owl13

Yeah I was actually just looking at some professors today but I feel like its a bit early to contact? I might have some questions for you so Ill probably be messaging you in the future, thanks! I think my problem last year was I applied to pretty much all state school as an out of state resident. And of course the 3.2. Thats what I get for dicking around freshman and sophomore year I suppose. I figured my in major was enough to make up though. I just looked it up and its much closer to 3.8 than 3.7 which is pretty good. And the GRE thing, yeah my log on was my email but I forgot my password and the temporary one was sent to my old account

Hi everyone, I finished my BS in geology last year and tried to go to grad school but unfortunately didnt get in anywhere. Luckily I got a job and have been working but its become clear that I need an MS in order to advance, so Ive decided to apply again. Since my last experience with grad applications, my confidence has been severely shaken so Im looking for a little input and advice. I have a few questions but I will give you my profile first: Undergrad Institution: Large east coast university (you can probably guess from my name lol) Major(s): I majored in Geology as well as Environmental Studies Minor(s): - GPA in Major: 3.7 Overall GPA: 3.2 Position in Class: Departmentally I was near top, however entire class wise idk Type of Student: American female GRE Scores (revised/old version): Q: V: W: 4.5 My scores were sent to my college email address which has since been deleted because I graduated (school does this automatically unless you buy it). I didnt think I would try again for grad school so it didnt occur to me to change my gre email address before that happened. So Im not too sure how to recover that. However I know I was somewhere around the 70th percentile for the verbal and quantitative. I do remember my written score. Research Experience: I did a study on induced seismicity with my professor over the course of a semester. No publication came from it then but I am currently finishing it on my own time and hoping to get a poster out at regional gsa next spring. Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Deans List for several semesters, graduated with distinction in both majors. Pertinent Activities or Jobs: In school: tutored beginner geology courses Out of school: Currently mudlogging the Utica/Marcellus (9 months experience so far) Taking short courses at conferences (On basin analysis, stratigraphy, etc) Finishing my research project on my own time (with same professor) Applying to Where: Heres the thing, Im not too sure. I know that Im supposed to look for a fit with an advisor rather than a school, but what Im mainly trying to do is better my career. I want to go to a school with ties to the industry and from there, I will find an advisor who I fit with. The first time I applied I was interested in neotectonics but now Im looking for someone to do sed/strat, basin analyis, maybe dabble in paleosols. Im still up in the air right now, and Im reading a lot of papers to try and narrow my interests down. So my questions are as follows- 1) Is my cumulative gpa a large detriment to my chances? Looking at my transcript, it mainly comes from my first two years where I had no direction and my grades truly reflected that but still, 3.2 is not stellar. ( also really fucked up in physics and calc 2, math isnt really my strong suit) 2) Does a lack of publication from a student research project look bad? 3) I do have a tentative list of "reach" schools Id like to apply for, most of which I feel are unrealistic. The schools are Baylor, Rice, UT, UNM. Can anyone comment on my odds? 4) Lastly, ive heard from a former professor that university of nebraska, KU, OU, and CU are good for what im looking for and may be more reasonable to get into. Can anyone that might go there or know from experience comment on this? If you got to the bottom of this, congrats and Im sorry this was so long. 6 rejections last year really struck fear into my heart about this so Im just incredibly nervous and beyond doubtful now. I really appreciate anyone who reads all of this or answers anything. Thank you!

POI from SDSU emailed me the other day saying he wanted to admit me but since Im out of state I cant be guaranteed funding, but if one of his in state students declines I can take theirs. Not too sure why I didnt think that through when applying to a bunch of state schools. Now I just have to wait to hear if I got funded at USU. This whole grad school thing has been a pretty big swing and a miss so far, but I got out of undergrad debt free so I suppose paying for grad school wouldnt be the end of the world...

Has anyone heard anything from San Diego State? I still have 2 more pending applications, and this wait is driving me crazy.

Blergh, still waiting. In January I was offered a paid trip out to Utah State but my POI just vanished , and I have followed up a couple of times. Hopefully I hear from my last 2 soon...

Yup, I got an email from the department yesterday morning saying that I didnt get in because "No major professor was working on project mentioned by applicant" which is weird considering I had a couple of phone calls with my poi about potential projects that went really well. Oh well he emailed me last night saying my app was really competitive so Ive got that going for me I guess. I hope you didnt apply to the same guy I did at ASU because I think if I hadnt emailed him a couple of weeks ago he never would have told me hes not taking anyone due to over-commitment.

Huh, I applied to ASU and Davis for tectonics too, we probably talked to the same people!

Structure-more specifically active tectonics, tectonic geomorph, and landscape evolution. I did talk to someone that was working on these things and seemed interested but you cant win them all I suppose, I just want to get one!

Congrats! And I definitely tried to not pigeonhole myself for that very reason. The more I think about it the more it seems like a bit of a lie, but I didnt really want to end up there anyway I suppose.

Yup! Chatted on the phone a couple of times about potential projects and everything. It seems a little odd.

Ugh 3 rejections in 3 days. My POI at ASU wont be around next semester, UC Davis apparently has no one working on what Im interested in (?!?!?), and a flat out rejection from Cornell. Lets hope the last 2 schools pull through.

Hmm well I emailed my POI after I posted here and he said my application was still under consideration, hopefully he hasnt made a decision yet.

Has anyone heard from ASU?