microarray

First official rejection from Brown EEB dept. Emailed to check website and got a really generic rejection letter. No real big surprise there since I hadn't heard anything yet. I'm assuming UO Ecology is reject as well. Oh well, at least I have an interview at my top choice - even if it is delayed for a few days due to flight cancellations.

UGHH my flight got cancelled again!! This time due to mechanical error from the plane hitting a bird with it's propeller! The airport I fly out of is ridiculously small with only 1 airline carrier. They had to wait 5+ hours for a mechanic to come fix the plane. No flights to detroit tomorrow and so can't make it to interview weekend at all. Hopefully we can reschedule my interview for next week. So sad.

thank you!! I hope all of your grad school stuff is going well. I'm excited to go back to Michigan

3 hours time difference. unfortunately an extra flight was added in (with longer layovers) and it's going to take me 13 hours to get there instead of 10 from before.

My flight was cancelled from the west coast because the flight crew didn't make it due to storm on east coast. sigh. Now i'm not leaving until 5 pm (pacific) and arriving at Detroit at 9:45 am, which is 15 minutes before my first interview. I'm assuming the grad secretaries will completely rearrange my schedule on Friday, but damn this sucks! UGHH I want to go to U Mich sooooo bad. I hope I can somehow run on adrenaline and kick ass at my interviews.

Aw i'm so sorry to hear all of this. Do you have any interviews scheduled? I'm sure you'll get in somewhere!

darwingirl - Thanks! I'll definitely let you guys know how it goes Glad your interviews are going well so far. Stay warm

Is anyone else going to UMich EEB interview this week? I know darwingirl won't be going until March..

Aw darn that sucks. What school is it?

Hrm your post does not really fit in with this thread....

In no particular order: 1. Research is incredibly interesting + great fit 2. Very interdisciplinary department 3. Guaranteed funding for 5 years (tuition fee waiver, stipend, and health care, etc) 4. Access to very expensive equipment on campus! 5. The particular labs I'm interested in are small and just starting out. I like this because they will give lots of attention and guidance; and will have more of a drive to get more funding and put out papers. 6. Location 7. Very well known school/department This school has been all I've thought about for the past year or so since I started my search for potential PI's. sooo *fingers crossed**

Holy crap that's a huge stipend and lots of other benefits! Hope you get in!

I heard back in roughly 2 weeks after my first interview. I expect about the same on this second interview based on the data in the results search. I suggest you do the same to help calm your nerves. Results Search -> look up school and department you're interested in. Look at when the interviews were (hopefully they will be listed) and see when the acceptances (and rejections) were. While I imagine every year is slightly different, this should give you a pretty good estimate of when to expect to hear back.

+1 to what Takerku said. You should definitely try to visit both schools. You can't really tell what the school is really like until you visit, and you'll get one on one time to ask grad students whatever you think is important to help you make the final decision.

My PI said that applying to grad school was one of the most hard/scary things she's gone through which is up there with her father dying and her husband getting cancer (he's ok now!). Hang in there! Just a few more weeks before we should have a better idea of where we're going this fall!

My top choice, interview next weekend! *crosses fingers*

These are great suggestions! I would have never thought of them. Thanks

If i'm not incredibly busy, I'll probably pop on here next application season to help out (whether or not I get in to grad school this cycle). I'm also interested in using the already a grad student forum.

I definitely regret not applying to more than 4 schools. However, I was limited by a number of factors: (not in any particular order) (1) money (2) location (west/east coast or midwest) and (3) what I study/want to study is very niche - not many potential PI's (and it was super hard to find the ones that I found!) However, I only applied to schools that I thought was a great fit to hopefully increase my chances of getting in. So far I have 2/4 interviews and hopefully I'll get in to at least one of the schools. Luckily one of them is my absolute top choice and I've had lots of contact with 2 potential PI's. So excited/nervous. If I don't get in, I'll retake GRE (totally bombed it), get more research experience (already have 2+ years), and contact/develop relationships with even more schools (and save up for applications lol).

While I can't recommend any schools, I can tell you that as a science major, you should get tuition waived and a stipened. The stipened may be in the form of a TA where you will have to teach for x amount of semesters or a GRA - graduate research assistant (often funded from your PI's grant). Many schools also guarantee fudning for you for 5 years - including summers. The stipeneds seem to be about 24,000 to 30,000 a year. It will be important to take into consideration where you will live (ie is housing cost really high?) and to make sure that this will be enough to live on. Best of luck!

Ahhh i'm starting to get really anxious! I haven't heard back from Brown, and I don't think I'll get in to University of Oregon (all invites have been sent out). The applicaiton for Brown was only a couple of weeks ago, so I'm trying not to stress about that yet. I really want to be in the University of Michigan's EEB department and i'm anxious for my interview Feb 13-15th. Really hope it goes well! How is everyone dealing with stress/anxiety of waiting?

I had 2 pages.

I don't know how you guys do it. I can't do all nighters at all.. not sure if it's because of my age (29) or what. I think the closest i get to all nighters is getting 5-6 hours of sleep from staying up late/getting up early to finish an assignment.

I've been vegan for 7 years now. A great resource for learning about nutrition (good for both vegans and vegetarians) is Becoming Vegan http://www.amazon.com/Becoming-Vegan-Express-Edition-Plant-based/dp/1570672954 While I have over 20 cookbooks, I always turn back to these two 1000 Vegan Recipes and Vegan Planet by Robin Roberton. They're complete and have so many great recipes! If you're ever concerned about nutrition and want to make sure you're on the right track, my friend Matt Ruscigno is a wonderful registered dietician who's been vegan for 17 years. http://truelovehealth.com/about/ He was also an author/dietician on Appetite for Reduction http://www.amazon.com/Appetite-Reduction-Filling-Low-Fat-Recipes/dp/1600940498 Since you are trying to lose weight, this may be the best place to start. Really there's no secret with losing weight - count calories and work out. However, i struggle with weight myself and know how difficult this is. Best of luck to you! As far as supplements go, I take an Omega supplement that has both epa and dha. I take Ovega http://www.amazon.com/Ovega-Non-fish-Omega-500mg/dp/B004LL7AXE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1390973986&sr=8-1&keywords=ovega I also take a b-complex. I like this one by Jarrow http://www.amazon.com/Jarrow-Formulations-B-right-Complex-Capsules/dp/B0016003Z0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1390974038&sr=8-1&keywords=b+complex+vegan I love Daiya cheese, too! Toffutti cream cheese and earth balance (butter) are 2 other favorites. There are also many great vegan ice creams and chocolates! Once you start learning how to read labels, you'll probably be surprised by how much stuff is vegan that you probably already eat. In addition to the PPK here's a couple of other food blogs i like: http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/ http://bakeanddestroy.net/recipes-2/ http://veganyackattack.com/ If anyone wants vegan beauty recommendations (or anything else), feel free to message me.

I think this is only true for those who went straight from (or 1-2 years later) high school to undergrad. But I agree, time is needed to find your identity whether before you start undergrad or after. I started my Bachelors at 25, and I would say that I had plenty of time to figure out who I was and what I wanted out of life. I also knew within a year of starting undergrad that I wanted to get my PhD, so it's all i've thought about for the past several years. I'm excited that grad school is finally here (hopefully). And if for some strange reason I don't get in, I'll take a year off, work in a lab and gain more experience to beef up my CV to have a better shot at getting in.