shadowclaw

Well, I just spent the last several hours power writing my way through the first essay. Came out a bit longer than 3 pages, but I was able to trim it down to 3. Overall, I like it. I think I need to work a little bit on writing about the university and lab I chose, and maybe expand on my career plans a bit. But I'm quite happy with myself right now!

Thanks for the advice, marty3! My two undergrad writers have both had me for classes, and I aced them all, so they can definitely attest to my academic prowess. Writer # 2 can especially back me up, since I took 9 courses with him, I was the only student exempt from his general bio final (out of 70 students), and the only student ever to get perfect scores on the finals for his upper-level courses. He also told me that one of my papers for his general ecology course was the best paper he has ever received from a student as well as being better than anything he ever wrote, and he now uses it as a writing sample for the course. Hopefully he'll put all that in there! I have read suggestions of putting together a packet for each LOR writer with pertinent information, including things I'd like them to highlight in their letters, so I think I will go that route. The only issue with the bombed courses is that they have nothing to do with my current field of study, except for one biology course that I was taking to fulfill my gen ed requirements at the time. I majored in computer science, computer forensics, English, anthropology, and some various IT majors prior to entering biology... so my poor grades are in those topics and a few gen eds. Therefore, none of my writers can really attest to my knowledge in those courses, because they aren't really relevant. Which may end up being a strength, since I have done extremely well as a biology student (my GPA each semester has hovered between 3.7 and 4.0). I'm still on the fence about how to approach the anxiety and grades in the essays. I've thought about briefly discussing my senior project presentation and my poster presentations and reflecting back on how a few years earlier, giving the presentations would have been next to impossible due to the disorder. That way I can both highlight my ability to communicate my research findings and explain my past performance without going into too much detail, and it would serve to highlight how I've overcome my obstacle.

Hi everyone! I had been contemplating applying for the NSF GRFP for a few months, and I've decided to give it a go. I think I have the perfect three letter writers: 1) my undergraduate advisor and senior project mentor, 2) an undergraduate professor that I took many courses with, worked with on a few projects, and volunteered with (he works for the Nature Conservancy), and 3) my current graduate advisor. I think I'm solid on outreach experiences, and for the most part they are academic, so I can weave them into my essay fairly easily. I volunteered with a watershed group in the summer of 2011 and into the fall, and I also volunteered at a preserve owned by the Nature Conservancy last summer (2013) with the above mentioned professor. I helped out with programs for school groups and a nature camp. Additionally, I tutored for four semesters as an undergrad, and I will be tutoring and mentoring undergrads this upcoming semester as part of my grad assistantship. I'm also trying to decide if I can work in how I act as a role model for women in biology... in my senior year as an undergrad, I had a lot of female students (both seniors and underclassmen) coming to me for help with papers and asking for advice about different courses and study skills, and then when I was accepted into my masters program, a lot of them told me that I was inspirational to them and wanted to pick my brain on the admissions process. After graduation, I continued to keep contact and I had several requests throughout the past year for advice on senior projects. It might also be useful to mention that after our senior project presentations, several freshmen had the opportunity to do an extra credit assignment and write about one of the presentations, and I had a number of students ask me for copies of my power point, research poster, and handout for reference. I also read that the reviewers are looking for international connections. Luckily, I do have some international experience... I took an undergrad course that took me to Belize over spring break to work on a hummingbird banding project, and I was able to work alongside people from Belize, Costa Rica, and the US, and we also did a bit of outreach, inviting school groups to come see the banding station and educate them on avian conservation. I also went to Japan for part of my thesis research, and did 100% of the work finding field sites, a field station, and interacting with people there... the only thing my advisor did was pay the bill So I'm trying to decide how to work some of that in as a good hook for my first essay. I'm also trying to figure out how to incorporate how my project will help people globally when I discuss the potential results and impact of my project. I'm doing invasive species research, and that is a global problem, but I really need to give a good explanation of how it will have a global impact. Does anyone have any advice on how much to include in terms of global impacts or international cooperation? Also, does anyone have any comments on how important transcripts are and how to address deficiencies? I've read in older threads that few people with low GPAs get fellowships, but it does happen, and that it's helpful to explain the reasoning behind any low grades in the personal statement essay. I don't have consistent cruddy grades in my undergrad record, it's not like I got a 2.5 every semester. I just have several bad semesters where everything went down the toilet, and plenty of semesters where I was close to a 4.0. Plus I changed majors and schools a bunch of times. I think it would be important to mention that I had a lot of trouble dealing with an anxiety disorder in my early college years and eventually got things under control, but I am also hesitant to bring up a mental illness, because it could imply to the reviewers that I could slip up at anytime and they might not want to risk it. So I'm not entirely sure about how to proceed.

So as I've been sending e-mails to POIs and reviewing their research interests more closely, I've narrowed my application list: Clemson University - Wildlife & Fisheries University of Massachusetts - Wildlife, Fish, & Conservation Oregon State University - Wildlife Science Penn State University - Ecology Utah State University - Wildlife Biology Tulane University - Ecology & Evolutionary Biology University of Washington - Environmental & Forest Science I'm still on the lookout for other potential programs. I added U of Washington after exploring more of their programs (I initially just looked at programs within the biology department), and it is also unique on the list, as it's the only school that doesn't require support from a POI for admission. I also got an encouraging but somewhat dismal e-mail from a POI at Utah State this morning. She wrote that she would give me a nomination for admission and would like to work with me (the encouraging part), but she lacks her own funding for a PhD student (the dismal part). She then went on to write that the department does have fellowships, but that she doesn't think I'm quite competitive enough for them (another dismal part). She did suggest retaking the GREs to get all of my scores above 70%... my math score is the only one below, which really aggravated me, because I am a math person (heck, I even minored in math as an undergrad) and I shouldn't have scored that low. I do know that the problem was I ate a lousy breakfast, started feeling cruddy halfway through the exam, and I had 3 math sections (one was the experimental one), so by the time I got to the final math section, I was completely worn out. I'm now contemplating retaking it to make all of my applications more competitive, but that gives me very little time to prepare if I want my scores sent in time. She also mentioned that a publication from my thesis would help me, but that's a little beyond my control at this point. I do anticipate getting two papers out of my thesis, but I won't have them ready for submission until sometime in the spring semester. I also have my two papers I'm putting together now, which could possibly be in press by the time applications are due... well, they actually have rolling admissions, but fellowships have a due date. Anyway, I'm not sure If they'd have the same impact as a publication from my thesis, since she specifically mentioned my thesis.

Nice to see this thread! I'm 29 and halfway through my masters program. If accepted into a PhD program for next year, I'll be 30 when I start. I spent 10 years working on my undergrad degree (did a lot of major changing, withdrew from a few semesters because of stuff happening, and otherwise didn't know what I wanted to do for 7 years when I finally found the perfect major and finished it up in 3), so I slowly became older than my peers. It was a little weird at times, because every time I made a drastic major change (like going from Computer Forensics to Anthropology), I had to start over with freshman-level classes and sit alongside 18-year-olds. When I finally found what I was looking for, I was 25 and taking General Biology with students 7 years younger than me... however the school I chose had a lot of non-traditional students, so my courses were dotted with other older students (including some that were quite a bit older than me). Lucky for me, I don't look my age. When I arrived at my masters program, I had classes that were mixed with undergrads, so I once again felt old. However, pretty much everyone assumed I was about 23 instead of 28. I remember being on a trip and talking about my thesis to some undergrads and mentioned my long quest for a bachelors degree, and they were shocked at my age. But alas, I will not look youthful forever. I don't feel too bad being 30 and starting a PhD in terms of how my age compares to those in my cohort. I'm not that much older, and as is proven by this thread, there are others out there starting graduate degrees later in life. However, I do feel a bit poorly about the fact that I will be anywhere from 33 to 35 when I'm done. Not that I'll be that much older, but I recently got married and I'd like to start a family in the future. This is a situation where men have an advantage... if I decide to have any children while pursuing the PhD, I will certainly have issues with coursework and research while pregnant (at least towards the end of the pregnancy) and then for several months afterwards. I keep telling my husband he'll have to be a stay-at-home dad, but realistically, some things have to be done by me (like breastfeeding). The other option of course is to wait until I'm finished... but the biological clock is ticking, and if I want to do something like a post-doc, I'll end up having to wait until that is finished, too. Had I finished my B.S. in four years, I would likely be done with my PhD by now and wouldn't have to worry quite so much. But whatever! I suppose I'll figure it out as I go.

I don't have half the insight that GeoDude seems to have into this, but I am in the situation you speak of. So why am I worrying? Well, for starters, I think that I have a crummier overall undergrad GPA compared to many of the others on this board, although I don't have much to back that up with. It's just the impression that I have. I do, however, have a decent GPA from the college I graduated from, and all of the grades for my major courses are fantastic (all of those crud grades came from very different majors than the Environmental Biology I ended with), so that does offset some of the worry generated by the low GPA. I also worry that the many years changing majors and schools may reflect negatively on me. Even though my two completed semesters of my masters program went very well (and thus prove I can handle a graduate course), I still worry that GeoDude will be right... that an undergrad with a fairly spotless transcript will trump my mixed bag, even though we probably have the same grades in our science courses. I also feel like many applicants may also have publications under their belts, which I do not. I am currently working on two manuscripts (a research paper and a review paper) which I hope to submit shortly (but that doesn't mean they'll be accepted anytime soon), but since I am still in the data collection stage of my thesis, I don't have any publications related to it. My undergrad college did encourage research and we all had to do a senior project (which some students put their heart and soul into, while with others, I don't even understand how their projects got approved), but not in the same way that bigger research-oriented universities do. There were no labs to join and only a handful of the faculty were actively working on research projects. So I feel that the lack of publication, especially at this stage of the game, will also reflect negatively on me, especially if there are some undergrads with pubs. But I'm hoping that most of my worrying is just anxiety and has no real basis in fact

Thanks for the advice! I'm still contemplating different ways I can weave in a short explanation into my SOP, but I imagine I'll figure it out in the coming months. I do realize that my school list is long (and would set me back a pretty penny if I applied to them all). I more or less found as many programs with ornithologists in the department, then looked more closely at the exact research interests of the faculty and trimmed out schools that didn't really fit with my desired focus. The end result is the 13 schools you see here. Some schools do have multiple faculty that I'm interested in, while others only have one. I assume that some of the schools will be dropped when I receive one of the "I'm sorry, but I'm not accepting any students this year" or "I'd love to take you on, but I have no money" emails. Pretty much all of the ecology programs I've looked at require a faculty member to agree to take you into their lab in order to be accepted, so if I can't find anyone accepting students at a school, it's out. Also, I honestly don't know how any of these programs rank, except for Penn State. The ranking wasn't something I was considering when looking for a program, just something that would be a good fit. I definitely feel better about the GPA now, but I still wonder if it will have an impact when looking for a POI. When I applied last time, I had traded emails with several people, and everything seemed great at first. They were interested in my undergrad research, they asked for my CV and discussed different aspects of it with me... and then I had a few requests for transcripts. Everyone who asked for them didn't reply when I sent them and ignored any further emails from me. So I still worry a bit about that. I feel like they kind of just removed me from their unofficial pool of applicants that were emailing them and didn't even bother looking at things like my SOP and LORs when I formerly applied. But perhaps you're right! My excellent grades in my grad courses and the fact that I'm working on a thesis might just make up for it.

I personally feel like my sub-3.0 GPA (as well as my bouncing from major to major and school to school) as an undergrad killed any chance I had of getting into a PhD program straight from my undergrad school. However, I had 7 years of flip flopping between majors (I switched 13 times) and schools (went to 4 different schools, one of them 3 times and one of them 2 times) intermixed with semesters of brilliant grades (we're talking semesters of 3.67, 3.8, 4.0, etc) followed by semesters with grades so low I'm ashamed to tell anyone. I think someone who just had 1 or 2 years of cruddy grades has much less to worry about than someone like me However, the sub-3.0 GPA wasn't an issue at all when it came to masters programs. I was accepted to 3 programs, and none of them interviewed me or even asked about the grades. I assume my LORs, SOP, and GRE scores were sufficient to offset the problems on my transcript. Plus masters programs aren't putting as much on the line as PhD programs... they are shorter programs and lots of them don't offer funding, so they aren't really risking much by accepting someone like myself. Lucky for me, my masters program actually turned out to be a dream come true. It's a state school (cheap!) that was close enough that I didn't have to relocate for, my advisor and I had the same idea for my thesis project, he got me grant money for my thesis, and this year I have a graduate assistantship that both gets me free tuition and a paying job. Granted, it pays pretty poorly, but it actually pays better than the part-time job I had. To be honest, I'm actually glad I was rejected from all those PhD programs because I love my current program so much and I'm doing the research of my dreams (plus I got to travel overseas)! So don't fret if you're an undergrad and you think you may have to settle for doing a masters degree first. It may be the best thing that ever happened to you! Now for some advice on pulling up grades... at the undergrad school I graduated from, I actually didn't mess up my GPA too much. When I entered the biology program, my GPA was a 2.83 or something similar, but I only had 3 semesters completed there at that point. It took one semester to pull my GPA above a 3.0. After 3 years, I got up to a 3.59. Had I chosen to repeat the courses I bombed, I could have graduated with something in the neighborhood of a 3.9 because my college used only the most recent grade for a course (as opposed to factoring both in the GPA). That might be something some of you might want to look into if you only have a few courses killing your GPA. Also, someone mentioned having your bad grades turned into withdrawals after the fact. While I'm not an expert on every school, that one might be tricky. One school I went to would only do that if you left for 7 seven years and didn't take any courses elsewhere. The school I graduated from would do it only under certain circumstances, and would wipe your entire academic record clean from start to finish, regardless of any good grades. So that really might not be a realistic option!

Also, I forgot to mention that I'm looking for a PhD program where I can pursue ornithology or bird-plant interactions. I'm very interested in invasive plants as well as birds, and my current masters thesis concerns the impacts of an invasive plant on bird communities. The schools on my list are pretty much the only ones I found with appropriate POIs, but if anyone can recommend a potenetial school not on my list, that would be great. I am also interested in anyone's thoughts on approaching the admissions process. As a few others in the thread have also posted, my early undergrad grades suck. I had some great semesters that were 3.5, 4.0, etc., followed by real bombs that are too embarassing to type. There are also a few full withdrawals in there, too. This actually went on for 7 years before I got my act together, but once I did, my grades were phenomenal. My grades have been great in my masters program, too. Someone mentioned that mentioning mental illness to an admissions committee is a bad idea, but truth be told, most of my lousy grades came from issues with social anxiety. If you were to look at my transcripts, you can see when I was containing my anxiety and when I wasn't. I didn't have lukewarm semesters where I had a few good classes and a few bad classes. They were either all great or all bombs. When I applied to grad school 2 years ago, all of the PhD programs rejected me without so much as an interview (pretty sure most of them cut me from the application pool in the beginning), but all of the masters programs accepted me without interviewing me at all. I think I only briefly mentioned my bad grades in my SOP, and said something along the lines of "I realize some of my academic record is terrible, but it's clear that I am now on a different and successful path." Not sure if I should use the same approach, or elaborate this time.

Undergrad Institution: Small private college that nobody knows about (undergrad) State university, somewhat well-known (masters) Major(s): Environmental Biology (undergrad) Biology (masters) Minor(s): Chemisty and mathematics (undergrad) GPA in Major: 3.9ish (undergrad) 3.72 (masters) Overall GPA: from the undergrad institution I graduated from, a 3.59. Overall between all the schools I attended, around a 2.65 (undergrad) 3.72 (masters) Position in Class: For major courses only, within the biology department, I was probably # 1, and definitely at the top for my specific major. Taking into account my overall coursework, I was still close to the top in my department and still first for my major. (undergrad) At the top (masters) Type of Student: Domestic female GRE Scores (revised/old version): Q: 155 (64%) V: 160 (84%) W: 4.0 (73%) B: Didn't take it Research Experience: Completed a senior research project and a research project for a class (undergrad) Completed a research project for a class and I am also in the process of working on my masters thesis (masters) Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Won the department's research award for my senior project and won an award for it at our school's research day, also received the outstanding graduate award for my major. Graduated cum laude. (undergrad) Won an award for a research poster at a conference (masters) Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Worked on a project for the PA Fish Commission and tutored (undergrad) Starting work as a graduate assistant this fall (masters) Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Might have some publications by the time my applications go in, but maybe not Special Bonus Points: I'm a girl, but I don't think that really helps Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I screwed around as an undergrad for a while (and got some cruddy grades in the process) and flip flopped between schools and majors before settling into Environmental Biology where I was very successful. This is my biggest hindrance when applying, as it results in an overall undergrad GPA of around 2.65. However, the final 3 years of school (when I switched to biology) were stellar... got almost all A's (and nothing less than a B+) and no semester GPA less than 3.75. Applying to Where: This is a very tentative list. I won't likely add new schools, but I might trim the list. North Carolina State University - EEB or Wildlife Biology Clemson University - Wildlife & Fisheries Biology University of Maine - Wildlife Ecology University of Massachusetts - Wildlife, Fish, & Conservation Oregon State University - Wildlife Science Washington State University - Environmental & Natural Resource Sciences Virginia Tech - Fish and Wildlife Conservation Penn State University - Ecology Ohio State University - EEOB University of California, Davis - Ecology Auburn University - Biological Sciences Utah State University - Wildlife Biology Tulane University - EEB

Thank you, lyrehc and TakeruK. I don't think I want to go the route of having 4 LORs, but I think it may be an excellent idea to have both write LORs for different schools. I know professor 2 got her PhD and worked as a post-doc at one of the schools I plan to apply to, so she would probably be a great choice for that school. However, I'm not sure who would write more passionately about me! I do think professor 2 could probably do a better job writing about my strengths and weaknesses, as we've interacted a bit more and had some discussions about my work, while professor 1 has mostly just given out grades and that was the end of it. You have both given some great things to think about!

Hi everyone! I am currently halfway through a masters program in biology and preparing my application materials for the upcoming application season. I am trying to decide which professors to ask for a LOR for ecology PhD programs. I have two pretty solid choices so far. First, I plan to ask one of my undergraduate professors that I took many classes with and worked with in the field on a few projects, and I also stay in touch with him. He wrote me a LOR when I applied to grad school last time (and got accepted into several masters programs), and I'm sure he would so again. Second, I plan to ask my advisor in my masters program. He oversees my research so he's naturally a good choice, although I have never taken a class with him, so he cannot speak as to how I perform academically. Also, even though he is my advisor and helped me plan my thesis (as well as get me some grant money), he isn't really involved... he basically just lets me do my own thing and occasionally gives me feedback if I pester him. So I'm really not sure exactly what he would have to say other than I write and speak well, I meet deadlines, and I make data appear in my lab notebooks. But he's my advisor, so it's kind of expected that I get a LOR from him. So person number 3 is where I need to make a decision. I've only had 2 semesters of graduate coursework, so I don't have too many options. The two best options are the other members of my thesis committee. I took 2 classes with professor 1, did well in both, and also did a little research for one of his classes, which I was able to present at a couple meetings/conferences. For professor 2, I took one class with her and also did well, and I am working with her on getting a review paper published. Other possibilities include a professor that I took one class with and will be taking another with this fall. He is the department chair, and other professors in the department have told me that he has said good things about me to them, so I know it would be a positive LOR. Another possibility is another of my undergraduate professors who served as both my advisor and my senior project mentor (and took several classes with him). Any thoughts? Thanks!

I agree with the above posters. It's ok to feel dumb. You are a student. You don't know everything! I have also felt a bit dumb this week as I am attending my first week of courses. I have been to 2 of my 3 courses, and while I feel confident about both, I felt extremely inadequate and dumb in my second. The professor introduced us to his teaching style, the Socratic method (which I was only vaguely familiar with from a movie), by going through a review of topics we likely encountered as undergrads that are pertinent to the course. There were some things I had forgotten about and some things I had never seen before, and I sure felt dumb as a brick, especially when I was given my question and I could only answer half of it. However, I was glad I could answer half of it, because there were several people who couldn't answer any of their question. I'm sure the class made everyone feel quite dumb, and it's ok. As the professor said, we should all be happy because we just learned something new.

Well, I've seen one of my syllabi so far. Can't compare it to the syllabus for the undergrads (although I will find that out during first class I suppose), but it appears as though I will be taking exams at the same time as the undergrads, and I have paper and a 45 minute presentation to do (yay!). Not sure if the length of the paper or presentation will be different from undergrads, but it would appear that the requirements will likely be very similar for both grad students and undergrads. My other professors don't seem to like using the online system for course materials, or else they are waiting until the last minute to post things. But I will happily post an update on my courses after my first week!

I applied to 7 schools, although I had a few more I thought about applying to but decided I didn't really match up with them. Ten seems to be a good number. I read somewhere on the Internet that it's a good idea to apply to a mix of schools: one or two "dream schools" that you don't think you're quite qualified for but would really love to go to, several that you think you would be a good fit at and meet the qualifications, and then one or two "safety schools" that you feel very certain you can get into. It seems like logical advice, but I didn't follow it. I just applied anywhere that had a POI doing research in an area I was interested in. In the end, I suppose I ended up applying to that very mix, but I considered every sort of school, whether it was Ivy League or not. To me, it was less about "can I get into such a high ranking school" and more about "does my research experience and coursework make me a good candidate for this person's lab?" So my advice is: don't be afraid to apply anywhere, even if you perceive yourself as not good enough. If you talk with a POI at a prospective school and you really feel like you would fit into his/her lab, go ahead and apply. As for the number of LORs you are requesting from a professor, I wouldn't worry about it. From what my writers said (and what I've read around this forum), they take a while to write one letter, then make a few modifications to it for each school you apply to. So unless you are applying to many vastly different programs, your writers shouldn't have an issue with writing them, because once you apply to one school, the letter is already written for the rest.

Thanks for all the great input!

Glad to see this question here. I haven't even started my master's program yet, and I'm already thinking ahead to next summer/fall when I will be applying to PhD programs. When that time comes around, I will only have had at most two classes with any professor at my new school. I will be doing field work for my thesis next spring and summer, and the nature of the work will require us to work together a lot, so I imagine I will be able to get a good LOR from him. However, I am less sure about letters from other professors. However, I know I could get two strong LORs from my undergraduate professors that I worked closely with (in fact, they wrote LORs this past year for me). I was wondering if LORs from undergrad professors would be appropriate considering I will have started graduate work, but from the responses of others, it seems to be ok.

I realize this topic is probably no longer relevant to the OP since it's August and last school year is long over, but it will probably be useful to this year's round of applicants. I am very close to and was taking classes with two of my three writers during the application and waiting process. They frequently asked if I had heard anything back, and while I didn't volunteer my rejections (which is all I got early on), I let them know when they asked. My advisor/senior project mentor seemed more anxious about hearing back from my prospective schools than I was, and I think he was far more upset about my rejections than I was! When my number one choice rejected me, he was kind of like, "how are you not in a fit of rage?" and proceeded to rant and rave about how stupid the admissions committee must be. The other professor was much more subdued, and just said, "they don't know what they're missing." So those two were just as invested in the process as I was, and not only did I excitedly let them know about my acceptances as soon as possible in person, I also gave them thank you cards and small gifts around graduation. My third writer I was not nearly as close to and I didn't often see her, but she did ask me about my progress when we would bump into each other around campus. She actually ended up finding out about my acceptances before I could tell her in person, because the other two immediately blabbed to the whole department, but I still told her about how excited I was, thanked her profusely, and told her which one I ended up choosing. In retrospect, I should have given her a card, too, although the cards I gave to the others were for more than just writing LORs for me. They were more like, "Thanks for being a great mentor and friend and also for helping me get into grad school." So I guess what I'm getting at is that your writers, whether you are close to them or not, will definitely want to know where you end up choosing, and will probably want to hear about of all your acceptances, too (although not necessarily as they roll in). Rejections you can keep to yourself unless asked. After all, I assume that if they wrote a LOR for you, then they think positively of you and know you well enough that they will be curious about the outcome.

Thanks for the input, Eigen and TakeruK. The course is like case 1, TakeruK. It has different course numbers for grads and undergrads, but the lectures and lab time are shared. I had been wondering how tests would be factored in... from what I've read on this forum, graduate classes tend to have fewer tests, so I wasn't sure if the grad students would end up having a different testing schedule than the undergrads, though I'm not sure then what the grad students would do on undergrad test days! It would be nice to be able to give a lecture at some point (or perhaps an extended presentation of some sort), because I would love the experience. I've given plenty of short presentations in different classes as an undergrad, but with the exception of my senior project presentation, I don't think I've done anything longer than 10 minutes.

I was wondering if anyone could shed some light on how combined courses work. I'm taking a limnology course that has a mix of grad and undergrad students, with the majority of students being undergrads (I believe it's around 15 undergrads and 5 grads). I'm sure I'll find out in a week when I have access to the course materials online, but I have been wondering for a while if there will just be extra work given to me (perhaps a literature review or something along those lines) or if I'll have to complete a research project of some sort. Are combined courses common? Are there any advantages or disadvantages to combined courses? Thanks!

I'm pretty excited, too! I'm not moving anywhere, but I am very happy about a lot of things that will be happening. I'm probably most excited about doing research. As an undergrad, I did get to do a few research projects, and I really enjoyed them, especially my senior project. I'm really looking forward to getting to do more, especially my master's thesis. Of course, I will have to wait until the spring for the field work to begin for that, but in the meantime, there will be lots to do to get ready! I'm also looking forward to meeting my classmates. As an undergrad, there weren't too many serious students in my major and the related ones (I majored in Environmental Bio, and I shared a lot of classes with Wildlife Bio and Environmental Resource Management majors). It seems liked all of the students that wanted to go to grad school were in the health science-type majors, while the environmental folks just wanted to graduate and get a job, and as a result, a lot of them didn't try very hard at anything. So it will be nice to be taking classes and working with like-minded people. Also, I've been working pretty much full-time in restaurants while working on my undergrad degree. I've been at my current job for over 5 years, and it's really getting on my nerves! Not ready to all out quit, though, the money is ok and my boss is very flexible with scheduling and letting me have any days off that I want. But I'm cutting back my hours and that makes me soooo happy. Only 2 weeks left!

I posted a while back about my adventures in applying to a mix of PhD programs and Master's. For some review, I was a serial major changer (I changed majors 13 times over 10 years, and I attended 4 different schools). I graduated with a 3.59 GPA from my undergrad school, but when you put all of my undergrad work together, my GPA is something like a 2.7. While at the time I was kind of bummed out, I was rejected from all of the PhD programs I applied to without so much as an interview. My LORs were great, I think my statements were pretty good, and my GREs aren't too shabby (160 verbal, 155 math, 4.5 writing). However, I was accepted to both of the Master's programs I applied to, and I already have the perfect thesis project lined up and funded at Bloomsburg University where I will be attending. Honestly, the project is a dream come true for an aspiring ornithologist and I get to travel abroad I am actually glad that I didn't get into a PhD program, because none of the potential research could hold a candle to this. Sure, there's no $25k stipend that I dream of getting, but since Bloomsburg is a state school, the tuition is cheap and it's close enough that I can still live in my parents' basement, though it may not be too glamorous. Some other positive notes. Since sending in all my apps, I have gained a lot more research experience, got several awards for my undergrad research, got an outstanding graduate award from my department, and am in the process of submitting my research for publication. Hopefully, by the time I apply to a PhD program again, I will have multiple publications which will no doubt help my app, plus I will have more research experience. My only concern will be getting really good LORs. I will no doubt get a strong one from my thesis advisor (assuming I don't suck), but I will not have as much time to work with and get to know professors as I did as an undergrad.

Perhaps I should have had this mindset from the get go. Right now I'm starting to get mowed down by my rejections. I haven't officially been rejected by Cornell, but I probably am, and I got rejected by Washington University in St. Louis, which I kind of expected (especially Cornell). But the only way to find out was to apply. However, getting rejected by Syracuse today really bummed me out! I thought I had a pretty strong application, and I really liked the program. I'm really hoping for good news from Penn State soon (maybe an e-mail from my POI to do an informal phone interview or something like that). Their program is the best fit and it's a great location. But we'll see, I guess.

Rejected today from Syracuse University. Bummer! It was one one of my top choices! I also felt really really good about the application Here's to Pittsburgh and Penn State... I hope they being my good news in the next few week. My chances of getting into a PhD program are starting to look slim, but I still have high hopes for the Master's programs.

applicatio Well, that site both made me feel confident and inadequate at the same time. According to their stats, Syracuse (Biology) got 95 applications and accepted 12, which makes feel a bit nervous about my application. Although it doesn't specify how many were PhD applicants and how many were MS applicants. For Pittsburgh (E&E), on the other hand, it says only 36 people applied (with 9 accepted). Much fewer people to compete with As usual, there are no stats for Penn State's Ecology program. I am completely blind for that program (there aren't even at results on here), other than my POI saying he had several people contact him about his lab. Edit: Also looked for the Master's programs I applied to. Drexel accepted 82%, and Bloomsburg took everyone. So at least I should be good on getting into a Master's program if the PhD program don't work out.