MadScience

That's awesome! I think it's probably one of the easier one's to stick to since you never feel deprived it's excellent for people with food allergies too since it's gluten/dairy/peanut-free. It's also known as the "caveman diet" - the concept is that you only eat things in their most basic, purest form, like a caveman would It's toted as being a high fat diet so you can eat lots of meat, chicken, fish, eggs, avocados, coconut, etc in addition to all the other less fattening natural things like veggies and fruit. No grains though and no beans or potatoes (but sweet potatoes are ok!) so it ends up being a low carb diet, but not a carb free diet since you can eat veggies and fruit. I went on it because it's bragged about for being an anti-inflammation diet and I'm always achy and prone to migraines. Cleared it all up for me

Awesome, see you tomorrow!

Haha! Love it! I totally should. My excellent sense of cat related humor should result in immediate acceptance, right?

What is the difference in prestige of the schools for your program? For instance, if one is ranked #5 and the other is #15, it's not so significant IMO but if one is ranked #5 and the other is #50 then I think choosing the higher ranked program is necessary. As much as many of us (myself included) don't like to admit it, prestige plays a very important role at the end of the day in getting a job. One of my top choices isn't ranked nearly as high as some of the others I've been accepted to but I'm in this dilemma of finding the best option in the long run. While it may seem exciting to have a few extra thousand dollars a year at the lesser known school, if you can't get a job (or can only land a lower paying job) than those few extra thousand didn't really mean much. But, like I said, this depends too on how severe the difference in rank is between the two programs.

I do the whole paleo eating thing, so it makes cooking insanely simple. No processed foods, only things with a shelf life (i.e., veggies, fruit, fish, chicken, eggs, meat) and lots of herbs for micronutrients. Although, sometimes I dabble in fancy paleo cooking with recipes I find on different blogs And if you go to farmer's markets to buy your produce it's super cheap. Breakfast is eggs and an avocado, lunch is a salad with chicken and lots of veggies (no dressing), dinner is steamed salmon (or whichever fish is on sale) seasoned with sage, garlic, onion powder, etc over a bed of kale with some raw carrots and broccoli on the side. Easy peezy lemon squeezy!

Waitlisted today to my top choice...oh, the agony!! But, at least grumpy cat is also feeling the pain. Hang in there everyone!

The general rule is April 15th. I believe (please someone correct me if I'm wrong) that all schools are required to abide by this deadline, at least in the US.

Woohoo!! Congrats!!

No clue what's going on there. According to their website: "Offers of admission are typically announced from mid-January to mid-April, but the majority of offers are extended before the end of February." ...which basically means not much lol I would guess they are not done sending out acceptances but I don't think they will extend more than a few offers at this point.

If it's any consolation, I know how you feel. I wish I could fast forward to when those accepted to my top choice have made their decision and hopefully enough people decline so I can get an offer. And I'd be lying if I said I hadn't thought about posting on here to find those that had been accepted and make my plea to them! Haha

I would only mention the other schools in a relevant way, not just to boast about other acceptances because that might not look too good. For instance, when I have inquired about the status of my application I have mentioned the reason why I am asking is because I am trying to plan my travel schedule for the various visiting weekends and don't want to schedule anything during the time of their visiting weekend in case I might hear back from them since they are my top choice/one of my top choices. But don't say this if it is not true!! I would only inquire with schools that are game changers, that you are likely to attend if accepted. If you think there's a chance you'd be happy at all of the schools you're waiting on, I would contact them all.

Thanks everyone for your helpful responses! I have been in touch with the POI I want to work with and he said he will be accepting students this fall, and I have also been lucky enough to be granted a very prestigious fellowship by the graduate school itself so I don't think funding of my desired POI is the issue. I guess, to explain the situation in more detail, my desired area of work is in inorganic/computational chemistry for renewable energy but my research background is in organic chemistry/biological sciences (BS in Chem working in an organic chem lab, MS in Biomedical Sciences/Immunology lab) so I feel like that is why the other professor is interested in me (cancer research lab). However, the reason why I did a MS in Biomed and not a PhD was to test the waters to see if I enjoy that kind of science, and it turns out I don't. At all. I was beyond miserable in this field and if my only option was to work in biological chemistry I would rather just not go. Sounds very over dramatic probably, but we all have our passions and our educational nemeses (haha), and this is mine. And 5 years is a long time to not be happy with your work. I agree with you guys, I just need to be direct and (very graciously) mention that this Prof's research is not the best fit for my current goals (renewable energy research). I have also been informed that my desired POI will be out of town during the visiting weekend which is kind of a bummer too But I at least know what I need to do now, even if it means having to pick from one of my other acceptances that guarantees a better research fit. Thank you!

Ooops, sorry for the double post

Just called UNC and I'm on the wait list. So if anyone else hasn't heard back yet, there is still hope

Just called UNC and I'm on the wait list. So if anyone else hasn't heard back yet, there is still hope

Hello all I was hoping you guys could shed some light on my situation. I was admitted to one of my top choices and was contacted by a professor that I didn't mention in my SOP doing research I am just not interested in. I can say this with complete certainty since I have a lot of experience in this area and just downright do not enjoy it. In addition, the student host that was assigned to me is one of this professor's students. I am hoping this doesn't mean I am getting pushed into a corner to have to work in this group whose project is completely opposite of what I am passionate about. Am I overthinking this? Is it possible this is all just random and I'm overanalyzing? If not, how can I politely decline interest? I am bad at this and would hate to hurt anyone's feelings or burn any bridges. Thanks in advanced for any help!

Is anyone going to the Purdue visiting weekend this Friday? Would be great to chat with you guys in the real world! Ha

I haven't heard back yet from Wake Forest either at this point :/

My main go-to goodbye is "Sincerely" but if I'm feeling crazy I might use "Regards," haha If it's someone that has just given me great news (i.e., you've been accepted!) or has helped me out tremendously (i.e., Hey I just finished submitting your 13 letters of recommendation!) then I might finish with a "Kind Regards," "Warm Regards," or "Sincerest Regards." And before I say any of that, I add in a lighthearted line like "Have a great weekend." or "I hope you have a happy Friday!" etc., and then finish with "Sincerely, ..."

Hey there! Not sure if you would know since you were in a different department, but did you ever hear any talk about the chemistry department? I really like Brown and the research there sounds very interesting, but it's always nice to get an insider perspective Also, how did you like living in Providence? Is it safe? What areas are good to live in or should be avoided? Thanks so much!

Some of my acceptances have still not changed their status on Apply Yourself, so I wouldn't worry.

I agree, it's definitely one of the better questions to ask. I've always gotten very positive responses from the students which at first I was thrilled about and over time have begun questioning how valid they are. I think you're right though - asking and then interpreting their responses as either genuine or exaggerated is the best way to get some sort of interpretation of how life is within that program. And by increasing your sample size, you can get a pretty accurate idea

I was actually in a similar situation - signed up for an interview weekend with a school that accepted me very early on and was pressuring me to decide to schedule a visit ASAP before receiving some of my preferred offers. I wasn't thinking straight and so agreed to attend the weekend and they arranged my flights. A few months later, I had acceptances from programs with much better research fits for me and could no longer see myself attending that first school, despite how well the visiting weekend might go. The day I realized this, I emailed them, asked them to cancel my flight and apologized for any inconvenience. This is my logic. If I know with 99.99% certainty that I am not going to attend there, I am not only wasting my time but theirs as well. By cancelling, even though they may be charged a cancellation fee, they at least get some of the money refunded to them versus if I had gone with no intention of accepting their offer they would lose 100% of the cost. MOST IMPORTANTLY - I would be hindering another person's chances of getting accepted to the program. I think of it like "treat others the way you'd like to be treated" - I would feel really bummed if I was wait listed to my top choice and there were many accepted students going to the visiting weekend with no intention of attending the school. It would put my planning on hold until they declined their offers, so I wanted to decline offers from my 0% likely to attend schools ASAP as a common courtesy. Just my two cents

Just curious, do you think they answered this honestly? I would be worried they'd always give a positive response, even though they may regret the program, out of worrying that their PI might find out something negative they said.

Still no word from UNC I know they sent out a few rejections on Friday, do you think it's possible I still have a shot/was waitlisted? I am getting nervous since I need a bit of notice in advance to take off of work, and I also don't want to schedule any visits during their visiting weekends, in case I am lucky enough to get an acceptance. I emailed the department of chemistry last week (2/10) to inquire about the status of my app but got no response. Do you think I should email someone else? Like a POI? Or should I just calm down and continue waiting? (Ha! Calm down..sure )