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Hi, kmitch! I'll be getting into town in the middle of the first week of August, and I am beyond excited about the move. I'll keep an eye out for you at orientation events.

I'll be doing an intensive abstract algebra program at Cornell for the 8 weeks before I need to be at grad school. They will be using the same text as my PhD program, so I'll have a nice jump start on one of my courses this fall. Best case scenario, we cover enough material this summer that I can pass my algebra comprehensive exam before the year even starts, freeing my schedule for another class. Even if it's not enough to pass the comp, I'll still be a lot more comfortable with the material this fall. It would be absolutely worth it just for the coursework alone, but there is also a research component, lots of networking opportunities, and it pays well enough that I'll be able to afford new furniture for my apartment in Baton Rouge. Down time would be nice, but this program is too beneficial to turn down. Having spoken to a past participant, it's also a lot of fun.

Undergraduate Institution: Small Private Liberal Arts School Major: Math BA, Early Childhood/Childhood Education BA GPA: 3.83 Cumulative, 3.57 Major GRE: Verbal 164, Quant 162, AW 4.5 Graduate Institution: N/A Important Classes: Real Analysis, Differential Equations, Linear Algebra, Number Theory, Combinatorics/Graph Theory, Abstract Algebra, Mathematica Coding Research Experience: 2 REUs (UNC-Asheville 2011, LSU 2012) Publications: 2 in the pipeline Grants: None Teaching experience: Student teaching for education degree, but none at the college level. Tutoring, both group and individual. LORs: 2 from professors with whom I had taken several classes, 1 from research advisor at LSU. Applied: RPI (Applied - PhD), Colorado State (Pure - PhD), Brandeis (Pure - PhD), Florida State (Pure - PhD), Louisiana State (Pure - PhD), Rice (Pure - PhD), University of Iowa (Pure - PhD), SUNY Binghamton (Pure - PhD) Accepted: RPI (Declined before offer of $$), Binghamton ($$), LSU ($$) Rejected: CSU, Brandeis, Rice Removed from consideration after accepting other offer: FSU, Iowa Attending: LSU

I'm counting down the days until I start my pure math PhD at Louisiana State University.

I've looked into the music program at the school I will be attending, and they have lots of opportunities for graduate students to participate in ensembles. I'm going to hold off for a semester or two before I commit to anything musical, just so I have time to better understand what my time constraints will be like in the grad program. In the meantime, I'll keep practicing flute and oboe, and keep an acoustic guitar and bass in my living room for spontaneous music with my friends and colleagues.

I applied to 8 and was accepted at 4. I received 1 rejection and have heard back from the other 3 schools. I think 8 schools seems reasonable. I made sure they all had programs that aligned with my research interests, and made a point to only apply to schools I would be thrilled to attend. I didn't want any "fall-backs," because I didn't want to feel stuck in a less-desireable program for the next 5-6 years.

Another thing you want to consider when setting up your business cards is your contact number. I use a Google Voice number for several reasons: I can control who is able to contact me. If I don't want to hear from someone, Google Voice screens the calls for me. I never have to worry about changing my phone number. If I change cell phone providers, I just update the info on the Google Voice site and it automatically forwards to my new cell phone. I can control which phones ring. The Google Voice number can forward to multiple phones, so I can have those calls ring on my cell, my home, and my office phone all at the same time. I don't run the risk of missing calls. Voicemails and texts can easily be forwarded to your email address. Even if you don't have a cell signal, you'll still know that someone called. I got to pick my own number. For me it was mathy. You may want to search for a number that ties in with your field of study or that spells something easy to remember. I've been a happy user since beta, and highly recommend the service.

You have my sympathies. My 7-year marriage ended without warning in August of last year. As if the divorce process itself isn't stressfull enough, I suddenly found myself being a single parent to a teenager and having to work full time to afford my last year of undergrad. Grad school is my bright spot. It's my fresh start. I'll have a new apartment with all new furniture (cheaper than moving my existing things half-way across the country). I'll be at a school I love, doing work that I love, and I won't have to deal with the fear of bumping into my ex-husband every time I leave the house. My son is excited about the move, and while he has to leave behind friends, he sees it as a fresh start as well. My advice is to look into activities in the area around your grad school. What better time to get out and try something new? You'll need a break from studies anyway. Why not make this the year that you learn how to knit or tap dance or even join a roller derby team? You'll be giving yourself the opportunity to grow as an individual and expanding your social circle in the process. I won't lie and say that any of this is easy or that I'm not at all scared about making things work this fall, but I try to look at it as the incredible opportunity it is. After a few months I've also come to be very grateful that things ended when they did. I have had time to pick up the pieces, and I most of the beurocracy will have been handled before I leave the state. Better that it happened last August than in the middle of preparing for qualifying exams or getting ready to defend my thesis.

My business cards have been invaluable at conferences and seem to garner a lot of positive response. I tried to make the design reflect my love for math, but still keep things useful for a non-math recipient of the card. The printed cards have rounded corners, and what looks grey on the screen is actually a metallic silver ink. As pears suggested, I keep enough room that I can jot down other information if needed. I like to think that when I'm handing someone a business card, it's not just a list of contact info, but rather a 2" x 3.5" sample of my personality.

I'll be moving half-way across the country for grad school, so I've been mulling this decision as well. After pricing furniture in Baton Rouge, it just makes more sense to downsize what I have here and start over fresh down south. It will take some effort, but I should be able to get things into two carloads. I'll do one trip right after graduation to put a load of things into storage in BR. Then I'll do my summer program up here, load up the car one more time and head out for good. I'll be doing a yard sale once the weather is nicer. I have a few friends who have dibs on some of my bigger furniture. Whatever I can't unload through those means or Craigslist will be donated. It seems like a daunting amount of work right now, but I've really been thinking of grad school as a fresh start, so having new (to me) furniture will be one more way to emphasize that point.

Glad to hear you liked it. I'm very excited about making the move, but not so much about all of the downsizing I need to do before then. I'm doing a summer program at Cornell, so I need to be move-ready two weeks after graduation. Kind of wishing I had a magic "montage button" to speed things up. We are rehoming our two dogs. I just didn't feel like I would be able to give them the attention they need while spening most of my waking hours at school. It won't be easy on either my son or me, but it really is in the best interests of the pups in our particular circumstance.

I am in the middle of a divorce that should be final before the end of the year. As devastating and stressful as it is, I'm glad it happened before the move half-way across the country and the onset of PhD-level workload. As it is, I'm looking at grad school as a chance at a fresh start.

I will be doing my PhD in math. I hope you have a great time seeing the campus. It's much bigger than the tiny liberal arts school I'm attending now, but it is very beautiful. Let me know if you have any questions about living arrangements. I have several friends who have been grad students there for a few years, so they have been plying me full of suggestions.

I just signed my acceptance letter and am looking forward to heading to Baton Rouge this fall. I did some research there last summer, so I'm already familiar with the area. It would be great to get to know other students who will be starting grad school there this year. I figured I'd start a thread for this year, since the existing one is primarily for previous years. Looking forward to hearing from you!

I had a phone conversation with the coordinator a couple of weeks ago, and basically heard the same thing. Offers are coming, but the final decisions haven't been made yet. We also talked about their visitation weekend coming up next month. I am very eager to hear back, though. As other offers start coming in, I'm becoming more and more aware of how critical funding is in my ultimate decision.

I'm thinking a weekend away in a nice hotel somewhere just far enough from home that I don't accidentally bump into someone I know.

Stout, one of my two Shelties, having the good sense to actually be asleep at 1:30 AM as opposed to being half-awake doing complex analysis homework like his silly owner. My other sheltie, Guinness. Not mine, but my fairly regular cat-sitting cuddle-buddy.

I just got a new tablet for note-taking and e-textbooks. The first Internet bookmark? thegradcafe.com. That was followed very shortly by the application status update pages of all of the schools from which I have yet to hear back. Between the insane workload of my final semester of undergrad, the stress of divorce, and the obsession with grad school admissions, I think I deserve a treat for not spending most of my days curled up in the fetal position in a heap of unfolded laundry at the bottom of my closet.

I'm 37, finishing up my UG, and will be starting a PhD program in the fall. Still not 100% sure where I'll end up, as I've only heard back from one of the eight programs to which I have applied. I am in the process of getting a divorce right now, which will hopefully be final shortly after the start of my grad program. (Yay, for extra stress.) I have a 13 year old son who will be coming with me to whichever program I end up attending. I have been completely honest about my family situation with the schools to which I applied, even though I know it could end up hurting my chances of acceptance. Ultimately, though, I didn't want to hide the fact that I was a single mom. I'd much rather be denied admission than to omit the truth and get into a program that was not supportive of graduate students with families. So far it has played in my favor, which has surprised me a bit. Best of luck to everyone who is still waiting to hear back from programs. I feel like at this stage in my life it is going to be a huge change, but one that I'm very excited about making.

37 here. Definitely not in the "traditional" crowd, but I don't think about it too much.

I'm 37 and just finishing up my Bachelor's degree. I have already been accepted to a highly ranked PhD program and am eagerly awaiting responses from several other schools. I get along well with the traditional undergraduates at my current school, and don't forsee many social difficulties in grad school. I've done a couple of REUs and didn't feel out of place there either. My biggest concern is parenting a teenager while getting through grad school. Fortunately, I already have a network of parent/grad student friends from whom I can draw advice and inspiration. Best of luck to you!