have a cat and she is going to the US with me.

I am in a similar situation: I am enrolled in three classes as a special student (enrolled only in the courses, not as grad student) beginning next month. I will attend them, but in my case I won't have to move. If I had to, I probably would not go on with these classes and would enjoy my last months of freedom in my country (which I suspect is the same of yours, as per the details you gave).

[ultraultra]

 

I was in a parallel situation last year -- I was completing a Master's, so I ended up spending most of the summer working on my thesis and finishing up courses right before (and honestly, slightly during) the beginning of my PhD. If I could do everything over, I would have planned to take a few months off before my program began, and in your case I would recommend taking off that summer semester from courses.

Re: methods -- I'm not sure which school you are going to, but methods sequences at top US universities start from the beginning; they assume you have little to no knowledge of statistics and must be taught everything. Besides giving me a vague familiarity with the general concepts, the methods courses I took in my MA (also non-US) have not been very helpful in my PhD -- they were just at a much lower level of detail/quality than the ones I am taking now. I would have probably been better served by just spending some time brushing up on my math and learning calculus (for all the complaining I did about the irrelevance of GRE-Q scores last year, knowing that math better would have helped me a lot this year).

Re: lifestyle -- only you can decide what's best for you here, but I doubt you would get to enjoy most of the benefits of living in a new city while taking a full course load, trying to adjust to a new life/program, and planning another big country move. Also working/saving money might not be the worst thing, if you're about to move to the United States. We have pretty good stipends in my program, but it's definitely not enough to go on big trips or buy all the things for my apartment that I would want.

Re: brain turning to mush. I mean, this is fully in your control. The summer before the PhD would probably be a good time to read some of the books in your field that you've always wanted to read but haven't had a chance to -- you probably won't have any time to read them in the first year of your PhD. 

All in all, I wouldn't say that the people in my program who took the summer off have been substantially better off (in terms of relaxation, preparedness, etc) than the ones who didn't (and vice versa). But I certainly wish I had. Best of luck, and congrats on your acceptances!