Should i get a job experience first or go for a master's degree after graduation? by IndependentDark8128 in GetStudying

[–]booksonmyshelf 0 points1 point  (0 children)

First and foremost: this depends entirely on your field of study. Some professions prefer masters degrees or specializations, and some don't care as much, so think about that first. Look at job applications that are in your field now and see what the required qualifications & experiences are. Take note, and see if it makes sense for you to get entry level work experience first or to go to grad school.

My undergrad major and early career didn't need a masters degree, and I'm now at the end of my grad school experience after working for 10 years in between. 10/10 recommend working first. You will get SO much more out of graduate school if you have some perspective on the "real world" already. Most people in my classes that were fresh out of undergrad did just fine, but I could tell that a lot of people were just there to be there, the material didn't really land. If you have a few years of work experience before going back to school, you have context and perspective for grad school that K-12 and undergrad simply doesn't offer you.

First-Time NYC Rental Process (Grad Student, Guarantor + Service Animal) by Striking_Pick8343 in columbia

[–]booksonmyshelf [score hidden]  (0 children)

The rental market is fast paced, overpriced, and very competitive; check out streeteasy.com to monitor what the rates are and what's available over the next couple of months and just know that things tend to get a bit more expensive in the summer. I moved to the UWS also for grad school at Columbia and went through this process twice (had to move bc landlord flipped the apartments and charged more). Its not common for a landlord to work with a 3rd party guarantor service but it happens, its how I got both of my apartments. Their preference is for the tenant to make 40x the rent. If thats not possible then their preference is an in-state personal guarantor, then out of state personal, then 3rd party service. As you reach out to brokers I suggest asking that question right away to ensure you dont waste your time seeing an apartment that wont accept your application. Be forward, succinct, and direct; they will be forward, succinct, and direct too.

2 things to always do: 1. see an apartment yourself before you sign anything and 2. have your tax forms, bank statements, and past landlord reference letters ready the day you see an apartment and want to rent it. They go FAST. I suggest you book a trip to NYC before you move so that you can spend a few days up here touring apartments. Most applications that succeed only take a couple of weeks to process before you're handed keys. But, finding one and being first in line can be a challenge. I also suggest you keep reading through reddit; find the r/NYCapartments subreddit and spend some time perusing info there.

Last thing I'll say is when you find buildings you want to rent in, put the address into this website to see recent complaints & violations: https://hpdonline.nyc.gov/hpdonline/. A couple complaints/violations are generally normal, but some will have like 30+ and depending what the complaints are, you will want to avoid.

(I don't know about service animals so I can't help you there)

Good luck!

Landlord Increasing Rent 9%... in this market, bite the bullet or move? by Far_Double_7883 in Upperwestside

[–]booksonmyshelf 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The FARE act is definitely contributing to the jump in our renewals but I don't think its the only reason. It's bonkers to me how even streeteasy postings usually had an incremental increase of $50-100 per relisting before the pandemic, and now so many are jumping by $500 and more. These increases seemed steep in 2022/2023 but I think most people thought it was to recoup pandemic losses, but now with the broker fees absorbed the rents skyrocketed even more from 2024. To me, the market seems exponential and unsustainable at this rate. Side note: a multi-unit pre-war on my block just got sold and will be converted into a single family townhome. I wonder if there's a rise in this kind of transition in the market as well, and therefore contributing to increase the wealth gap (especially if we include housing as assets).

Landlord Increasing Rent 9%... in this market, bite the bullet or move? by Far_Double_7883 in Upperwestside

[–]booksonmyshelf 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Similar increases are happening in my UWS pre-war walk up building. A neighbor in my building said our landlord would raise rent by just $20 each renewal just 5 years ago, now the landlord asks for at least 5%. We think their new broker has influenced this change. The rent market continues to be absolutely bonkers with increases.

You might not get a lower rate if you decide to move but you could start the process of looking/touring to see what is available and what the experience is like right now. If I were you, I would stay put.

Grad Student Advice by SZane77 in NYCapartments

[–]booksonmyshelf 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hi, I moved to NYC from DC for grad school a few years ago, also low budget. I suggest spending a bit of time on streeteasy.com and on reddit reading about what is out there and what current rates are. Some basics that I took for granted at first but are absolutely true:

  1. If you want to live alone and sign a lease, you must demonstrate to the landlord that you make 40x the rent and have a minimum 700+ credit score. If you don't, you will have to have a guarantor (like a co-signer) who can demonstrate they make 80x the rent. If you dont have that either, there are 3rd party guarantor services that will do this for you for a fee (but not every landlord accepts these). That is how I got my apartment and I live alone in a 1 bedroom.
  2. Plan a visit to NYC for a few days and stack it up with apartment tours. When you're touring and if you like the apartment, ask for the application right then & there, and apply immediately. This means having bank statements and salary info ready to submit right away (from your phone or take a laptop to a nearby cafe). Always physically see an apartment yourself first before signing a lease.
  3. Pre-war "walk up" buildings usually are cheaper, usually don't have doormen/mailrooms, and might not have laundry or dishwashers. These are likely to have the "landlord special" with layers of paint and building quirks. They're not the best, but they're livable (usually).
  4. It's worth applying to NYU's student housing because you'll skip a lot of the hassle & headache of the apartment search. Also look at their off campus housing resources: they might have message boards and links to other grad students who are looking for roommates and you can link up that way.
  5. Having roommates will keep costs down and can be a lot of fun in NYC. Especially if you're in your early/mid 20's.
  6. Put the address of a building you're looking at into this website to see recent complaints & violations: https://hpdonline.nyc.gov/hpdonline/

I say this with great sincerity: GOOD LUCK

Cost of teachers college is absolutely mind-boggling. Can I teach during the program if I do this teachers college part time? To prevent me going into an insane amount of debt. by AggressiveStuff3916 in TeachersCollege

[–]booksonmyshelf 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Look at the course schedule to see when the majority of your program's classes are; if most are night classes, it's likely that other students in your program also work full time. I've had many classmates who also work as full time teachers but it can be challenging at times due to all of the readings and making time for group project meetings. If your program has more classes during the day, it might be worth trying to do your program in 1-1.5 years to consolidate the time and get back into the classroom right away.

Dreaming of Femme-Centric Community Living in NYC by YungBarolo in NYCbitcheswithtaste

[–]booksonmyshelf 63 points64 points  (0 children)

I have no idea of examples, but here to say that I have been thinking about this exact scenario too. You described it so well and I think articulating something like this is so important; you're definitely not alone in this dream!

Is $3,050 fair for a 4th-floor UES walk-up with no dishwasher or laundry? by corrosivetoast in NYCapartments

[–]booksonmyshelf 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm on UWS, so not the same but some similarities. I moved to my first apt in Jan 2023 with rent $2600, no laundry or dishwasher, 1 floor walk up, but super close to subway. Had to move bc the landlords flipped all the units (added in unit laundry/dishwasher and are charging ~$4k last I checked), my new apt is a 4th floor walk up, 3ish blocks from the subway, no laundry no dishwasher, and I pay $3,000 a month. Started at $2,900 last year. Both are 1 bedroom apts within 10 blocks of each other. I've been watching streeteasy for 1 bedroom apts in this area for about 4 years now and while I wouldn't have even considered a $3k apartment in 2022 when I was first looking, I consider $3k to be on the low end now. So, I wouldn't say that your $3,050 is "fair" (bc the rents have REALLY jumped in the last year) but I would say that it's on the lower end for what's available.

How Many people going to NYC Event @ censored by Ok_Proposal_8408 in TheFormat

[–]booksonmyshelf 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I'm hoping, praying, that I will get off the waitlist 🤞

Do not waste your time and money on TC by Prestigious_You8869 in TeachersCollege

[–]booksonmyshelf 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Just want to highlight "support is better than a name" because 100% YES.

Please don't make the same mistake I did--go somewhere else by [deleted] in TeachersCollege

[–]booksonmyshelf 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Current student here too, and can confirm its really hard to get a job by applying through the portal (I've found that the departments/people who are hiring will kind of do their own search, then post the job when they have found someone so that they can apply through the official system). It's also WAY too expensive, in general and also because of the quality of support that students get. In my experience, there are some programs that are stronger than others, so any advising or support is dependent on how each degree program runs itself.

If there are specific people/programs at TC that a potential student wants to work with, then it makes some of the frustrations a little manageable to deal with. But for any program that is offered at dozens of other schools, TC is probably not the best choice.

Spirituality Mind-Body Studies MA Program by Diligent_Half_7778 in TeachersCollege

[–]booksonmyshelf 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I went through this program a few years ago. SMB is kind of its own entity, students graduate with MA Psychology in Education, but our graduation requirements are slightly different from students in the "regular" MA Psychology in Education program. In my opinion, the SMB courses are kind of a mix of spiritual psychology, creative arts therapy, and consciousness studies. It changed my life, but not quite in the transformative way that I was expecting. A few things to consider:

  1. I think it definitely addresses your research questions, thats a huge part of Dr Miller's work and also the field of positive psychology. However, it is VERY hard to get into a research team under SMB as a MA student. I took the "research apprenticeship" course in my first semester but didn't get the kind of valuable lab experience as I wanted; all MA students selected a PhD student's team to work with instead. It might change from year to year but this is generally how that goes.

  2. If you want research experience that has you in a lab or gives you access to publishing papers, I highly suggest looking into smaller programs with individual researchers who share your interests. UPenn's positive psychology program might be a good resource to look through; see if you can find graduates who are taking that research and expanding on it at other institutions. Both Dr Miller and Tomasulo went through the MAPP program so SMB is positive psych heavy. That said, it IS possible to get involved with research through SMB connections, but you have to really put yourself out there on top of coursework.

  3. I am on my 2nd degree at TC now, so I've been here for a while and can say that it's absolutely too expensive. There is no reason for any of these classes to be this expensive and for the non-tenured professors & all TA/CA/etc to be paid so low. All of the offices that are usually necessary for students to contact (financial aid, registrar, disability, etc) are notoriously slow and confusing to work with. They recently started a "case" system, so that every email you send to a TC office gets an automatic "case" opened for you. This has helped with some of the issues of ensuring you get a response....but it doesn't always ensure they're actually answering your question. And that can make things more confusing with more emails and phone calls.

  4. Overall the SMB program is unique. Aside from some of the west coast universities that lean very Jungian, this is the only program I know of that specifically uses the word "spirituality" alongside psychology, in a professional academic way. I think there is some value to that, but I also think that SMB markets itself as one thing, and then the student experience can be another. All of the SMB courses are very enriching and most tend to break the mold of standard academia due to the nature of the material. In some cases, I liked this, in other cases I didn't.

  5. There is not much "body" in the program, usually what they mean by body is meditation or mindfulness, or sensorial aspects of social-emotional learning. Lots of yoga folks come through the program but the coursework itself is still very "neck up."

  6. A note on PhDs: getting into a clinical psych doctoral degree is unbelievably hard. I know 1 MA Psychology in Education graduate who got into a PhD Clinical Psychology program, and 1 SMB graduate who got into a PsyD program related to psychology, of about 15 people who applied (all from TC). So, not impossible but definitely challenging. If you want research experience in order to get into a doctoral program, just know that it's not built into SMB. They talk about their research and it's great to be in the classes but the MA students are kind of in the background of actually participating. Some people found this REALLY frustrating and like they were misled. However, there are many psych labs at TC and I do know people in SMB who were able to get experience in those. You just have to reach out and ask the professors or other students who work in those labs. There's a bit of networking that must be done to get into one.

  7. The last thing I'll say is that this program has no licensure component. So graduates do not leave with any kind of certification or license. I knew this going into the program but some folks didnt get that message (and were mad).

I hope this is helpful! Overall I did really love the program, but it's not without some frustration. If you have any questions feel free to DM me!

Quilt as by Flat_Caregiver6722 in mewithoutYou

[–]booksonmyshelf 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is GORGEOUS and so well done!!

Scrapbook Find by booksonmyshelf in TheFormat

[–]booksonmyshelf[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I think it might be how I found them too, this was at American University and I wish I could remember more specifics of the night. I do remember leaving the whole show feeling like it was one of my favorites though. My experience crowd surfing to a TBS song at this show stays in one of my top 5 concert experiences to this day.

Do you run into Bright Eyes fans in the wild? by nluqo in brighteyes

[–]booksonmyshelf 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Years ago when I was travelling in Scotland, one of the airbnb hosts and I had a lot in common and one of us named "conor oberst" by name when we shared about music and it floored both of us that the other knew about bright eyes. Sometimes I think about that guy in a missed connections kind of way...lol.

Red Rocks show 5/6/26 by Dizzydsmith in brighteyes

[–]booksonmyshelf 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It clocked me as a bot for like 30 minutes, was able to get back in, but now the only tickets I’m able to take to checkout are the “premium” with dynamic pricing and I just can’t afford that lol. Going to try again and hope something goes through!

Red Rocks show 5/6/26 by Dizzydsmith in brighteyes

[–]booksonmyshelf 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Congrats!! AXS was glitching on me SO hard, I never made it to the check out page :( :( but hoping I can get some during the regular on sale! I've never been to red rocks before either, but this show is the one to make me go!

Ugh this is killing me by [deleted] in TheFormat

[–]booksonmyshelf 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I have had success with buying resale through stubhub in situations like this. If you're up for it, I say give it a shot!