Grad school, eh?

[the_luna_nymph]

So I've been on alternate status with UO for the last month, basically waiting to see if one of their three first coices declined and trying to decide whether I actually wanted to go there if I did get in, or if I wanted to wait a year and try again at Berkeley and UNC. During the road trip to Seattle I stopped in at the campus and talked to the

Comments

[clickie]

I think UO sounds like a much better fit for you than Berkeley anyway. Berkeley gives off this incredibly stressed-out vibe, or maybe that's just the integrative bio department. What's the funding situation like at both schools?

[the_luna_nymph]

I still haven't actually seen the formal acceptance letter because they sent it to me in a weird format, but I've been told that most grad students at UO get solid funding for their first three years, and some their fourth year. Berkeley I've just been told has gotten tighter; I haven't heard the details.

[clickie]

Berkeley grad students always seem really stressed out to me. I think you'd be better off at UO. Especially if you've got funding.

[the_luna_nymph]

That's good to know. Thanks!

[nattle]

I think most people leave their home base to go to grad school, and that's always hard. As powerful as having friends help you through the grad school nastiness is, I'm not so sure that should dissuade you from relocating.

Having said that, I still think there's no way I could possibly offer advice on this issue, but these are some questions that would be meaningful to me, and a couple that I think might be particularly meaningful to you.

What makes Berkeley a better place than UO, post-UO visit? Do you think those advantages will be meaningful to you career-wise? How far out is UO from Santa Cruz? Does it make visiting impossible? How big is the program at UO? It's probably hard to estimate at this point, but do you think you'd be able to develop a healthy friendship community at UO? Is it pretty there?

[the_luna_nymph]

Yeah, the issue of relocation isn't really going to dissuade me, as I think that's pretty well inevitable. It just makes me sad.

Your questions are helpful though; thank you.

What makes Berkeley a better place than UO, post-UO visit? Do you think those advantages will be meaningful to you career-wise?

This is what I'm not sure about. Berkeley is a bigger, more prestigious school, with a very solid record of helping their anthro students find good positions once they've completed their PhDs. UO isn't bad, but it isn't as sexy career-wise.

Social-wise, Eugene's about 11 hours from Santa Cruz. Visiting could happen but not frequently. The program's pretty small (4 grad students total admitted this year) and while I like the town (it has a nice mellow feel) I don't actually know anyone who lives there right now.

It is absolutely beautiful there.

[monti]

If it helps, grad schools normally accept far more students than they can really handle, because they expect at least a third of them to say no, so being an alternate is just the normal way of things.

I generally think Eugene has a lot of the same qualities that make Santa Cruz great (though certainly not all, and it has some of it's own charm). I'll be working with UO archies this summer, I can try to get the good dirt on the department if you want.

[the_luna_nymph]

Yeah, I'm not really worked up about an alternate, I just have a tiny chip on my shoulder of "oh, I'm good enough to be your second option. Which is silly since UO wasn't my first option either, and I still think it could work well for me.

Don't know how close the arch and cultural anthro departments are at UO, but if you do get any good dirt (HAHA GOOD DIRT AND YOU'LL BE ON A DIG) I'm definitely interested!

[ribbin]

Check to see if they'll let you defer.

That having been said- moving away from Davis sucked at first, but I'm rapidly getting to the point where I couldn't possibly go back. So hey! Who knows?

[the_luna_nymph]

I'm increasingly thinking I just want to go for it. I'm bothered by the idea of leaving simply because I love this place and these people, but i don't think I'd be able to stay here forever anyway.

[ribbin]

No reason to play about in the shallow end if you can already swim, is there?

[the_luna_nymph]

Heh, yeah. Something like that.

[cresal]

and I feel like right now I'm stagnating and that grad school is the right step for me. I don't love the idea of leaving the area, my much-loved community of freaks, and the first place that's ever felt like home to me. But I think I need to, for the sake of personal growth

i hear that.

i'm not sure what else i could put here that couldn't be said in aim. i have faith that you'll figure it out, though. :)

[the_luna_nymph]

I'm pretty certain I'm going. I just kinda wanted to think it through out loud and see if brought up a point I hadn't thought about but should.