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MicroRocks

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  • Application Season
    2017 Fall
  • Program
    Earth Science

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  1. I didn't see a thread for USC, so I'll go ahead and start it! I'll be joining the Earth Science department in the Fall. Where are people planning to live? I'm considering Palms/Culver City since it's so close to the light rail.
  2. Hey, so I answered that but then the tread went away. Basically the #1 advice I got from post docs was to point blank ask the grad students what the absolute worst part of being in that program/lab was. They're surprisingly open about it! Otherwise, I've asked mainly about these things during visits: What the ratio of RA to TA is for funding...like will you have to be TAing for 4 years in order to stay funded What classes are required/offered and if there is an opportunity to take classes outside of the university if they lack something you want How hands on/off the PI is and how they feel about when you're in the lab I prefer to work in the evenings so this was super important to me How collaborative your PI is with other professors - it's awesome if you can use more than just your assigned lab freely Where previous PhD grads have ended up What the graduate student life is like - do people hang out together, are they happy, where do they live, etc... If they have a project in mind for you or if they are open to you creating your own I'm sure you've thought about or even discussed most of these with you PI but that's just my 2 cents.
  3. I'm looking to start a PhD program with a concentration towards microbial geobiology and astrobiology this upcoming fall. I'm super split between attending Yale and USC (southern california). For earth sciences in general, Yale is much better ranked and has that "ivy status" to begin with. It's a wonderful department with wonderful people and very progressive research. Unfortunately, they don't seem to have an exact concentration I am interested in. They seem to be heading in that general direction with some of their recent hires and I could probably still make a cool project/thesis happen there. My main POI does work in that field but they aren't very well known for often having students (last I think graduated 2010) and I'm not sure if this is good or not. USC, on the other hand, is not nearly as well ranked but has a concrete geobiology/astrobiology team and solid connections with CalTech and JPL labs. My POI there has a research concentration almost perfectly in line with what I want to do and there are a couple of other professors who's research I'm very interested in. It really does seem like a wonderful "fit". Yet, it seems a little crazy to go for USC when I could obtain my PhD at Yale. Has anyone been in a fit vs rank position like this before? Particularly when the rankings are so different (#14 vs #25) and the name recognition difference quite significant?
  4. Thanks for the response! It's good to hear that so many people have positive (although expectedly trying) with their dogs in grad school! I've definitely debated the bringing her into the office EVERY day issue. But I think she should be fine. She's a hypoallergenic breed that, post morning run, sleeps for about 5 hours straight. Very relaxed dog with minimal barking. Of course, if any of my office mates are uncomfortable with her, I'll have to make alternate plans with popping out to walk her at lunch breaks. Thanks for bringing it up tho!
  5. Haha sorry, maybe miserable was a bit of an extreme word. I'll by no means be giving her away - WORST case she'll stay with my parents (where we currently are) for the first year of grad school. We get along great now and all my friends love her. My questions is more along the lines of: will it be very hard to care for her and meet people in a new city at the same time? She comes to work with me every day now and usually accompanies me to any happy hour and brunch outings. I'm just wondering if this will (for some reason) be more difficult in grad school and if anyone has direct experience with it and can give me some perspective of work life with dog vs grad school life with dog.
  6. Hey all, I'm considering bringing along my 7 month pup to grad school once the Fall term starts. I've read positive and negative responses to this on the internet but was hoping I could get some input here as well. I'll be entering a geoscience program that is ok with me bringing her around to my office at least a few times a week. I also plan to live with roommates (who either love or also own dogs). Does anyone have experience with this? Will she just make me miserable? Or the opposite? Also, has anyone had this have a particular negative or positive effect on their social life?
  7. It's admissions season and I've gotten into some great schools so far, all of which I love. I'm very torn as to how to choose where to go - mainly between two programs, so any advice would be great. I got into the program/lab that I have been stalking for YEARS and am super excited at the prospect of attending. It's pretty well ranked in what I want to do and my POI is very respected in the field. They're offering me a decent stipend and funding and I feel like it would be a wonderful match (visiting soon). It is in a city that I am so, so about but that has the exactly climate I want. It's also very far from my family which makes it a hard choice to make. However, I got into a very well respected (ivy) program that is offering me a deal I'd have to be crazy to refuse. They are offering me a larger stipend in a much cheaper city, guaranteed funding for research and travel, and a lot of freedom to do research with several professors. No one of these professors do exactly what I want to do. However, if I smush them together then it's the perfect PI. I also feel like there is a huge push from family and friends to go to an Ivy school. I went to a top 5 school for undergrad and it seems like this would be the next logical step (yet I have a bit of a stigma against the idea because of how mentally destructive my undergraduate experience was). Am I crazy if I choose elsewhere? Will it negatively impact my future prospects? I don't want to make the wrong choice and then regret not going to a school that could better support me than the above "dream school". Has anyone been in this position before? Any and all advice is more than welcome. Side note: obviously the admission season isn't even over yet and there is one school which, if I get into, will trump both of the above options and I will definitely be attending
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