losthunter

Actually, I just got mine today! Ugh, even though I ranked it so that all the expensive options were on the bottom...I still got an expensive place in PV I'm living with a fifth year though...kind of...unexpected.

I'll be attending UCI for Organic Chemistry in the fall. I'll be living in Palo Verde, but I wish they would hurry up and tell me my room assignments and when I can move in so I can start planning. I'll be moving from NYC.

I was a little surprised with my decision, but I decided to go to UC Irvine. That's just where my gut told me to go.

Actually, I just got an email from them! Accepted

Did you hear from them yet? I haven't heard anything either

What happened? This past weekend, my flight from San Diego to O'Hare was delayed and I missed my connecting flight...I was stuck at O'Hare for about 4 hours...

This weekend is the last interview weekend for Scripps.

Completely agree! Apparently professors take these things very very seriously.

So, has anybody been to any formal visit weekends yet? I'm just curious what it was like.

Depending on the PI, they may pay for you to start a month or two early. This means you get a head start on research and are pretty much guaranteed to be in their lab. However, it may not be the best idea if you don't know who you want to work for. If you work for Professor X and choose Professor Y when you officially have to choose, it may cause hurt feelings or bitterness. If you're interested in this, it's one of those things you should ask professors about during visit weekend.

I contacted them recently (yesterday) and they said they were still making offers.

Scripps Research Institute does, but that's the only one I know off the top of my head. People have told me the interview is more of a formality to make sure you're not crazy...

I thought about this before. But the hassle and stress was just too great. Besides renting a car and driving all the way there (which is still like 1 hour or more depending on traffic I think), I think the only option is to take trains. You would have to take a train to LA Union Station from Irvine or Tustin, then once at Union Station get on a Metro Gold Line train toward Sierra Madre Villa and get off at Pasadena. All of that probably takes at least 1.5 hours. I don't know how accurate that is, but that is what I got from looking it up.

Sadly, they aren't. Only the ones to and from LA were. San Diego and Orange County both have one stop

I finally booked all the flights and everything for visiting. For three straight weeks in March (1st, 8th, 15th), I will be flying to California from Boston. I'm so excited for these weekends! However, I have a feeling I'll be like a zombie during the weekdays...

Congrats on getting into Harvard and all your schools! That's great!

I got the email from my POI! Definitely going to visit

Congrats on getting in! Hopefully I hear from them. I realized I applied to half the schools you did. Perhaps we'll see each other at a visit!

That UC Riverside is insane! But congrats to that person because that's just amazing!

Congratulations! How did you find out? I hope I hear from them soon!

For Scripps they said to dress business casual: "A combination of collared shirt (such as a dress shirt or polo shirt), cotton trousers (such as khakis) with a belt, and shoes (such as loafers) with socks is generally acceptable." But I don't know how it is for other schools. But business casual is probably how I would dress regardless of how Scripps does it.

They will email you if they can't reach you by phone, it has happened to me before. And it is definitely not true that if you get a letter before email/phone call it means you haven't got in. I got a letter from UC Irvine approximately a week before I got a phone call from my POI. Unfortunately, my POI called when I was taking a final exam and left a voicemail and sent an email asking for a good time to talk. So, don't worry about anything.

I just got an email saying I have been invited for an interview at Scripps! Interview weekends are March 1st and March 8th.

I should mention for anyone interested, UC Irvine's visiting days are March 1st, March 8th, and March 15th.

To be on the safe side, you could self upload a score report (or a screenshot of your score) to the application (it should be all the way at the bottom when you open it up). But, I think everything should be okay.