2014 PHAP application

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Congrats to you!
cashkalahine said:
I was places in Long Island and I feel your concern. Finding rent below $1000 (with several roommates, mind you) was nearly impossible. Ultimately, I had a pretty good alternative option (attending grad school on a good scholarship) and so I had to decline this opportunity in New York. Would have been awesome, but considering I have no outside income other than the job, it was a major concern for me. Others have made it work, though!
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PHhopeful said:
Has anyone else not heard anything other than "tentatvie" offer. Dare we trade names of HR reps to see who's been out on vacation, or which are working faster than others. Honestly, by the time a formal offer comes, we'll have only a couple of weeks to move. When moving corss cournty, that's a problem. Who cna afford a hotel for a couple of weeks while looking for apts?
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I called my rep on Monday, because I was worried that I missed an email somewhere... I didn't get an answer but left a voice mail and the email came that same day for onboarding. So it should come soon for you.
 
Are we allowed to have additional employment? Waiting tables....
 
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dda188 said:
Is anyone else in Raleigh?

Is anyone wondering how in the world we are going to survive on this salary? After considering health insurance, state and federal taxes, and student loans along with utilities (not cable and internet) I just am feeling VERY discouraged. Trying to find a place less than 600 a month is killing me!
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My plan is to wait tables, mow yards or sell lemonade on the weekend. It will be rough but it is doable.
 
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Has anyone chosen a health plan? Any advice on which one to pick? Thanks for any input!
 
Hi! I'm a 2013 PHAP placed in Florida. If anyone has any questions about PHAP in general or Florida in general, especially if your host site is in Florida, please PM me! I would hate for you to miss out on an opportunity as great as this one because of unanswered questions.

Disclaimer: I have zero to little knowledge about HR processes and most likely cannot answer those questions. Also any opinions I give are my own personal opinions and not those of the PHAP program or the CDC.
 
Does anyone know anything about Iowa City IA? In terms of where to live and how to manage a living with our salary...help!
 
I just spoke with someone in HR who told me official offers will be given 2 weeks from todays date. I was hoping to have the offer this week :(
 
dda188 said:
I just spoke with someone in HR who told me official offers will be given 2 weeks from todays date. I was hoping to have the offer this week :(
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Two weeks! oh wow.
 
Yes. That was when I called the main HR number. She said she was told to tell all of us that it would be 2 weeks until we got our offer. Im waiting to hear from my HR rep to give me some better info than that.
 
Hi all! I am just now finding this forum. I was offered a position in Arlington, MA (a suburb of Boston) on July 7th. I have not received any additional information since that date. I have contacted the woman who called me on 7/7/14 and she assured me the CDC HRO would be in contact soon. Of course I have heard nothing! I am anxious about the relocation, salary, and rotations as many of you have indicated. I was working at CDC this summer as an intern and am wondering if that may be a reason that I have not been contacted for a security background check, as I underwent it quite recently.

I am will be relocating from Georgia as well, and am quite nervous about cost of living in the Boston area. Housing looks quite expensive. I also recently completed my MPH. Has anyone else done that as well?

Thanks all for sharing!
 
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Has anyone been place in Illinois that is not Chicago? If so please message me.
 
newMPH said:
Hi all! I am just now finding this forum. I was offered a position in Arlington, MA (a suburb of Boston) on July 7th. I have not received any additional information since that date. I have contacted the woman who called me on 7/7/14 and she assured me the CDC HRO would be in contact soon. Of course I have heard nothing! I am anxious about the relocation, salary, and rotations as many of you have indicated. I was working at CDC this summer as an intern and am wondering if that may be a reason that I have not been contacted for a security background check, as I underwent it quite recently.

I am will be relocating from Georgia as well, and am quite nervous about cost of living in the Boston area. Housing looks quite expensive. I also recently completed my MPH. Has anyone else done that as well?

Thanks all for sharing!
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If you are referring to the MPH I have completed that as well December 2013 and I am from Ga. I personally think that is why you havent been contacted for a background check. Here is CDC'S HR number 770-488-1725 and let them know you havent received any other information ie onboarding application, background check, tentative offer. I wish you the best of luck.
 
newMPH said:
I am will be relocating from Georgia as well, and am quite nervous about cost of living in the Boston area. Housing looks quite expensive.

Thanks all for sharing!
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I relocated from Georgia to Boston for grad school and while it's definitely more expensive, the area has so many undergraduate and graduate students that there should be plenty of people you could share a house or apartment with - this heat map seems to show a nice spot of decent rent between Arlington and Tufts. The west side of Somerville is also pretty safe as well. Some other things to be aware of: electric/gas bills during the winter can spike significantly since so much of the infrastructure in Boston is ancient - if possible get those utilities included in your monthly rent so you aren't hit with a surprise $50+ more than anticipated bill. Some apartments will not have air conditioning either, which you will want when July rolls around - it's just as hot and humid as it gets in Georgia. If you have any more questions, feel free to message me!
 
newMPH said:
Hi all! I am just now finding this forum. I was offered a position in Arlington, MA (a suburb of Boston) on July 7th. I have not received any additional information since that date. I have contacted the woman who called me on 7/7/14 and she assured me the CDC HRO would be in contact soon. Of course I have heard nothing! I am anxious about the relocation, salary, and rotations as many of you have indicated. I was working at CDC this summer as an intern and am wondering if that may be a reason that I have not been contacted for a security background check, as I underwent it quite recently.

I am will be relocating from Georgia as well, and am quite nervous about cost of living in the Boston area. Housing looks quite expensive. I also recently completed my MPH. Has anyone else done that as well?

Thanks all for sharing!
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I am relocating to Philadelphia from Decatur and just finished m the MPH in July!
 
Nfitty said:
Does anyone know anything about Iowa City IA? In terms of where to live and how to manage a living with our salary...help!
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Hi!
I will be in Cedar Rapids which is about 30 min from Iowa City. Cedar Rapids housing is higher than here in TN. My options are also limited because I have dogs. I would suggest making a visit if you can because some of the places I thought might be OK were very very scary! If you have any other questions PM me.
 
Hi All,

I am looking for a male roommate. I am placed in Seattle/Tacoma area and have located a place. If any of you are placed in SEA/TAC and would like to share a room in a 2bedroom apartment, pls let me know. Congrats to all!!!

Hung
 
I received my host site and supervisor contact info today. No official offer letter but some progress is better than none. I guess I will get a place to live now..... good luck guys and gals
 
tboy said:
I received my host site and supervisor contact info today. No official offer letter but some progress is better than none. I guess I will get a place to live now..... good luck guys and gals
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Do tell - did this come from HR or from the initial contact person? Were you pestering for information? How long since you completed your fingerprinting etc.
Any indication when offer letter is coming?
 
I got mine yesterday and will be talking to my host supervisor today! So nervous, I don't even know what to ask!
 
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PHhopeful said:
Do tell - did this come from HR or from the initial contact person? Were you pestering for information? How long since you completed your fingerprinting etc.
Any indication when offer letter is coming?
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Well I did send an email to my HR contact yesterday, but the email came from the PHAP email. I am already a federal employee so I did not have to get fingerprints since they already have them on file. I think you should be hearing something very soon though. I hear official offer letters will be sent out on next Friday.
 
I had my fingerprinting done today in Atlanta and the CDC employees I met with said they felt things should be finalized by Tuesday - fingers crossed it comes a few days early.
 
I received an email Tuesday with my host site and supervisor contact info but did not receive an offer letter and no info on when one would come. I also talked with my supervisor and im the only PHAP there :(. Hopefully we get something soon and I look forward to meeting you all in Atlanta. If anyone has questions about Atlanta I live here so you can pm me.
 
I received my official offer at about 3:00 AM this morning. So be on the look out!
 
Bibilola85 said:
Does anyone know anything about Arcadia Florida?
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Hi, although I do not know much about Arcadia, Florida... I live 2 hours north of there. PM me if you have any questions about Florida living/Florida resources, etc. :)
 
Has anyone signed a lease for housing without receiving their official offer?
 
PinkLemonade said:
Has anyone signed a lease for housing without receiving their official offer?
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I did. I pray I do not regret it, but the apartment was truly a steal and i did not want to lose it. All the other apartments I saw were $200 more a month. With our salary, $200 is a lot.
 
I am surprised by everyone who is stressed by the salary. I feel like it should be more than livable?
 
PinkLemonade said:
Has anyone signed a lease for housing without receiving their official offer?
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I have. Didn't think I had much of a choice because I wasn't going to wait 1-2 weeks till the start date before looking for an apartment.
 
gdlm said:
I am surprised by everyone who is stressed by the salary. I feel like it should be more than livable?
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I think it depends on the location and other living expenses that individuals have. Some states also have state taxes that are deducted. Then there is health, dental, and vision insurance will be deducted...student loan payments, some people are required to have their cars for their placement so gas, auto insurance, maintenance, other bills....so it is definitely livable but for some (like me being placed in NYC) it will be a tight stretch that can add some stress.
 
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gdlm said:
I am surprised by everyone who is stressed by the salary. I feel like it should be more than livable?
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I too coming from a americorps stipend thought a 30,000 something salary would suffice until I got it with the health dept, with a field position that salary was insufficient in miami. Now with my upcoming position in Los Angeles and only a couple thousand more, increase in cost of living and the expense of a vehicle required again I am well aware and trying to prepare for a possible but not easy survival on the salary. Other things that always come into play is debt of course so anyone who who is debt free regardless it be student loans, credit cards or whatever else has the upper hand on the salary. Not to mention the monthly bills if you're responsible for your own phone bill, car insurance, and health insurance... Those things add up expeditiously. Good luck to ALL
 
For those that have leased apartments without the official offer letter, did you get any push-back about only having a tentative offer during your housing search? I'm assuming you used that to apply for housing. Because I'm about to fill out applications now, I'm curious as to what I should be prepared to expect. Thanks.
 
I received my official offer letter Monday and an introduction to my supervisor yesterday, which worked out well because I had already put a deposit on an apartment, and I was able to forward the official offer to the leasing team after that. If you haven't received an official offer letter, I'm guessing you will by the end of the week. As far as apartments, they want your business, so if you show them the tentative offer letter and tell them you will probably have the official one soon, I would think the apartment would be okay with that.

As a side note, if anyone is at a host site where there aren't other PHAPers (like me) and they're looking for a roommate, I had luck finding a great roommate through Roomster. That and other roommate-finding sites might be useful.
 
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mujercita said:
For those that have leased apartments without the official offer letter, did you get any push-back about only having a tentative offer during your housing search? I'm assuming you used that to apply for housing. Because I'm about to fill out applications now, I'm curious as to what I should be prepared to expect. Thanks.
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I showed them my tentative letter and I think for the most part they were interested in how much I was making to confirm that I could pay rent easily and on time. Since the letter included my tentative salary, there was no fuss.
 
I hope I get the official letter soon. I'm only assuming I know my work site, I'm getting anxious to have definitive info.
 
So tomorrow is D-Day -we'll all get our formal letters wiht assignments and supervisors? It's been along time since February.
 
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Hey All!

New to the forum. Received my official offer letter this morning....finally! Looking to see if anyone else is placed in NYC as well and has yet to figure out their housing situation as well? I'm looking for a potential roommate/roommates. Please message me directly if interested.

Thanks!
 
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Quick question: after the first year, we have the opportunity to be promoted to higher grade/step right? Does anybody know what that actual step is? My official letter and email both say GS Step 09, but on the website it says Step 07. I'd be extremely happy if my offer letter is the right one, but I don't want to get my hopes up too high!
 
spammelly said:
Quick question: after the first year, we have the opportunity to be promoted to higher grade/step right? Does anybody know what that actual step is? My official letter and email both say GS Step 09, but on the website it says Step 07. I'd be extremely happy if my offer letter is the right one, but I don't want to get my hopes up too high!
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The GS Step 09 is after our fellowship. Step 07 is between years 1 and 2.
 
I haven't received anything. Are all formal offers out?
 
Anthracite said:
I haven't received my offer yet either.
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Still waiting too. When I spoke to my HR yesterday at about 4 pm, she told me it was coming either yesterday or early this morning. Haven't seen it yet but, got to be close.....
 
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