InquilineKea Posted November 24, 2011 Share Posted November 24, 2011 (edited) (please sticky - thanks!) ______________________________________________ Undergrad Institution: (School or type of school, such as big state, lib arts, ivy, technical, foreign (what country?)... Overall Reputation in EAPS?) Major(s): Minor(s): GPA in Major: Overall GPA: Position in Class: (No numbers needed, but are you top? near top? average? struggling?) Type of Student: (Domestic/International, male/female, minority?) GRE Scores (revised/old version): Q: V: W: P: TOEFL Total: (if applicable, otherwise delete this) Research Experience: (At your school or elsewhere? What field? How much time? Any publications (Mth author out of N?) or conference talks etc...) Awards/Honors/Recognitions: (Within your school or outside?) Pertinent Activities or Jobs: (Such as tutor, TA, SPS officer etc...) Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Special Bonus Points: (Such as connections, grad classes, famous recommenders, female or minority status etc...) Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Applying to Where: School - Department - Research Interest School - Department - Research Interest School - Department - Research Interest ______________________________________________ Edited November 24, 2011 by InquilineKea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InquilineKea Posted November 24, 2011 Author Share Posted November 24, 2011 (edited) Undergrad Institution: University of Washington (top-5 in atmospheric science, where I'll be getting most of my LORs from) Major(s): Astronomy, Physics, Math Minor(s): Applied Math GPA in Major: 3.77 Astronomy, mid-3's in Physics (but that is still pending til the end of the quarter) Overall GPA: 3.58 for last two years (overall is in 3.0-3.5 range, but still pending) Type of Student: Domestic Parrot GRE Scores: Biology: 810 (89th percentile), completely self-studied without taking any courses asides from a grad-lvl neurophysiology course Cellular & Molecular Biology: 82nd percentile Organismal Biology: 89th percentile Ecology/Evolution/Population Biology: 91st percentile GRE Physics: Pending General GRE: Pending Research Experience: Several years. Two publications (although in papers with numerous coauthors where my role wasn't that significant). Latest research is exoplanetary atmosphere research Awards/Honors/Recognitions: - National AP Scholar (8 self-studied APs) - Early Entrance @ University of Washington Pertinent Activities or Jobs: - Attended a grad-student summer program (CASS 2011 - http://www.ifa.hawai...UHNAI/CASS2011/ ) as an undergrad last summer - Quora Reviewer (have really built up the science sections on Quora up over the last few months), and am a top answerer on Astronomy, Biology, Neuroscience, Planetary Science, Atmospheric Science, Animal Behavior, Scientific Research, and Academia - Panelist on Reddit AskScience, supporting member on Physics Forums, and also active on Astronomy Stack Exchange (and several others). In other words, I'm one of the most prominent users on all the astrophysics-related communities on the Internet Special Bonus Points: - Grad-lvl courses in Neurophysiology, Planetary Atmospheres, Objective Analysis (aka Digital Signal Processing), High-Performance Scientific Computing, Numerical Linear Algebra, Causal Modelling (in statistics), Chinese Geography, and Ice/Climate (atmospheric science) - all with 3.4 GPA or above - I think I really helped my case by contacting professors (more so than most others), given that some of them invited me to call them, and that our research interests were extremely similar. Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: - My overall GPA got nuked by my idiocy when I was 16, but I'm still glad I did early entrance. - There are also numerous other factors, but probably best not to mention them now) Applying to Where: (this is probably a preliminary list that needs to be expanded) Mostly programs with active professors who do 3D modelling of exoplanetary atmospheres. Strong definites: Berkeley EPS - Caltech GPS - Caltech Environmental - Columbia Astro (or EES, depending on PGRE score) - MIT EAPS - UCSC Astro (or EPS, depending on PGRE score) - Arizona Planetary - Chicago Geophysical Sciences - UCLA ESS - Washington Atmos - Maybes: Harvard EPS - Princeton AOS - Cornell Atmos - Oregon State COAS - Penn State Astro (or Meteorology, depending on PGRE score) - May also consider George Mason CSI, Brown Planetary, Colorado, JHU Planetary, WashU, and a few others (especially environmental science departments). There's also a very small chance I could go for Caltech Astro, Chicago Astro, and numerous other Astro depts, and Oceanography is a possible other option. Edited November 24, 2011 by InquilineKea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hope4fall2012 Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 (edited) I know it's a bit too late..But here goes.. Undergrad Institution: Small engineering college in Bangalore, India. Undergrad institution has no impact on my app, since I'm currently doing my Masters. Master's Institution: Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore Major(s): Climate Science Minor(s): None Overall GPA: 3.6 Position in Class: Somewhere near the top Type of Student: International GRE Scores (revised version): Q: 167 V: 160 AWA: 3.5 TOEFL Total: 112 (Bad speaking score: 24) Research Experience: Master's thesis work, A year as a research assistant in the same field before Masters. Awards/Honors/Recognitions: A couple during Masters, A couple during undergrad. Nothing huge.. Pertinent Activities or Jobs: 3 years of software experience, couple of TAs during undergrad Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: None actually. Special Bonus Points: Mailed professors before hand in most applications. Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Applying to Where: a ) UC - Berkeley, EPS, Clouds and Tropical Dynamics b ) University of Miami, RSMAS, Tropical Dynamics c ) Yale University, G&G, Tropical Dynamics d ) UC - San Diego, Scripps Inst. of Oceanography, Tropical Dynamics e ) UC - Santa Cruz, EPS, Clouds f ) University of Washington, Atmos, Clouds I think this thread could be especially useful for students in the following years. I would have certainly loved something like this 6 months back.. Edited January 22, 2012 by hope4fall2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike_ens Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 Undergrad Institution: Some school in Mexico (well known in Oceanography in US) Major(s): Physical Oceanography, applied math Minor(s): GPA in Major: 3.9 Overall GPA: 3.7 Position in Class: 1st in physical oceanography, 3rd in applied math Graduate Institution: University of Washington Program: Applied mathematics Type of Student: International GPA: 3.67 GRE Scores (revised/old version): Q: 167 V: 149 W: 4.0 P: TOEFL Total: waived since I am getting a degree in US (got 97 in iBT more than 2 years ago) Research Experience: Master's level research work (instabilities), some conferences in Mexico while an undergrad. Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Graduated with Honors (undergrad), Fulbright Scholarship Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA for several courses in mathematics in undergrad, tutored a girl who was had failed ODEs twice, and was about to be expelled from Uni, she passed with excelent grades, and now works in San Francisco in marine biology. Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: dunno... Special Bonus Points: Minority (I guess...), good recommenders Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Applying to Where: University of Washington- Oceanography - Geophysical Fluid Dynamics, Midlatitude processes. University of Washington- Applied Mathematics - Geophysical/Classical Fluid Dynamics, Midlatitude processes, Numerical Modelling. UCSD - Scripps institution of Oceanography - Geophysical Fluid Dynamics, Turbulence in Geophysical context. Caltech- ES&E - Geophysical Fluid Dynamics, Turbulence in Geophysical context, Midlatitude processes, Climate Change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InquilineKea Posted January 23, 2012 Author Share Posted January 23, 2012 (edited) Updating for now (though things could really change in the upcoming week.........) Undergrad Institution: University of Washington (top-5 in atmospheric science, where I'll be getting most of my LORs from) Major(s): Astronomy, Physics, Math Minor(s): Applied Math GPA in Major: 3.77 Astronomy, 3.76 for all Physics courses beyond freshman year (but it drops when I include my bloody freshman year) Overall GPA: 3.58 for last two years (overall is lower, but complicated situation due to early entrance) Position in Class: Unknown as school doesn't report. But definitely one of the top students in the Astronomy department. Type of Student: Domestic Parrot GRE Scores: Q: 167 (95%) - 800 on old GRE. V: 166 (97%) - 700 on old GRE. W: 6.0 (99%) Biology: 810 (89%), completely self-studied without taking any courses asides from a grad-lvl neurophysiology course Cellular & Molecular Biology: 82% Organismal Biology: 89% Ecology/Evolution/Population Biology: 91% P: (will give later - all I'll say is that it's competitive for Tier-1.5 Astronomy grad programs...). Quora took up the time I wanted to study for it, but it may not matter that much anymore. Research Experience: - Several years Awards/Honors/Recognitions: - National AP Scholar (8 self-studied APs) - Early Entrance @ University of Washington Pertinent Activities or Jobs: - Attended a grad-student summer program (CASS 2011 - http://www.ifa.hawai...UHNAI/CASS2011/ ) as an undergrad last summer - Quora Reviewer (have really built up the science sections on Quora up over the last few months), and am a top answerer on Astronomy, Biology, Neuroscience, Planetary Science, Atmospheric Science, Animal Behavior, Scientific Research, and Academia Special Bonus Points: - Grad-lvl courses in Neurophysiology, Planetary Atmospheres, Objective Analysis (aka Digital Signal Processing), High-Performance Scientific Computing, Numerical Linear Algebra, Causal Modelling (in statistics), Chinese Geography, and Ice/Climate (atmospheric science) - all with 3.4 GPA or above Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: - My overall GPA got nuked by my idiocy when I was 16, but I'm still glad I did early entrance. - Intense interdisciplinarity may help with earth/atmospheric/planetary science programs (even though it may be seen in a negative way by other programs) - Numerous other factors, but best not to elaborate here. Applying to Where: Mostly programs with active professors who do 3D modelling of exoplanetary atmospheres. Caltech - Environmental Science and Engineering (ESE) - Chicago - Geophysical Sciences - Columbia - Astronomy - Columbia - Earth and Environmental Science (EESC) - MIT - Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences (EAPS) - Yale - Geology & Geophysics - Invited for visit/interview 1/12 - UCSC - Astronomy - Brown - Geological Sciences - Edited January 23, 2012 by InquilineKea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matsoo Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 For those awaiting Caltech GPS admissions - the faculty vote took place last thursday, emails should be sent very soon. Probably within the next couple of days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InquilineKea Posted January 26, 2012 Author Share Posted January 26, 2012 (edited) Just got accepted by Chicago with the McCormick fellowship for being one of the top applicants. Rejected by Caltech (I ****ed up the personal statement since it was the first one I wrote, but I also made some other questionable decisions =/). Though it could be for other reasons too. Edited January 26, 2012 by InquilineKea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hope4fall2012 Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 Congratulations!!!! Nice job.. .. InquilineKea 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nick12 Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 Just got accepted by Chicago with the McCormick fellowship for being one of the top applicants. Rejected by Caltech (I ****ed up the personal statement since it was the first one I wrote, but I also made some other questionable decisions =/). Though it could be for other reasons too. Congratulations! Which professor are you going to follow? I also applied to UC, but have not got any news Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parable151 Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 Inq, Were you accepted/rejected from the Astronomy department or the Earth Science department? I am checking the results page every day and I am SO jealous of the other physical science disciplines. Why does Earth Science have to take so long..seriously. Okay, vent over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InquilineKea Posted January 26, 2012 Author Share Posted January 26, 2012 Congratulations!!!! Nice job.. .. Thanks! Congratulations! Which professor are you going to follow? I also applied to UC, but have not got any news Thanks as well! I'll PM you his name. Most acceptances are sent far later than mine - I was a special case. Inq, Were you accepted/rejected from the Astronomy department or the Earth Science department? I am checking the results page every day and I am SO jealous of the other physical science disciplines. Why does Earth Science have to take so long..seriously. Okay, vent over. Geophysical Sciences. Hmm - a lot of the Physics majors are jealous of me because I got some of my decisions really early. But I understand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kitkat Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 (edited) Thanks! Most acceptances are sent far later than mine - I was a special case. Geophysical Sciences. Hmm - a lot of the Physics majors are jealous of me because I got some of my decisions really early. But I understand. Congrats about getting it. This is making me worry about my application there now though ... one of my profs sent in my letter late. Hope that doesn't count against me much. Care to share why you were a special case? BTW, how did they contact you to let you know? I'm sure that physics people are on a different schedule then us. Edited January 26, 2012 by Kitkat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InquilineKea Posted January 27, 2012 Author Share Posted January 27, 2012 (edited) Congrats about getting it. This is making me worry about my application there now though ... one of my profs sent in my letter late. Hope that doesn't count against me much. Care to share why you were a special case? BTW, how did they contact you to let you know? I'm sure that physics people are on a different schedule then us. Special case: McCormick fellowship. Apparently, mine was sent at the same time as someone's fellowship in the Astronomy department - it might be the case that they feel pressure to inform applicants of these fellowships early. I got an email from the professor I talked to at the AGU (and who will most likely be my adviser). Edited January 27, 2012 by InquilineKea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InquilineKea Posted January 27, 2012 Author Share Posted January 27, 2012 (edited) Congrats about getting it. This is making me worry about my application there now though ... one of my profs sent in my letter late. Hope that doesn't count against me much. Care to share why you were a special case? BTW, how did they contact you to let you know? I'm sure that physics people are on a different schedule then us. Oh - and I forgot to say - thanks very much for the congrats! [sorry I was really tired!] I know some people in the department who got acceptances as late as March. Good luck on UChicago - I really hope that you can make it in! ===== PS: The faculty vote for the first round of Columbia EESC decisions is coming on Friday January 27th (and the first round of acceptances will come out the following week). Edited January 27, 2012 by InquilineKea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hydronate Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 Hi all, Whiling away the hours, days, and months until we start to hear. *sigh* In the meantime, here are my stats. I haven't heard anything from anyone, aside from the 'we have received your materials' emails which give me a heart attack when they show up in my inbox. Cheers! Undergrad Institution: B.S. from small liberal arts (undergrad); M.S. from big research university (graduate) (both schools in US) Major(s): Geology Minor(s): Math Overall GPA: 3.4 (undergrad); 4.0 (grad) GRE Scores (revised/old version): Q: 159 V: 162 W: 4.5 Research Experience: Thesis related; Research Assistant for 2 yrs Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA, RA Applying to Where: U of Washington - ESS - Sedimentary record of orogenesis CU Boulder - Geological Sciences - Landscape evolution UCLA - ESS - Luminescence dating U of Utah - Geology and Geophysics - Paleohydrology U of Montana - Geosciences - Hydrologic modeling Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoNO Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 Undergrad Institution: Liberal Arts, two well known Earth Scientists Major(s):Physics Minor(s):Comp Sci/Math GPA in Major:3.45 Overall GPA:3.12 Position in Class: Above average, but not top Type of Student: Domestic GRE Scores (revised/old version): Q:162 V:160 W:5.5 P:N?A Research Experience: Earth/Planetary Science Research here at school for 3 years, 1 Summer REU at institute I am applying, 2 AGU poster sessions (first author), I have 2 papers i'm working on as well. Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Summer Research Grant from school. Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Ran school observatory open house... mostly was just a researcher Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: I contacted all the people I wanted to work with and they all responded positively. Special Bonus Points: I am applying to work with my summer intern advisor. Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Applying to Where: Columbia - DEES - Physical Oceanography Brown - Geosciences - Mantel Flow/Seismology Northwestern - DEES - Mantel Flow/Seismology SUIC - Geology - Mantel Flow/Seismology SUNY Buffalo - Geosciences - Physical Volcanology BU - Earth Sciences - Geomorphology/Antarctic Research I'm hoping I get into somewhere, my GPA is low. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parable151 Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 Undergrad Institution: Bridgewater State College, Mid-Sized State School, No reputation really outside of the MIT/WHOI crowd Major(s): Earth Science Minor(s): Environmental Geosciences GPA in Major: 3.369 Overall GPA: 3.5 Position in Class: No idea Type of Student: Domestic Female, Nontraditional (38 years old), First generation college graduate GRE Scores (revised/old version): Q: 164 V: 151 W: 4.0 Research Experience: Worked for a year and a half as a lab assistant at WHOI. Did a 3 week research cruise during that time. Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Sigma Gamma Epsilon Pertinent Activities or Jobs: High school Earth Science, Physical Science, and Chemistry teacher Special Bonus Points: Recommendation from my old boss from WHOI who is now at Columia and chairs the graduate admissions committee there. Applying to Where: Stanford - GES - PhD - Structural Geology/Tectonics Berkeley - EPS - PhD - Research Interest San Jose State - MS only - Geology- Tectonics.....Accepted, will hear about T.A. later. San Francisco State - MS only - Geosciences UC East Bay - MS only - Geosciences Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hope4fall2012 Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 Congratulations on the acceptance to San Jose!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parable151 Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 Thank you! My husband is military and we're only going to be in the bay erea for four years, so I'm still holding out for going directly to PhD. BUT, I am really relieved to have at least one option no matter what. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kitkat Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 PS: The faculty vote for the first round of Columbia EESC decisions is coming on Friday January 27th (and the first round of acceptances will come out the following week). I am assuming you talked to someone about this? Do you know if anyone has heard anything yet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InquilineKea Posted February 3, 2012 Author Share Posted February 3, 2012 (edited) I'm not seeing anything from the grad cafe results thing. So I'm not sure what's happening. I know several people who did get into the program (they were very strong students who got multiple acceptance offers and top student fellowships from top schools), and even they didn't get their acceptances until late February or even March. From the results of previous years, it appears that we'll still have to wait until late next week until we get to see the first offers. My website analytics thing actually shows that someone from Columbia looked at my website yesterday. Edited February 3, 2012 by InquilineKea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoNO Posted February 3, 2012 Share Posted February 3, 2012 I am assuming you talked to someone about this? Do you know if anyone has heard anything yet? I just got an update from someone i know in the department( I did an internship there) saying that its at least a month away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waddle Posted February 3, 2012 Share Posted February 3, 2012 Inq, how do you log visitors to your website? Is IP logging something that has to be enabled server-side first? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InquilineKea Posted February 3, 2012 Author Share Posted February 3, 2012 (edited) You do this too?? LOL.. I used to think it was a very sneaky thing to do and keep it hush hush.. Heh - I know several other people who do this too. But even otherwise, I think all you need to add is a piece of code onto your web pages and Analytics will do the rest.. The help section on Analytics is very good and you can find a lot of tips on the web as well.. Yup - I use StatCounter to do the same thing Edited February 3, 2012 by InquilineKea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AA105 Posted February 3, 2012 Share Posted February 3, 2012 Undergrad Institution: Top ten research university Majors: EPS, Astro, Math Overall GPA: 3.85 Type of Student: Domestic GRE Scores (old version): Q: 800 V: 750 AWA: 5.5 Research Experience: Undergraduate researcher for four years, senior honors thesis, worked for one year after that in a lab, summer internship at STSci (Hubble) Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Two NASA research grants during undergrad, Dean's list every term, university's research grant for one summer, Phi Beta Kappa, undergrad thesis award, a few more Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Worked as a research assistant for one year after graduation Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Seven publications, one submitted to Science, several conference presentations Special Bonus Points: Research interests align with profs at many schools Applying to WashU - accepted UCLA - accepted University of Chicago - accepted with additional McCormick fellowship for first two years University of Hawai'i Columbia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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