GeoDUDE!

You should probably look at schools with a lot of oil company funding (which will be competitive) and unranked shcools (where funding will be competitive because there isn't as much funding available)

I personally think that both 13 inch and 15 inch is too small for any real work: Buy a 24 inch monitor for the home/office (wherever you do most of your work) or something better and connect your laptop to it. I personally bought a very expensive monitor because i think its worth having the extra pixel real-estate (3440x1440 vs 1920x1080). Consider your power needs: a 15 inch macbook book pro for example is significantly more expensive and powerful than a 13 inch macbook air. The 13 inch air is more portable, but power and cost difference is bigger. Anyway, just some things to consider.

Tbh, you should have gotten her number. Now you know to say "hey, talking to you was really fun, we should hang out again, whats your number?" after talking to ANYONE for 40 minutes. Thats how you make friends, and is not a 'dating' thing. Stop by her cafe and ask if she wants to do something after work. Make sure to get her number. Even if she doesn't want a romantic relationship, she probably wants a friend. If you are ok with her just being a friend, then you are set.

A high GRE means you can do simple tasks very well; something that most people on this board struggle with. A lot of people like to pretend the GRE is meaningless, but now the departments you are applying to can nominate you for school wide fellowships/scholarships. It will help your application, especially if you have close to a perfect GPA. FWIW, most school wide fellowships are GPA/GRE based. Most departments want to take students that are competitive for those so it opens up a TA/GSR spot. While other people have opinions, this is the reality. While a GRE will not guarantee you admissions, think about it like a chocolate cake: would you rather have one with whipped cream/cherry on top or plain? Most people go for the whipped cream, good job!

before the deadline

Did you read the links in that topic? Namely: http://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1452/points-to-remember-when-having-to-write-recommendation-letter-yourself?rq=1

Already covered here:

It's not worth it. The 1 line that it adds to your CV will be seen as filler.

Often times, when approaching problems like these, you can still publish incremental progress if you do not fully solve it. If that is what you are interested in, go for it. Never let a difficult problem stop you from doing what you want to do.

URI is not a high acceptance rate (as someone who got into URI Oceanography dept). Their Oceanography department also hosts geologists/geophysicists/geochemists and thus there are many people who apply to the school. I don't know how good their oceanography research is (I would imagine very good) but as a general "Earth Science" school its one of the better schools, and certainly one of the better programs in the north east.

Have you spoken to him about this candidly? Sometimes people are not aware of their actions: its time to be an adult. I would have found this incredibly insulting

I use a rotring 800 drafting pencil for almost everything

It might, it might not: I would apply to some MS programs if you do not already have one (or have one from india).

To add to Takeruk's advice: personality matters a lot more than people want to admit. PI's don't necessarily want the most intellectual students (doesn't hurt), but the student who will work best in the lab. So if you are very likable, interviews are great!

Your application is competitive, but all the schools you are applying to are state institutions which are far more difficult for international students to get into. That being said Washington and Scripps take a lot of international students but are also a lot more competitive. I think you will probably get in somewhere, but I would add private schools to your application like LDEO and WHOI, though those are competitive as well.

google

There is no such thing as a perfect fit: claiming so would be disingenuous in itself. Both can be great fits.

A good statement of purpose is one that states the reasons why you want to go to graduate school. It is not as complicated as one thinks.

I guess the point of going to school is so other people are jealous. No wonder you are unhappy.

No one will ever like you with that attitude, no matter how prestigious of a school you go to (and UCSD is very prestigious) you cannot succeed acting like that. Perhaps academia is not for you.

Bootstrapping might help: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bootstrapping_(statistics) it might reveal some of the biases in the measuring techniques.

You should apply to every school where you are very interested in doing research and then make decisions based on where you might want to go after you get acceptances. Location, personalities, and prestige should come after you got an acceptance. Research should be the list you start out with.

Request a refund?

It would be a red flag if you didnt have at least 1 from your masters institution, in my opinion. I applied after the first year of my 2 year masters program with 1 from my research advisor and 2 from my undergrad. You only need 1.

Why would you deprive yourself opportunities to get into graduate school? If you do not apply this year, you will surely not get in this year. Waiting another year just means you have less chance to get into graduate school since you will always have the same opportunities next year.