shadowclaw

Went onto my undergrad institution's website to look up some contact info for my LOR writers (phone #, official title, etc). There is a "featured story" along the top of the main page, and every month they add a new story about a recent graduate, a rising senior, or incoming freshman that has an interesting story. Basically someone who can make the school look good. The featured story also appears in a side bar in other areas of the website, but in that location a random story is pulled every time the page is loaded. I saw one of my fellow graduates from the biology department in that side bar. I don't recall his major right now, but we had the same advisor and his senior project involved using a plant secondary metabolite as an antibiotic. The project could have been awesome, but it wasn't. It wasn't well designed and he didn't use a single statistical test on his data to see if his results were significant. During presentations, he was asked by a stat professor what test he used to determine that the compound had significantly decreased bacteria levels (he had thrown around the word significant several times). He replied that the line on the graph (which I believe showed bacteria levels over time for each treatment) dipped lower than the other two lines, and thus, the compound was more effective. The featured story gushed about how important antibiotic research is and how the project really prepared him for graduate school (which he didn't apply to because he had a job offer). It really annoys me that they put him on the website when several other students did much better projects (and actually knew how to use the word significant). But I guess being good-looking and doing a project on a hot topic like antibiotics (even if it sucked) makes the school look way better than putting someone on there that actually understands the scientific method but researched something less sexy.

Soldier of Love - I'm not really qualified to comment on your chances of admission (as I'm in the application process myself). However, I am familiar with the Ecology program at Penn State. You probably already know this, but you must have a faculty member committed to you joining their lab in order to be admitted. That said, what will probably happen is the faculty member will recommend a few promising students who have contacted them to the adcomm and let them decide. So if you have a faculty member who told you to apply or said that they are looking forward to your application, then that's a good sign that you will at least be considered. I am in this same situation at UNC... I had a Skype interview with a PI, and he told me to apply at the end of the interview, as well as told me about the timeline of the interview weekend and admissions decisions. So that means that the adcomm won't immediately throw my application out and I have a good chance! I personally think that your stats look good aside from your GRE score. Your GPA is great, you have plenty of research experience, some poster presentations, and TA experience, which will all work really strongly in your favor. I think it would look better if your manuscripts were under review at this point, but that's not something that can be changed. Your GRE scores aren't bad, but for the school that you are applying to, they could be better. However, I think the rest of your application will far outweigh them. This would especially be true if you told the PI's about your scores and they didn't say anything about them.

The excitement is starting to sink in! I have one application complete and submitted, plus the NSF GRFP application submitted, and the rest at varying stages. I really want to get them done (not that I have much of a choice, most are due December 1st). The wait is going to kill me, though. I know I won't even have a shot at hearing about interviews until after the new year (and most likely not until February), but I'll probably be obsessively checking e-mail accounts and application systems for updates. Hopefully working on writing up my masters thesis will keep me busy through winter break.

I agree that just saying you had surgery is sufficient. I'm sure that they will assume that it was substantial surgery and not just getting your wisdom teeth out

I know the question was directed at Applemiu, but I personally sent my CV as a pdf file attached to my initial e-mails to professors. I always noted towards the bottom of my e-mail that I attached my CV for their reference. They were always quite pleased to receive it, even if they weren't accepting students at the time. Many professors will keep CVs on file in case they have a future opening (i.e. they receive more funding, a student quits the program, etc). It's also possible that they might pass your CV on to someone else if they were really impressed with you but don't have an opening.

Finally submitted my first application yesterday. Indiana University down, 5 more to go! I have most of my apps filled out. I just need to finish up my SOPs and other essays. I can't wait for the applications to be done already.

I don't know if your goal is a master's degree or phd. However, I transferred more times than you (I went to 4 different schools with a total of 6 transfers... I went to transfer orientation at my undergrad school 3 times). Aside from bouncing between schools, I changed my major many, many times. I also got some poor grades in my previous majors and there area few full semester withdrawals. So my undergrad history is mess. Nevertheless, I was accepted into every masters program I applied to, and rejected from every phd program I applied to. It's unlikely that I was rejected for attending multiple schools, it was most certainly the low gpa that got me. However, bouncing around schools could be considered negative and if your application is weak, it would probably weaken it further. However, I don't think it would really have an impact on an otherwise strong application. I do suggest that you consider the possibility of doing a masters before a phd in case it is a problem. However, I think that if you addressed the issue briefly in a SOP or had had a LOR writer mention it, you will be ok.

Since the rest of your application package seems pretty good (high GPA, research experience, etc), I don't think your GRE scores are going to kill your application. Especially for an MS program. Many people on the forums have said that masters programs are much more forgiving, since 1) they typically do not offer the same level of funding as phd programs and thus are not investing as much in you (or at all in the case of an unfunded program), 2) the program is much shorter than a phd and any investment in you is pretty short term, and 3) depending on the program, there may be more spots available because fewer people apply or a lack of funding means there isn't as large of a restriction on the number of students they can accept. That said, you may still want to address the score in your SOP if you are looking for funding. I personally would point out the other positive aspects of your application and how they better reflect your academic potential. In particular, the double major might be a good way to show this.

Woo hoo! All of my letters are finally in. Now I can forget about it for a while. Good luck, everyone.

I think that the majority of your paragraph discussing your poor GPA can be cut down to a few short sentences. Don't say that your school was one of the most elite universities in the nation. The adcomm will know this if it really is elite. You also worded it like you were unprepared for an elite school, but would have done fine somewhere less prestigious. I don't think that's an accurate assumption and it comes across as an excuse. I would advise you to write something along the lines of "I was a first generation college student from a public school system, and I was not fully prepared for college. While I initially struggled, I was able to redirect myself and have since had a stellar academic record." Spend less time dwelling on the deficiencies and more time on how you've improved and learned from the experience. I don't know if I would mention the reading and writing disorder, and leave out the financial and personal struggles statement. I also don't know if it's worth mentioning that you went to public high school. Some people do have the impression that the public school system doesn't prepare students well for college, but it's certainly not always the case, and the adcomm may not have that viewpoint.

It may be because of a system issue, as has been suggested. My adviser finally uploaded the letter today, but he shot me an email early in the day telling me he was having issues getting his password for the system. His specific words were "I have no idea why they call it Fast Lane. I'm still waiting for my password. " I'm not sure exactly when he initially tried to upload, but an hour passed from when he first emailed me and when he let me know it was submitted.

Thanks for the advice. I started with an e-mail, and I marked it high priority so it will get a red mark next to it in his inbox. That should catch his attention. I guess if I don't hear back from him by 4:00ish, I'll start calling him.

Is anyone else still waiting on any of their LOR writers? My adviser from my undergrad university got it done pretty quick. Another professor from there hasn't submitted yet, but I know he'll get it done, probably tonight. He was a bit of a procrastinator when I applied to grad school, but he got it done with time to spare. Plus he pretty much has a draft of the letter anyway, assuming he didn't delete the letters he wrote for my grad school applications. However, I'm a little concerned about my current adviser. I asked him over a month ago about writing letters and discussed the fellowship with him. I even e-mailed him last week reminding him about it, and he said he was good to go, just waiting for the e-mail with upload instructions. But he hasn't submitted it yet, and didn't reply to an e-mail I sent on Monday to confirm that he got the e-mail from the NSF. He has incompatible office hours with my schedule except for on Fridays, so I can't just pop in and ask him about it. I'm wondering if I should send him a text or call him, or maybe just send another e-mail. I don't want to be obnoxious, but I really don't want him to forget about it. He doesn't have a good record of doing things in a timely manner or remembering to do stuff. However, I really thought he was on top of this when I e-mailed him last week. Ugh.

I agree that it is rather unprofessional of the writer, but I have occasionally read about professors doing this. Personally, if one of my professors responded to my request for a LOR like this, I would ask someone else. I just don't think the resulting letter would be strong. There are certain things that your writer can say about you in a LOR that you really can't write about yourself. For example, your LOR writer might think that you have amazing writing capabilities and that you've written some of the best papers he/she has ever received in 30 years of teaching. However, unless your professor told that to your face, you'd never know and wouldn't write that about yourself. Another example: you may have taken several courses with the same professor and consistently been in the top 5% of the class, but you wouldn't know how you compare to other students because you don't have access to their grades. Therefore, you couldn't write that you are always at the top of the class. It's also possible that the professor just wants to know the types of things you'd like to see highlighted in a LOR, and that's why they've requested a draft. Either way, if you do choose to write up the draft yourself, it would be best to search the internet for examples and put the together the best letter you can. I assume a LOR is probably limited to a page, but I can't say for sure.

I don't think a 4.5 for analytical writing is bad... it's the 80th percentile last time I looked. Being in the top 20% is pretty good, and far above minimum requirements for many programs (although I can't speak on how a program in German would view it). A 5.0 is certainly nicer, and I think is above the 90th percentile, which I think is everyone's goal. However, I'm not sure it would really be worth shelling out another $195 to take it again to improve your score unless you really feel unhappy with it. I also agree with Dedi that it's the least important score, and I personally don't see how responding to a prompt on a random topic can accurately gauge your writing ability, especially with only 30 minutes to come up with something. Really, the only thing it seems to measure to me is if you can come up with a convincing argument under pressure, rather than show off your writing ability. SOPs and any other writing samples will get the job done much better.

Ok, well first let me say that I have only ever seen a completed LOR once, and it was one for applying to an internship, so it was probably not quite the same. I can tell you that the writer (who was my academic advisor and professor for two courses) mentioned who he was, what his relationship to me was, mentioned my grades with him. He also talked about my rank in his classes (I was consistently one of his top students) and my extracurricular activities, like tutoring and working full-time. He also talked about my work ethic and creativity, as well as what courses I took that would qualify me for the position. Coincidentally, I got that internship. He also wrote me letters for grad school, but since I waived my right to see them, I'll never know exactly what he put. By the time I applied to grad school, I had started doing research and he was my mentor for the project, so I imagine he talked about my research and if he thought my performance conducting the research meant I could handle research at the graduate level. Another professor who wrote me letters probably talked a lot about my performance in the field, since I worked on several field projects with him. He probably also talked about the same kinds of things as the first professor did in his letter for my internship. I'm not sure what other help I can offer, since I've never written a LOR myself. This link has some useful information and some examples: http://gradschool.about.com/od/askingforletters/a/samplehub.htm Something I can add, though. I have seen a few LOR forms at some schools that have a few questions that the writer must rank you compared to other students, and then there is a place where the writer can add his or her comments in paragraph form. I think for pretty much all LOR, the writer should have a draft of the letter prepared. And yes, a writer can use the same letter content for multiple schools.

Thanks for the input. Depending on the school I attend, I may or may not have to establish residency (depends on if the school has different in/out of state tuition). If I didn't need to establish residency, I wouldn't worry much about it and just maintain my residency as PA and keep my permanent address as my parents'. It wouldn't solve the car inspection issue, but it might be fine with the insurance company, like ERR_Alpha suggested. However, I believe the majority of the schools I am applying to do have different tuition rates (and my top two choices do), so I would have to establish residency after a year to maintain my funding. I'm not sure if that will make a difference to the insurance company, since the car will remain registered in PA until it's paid off and switched into my name (or more likely, the car will die as soon as it's paid off and I'll have to buy a new one). I will probably just have to ask the insurance company to find out how things work on their end. Really, I am most concerned with how to deal with inspections. Then again, by the time I get to a PhD program, I won't owe that much on the car. I make peanuts right now and can't afford to make more than the monthly payment on the car, but if I get lucky, I might get a good stipend and an affordable apartment, leaving more money available for other things. I might be able to get that car paid off sooner.

Thanks for the input! I only included the undergrad transcript from the school that I got my degree from. My application is submitted! Now I just need my letter writers to upload their reference letters for me, and it will be complete. I'm actually quite shocked that my advisor got his letters together for me so fast. I asked him at the beginning of October if he would write some references for me, and when I reminded him the other day that the due date for the fellowship was coming up, he said they were all ready to go. It took him over a month just to read the first draft of my masters thesis proposal, so I envisioned him working down to the last minute on these references for me. As for your outreach activities, I don't think they really need to really be related to each other. My volunteer activities were very loosely related... the only thing they really had in common was science, and that was pushing it. My activities included working with a watershed group, working at a wildlife preserve on educational activities, and tutoring in the sciences and math. I linked them all together as a way for me to help spread scientific and ecological knowledge to others. Is there some general theme that you can use to link them together? Alternatively, you can just kind of weave them into your narrative in the appropriate place and not worry about them being related. In my opinion, you shouldn't just describe your activities in standalone paragraphs. You should make them a part of your story and write about how they enhanced your education, research, future goals, etc, which would probably be best accomplished if you can intersperse them throughout your statement in a logical way, since you said they aren't really related to each other.

A quick question regarding transcripts. I just started working on the online components of the application, and for the transcript information, it says that if I attended more than more undergrad institution, I only need to upload the transcript from the degree-granting institution (as long as transfer credits appear on the transcript). I attended 4 institutions in my quest for an education, and to be quite honest, the transcripts from the three universities that I did not get a degree from are less than stellar. So I am unsure if I should only upload the transcript from the university that I received my degree. My transferred credits do appear on my transcript, but not all credits transferred, so not all of them are listed. The application doesn't say that every credit must be accounted for, just that transferred courses should be listed on the transcript. Since I wasn't a biology major when I attended those other schools, the non-transferred credits aren't even relevant to my degree except for general education credits (which did transfer). Any thoughts? I don't want to misrepresent myself, and I especially don't want to be disqualified down the line for failing to provide required transcripts.

As a field biologist, I am expected to wear t-shirts, long pants (jeans or otherwise), and hiking boots. When doing work in the lab, I'm expected to wear old clothes that I don't mind destroying if something should spill. So I pretty much wear jeans and t-shirts every day of the year, except that I sometimes wear special insect-repellent pants in the middle of summer when I'm in the field. I usually wear shirts with cartoons, jokes, or places I've been to on them. If I were teaching, I would likely dress a bit better and go for plain shirts and blouses, and depending on if I was in a lab or not, I might even wear a skirt. My professors usually wear jeans and somewhat plain shirts (sometimes you see logos and pictures), and don't seem to care what's on their feet. There are a few people who dress well, like the department chair. He usually looks like he's going to a photo shoot. I imagine students and faculty who don't get dirty or work in labs with hazardous chemicals probably dress better. Really, though, I don't see the point of trying to dress a certain way. There's enough stress in grad school already, so why fuss about your appearance?

While I am not currently in a PhD program, I did have to take a qualifying exam during my second semester for my masters in biology. I'm not sure if a PhD qualifying exam would be more intense, longer, etc, but I can give you some feedback. My exam was written (although my university is switching to oral exams, which seem to be more prevalent). Unlike a PhD qualifying exam, the questions came from the graduate committee instead of my thesis committee, and the questions were the same for everyone taking the exam at that time. So the questions weren't really tailored for me specifically. My exam was six questions (generally with multiple parts for each one), and I had an hour for each question. Each question came from a different branch of biology (evolution, ecology, cell biology, etc). I had to hand write the answers (no computer), and I wrote roughly four pages of material for each question, which included essays, short answers, and diagrams. They also put us into a very uncomfortable room with stools that were too high and desks that we couldn't fit our legs under. I was in physical pain after the exam. To prepare for the exam, the only advice I was given was to read and remember everything in an introductory biology textbook. Truthfully, just knowing what was in the textbook wasn't enough, because some of the questions delved quite deeply into the topics, and an introductory knowledge wouldn't have cut it. In particular, the evolution question was extremely detailed and essentially wanted me to condense the entire evolution class I had taken the semester before into four pages. If I hadn't taken that class, I would have failed the question. The ecology question also happened to be on climate change (which I had taken an undergrad course on), and I was the only one to successfully answer the question. The other students all have to take a global change course in the spring to remedy the deficiency. It may seem like you can't possibly remember all of that information, but you'd be surprised how much you really do recall as you're working your way through your exam. The committee that will be reviewing your answers are also not likely looking for perfection or every little detail. They just want to make sure you have a solid grasp of important biological concepts.

Hi everyone, The other day I realized that should I be accepted into a PhD program across the country, I'm going to be in a weird car situation. I live in Pennsylvania, and am applying to schools all over the place (the farthest is in Oregon). The issue is that I don't technically own my car. My father does. My student loans pretty much bar me from getting any substantial loans, so my car was financed using my father's credit, and thus is registered to him. I still have 2 and a half years of payments left (although when and if I go to school next fall, it will only be 1 and a half). So the car cannot be transferred to me for a while. Pennsylvania is a state that requires inspections. If I went to a school somewhere on the East Coast or even in the Midwest, driving home for a visit would be fairly easy and I could get an inspection done then. However, a road trip from Oregon is quite long! Considering I would only have to do it twice and then the car could be registered to me isn't so bad, but it's still a potential problem. I would need to be gone for at the very least a week (probably longer), which may conflict with my schedule. Has anyone else been in this situation? How did you work out out? I may also have issues with the insurance company, since my car will be in another state.

Just wanted to jump in here... I live about an hour and 15 minutes from my school. For my first year, the commute wasn't an issue because I was only on campus 2 or 3 days per week. This year, I accepted a graduate assistantship. It was supposed to be simple... set up and take down materials for labs and proctor exams, then get paid and get free tuition. The pay isn't amazing (a little over $3000 for the semester), but it's a masters program at a state school and I'm lucky to get anything at all. Plus it worked out to almost as much as I made waiting tables part time. So the reality of things is much different. I was asked if I had a preference for what lab I wanted, and I said anything but A&P. I was assigned A&P. Not only that, but I got to do A&P I and II, and they are the only courses with labs on Mondays. This resulted in having less than 24 hours to tear down the two labs and set the next week's up in time for the instructor meeting. Lab gets out at 9 on Thursday night. I am expected to have the A&P II lab mostly set up by 10 am on Friday, and everything for both labs set up by 2 pm. Every other grad assistant has until late Monday to have their labs set up, and to be honest, they don't have as much to set up as I do. It's really difficult to get it all done in time, especially since I have such a long drive, but I usually do. Except that my prep notes are outdated, full of typos, and often missing information. So I usually don't have everything out, or have the rooms set up wrong because they've made changes since the prep notes were written. It's usually ok, I just fix the problem, but sometimes I have to miss the meetings, and the lab supervisor leaves me angry notes about how I didn't finish my work. Even when I make sure everything is fixed by Monday, she still sometimes leaves me nasty notes about how I need to get more done on Fridays and try to put some things out in the prep room during the week so up can just carry it into the lab on Friday. Problem is that most of what I need is stored in cabinets in the labs and there are classes in there all day from 9 am to 9 pm. I can't get in there. Aside from that, there is all sorts of stuff "temporarily" stored in my prep room and there's no room for anything. Aside from my frustrations with lab prep, the graduate program coordinator decided to give us more to do this semester. We have to help teach in 2 labs and provide tutoring a few hours per week. I actually like helping out in lab and I think it really helps the freshman out. However, I was assigned labs on the one weekday I didn't have to be on campus, resulting in me driving to school 5 days a week. That's about 14 hours of driving each week. It also happens to be Thursday. So I spend all day in lab, then another few hours working on taking down the A&P labs until I feel too tired (usually around 11). I get home around 12:30 usually and an in bed by 1, and then get up at 7. Tutoring isn't a big issue, but we aren't provided with any syllabi or anything, so we're kind of tutoring blindly. I also know it's frustrating when a student comes for help to one of us in a subject we aren't familiar with (e.g. I know little about A&P and Cell bio, as my undergrad education focused on ecology). So between the hours I put into the work for this grad assistantship and the excessive driving, I feel like I am being stretched very thin. I only have 2 courses and luckily they don't require too much studying, but I feel like I am neglecting my research. I am at the point where I am analyzing data, but I just don't have much time to devote to it, and that's bad. Working on PhD applications isn't helping either. Nor is my rather unsupportive husband who seems to care more about being fed than my sanity or productivity. I would be much more productive, especially on the weekends, if he would stop pestering me to cook him breakfast and dinner everyday, and stop whining and purposely distracting me when I am trying to do work. He seriously will not make food for himself. He won't even heat up spaghetti-o's in the microwave or chicken fingers in the oven. These past two weeks, I've been sick and had the period from hell (yes, it's also been going on for almost 2 weeks), and I'm so darn tired. I haven't been to school so far this week (although there was no class on Tuesday), and I've spent most of my time in bed. I felt awful yesterday and took the GRE in the morning, and managed to get basically the same score as last time (verbal went up 1 point, quantitative went down 1). I was really trying to raise my quantitative score into the 80th percentile (it was 60th), but apparently I suck at math on standardized tests. At least my verbal and AW scores are good. I would really like to just lay in bed all day tomorrow, but alas, there are labs to go to. End of venting.

I'm in a similar situation as you are. I'm finishing up a masters in biology and applying to ecology programs. My current GRE scores are slightly higher than yours (V 160, Q 155, AW 4.5), but your GPAs are slightly higher than mine. Most schools that I've looked at list the minimum as the 50th percentile (which I believe all your scores are), so I don't think you would automatically be rejected or anything. However, some of the high ranking schools will mention the average GRE scores of accepted students, and they are often in the 90th percentile or better. However, I've only seen maybe 3 schools put this information on their websites, and they weren't on your list. Don't let that discourage you, though, because 1) it's only an average, and 2) there's more to the admissions packet than GRE scores. I assume that when you've contacted different faculty, you either gave them your CV or discussed your grades, GRE scores, and relevant qualifications. If they didn't believe you could be accepted with those scores, they probably would have told you. I personally was told by a professor at Utah State that I should try to raise my quantitative score if I want to be considered for department and university fellowships, but she didn't indicate the low score would bar me from admission. Professors from UConn and UNC said my scores were good. So I guess what I'm getting at is that it depends on the school, the department, and what the rest of your application looks like. I do agree with Monochrome Spring... if you are really concerned, shootb some e-mails to the departments and see if they have cutoffs or can give you the average GRE score of successful applicants.

I think he would really be a good advisor to work with. He totally wasn't intimidating, nor did he seem to have one of those personalities that I just don't click with (although honestly, I have only ever had personality issues with other women. I don't know why). He also has weekly lab meetings, which would be so nice. My current advisor isn't really into meeting on regular basis, and I often have a hard time finding him. So it would really be great to have someone a little more involved. Hopefully the admissions committee likes me too! I also found out during the interview that UNC has an interview weekend in February or March (I forget now). That's really great, because I'd really like to see the place and not all of the schools that I am applying to offer them. Hope I get an invite!