PhDerp

I think you can work on this. Maybe talk to some patient friends and ask them to be honest when you're point is not getting across, as long as they're interested in the material. Being able to communicate with people is a very important skill. I really think it's beneficial to work on it. Talk to people from different backgrounds whenever possible. Practice when you can! EDIT: Speaking of communication... I write really awkwardly when I'm typing from my phone. Haha

Spring break can be different at different schools! They can be anywhere from February to April that I've seen. The lady who sends out emails for one department I applied to is gone for the week. I know because she set up an automated email response for the time being.

I've changed 8 lbs in a single week, up and down. This is what I'm referring to. Weight isn't an ideal metric, which I'm sure you know.

I should've tried that! I might e-mail mine. Thanks for the tip!

Glad to see the "ex-" there. I'm sorry the people in your life aren't as supportive as they should be.

Oh my god I'm glad I switched to STEM. o__o

k :3

Some places you can fail quals once or twice. I dunno if that helps to hear, but it's something to look into! I'm not worried at all. I can't explain why. I've gained a lot of confidence since starting this major. I really think I can pull this off because I want it enough. Besides, the school has successfully guided people like me through their PhD's before, and they were the ones who chose me. It's not like they didn't have options... At this point, I think they know better about how successful I might be in a PhD program than I do! You were accepted for a reason. In fact, there were a few schools who thought you'd be a good fit for their institution! It may help to keep that in mind. Besides, everyone has to start somewhere. I think if you've made it this far, you can make it all the way. As long as you keep wanting it, you should be able to make it.

Kings of Leon. I hate them with a passion. (maybe not so popular these days?

I'm glad to see someone whose story I can relate to!! I was feeling a bit weird. A lot of posts have been about 10 lb differences, and I just can't even imagine that being a "change in weight". I was very big when I graduated high school, then lost 40 pounds the summer before I went to college. I've been fluctuating between a healthy weight and obese since... It's been a difference of up to 60 pounds in timespans as short as one year. :x I definitely plan to lose and stay down in the permanent summer that is Southern California!! EDIT: The good thing is my SO has seen me go up, then down again, then up... He also believes in me when I say I'm going to lose weight and keep it off this time.

I'm under the impression that most fellowships restrict you from taking on others, so you can't just stack them. EDIT: Whoops, someone already said that. haha XD

Seconded. I'm not in this kind of field, but I know of a lot of people who swear by going to DC to be successful in international / political studies. It really is for the job opportunities and networking.

Oedipus? Wow, my jokes are dumb. XD

I'm going to start calling my Canadian friends "Wildlings".

I had to apply under people, so I looked up some professors and name-dropped them when my apps were due. One of them got me into my school on a fellowship and I'm tentatively going to be working under him! But I was told I have freedom to switch advisors, especially since I'm on a fellowship. He's so nice, and his students seem very happy to work under him. I've met him once in-person and he's made himself available over email and Skype. However I haven't really contacted him much, because I don't even know what to say or ask! I'm just happy to start whatever this research thing is in the fall.

That's still more than twice as many Americans as you'd expect to scale, and the comment earlier didn't specify! XD I'm going to the school that allegedly has either the highest percentage of, or maybe it's just most overall, international students in America. Not sure if this boast holds for the graduate program... I'll ask. If it does, I'll post back with a cited source!

I can see what you're saying overall, but 313.9 million / 7 billion ~= .045, so that's 4.5% of the world. I don't think it's even roughly proportional. But again, I get what you're saying overall!

Even if they feel that way, what a rude / awkward thing to say. >_>

You can backsies until April 15th. It's only after that date that you need to get written approval from the school for it to be OK. It's in the document that comes up a lot in this subforum.

There are many threads asking about this. The conclusion seems to be: go ahead and e-mail them. You can reiterate your interest in working with your POI if you were in-contact with them before, or just ask the office handling admissions about your current status. And obviously, don't e-mail them a bunch, obsessively! It sounds like this isn't an issue, though.

I didn't get too many books for classes during my undergrad.* It was nice having the same major as my SO who was two years ahead of me! There are at least 4 books I didn't have to pay for because of that. In addition, I used a lot of PDFs. I've only ever had to buy something like a book a semester! It's pretty nice, because I get access to a lot of resources without adding any bulk. This semester I'm using one borrowed book, one PDF, one bought book (used, very cheap!), and one of my classes has readings uploaded for free. *Actually, I lied, I had a bunch from my last major (Russian)... But those I keep at my parents' place. EDIT: As far as actual advice for OP... Only keep your favorite books, or those most relevant to your graduate education, especially if the information is timeless. You can look for free digital resources to compensate for some books as well. Maybe try to give the ones you don't exactly need but don't want to get rid of to people who are close to you so you can have access to them again if the need ever arises, or if you move back into the area. Also, I'm ready for the comments about how people prefer actual books over digital media. XD

I e-mailed them and I'm still waiting to hear back! But I found out UCSD is not as good a school for me anyway (based on my research interests), so I'm just going to go ahead and accept the offer from USC!

Colorado School Of Mines Geophysics, Masters (F14) Rejected via E-mail on 12 Mar 2014 I 14 Mar 2014 What do these people want?!!! Who has gotten an admission and what special powers do they have?