perfectionist

I actually haven't... I also don't care about reading then right now, I have more important things to worry about. So try again sweetie.

Have you been reading your punctuation books? 

Oh Loric, why didn't you quit gradcafe like you promised? We were all really excited for a while to not have to deal with your trolling.
 
You ruined Christmas. 

Why were you with someone for 4.5 years if you're willing to drop them when a career/education opportunity comes along?

Just a note about SOP - it only helps if they read it. It can be one of the last things they do, if at all, at some programs.

I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who hates wide-ruled paper! I've never had a problem with the RSVP pens until they start running out of ink--only with the black and blue ones, though.
I really like those Zebra mechanical pencils (the metal-bodied ones), and those clicky erasers.

And for drawing mechanisms and pathways, I have a set of fine-point markers in ten different colors.

Tonight I'm convinced I'm not getting an acceptance. And I'm mad about it. Then I'm sure I will get an admit with no funding which I'm even angrier about. Then I'm sure I'll get an admit with "meh" funding and not be able to pull things together financially to attend and forfeit by default. This makes me want to throat punch kittens. No table unflipped type Hulk rage.

Today I was told after surgery that if I don't lower my stress levels it's going to eventually kill me, as it's already detrimental to my health. Le sigh.

I second iAnnotate. It was on sale for $1 a while ago and I bought it. It's great for marking up PDFs and taking notes on slides. I wish I had bought it a while ago. 

Since we're on the subject of interview attire, I thought you guys might appreciate this joke: my dad just suggested that, since people say that you should "dress for the job you want," I should show up to my interviews in a lab coat and goggles.  

I keep my toothbrush in my bathroom and towel in my room. My ex kept his toothbrush in his shower which grossed me out along with the toothpaste but... To each their own

I keep both items in the bathroom because (1) I'm not really worried about it, and (2) I don't have a lot of space otherwise. The bathroom has more storage space than my bedroom.

I keep both items in the bathroom because (1) I'm not really worried about it, and (2) I don't have a lot of space otherwise. The bathroom has more storage space than my bedroom.

Well, I just came from the USC PIBBS interview and their culture is definitely business formal. The men were all in suits and the ladies in skirt suits or nice slacks/blouse/jacket or nice dress combos. It was a two day thing and the second day everyone seemed to dress down a little but it was only slight. And of course for hanging with the grad students, it was casual.
 
I'd say just do whatever your program tells you to do, erring on the side of looking nice since you can always dress down from formal if you need to. I think it's better to look serious about it all than not. It is like a job interview, after all.
 
I have been told that UUtah and Stanford are both casual, btw.

No shoes? That sounds...unsanitary. And smelly.

I'm gonna ask them:
How many dissertation proposals end up getting grants and how well they prepare students for grant writing, How active the PI is in the lab during the summer vs. the rest of the year, How PI approaches training for new students - who is responsible, How PI feels about students traveling frequently to present (some don't like this believe it or not, they consider it an absence/extra cost), The work schedule - do you have to show up at 9 am sharp or whenever works for you, How I go about filling out paperwork to transfer classes from my MS so I don't retake them, etc. etc. etc.

If you picked the people interviewing you (because of research interest), the interview is a good opportunity to ask them about what work they are doing at the moment -- projects that they either recently started, or plan to start in the near future, that you could work on.  This will give you a good idea if you want to work with them for rotations, and will eat up a lot of time (productively).
 
Those other questions like how many students they've had and where they end up are important, too.

Geez I was right. People are really bitter on this site.

Good thing for anonymity on these forums. That question would send chills down every department chair's spine but yeah, what 1824 said...

Hi Flux!
 
I ended up doing a MS before my PhD studies for several reasons. I was changing from microbiology to mammalian molecular biological systems due to a lab I had joined my junior year. I felt that my GPA and lack of background knowledge would not put me where I wanted to be, and I wasn't sure if I was cut out for PhD studies. I did my MS, and it taught me that I love my field and that I'm ready to dig deeper. I had more experience than my peers at applications and by interviews I had manuscripts in progress as well as tons of presentation experience. The lab experience has been a big help during my rotations in my new PhD program and the coursework from my MS gave me a strong background that is helping me with my classes. I know I would not have survived a PhD in a new field without my MS experience.
 
That being said, funded masters degrees like I had are hard to come by. That's a lot of debt you could accrue when you might be able to get into a PhD program with your current grades. Doing your MS simply to get into a "top" school bothers me. Yes, there is something to a name, but you really need to be focusing on your research interests and on potential faculty mentors. Some of the best faculty aren't at those top 20 schools that everyone applies to. I picked out the PIs I was interested in and then looked at requirements and time to qualifying exam completion and graduation. I don't think I even looked at ranking until after I applied. Do yourself a favor and consider those things above where the school ranks.

Hate to be "that guy," but technically that assumes that each school chooses the 50% they accept from the pool of interviewees by completely random chance... hopefully that's not how they make admissions decisions haha

I had a dream that I got an invite from Stanford too! Except I was really confused because I didn't apply there.... Hahah.

That seems like an abnormally high number of students abandoning their PhD studies, no?

When I think about it they probably sent a mass of rejections first before sending interviews so you probably golden for now. 

BostonBio153, you're my positive control. According to your signature, MIT & Rockefeller have not sent out their interviews yet haha

just ask about alternative dates...they don't bite...at least not over the phone