siolanthe

As a female science teacher, I think it's possible that you'd have an advantage, especially if you going are applying for curriculum/instruction or elementary ed. There's a serious lack of male role models in schools, and I hear people bemoan that fact every time we go to hire someone. In other words, yes, you're an 'underrepresented minority' that is in high demand. I don't think it demeans the professionalism of the committee at all to acknowledge this gender inequity.

No kidding! For some of the programs I applied to, even at big, prominent Geo schools, I had to look back to 2006 to find any admissions results. Now compare that to Electrical Engineering.... I didn't apply to Boulder, either, so I've got no news for you there. Good luck with that--if that's where you'd prefer to go. One of my field camp professors (back in 2003) was from USC, and one of the students--probably the most memorably smart of the whole bunch--went to USC for grad school. What field are you interested in? I think I've heard my acceptances by now--no word yet from UW and UT, which probably means that I'm pretty far down on their lists. Sarah

For those who did a Stanford interview--either on the phone, or on Campus--did you get an admissions decision at the interview? If not, how long did you wait to find out?

Congrats on all of your acceptances! I don't have any decisions in hand yet. For UC Davis, two profs recommended me to the Committee (we'll see how that goes, with UC funding being what it is); for Stanford, I had a campus interview on Monday, but am waiting to hear the ruling. No word from any of the rest, beyond emails from individual professors. Since I haven't heard from early-notifiers like UW and Texas, I'm assuming that I'm out--or maybe, waitlisted.

This is pretty obvious stuff; no surprises. But it would have been disingenuous for me to say, "After getting my degree, I want to become a leading researcher that will ennoble my alma mater, and you, with an unparalleled body of research." If you can say that and sound genuine, Good on you. See? You knew all that stuff already....

So, I did the interview. I felt like the PI seemed rather vague and tepid about any sort of next step--like having me visit campus--but by the time I got home this evening, I had an invitation. Her words were, "Thanks for your time today. I would like to invite you to visit us when works for you." Perhaps vague and tepid once again, but an invitation nonetheless. I'm not sure what this means, exactly. I live not too far from Palo Alto, so if she is paying for the visit (not sure yet), it's not a big outlay of capital. Has anyone done one of these? Is this now a for-real interview? For those who might care, the questions were, essentially: What field do you intend to study? What other schools? Why Stanford? Where are you aiming for, after your degree? Incidentally, I was _very_ glad that I brushed up on actual papers--not just hers and her students', but other relevant and current papers--and had the notes in front of me. Thanks for that advice. I think that really bailed me out of some other, not-so-hot answers... I know they weren't so hot, because after the fact, she told me what she hoped _not_ to hear from applicants, and I said some of those things.

Thanks for the advice. I'll have some notes in front of me, and hope that she does most of the talking!

Has anyone done one of these yet? I have a phone interview with a PI in Earth Sciences tomorrow. Her email said, "we are in the process of selecting graduate students for the Department. I am considering taking a new Ph.D. student next year, and since our interests overlap, I would like to talk to you about your application." I'm not sure how detailed or formal this interview will be. Any insights about what to expect? Should I have notes about her papers in front of me?

Sorry. Miscategorized.

I'm applying to MIT/WHOI for isotope geochemistry/paleoceanography. I got the same e-mail: no word until late February.

Seriously? Not a single other geology candidate? Maybe this won't be as gruesome as I thought... (Riiiiiiight.)

I just got one from WHOI/MIT. Thankfully, it was short, so I was able to skim quickly to the key sentence: "We have received your application." I knew that via website on December 15th! Evidently, they have "completely changed [their] application process this year. This new system had to be developed, installed, tested and learned in a relatively short period of time." Back to the waiting game until late February...

Okay, it's getting lonely. Is anyone else out there applying to geology programs? Whereabouts? Any news yet?