shadowclaw

This is not really accurate. While I haven't flown on too many airlines, for the ones I have flown, nonrefundable means nonrefundable (unless there is a death in the family or serious illness). American Airlines, for example, will refund some taxes and fees, but will not refund any of the ticket price. However, they will allow you to put the cost of your unused ticket towards a new one within a year (with restrictions that aren't listed on their website). I'm not sure if it's transferable to another person, though. Air Canada (which I highly recommend for international travel) has a similar policy, and they also state that the future flight must be booked in the original passenger's name. I think what you are thinking of, TakeruK, is a partially-refundable ticket. However, being that I've only flown on a few airlines, what you are describing could be true for some. However, it doesn't make sense to make a cheap nonrefundable ticket partially refundable, especially if an airline offers a partially refundable type of ticket.

Well I just had my phone interview at 1:00. I was a little annoyed because he said he wanted to call in the morning a little after 9, so I was basically sitting next to the phone for over an hour, feeling anxious and getting worried. Then he shot me an e-mail asking if he could call in the afternoon. At least he didn't leave me hanging all day I suppose. It sounds like a good research opportunity. He's very flexible about the exact project I'd be working on, and it seems the reason he advertised this position so late is because one of his grad students bailed on him unexpectedly after being in the program for a year and a half. I don't know if that's a good sign, though he more or less said that she didn't like Miami and was from Europe and might have been expecting graduate school to be a bit different based on the European education system. The application process is a bit silly. I have to fill out the application online like anywhere else, but then I also have to e-mail copies of everything to the department (including having my recommenders e-mail their LORs after uploading them to the application). He said the reason for this is that the university is huge and things tend to get lost. So if the department has unofficial copies of things when the adcomm meets, they don't have to worry about missing GRE scores or letters.

When I applied 2 years ago, I made some fudge for my LOR writers as a gift... I have two absolutely delicious recipes that everyone loves. One is a half peanut butter, half chocolate fudge and the other is pumpkin. I put the fudge in a nice wintery-themed tin that I found in the Christmas section at Walmart and gave them to my writers after all the letters were in. Well, almost. It was after I thought all the letters were in, but then I applied to some masters programs in February after I got a rejected from almost everywhere I applied. I also ended up giving them gifts when I graduated, but not just because they wrote me letters, but because they were some of the most influential and helpful people during my undergraduate career. They were actually pretty amusing gifts. I gave my advisor a book called "The very best totally wrong test answers" because he had the misfortune of having freshman repeatedly give him completely weird answers on exams (such as people inventing protons and Darwin being gay). To another, I gave a book with pictures of funny signs because he was always playing Weird Al music videos at the start of class and telling us goofy science jokes. I gave my third writer a somewhat serious gift of plush bird toys. He had some ratty old ones that he used to demonstrate how bird banding worked and get kids excited about birds when they came on field trips to the nature preserve he worked at, so I gave him new ones. Plus they sang when you squeezed them! I'm not sure what I'll get them this time around. I like the idea of getting a mug from where I choose to go (assuming I get accepted!), and I could always fill it with something fun. I'm thinking of also getting something for my thesis committee members at the end of the year as well.

You did mention it in your first post, but the rest of the content in your post says otherwise. You began your initial post stating how upset you were that this person gave you a B. By stating this first, you are basically implying that the main reason you are unhappy with this professor is due to the grade. Maybe it's not, but that's how it comes across to me. You then follow that up with stating that the professor doesn't think your work is up to her standards and that's why you don't want to work with her. Since the only work you've done for her was in this class, clearly the grades you've received on assignments and/or exams are influencing your desire to avoid this project. If you got an A in the course, you would instead feel that your work is up to her standards. Maybe it isn't the specific final grade that's influencing you, but at the very least, the feedback from the professor and your performance in this class is most definitely having an impact on your decision. Since I don't even know what field you're in, I can't really make a good case for doing a project over taking a class. However, in my field at least, there is a big difference between taking a course in something and working on a project in that area. For example, I took a limnology course last year. I learned lots of field and lab techniques and got an A. However, working on a limnology-related project for two months would be more attractive to an adcomm than my course, and I'd learn many of the same techniques along the way.

I personally wouldn't let a grade prevent me from working on a project, especially since research looks good to PhD programs. While it's not quite a direct comparison, there were multiple people in my department as an undergrad who routinely got B's and C's in everything. That didn't stop them from asking professors to work on projects, and once they were working on one, they were quite good at it. Furthermore, even if you did make a bad impression on this professor, doing this project and doing it well can easily turn that opinion around. I don't know what this project entails, but it might be a little late to back out now. If she had to order supplies, they might now be wasted or maybe she really wants to do this project with someone and won't be able to find someone else to do it with you bailing so close to the beginning of the semester. There is always the possibility of someone contacting her in the future about your applications to PhD programs (someone recently posted about a PhD program contacting their graduate coordinator who was on bad terms with him). Will not doing this project make her mad enough that she will trash talk you if ever contacted? I don't know. Will you be losing out on gaining experience in lab techniques in your field? Yes. I don't think I'd turn it down, but that's just me.

Oh, I almost forgot a great part of the story for this application cycle. Even though my dad might think I can get in anywhere, he's begun to have some reservations about me pursuing a PhD. Even though I was accepted to a masters program 2 years ago, my dad was under the impression that I would take 4 or 5 years to complete the program. He was pretty excited over the summer when I told him I only had two semesters left. Then when I began contacting POIs and getting my application materials together, he asked me how long a PhD program would take. I told him anywhere from 3 to 5 years, depending on how a school transfers the credits from the masters program and what type of project I would be working on. He then told me that my eggs were getting old and asked me how I expected to give him grandchildren if I was going to be in school for 5 more years. Which is also the polar opposite of my mother, who after I got married this summer told me to make sure I didn't get pregnant before I finished school.

I am not an international student, nor am I pursuing food science or nutrition. However, I did have a low undergraduate GPA. At the time I applied for masters programs, my overall GPA was about 2.75. My situation is not as simple as most, though. I attended multiple undergraduate universities and majored in several fields before I decided to go into biology. My GPA was low in those prior majors and at other schools. My GPA was good where I graduated (3.59) and my major GPA was 3.8. During my last three years, I also did not have a GPA lower than 3.75. So, while my overall GPA may have been low, I did have good grades in my major and my grades went up in later years. Many programs put a lot of weight on your last two years, so if your grades are better in the second half of your undergraduate program, that will be helpful. Programs may also be more forgiving of a low GPA if you did well in your major courses. Aside from grades, programs put heavy emphasis on recommendations. If you get very strong letters of recommendation, the admissions committee may be willing to overlooked a poor GPA. For my own program, my graduate coordinator told me that the strength of my letters is what convinced the committee to accept me. It is also very helpful if you can make your application strong in other ways besides your GPA. These include scoring high on the GRE, doing internships or research projects, or even working in the field. Even though you have already graduated, not all internships require you to be a current student. So pursuing some kind of work in the field, even if you are working as an unpaid intern for a few months, can be helpful.

When I applied 2 years ago, I had pretty polar responses from my parents. My dad seemed to believe that if I applied somewhere, I would automatically get in. My mom, on the other hand, was convinced that some son or daughter of a congressman or governor or something was going to want to go to every program I applied to, and that their parents would use their political influence to pull strings and get them in regardless of their qualifications. Thus, I probably wouldn't get in anywhere because my family holds no political power. So then once I did get accepted to a masters program, she had this look on her face of "oh no... I didn't want this to happen." Turns out she was hoping I would get rejected and go get a job. This application cycle, my dad still acts like I'm going to be accepted at my top choices, but at least he doesn't talk about it much. My mom has dropped the whole politics thing, and I get the sense that she feels more supportive now. I also think she feels better about my chances since I had a Skype interview with a POI. I don't think she understands that it was only the first step and I still have to go through interviews with the adcomm and all, but at least she's not telling me I have zero chance anymore.

This sucks soooooo badly. I'm sorry it happened to you... I've been rooting for you since I first started reading your posts. Hopefully all will go well with your remaining apps.

You might also be wasting their money if you cancel. Flights are cheaper if you choose the nonrefundable route, and I know that flights for 6 programs (I believe they were all neuroscience) that another member of the forum has booked are all nonrefundable. So even if you have no intention to attend, I think it will look much worse if you cancel. Plus MathCat has a point. You may have interviews at your top 3 schools, but that doesn't mean you'll be accepted. Besides, you might find that you really like this school once you visit!

I paid for my first year of my masters program using student loans. I had a less than stellar undergrad GPA (although a very high major GPA) and was rejected from all the PhD programs I applied to. At that point, I didn't have a lot of options left and many POIs weren't looking for masters students. I also wasn't sure if I could secure funding for a masters program, since many EEB programs are dependent on POIs funding their students. So I decided to apply mostly locally so I could live at home, and I ended up getting accepted to the three masters programs I applied to. One offered a partial tuition waiver (but was expensive), while the other two didn't offer funding (but were cheap). The research project at the school I chose was too amazing to pass up (and it was one of the cheap ones), so I don't think I would have accepted an offer from the other two schools even if they did offer funding. Three courses plus fees each semester was about $4500. I borrowed a little extra to offset the gas expense (it's a good hour and fifteen minute drive to get there), took classes three days per week, and worked three or four days per week at a part-time waitressing job. Over the summer, I did get a small stipend from my advisor which amounted to about $2200, plus all of my travel and food costs paid for while doing research (which included 3 weeks in Japan). I also continued working at my job almost full-time for about 2 months over the summer. This year, I received one of the department's graduate assistantships, which covers tuition and offers a very modest stipend (as the graduate coordinator put it). The stipend came out to be a little bit less than what I was making as a waitress, but I am also getting free tuition out of the deal, and the job doesn't suck. I actually did take out a loan, too, to cover various fees and to again help out with gas (which was even more important now that I would be on campus 5 days per week). However, it isn't nearly as much as when I was paying for tuition. So is the debt worth it? I think so. The research experience alone was worth it. Had I started looking for masters programs in the fall instead of in the spring, I could have found several funded masters programs with great research projects, but I probably wouldn't have been accepted. So I don't think there was really any other option for me.

I doubt your travel arrangements would leave a bad impression! You're an international student and you are coming from very far away. International flights don't fall into the neat and orderly schedules that domestic flights often have. Besides, if I was in your position, I would want to arrive an extra day earlier anyway. I flew to Japan this past summer with several connecting flights resulting in a total travel time of about 18 hours, and I was completely exhausted when I arrived, partly because I didn't get much sleep the night before and partly because of the travel time. Coming home was a little easier because my flight left later in the day (allowing me to get more sleep), but it was still rough. I imagine the program will be very understanding of this.

I decided to go for the FIU position and sent an e-mail to the professor who posted the ad. I guess he liked what he saw, because he replied asking for a phone interview tomorrow morning. If he tells me to apply, I sure hope the school doesn't have a hard deadline for receiving materials. Aside from GRE scores taking a while to get there, they require transcripts to be mailed, and it will be a very close call since the deadline is the 15th. I also did some digging around for more info on the school, and got some interesting results. I found some reviews on Yelp (which were generally about the school from an undergrad perspective). They ranged from "FIU is where dreams go to die" to "the best place ever!" Most of the negative comments were about parking, unnecessary fees, and not graduating on time because no one helped them schedule their classes. It also appears to be a bit of city within a university. People were commenting on getting their nails done at the school's salon, picking up video games at the GameStop, and eating at McDonalds. Gee, all my school has is a Starbucks (and it sucks). Edit: @alejandromolina - the results search shows that invites have gone out from MSU between January 7 and 20, so you still have almost two weeks to hear from them!

I had a Skype interview (before applying) with a POI. At the end of the interview, he told me to apply, and then went through a whole timeline of the application process... "the committee meets around mid-January, so you can expect to hear about the interview weekend later in the month. The weekend is in mid-February, so make sure you keep your schedule clear." Does that mean I'm his top candidate for his lab?

I had my first admissions-related dream last night. I dreamt that I checked my e-mail on my phone and had about 10 e-mails from UT Knoxville. They all said different things. I had an invitation to interview, and acceptance, a rejection, a request for more information, and some other ones I can't remember.

I get spammy e-mails from a few universities due to taking the GRE, but they get sent to a different e-mail address (Gmail). So I have the Gmail app on my phone and the regular e-mail app which I use for my school account. Now and then I'll see an e-mail with the title "An invitation from admissions" on my Gmail account and for a split second I'll get excited... and then realize it's Gmail and just an invitation to some online open house. Blah!

I don't want to sound like I'm putting the blame on you! I've heard the phrase "hindsight is 20/20" lots of times, and it's quite true. It was something that you just didn't think about back then and you obviously felt that your whole family (grandmother included) would be supportive of you. One thing I don't entirely understand is why your father is so dead set against you staying with him. From your previous posts, it sounded like he wanted to help you in anyway he could (i.e. paying for gas, car repairs), so I find it so strange that he won't help you now when you are having such a difficult time with living arrangements. I'm also not sure why it makes a difference if you are in school or on break. I would think it would be preferable to have you living there during the semester, since you won't actually be there that much. However, I'm not you and I don't know exactly what's going on in your life or that of your family. I hope you are able to find a solution!

I also agree that short and sweet is a good way to go (unless you are responding to an ad that wants lots of info). Attaching a CV is a good way to provide your POI with lots of good info about yourself and what you've worked on without cluttering up your e-mail. If you haven't been doing it already, it's also a good idea to mention the POIs research in the e-mail (such as referencing a specific paper or research descriptions posted on his/her website) and briefly comment on how your research experience or ideas fit in with it.

In my experience with hotels in general, check in is usually sometime in the afternoon (such as 3:00), but they are happy to let you into your room before that if it's already been cleaned and set up for you. So 3:30 might be the official check in time for the hotel. Even if the room isn't ready, hotels don't mind if you hang out in the common areas, so you could probably find a comfy chair to sit and read up on faculty. However, it also depends on how you are getting to the hotel. If they are reimbursing you for a cab, then you can head to the hotel whenever you want. However, if someone is picking you up, your arrival at the hotel will depend on when they come for you.

This is especially important! I also have a short list of schools (or at least short compared to some of the lists I've seen in the general applicants thread), but I think I started out with something like 25 programs that had faculty working in areas that I'm interested in (usually with 1 or 2 POIs at each). I quickly cut a few off of my list because the lab websites specifically said they weren't taking students. I did a bunch of blind e-mails, and I got many responses of, "I'd be interested, but my lab is full/I have no funding." I also had a few that didn't respond at all, and a few who took 2 or 3 months to write back that their labs were full. A few on my list had advertisements out, and those e-mails generated the best responses and are also the applications that I feel best about. So my 25 or so programs got whittled down to 6 (and I'm thinking of adding another if the POI gets back to me).

My apologies! You are absolutely right. You are certainly doing it right! There are EEB and similar programs that do lab rotations and don't require you to have a commitment from a POI. However, I think the vast majority of them work as you initially indicated, which involves contacting a POI and getting approval to apply to the program. I think part of this has to do with funding and part of it has to do with how ecological research is done. For example, a neuroscience project might be working with mouse brains and they can pretty much get a steady stream of lab mice all year long. In contrast, a population ecology project might be looking at the breeding behaviors of fish or the migration ecology of birds... these kinds of projects have small windows when you can conduct research, so lab rotations aren't really an option. On the other hand, molecular ecology and some aspects of plant ecology can be done in a lab setting or greenhouse, making them more appropriate for lab rotations. In fact, I think almost all of the EEB programs I've come across that do lab rotations have most of their research in these kinds of areas. Getting back to your post, since you are interested in marine science, I think that you'll likely have to take the route of contacting POIs for all of your applications. If you are having trouble with getting responses from POIs, you might be approaching them the wrong way. Could you post a general outline of your e-mails? Even if you are writing great e-mails, sometimes you just don't get responses from doing a "blind e-mail," which is basically when you find a POI and e-mail them when they don't have any advertisements out. Personally, I've gotten much better responses by seeking out advertisements. There are a number of ways for you to find advertised positions. First, you can brose university websites until you find someone with similar research interests, and then check out their website. If they are actively recruiting students, professors often make note of this on their websites and provide a list of information they'd like you to send along. Another option is to sign up for the Ecolog listserv. I'm signed up and have it set to send me a daily digests of posts, and every night at midnight, I get an e-mail filled with all sorts of ecology-related announcements, such as jobs, upcoming conferences, field courses, and graduate positions. If you go to the Ecolog website, they also list the posts each week, so you can look back at previous posts: https://listserv.umd.edu/archives/ecolog-l.html The Texas A&M wildlife job board is also a great place to find graduate positions. In fact, I find that there are quite a few more positions posted there than to Ecolog: http://wfscjobs.tamu.edu/job-board/ At this point, if you are looking to start in the fall, you will have to get moving if you want to apply to a PhD program. Many deadlines have passed, and the next big one is January 15. If you are considering masters programs, too, they usually have later deadlines. I believe someone posted an ad for a parrotfish project in the biology forum. Do check it out. I know it was posted a few days ago to Ecolog as well. Check it out if that's something that you are interested in. Good luck!

I just tried, and I can log on and see everything. Perhaps there was just some sort of system maintenance going on when you tried.

This totally happened to me in December. It was right around the time WashU was sending out invites for the biology program, and I got an e-mail saying "A message from the biology department" or something very similar, and it was sent by the department secretary, so I didn't really have any idea where exactly it was coming from based on that alone. However, since I applied to only one program that was called Biology (all of my other applications were for EEB or Environmental Science programs), I assumed it was WashU! Then I opened it, and it was from Indiana University letting me know that my application was being sent to the department for review. It was so disappointing! This past week, I've also been getting lots of e-mails from school related to billing and registration and whatnot, plus some e-mails from my advisor. I get so excited when I see the e-mail icon on my cell phone... and then get let down. I shouldn't even get that excited, since I know that invites for my top programs don't go out until at least the end of next week, if not later.

So the adcomms for UNC and UT should be meeting sometime this week or next, and I got a few views on my ResearchGate profile in the past few days. I wonder if they are Googling me for more information or if it's just a coincidence.

Well that was very unexpected. I just read through this thread, and I thought everything would go well for you! I'm sorry to hear it did not! I can certainly sympathize with thy problems of living with noisy and inconsiderate people. I had a horrible roommate during undergrad that made me never want to have a roommate ever again. I also completely understand the feeling of living with someone who is obsessed with having a job. I love my father dearly, but he has some strong opinions about people having jobs. My husband and I live in my parents' basement to save money, and my father has on more than one occasion reminded me that my husband won't be welcome anymore if he becomes unemployed. Which is strange because we pay rent and there's no reason he would become unemployed. While this isn't very helpful now, I think people would have given you very different advice if you had mentioned that you never asked your grandmother if you could stay with her and just assumed it would be ok based on the recommendations of your parents. You definitely should have asked back in June when you were making this decision. You would have found out then that she didn't want you living with her and would have had time to find an apartment. Since you can change the past, I personally think that it would be a good idea to try to find an apartment asap. Living with either parent doesn't look like a feasible option. Even if you find a job and appease your grandmother, it is unlikely that you will have a happy or productive semester due to all of the negativity and distractions at home. Plus the fact that your grandmother is unwilling to let you borrow the car in an emergency makes the arrangement very risky. I really suggest talking to your father about finding an apartment and seeing if he will let you stay long enough to get your loan processed and find a place to live. He may be more inclined to give you some leeway if he is convinced you won't just ride out the semester at his house. I'm really sorry all of this happened to you. It really sounded like your whole family was behind you in your earlier posts.