bsharpe269

I agree that the research credit hours don't mean anything and that 9 hours is very light! My research technically counts as 3 hours but that involves at minimum 5 hours of actual meeting time per week and probably 30 hours of work on my own. I am not including things like applying for research fellowships or other lab tasks (like showing potenital new grad students who are interested in our lab around campus) in this either. I think that this sort of level is what is expeted of a grad student. Since you are already almost half way through then my best advice to you is to finish up the masters and then leave. If you trasfer departments who will pretty much be starting over. I would try to find ways to enjoy the program more... maybe you can take a class next semester in another department that you find interesting and count it? Or maybe try to do research at another school over the summer to get a break from there? I am sorry that you feel out of place! I would try to make it work until you complete the masters and if you find yourself really too miserable to make it there then quit/reapply/etc. It is definitely not worth being completely miserable for.

How would someone focus on fit without selecting a group? Shouldnt we be applying to the grad programs where the top 10-15 people in our subfield are?

I call all of my professors Dr .... I am a masters student but the phd students do the same. I even refer to by PI who I have been working with for 6 months Dr ... I would feel awkward addressing them with their first names!

If it hits the middle of the knee that I would say youre good. It looks comfortable as well... with the stress of the itnerview the last thing you want to be dealing with is uncomfortable clothes too!

I don't really understand the logic here. If your goal is research then you will be persuing your goals during your phd as well. I also graduated early form college but like others mentioned, grad school is different because I wont be taking out loans so I dont need to rush it to save money. I am so in love my research projects that I never wish that time would speed up and let me move on the next stage. I have had that feeling while not pursing my passions but when I realllllly love something, like I love working on my projects, I wish that it would slow down and let me savor it longer. If you don't love it enough to let it take 5-6 years and just enjoy it then I would say that it probably isnt the perfect field for you.

Why did you apply to Pitt to begin with if there isnt a professor with a perfect research fit? I assume the one you mention is a pretty perfect fit and highly respected or else you wouldnt have applied there to begin with? I think there is a pretty negative view of staying at the same school for undergrad and phd. It is very important to get multiple perspectives and experiences. My advice would be to go to the new school if its an awesome research fit or reapply to programs next year that are a good fit.

I think that something along these lines is ideal but I think that particular dress looks a tiny bit too short to me, unless you are on the shorter side and it hits your knees. That dress looks almost long enough to me but I dont think I would play around with an 'almost' appropriate outfit at an interview this important. My opinion is that if you can find something like that but a tad longer, then it would be perfect!

How good of a fit is the higher ranked school? I'm guessing if it wasn't a great fit as well then you wouldn't have had the desire to apply. So are you talking about perfect fit vs 2nd perfect fit or more like the highly ranked school doesn't have any research at all that meshes with your interests.

Have you read his publications? Why did you choose to work with him?

The thing about emailing professors is that its not really for them, its for you. How do you know if you are a good fit for the lab without talking to them first? How do you know that they have the sort of mentoring style that you are looking for? I would not apply to a place where the POI didnt respond because it may just be a waste of an application fee and I certainly know that a professor who ignores students isnt going to the sort of mentor who I want. I think that if a POI doesnt respond then he is neutraly interested in your application, so if you get in then he will think about talking to you but doesnt really care. If I POI sees your experience and thinks that it is exactly what he needs in the lab then he would definitely respond because he would want to make sure you apply to his program and are accepted. I also wouldnt want to go to a school where the professor isnt that interested in my application. Idk those are my thoughts... I need to "interview" professors before I spend hundereds of dollars applying to work with them.

I think that contacting him, describing your experience, and explaining that you are so interested in his work that you want to reapply with him next year is a wonderful idea. Then you can ask for advice on improving your applicaiton. You might even mention that you will be looking for summer internships and if he find the need for another student that you would welcome the opportunity. That could help in getting accepted next year. I would NOT contact the professor at the school you have not heard from. The point in contacting is to get the information you need to know if it is worth your time to apply. I apply next year and am actively reading papers by around 20 people who could be potential advisors. I have been able to to narrow down/add more to this list by reading a ton of papers but I also want to make sure that they have the mentor style that I am looking for in a supervisor, are currently focussing on the ideas in the papers that I am most interested in, and are taking students. I dont know how I could apply without knowing things unless I just want to waste money on schools that I am not certain I would want to attend. Applying now wouldnt help you learn these things at all so it would just make it seem like you are trying to get admission.

I agree, it doesnt hurt to ask!

I think that it completely depends on your motive. For me, the research that I am getting into is so incredibly interdiscipanry. I have seen professors associated with chemistry, biochem, biophysics, bioinformatics, computational biology, and even 1 in a statistics department working in my specific area. If there are 2 professors at a university who I am interested in working with and they are associated with two different departments then I certainly think that any school will understand why I applied to both departments. Keep in mind that your applications may be shared (probably not but who knows?) so make sure that they dont come off as indecisive, but rather let them einforce that you know exactly what you want to study and because of that, you needed to apply to 2 departments within the school. I also think that it may be possible to apply to 2 departments for the same POI, to increase chances as mentioned above. I suppose here that you would essentially submit the same exact application. I would not do this without asking the POI whether it is recommended and definitely make sure the POI knows that you are doing because they are your 1st choice research advisor, not because you cant make up your mind. If you are just applying to 2 departments because you want to increase chances of getting into the school (and havent discussed it with a POI) then I think you risk coming off as the sort of person who just wants to get into grad school and isnt applying for scpecific research goals.

Thanks for the advice! I hadnt really considered applying for NSF funding but I am pretty hardcore into research and think that I could put something decent together so I definitely will plan on it!

If you applied to this school for this specific professor then you obviously think that you have experience/skills that you can offer his lab. If this lab is a good enough fit that you chose it over the many other options in the country, then it must mesh with your skills and interests. Regardless of the specific qualifications of other students, remember that you are not all applying for this same lab and you definitely have some skills to offer that they dont.. so what are they? Read back over your SOP, read back over your resume, find confindence in the fact that this lab is a perfect fit for you and you for it. Instead of being nervous or focusing on being perfect or better/worse than other candidates, just focus on showing the committee how perfect of a fit this really is.

I don't think that grad school will weigh one heavier than the other so I recommend looking at the content of both tests and taking whichever one you feel more comfortable with.

If he has hte same last night then I would say that it is less impressive but still much much better than none at all. I agree with the idea that a semester or summer with him could lead to the experience that will get you another offer. If he doesnt have the same last name then no one would really know. Definitely don't lie about it if it comes up and if they figure it out or ask then be honest. The only potential issue I see is that sometimes grad schools specify that you cannot get recommendation letters from relatives and you definitely want to use a research advisor as one of your letters.

Wow I definitely could't live in a different city than my spouse but I do know a couple who did it for her whole phd. My fiance and I have narrowed down the list of schools I am applying to based on where he can succeed in his field. Is there no way for your spouse to move with you? My person opinion is that once you have a kid, things like living away from them for grad school arent really an option. They need you there with them and their needs come before desires of the parents. This is a personal opinion though and I don't mean it as a criticism. You have to do what is best for your family of course and no one but you guys can judge what that is. Good luck in whatever you decide!

I am not sue why you "demand full transparency." The school doesnt owe you anything. You could politely request that you let you know the weakness in their application so that you can improve for next year. Your resume sounds impressive but that alone doesnt get you into a program. You need a focused SOP, great LORs etc. It is possible that the letter writers did not write all positive feedaback, that would be one way to destroy an application. Also, sometimes the hardest people to work with are those that are smart and have a good background but have an "I am better than this class, these people attitude." Your post here comes off a bit like that (which could be entirely unintential on your end). The fact that you dont put efforts into classes if you dont feel like it and the attitude you have about being an undergrad advising grad students could definitely be red flags to the adcom if you gave off the same vibes in your applicaiton. Did you apply to more programs as well? Being accepted to a signle program is unlikely so you would have a better shot if you applied to multiple programs. Either way good luck! It sounds like you make a great researcher so my best advice is to retry next year and apply to 5-10 programs at least. It is very likely that you will get into one if you go that route.

Ok, so would I just put this together on my own then without the assistance of a potential POI? I supose that I could go to my current advisor for some advice related to this? I could certainly do it on my own but I think that being advised/edited by someone in the field would improve the statements a lot.

It could totally happen. Acceptance usually has more to do with research fit than anything else so if you fit better with the higher ranked school then you will be more likely to get in there. I think it also has to do with the professor's "rank". For example, there are many ivys that I would never consider applying to because their professors arent as well know as i would like while there are many professors at top 50ish ranked school who are basically celeberties. My chance of getting in with the celebrities is probably much lower than with the unknown ivy professors.

I am a STEM person and the verbal GRE section is a struggle for me so I understand your frustration. I do have to say though that I am working hard to do well on the verbal and have gotten my practice tests up to the high 150s with a lot of hard work. I think that you could definitely do the same on the math. Even though the GRE is a dumb test, if I were on the adcom, I would put a fair bit of weight on it because I think in order to do well on it you generally need two things 1) reasonable intelligence 2) you need to study enough that you learn to do well on that particular test. I think that a good GRE score shows at least reasonable intelligence + deidication and if I were on the adcom, then those would be qualities that I look for in candidates. If you dont get in this cycle then I recommend you do all of the magoosh problems. I have been using it for verbal and definitely notice a difference. Good luck!!!

I really like this advice on how to respond to the email. I also agree that you should discuss this with your supervisor since it is definitely disrrespectful and id even say approaching emotionally abusive and manipulative. I would talk to your boss and then considering CCing him on your response to the student to make it clear to the student that this is not appropriate and that your supervisor is on your side.

Do you have any recommendation on how to go about this? When contacting professors, would you standardly add into the email that you are interested in applying for NSF if they are willing to advise it? Or would you wait until after a skype or good conversation to bring it up? also, are you able to do multiple grants with multiple professors at different schools?

I am applying for grad school next season so I will be contacting professors this summer/fall. A couple (but especially one) of my POIs is amazing and HUGE in my subfield. My subfield is new and small enough that most academics in related fields may not know his name but if you read alot in his exact area(hopefully my future area!), then you would know him as amazing. If he were to want to skype with me, I would feel more intimidated than if Obama did. I have of course read his big papers, I know what he does, I know who he callaborates with. He works at a university ranked around maybe 25-30. Anyway because of him, that is my top choice school, above havard, above MIT. This guy is amazing. So when I email him, how toned down do I make it? Do i tell him that he is my top choice, that ive read everything he has written, etc or am I supposed to leave all that out? What did you guys do in these situations?