kechemukwa

So, last week I visited Bloomington and was super impressed by the campus (it's gorgeous) and the current grad students, not to mention how awesome my soon-to-be advisor is. I was surprised to see that the grad students in my lab all live in houses, either alone or with their significant other. It's a super affordable town. Needless to say, I'm looking forward to moving out there next year.

Thanks for the tip hannah3. Looks like I'll be starting early. I have a feeling that apartment hunting from overseas is going to be tricky...

I'm goin' to Indiana University for EEB next year. It was the only place I got in so my decision was pretty easy.

@raymondnorth I'm in Jena right now. It's a pretty nice set-up. I'm looking forward to going back to school next year though. @hannah3 I haven't started looking at apartments yet. I figured a year and a half was a bit too far in advance...

1) SCUBA instructor 2) Divemaster 3) Field station manager 4) Field researcher

I think it depends on the severity of the disability and how you package it. Mentioning I how overcame my own learning disadvatage (ADHD) in a personal statement got me interviews for a fully funded PhD program. I imagine that overcoming more severe disadvantages may make you a "high risk/high reward" scenario, which is not what reviewers want when deciding who to give $100,000+ to.

Hey. I'm committed for Ecology and Evolution, but I deferred to work in Germany for another year. I'll be visiting Bloomington in July.

I applied for a research grant and didn't get it. Repeated rejection sucks balls, but I suppose I didn't need the Fulbright anyway. I'm already in Germany and the PI of my lab said he'll keep me on the internal payroll for another year.

Anyone else moving to Bloomington soon?

That would be nice...I'd like to find out tomorrow!

Because it takes more than 3 weeks to go through 14,000 applications?

I feel you, and for me its even worse since I've deferred my offer for a year. I'm trying to immerse myself in the program and lab when I'm still over a year away!

Does anyone know if the DAAD does alternates?

San Diego > Boston

Generally, being a prof is just another step on the ladder for researchers. Most professors in my field are research scientists who just happen to teach. Do you mean that you want to be a technician and never have to stop working in the lab/field? That's what I think I'd like to do.

I've always been under the impression that most chem programs were more rotational, then again I'm not a chemist. I've never seen a program in Ecology that did rotations, you always need a prof who wants you in their lab to be admitted to the program.

I feel that. IU offered me 27k per year. There's no way I need that much to live in Bloomington...

Is anyone else contemplating not accepting any of their offers and not going to grad school at all? Maybe I'm just totally distraught by my recent flurry of rejections, but I'm beginning to think that maybe I'm not ready for grad school yet. It's a hell of a commitment and I might like to do something else for a while first...

If it makes you feel any better I'm in the same boat. I've been rejected from 3 schools post-interview now. One professor (at UC Irvine) was kind enough to tell me what I did wrong. I was too quiet and didn't ask enough questions or give him a good feel for my personality. He said that while my background and experience made me a good fit for his lab, other kids had equally good experience and because they opened up more during the interview and gave him the opportunity to better know them as a person and professional, they got the gig and I didn't. I got rejected from another school (Cornell) because I couldn't attend the interview weekend (they didn't pay enough to allow me to make the trans-Atlantic trip) and had a short Skype interview instead, which caused similar problems (ie: they couldn't get to know me in a 30min Skype interview). The third (Georgia Tech) rejected me because my POI wasn't taking new grad students this year and only offered me the interview as a courtesy. I wish he had told me this when I contacted him before applying....

Rejection from Cornell today, finally. They put me on the wait list weeks ago and didn't tell me. My POI seemed so nice, it's weird to me that he didn't try to keep me informed...

you have to convince people who got admitted that they don't want to go there. Otherwise, you're screwed.

Berkeley isn't in Silicon Valley, just FYI. Silicon Valley = San Jose EngineerGrad, I would second what other people have said. if you're more interested in academia, PhD is a better route. If you want to go into industry, the masters is all you need.

Faculty advisors make a huge difference. Your PhD research is what will define your career as an academic/researcher. Choosing a good advisor can make or break both your project and overall experience in grad school. For me, a good faculty advisor is the most important factor in my decision making. A great program can only do so much for you if you have a shit advisor, because in the end, your advisor will guide your project and growth as a professional, not the program you chose.

I'd look into the programs to figure out which is the best fit before making a decision. That being said, I don't think you'll sacrifice much program quality wise by going to UCSD but you do gain a hell of alot location wise. San Diego is basically paradise, especially compared to the frozen wastes (for 6 months of the year anyway) of upstate NY. I'm hoping to be faced by a similar decision since my two top choices are UC Irvine and Cornell.

I've only heard from one school so far, and that was just an email from the prof. I still haven't gotten any formal offers yet.