Chai_latte

Maybe that depends on the field. B/c in a number of fields, you're acceepted to the department and you get your advisor later. You'll certainly have POIs beforehand, but there's no guarantee that you'll get your #1 for any number of reasons. So, that's why a lot of ppl think a good fit with ~3 profs is better than just one.

I applied to 9. I think that may have been a little high for my field. I feel like a lot of people are in the 5-7 range. IMO, I applied to too many. By app #7, I was thoroughly fatigued. Completing the last two apps was like pulling teeth. As prospectives, I think we underestimate the amount of time each application takes. And I wasn't truly honest with myself about fit. There were a few schools (maybe 3?) that were poor research fits. I applied anyway b/c I liked the location, the school's rep. or something like that. BAD MOVE. Thankfully, I chose an amazing place. But, if I were to do it all over again, I would've applied to about 5.

4.5 years. I changed my major pretty late. Admissions committees didn't seem to mind at all. Not all of us know what we want to do/hit the ground running at age 18.

Beans- chickpeas or kidneys w/ brown rice and (usually) chicken. Stir cooked ingredients up in a pot, add seasoning, have a side of veggies and call it a night. I definitely do salads. My guilty pleasure is bread, so twice a month I'll bake some (pita, cornbread, biscuits-whatever). With the exception of pita (which requires yeast and time to rise), it definitely isn't hard. Couscous is also pretty easy (particularly when pre-seasoned). Steamed veggies (as someone already mentioned). Various stews (made up of whatever you've got)...basically "one-pot" dishes are super easy.

See, I can't keep snacks in the house. I don't have the discipline to eat them in moderation. Normally, I'm a Whole Foods/organic/snacks-are-the-devil kind of girl. But, after a really, really rough week, I'll walk 3/4 mile to Krispy Kreme and get a half dozen warm, glazed donuts. Mmmmm... You know, this week has been kind of rough *puts on sneakers*

Potentially. If they've recently expanded the department, it is probably on the ascent. Take a look at these new profs. If their work really appeals to you and/or they seem like killer researchers, I'd say go for it. By the time you graduate, some others/outsiders will have caught on. I joined a department like that. My advisor came to my school (one of many recent hires) as a tenured prof. from a top 10 school in both my field and subfield. I fell in love with the school and once I arrived, had her on my short list of "potential advisors". Now, I'm as happy as a clam. I'm doing great research under an amazing advisor at a school that stood out as an absolute best fit from day one. 5-7 years is a long time. It's a long time for outsiders/"ranking ppl" to catch wind of what's happening in your department AND, more importantly, is a long time to be in a department that you see isn't a best fit before you start. Best fit+growth= gamble I've taken and would take again. Now, the unranked placed (U Del)...eh, I'd be a little more cautious. I didn't apply to any unranked places. I always worry that there might be something(s) systemically wrong with a department that is unranked (maybe some things that I, as an applicant, am not well-versed enough to see???). I take risks, but not ones that huge.

See, here's the thing. In NY, I'm used to hardcore high rises. We have that in Philly, but for the most part ppl (students & recent grads, at least) live in walk-ups (maybe 5 stories) or normal looking houses that have been broken up into apartments inside. As a result, I'm not sure the way you're searching will be of the most help. Yes, there is the Rittenhouse Claridge or the Chatham ("hardcore" highrises) that you can read reviews about, but you find a lot of spots by walking the streets and looking for signs/word-of-mouth. I'm not sure how you can find those places unless you're actually here. Think of Penn as being ~34th/Spruce. You want convenience. So, you generally want to be in/around Rittenhouse. Philadelphians like Washington Square West b/c it's more affordable than Ritt., but as a Penn student, it's also a mile of extra distance (~8th). When you stick to Ritt (or Filter Square), you're at ~16-25th. Look at housing between Pine and Walnut/Chestnut initially. But, these are streets (Chestnut/Walnut being the exception) that MOSTLY have normal looking houses that rent out individual apts. So, the Philly residential scene, IMO, is difficult to navigate when you're new. It's not like NY, for instance. If you're willing to shell out some hefty bucks there's this building *gosh, where is it??? THINK*, that seems to get flawless reviews. The Riverloft...it's on Walnut right before the bridge. 22nd/23rd??? But, unless you're independently wealthy, or have super-generous parents, I think it's a bit expensive. Assuming the reviews are real, I think they make it super nice b/c it's semi-remote (but also super-convenient if you're at Penn). The problem with Philly, I think, is that a lot of the rentals that SHOULD BE nice (in established apartment buildings) are crummy. Many of the nice apt. buildings in the city are actually condos. This forces a lot of new or temporary residents into the apartments-in-houses. I'd probably try to swing a roommate and go for Riverloft or grad student housing for the 1st year. You have to pound the pavement (and do your HW by talking to folks-on-the-street) too much here. And if you're all the way in Colorado, that's hard to do. Please don't forget to consult PennHousing. A nice person on the phone might drop some pearls of wisdom.

Agreed. Grad admission is nothing like UG. For UG, it was all about grades, scores and extracurric. Now, we're talking research fit as the #1 determining factor. Your LORs, papers/conferences, POI contacts and SOPs simply show adcoms that you are (or aren't) a good match. That's why everyone is always saying that there's no such thing as a safety. If you don't consider fit, the grad admissions process will appear totally random. I got rejected by a school that ranked ~70 slots lower than my highest ranking admit. This wasn't b/c they were repelled by good stats, but b/c the research fit just wasn't there. Looking back, I shouldn't have applied in the first place. I'm glad that they rejected me. Theyhelped save me from myself.

Environmental engineering stands out w/ your career goals and previous engr. diploma

I don't live in university city, so I'm not totally helpful (but I felt bad not commenting on your post, since I'm here). But, I googled UCH apartments and they didn't get good reviews on yelp or on apartmentratings. Here's my take on UC, in general. A LOT of ppl love it. They cite great restaurants and just a good overall verve. I, personally, am a center city girl. From my understanding, UC has made great strides in the past 10-15 years, but it is still grittier than CC. If you're from out of town and don't really know anyone yet, I'd recommend checking out CC (the other side of the Schuykill river) or UPenn's grad housing for your first year. Get settled here first and then (take your time to) find a good spot in UC. My cousin chose to live in campus housing. It was pricier, but worked well for her (she was at Penn ~4yrs ago). P.S. a good number of penn grad students live in CC **I love Philly and plan to settle here, BUT it does have some real crime issues. It's fine once you get here and exercise common sense (I'm not trying to scare you away, by any means). But, when you're new and Philly is a sight unseen, you'd do well to start with neighborhoods that aren't a few nice blocks sprinkled with shadier ones (UC), IMO. Ease into your new school in a more consistently decent area (or in campus housing) until you know UC well- the good blocks, the hot spots, the location of the great cultural things that well-worn UC residents rave about**

To a New Yorker, Philly's cost of living is quite low. It's slightly more than chicago's according to http://money.cnn.com/calculator/pf/cost-of-living/. HTH!

@getitlow: http://www.city-data.com/forum/buffalo-area/592435-elmwood-village-buffalo-ny.html You'll see some youtube vids of elmwood if you click on the link. What you see, IMO, is pretty true to form. Weather: you're not from the south or the tropics, so I think you'll deal. Wear a warm coat, get a quality pair of (warm) boots for the snow. Add on a hat, gloves, scarf and you'll be fine. Really. It's not so bad. You will have the "lake effect" = extra cold/damp. But, it is doable. P.S. the city does a good job clearing snow. P.P.S. No snow days :-(

Maybe there's a more direct route, but from my experience it may've been a 15min drive from S. campus? You def. need a car if you want to reside there. Oh, and Elmwood is in Buffalo...it's a village within it. Maybe I didn't make that clear. I'm from NYC, so I'm probably biased, but I didn't think the downtown part of the city had much to offer...period. My family stayed at the Buffalo Hyatt (at the heart of downtown) and they were very disappointed w/ the surroundings. To be honest, I was shocked...I couldn't believe that that was "downtown". So, no there's no shuttle that takes you there. You'd just have to do normal, public transportation or drive. IMO, Elmwood was the only interesting spot. Cute shops, small restaurants...quaint, nice feel. Downtown Buffalo to me = cold, barren, blah. Oh, and I think Elmwood is near one of the museums in the area (huge plus!). Let me be clear, there are other areas in the city where you can happily live, but just know you'll mostly be sleeping there. You can't roll out and hit some cute shops on the way home. From what I saw, that was the province of Elmwood (and perhaps another small part of the city I don't know about???). Oh, and north campus has its own little hub. It has a CVS, bank, various restaurants. So, it might be nice to live close to that.

I'll try to help, as I was in Buffalo for almost a year. I didn't have a car. If I had stayed longer, I definitely would've gotten one. However, for short term, you can def. manage without. The shuttle btwn north and south campus is flawless. It runs regularly. There's also a shuttle between south campus and the Wegman's supermarket (if you're not from the area, definitely aim to food shop here...love wegman's!). I did have 2 friends with cars and never heard any complaints about that. So, I'm assuming both the campus and city are pretty car-friendly. I'm also assuming that the history department is on North campus. As a car-less student, I only considered housing complexes with shuttle service. So, I can't speak to (non-complex) rents in the area. I do remember that people recommended renting rooms in houses closer to north campus as opposed to south. If you're not afraid to spend a little more $, A LOT of students like living in Elmwood. HTH, maybe someone more familiar w/ the area can jump in.

awkward moment

Hmm, I don't really think it has changed me. Actually, no, scratch that. I'm a more confident scientist. Presentations are easier for me now. I'm also in my late twenties. Regardless of age, I guess change should be expected when you're studying something (presumably your passion) intensely.

I didn't apply this season, but when I did only 1 school gave me the head's up for an unofficial acceptance. And that's the school I currently attend. My other acceptances were official only. Anyway, there was a 3-4 week gap between my unofficial and formal acceptance.

I wouldn't ask. I'm basically echoing what everyone else has said. However, I'm still very curious about who was on the adcomm at my current school. It's silly and very much after the fact, but I want to know which profs handpicked ME (wonderful me) for the program. I guess my curiousity will just gnaw at me for the rest of my life, b/c I don't have the guts to ask.

Sure. This was ages ago. I think I was in junior high (or early HS). I don't remember all of the details, but racial tensions were high among students and the final straw was something about a noose and a big protest in the football stadium (had nothing to do w/ the football program, just the stadium was the biggest space on campus). What I've heard (not documented in an article, to my knowledge) was about tenure-track female science professors accusing certain departments of discrimination. I believe these ended in settlements. However, one of my cousins (female chemist) did some research there a few summers in a row and had no trouble. She liked it (and she has experienced gender descrimination in the past...just not at PSU).

I only glanced some of the comments, but it seems like I'll probably be swimming upstream here. I, personally, would pass. I've long recognized that Penn State has great programs (duh!). However, the school is not one that I'd feel comfortable attending. Pre-Sandusky, I had heard from a number of (reliable) people about tensions in certain departments and on the campus as a whole (one of which made it to the New York Times some years ago). While I was shocked to learn of the Sandusky scandal, it reinforced why PSU would not be a good fit for me - for any course of study. Academics are important and so is fit/atmosphere. If this really bothers you, as it seems to, I think you'd do well to consider your other options. If, however, one's only concern is people whispering every time they hear the name Penn State, that too shall pass. And really, those whisperers would make better use of their time whispering about the school's strong programs instead.

I just PM'ed you. I try to keep things semi-anonymous on the forum.I see. Unfortunately, I don't know much about it, but you can definitely ask about gov't research positions/connections when you visit schools and speak to POIs. And don't forget to swing by career services at these prospective schools. Find out how connected/involved they are in your area of interest.

Good! When I commented, I didn't realize how far away you were. You're a southern dude. So, you're really not familiar with the area. If you have any other Q's, you can always PM me. I was grateful to have some buddies in Philly to help me navigate things (and I was just transitioning from NY to PA). Oh, also if you are remotely interested in start-ups/entrep. after graduation, there's a research park: the University City Science Center (near UPenn) and a lot of activity at the old Philly Navy Yard. A number of companies are housed there and it's the epicenter of the city's green initiatives (as a bio guy, that might be of interest).

I was faced with the same decision. I chose Philly, and I'm so happy that I did. Note: I'm a native NY-er. Don't be fooled by its supposed proximity. LI is its own thing. IMO, there's really nothing to do out there. If I remember correctly, there are a bunch of strip malls w/ places like Lowe's etc. If that's what you're looking for, by all means pick Stony. But, if you're looking for museums, "good eats", cultural events, Philadelphia Science Festival/Philly Tech Week etc., Philly is the better bet. Now, of course, you have to take the bitter with the sweet. While my adopted city has more vitality, it also has a relatively high rate of homelessness and crime. It also has poor public schools, so that's something to bear in mind as a parent (but, you coud always live in one of the suburbs w/ a stronger school system or go private). I'm pleased with the public transportation here. It's not as efficient as NYC, but nothing to sneeze at. LI, on the other hand, makes car ownership a necessity. Lastly, don't underestimate the benefits of going to school near other universities (and hospitals- for your wife). There are so many more opportunities at your disposal, if you take advantage of them.

I'm a bit younger, but you can still be competitive in your early thirties. No doubt. When I was in undergrad, I met a number of (pre-med) post-bacc students who were in the 28-32 age bracket (one was ~40), and many of them were accepted to good med schools. I also know a 1st year b-school student who is 31-32. It's not nearly as uncommon as you think. Don't worry about it, and just forge ahead. Experience can also tip in your favor.