nesw4314

Well, it's not like this is Salisbury Steak University or something, it's Berkeley -- people from around the world apply here and choose it over places like Harvard, Princeton, Yale, etc. depending on the field of study. They didn't say you weren't qualified, but it doesn't mean others weren't qualified either. I'm a PhD student at Berkeley and honestly the systems are different in admission for different programs. In my program, only certain professors can accept certain students in their lab on certain years to give others a chance to have students. If this is not the system in the program to which you applied then it could be that the professor didn't go to bat for you. If he's a well-respected professor, and I assume he is given that you don't seem the type to work with anything less than that given your egotistical ways, then he could have gotten you accepted if he wanted to, even without him being on the admissions committee. He probably just didn't think you were a good fit or didn't want to fund an international student knowing that you can't apply for the NSF GRF or other fellowships only available to U.S. citizens. I never get why people want to ask what their weaknesses were in their applications. For God sake, someone has to get rejected. If there are only 10 spots and 80 people apply, and 60 are very qualified, do you really think they have a good reason?

I am in my first year of a STEM field PhD program at Berkeley. Everything is really dependent on three primary factors: 1) research experience, 2) fit with PI, and 3) available funding. We can't give you a statistic really.....

It sounds as if you don't need a Ph.D. based on your entrepreneurial savvy. A Ph.D. is a research-based degree and based on the brief description of your business it doesn't sound as if a Ph.D. degree is necessary. Why do you think you'd like to work on your Ph.D.? I would continue with the business degree because if at the end of the day your caregiver business doesn't work out you at least will have gained skills necessary to run another business that may or may not be completely unrelated to this one. You may decide to go work in banking, marketing, etc. However, if you get the social worker degree then you're pretty limited to just social work. I suppose the real question is do you want to be a business owner of the caregiver business or the actual person communicating with the senior citizens on a day to day basis as a social worker? That will help you answer your question as to which degree you should get between business and social work. If you decide you would like to pursue a Ph.D., though based on the information provided I'm not sure why you would, then you will have to identify and apply to schools that offer a Ph.D. in the discipline you're interested in studying at an in depth level for four to six years. You will have to acquire recommendations from people who can write well of you to admissions committees. Ultimately, admissions committees for Ph.D. programs accept people who they think have the potential to do good research and become scholars. I will say upfront that unless you want to go into academia (i.e., become a professor) or do consulting for a company in industry, I'm not sure what a Ph.D. in social work would do for you, especially as it pertains to your business. You also need to ask yourself if you'd even be able to handle pursuing the Ph.D. while running a business. Can the Ph.D. be completed online? How would you pay for the Ph.D.? Does the program offer money to admitted students or would you have to take out loans or use personal money? Based off what I've read I don't think you need a Ph.D. I think you should continue with the business degree or social work degree, depending on your career goals, and potentially pursue an MBA after the initial degree.

To the poster above, changing careers is just not in my blood. I am strongly against changing careers. I believe one goes to college and then graduate school to receive training for a specific career path and any deviation from that career will have been a waste of degrees. I absolutely couldn't entertain the possibility of having to change careers. Also, I potentially want to be a professor, not necessarily at a major university. In order to do that I need a Ph.D. Also, even if I don't go into academia I could see myself serving as a research scientist for the US Department of Agriculture (I'm in a bio-agricultural science field), which also requires a Ph.D. I absolutely hate my current job and I just don't see how it makes sense to decide at 24 that I'm going to choose to stay at a job for the rest of my life (because as I said, I'm in a small field where you need a PhD to do most things). Because I'm in a small field there's no getting back in a PhD program later if I don't do it now because everyone knows everyone......It's now or never, not now or later. Finally, I never said I dislike research, in response to a previous poster -- not to the poster immediately above this post. I said that I dislike my current job where I do research. I don't choose my research projects. I don't call any shots really. Not to mention, the culture itself just sucks. However, such a statement in no way implies that I dislike research in my field of study, it just means I don't like the research I'm currently doing for this company where I have little authority.

Hello, I'm going to keep it short and concise and not write a bunch of drama. Basically, I'm in a Ph.D program at Berkeley (fellowship for five years) and working full time at a company. It's hell trying to do both (I had to find out for myself first) and now I need to choose one. Which option to choose? Basic facts: married, 3 month old daughter, lots of bills that need to be paid down, school loans, high standard of living. Option 1: Do the Ph.D. I absolutely am in love with the thought of pursuing a Ph.D. and thereafter obtaining it. I may or may not need it for the type of career I want because I could see myself working in several different capacities but I'd like to have it just in case. Concern: giving up my current salary, living like a poor person and feeling guilty about making my wife quit her job. Option 2: Keep my job I am making a lot of money at my current job (nearly six figures) but I hate it. However, it's in an area my wife and I both have fallen in love with, it's where our daughter was born this past summer, we have a church here we've recently joined, and we love our daughter's daycare here. Concern: something bad happening that results in me getting let go (e.g., a Ph.D. taking my spot somewhere down the line) and then getting stuck in a lab tech position because I wouldn't have a Ph.D. Please help.....

University of Rochester is not more well known than the University of Florida. UF is one of the largest universities in the country. The alumni network is phenomenal. Their endowments are both between 1.3 and 1.6 billion. U Rochester is only famous primarily because of it's world renowned Eastman School of Music, one of the leading music conservatories in the country and world.

I currently attend an Ivy League school for my research-based Master's degree (headed to Berkeley in the Fall for my PhD) and I agree with the others, Ivy League schools aren't any more difficult than other universities (I attended a popular public university for undergrad). The intellect and drive of students that attend this institution are varied immensely. Many students are here as transfers, which tend to be made up in large part of students that weren't good enough to get in straight out of high school. Many are here because they and their parents know the right people and have the right kind of money. And some are here by merit. From the graduate student point of view no school should be too difficult for you as you presumably should be prepared to undertake the most advanced study in your chosen field of interest without possessing fear. Your interest for this specialized field of study should outweigh any potential fear you would have. When I first began graduate school I was nervous, not at the fact that I would be attending an Ivy League school, which doesn't mean anything at the graduate level, but because I had never experienced graduate school before, simply. P.S. - I am currently TA'ing a course and a student took failed to turn in a midterm exam -- take-home style (yes, these exist even at Ivy League Schools). In fact, the instructors were okay with her handing in the exam to me as far out as two weeks beyond the deadline. Her excuse was that she's "been very busy and stressed and just haven't had time to do it." I would have gotten an F on this midterm at my "lower-level" public university if I had tried something like this, no questions asked. My point is that Ivy League schools aren't all that more difficult, if at all; they are simply difficult to gain admission to.

Go to UNC Anthropology. Most prestigious. You can study American behavioral phenomena in that program.

You've made the right decision.

Don't consider trivial things, of course you should go to Florida -- I did my undergrad there as well and my wife did her undergrad at Florida State. We lasted all of those four years (we weren't married at the time) between 2008 - 2012, and got married the year she graduated, 2012 (I was a year ahead of her). If you're in a serious relationship it will work out. After I graduated from UF in 2011 I moved to Ithaca, NY for graduate school while she finished her senior year at FSU. During that entire year we planned our wedding and talked everyday. Then again, our relationship had always been long distance really, as we didnt start dating until my senior year of high school, her junior year.

UCLA is an overall more prestigious institution, but UCSD clearly trumps the former for biomedical sciences. Los Angeles and San Diego are only two hours apart. Go to UCSD and if you and your girlfriend are serious enough then it will work out. My wife (then girlfriend) and I went to separate undergraduate institutions that were 3.5 hours apart in the same state and we obviously lasted through those four years. We aren't old, by the way (I'm 23 and she is 22 -- we graduated in 2011 and 2012 respectively, and got married the year she graduated). We think the long distance actually made our relationship stronger because it tested and showed us how committed we actually were to each other. Go to UCSD.

Hello, Johns Hopkins' graduate program in Electrical Engineering is ranked number 19 in the county (out of 122 programs). That is hardly a bad spot on a ranking list when taking into account that number of programs being ranked. Additionally, Johns Hopkins in general is a very prestigious institution, and to an extent the overall name of an institution opens up doors, regardless of your major field of study. However, I am a bit confounded by your mentioning of a one year stipend + tuition remission. A PhD program takes longer than one year to complete thus, where will the rest of your funding come from? If JH is not providing you additional support then I would try to go ahead and get or continue working a job in industry -- the cost of footing the bill yourself may not be worth it. However, if they will be providing additional funding or you can afford to foot the bill then I would say to definitely pursue your PhD in Electrical Engineering at Johns Hopkins. You are in your late twenties meaning you are at an age where you would still fit in with the other students who will be in your program/cohort, yet at an age where you cannot afford to put off the PhD any longer if you want to actually move up in your career in the next few years and have enough time thereafter to actually spend in that position before retiring. The way admissions have been going in recent years with an increase in the number of students applying to graduate programs, it would be highly unwise of you to turn this offer down. But, of course, you know your qualifications better than anyone else. However, one year is a long time to wait to see if you can get into an even better program than the excellent one you've already been offered admission to. Enjoy your time at Johns Hopkins.

Consider also that you can have a faculty member from UCSB be on your committee as an external member -- you get the best of both worlds. This may be a bit awkward asking your POI at UCSB to serve on your committee externally while you're a student at a school that you chose over UCSB, but just explain that the only factor is the funding. This should be reasonable because 1) he should very well understand that funding is very important and 2) this may even cause him to consider you for additional funding if he hears that you gained admission to Berkeley. Then, and only then, would I say consider UCSB, and only if they are offering you funding at a level that is at least equal to what Berkeley is offering. See what happens. Please understand, though, that oftentimes funding offers are not completely up to POI's. If a POI wants you and has the money he/she wouldn't try cheating you out of funding, so this tells me the person at UCSB doesn't have funding for you to exceed 2 years which means he would have to convince the department to give you more money. They have no reason to do so as you wouldn't be the student of anyone else on the admissions committee. Why help you over their own students they've just admitted? I know it is possible for you to have external faculty members because I am also an incoming PhD student to Berkeley's ESPM program, and I remember being told this.

You don't know this for a fact. If you make satisfactory progress you will be qualified to continue getting the funding that they have guaranteed you.

Sounds like you found a great program! Everyone's experiences are definitely different! The program at Berkeley has entomology coursework (it used to have an entomology department but it got merged into a larger department) so that won't be a problem for me, though there really aren't any insect-related courses I need to take at this point because I've completed them all at the BS and MS levels Glad to see another entomologist!

Go to UC Berkeley. It's most prestigious. The resources are amazing. The ESPM department is very strong. While UCSB is amazing, funding does matter and don't listen to these people who tell you not to consider the fact that you only got 2 years of funding from a school. Basically, they don't care about you any more than they do a student in a Master's program (2 years typically). If you were guaranteed 2 years of funding then that's just what it means.....2 years of funding, and anything after that will potentially be on your own dime/loans. Why put yourself in a position where you will have to stress? It'd be one thing if this were a school nationally known for most of it's departments (like Berkeley) but it's not.....though it's still well known for geography. Prestige matters very much, especially if you are considering industry. You aren't sure that you will go into industry, but it's a possibility. If you know 100% for sure you'd like to go into academia then consider UCSB, but Berkeley's prestige is unprecedented to both BU and UCSB. Be very cautious of people who tell you not to consider prestige. They are like 1) people who couldn't get into prestigious programs and/or 2) people who weren't happy with their funding at these prestigious schools, and so they don't want others to attend these schools either. Think about how the following statements would sound to the general public: 1. I have a PhD from BU 2. I have a PhD from UC Berkeley 3. I have a PhD from UCSB Don't make a mistake. The rankings of a program can fall at any moment, but Berkeley will always be Berkeley and most of it's programs will always be at the top.

Hi, I'm in Entomology as well! My top choice did not change. From the beginning I knew I wanted to study a specific aspect of entomology, and a lab at UC Berkeley was a perfect fit for it. Though UC Berkeley does not have an actual entomology program it has entomology faculty members and an entomology museum within the ESPM Department. This was my top choice, even over schools with actual entomology departments. I am currently a Master's student in an actual entomology department now (and I did my Bachelor's in an entomology department as well -- different school) and I've learned that it's not a good thing being in a small department. Everyone knows too much about both your personal and academic life. In other words, the fact that I already knew these small entomology departments would offer an unfavorable environment for me (based on previous and current experience in such departments) prevented me from considering any of them a top choice over this larger program at Berkeley. I am glad to be making the transition to a much larger department where I can still study what I want. Good luck to you though!

Applied (0/5): UC Berkeley, UCLA, UC Riverside, UW Madison, Texas A&M Rejected (1/5): UC Riverside Interview (3/5): UCLA, UW Madison, Texas A&M Accepted (4/5): UC Berkeley (Chancellor's Fellowship), UCLA (Cota-Robles Fellowship, Graduate Dean Scholars Award), UW Madison (SciMed Advanced Opportunity Fellowship), Texas A&M (Graduate Merit Fellowship) Attending: UC Berkeley - Environmental Science, Policy, and Management PhD

I was in the same position as you two years ago when I had to decide between a PhD offer from Penn State and an MS offer from Cornell, both fully funded. While I was very close to choosing Penn State I went with my gut feeling and went to Cornell for my MS. I am finishing up in May and will be attending UC Berkeley for my PhD on a distinguished fellowship, a much better school than Penn State. In this MS program I have been able to enhance my credentials immensely and became very qualified to apply to top schools (I was also admitted to UCLA and UW Madison on fellowships) this time around compared to when I was applying to PhD programs straight out of undergrad. However, your situation is a bit different in that it sounds as if you would have to pay for the MS program at UPenn. Vanderbilt is an excellent school and I'd choose the PhD offer from there. The situation I was in was a bit different because 1) they were both fully funded so money wasn't an issue and 2) Penn State is crap compared to Cornell -- Vanderbilt is not crap compared to UPenn. Don't waste your money. Go to Vandy.

That is not true. For all rejections I've heard of the notification comes from the graduate division, as well as the department. The dean of the graduate school notified me of my rejection from UC Riverside, as was the case with others involving other schools.

I am in graduate school at Cornell now and I am from Florida. Do not, do not, do not, do not move here. Yes, you will mainly be in the lab but there will be plenty of times when you have to go to the store in the cold; when you have to check the mail in the cold; and do other things in the cold.

I suppose you all are kinda right. I chose to have a family and now I have to live with it. We'd still be able to get by exclusively on a PhD stipend because she would also get a job, but sure, we'd struggle. And yes, I am a perfectionist and that's what I'm battling with. I never wanted to be one of those people who come back to school in their 30s, or even late 20s. I wanted to do everything in consecutive order: B.S. ---> M.S. ---> Ph.D. ---> Job. Thanks for all of the input.....

This does not sound like a acceptance or rejection. As Dexterchi stated they will normally say "we have recommended you for acceptance to the Graduate School" -- it will be very clear if they have decided to accept or reject you in an informal admission notification. I would call the program and ask. Even when receiving a rejection, you will normally receive a notification stating a decision has been made on your application and that you will receive official notification from the graduate school in the mail.

But if I don't get the PhD I won't be able to say I'm Dr. so and so. My friends will have MDs, PharmDs, PhDs, DDs, and JDs. I would just have a Masters . I know this sounds superficial of me....However, my wife's side of the family is really uppity and I feel the only way they and others would continue to think of me as the smart person I am is if I pursue the PhD, though my wife wants me to stop school completely and take the job singly. However, I wouldn't be able to cope mentally if I don't do this degree, regardless of how idiotic it sounds. Not to mention, I want it for myself, for the self-fullfillment. I only applied to the job as a backup plan in case I didn't get into these top schools but now that I have the offer and the fact that I loved the company when I visited, I can't turn it down. I'm stressing out 110% right now!

There is nowhere on the websites of either school that mention anything about outside employment.