August 24

Your Health, Wellness, and Finances Anshuman Mohan

This session approaches the hidden curriculum through a wellness lens. Our physical, mental, and financial wellness can impact our work/life balance and have significant consequences for our academic success and professional development.

Healthcare

• Know your health benefits: Student Health Benefits Enrollment & Coverage
• Vision and dental are separate from your health plan, and you have to opt in during a short window each year. Fall students, and their dependents, may enroll between 6/1/26 and 8/31/26, for coverage active 7/1/26 through 6/30/27. See VSP vision and MetLife dental.
• Mental Health Care at Cornell (Ithaca)
• Mental Health Care at Cornell Tech (NYC)

Getting healthcare in Ithaca

• Primary Care: Cornell Health on Ho Plaza. Call them on 607-255-5155 to make an appointment, or book online through the myCornellHealth portal.
• Urgent care, or care outside of Cornell Health's hours:
  • Standalone urgent care options such as WellNow (607-319-4563) will see you relatively quickly, but, in case you are a tricky case, may refer you to the option below.
  • The more challenging, but more complete, option is Cayuga Medical Center's ER. They have access to all the facilities of the hospital. However, prepare for long, long waits. Bring a book, a sweater, a phone charger, etc.
• Your primary care provider may refer you to Cayuga Health for advanced care.
• Dental: I have written up what I learned about dental care in Ithaca, including how in-network and out-of-network coverage actually plays out here, and where Cornell's dental add-on stops being much help.
• Getting there without a car:
  • TCAT buses are free with your Cornell ID, and they reach the hospital and the Meadow Street clinics.
  • Uber works in Ithaca. Lyft lists the city, but there are essentially no drivers, so don't count on it.
  • If you're having a procedure involving sedation, sort out your ride home ahead of time. You won't be allowed to leave on your own.

Getting mental healthcare in Ithaca

• Call Cornell Health, and they will schedule a "triage" style appointment with CAPS. The person you speak to will not become your therapist, but will help you find one. There are rules that require your therapist to be registered in New York State, but remote therapy is possible. This means you are not just limited to Ithaca.
• Try out a variety of therapists. You are not obligated to stick with the first one you meet. It is important to find someone you are comfortable with. Seems obvious/pedantic, but you'll have a better shot at this when you are not in a moment of crisis.

Getting healthcare in New York

• Cornell Health is in Ithaca, but you are not cut off from it. Call 607-255-5155 at any hour and you'll reach a provider who can work out what you need and point you toward care in the city.
• Cornell Tech keeps its own list of medical resources, organized by neighborhood and with travel times from Roosevelt Island.
• Primary care: Weill Cornell Medicine runs several practices in Manhattan. The closest is 215 East 85th St (646-962-2399), about twenty minutes away by subway.
• Urgent care: CityMD at 1150 3rd Ave (212-729-4668). The copay on the Student Health Plan is $50.
• Emergency: NewYork-Presbyterian / Weill Cornell Medical Center, 525 East 68th St (212-746-5454), is the nearest ER.
• Getting around: the Red Bus is free and runs the length of the island. Note that the subway service to Roosevelt Island changed in December 2025: on weekdays the M serves the station, while the F runs there nights and weekends.

Getting mental healthcare in New York

• CAPS has a counselor on site at the Bloomberg Center, so you do not have to start by finding a stranger in the city. Appointments are in person or by telehealth, and you book them through the myCornellHealth portal.
• "Let's Talk" drop-in consultations are free and need no appointment. Individual counseling on the Student Health Plan runs about a $10 copay, billed to your bursar account.
• Cornell Health also runs groups and workshops over Zoom at no cost, which you can join from the city.
• If you would rather see someone unaffiliated with Cornell, Cornell Tech's mental health page lists off-campus therapists and psychiatry practices, including a few that take the student plan.
• In a crisis, at either campus: call or text 988, text HOME to 741741, or call Cornell Health on 607-255-5155, which is staffed around the clock.

Taking time off

• Know your vacation rights: Vacation policy for Cornell graduate students
• You have some guaranteed vacation days. Sadly, actually taking time off tends to come down to a discussion with your advisor.
• My advice:
  • Plan ahead if possible.
  • Make it clear whether you are working remotely or fully on vacation.
  • Propose a plan in writing. Dodge deadlines if possible, designate a point person if not.
  • Communicate your plan to your collaborators, project partners, etc.
  • Do not make up for the time you took off.

Picking up something new

• A PhD is long, and that turns out to be an asset. Six years is more than enough time to get genuinely good at something that has nothing to do with your research. Before you know it, you're a pretty solid baker.
• Cornell makes this easier than most places. PE and Cornell Outdoor Education classes are open to us on the same terms as undergraduates, once undergraduate pre-enrollment closes, and COE runs some wellness courses aimed specifically at graduate students. Climbing, sailing, wilderness first aid, and so on.
• It does not have to involve Cornell at all. A language, an instrument, a bike, a woodworking bench. What matters is that nobody is evaluating you. That is the whole point of it.
• The Big Red Barn is the graduate and professional student center, and is a reliable place to find people who are also looking for something to do.

Make a winter plan

• This applies at both campuses. Ithaca's winter is long, grey, and genuinely dark by mid-afternoon. New York's is shorter, but it's just as easy to spend three months going from your apartment to the lab and back.
• Make the plan in September. By January, when it's dark at 4:30pm, you will not have the energy to invent one.
• A decent plan has three parts: something that gets you outside, something indoors and social, and one standing weekly commitment involving other people.
• Gear is the boring half, and people skip it. Real boots and a real coat, bought before November, change how the season feels. This is worth spending money on.
• In Ithaca, the winter is beautiful if you are equipped for it: the gorges freeze, there is skiing and skating within a short drive, and COE runs winter trips.
• In New York, the wind on Roosevelt Island is its own event. The city's parks and recreation centers offer cheap memberships, and the indoor options are, of course, endless.
• Get daylight when you can, even briefly, and especially early. If your mood drops predictably every winter, that is seasonal affective disorder, it is common, and it is treatable. Talk to Cornell Health about light therapy well before you are in the thick of it.

Food security

Stipends and rents, in Ithaca or in the city, don't always cooperate. Plenty of students use these resources, and the ones on campus are confidential.

On the Ithaca campus:

• Cornell runs three programs, all described on its food security page. All three are open to us, not just to undergraduates.
  • The Cornell Food Pantry, at 109 McGraw Place, offers free and confidential access to food and personal care items.
  • Swipe Out Hunger redistributes donated dining swipes through the Dean of Students' office.
  • Anabel's Grocery, in Anabel Taylor Hall, is a student-run store selling groceries at cost or below during the academic year. It accepts SNAP.
• The Cornell Free Food Fridge, Anabel Taylor 120, redistributes leftovers from campus events.
• Cornell Health's nutritionists will sit down with you and help you put a plan together. Give them a call.

In Ithaca:

• Loaves & Fishes, 210 N. Cayuga Street, serves free hot meals to anyone who turns up. There are no eligibility requirements. Lunch is Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, 11:30am-1:00pm; dinner is Tuesday and Thursday, 5:00-6:30pm.
• Friendship Donations Network runs free food distributions across the county.
• Mutual Aid Tompkins maps the free food-sharing cabinets around town.
• 211 Tompkins maintains the full directory of pantries and community meal programs.
• Many graduate students are eligible for SNAP. Anabel's and Cornell Health can both help you work out whether you qualify, and help with the application.

In New York:

• Food Help NYC is the city's official map of free pantries and community kitchens, searchable by address.
• Food Bank For NYC and City Harvest each keep their own finders, with different coverage.
• SNAP works the same way in the city, and you can check your eligibility and apply through ACCESS NYC.

Your union

• Graduate workers at Ithaca, Geneva, and Cornell Tech are represented by Cornell Graduate Students United (CGSU-UE Local 300). There is a contract, which runs through May 1, 2027.
• A good deal of what is on this page lives in there: 12 vacation days a year, a 15-hour average weekly workload, parental and immigration leave, and, in Ithaca, a subsidized TCAT pass.
• Find out who the stewards are in CS, and put a name to the face early. A steward is the person you approach when something goes wrong. It's useful to have a basic relationship with them before you're in a moment of crisis.

Finances

• Know your pay: Cornell stipend rates
• Know your tax information: Graduate School Tax Information
• Here is further informtion on internal travel funding and conference travel.

Conference Travel

Conference travel can complicate and dominiate your finances. With a little care, it is possible to avoid this burden and even come out ahead.

I suggest you figure out which administrator in the department will eventually handle your reimbursement. This may be a specific administrator who handles your advisor's grants, or it may be someone more general to the department. When in doubt, ask them questions! Don't run the risk of having your reimbursement denied because you didn't follow the rules.

Split the (upcoming) expenses into two groups:

• Things that you'd like the department to pay for directly, e.g., conference registration fees.
• Things that you'd like to pay for and be reimbursed for, e.g., airfare, hotel, meals, etc.

Why would anything ever go into the second group? Because you've been clever and gotten credit cards or other loyalty memberships that give you points or miles.

Important: never actually spend points or miles on university travel; Cornell only reimburses you for the actual money you spent.

Saving While in Grad School

• You're not exactly raking it in, but you do have a steady income for a few years. If nothing else, this is a great time to start building good financial habits.
• I like Mr. Money Mustache, a long-running blog about spending well below what you earn and investing the difference. It is written for people on ordinary salaries, not for investors, and the post linked here is his summary of the whole idea in one page. He can be a bit much.
• The important thing, IMO, is to give this a little thought and not just let money "happen" to you.
• Automate it, in both directions.
  • Move a fixed amount into savings on the day you're paid, before you've had a chance to plan around it. The amount matters much less than the habit.
  • Put your credit cards on autopay. The statement balance is ideal, since then you never pay interest, but even the minimum is worth setting up. It's easy to forget a payment during a deadline week.
• Build a small emergency fund first. A flight home, a vet bill, or a car that won't start in February are the things that tend to put people into credit card debt. Keep it in a high-yield savings account rather than checking: it'll earn a little, and it's just annoying enough to raid.
• If you're paid on a fellowship rather than an assistantship, Cornell doesn't withhold taxes for you. You'll need to set that money aside yourself, and look into quarterly estimated payments. You don't want a rude shock in April! Start at the Graduate School's tax information.
• There is free tax help locally. Alternatives Federal Credit Union runs an IRS VITA site each spring, and there is a student-run VITA clinic at Cornell.
• Saving for retirement is not absurd on a stipend. Since the SECURE Act, taxable non-tuition fellowship and stipend income counts as compensation for IRA purposes, so most graduate students can contribute to a Roth IRA. Personal Finance for PhDs explains this well, and is a good resource generally.
• Don't pay twice for things you already have. Your TCAT rides and a good deal of your healthcare are covered.

Building Your Credit Score

• Again, the stability of your income makes this a great time to start building your credit score. This is a long game, and, for once, you have time.
• Two things move the number most: paying every bill on time, and keeping your balances low relative to your limits. This is why the autopay suggestion above is worth the ten minutes; a missed payment stays on your report for years.
• The third input is time, so starting now matters more than picking the perfect card. For the same reason, don't close your oldest account once you have it.
• If you're an international student, your credit history doesn't travel with you. You start from zero here no matter how good your record is at home. A secured card, or a student card from the bank where your stipend lands, is the usual way in.
• Consider a small credit builder loan, for example. Alternatives Federal Credit Union is local, and is used to working with people who have no credit file at all.
• Your score comes up when you sign a lease, set up a phone plan, buy a car, and eventually when you buy a house. Landlords check everywhere, so this follows you well beyond Ithaca.
• Generally, do not take on debt or open up accounts just to build your credit score.

External resources

• Harvard's CS290: Seminar on Effective Research Practices & Academic Culture provides useful readings under Mental Health in Academia.
• University of Washington's Tao of PhD provides useful readings under Mental Health.