DEVGRU

Congratulations!!! I applied too but was sadly rejected ... can't help being jealous ... T_T

Waiting for Columbia +1 ... I received the offer of Scripps on 30th Jan, but I'm pretty sure that they've not finalized their decisions as one of my classmates is still on the waiting list. You might wanna try contacting the graduate coordinator and your POIs, which should provide some useful info. Good luck!

Yeah it seems that no news is good news at this moment ... Yep, I study in Beijing ~

Hi kelin, I'm a PhD applicant to Stanford EESS and just like you I haven't got any news at all ... I tried to phone Newsha but nobody answered; couples of emails were sent to my POIs but there has been no response so far. Honestly I've got absolutely noidea where we are now ... Let's cross our fingers.

Saw another rejection on the GradCafe result page ... Can anybody help? Thx.

Two friends of mine got the AD in mid- or late-February. Feel free to PM me if you're interested in more information or getting in contact with them (I guess you are from China too?).

Hi there, I am applying to the Environment, Earth System Sciences (EESS) program at Stanford and recently notified that I'm on a waiting list. I checked some existing threads discussing what to do when your application is on hold (which is really helpful), but realized my situation is quite different and more complex, because my POI is on a research cruise at sea with little access to the Internet. I presume he won't be able to view my application materials or make admission decision until his return to California, which would be somewhere around early April. So any suggestion on what to do at this moment? Is it a good idea to contact some other professors in the same program though I've never mentioned them in my SOP or just wait with patience? Is there anything I can do to increase my odds of being admitted? Lots of thanks in advance! ps. Anyone here applying to the same program? Would love to hear from you; PM me if you wish. Thanks!

Thank all of you for sharing!

Thank you soooooooo much!!! That's really helpful information!

Hi there, I received an admission to Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UCSD (Earth Sciences PhD program). I was recently browsing the websites of some POIs and got shocked by the time it takes for a graduate student to earn his PhD degree: at least 6 years. Originally I thought 5 years would be moderate and typical, but I never expected a 5+ years of graduate life, which may suggest a pushy supervisor. So I was just wondering if this situation is completely normal or you also think is too long? Frankly speaking I admire the academic atmosphere at Scripps, but such a long duration will definitely be appalling and frustrating (at least to an international student like me). Any comment will be greatly appreciated!

Bless you & wish you the very best of luck!

Good luck to you and your friends! I knew one of my schoolmates got invited by a professor of geophysics for an informal campus visit to Stanford in January. (That's a bit early isn't it? I guess they've been in contact for a long time.) I just phoned the administrative staff at EESS program and she said the committee is still reviewing materials. I'm not sure whether this is also the case for GES, but there may be couple of weeks ahead before a decision could be made for EESS.

Hi guys, anyone heard from Stanford yet?

I guess another big difference is funding sources? In USA schools or departments usually cover your tuition fees and provide stipends, but in UK you may need to secure a funding by yourself.

Really appreciate that! Yes he is a very very very young faculty member, who joined the dept. last year, and has only a postdoc and an undergrad in his lab so far.

Since I'm in China, we chose to Skype online. The Professor who interviewed me did not grill me about my background, which I guess is either due to the complete profile included in the application materials, or because I did not major in geosciences for undergrad study. Rather interestingly, he was mainly introducing me what he has been doing (for his PhD and Postdoc period), what he is currently working on and some rough ideas about future projects, along with some other information about the department. I can say the he'd been talking for 3/4 of the whole interview, leaving me some time to ask questions about whatever I'm interested in (so I did ask, for example, his understanding of the trend in this field and his prediction about "the most interesting / important scientific questions in the next 20 years"). Oh, another thing worth mentioning is that he would like to see if I can follow him (both scientifically and linguistically) by repetitively asking "Does this make sense to you?". So I recapitulated his ideas and tried to connect my own experience to that. I'm not sure if this is common for native students in America, or for students who have different undergrad major(s). So I was just wondering if this interview, by and large, is normal and positive? Lots of thanks in advance!

The last line really helps. XD

Well, I've seen far worse cases ... One guy I know majoring in chemistry mistakenly submitted the SOP for CMU to another university (Duke or something; can't recall). The good news is he was allowed to make a modification; the fatally bad news is he can only ADD one paragraph to his original SOP. True story.

You're welcome. Good luck with your application!

Hi VBD, understandably the environment is such a huge and complex system, so different programs titled "Environmental Science" may look into it from different perspectives, which vary according to the affiliation of that program and as you say, will lead to different funding sources and job opportunities. A good example would be the ESPM and CEE at UC Berkeley, both of which contain "environmental" in their program names. To specify the difference, a Envi. Sci. program at Public Health School will most likely emphasize the health effects of pollution (in which you will do LOTS of epidemiological and toxicological studies); additionally some guys in the field of Public Policy and Environmental Economics are happy to look into the environment with their own approaches. On the other hand, at Earth Sciences departments (or other physical science divisions), they will focus more on the nature of the environment itself (rather than some socioeconomic consequences of pollution). That's to say more rigid training in math, physics, chemistry, biology, geology, programming and etc. is necessary. But more common is the fact that the so-called "environmental scientists" are divided into smaller communities dedicated to a more specific problem, e.g. atmospheric chemistry, water management, solid waste disposal, climate modeling and so on. I'm not 100% sure the purpose of your friend's question, so what I said above is about research methodologies and scopes. Hope you find it useful. p.s. My undergrad major is Environmental Science from a "chemistry" perspective, but an increasing number of faculty members and students in my department started doing health-related research, for it's easier to get funding. lol

I know some programs have TOEFL-philia (including Chemistry, Public Health and other science program), but for many programs, 95 would suffice and 105 would be a decent score.

Hi, seriously there is no need to worry. I don't think they screen material as fast as chemistry guys do. My upper classmates told me most of the departments may send notification in February or March. BTW I got an interview invitation from Princeton; all other schools remain silent. Anyway, it won't be a bad time to continue contacting faculty members and grad students for more "inside" information.

Here I am ... :-) Good to see you fellas. Undergrad Institution: Peking University (Beijing, China) Major(s): Environmental Science Minor(s): none GPA in Major: 3.63 Overall GPA: 3.64 Position in Class: Top 3 Type of Student: International GRE Scores (old version): Q: 800 V: 710 W: 5.0 TOEFL Total: 115 Research Experience: One undergrad research project (accomplished), which is unfortunately not pertinent to earth sciences. One data processing work while at Dept. of AOS, UCLA. Currently working on an interesting program on Holocene temperature reconstruction of China. Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Not worthy of mentioning Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Nope Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Exchange to UCLA for one quarter Special Bonus Points: Recommenders, I guess ... Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Writing samples I guess? Additionally I got some of my pretty slides for course presentation submitted. Applying to Where: Stanford - EESS - Paleoclimatology (Interested in Prof. Dunbar, but he did not reply my email) UCSD - Scripps - Paleoclimatology (Perfect place for ocean-based research; want to work with Prof. Christopher) Caltech - GPS - Geochemistry Harvard - EPS - Paleoclimatology (Prof. Schrag is very respectable in the field) UC Berkeley - EPS - Geochemistry MIT - EAPS - Paleoclimatology Princeton - Geosciences - Paleoclimatology (the only interview I got so far) UCLA - Geography - Palynology (aim at Prof. MacDonald, who was my course instructor at UCLA) These are tier 1 and tier 2 schools I am applying to.

Hi, I am applying to Earth Sciences PhD too and my undergrad major is Environmental Sciences, which makes us quite similar. Basically you have to justify your transition from your original field of study to the proposed one (your question #2), and need to demonstrate that your "exotic" background could well prepare your graduate research in Earth Sciences. I think the whole application is about selling yourself. So if I were the professor, I would definitely like to see your motivations (why you wanna do this) and capabilities (what you can do or have already done). In my personal opinion it would be helpful if you could highlight your unique advantages brought by your math background (e.g. superior numerical & modeling skills) compared to other applicants. In fact I once contacted some faculty members I'm interested in and tried to emphasize my intensive training in chemistry and instrumental analysis, which did work. Good luck!