gelologist

It's not a bad idea to turn down wait lists you don't want even if you were to be accepted: that makes it more likely that others get in to those schools and turn down the ones you really want. Though of course it can be hard to let go when you don't have any acceptances; hang tough, y'all.

You shouldn't be, with a Columbia acceptance!

Assuming from "both years" you mean you're doing a master's. I think they're both good MS places, UTEP probably slightly better oil & gas connections? SDSU probably good for environmental or a stop over before a phd because they have strong ties to the UCSD/Scripps geophysics program, but that's just what I can gather. Yes, definitely more expensive at SDSU though (countered by the fact that at least IMO SD is the nicer place to be), and a little shaky that they don't upfront guarantee funding for the 2nd year (though if you get residency after the first year hopefully it convinces them/makes it easier to get funded?). My $0.02, hope it helps

Have you had any good news yet this app cycle? Hope you hear something soon. Obviously funding is a big limiter. You can certainly ask them if he knows of anyone else in the dept with similar interests who's still looking for a student. I don't know that I'd go around them, though, out of courtesy; what do you say if another POI takes you, and then he finds you funding, you know? Eek, sorry, still holding on to money and not sure if I'll accept/decline yet :| fingers crossed someone else comes through with your UNR money soon; it's a cool place!

My first thought was, "no," and, "oh crap I'm going to have to do a lot of them" hah. But I think short and simple and polite is best: "Dear Prof. X, Thanks for taking all the time to respond to emails, meet in person, and otherwise answer any questions I had about the program at Y. I was impressed by the quality of the program there and I had much fun on my visit. Still, after much thought, I've decided to accept an offer elsewhere (Univ). That said, I'm glad I had the chance to develop this professional connection: given the complementary nature of our shared research interests, I really do look forward to the prospect of collaborating together in the future! Best, zerozircon" Thoughts?

I did in fact confirm it was public before posting on the boards, you know Anyway, yeah all around a sticky situation; I was just playing Devil's Advocate and floating ideas. Hopefully things work themselves out, @sjoh197! Does your POI have *any* research money? Maybe it's not enough for an RA, but you could be a lab tech for a little while? Or even at somewhere like Rice, to stay in Houston? Doesn't hurt to ask people!

it's awful, but could you self fund for a year, max? then either teach or work on the side for a bit to defray things. you mentioned an SO, too? that could help and because you're a TX resident, tuition wouldn't even be much. GSA grants etc could help support any research you do otherwise and while you'd accomplish less, it still gets you going on dissertation work?

I'm not in O&G so I can't speak much to that. But if your goal is industry, an RA might be better - from experience, TA can be a time suck depending on your duties and if you're not doing academia, I'd hazard it's not as necessary. That 12 month back up support from Tulsa also sounds nice, too, in case things don't work out for summer placements (e.g. if this downturn continues). Of course it's also 2 years of life, so you want to be happy, too: if UNL feels that much better, than just make it work for you. Welcome to the boat of "how many people will I disappoint if I decline?" Small consolation perhaps: lots of these people are friends and know they're fighting for the same students. Most should be understanding!

Truer words: never spoken. Still, better than last year I suppose? When my proposal was summarized thusly: "I regard this as an average application."

I saw this on the side bar and warning, I'm not a chemist. But I lived on the UCI campus last summer and admittedly wasn't thrilled: apartment buildings are all removed from each other, even just getting around campus felt like you needed a car, and there's nothing in the immediate vicinity besides UCI and its little commercial center (with the trader joe's etc.), at least that I could find. And I say this having done undergrad in CA (and loving it), so driving wasn't a big deal. I'll counter myself with "I've never been to Chicago" and "yeah, but you only lived in Irvine for the summer which may be quieter than normal" and "Irvine is close to the beach, great weather, and (important for us geologists), has you within a few hours of mountains". Probably better for others to respond, but wanted to help if possible!

I largely agree with everything else ExponentialDecay said, except that line in particular; I feel like the math should just be above 160 if applying to a top-shelf school. I did 162 and that was like 83rd percentile, my gf did 163 and that was 90-something percentile, so it drops off quick even with just 1 point difference. But you're missing the point if you're fixating on scores. The message still stands that applying only to MIT is....misguided, for lack of a better word. Still, being above 320 (total V + M) I think should be good enough almost anywhere.

If you can pay for it debt-free, that's cool, and I'm not sure what I'd say in that case. But I say hearty "no" to taking on debt: work for a year, get $ and experience and be a better applicant, and apply again if needed. And I'm still disinclined to saying "pay for your own grad school"...I'm at a no-name master's school right now, and I don't think that hurt me, but I sure appreciated not having to pay tuition. YMMV.

On the topic of funding: those who have offers should go to www.phdstipends.com it's a site similar to TheGradCafe, only this one has details on stipend amounts at each school, and allows you to see how your financial offer compares to the living wage in a city. Making decisions is sometimes helped by knowing how far your money will go over 1-6+ years!

for what? school-wise, and being a field-based hard-rock geologist who's heard a lot for example about the seismo network they run at yellowstone, i'd say Utah, while acknowledging that i know little about KU. i don't know anything about the towns etc. though.

I'm not sure that's true: a good mentor will know that academia jobs are also really hard to come by. The whole mentioning professorship thing, I think, is more so that schools feel better about bringing someone up to the very edge of human knowledge: it's an expensive proposition, and one that's easier to swallow if you know that person will continue to advance the field afterwards. But it doesn't mean you have to want to be a professor (even if, admittedly, there aren't many places to advance the field without being faculty etc.). So long as you have a strong justification for the advanced degree, any future plans should qualify you for such study. But I also only know the grad student side of things, not the admissions committee side