BerenErchamion

There aren't. It leaves you free to just do your work in your first year without having to worry about teaching responsibilities. The housing listings website being discussed is http://housing.ucr.edu/help-desk/offcampus-housing.aspx

I would advise against counting on getting an on-campus housing offer. There are very few available. There may be a way for your situation to give you priority; it wouldn't shock me because UC's often pretty progressive about these things, but I can't say for sure. Might be worth checking into.

Speaking of, what is everyone's Plan B? I always wanted to be a pilot growing up. Out of high school, I enrolled in Purdue's aviation program, but had some medical issues and couldn't do that. Ten years later, I'm in my first year of a Ph.D. program in Russian History. But if that doesn't work out, or doesn't end up being what I hoped it would? The FAA certifies a number of six-week programs to earn an FAA Airline Dispatcher's certificate. Most programs run between four and six thousand dollars, and after six weeks you take a test and you start interviewing for jobs. Most programs have a pretty good placement rate, and there's decent pay once you get on with a major airline (which often is a real possibility within five years); even without it's not absolutely miserable. And if that doesn't work out? I'll join Twin Oaks.

I just completed my first term of study in my Ph.D. program. I'm in the process of preparing to apply for a summer language program (I'm a bit behind on language requirements because I didn't develop an interest in my field until late in my undergrad career, and at any rate my undergrad institution did not offer any relevant languages--and the need to work summers in order to be financially sound as an undergrad precluded any summer language work then). The program itself does not require LORs, but FLAS does. As a relatively new graduate student, I'm kind of at a loss to as to who I should be asking for letters. I'm taking a language class right now (which I absolutely excelled in) and will probably ask my professor for that class for a letter. My adviser hasn't actually seen my work (he didn't teach any graduate classes this past term), though he understands my research interests pretty well and can certainly write a letter that speaks to those. For the third letter, however, I'm wondering if, at this early stage, I'd be better served by asking one of my professors from one of my other classes (which I did well enough in, certainly, but not absolutely stellar) or my undergraduate language professor. I plan to discuss this with my adviser when I return next week, but I was hoping for other input and more recent experiences as well.

This. I'm pretty awkward myself, and letting down someone who's "into" me but whose "intoness" I don't reciprocate, is never something I've been good at and have tried to avoid. It's possible that he's not picking up your interest. It's possible that a romantic relationship is something that he sees as a distraction at this time. It's possible that he's just not into you. It's possible that he's already in a committed romantic relationship. Hell, it's possible that he's gay--and he hasn't explained that to you either because (a) he hasn't picked up your interest per above, or ( it's not an LGBT-friendly town (sadly, they still exist, even in college towns) and he isn't comfortable being open for that or any number of other reasons (family, etc.). I agree with the advice above to be forthright about your intentions. Either he is into you and too shy to be open about it, and will be quite pleased you took the initiative; or he's not, and it'll all be over. And if he's not, don't take it personally--I realize that's easier said than done, but as I and others have noted it's possible that it's for reasons that have nothing to do with you at all.

Why history? Mostly because I'm too shy for cultural anthro

I'm in a similar situation to an11, and in fact it's at another UC campus (Riverside). UCR doesn't guarantee housing for graduate students--I put in my application as soon as the online system had my application (a couple of days after I accepted their offer), and being from the Midwest I also won't really have an opportunity to check out apartments in person before I get there so on-campus housing is my best bet at least to get settled in. Next week I think I'm going to call them and see if they can tell me how long it usually takes between applying and being offered a contract. Still, I'm bracing myself for having to rent a place/share a place sight-unseen if necessary.

So...I'll begin working on a Ph.D. in history this fall. I'm an avid trombonist. I'd really, really love to find a way to be able to keep up my trombone playing (beyond solo practice--which of course will continue as well, along with my occasional playing a trombone part from an orchestral work along with a recording). Grad student musicians, do any of you find time to join groups and keep up with their practice and performance schedules? I'm hoping to find a brass band locally, or perhaps start up a quintent with other grad students from my department or from others. Is this workable?

I'm coming for history.

I'll be attending Riverside this fall for a Ph.D. in history. What's a good monthly food budget in the Riverside area? Also, does campus housing for graduate students mix you in with undergrads who will be playing Freebird ninety-three times in a row at three AM? I'm from Indiana so I won't have much of an opportunity to hunt for an apartment before I get there, but I want to know if I'll be able to get some work done in campus housing or if it's worth it to fly out for a day or two ahead of time to find a place.

Indeed, and what was (speculatively) suggested was that perhaps the reason MA admission notices were delayed was because they were first waiting to see how many new Ph.D. students they would have, to give themselves an idea of how many MA slots they might have open. So if that is true (big "if"), and if a number of Ph.D. admits are delaying their decision (as I am; I obviously can't speak to whether others are or not), then that might conceivably explain the delay in getting back to you on your MA application. Again, this is all speculative, but it's a not-unreasonable possibility.

I received a Ph.D. acceptance in mid-January, much earlier than I heard back from any of the other seven programs to which I applied. If your second sentence is true, then I have to admit that I might be one of the ones responsible for History Time's wait. UCR is my #2 choice, and I'm still waiting to hear back from my #1 ((T)OSU) before I tell UCR my decision.

I'm currently enduring the Ph.D. application process and will be studying religious dissenters in the Russian Empire.

So there have been a bunch of (T)OSU rejections early in the week (sorry, folks, seriously) but no concomitant wave of acceptances posted. So have those of us whose applications on the (T)OSU site still show as "In review" been effectively waitlisted?

Not sure, but "University of Northwestingham" sounds like it could be a nickname for Michigan State.