unbrokenthread

Good luck!! Let us know what happens. Fingers crossed for you.

Wonderful news!! Congrats on your acceptance! :D

I'm getting my first dog in the fall. This is something I've wanted for years, and so increasingly I've found myself wandering through pet stores, populating my Amazon wishlist...even ordering tags off of Etsy for the poor thing. It's been a great distraction, and I can't wait to get her home. But the waiting on the pup, AND the waiting on the GRFP, AND the waiting on moving out to my new city is driving me nuts. Help.

I dunno, this seems kind of pessimistic to me. It's my understanding that almost all schools will give you a "your application is under review" message until a final decision is posted. This may be for many reasons, but the most important one is because they are still reviewing applications. Maybe the decision on your file hasn't been made yet. Maybe you're waitlisted and they want to see how many they get from their first and second round picks before they make a call. Maybe you are rejected, but they don't want to encourage applicants to seek admissions notifications via email when they have a website for that. Keep your head up...I wouldn't assume a lack of response means that they have rejected you, or even have a negative opinion of you. You'll know your status soon, and I hope you hear from the other schools ASAP!

THANK YOU for this; good feedback is so invaluable. I'll look into it. And cog, thank you for your post, too. That's reassuring.

As long as you're enrolled in school, I'd imagine yes.

Survived multiple kinds of childhood abuse and domestic violence. Wasn't doing well during--I had a 1.8 GPA in middle school at one point, and got kicked out of a charter arts school because of it--but here we are. I hate the "everything happens for a reason" line of argument--hate it with cold-blooded fury--but I've nonetheless tried to use the shitty things in my life to propel me, and that's been a pretty good approach. You have to work with the cards you are dealt. There have been some serious costs; I've had to make some tough decisions about how much contact with my family that I can really handle (and it's not much, despite the fact that I *adore* my big sister). But it's also been good for finding out my priorities. Multiple people have remarked about my drive and curiosity, which will (I hope) serve me well in grad school. Mostly I've been holding onto this idea since I was a kid, that life would be awesome if I could just live it on my own terms, and I am, and it is. I feel like I'm living in a fairy tale most days. I've worked really damn hard to get here and I'm so happy and so grateful to get the chance to do what I love at the graduate level.

My soon-to-be PI is an assistant prof. I was hesitant because of that fact, but he's got good funding, a ton of energy (I like this a lot, personally), he's got a solid (and frequent) publication record, and when I asked him about where he wanted to take his lab and what sort of research he had in the pipeline, I was happy with the answer. I asked several of my current and past professors about the idea of signing on with an AP and almost all of them said the same thing: essentially, to be careful, but to not write off the match just based on that. There are finer issues of fit that I was also happy with, but I didn't encounter those until the interview weekend and the emails that came after: his level of comfort with me running multiple projects at once (since the work we'll do doesn't require a lot of daily time so much as calendar time, and lbr, I like to cover my bases), his willingness to answer questions and be there if I need him, his willingness and ability to give guidance on where I should direct my efforts academically (since there are areas I could touch up on), etc. To me, the fit in these areas solidified my confidence in the match, so I felt good about it! So, imo, look at current funding AND the funding outlook over the course of your expected stay. Look at advising style vs. your needs (do you like someone more hands-off or hands-on? Would you rather see them every day or once a month to check in?). Et cetera. Also, everything juilletmercredi said.

Oh man. I'm so sorry to hear you're going through this. Please keep us posted, and best of luck. I've got my fingers crossed for a big, awful mix-up that is easily fixed!

I formally accepted an offer earlier this month. I hadn't yet heard back from a few of my schools, but no matter--the offer was right, the school was right, the location was livable, the match with PI was great. By the time the school formally made the offer, I didn't want to go anywhere else.

I have to be on campus for the first five weeks of summer (through the 25th of July, basically) to comply with research program requirements. I'm flying out to Atlanta on the 26th, putzing about until Aug 1* when I move in to my new place, and after that I'll get a week or so to relax, and then TA training begins! I was really hoping to get an extended break for summer, but it just didn't happen. * One of my favorite things is just taking the time to explore a new place. August in Atlanta has been described to me as a "swampy armpit" in which I will have to learn to "breathe underwater," and I've been in the South in Aug/Sept so I know that this is true, but I'm still not going to waste the little free time I have by just sitting around indoors! I'm trying to think of it as a free sauna.

Mordekaiser, I'm interpreting this as you saying that since you think most people are fat because of their own actions, it's a) a character flaw, b ) okay to judge them for it and c) it's OK to cast blanket judgments on the whole group, even though some of them have little to no control over their weight even with medical supervision? So therefore it's okay to stigmatize people who are fat through no fault of their own just because other people might be at "fault"? Just checking, am I understanding you correctly?

I was at an internship over the summer, and took the GRE at the end of June with a bunch of other people in my lab--ended up taking it again about a month later, and the scores were comparable. Both my summer PIs had suggested particular universities or particular avenues to look to for programs, which was really helpful, and my search started seriously in August. I didn't settle on a list until, oh, November or so (mostly because my schedule was nuts). Even then, I feel like I could have looked for 6 more months before having a really good, solid grasp of the sorts of programs that were doing what I was interested in. I struggled to find multiple programs that fit my interests, partly because my interests are interdisciplinary (astrobiology!) and research angle varies so wildly in this field. But as I was looking for grad schools, I ran across a paper I thought was absolutely awesome, looked up the PI's research, saw that he was recruiting grad students, emailed him, and hit it off really well. Skype interview went well also. I was still looking during this time, but I felt really comfortable with that PI, and wrote my NSF GRFP as if I were going to be working in his lab (because I knew his research the best at that point). The program had represented itself as more traditionally Biology-centered than I was looking for (I was really looking for a strongly interdisciplinary program), but during interview weekend I was super impressed with the strength and collaborative nature of their astrobio research across various departments, and the courtesy, friendliness, and respect with which I was treated (as well as how happy the faculty and students seemed) bumped GT up to my #1 choice. So tl;dr: -GREs were done by September. -I'd had a solid CV for a while before that, but I polished it up in October. -I decided to apply to GT, the school I eventually accepted an offer from, in mid to late October. -Two of my LOR writers had been put on notice during the summer that I would be asking for letters from them; the other agreed to it in early/mid November. -SOP, personal statement, done in early November. -It still took me an age to complete all my applications because I liked to tweak my SOPs etc for each app. Most of them were done by mid December though. If I had to do it over again I'd look more into external funding. I applied for the GRFP but that was it.

I forgot to add earlier -- Montclair Transit Center also has a Metrolink train station that services a route between San Bernardino and LA Union Station. It has weekend service as well. As of this writing, the SB line schedule is here. The main website is here. Note: If you happen to be flying in to (or out of) LAX, Union Station has a bus service, LAX Flyaway, that shuttles you between the station and LAX and will drop you off at your airport terminal. I highly recommend it if you're using public transportation. Really easy. (For example, if you're flying into LAX, take the LAX Flyaway to Union Station, take the Silver Streak to Montclair Transit Center, and then you're right in the neighborhood of the 5C. Total one-way fare would probably be about $10.) If y'all need any info about public transportation in this area especially, do feel free to ask.

CM, Pomona is a big downgrade in affluence from Claremont. Most things near (esp north of) Foothill Blvd are OK, but you'll come to discover that anything west of Indian Hill Blvd. can be sketchy, esp as you move farther south and away from the 210. The part of Pomona near CPP/Mt. SAC is a little better. The city of Walnut, right next to Pomona, is much better. Pomona is locally famous for their awful roads (seriously, I'm not joking), but they've gotten marginally better in the last couple years. There's a good supply of grocery stores in the Claremont area. This includes both regular and health food stores. Most of them are on Foothill. Public transportation leaves a bit to be desired that far out from LA, but close to the 5C, the situation is pretty good; the Montclair Transit Center (downtown Claremont) services routes that will take you all the way to Pasadena (though it'll take an age), and from there you can hop on the Gold Line to LA. They also have the Silver Streak, a slightly more expensive bus that hops on and off the freeway to get you to LA waaay faster than street buses, but do check to confirm that it stops at that transit center if you're interested; I haven't taken the SS that far east, myself. Montclair Transit Center also has routes that go throughout Pomona, etc. (Protip: If you're not familiar with the grocery store chains in this area, Vons is ridiculously expensive. Try Stater Bros instead; it's often much more reasonable.) Also, they have multiple farmer's markets around here; there's one at Mt. SAC every weekend. Oh, and at least in my neck of the woods, they have two competing bus services: Foothill Transit (blue buses) and Metro (orange buses). You can buy a reloadable TAP card that works on both, but here's a bit of info to remember, at least as of this writing: Transfers are good for 2 hours, though if you get the proof of purchase paper, they'll often take it even past that 2hr deadline. But much more importantly: If you buy a transfer on Foothill (blue) buses, it will work on both Foothill and Metro buses. If you buy a transfer on Metro (orange) buses, it's ONLY good for Foothill (blue) buses. So I like to try to catch a Foothill bus going somewhere and purchase the transfer then, and then I can use either bus service (whichever arrives first, lol) on the return trip.

Ditto. Same school, same mentor, but the project I proposed is nowhere close to what I'll likely end up doing.

You're a gentlewoman and a scholar! Thanks for this.

My thoughts exactly. /whine

I agree.

I'd give it 'til tomorrow. It's Monday, so maybe the notification'll go out today.

My program didn't require a confirmed PI--they allow for (and encourage) first year rotations, though you can pick a PI right off the bat if you want. I contacted my POI in...August, I think, after I read a paper of his and was like WHOA, THIS IS SUPER COOL. We emailed back and forth, and then I interviewed with him over Skype--the interview lasted about an hour. I sent him a thank you email immediately afterward and there were emails after that too, but they were sporadic, because life. At no point did he say "hey guess what, you're in!"--but he made comments that I interpreted as positive/encouraging ("we'll be in touch," etc). After I got an email from the dept inviting me for interview weekend, we talked a leetle bit more, but it wasn't until interview weekend and the subsequent emails that we really started talking in depth again. But the relationship has been positive from the getgo. I applied for the NSF GRFP with a proposal that began from the foundations of his work, but he hadn't seen it--I am taking an insane class load so I just didn't have time to have him proof it beforehand, and I wasn't gonna be like, "Yo, So-and-so, the deadline is in three hours, would you mind looking at this thing?" So he didn't actually know that I'd applied for the GRFP until interview weekend, I think. This seems a bit of a backwards way to go about it, but he worked with his current grad student on her GRFP proposal--so in your case, I would say the fact that your POI worked with you on your own proposal is a Very Good Sign. Part of the currency of academia is time. A POI spending his time and effort on an applicant is the beginning of the POI's investment in them, imo--one that will continue throughout their working relationship as mentor/mentee, or professional/apprentice, or however you'd like to define it. A POI's willingness to give you one of his most valuable resources should definitely be interpreted as encouraging, imo.

Agree with fuzzylogician. The other thing to consider is that prestige only goes so far--whereas your accomplishments and successes at a "lesser" university (achieved without the stress of worrying about money) will speak for themselves. Taking the offer at the more prestigious university, sans funding, just seems like it will only lead to regret. Certainly, you might always have a little "what if?" in your mind if you go to the "lesser" one...but would you rather have a little "what if?" or a big student loan bill? Will the "what if?" matter to you two years from now if you are really successful at your second choice?

I was sleeping! I woke up, sleepily checked my phone, saw the email, had a squee (got up to post about it on social media, of course), and had intended on going back to sleep, but got up and started my day instead, lol.

What seachel and pyrocide said. I have a moderate GPA (overall is above 3.0, but not by a whole lot) after double majoring in a science and a humanities field. I have been most successful when I establish some sort of contact with POIs. For me it was a matter of finding a POI who valued the types of skills and traits that I had/have, not one who valued GPA the most. I would much rather be in a lab where a PI is likely to say "She has a 3.2, but she can do x, y, and z, and is super motivated!" instead of one where the PI says "She can do x, y, and z, and she's super motivated...but she has a 3.2." There's a big difference, imo.

To me that sounds like the POI is being encouraging without committing to anything before decision time. Not uncommon.