avflinsch

I did mine in person, but did take a few online courses
It seemed to me that the online classes were way more time consuming than the traditional offering. The actual amount of work was probably the same, but the constant checking in and review of the class discussion forums was annoying.
The asynchronous nature of the online classes also makes immediate feedback impossible.
 

Welcome to the new normal.
 

Looks like you forgot what is alleged to be the most important component of an application: the writing sample. Where does that fit into your theory?

I'm 50+ currently finishing a master's in info science, and applying to the PhD program in the same.
About 95% of the other students in the master's program are about the same age as my oldest 2 kids (26 year old twins), the other 5% are in the 45-60 range. The PhD program I am applying to is pretty evenly split between late 20's early 30's and the 45+ group, so it is a bit different from what you are experiencing - they are expecting older students in this case, as the master's is a prereq for application
 

I'm 50+ currently finishing a master's in info science, and applying to the PhD program in the same.
About 95% of the other students in the master's program are about the same age as my oldest 2 kids (26 year old twins), the other 5% are in the 45-60 range. The PhD program I am applying to is pretty evenly split between late 20's early 30's and the 45+ group, so it is a bit different from what you are experiencing - they are expecting older students in this case, as the master's is a prereq for application
 

It would depend on the school / department / faculty availability / your availability, absolutely nothing consistent about it.
It is just like making a Doctor's Appointment - which it sort of is

PhD and Ph.D. - both are correct, as long as you were consistent there shouldn't be a problem.
8pt font - you are totally screwed (just kidding ), Most folks will notice, but probably won't care.
 
 

Amazon gift cards! Will definitely come in handy for books and supplies.

Your final gpa is what matters, and the 3.88 is nothing to be ashamed about. You really don't need to mention anything that you are uncomfortable with in your personal statement. If you really wanted to reference it, you could always say something along the lines of "It took me a while to complete my Associates degree because I was having difficulty finding my focus, but after taking some personal time I realized where I needed to be..."
FWIW - I had no focus at all during my early undergrad years - changed direction several times before taking a 20 year absence from academia. I didn't return to finish my undergrad until I was 46, and finally finished it when I was 52. After that it was straight thru the masters and now starting the PhD.
While our reasons for taking a long time may be different, what matters is that once you found your focus you showed a great deal of determination in getting things done.
 
 

What type of class is it?
Only asking because you might be able to integrate some of the course work into the event theme (obviously more difficult for some course topics than others).
 
 

In general all office politics suck. It is not limited to the graduate student office.

True. My response above was geared toward the OP here, who is applying to PhD programs in statistics.

Me too, and I use that for documents that I am currently working on, and it is particularity useful when I am switching between my desktop and my laptop. I also have several large datasets, which are larger than what is usually available on the free cloud services. The USB sticks are useful when doing presentations, you never know what kind of network service is available in the room where the presentation is happening - and for some reason it is usually not available whenever I need to do a presentation...
 

For my masters -
Pretty much everything I needed to read was either in a pdf or online. Notes were taken by highlighting and adding 'stickie notes' within the pdf, for online readings, I converted to pdf first, then added the stickies in the pdf.
Class notes were done by writing on rocketbook pads, scanning and uploading as a pdf, where additional stickies could be added.
The only thing I may change going into the PhD is to use one of the everlast rocketbooks - no more paper. Write, scan, upload and erase.
 
As for additional school supplies
- external hard drives, and a box of usb memory sticks, backup everything and backup often.
- an erasable whiteboard - invaluable for planning and reminders

 

I am not female and not at UNC, so I won't comment on fashion there. August on the east coast anywhere south of of the New England states can be pretty brutal - be prepared for much more humidity, and the temps don't drop quite as much at night as they do in New Mexico or Colorado. You will also be getting there in the middle of hurricane season, so be prepared for rain.
As for carrying stuff around, it seems to be pretty evenly split between backpacks, messenger bags, and smallish briefcases. Use whatever is most comfortable for you. Personally, I switch between a briefcase big enough to hold my laptop, a few pads, folders with materials for whatever I am doing that day, and a large leather overnight bag that holds way too much stuff.
 

The other thing to try is to search the school website - there might be an older version stashed away somewhere and accessible. I have done this for just about every course I have taken - usually I can find something.
 
 

The other thing to try is to search the school website - there might be an older version stashed away somewhere and accessible. I have done this for just about every course I have taken - usually I can find something.
 
 

For admission to the program, age should not matter. In fact, you could swing it to your advantage by mentioning how your professional experience relates to the program that your applying to.

Third option - do what I did
Take a full time job at a university, use the tuition benefits to pay for the education. This is a pretty standard benefit for most schools, most will even pay for your kids also (which was the main reason I took the job in the first place).
I finished my BA this way, full tuition paid by employee benefits, I only needed to pay for books and fees. Most of the masters went the same way, until I tipped over the salary limit for 100% tuition, and got cut back to 50% for the final 3 semesters. The PhD is currently partially funded by employee benefits, and I have been promised a part time teaching position which will cover the remainder starting in January.
It might take me a bit longer by going part time, but overall the costs were less than making a car payment.

Accepted off the waitlist at Rutgers!!!! 

Started the Masters at 52, finishing it now at 55 - The last class is tonight.
The PhD is being started in September - still at 55, but I figure that I will be 62 when that is complete.
 
 

This chapter is finished!!! Finally done!  Master Degree completed! Best of luck to those that are still at it and congrats to those that have finished!
 

I'd be interested to hear why people shouldn't be a data scientist? The majority of people leaving my program (with or without degrees) and also leave academia go on to positions as a data scientist of some sort or another. Ultimately, to me, the type of work that a data scientist does matches my ideal career path: find answers to questions by learning how to analyze large datasets. Academic positions are the same skills but applied to academic questions, while the many other industries that use these skills to solve a wide variety of problems. Some types of problems won't interest me or I wouldn't want to contribute to but I feel that there are many other worthwhile problems to solve that will make a positive impact in the world

So I have something to do after I retire.

I am a full time employee of the university, I finished my undergrad there, currently finishing my Master's, by the time I finish the PhD, I will have 21 years in. 4 more years working after that for full retirement benefits, and then I plan on moving into teaching.

But the real reason is 'because I want to'.

I love how a side discussion on Peanut Butter emerged on this thread, which I'm reading while spooning blobs of PB into my face hole.