Crucial BBQ

Well, sure. You are correct. Keep in mind this info is for matriculated students who have accepted the offers. If you look up the numbers for offers of admission, you will see they are considerably higher in terms of percentage. In the years that I cited, and in terms of percentages, UCLA extended a higher percentage of offers of admissions to International applicants. I apologize for the confusion. Here is info for 2011: https://www.admissions.ucla.edu/prospect/Adm_fr/Frosh_Prof11.htm With the high levels of stress that are surely floating around as we wait in anticipation, it seems like many of us are getting cranky. How about we all take a moment to look at pictures of fluffy orange kittens?

I am wondering with the varying conversations going on in this thread if you have me confused with someone else? I have no idea where I stand with my programs at this point in time. Some are still in the process of reviewing applications and others are not going to begin the process until after Feb. 1. I don't know where you got the idea that I am fussing over decisions.

The number of Asian/American students in the entire UC system is more than twice their percentage in overall California population. All UCs and CSUs heavily favor California residents first and and foremost, with UCB recently increasing non-resident admits and UCLA recently increasing California-resident admits. At UCLA, the total number of Asians who are California residents is ~40%. The total number of California Whites at UCLA is near 26%. So, there lies the confusion. They are Americans students, not International students. Also, in 2010, 2011, and 2012 UCLA accepted more International students than Domestic.

Results are only helpful if you apply to the typical gamut of schools and programs. The program that waitlisted me last year only has one item in Results, and that is the one I submitted. Another program I am reapplying to, a flagship state research university, only has one entry for my program, and that is from 2012. Another school only has one entry, too, from 2009; there are only four entries for the entire university. Another program at one of the top UCs does not show up in the entire Results history. One of my programs does not do interviews, but brings admitted students to the campus. Three of my programs are Master's, they don't interview as far as I know. To top it off, six of my programs have app due dates that have yet to pass: EEB, marine science, and a few others have later app due dates from the rest of the Biology/BioMed/Neuro programs. A lot of people seem to be under the impression that no interview means no admittance. Sure, if you run the gamut of typical programs you can probably get an accurate idea of this being true or not. The difference for me was that the official decision gave closure. There was no more wondering if I were being waitlisted, last in line, a mistake, and so on.

Yeah, I know. I went through this process last year. In many ways it is better to receive a rejection ASAP. It is easier to get past it and move on. I recieved my last two rejections late in the game: one at the end of March and one April 13. Talk about torture.

One would think it would be that easy. There is still the chain of command, though. Besides, if grad programs sent out rejection letters immediately it would suggest to those who did not receive one (yet) that they are in the "yes" pile, which may not necessarily be true.

Yes, publications look very good on the application. With more-and-more applicants to grad programs (and a lessening acceptance rate) this is why it is something that is most likely to become more prominent in the future. As for research, there are many opportunities for students. There is of course on-campus research and also REUs, (summer) internships both on and off campus, off-campus jobs, senior projects, research-related courses, and so on. At my first university, I ended up working for a PI in the Chemistry Department. This was a paid position that I applied to. It continues to baffle me to this day how I got the job and, say, not a senior chemistry student, by the way, but I did. This school was not a research university but keep in mind that professors are Ph.Ds. As such, they were trained to do research. It's almost all they know how to do. Just because it was not a research university did not mean that research was not being done. I know for a fact that the PI published with the data I collected and the technique I developed (I googled the PIs name a few months and came across the paper). The same was true at my second university. This time I took a research course for credit, twice. This was real-deal research with on-going projects, one of which stands to make the PI famous if he publishes first. In both instances the PI only took on two students per semester. Some PIs only took on one student. Even though these were for credit, they still required an application (mainly consisting of an essay describing why I, out of all students, deserved the spot). The grades came from papers and public presentations. In retrospect I probably could have published the first paper, but it did not occur to me to do so at the time. There were those in my cohort who participated in REUs all over the place: Alaska, Hawaii, Chile, on campus, Top 20 schools, and so on. I never bothered with them because I assumed my GPA to be too low to have been competitive. So that is how I got my two years of research experience. I also completed a senior project. It's on my CV but not discussed in my SOP because there was no true PI involved, only a director of sorts. Its on my CV because it led to a ~30 page paper and public presentation (PowerPoint). I also have roughly two more years of experience from my time spent at a community college. I mention these experiences in my SOP because they are what really planted the grad-school seed in me, but they were more-or-less investigations or me tagging along as a tech. In addition, I also have roughly seven years worth total experience between volunteer work (almost directly related to my intentions in grad school) and with being employed as a lab tech.

Not all programs handle applications the same but it seems more typical for the applications to be handled by the program director directly or the by the "grad school" prior to being sent to adcomms. Adcomms then send their decisions back to the program director's office, who in turn either sends out the actual news, or forwards the decision to the "grad school" to send out. I seriously doubt anyone on the adcomm actually deals with calls, emails, and questions sent to the "office". That is what the program director and admissions offices are for.

Couldn't you just walk over to that department and ask point-blank? Not being snarky here, but seriously, you are on the same campus.

Uh, wouldn't you be among the first to know?

I am not sure internationally, but in terms of U.S. universities the "diversity statement" is a way for them to legally ask a question that is otherwise illegal for them to do so (are you LGBT, married, have children, Catholic, Muslim, poor, left-handed, etc.). It is illegal for them to ask, but not illegal for them to accept voluntarily-reported answers. I do not want to suggest they are collecting information for nefarious reasons, most likely the opposite, but just something to think about. If it truly is a part of who you are then speak loud and proud. @missmend: If your grades were "still good", you graduated with honors, and it is now under control, why mention it? Can you say that you began to work full time, and that caused the Ws?

I recently emailed every grad student in one of selected programs a series of questions. Some 40 students in total. Out of that number roughly 30 responded within 24 hours. So my most recent surprise is just how helpful current grad students really are. Great insights for sure. To be frank, this is more of a recent development and to my knowledge not one grad program excepts an undergrad to publish. I read a blog post over the summer relating to the current drop-out rate of Ph.D. students. The author wrote that when he attended UC Berkeley in the 1960s he was joined by 100 or so other students in his same, niche, program. That is nuts by todays standards! According to him he was only one of five students who actually made it through to the end. The reason why the program admitted so many students to begin with was because back then undergraduate research was relatively unheard of and it was assumed that most who drop out do so because they cannot hack it as a researcher, and as such, it was necessary to admit ~100 just to pop out ~5 graduates. His reason for the post was that students drop out for a variety of reasons, fyi. My reason for mentioning this is that Ph.D. programs only began looking at undergraduate research experience perhaps maybe 20 or so years ago. As usual, the applicant pool dictates what the base-line becomes and what is considered "normal" of a typical applicant. Twenty years from now published undergrads might be more common, unfortunately, which will most likely--as with it all--begin with a few students attempting to pad their applications with a legs-up-on-you approach.

...I also lived in Minneapolis, which is definitely a progressive city for sure. St. Paul is more Conservative, though.

I am from Sacramento and have spent a lot of time in Davis. Davis itself only exists because of the university and Davis in general is very hippy-dippy. It is not as Liberal as say SF, Berkeley, or Oakland are, but it definitely falls into the more-Liberal side of the fence. To say that it is a Conservative place is laughable but there is a decent-sized Conservative base (the cost of living in Davis is higher than both the California and National averages but crime is far below both the California and National indexes. Because of the university home prices will always remain high. Because of both (crime and housing), Davis is attractive to Conservatives who would otherwise live in Sacramento). Davis is tied into the larger farming community in the area (hence the mascot and emphasis on agricultural sciences) which does have a tendency to lean more Conservative, too. Sacramento, in particular Midtown/"The Grid" is very much GLBT friendly, too. I lived in JP when I went to school in Boston. The area was definitely LBGT friendly when I was living there. The student population was growing fast, but so was the Hispanic population in the neighborhood. My roommate in JP was/is gay and I have been to P-Town with him on a few occasions. It is definitely the gay/lesbian destination on the East Coast (and Verizon is pretty much the only cell provider with towers that far up the Cape).

Keep in mind that not being invited to interview does not necessarily mean an automatic rejection. It could mean that your application is, or will be, waitlisted, among others.

Considering that, depending on the program, you are one of a handful that is being interviewed by a single PI, and where only a few, if one, will be offered admission, yes, it can be a KOD. Please note that I am not saying it would be a definite KOD. All thank-you notes are appreciated and there really is no such thing as a well-written thank-you note; only sincere thank-you notes and those that are less-than-sincere. A few things to keep in mind: the whole point of the thank-you note is to show gratitude, to show that you are mindful of the situation, mindful of the other person, and are grateful for having had the opportunity for the experience even if it were a royal pain in the behind. I am not sure about the biomedical sciences, to my knowledge those who sit on admissions committees do so voluntarily. Perhaps it is their way of performing "service", I dunno. The program, out of all applicants, chose to extend an interview invite to you. They did not have to do that, but they did. Your thank-you note is to show sincere gratitude that out of all you were selected. And nothing more. Outside of mannerisms going to the wayside, it seems a lot of confusion is coming from Google. I suspect that many are googling "post interview thank-you note example", where the examples are more for the business world, and to add, a combination thank-you note and follow-up letter. Not exactly appropriate for the post grad school interview. For one, in the business world you are more-or-less peers to those who are hiring you. In grad school, you are not. Being chummy or too personal in your thank-you may work in a business environment, but not academia. At least not until you truly are one of them. As I wrote previously it is okay to restate your interest in the program as long as you are not pushy, desperate, or brown-nosing. If you can include aspects of the interview with sincerity, then go for it. Whether you are aware of it or not, manners are how we relate to other people and in reality an extension of ourselves. If you come across as pushy, desperate, or brown-nosing in your thank-you note (or follow-up email) that is how the PI is going to think of you--even if that was not your intention or of your true personality. That is where the potential KOD lies. tl:dr There is an understanding in the Military: you salute the rank, not the person. The thank-you note is to sincerely show gratitude for the opportunity to have interviewed, not to "get one up" on the competition or brown-nose the PI. In terms of etiquette, yes, you would send a thank-you note to all who were involved (coordinator, tour guide, any who hosted dinner, happy hour, etc.).

Considering that in previous years the blogs were already open by December, and that for many (most?) of us our admissions journeys are somewhere between more-than-halfway-complete and the waiting game, I am going to assume there will be no blogs this year?

I would be careful with this. The reason of a thank-you note is to show sincerity, with the main point being to say thank you. It is okay to reiterate your interests in the program. It is also okay to thank the prof/PI for their insights into the program. However, a thank-you note is not the place to remind the prof/PI about how cool their own research is. Any hint of brown-nosing could become your kiss of death. You want to sound sincere, not desperate. *edit The word awesome should not appear anywhere in the note.

It's normal in the real world.

Out of curiosity, what is with the assumed rejections (in the sigs)? I have noticed this from other posters, too (non-bio). Is this because you were not invited to interview?

Based solely on what you wrote, I would begin to second guess this PI/lab/program if I had received an email such as this. For starters, what does the PI expect to hear? Oh, yeah, now that you ask I suppose I have stronger interests in my other programs. I am sorry to have wasted your time. Perhaps this PI is just trying to vet out those who changed their minds or never fully researched the program in the first place, who knows. The intentions could very well be benign, but seems as if the PI is asking you to bark like a dog and beg for the position. The question is egotistical, immature, and to be frank, none of the PIs business. You applied to the program. To the PI that should indicate interest enough. So if I had received this email I would respond with something similar to what GeoDUDE! suggests.

Nice references to The Beatle's. Here is a start: Two years spent in the engineering research and development lab of a major pharmaceutical performing rapid-prototyping of a new manufacturing process has given me new research and team development skills, but also a yearning to return to the theoretical roots of my discipline. Motivating me in this decision is a desire to work on larger societal problems, and I would like to couple my research of optimization through multi-scale modeling into improving renewable energy systems. Designing a double-pipe heat exchanger experiment for Professors Ono and Lennon was my first taste of controls and systems modeling. After writing the control and data acquisition interface for operating the experiment in LabView, I developed a first principles model in Matlab and Simulink. Though my initial models failed to characterize changes in the system, it taught me how to hunt for deficiencies in the model. Model discrepancies led me to new sources of knowledge to continue improvement; each iteration revealed one more discrepancy, and each discrepancy to another detailed nuance of how the system should be characterized. My research interest lies in process characterization from the atomic level and upwards to understand the chemical interactions within renewable energy systems. This includes optimizing the computational performance to increase achievable analyte quantities and level of detail at each scale of the model. In addition to my chemical engineering bachelor’s degree, I received a minor in the field in which I started my bachelor’s studies: computer science. Though my GPA suffered some initial turbulence as I switched into the engineering school, I made the Term Honor List in my final four semesters and received A’s in several core courses including “Process Design,” involving a comprehensive combination of the skills learned during the curriculum led by Professor Starr. I am currently contracted through Company, Inc. as the automation engineer for a major pharmaceutical's engineering research and development lab to develop a new manufacturing process involving electrical welding. The position has been a combination of rapidly implementing new technologies within the manufacturing system and understanding a new discipline, electrical engineering, from a fundamental level. In addition to designing the control system, and out of a gained trust from the team, I have designed several experiments for characterizing the thermal properties of our product during and after the welding process. I developed a custom data acquisition and statistical analysis program in C# which enabled communication between a third-party electrical power meter, the system's PLC, and our SQL database. The program implemented a meter interface, giving the lab the capability of switching between several meter vendors quickly. This program provided the lab with the fundamental processing information which went on to inform the design of our experiments and product quality. Univ became my first choice for pursuing a master’s degree due to the research of Professors Steve Harrison and Jacob McCartney. Professor Harrison’s group methodology of a ‘ground-up’ approach to solving environmental sustainability and renewable energy matches almost exactly with my research interests (in what ways?). At the same time, my research could equally find a home within Professor McCartney’s group due to his breadth and depth of experience in process modeling and simulation (you are saying that McCartney's expertise matches your own. Don't do this!). Additionally, I am interested in working with both the Renewable Energy Center and the Simulation Center.

MY GPA and GRE scores suck. They are not just low, they are downright lame (well, according to what I see here on GC and other sites). I have resigned to the probability that I will most likely have to do a Master's first before Ph.D. With that, and the concerns that come along with doing a Master's (that is, funding), I have contacted every single program I am applying to or had hoped to apply to. I have spoken with program directors, department chairs, or both. Some of these conversations where in-person, the rest, over the phone. What I gathered in terms of funding (one of the Master's programs is funded, btw) is that my mentor/advisor, the grad program, or the "grad school" could help me land an on campus job (TA, RA, program director's office, and so on) that would cover the costs of tuition and would give me one year to source other fundings. Of course it is not a guarantee, just an available resource. The other option for me would be for me to spend a year or so taking more courses to either boost my GPA or "prove" I have the chops for grad school (in terms of Ph.D. programs) and retake the GRE. I don't want to do that so I am gun-ho for a Master's. A third option, and one that has been suggested to me from a few of my programs, would be to spend a year or two working in the field or interning. My area of interests are rather narrow, limiting where I could gain "lab" experience let alone intern. The few opportunities available where I live are absolutely swamped with applications because there are only so few available. To add, many students interested in everything from ecology to marine sciences to atmospheric sciences to statistics to chemistry to... apply for these positions; and many (most?) have top GPAs. You are in a better position in that you do not require specific geographical locations to acquire experiences. Having a BS in microbiology can allow you to find work or internships pretty much anywhere in the country. If you are feeling iffy about the Master's program you can [more easily than I] get a tech job or internship in a micro lab, work for two years or so, and retake the GRE. You would be a lot more competitive with your second round of apps this way. On the flip-side your Master's program would be near complete by this time, which could shave a year or two from the Ph.D. program depending on the program. Your Master's degree could also help make your Ph.D. application more competitive. Only you know for sure what you want to do with your life, and to be frank, if the Master's program would be worth it not. Here is another way to look at it: going into debt for something that will increase your earning potential for the rest of your life despite repaying the loan, or, going into debt for a new car that begins depreciation the second you drive off the lot, requires full insurance coverage (not just the State min), and will eventually become *useless*. To each their own. *I used the new car example because most Americans have an idea that there are good debt (mortgage) and bad debt (credit cards). Thanks to sensational media coverages over the last few years, student loan debt now falls into the bad debt category for most while car loan debt is somehow considered to be good debt.

Off topic: I find "EEB" to be a humorous term. Every time I come across EEB it plays out in my head eeeeeeeeeb! eeeeeeeeeb! as if a child were on a sled barreling down a hill: wheeeeee! Or perhaps eek! as the meh for positive excitement. Eeb! That is awesome! Yes, I am that dorky. Good luck to those with invites so far and to the rest, I am sure they will come in. Shadowclaw; lame on the rejections.

I wrote about this last year: One of the programs I applied to last year is also my GFs alma mater. This school periodically sends her mail, sometimes in large envelopes. I almost lost it when I checked the mail one day and saw one of those large envelopes in there. Then I realized it was not addressed to me. Another program periodically sent me emails....just to tell me that I should log into my account for no other reason than to remind that I can. For what it is worth, I got one decision directly in an email; sent directly from the program director. The rest of the emails only mentioned that a decision had been made and that I am to log on to retrieve it. The subject line nor the contents of the email gave any indication either way. I believe this is just so you and/or the program can track your application/information. Not sure about your programs but with a few of my applications the student ID # is what I use to log into my account to check the status of my application.