Vene

Here is my bit of advice, it's a job and you should treat it as such. Try to spend at least 8 hours each day on campus. You are likely to have to spend more time at home as well. While on campus your first priority is research. If this means you get lower grades so be it, just don't drop below the minimum. It is far more valuable to establish a good relationship with a PI than to get an A instead of a B+. Although, it is perfectly acceptable to be working on homework or studying while you're doing something like running a gel. Also, you can take time off, with a word of caution. Do not take as much time off as undergrads. If the campus isn't closed you should expect that the lab is open and people will be working. That said, if the PI is away, the campus is closed, and there are no techs or other grad students then there's no need to show up.

Why January? Isn't that after when applications are due? If you're going to retake, do it this summer. What schools did you apply to, that can also make a difference.

If you make it to the interview stage that means you are qualified. I wouldn't fret about GPA or GRE at this point. The key is to be enthusiastic and to get along with the people currently in the program (faculty and students). And to have fun, that is important.

Everything I've heard about WashU tells me it's ridiculously hard to get into. There's a grad student at my current university who worked there as a technician and wasn't able to get in.

Well, finished up this semester with an A and two A-'s, I can live with that.

This is where the April 15 deadline comes from. It's technically for financial support, not admission (shouldn't matter in this case). Also, it's not a binding agreement. Universities will generally recognize it, but they wiggle around it a bit as well. Last year I saw some universities promise extra money if you accept early and I also saw some make offers past the April 15th deadline. But those were the exceptions.

Give at least two weeks post-due date.

Yes, absolutely. It's also a good idea to inform them of the outcome of your applications and if you get it/where you decided to go.

I actually feel like I'm getting tons of time off. I got Labor Day off, I got a whole week for Thanksgiving, and I get a week and a half off during the winter. I will grant that the week off for Thanksgiving was very much needed, doing classes, TAing, and research at the same time is exhausting. But, the amount of time I'm getting off during the holidays is unreal.

Yeah, I think my application package was fine. Regardless, I'm in a PhD program now. I had about a 3.5 GPA, around 80th percentile for my GRE verbal and quant scores, a year of industrial research, and letters from two professors (one from each university) plus my then supervisor.

I took a year to finish the degree (it was practically the same major as my previous one). In my SOP I just mentioned that I spent a bit of time working before I finished a bachelors. I didn't try to further explain or justify it.

I don't know what transferring back will look like, but I did transfer after my junior year and finished a BA at a different university. It didn't come up at all during the interview process. I also had LORs from each university.

And you've already got 3 interviews, you'll do fine.

I think it damn well should be. A PhD is long and you shouldn't have to put your life on hold to do one. Your experiments can wait if you take time off for Thanksgiving or your birthday or whatever. I think the thing to do is act like it's a job and don't take off more than a couple weeks a year. I mean, between Christmas and New Year's my university is closed so the technicians will be away and so will the PI. I'm not coming in during that time because I don't want to be the only one around, I don't think it's safe to be alone in a lab.

I'm spending a bit of it in the lab, but I have a week and a half were the university is closed. I'm personally staying in town as I already visited my family for Thanksgiving and don't want to budget for a second trip so soon.

I'm prefacing this by saying I'm male, which is likely to color my perception. To start, I saw plenty of women wearing pants during my interviews, I sincerely doubt pants will be an issue. But, if you want to wear a skirt nobody will complain either. Second, I very much do not recommend heels unless you're very comfortable in them and are willing to do a bit of walking while wearing them. I do think there are plenty of women's boots which can look professional and the good news is that it looks like you applied to programs in wintery areas so it can make sense to wear boots. And I would be sincerely surprised if anybody disapproved of your hair. This is academia, people aren't supposed to be quite normal.

No, this is not good news, this means they believe the application is incomplete. The way I see it is you could contact the program and tell them the system says that the third letter has been received. If this is true contact your letter writer immediately to get them to email the letter to the address listed in the email. Alternatively, you can contact the letter writer first and have them email the recommendation to the listed email and not worry about if their system is fucked up just so that you know the program will have the letter. You may want to ask your recommender to forward the email to you after submitting it so you can see that it was sent to the correct address, but some of this depends on your relationship with said recommender.

I recommend heading to a Goodwill for a pair of shoes. They don't have to be that dressy as you want them to be comfortable, but you definitely don't want gym shoes. It sounds like you're male, so I'm going to recommend a button up shirt, slacks, and a belt. You don't need a tie and you don't need a jacket. As long as everything fits well you should be comfortable. Actually, even if you're female going with dress pants and a button up blouse may be good as well, so it wouldn't be too dissimilar to what the men are wearing.

It's also a very different type of writing than what you'll be doing as a chemist.

Yes, read at least the most recent paper his lab has published, but the more the better. Be willing to explain why you want to work with him (the more sincere the reason the better). Have a few questions prepared, the more thoughtful they are the better. Dress nicely, academia isn't nearly as formal as the private sector and you are still a student so standards are lower, so if you can approach business casual you'll be fine. And be enthusiastic and eager.

I don't think there's any good reason to get the second BS. You've got the basics down, should be able to talk in a halfway intelligent fashion about ecology, and are well equipped to learn the details later. Instead, focus on getting relevant work/research experience and good LORs.

At minimum you need to reduce your working hours. I fully understand not wanting to completely leave, but you sound overburdened and need to reexamine your priorities and goals and decide where to cut back and by how much. I'm assuming you are pursuing a PhD for career advancement reasons and I can't imagine you wanting to be in a situation where hanging onto the old job prevents you from graduating. I'm sure you know this, but if you can't publish and complete (or make significant progress on) a research project you're not likely to get a doctorate.

You've got a good chance. As an international you're at a disadvantage, but it shouldn't be anything major. You may want to focus your efforts at private universities as to them the burden of taking on an international student is not as high as it is for a state university. Also, leave out the church activities, there is no good reason to mention religion.

At this point if you've not already paid the fees required I honestly wouldn't even bother to complete the current list. You already have interviews lined up for Duke and Chicago, both of which are very good schools. I would be surprised if you didn't get more interviews. It may feel good to have 5, 6, or 7 interviews, but that's over a month of flying across the country, which would be quite exhausting.

If you search it will show older results. For example, I searched for 'Pennsylvania cellular' and got results from 2014, 2012, and 2007.