evolve

Rejected - Global Change FON. 3 Excellents for intellectual merit. 1 Excellent and 2 Very Goods for broader implications. Not a single negative comment from any of the 3 reviewers - yet rejection! In retrospect I should have focused more on broader implications. Oh well, I got the NSF GRFP - so I can't complain. Good luck to the rest of you!

E1 - nothing.

Same here. I accepted NSF as you can only get it early in your grad career. You can apply for the EPA STAR again later - so I figure, if I need more funding, I'll apply to EPA then - they shouldn't have taken so long. By the way, congrats on NSF!

I couldn't either, but when I logged in, I am now called a "Fellow" and not an "Applicant" - guess this means I got it?!?! There is also a side bar that says Award Date: 2011. I don't want to get too excited, but I thiiiiiink I got an award!

Sorry! Never got around to it...I'll call them tomorrow. I'll post whatever I hear.

I guess when they say the schedule may "change without notification" they really mean it. How disappointing...

I absolutely love Berkeley and the bay area. The IB dept is also quite amazing - from the people to the resources available, it's just all around exactly what I was looking for in a grad program. I won't even start on the all the amazing FOOD around Berkeley.....

Well, at least I can be productive in the lab today. Good luck everyone.

Very true - maybe they'll notify on Monday, then. Has anyone attempted calling to inquire? I haven't done this, but I may on Monday around say 4:30 PM EST if I haven't heard anything. Good luck to all, and don't stress too much over the weekend.

Agreed.

Anyone heard?! I can't take this...

So do they generally call instead of email? Keeping my phone on me at all times now...

My department covers tuition, fees, etc. and "guarantees 5 years of funding" - so long as you are willing to teach. My stipend for teaching this year was ca. $22k for the fall and spring semesters combined, and a little more if I were to teach in the summer. Because I am an out-of-state student, the department covers my out-of-state tuition and fees the first year, and I am required to take all necessary measures to establish residency by the second year, else I am responsible for covering the extra amount for out-of-state. We also get a decent health/dental plan (Anthem Blue Cross, I believe). I'm in the life sciences at Berkeley.

Hello, What is the breakdown (V vs Q) of your GRE score? I think your GPA is fine (of course this depends on where you want to apply). Have you published any work since you've been working for the biotech company? Do you have solid letters of rec? Do you have any teaching experience from undergrad? If your passion is ecology, then I say go for it. Of course, there are ways to integrate ecology and molecular stuff (if you think you'll miss the bench). For example, I am an environmental physiologist and my work is directly applicable to conservation. Actually, I get to use a lot of really cool tech like next gen seq, etc. Basically, it is difficult to offer any insight until you give a little more info about your qualifications/achievements. Cheers

Thank you for all of the advice/info! I am here now (Corte Madera) and have already begun to learn a lot about getting around the area. I think I will just live in Berkeley this year and drive to Tiburon when I have to (won't be as much this first year as it will be in later ones). Regarding cyclists, you are absolutely right! I can't believe how many there are around Marin...especially Paradise Dr! Now I just have to find the best open-late, outlets & wifi-equipped, coffee shop near campus. I was really surprised to see that the main library isn't open 24 hours.

Gaining research experience will always improve your chances. I'm not sure how crucial it is to Master's programs, but to get into a good PhD program, research is pretty much a prerequisite. I am of course referring to the sciences here (the only experience I can speak from). So in short, if you have very little research experience, then you should probably get some as it could do nothing but better your chances (after all, going into graduate school, you should probably know if you actually like research). Why have you chosen grad school in evolution? Is there a particular topic you want to research? Best, Evolve

Jae B., Wow, thank you for taking the time to write such an informative response! It is nice to gain the perspective of someone already living in the bay area (especially making the commute from Marin to Berkeley). Just hearing that it's possible eases my nerves a bit! For the first two months I will actually be living in Corte Madera, housesitting for someone, so I have time to search for an ideal place in the meantime. Do you have any experience with commuting via bicycle? I am trying to decide whether or not it would be doable to live in El Cerrito and commute via bike to Tiburon and Berkeley. If I'm not mistaken, when I visited for interviews, I saw people bring their bikes on BART. Also, do you make use of the ferry system at all? My research mentor mentioned briefly that there is a ferry that runs to Tiburon from (I believe) Berkeley (may be SF, I can't remember!). Cheers, Evolve

Hi Berkeley folks, I have a general question regarding where to live for ease of commuting, except I have a bit of a unique situation: I'll be a grad student at Berkeley beginning this fall, so obviously my teaching and course-taking will all be at Berkeley. However, my lab is located across the bay in Tiburon at the Romberg Tiburon Center for Environmental Studies. I was wondering if anyone could offer any advice as to where the best place would be to live (I plan on spending 50% of my time at each location)?!? Without actually being there and just looking at a map, it seems that somewhere in northern San Francisco may be a nice central local (but expensive), or I could opt for Albany/El Cerrito and be closer to Berkeley (and possibly spend less on rent). Of course, as time progresses, I plan to spend more time at the lab, so I am also keeping that in mind. I'm really struggling with this! Please help!

Genome, Congrats! I am quite envious of your GRE score! Good luck at WUSTL DBBS! Evolve

I too use Papers and love it. I experimented with Mendeley for a bit, but ultimately chose to stick with Papers. Of course, as already stated, Papers is a Mac-only program though.

Thank you, that brought some other books to my attention that I had not yet heard of

BioBio, I am very sorry to hear about your experience. To be honest, I can't provide any insight. However, that is because it seems to me that you did everything right (although, I probably wouldn't have jumped on a last minute flight to Seattle--but that just speaks to your level of commitment to and enthusiasm for, pursuing graduate studies). When contacting professors, I did the exact same as you. That is to say, I outlined who I was, what I was interested in, and where I intended to go with it. I did have a good deal of "non-responders" but that was offset by a handful of thoughtful, in-depth replies. Here is the email I sent to the prof under whom I'll be starting in the fall at UC Berkeley (with specific names excluded): Hello Dr. XXX, I am a senior at XXX University graduating in December with B.S. degrees in Biochemistry and Zoology and a minor in Genetics. I am considering applying to UC Berkeley to pursue a PhD degree beginning in Fall 2010, and was wondering if you will be accepting new students at that time? I’ve read through many of the publications listed on your website, and find your group's work very exciting. My own research interests overlap considerably with those topics being investigated in your lab. Broadly, I’m interested in molecular biological, physiological, and genetic/genomic approaches to assessing the status of natural marine populations in the context of anthropogenic environmental change, the implications of these studies for conservation, and in a more general sense, the interplay between an organism’s genes, metabolism, and the environment. As an undergraduate researcher at XXX I have been working under the guidance of XXX. My research has been on the peptide hormone insulin-like growth factor-I and it’s utility as a putative growth biomarker in the hybrid striped bass, with implications for evaluating natural population health, as well as the optimization of aquaculture rearing protocols. I have attached a copy of my c.v. to this email for your convenience. Thank you for your time, and I look forward to your response, "Evolve" I don't know if this will help at all, but I thought you may be interested in seeing it. If nothing else, perhaps you can take from it that you didn't specifically mess anything up, but rather had a run of bad luck (many labs are hard-pressed to fund new students lately) with the individuals you tried contacting. However, just because prof's aren't interested in you, combined with the fact that they are very busy, shouldn't preclude the necessity for sending a short reply to the tune of "I'm sorry, but I can't use you in my lab". I wish you the best of luck in the future, and don't give up!

Thank you for the input IRdreams. I find that much like you, if nothing else, these books tend to help ease my "neurotic energy". I most definitely agree regarding the best advice coming from older students. I am mainly just looking for something to assuage my excitement (keep me occupied, if you will) until I get to jump into my program (still a month away). I'll check out Cahn's piece, and maybe give Getting What You Came For another look, too. Thanks again! PS- I'm not a woman, but that book DOES sound horrible, nonetheless.

I'm going from NC to CA and my girlfriend and I have decided to sell everything (furniture-wise) on Craigslist and start over! It feels liberating! Of course I'll be shipping out books and a few other random things (diving equipment for example) that wouldn't be easily replaced, and clothing. We are selling my Jeep and having our Honda Fit shipped out there for $700, then we are hopping on a plane and enjoying the ride! We actually lucked out big time, a professor in my dept will be in Greece all summer and needs house-sitters, so we will have that arrangement through August, which will allow ample time to shop around for a place, furniture, etc.

Hi everybody, Now that I will be starting my PhD program in the fall, I am interested in learning if any of you seasoned grads have experienced a particular book regarding "surviving" grad school that you found to be helpful. I picked up "How to Survive your PhD" by Jason Karp, and tore through it in a day, only to be disappointed in its lack of substance (for the most part, it was all "advice" that seemed intuitive enough). I did find "Getting What You Came For: The Smart Student's Guide to Earning an MA or a PhD." by Robert L. Peters and it seems to be a bit more substantial and thorough (after reading the first 25 or so pages in Barnes and Noble). Has anyone had any experience with this particular book, or others? I am trying to decide whether the second book is worth buying. Thanks!