Since you’re using a throwaway, why not let us know about the school and the city? Without more details (what culture are you looking for, what program, age range, interests/hobbies, what are your...
Since you’re using a throwaway, why not let us know about the school and the city? Without more details (what culture are you looking for, what program, age range, interests/hobbies, what are your presumed other options next application cycle, etc.), I’m not sure how one might give you guidance outside of broad suggestions.
Only you know what’s best for you — trust yourself!
Yes, you should do the thing now rather than wait and hope the chance to do the thing also arises next year, but better. What would you even do with this year if you didn't do the thing? You only...
Yes, you should do the thing now rather than wait and hope the chance to do the thing also arises next year, but better. What would you even do with this year if you didn't do the thing? You only get so many of those, you know (years and doing things).
Could you also do the thing this year, but still apply to do the same thing next year, but at a different place? Then you can spend this year still getting thing done, and move to more optimal thing-doing location next year?
What city, what school, what degree, and what are your concerns?
Without knowing all that, I think it's hard to give good advice for a situation like this.
I will say though, I moved away from everyone I knew to get my undergrad degree. It wasn't a huge distance away (on one hand I was still in the same state, on the other hand that state was Texas), but I loved it.
Without any details, no one here can really give you relevant advice on how to move forward. But based on your post and your comment, I honestly believe that you are looking any excuses to not to...
Without any details, no one here can really give you relevant advice on how to move forward. But based on your post and your comment, I honestly believe that you are looking any excuses to not to go. I can't say you should go or not, but I think you trying to convince yourself not to.
That said, you can make friends in grad school and other transplants. I would prioritize building both support and professional network in grad school more so than the city to start. Or see if you can delay your admission for a semester or year, and apply to other schools in the meantime. That way you at least have a backup.
You don't know what a year of Trump is going to do to higher education budgets in the US. (If you are applying there). My experience with graduate education is that I was so busy with my work that...
You don't know what a year of Trump is going to do to higher education budgets in the US. (If you are applying there).
My experience with graduate education is that I was so busy with my work that I could have been working at McMurdo base on Antarctica and I would hardly have known the difference. I did care that where I studied had fewer cheap tasty takeout places than I was used to, but I split my time between home and school.
So, I went to grad school in a city I really hated -- my wife and I lived there for four years (3 during the program, and one extra while I looked for a job because the cost of living was really...
So, I went to grad school in a city I really hated -- my wife and I lived there for four years (3 during the program, and one extra while I looked for a job because the cost of living was really cheap and my wife liked her job).
I would say take the leap and go now. I was in a similar position to you where I thought my first year that maybe I should've waited and applied again the next year. But guess what happened the next year? COVID. Of course you can't plan around a global pandemic, but had I waited, 1) I may not have gotten in anywhere else and 2) even if I had, I may not have been able to go.
You don't know what the future holds, but you do know that you have an opportunity that you're not guaranteed to have again, right now. The program itself is what's important, and the people you'll meet there. Use the time you're not in school to do some traveling, explore other cities, maybe go to conferences and network for your future.
Is this a program where the higher ranking schools (that you can realistically get into) will have a drastically better outcome for your goals than the current one? If that's the case I would...
Is this a program where the higher ranking schools (that you can realistically get into) will have a drastically better outcome for your goals than the current one? If that's the case I would recommend waiting and re-applying, but, if not, I'd do more introspection about whether the vibe/culture is bad enough to outweigh the benefits of losing out on a year of progress.
I don't think that the city matters that much during grad school, you will just be doing grad school the whole time (especially if you have friends elsewhere you can visit/couchsurf with over the...
I don't think that the city matters that much during grad school, you will just be doing grad school the whole time (especially if you have friends elsewhere you can visit/couchsurf with over the summer).
I went to graduate school (physics), and I have a few friends who went to graduate school in other fields (medicine, pharmacy), so I have a pretty good impression of what graduate school entails....
I went to graduate school (physics), and I have a few friends who went to graduate school in other fields (medicine, pharmacy), so I have a pretty good impression of what graduate school entails. I will reiterate what others have said: it's hard to give advice without knowing what field you plan on studying and what your goals are -- advice for being a physicist differs greatly from advice for being a pharmacist! Though you did mention a 4-year professional degree program, so I assume you mean something like a lawyer or pharmacist.
Regarding location:
You can't really know a place without having lived there. I'll take you at your word that the place has a reputation for being "cold to outsiders", but after living there for a few years, will you really still be an outsider? Unless you're moving to another country with a different culture and language, I'm sure you'll manage just fine blending in.
It's worth bearing in mind that you will probably spend the majority of your time with your fellow graduate program colleagues, who will be more or less in the same situation as you.
Depending on the program, you will likely be taught material specific to the state in which you will be licensed. Of course this doesn't prevent you from obtaining a qualification to practice in another state, but it does mean you will have to prepare independently for a licensing exam in another state.
This isn't a big deal for something like medical school, where you'll be expected to move for your residency after graduating anyway, but it's certainly less convenient if you plan to practice pharmacy or law, for example.
Ideally you don't want to be so far away that you can only rarely visit your friends or family.
Regarding timing:
There are things you can do to better prepare your application for the next cycle. There are things you can do that seemingly better prepare your application for the next cycle but in reality have little impact. I will assume that you are in the former category, but I'd also caution you not to overestimate your changes in the next application cycle. Perhaps there is some blemish of your resume that can't be easily fixed (a low grade in an important subject, for example?). You know better than I.
As others have said, we can't predict the future. Maybe DOGE will suggest drastically cutting federal funding for your profession, reducing the available slots for your graduate degree. Of course this is unlikely to happen within the span of the year, but many unlikely things are unlikely to happen within the span of the year, and that CDF of misfortune will conspire against you eventually.
Regarding programs:
What is your end goal? I am sure there is someone here who has already studied the field you're interested in and who has a better grasp of the lay of the land than you or I. Without more specificity, I don't think anybody can give you some useful advice as to whether the program itself is worth it
But in lieu of useful advice, let me give you some general advice:
If you want to be an academic, your choice of advisor will be the most important factor. A school might be considered middling by most standards but still have the world's foremost expert in the field you're interested in. (But from my experience, you probably won't know who's who in your field until you've neared the completion of your program.)
Depending on your goals, the pedigree of the program might be very important. You'll have a much easier time clerking for the Supreme Court as a graduate of Harvard than as a graduate of Ohio State.
On the other hand, if you just want to be licensed, then the pedigree of the program is largely irrelevant. Work experience (including when obtaining your degree) will trump everything else.
I think you'll be better situated to decide whether you should attend this school when you've seen what other programs in what cities you've been accepted to. I don't think the city should be your...
I think you'll be better situated to decide whether you should attend this school when you've seen what other programs in what cities you've been accepted to. I don't think the city should be your main factor in choosing a program -- the specific details of the program, its focus, and the guidance you get from it are going to leave a longer-lasting impact than the city around you, which you'll be able to move away from after you graduate. But it's also possible you'll get accepted to another program that suits you in a city that you don't have these qualms about.
I recommend really sitting down and writing out the prod and cons of each program you get accepted to and considering how they stack up against each other, including on things like location. If possible, get in contact with current students or recent graduates of your program and ask them about their experiences!
I applied to grad school 10+ years ago (wow, unreal it's been that long...) for a STEM field and I applied to many schools and visited a handful of them. I was lucky that the school I went to had...
I applied to grad school 10+ years ago (wow, unreal it's been that long...) for a STEM field and I applied to many schools and visited a handful of them. I was lucky that the school I went to had the people, city, and academics I liked the best. I went for a PhD and ended up being at my school/city for 7 years before I moved. After that much time, I feel like you grow to love and hate the city regardless: some things are good, others are annoying. When I got there and started TAing, I was the new guy in a class of undergrads who knew the school and city well. Fast forward a few years and now I was the the expert and long-term resident. A lot of cities around grad schools are full of transient residents anyways: there is always a cycle of people moving through.
I think more detail from you would help you get better advice. At the end of the day, the city/vibes matter less than the school/department/advisor/peers/support package. The latter is what will help you move on to your next step.
If you were talking about law school, I would say you want a program in the region where you want to live and work and preferably a city rather than university town. Each field has nuances and...
If you were talking about law school, I would say you want a program in the region where you want to live and work and preferably a city rather than university town.
Each field has nuances and idiosyncrasies. It's tough to give advice.
Yeah I struggle to give useful advice here without more context. Ultimately, I'd probably say it's worth them evaluating whether they're really unhappy about the potential location or if it's...
Yeah I struggle to give useful advice here without more context.
Ultimately, I'd probably say it's worth them evaluating whether they're really unhappy about the potential location or if it's something else (anxiety, imposter phenomenon, fear of the unknown) that's holding them back.
But I also wouldn't move to TX now if someone paid me to go to school, so it just depends.
ooh yeah I forgot to even consider law school a type of grad school, but it definitely has totally different considerations on this front. It's a shame OP won't share what field they're studying.
ooh yeah I forgot to even consider law school a type of grad school, but it definitely has totally different considerations on this front. It's a shame OP won't share what field they're studying.
Since you’re using a throwaway, why not let us know about the school and the city? Without more details (what culture are you looking for, what program, age range, interests/hobbies, what are your presumed other options next application cycle, etc.), I’m not sure how one might give you guidance outside of broad suggestions.
Only you know what’s best for you — trust yourself!
Yeah isn't this exactly the purpose of using a throwaway? I'm confused.
Yes, you should do the thing now rather than wait and hope the chance to do the thing also arises next year, but better. What would you even do with this year if you didn't do the thing? You only get so many of those, you know (years and doing things).
Could you also do the thing this year, but still apply to do the same thing next year, but at a different place? Then you can spend this year still getting thing done, and move to more optimal thing-doing location next year?
What city, what school, what degree, and what are your concerns?
Without knowing all that, I think it's hard to give good advice for a situation like this.
I will say though, I moved away from everyone I knew to get my undergrad degree. It wasn't a huge distance away (on one hand I was still in the same state, on the other hand that state was Texas), but I loved it.
Oof. Overall very good advice on the importance of thing doing.
You're using a throwaway. Why would you not want to share details?
Without any details, no one here can really give you relevant advice on how to move forward. But based on your post and your comment, I honestly believe that you are looking any excuses to not to go. I can't say you should go or not, but I think you trying to convince yourself not to.
That said, you can make friends in grad school and other transplants. I would prioritize building both support and professional network in grad school more so than the city to start. Or see if you can delay your admission for a semester or year, and apply to other schools in the meantime. That way you at least have a backup.
You don't know what a year of Trump is going to do to higher education budgets in the US. (If you are applying there).
My experience with graduate education is that I was so busy with my work that I could have been working at McMurdo base on Antarctica and I would hardly have known the difference. I did care that where I studied had fewer cheap tasty takeout places than I was used to, but I split my time between home and school.
So, I went to grad school in a city I really hated -- my wife and I lived there for four years (3 during the program, and one extra while I looked for a job because the cost of living was really cheap and my wife liked her job).
I would say take the leap and go now. I was in a similar position to you where I thought my first year that maybe I should've waited and applied again the next year. But guess what happened the next year? COVID. Of course you can't plan around a global pandemic, but had I waited, 1) I may not have gotten in anywhere else and 2) even if I had, I may not have been able to go.
You don't know what the future holds, but you do know that you have an opportunity that you're not guaranteed to have again, right now. The program itself is what's important, and the people you'll meet there. Use the time you're not in school to do some traveling, explore other cities, maybe go to conferences and network for your future.
Is this a program where the higher ranking schools (that you can realistically get into) will have a drastically better outcome for your goals than the current one? If that's the case I would recommend waiting and re-applying, but, if not, I'd do more introspection about whether the vibe/culture is bad enough to outweigh the benefits of losing out on a year of progress.
I don't think that the city matters that much during grad school, you will just be doing grad school the whole time (especially if you have friends elsewhere you can visit/couchsurf with over the summer).
I went to graduate school (physics), and I have a few friends who went to graduate school in other fields (medicine, pharmacy), so I have a pretty good impression of what graduate school entails. I will reiterate what others have said: it's hard to give advice without knowing what field you plan on studying and what your goals are -- advice for being a physicist differs greatly from advice for being a pharmacist! Though you did mention a 4-year professional degree program, so I assume you mean something like a lawyer or pharmacist.
Regarding location:
Regarding timing:
Regarding programs:
I think you'll be better situated to decide whether you should attend this school when you've seen what other programs in what cities you've been accepted to. I don't think the city should be your main factor in choosing a program -- the specific details of the program, its focus, and the guidance you get from it are going to leave a longer-lasting impact than the city around you, which you'll be able to move away from after you graduate. But it's also possible you'll get accepted to another program that suits you in a city that you don't have these qualms about.
I recommend really sitting down and writing out the prod and cons of each program you get accepted to and considering how they stack up against each other, including on things like location. If possible, get in contact with current students or recent graduates of your program and ask them about their experiences!
I applied to grad school 10+ years ago (wow, unreal it's been that long...) for a STEM field and I applied to many schools and visited a handful of them. I was lucky that the school I went to had the people, city, and academics I liked the best. I went for a PhD and ended up being at my school/city for 7 years before I moved. After that much time, I feel like you grow to love and hate the city regardless: some things are good, others are annoying. When I got there and started TAing, I was the new guy in a class of undergrads who knew the school and city well. Fast forward a few years and now I was the the expert and long-term resident. A lot of cities around grad schools are full of transient residents anyways: there is always a cycle of people moving through.
I think more detail from you would help you get better advice. At the end of the day, the city/vibes matter less than the school/department/advisor/peers/support package. The latter is what will help you move on to your next step.
Happy to chat via DM/PM if that's helpful!
If you were talking about law school, I would say you want a program in the region where you want to live and work and preferably a city rather than university town.
Each field has nuances and idiosyncrasies. It's tough to give advice.
Yeah I struggle to give useful advice here without more context.
Ultimately, I'd probably say it's worth them evaluating whether they're really unhappy about the potential location or if it's something else (anxiety, imposter phenomenon, fear of the unknown) that's holding them back.
But I also wouldn't move to TX now if someone paid me to go to school, so it just depends.
ooh yeah I forgot to even consider law school a type of grad school, but it definitely has totally different considerations on this front. It's a shame OP won't share what field they're studying.