[What do you keep in your office space?]

What essential items are on or in your desk? How about food? Do you decorate your space?

[Favorite quick meals]

Spaghetti.

[Geography Dissertation Ideas]

....Do you not have an adviser?

[Took my first ever GRE, where do you think I stand?]

Temp/seasonal jobs are frequently posted on USAjobs.gov (put USFS and NPS in your search parameters). The other way to get this experience is assisting graduate students with their projects. I don't know anything about switching fields from undergrad, so I would recommend asking actual faculty from forestry departments. Call them up on the phone or email them and describe your situation, tell them you're passionate about entering forestry, and ask them what they would recommend for your situation. Good luck!

[Took my first ever GRE, where do you think I stand?]

Your scores look pretty good for forestry and your high in-major GPA will help. One thing you should be aware of is that in the natural resources fields, forestry included, field experience carries a lot of weight. If you are planning to move to the US before the due date for your applications, you should definitely look into temporary/seasonal field positions. Anybody can be smart but this type of experience shows that you can actually go out and do the work, which is critical not only for getting into a good program but also for getting a job when you finish. As for your list, try checking out University of Vermont as well.

[Sending GRE Scores Before Starting Application]

You can send them right when you take them, regardless of whether you've sent an application yet. This is the norm.

[I feel like a little kid waiting for first day of school]

I moved to the new city, I finished un-packing, I registered for classes....and now I'm counting down the days until school starts, like a 7-year-old, because I'm so excited about getting the ball rolling on classes and research (and meeting my cohort). Is anyone else like this?

[Easy or Hard Major for Grad School Applications?]

My high school math teacher told me, "It doesn't matter where you go to college. It matters where you go to graduate school." Besides, it's not like nobody's ever heard of ECU. I'd go for the actual classroom degree any day.

[Signing emails with "Best"]

My reaction is always, "Best what?"

[Studying Social Movements: Political Science or Sociology?]

Sociology.

[BU vs Cal vs UCSB for Geography/ES PhD]

My kneejerk reaction when I see Geography at UCSB is sort of like the kneejerk reaction when people see Harvard Law. They are such an awesome program with a very exciting "look-at-all-this-fun-cutting-edge-research-we're-doing" atmosphere, in a beautiful location, and a very safe bet if you're leaning towards academia. You see a lot of professors come out of there, which usually means good student support. Even if it seems the professor is busy and doesn't have time for you, they are not going to let you flounder or struggle, because it's bad for their image. I will also add that a busy adviser is not necessarily a neglectful one. It may just mean they are productive, energetic, and probably well known with great connections...

One small caveat about Santa Barbara -- you will probably have to have roommates as the city's not a cheap place to live.

[Subliminal Impact of Visit Order]

The school I selected was my last visit, but they were my #1 choice through the entire process so it didn't make much difference.

[Syracuse vs. UCLA vs. NYU vs. Columbia]

If UCLA gives you money, it seems like they are an obvious choice with the combo of prestige and convenience.

[How the Admission Process Proceeds]

#1: Submitting my applications early made no difference (at my programs) on how quickly any decisions were made. However, I still recommend doing this because at the very least it allows you more time to correct discrepancies or problems that arise unexpectedly (such as a transcript getting lost in the mail or a LOR dropping off the face of the planet).

[What to wear -- Conference edition]

Heals: Are high heals expected of everyone that doesn't have a doctor's note, or can I get away with flats?

Frankly I think nice loafers look just as professional, if not more professional, and are more utilitarian. Why not be well dressed AND comfortable?

[Please help with decison/insights; I have known for a month and still cant decide!]

My main worry here is that I am going into a field in which I would have to master more techniques and that I would not be able to bring that work with me into an academic position. In addition, I am concerned that working with primates may limit me to only higher ranked schools and i am not certain that I want that lifestyle. With the type of techniques and subjects that they use, I believe that I would be too expensive for a lesser ranked school to hire me.

The topic you study in graduate school does not pigeonhole you. Don't think that you'll be expected to continue that line of research when you begin as a professor.

[How much studying did/do you do?]

I took my GRE in August and studied during June and July. I didn't have a specific schedule. The goal was to get through both the math and verbal workbooks (Kaplan) and the Powerprep practice tests before my test date. This worked out to doing about a chapter per day, but I took a lot of breaks in between days. I was very happy with my score and my studying was sufficient, but this varies quite a bit for different people.

[Duke or Cornell?]

I would argue that Duke certainly does have quite a ring of prestige to most ears. Quite a few non-Ivies have a wow-factor (Berkeley, Stanford, MIT) and I would count Duke among those, but it could be my impression is skewed because I'm from the south where the name is more familiar. Around here UVA, UNC Chapel Hill, and Duke are the door-openers. To get away from heavy conservative vibe, you can take a trip west to Asheville, but of course that's not the same as living in the city of your preferred political inclination (and like the above poster said you may be conservative in which case that's a non-issue). The climate is shitty, but only during the summer. So, if weather is important to you, then you basically have to decide between a difficult summer vs. a difficult winter.

Another thing, and I could be wrong, is that Cornell may have more $$$, connections, and resources for your field, what with being an original land-grant university (the only Ivy in that category) with a tradition of teaching and research in ag-sci and natural resources.

[Fun academia blogs?]

whatshouldwecallgradschool.tumblr.com

[Packing: The Final Frontier. Five things essential for gradstudent life?]

- Crockpot (makes cooking good food really easy)

I second this! Crockpot is a life saver. When you come home tired and feel too lazy cook anything, and then realize upon walking in the door that your stew/casserole/whatever you want is ready and waiting.

[How soon to start looking for and talking to potential advisors?]

Start investigating which programs are strong in your area now. Have a list put together by Fall semester. Send inquiries around September to get a better feel for them, to open a line of communication with potential professors, and maybe use that to narrow your list. Start drafting your personal statement some time over the summer and allow yourself ample time to revise it again and again through the course of the Fall semester as your interests become clearer.

[Am I being silly basing a decision off location/people?]

Very few rural areas in the U.S. nowadays are more than a 2 or 3 hour drive from a decent-sized city. If you start to feel culturally isolated (which may not happen, depending on which particular school you are looking at), an occasional trip to the closest metropolis can be refreshing.

[What is your stipend and how do you make it work?]

I definitely get a case of the jealousies when I see people's stipends that are triple mine.

[Talking it out with you guys; deciding between my 2 top choices]

I know most of these responses are about the baby issue, and the assumption that a parent wouldn't be around, but I'd be more concerned about your success in school with a 2-hour commute each way. A family member of mine has a commute like this for work and has been doing it for 2 years, but she is always tired, only gets to see her husband for a few hours in the evening before everyone crashes in bed because they're so exhausted, and she's gained significant weight from the combo of (1) sitting in a car for 4 hours a day, and (2) not being able to use that time for exercise. It's a miserable situation. I think anyone would be miserable.

[How important is major GPA, minor GPA, and overall GPA?]

In my experience major GPA is more important than gen eds. My major and minor GPAs were both much higher than my overall. It looks like your in-major GPA is excellent, and your overall isn't low enough to ruin your chances. UCSB is very competitive but there are a lot of very good schools where you could find a niche. Water resources is huge right now, as there's expected to be a a global water crisis within the next 15 years (a report on this was in the AAG bulletin last year). You could also try looking at San Diego State, U. Arizona, and Pennsylvania State (all very good), but don't let the competitiveness of places like UCSB discourage you from applying -- sometimes they are looking for a specific sort of applicant and it could be you.