Chai_latte

YES! Linear and Diff Eq are must-haves, IMO.

I'd like to add a different perspective. I came in as a master's student, and I'll probably switch to the PhD shortly. I realize that we're in different fields, but I knew going in that some departments might *strongly* favor PhD candidates. A few years ago, US News alerted incoming engineering MS candidates of that. They suggested that one really learn about the department's dynamics beforehand. One doesn't want to get saddled with an advisor who does not allot as much time and attention to his/her projects simply b/c (s)he'll leave in ~2yrs. Thankfully, that wasn't my experience, but this is not unheard of (in STEM). From here on out, don't mention your degree program. Grad student (or just your first name) should suffice. I followed you until you went into the class/clothing bit. If you're not getting as much "face time" b/c of your degree program, I doubt dress/money/region have anything to do with it. This is my third, and final, "leg" of education. I'm currently at a state school. My 1st and 2nd schools were elite liberal arts and Ivy League, respectively. We just wore normal clothes. Some people may have dressed more "professionally". Some people wore regular "student clothes". It didn't really matter. And it certainly didn't impact our interaction with professors (or each other). I hope your experience improves.

I know Duke and Dartmouth have pretty popular programs. Visit their respective sites. Stanford also has a variation of this, but I think they call it something else. There's a consortium of the most prestigious MEM programs. The site might be MEMPC.com or.org. Google and see.

Yeah, I've dealt with rolling admissions. The general rule is that you want to get your materials in as soon as possible. However, if you think that your new scores will markedly improve your application, you should take your chances and wait for the 2nd GRE. Good luck!

You're fine. Best of luck.

That does sound pretty sketchy. Apparently, graduate housing near the campus is awful. A friend of mine told me that the place was loaded with rats and that garbage was not picked up regularly. Hopefully, Beech Village will be better than that...so, you'll be better off. But, I agree with the previous poster. You should probably look into (non-campus) housing for the following year. Better yet, you should consider housing at Temple's Podiatry campus for next semester. It's smaller, but pretty comparable to Penn's grad housing. As for Penn, I've had friends who lived in their grad housing, and they were neutral/pleased w/ their time there.

From what I've seen/heard, the overwhelming majority of Bio programs have the 3.0 cut-off (when compared to other sci/tech/engr fields). You can still apply to the 3.0 schools and see what happens. Some places will definitely make exceptions for applicants with killer GRE scores and great recs. You might also consider related degree programs like the MPH. I don't think all of them have super-stringent GPA requirements. Oh, there's also http://gs.as.tufts.edu/academics/graduateprograms/biology.htm I don't think they have a cut-off, but call and ask.

Yes, only apply to schools that you like (or could at least make sense of). Application process anxiety led me to apply to 9 schools. In hindsight, I should've only applied to 5. The other 4 were absolute no-no's for me. The acceptance letters from the bad-fit schools were automatically ruled out. So, what was the point? I wasted energy/time and money applying to places that I would've been miserable attending. Make a comprehensive assessment of all the programs. You don't want to overlook any. Then, narrow down. Get rid of all bad-fits. As things stand now, you should really only apply to 7 places (the 4 good fits and the 3 OKs).

Yay!! That's excellent. Best of luck with your program

I think it can be kind of nice having a fellow, grad student roommate if you're settling into a brand new town/city without a significant other. It kind of helps ease the transition. But, I've always had relatively positive roommate experiences (both in undergrad and grad). I guess I'd sing a different tune if I had ever had a roommate from hell.

Just curious...when do you have to decide? Have you made a decision yet?

I would definitely take the GRE again. I don't think you can afford not to. Peabody has unusually high scores for a grad school of education. Their average GRE score was about a 1370 a few years back w/ an acceptance rate of 12%. You seem to have a good amount of experience under your belt (w/ great recs!) and a great graduate GPA. You don't want your scores to take away from that. At least shoot for a 1200. I've heard good things about the Manhattan Prep books and Magoosh (sp?).

First, I would find out about both programs' attrition. You don't want to enter a program (regardless of rank) that is flunking out students left and right. 20% sounds pretty high to me. But, don't go by what some guy in a different department says. Investigate this thoroughly. Talk to professors and students at both schools. You're right. Full-time work would be impossible, IMO. And with the sequester, money for M.S./M.S.E candidates is highly unlikely. So, you'll really have to think about your ROI. There's a huge difference in rank between Temple and Penn for bioengineering. If you plan on pursuing a PhD later on, you should bear that in mind. With that said, it's all about fit and where you will meet the most success. If one program has more accessible/better profs, more interesting research or a better environment for you, you should choose that school...regardless of rank or cost.

Exactly! A few places lost different parts of my application. It is really quite ridiculous. You really have to follow up with these places.

Well, the med school thing is more than a notion, and I'm not talking about the low acceptance rates. You have to be passionate about it. If not, it's a waste (IMO) b/c of the extraordinary amount of time/money/effort required. Now, if you discover that you have a latent passion for it, then go. But, if it is just a plan B... Initially, you picked research for a reason. Remember what drew you to it in the first place. If research was/is your passion, don't abandon it b/c of an academic speed bump. Maybe a smaller lab with a very supportive advisor is the elixir. Meeting success (in said lab) might trump the "blah-ness" of the project. With that said, I think it's a little premature to write off all the other research in the department. Talk to students. Find out who the (very) supportive profs are. Talk to these profs. Get the fine details about their respective projects. Maybe there are some skills/techniques that you'd learn in one of these labs that can be cross applied to your area of interest. You have this grant; try out a new lab for a year. If you're bored to tears, then you can leave. But, I wouldn't bail until I had explored all possible options within the department.

If I remember correctly, isn't your advisor/research in another department? As a result, I'm assuming that some of your coursework has been outside of your department/comfort zone, as well. If so, can you make the case that changing labs (and courses) might fix things? The NSF stipend should help, too. And, as the other two said, please speak with your advisor immediately. Best of luck.

Price wise, I think you'll be hard-pressed to find that in center city. You'd have a better shot at University City. I'm car-free, so I don't really know what the parking situation is like in UC, but it doesn't seem as tight as CC's.

What's the price? I'm thinking of taking the GRE again for a different grad program (apparently, percentiles from the old version are much lower now that they're compared to the revised test's).

I think you'll be fine. I did p-chem research in undergrad and biochem after college. I'm inorganic now.

1. You drop out. 2. It depends on the school and on the program. Some schools/departments will penalize you if you attempt to leave before getting the doctoral degree. Some don't. If you enroll in a school that only offers the PhD, the expectation is that that's the degree you desire. It is considered dishonest to enroll in a PhD program with the express purpose of dropping out and getting a "free"/funded MS. That aside, a number of people find that research isn't their thing. Maybe they like another field or perhaps they want to get into the workforce etc. Advisors/departments/schools know and understand this. So, a person won't necessarily be blacklisted for leaving a program. Oh, the other way one gets an MS from a PhD granting institution is if the school automatically gives students the MS "along the way". That means that after maybe 2.5-3 years in a program (if the student is in good standing), it'll give him the MS as he progresses through his PhD.

I completely agree. I needed that time off to cement my goals/area of interest. Like the previous poster, I didn't do a ton of university visits. I'd say that was the only thing that differed. I had a mix of recommendations. One was from work, the other was from a related course I had taken as a post-baccalaureate and the other two were from college. Thankfully, I had kept up with my two college professors. So, there was no refresher necessary. But, when my post-bacc. prof began flaking out on submitting/writing the rec., I did panic b/c I was worried about getting a third LOR from college. At that point, my UG research advisor stepped in an said that she could speak to anyone from the department on my behalf for that final LOR. Thankfully, I didn't need that, BUT if getting LORs is a little awkward, you can always lean a little more heavily on a prof. who definitely does remember you (and let him/her work some intra-departmental magic). In hindsight, I don't have any regrets. Each year off was productive and truly necessary.

The people I know lived on campus. I think that's a good option, particularly if you're international (or from another region of this country).

One of the schools I applied to tried to pull a number like that. After contacting the department ~4x, I went all out and called the director of graduate admissions (or studies?). I think ignoring an applicant is just rude. Needless to say, after I told administration on them, I got a response that evening. It was a rejection, of course...plus an apology (apparently it was an unofficial waitlist thing with me as well).

I can't speak to French specifically, but I'll say this. Tufts has a solid graduate reputation. Not phenomenal (with the exception of Fletcher), but solid. If your goal is the PhD, I say save money and go to the place that offers you funding. If you plan to take out loans for 1 year at Tufts, bear this in mind: you'll need more than 25K. That's tuition. You'll need loans to eat and sleep. Then we're talking ~45K. Guess what? Staffords only give you ~20K per annum. So, you're looking at ~25K in private loans for a 1 year masters. No thanks (IMO). Their program would be more "student loan-friendly" if they spread the 25K over a 2 year curriculum.

You might want to swing by the Philadelphia, PA thread.