Ezzy

What happened with that bathroom? The more you post about this, the more it seems clear to me that you probably did something totally out of line, because I refuse to believe that one small, honest mistake like going through the wrong door would lead to all of this. Did you say something inappropriate? Do something to cross boundaries? Because if so, you deserve all of this. The dearth of women in science is bad enough without predation from within.

I went to a small HBCU for undergrad and am in a medium-sized predominantly white university for grad school.  I don't think I did anything special to adjust/transition; people are people.  I think you have to reach beyond stereotypes or prejudices that you may have of people of other races (and yes, we do develop them at HBCUs, sometimes unwittingly) to be able to connect to the others in your cohort.  Don't assume that they don't understand; grad students especially can be pretty perceptive about race relations and privilege.  I'm not saying that the world is a utopia, but generally other grad students have not treated me any differently because of my race or my college (some of them don't even realize that it is an HBCU until I explain it.)
 
I think you also have to be a little bit more open to explaining things to people of different races.  For example, I am currently transitioning my hair from relaxed to natural which has naturally brought up a lot of questions from my non-black friends (which are most of my grad school friends).  I've had to explain a little but I've had some really enjoyable conversations about cultural perceptions of beauty - everybody's culture has something.  Pretty much every time I've had to explain something race-related I've had these really interesting conversations about what's marginalized in other cultures.  It's made me realize on more than just a cognitive/academic level that there are many other ways to be oppressed besides race.
 
I think the most persistent feeling that gets you down sometimes is the feeling that you don't really belong.  It pops up every now and then, sometimes for no reason at all, sometimes triggered by a class conversation, sometimes by the fact that all the alumni paintings in the department are of old white men.  I think being black can maybe intensify imposter syndrome - any day now they are going to realize that you don't belong.  Sometimes there can also be the fear of being perceived as "too black" - maybe slipping into vernacular English, or what the cohort is going to think of you if you get braids (protip: I got UNIVERSALLY positive feedback from students and professors when I wore long braided extensions for 3 months.  Seriously, everyone freaking loved it and most people said so.  I've gotten really positive feedback on my natural/transitioning hair, too - my non-black friends are my biggest cheerleaders for going natural; they even helped me unbraid my hair!).
 
But those things are not limited to racial experiences - they're how women can feel in male-dominated departments, or LGBT people can feel in mostly straight and cisgendered departments, or people with disabilities can feel in departments with most able-bodied folks.  Rinse and repeat.  You sort of just take it one day at a time.
 
I don't know, being at a predominantly white university has been a really positive experience for me.  It helps that my university is incredibly diverse.

I don't like US News. It seems like they are in it just for money and to create drama and hype over minute ranking changes.
 
If anyone is curious, I am a fan of the NRC rankings, primarily if you are looking at PhD programs. The link below is for my field, but you can choose just about any engineering field, except for very specialized areas like petroleum engineering. 
 
http://chronicle.com/article/NRC-Rankings-Overview-/124751/
 
Due to the added rigor of the rankings they are not updated every year. They give 90% confidence intervals for what they call s-rank and r-rank (note that research, student outcomes, and diversity are all factors included in the s-rank), and they state that both are equally valid. Click the link to the FAQ for more info on how they develop the rankings.
 
Cheers.

I'm sure that I could cut it at Caltech, I'm just more worried about whether I would be miserable doing it. I've been working in a lab for a while at my undergraduate campus and have met enough grad students that hate their lives that I am trying to consider quality of life issues for my own grad choices. I want a PhD, but I also want to leave myself an out just in case. 5-6 years is a long time to hate yourself. 
 
I visited both campuses, and I got the sense from a few of the Caltech students that they wish they had dropped early. Everyone seemed happy at Yale. Just seeing if this lined up with other peoples' impressions
 
Thanks for the help everyone. 

"My GRE v:400 Q:700 AW:2.5"
 
This is why. A great GRE score won't come close to guaranteeing admissions, but a poor score will cause you to be rejected. You would have been automatically rejected from everywhere on the basis of these scores (by administrative staff, not faculty) before anyone who knows your university had a chance to read your application. I'll use Georgia Tech as an example (since the information below is easily available on their website).
 
Your verbal score is in the 28th percentile, so you did better than 28% of applicants. The verbal isn't very important for industrial engineering, but this score would be seen as very concerning. The average Georgia Tech percentile for the PhD program is the 73rd percentile (so the average successful applicant does better than 73% of all applicants).
 
Your quant score is in the 64th percentile, so you did better than 64% of applicants. This isn't close to what you'll need to get into a decent engineering PhD program. The average Georgia Tech percentile for the PhD program is the 94th percentile (so the average successful applicant does better than 94% of all applicants).
 
Your AW score is in the 6th percentile, so you did better than 6% of applicants. This would be extremely concerning for admissions. Considering the huge number of applicants who have English a second language, to only do better than 6% of applicants indicates one thing to admissions committees; that you can't speak English. Of course, your posts show that your English is passable, so it is hard to say why this happened.The average Georgia Tech percentile for the PhD program is the 49th percentile.
 
So none of your scores in any category are close to being good enough. Your verbal and AW indicate (to adcoms, not me!) that you can't speak English, and your quant score just isn't sufficient either.
 
The bigger issue though? You clearly didn't do much investigation into the programs you were applying to before you submitted. You list your scores in the old format (rather than the newer format out of 170 for verbal and quant), and so you must have taken your GRE quite some time ago. This means you should have a great deal of time to investigate each of the programs you applied to and to discover that your GRE scores were way below the average successful applicant in all three sections (as I said, the GRE score information is generally available on each programs website). You should have then had plenty of time to study to improve your scores (because the GRE absolutely can be trained for) drastically in order to align with your GPA and research experience.
 
Whether or not the PhD admission process is fair in general, your rejection is. That you are in any way surprised at your rejections means you didn't give the admissions process enough time or attention, and rejecting such a candidate is definitely fair.
 
But all is not lost, you can study for the GRE and improve your scores. With ScoreSelect, you don't need to send your current scores and so they need not ever work against you again. Since you clearly took the GRE some time ago, you might find that your scores will have increased naturally if your English has improved in that time (in all three sections, since a lack of understanding questions in the quant section could be a reason for your poor score there).
 
Good luck!, and next time, make sure you read absolutely everything about what is expected of successful applicants at the programs you applied to.

I would say you're probably going to need to go back and get a BS in a related field. 
 
You won't have the background courses or research experience to head to grad school coming from a really week 2 years of science and then an Art Studio degree. 
 
You might be able to get into a weaker MS program, and move up from there, but if you went back and did well with a second BS, you could probably apply straight to virology PhD programs. 

say what

If the recently-graduated PhD picture is so bleak, why is the overall unemployment of PhD's lower than those holding a B.S. or M.S. degree?  2.5% unemployment @ $84,000 median income doesn't look so bleak to me...
 
http://www.bls.gov/emp/ep_chart_001.htm

Applied physics Ph.D. is basically an engineering degree. It teaches physics principles in an applied manner. Therefore, this degree would be used in application working with companies or universities. It is extremely closely related to an engineering doctrate. A Ph.D. in physics is taught in theoretical terms. This teaches you basics and allows you to explore more. This would be a Ph.D. for theoretical scientists, astronomers, geologists, etc. This degree is meant to train you to research on your own.

What would be harder? A Ph.D. in physics would be, hands-down. Applied physics would be more focused on completing classes, and physics would be focused on you making a thesis. A Ph.D. in physics would no doubt be harder to get into, as well. An applied physics Ph.D. would simply look at how many classes you've done; a physics Ph.D. would look at how much of your own research you are capable of.

Hope this helps!

Hi All,
 
So the other day I received a very nice offer for a Princeton MSE. I was hoping I could get some information generally about graduate student life there. I didn't have much of a social life as an undergrad (commuted all four years), so I'm definitely looking to meet some new people and have some fun. 
 
Princeton kind of seems like more of an undergrad school than an undergraduate school to me. Does anybody know if these groups mix? What's the social scene like for a masters student at Princeton??

A month ago, I sent my CV and Transcripts to a Professor in EPFL for the consideration of an PhD opening. Today I got the following reply:

"Dear Y,

We went through your application and your technical profile would be highly suitable for the project. However, in discussing your profile with our Indian partners, we anticipate potential logistic difficulties related to the 'special' relationship between India and your country. We sincerely regret that these troubles still exist, but we depend on flexible travel arrangements in India for the candidate and therefore decided not to go forward with your application.

We sincerely hope you do not take this personal and thank you for sending us your application,

All the best in your future career."
 
How ridiculous? I never heard about such 'special' relationship between India and Bangladesh!!! Rejection is not a big deal, even I wasn't that much interested on that PhD project; but the reason they showed sounds really irritating.
 
I just replied: 
 
"Hello Dr. X,
  I don't mind to get a rejection; I understand it is quite normal in any kind of application process. But the cause you mentioned is quite ridiculous. I never heard any problem between Bangladesh and India. There are lots of student from Bangladesh goes to India and also some student from India goes to Bangladesh to study every year. Even I visited almost half of the India during my Bachelor level, I didn't face any tiny bit of problem.   This email is just for the clarification of your misinformation (Some people might have some ego issue); not for the reconsideration of my application.   Thank you very much."    

Too much whining. If they say March, MIT has a right until march to decide.If they say March, MIT has a right until march to decide.
 
The application FAQ said results come out "starting mid February", and the actual application says to check for results in March.
 
If you lost so much respect for MIT, please feel free to withdraw your application so that the ones of us who do still have respect for them can attend.

since we're up to our necks in the waiting process now, we've had a lot of negative vibes on this board lately, so i wanted to share one of my favorite things ever: the calming manatee. 
 

 
calming manatee loves you unconditionally. it wants to make sure you're nourishing your body, as well as your mind and soul. 
 

 
calming manatee agrees: it's totally jerky of adcomms to make you wait so long, after you put so much work into your applications. 
 

 
still, calming manatee is just as realistic as you are, and understands that sometimes a tasty beverage is the best solution.
 
 
in general, this is now a thread full of soothing and smile-inducing things from around the interwebs. waiting and decision-making are really stressful, so i think we all owe it to ourselves to create a little refuge of good vibes to temporarily distract us all from the swirling vortex of dismay, worry, and apprehension. 
 
enjoy, friends 

This seems to have happened to a few people (not just me), so I figured I would start this topic here.
 
I had applied to the EECS (Bio-EE) program at Stanford. I just got a letter congratulating me for being accepting to the MS program (even though I already have a MS). Is this their way of saying they want certain students to come but they lack the funding for those students (I am guessing so because PhD students are typically funded 3 quarters rather than full tuition)? Based on past years' results, students do get rejected from PhD programs, which makes me believe not everyone rejected gets this automatic transfer to MS.
 
What are your thoughts?

just be glad that you don't have to wait for acceptance letters while also writing a master's thesis that is already late

sophiak119, as others have said, please talk to a counsellor if you're having suicidal thoughts. 
Look, I was rejected from all the programs I applied to last year. It was shameful admitting that to my friends, family, colleagues, etc (and admitting to myself that I wasn't as good as I thought). Applying to grad school is time-consuming and a lot of people get more emotionally-invested in the procedure than they expect. 
 
But as I'm sure you can see from reading around the forums, it isn't that unusual to get rejected from all the grad schools we applied to on the first attempt. More people are applying to PhD and MA programs, while the schools are finding it harder to get funding. The end result is that a more people than ever are getting rejected and forced to re-apply. Everybody understands how crazily competitive the application process is, no one will consider you any less of a person if you don't get any offers this year. 
 
A bad first attempt wasn't the end of the world for me, and it won't be the end of the world for you. I took time strengthening my application, re-applied and got acceptance letters. Sure it took a year out of my life, but as far as I'm concerned it was worth it.
 
It sounds like you've got so fixed on the grad school applications that you've lost sight of the bigger picture (ie, that grad school is not the be all and end all of your life). Spend a day hanging out with your friends doing something fun. Take up a new sport. Volunteer for a charity. Have a mini weekend holiday to a nearby city. There is more to your existence than getting into a graduate program.

Definitely tell at least one person you trust, and as above, take advantage of your school's counseling services. There's no reason to let this wreck your semester.

sophiak, please talk to someone in person, the sooner the better. I don't know what else to say, other than that you need real-life support right now. Maybe start with a friend or a chaplain, your RA if you live in dorms ...

If your school has a free counseling center, definitely take advantage of it. Let someone know about how you're feeling, even just a close professor or advisor.
 
Even if you can't see a future without grad school now, I promise that there is one. And even though you may think it's the end of the world, it's only end of a small world out of thousands of possibilities. It's the end of the idea of going to grad school in fall and the expectations that come with that. But it is not the end of the world in which you can attend grad school at all, the world in which you can fall in love or travel the world, or the end of the world in which you can do many other exciting and fulfilling things.
 
Just remember that grad school is a small part of life compared to all that is out there. And you have a support system here and with your friends, family, and colleagues. /hugs

Compare this number (5, I think) to the total from last year. There's TONS more coming in the next couple of days! (I hope!!)

Compare this number (5, I think) to the total from last year. There's TONS more coming in the next couple of days! (I hope!!)

4. You're so smart, of course you'll get in!
3. You'll get in because everyone knows the average American is an uneducated redneck, so there'll be no competition (hurrah for feel-good foreigner philosophy)
2. What's your Plan B?

And my personal favorite...

1. You know you can always teach highschool when you finish your English PhD.

Yup. I'm disturbed. Thank you for this thread.

I got an email this morning with the subject line, "Congratulations Are in Order!" Needless to say, I got pretty happy....
 
But it was just about a professor in my department winning a university award. Damn . My descent into hyper-strung madness continues.

I got an email this morning with the subject line, "Congratulations Are in Order!" Needless to say, I got pretty happy....
 
But it was just about a professor in my department winning a university award. Damn . My descent into hyper-strung madness continues.

Bones, OK, things are a little clearer now.

My advice is that you should go past this incident and move on. As someone said, take the whole thing as a lesson.
Your purpose in coming to this institution is not to make money by any means necessary but to acquire knowledge.
Well, this is part of it ... Learning about research politics.

I hope this helps you.