Burkis

What an inspiring and helpful thread!
 
My story: When I graduated with a very low, sub-3.0 GPA from McGill I pretty much felt devastated. My grades made a perfect "U": strong at the start, weak in the middle and strong again at the end once I switched programs. Most advisors made me feel like a leper once they looked at my transcript and never bothered to ask what happened. One advisor even laughed and said, "I guess science isn't your strong suit" in a room filled with other students.
 
I applied to an MA program at an OK school, made a great connection with my POI, had my travel costs paid so that I could visit, but was rejected in the end due to my marks and received a rude letter from the program's coordinator. My POI told me that my only hope would be to complete another bachelor degree. I relocated to my hometown, completed a funded-MA at a local, no-name university, and pretty much thought that might be the end of things. However, since graduating from undergrad four years earlier I had managed to rack up significant experience in my field through research work, UN positions, and government opportunities while completing my MA. I took the GREs, did horribly, applied to two PhD programs and was rejected, but I had applied mainly to my dream schools and not programs where my research interests were a good fit so I wasn't entirely surprised.
 
Despite my poor undergraduate GPA I knew that I still wanted to attend programs at well regarded, internationally recognized universities. I gave things another shot last year, spent a great deal of time researching schools, wrote more refined and honest research proposals/statements including an explanation of my poor grades, secured stronger references, and made contact with POIs. I secured interviews for good doctoral programs at universities such as LSHTM and Oxford and in the end I was accepted to 3 out of the 5 programs that I applied to, including one school which only accepted 36 out of 330 applicants.
 
Bottom line: If you have a low undergrad GPA, do not give up hope. 1. Try to rack up some relevant work experience, 2. spend time researching schools/programs, 3. reach out to POIs, 4. write a killer statement of purpose/proposal, and 5. secure strong LoR.

SFU MPH's Program - Advice from a Graduating Student
 
For anyone trying to decide between SFU and another university, I am a current student at SFU (population health stream), and this is my last term.  If you have your heart set on going to SFU, or that's your only offer, I do not recommend reading my post.
 
If you have other offers, I would suggest considering those universities.  I've REALLY disliked my graduate education at SFU; in fact, it feels like undergrad.  Most of the students would concur that they treat us like children (some would say infants).  Even students who did their undergrad at SFU complain about the grad program. The class sizes are huge.  801,802,803,845 (all required courses for all streams) have class sizes over 50 (up to 70). They admit a lot of students because they want the money (i.e., it's become a degree mill). And I've had more classes taught by sessional instructors (most of whom were terrible) than by tenure-track faculty.  So getting reference letters for jobs, etc. is very difficult.  Most students also complain about the supervision they get (most profs aren't on campus), and everyone has to have a supervisor.  Also, courses 900 and 901 are a complete waste of time (and they occupy every Wednesday from noon to 5 p.m., but it's another way they can make some money).  Also, most of the core courses have a lecture and a tutorial on separate days, so in your first year, if you only do two core courses, and 900/901, you should expect to be on campus 5 days a week (and SFU is not an easy campus to get to, and yes, it's really, really ugly and dreary in the winter).  Also, SFU doesn't have a lot of course offerings.  Students often do courses at UBC or UVic (distance) etc. through the Western Deans' Agreement. Some of the sessional instructors this term have been so bad that students have created petitions, etc.  The Faculty always has these sit-down meetings with students, but nothing ever comes of it.  So previous students have tried to improve things, but the Faculty completely disregards everything we say with excuse after excuse.  If you don't believe me, look at some of these reports produced by the SFU's Faculty of Graduate Studies (the FHS - HSCI - was generally rated the lowest of all the faculties by its students).  Also, keep in mind that this report was produced before they opened the flood gates to huge classes.  My cohort - 2011 - was the first big (50+) cohort.  So things have gotten worse.  And that whole accreditation thing: that only means that SFU agrees to teach certain courses and to cover certain content in those courses; it has NOTHING to do with quality.
 
I truly do not enjoy telling you this because it also degrades the value of my degree, but I wish I had someone tell me this before I went there.  BTW, UBC does have a great international reputation, and it classes are limited to 25 (many classes actually have class sizes much less), and most classes are taught by tenured faculty.  And UBC is cheaper and so are some other universities so don't let a few thousand dollar scholarship sway you into going to SFU.  There are TAs opportunities available at SFU, but they are a lot of work for the pay.
 
If you have other options, please consider them.
 
https://www.vancouver.sfu.ca/content/dam/sfu/dean-gradstudies/admin/staff/memos/Grad%20Student%20Exit%20Survey-%20Faculty%20Version.pdf
 
https://www.vancouver.sfu.ca/dean-gradstudies/blog/programprofiles/student-survey-reports.html

I grew up in Vancouver so I thought I'd offer a few tips.

1. Despite what others have said in this forum, public transit in Vancouver is TERRIBLE. I can say this because I've travelled extensively and have lived in various cities in North America and Europe. So if you don't have a car and want to avoid long commutes, try to live near one of the major transit corridors. Also consider cycling if you're going to UBC.

2. For people planning to attend UBC, the West Side of Vancouver is beautiful but expensive, so allocate lots of time for apartment hunting. I wouldn't recommend cycling from Burnaby, but Richmond is perhaps doable if you don't mind a bridge. There are express buses up and down Granville st., so connections from the downtown/West End areas are fairly easy, as are Skytrain connections on the Canada line. Millennium line and Expo line routes will take longer; they seem direct, but once you're on that long bus ride on the 99 you'll wish you lived closer. If you don't like commutes but don't want to pay Point Grey/Kitsilano/Dunbar prices, look in South Vancouver -- Marpole, for instance -- or further east towards Cambie or Quebec st. You can probably go as far east as Main without TOO much discomfort, but further than that and you're looking at a very tiring commute. Richmond is close if you're ok with suburbs.

3. For people heading up to SFU I'd heavily favour the Hastings-Sunrise, Commercial Drive, or Main st. areas. New West, Burnaby, or Coquitlam will wear you down if you enjoy more urban environments, and truthfully aren't much less expensive. Hastings-Sunrise/PNE would probably be my first pick since you can take the 135 express bus straight up the mountain (I'd say about 30 mins from Hastings & Nanaimo). It's an up-and-coming neighbourhood with lots of great eateries (check out the Red Wagon diner, Roma, and Moccia's deli, for starts). There are many nice houses to be found between Hastings and Renfrew or north of Hastings toward the inlet. Many were built between 1910 and 1945 and offer reasonable rents for a partial house. Strathcona is also close to the 135 route and offers a nice community in one of Vancouver's oldest neighbourhoods. However, nice houses/apartments in this area are scarcely on the rental market; people tend to nab them and hold on for a long time. If you really must live in Burnaby, look around Deer Lake.

4. Vancouver really is an outdoorsy city. It's not as culturally interesting as Seattle, Montreal or Toronto and not even in the same league as SF, NY, or Chicago, but the surroundings are incredible. I miss them almost every day.

5. There are no truly dangerous areas in Greater Vancouver. Even in the downtown eastside you're probably more of a threat (esp. in a car) to the addicts than they are to you. Still, don't live there.

so I got a bit of a surprise this morning...Berkeley (Infectious Disease and Immunity) called and said they're still making decisions, and they're still pretty interested in me. there's going to be a phone interview sometime in the near future. that was the last thing I was expecting, considering I thought I struck out on all my schools and was already planning for the future (applying to other jobs in the public health field, working on extending my contract in my lab, etc.).
 
I'm so thankful for the opportunity, but I have no idea how the funding situation will shake out even if I do get accepted. my parents were pretty upset that I wasn't going to go to school in the Fall, but now they're pretty upset that it may be to California (we're east coasters through-and-through). I had also come to terms with the fact that I'd be staying in the DC area for a while longer, and I wasn't hating that idea. this is the first place since going off to College that has really, actually felt like home. whenever the time comes, it's going to be so difficult to leave.
 
but there are still hurdles in front of me anyways. still have to get past the interview, still have to get in, etc. I really just needed to type this out somewhere and dump the thoughts swimming around in my mind.
 
I'm keeping my fingers and toes crossed for those of you still waiting to hear! and congrats to everyone who has been accepted/made their final decisions!

I've been unofficially informed by my POI about my acceptance to Waterloo in Health Studies and Gerontology, PhD. Full funding, plus TA/RAship and a job offer at a health policy institute in the summer. Dreams come true.

Any other Canadian applicants out there?

Interdisciplinary programs are risky. There are a *handful* (and I really do mean a handful, maybe fewer) with well-established reputations and good (such as it is) track records of placing people in academic jobs. "Interdisciplinary" is an academia buzzword, yes, but the way academia is structured, jobs tend to be in a disciplinary department. And then from there, it's hip to involve other things in your research. Migration Studies and Women's Studies would also fall under interdisciplinary. There are a couple of jobs out there in WS, for example, but most departments of it are comprised mainly of profs with a primary position in sociology, psychology, literature etc. who cross-list many of their classes as covering gender topics.

Get in touch with the department; ask them for placement statistics. Be sure you're getting honest data, and not the standard "everyone who wants an academic job gets it." Ask about tenure-track positions, number of students who drop out of the program before completion, the careers pursued by students who do not find permanent work in academia, etc.

Mazaya - have you thought about/talked to the schools about deferring admission for a year? Going in, my plan was to pray for funding, and defer for a year if I didn't get it. That gives you time to get to know the professors, talk to them about their research, and generally suck up until they're begging you to work with them.
 
20-60 RA positions!?!? Jeez. Organization, organization, organization on that front, I guess. Good luck!

What an inspiring and helpful thread!
 
My story: When I graduated with a very low, sub-3.0 GPA from McGill I pretty much felt devastated. My grades made a perfect "U": strong at the start, weak in the middle and strong again at the end once I switched programs. Most advisors made me feel like a leper once they looked at my transcript and never bothered to ask what happened. One advisor even laughed and said, "I guess science isn't your strong suit" in a room filled with other students.
 
I applied to an MA program at an OK school, made a great connection with my POI, had my travel costs paid so that I could visit, but was rejected in the end due to my marks and received a rude letter from the program's coordinator. My POI told me that my only hope would be to complete another bachelor degree. I relocated to my hometown, completed a funded-MA at a local, no-name university, and pretty much thought that might be the end of things. However, since graduating from undergrad four years earlier I had managed to rack up significant experience in my field through research work, UN positions, and government opportunities while completing my MA. I took the GREs, did horribly, applied to two PhD programs and was rejected, but I had applied mainly to my dream schools and not programs where my research interests were a good fit so I wasn't entirely surprised.
 
Despite my poor undergraduate GPA I knew that I still wanted to attend programs at well regarded, internationally recognized universities. I gave things another shot last year, spent a great deal of time researching schools, wrote more refined and honest research proposals/statements including an explanation of my poor grades, secured stronger references, and made contact with POIs. I secured interviews for good doctoral programs at universities such as LSHTM and Oxford and in the end I was accepted to 3 out of the 5 programs that I applied to, including one school which only accepted 36 out of 330 applicants.
 
Bottom line: If you have a low undergrad GPA, do not give up hope. 1. Try to rack up some relevant work experience, 2. spend time researching schools/programs, 3. reach out to POIs, 4. write a killer statement of purpose/proposal, and 5. secure strong LoR.

Having some kind of experience helps. By the time I submitted my MS apps, I'd been working in my field full-time for a year and a half (with a peer-reviewed publication) and had taken four post-bachelor's non-degree classes in my field. And I had a well-above-average, though not outstanding, GRE score.

By the time I submitted my PhD apps, I'd been working full-time in my field for four and a half years, had a 3.5 MS GPA plus five non-degree classes before that, had four peer-reviewed publications (one as first author) a published abstract, and a poster presentation under my belt, and had an over-1500 quant + verbal GRE with a perfect writing score. And I have grant-writing experience through my jobs (which, unsurprisingly, a lot of PIs appreciate). And all that experience allowed me a very focused SOP and lots of options for strong letters of recommendation.

People with very low undergrad GPAs, for the most part, don't get into grad programs because they got lucky (well, they did, but not moreso than other applicants) and were selected before more-qualified applicants. They get in because they made themselves highly qualified in other ways.

Edited to fix typos.

What an inspiring and helpful thread!
 
My story: When I graduated with a very low, sub-3.0 GPA from McGill I pretty much felt devastated. My grades made a perfect "U": strong at the start, weak in the middle and strong again at the end once I switched programs. Most advisors made me feel like a leper once they looked at my transcript and never bothered to ask what happened. One advisor even laughed and said, "I guess science isn't your strong suit" in a room filled with other students.
 
I applied to an MA program at an OK school, made a great connection with my POI, had my travel costs paid so that I could visit, but was rejected in the end due to my marks and received a rude letter from the program's coordinator. My POI told me that my only hope would be to complete another bachelor degree. I relocated to my hometown, completed a funded-MA at a local, no-name university, and pretty much thought that might be the end of things. However, since graduating from undergrad four years earlier I had managed to rack up significant experience in my field through research work, UN positions, and government opportunities while completing my MA. I took the GREs, did horribly, applied to two PhD programs and was rejected, but I had applied mainly to my dream schools and not programs where my research interests were a good fit so I wasn't entirely surprised.
 
Despite my poor undergraduate GPA I knew that I still wanted to attend programs at well regarded, internationally recognized universities. I gave things another shot last year, spent a great deal of time researching schools, wrote more refined and honest research proposals/statements including an explanation of my poor grades, secured stronger references, and made contact with POIs. I secured interviews for good doctoral programs at universities such as LSHTM and Oxford and in the end I was accepted to 3 out of the 5 programs that I applied to, including one school which only accepted 36 out of 330 applicants.
 
Bottom line: If you have a low undergrad GPA, do not give up hope. 1. Try to rack up some relevant work experience, 2. spend time researching schools/programs, 3. reach out to POIs, 4. write a killer statement of purpose/proposal, and 5. secure strong LoR.

Okay my turn ... (hoho it sound like one of those AA sessions )

I did my undergrad back home in a decent university ( which is only decent domestically not internationally ) and proudly ( ) earned a UG-GPA of 2.9/4 . Fortunately I realized my goals in life (applying to US) and succeeded to get a GPA of 3.5 in the last two years of undergraduate. Basically the trend in my home school was so that if I take the courses again it won't matter that much ! Shitty professors, unfair grading, Blah Blah Blah ...

When I realized that I want to continue my graduate studies in the US (That was a pretty big step from the point where I was) I went directly to a Professor who I had a good relation with and asked if I can work on any research project. He was kind enough to let me work on 2 projects during last 2 years of my undergraduate study and so I published 4 conference papers (Which I believe had no effect else than self-STEAM which I believe is very important) ...

I was so determined so I could get a 780/630 in GRE (believe me that's incredible for people in my country ) and 111 on TOEFL and so I started my applications. I was sort trying to be both REALISTIC and IDEALISTIC and consequently I only applied to Master programs so that I can compensate for a PhD program in better school. I applied to about 10 schools only and only is US I got accepted to SUNY Stony Brook, Houston, Arlington, Portland State ... and of course got rejected from Gatech, Madison and U Washington (haha which is now lower in ranking that us ) ... I ended up in Arizona State University - 30 in MSE and 32 in EE

I had no financial aid or so BUT what i HAD was faith in myself. I enrolled and after first semester I was among the only few master students on FULL FINANCIAL RA support working for one of the most world-famous professors in my field. I got a GPA of 4.2 out of 4 (yeah that's higher than 4 ) and I am currently having 3 astonishing recommendation letters from professors who are all willing to KEEP me for my PhD in their groups !

You can see schools that I have applied for PhD bellow, though the chances are that I may stay where I am for the PhD mainly : First because I have EARNED a very good reputation for myself and Second: I can finish my PhD in 3 years !

My 2 cents: Whenever you catch a FISH from water, it's gonna be FRESH ! it's never late to EARN that reputation

2.69 over all GPA from U of Toronto because of a course I got a D- in what was a fucking shit show and the nasty prof, despite my valid reasoning, doctor's notes, etc, refused to swipe it from my record and let me re-take it. I spent years dealing with it, and even took extra courses to make up for the mark, but still killed me and as a result I was not qualified for OGS, SSHRC, or any other internal awards when I accepted York U MA. I was accepted cos of high recc letters, and sufficient work experience.

However, because I was never eligible for those awards in my MA, it has now trickled up to lessen my chances at SSHRC the last two times I have applied. I am working on everything else, but it is so frustrating.

4.08 from my MA.

So far 4.22 from my PhD.

The stories on this board are incredible! I am compelled to also share my story as it may give some applicants additional hope.
 
Like emg28, I am a first generation college graduate. I majored in psychology. I finished undergrad with a 3.0. I had a few failing grades on my transcript (Ds and Fs). I've never been one to make excuses, but I struggled financially, mentally, and emotionally in college due to some serious family health issues.
 
I attended a school that did not have the best resources to give me the exposure and skills I needed. Realizing this, I sought opportunities elsewhere. I spent two summers as a research intern at two major research universities.
 
During my senior year I decided to apply to PhD programs in clinical and developmental psychology. Everything I heard from people around me was that students with a degree in psychology go on to get PhDs, so i figured it was what I was supposed to do. I took the GRE and didn't do well at all. The only score I can say I was AW. I had one great letter of recommendation from my research mentor and two average letters from professors in my department. I got rejected from nearly every program I applied to because I did not meet "basic cutoffs". Teachers College rejected me from their PhD program, but accepted me to their masters program. I was completely surprised. I ended up declining the offer though because it did not come with funding, I couldn't find housing, and I could not afford to live in NYC.
 
A month after graduating, I made the decision to move nearly 2,000 miles away from home and it has been one of the best decisions I have ever made. I landed a job as a research assistant at a major university. The research I have been doing shifted my area of focus and sparked my interest in education policy. I applied to and got accepted to a masters program in public policy. I finished with a 3.9 GPA and made great connections with students and professors. Nearly 5 years after starting as a research assistant, I received several promotions in my current department, lots of great research experience, presentations, and publications. During summer 2012, I decided to apply for PhD programs in Education Policy. I studied my butt off for the GRE and improved my verbal and AW scores, but my already crappy quantitative score actually went down  . I was extremely nervous about my chances of being accepted due to my quantitative score and my undergraduate grades, but I took the risk and applied.
 
Long story short, I am proud to say I got accepted to STANFORD out of over 500+ applicants. My POI and the admissions committee had some questions about my undergraduate GPA and quantitative GRE score, but they gave me a chance to explain it. From what I was told, having a great GPA in a masters program showed a remarkable upward trajectory. Having 4+ years of solid research experience and three glowing letters of recommendation also really worked in my favor. I also did everything I could to try to make myself stand out from the other applicants (a great personal statement and meeting with my POI to discuss research interests). I am still waiting for responses from the other three schools I applied to, but I think getting admitted to my very competitive top choice is remarkable!
 
I say all of this to say, there are certainly ways you can compensate for having a "low" GPA. Best of luck!

You all make me laugh. I took the time to register this account, because I thought that I was looking at a thread of disasters. In-fact, almost all of you have decent GPA's. I dont think I saw anyone with below a 2.6....That's pretty good.
 
This isn't a here's my story, it's better than yours. Rather it's a true disaster which cannot be fixed in any way.
 
I finished my undergrad with a 2.41 in business. I was studying accounting, but if your GPA falls below 2.5 at the University of Colorado then you lose your emphasis. Mine was accounting. I read everywhere that with a 2.4 I can eliminate 98% of grad schools in the U.S.
 
In my entire college tenure, my best semester was a 3.29 and my worst was a 1.6
 
Between those two extremes I fit everywhere probably averaging around a constant 2.5 the entire time. But my backstory is what helped (which I don't encourage you to do). I was in Iraq where I was severely injured to the point where I now have seizures on a weekly basis. I'm a disabled veteran, and I found out that this doesn't play into anything when applying to grad school. Since I had saved money, I decided to take my 2.4 gpa and apply to every top school that I could think of. I don't have good grades, my professors won't write me letters of recommendations because of my grades and my work experience is non-relevant to accounting. Basically I have no help getting into grad school.
 
However, I was wrong. I spent two days creating applications, paying fee's and writing countless essays as to why I would be a good fit. I then picked the six schools that I *knew* wouldn't accept me because of my bad grades and applied to them. I spent over $1000 in application fee's and other items. My top six schools that I applied to for a masters in accounting: Stanford, Michigan, Cornell, Wisconsin,California and Harvard. Then I completed five applications to schools that I thought I had a moderate chance of getting into: Texas A&M, Texas, Ohio State University, Nebraska, and Auburn. After finishing those applications, I tried some other one's that I thought would be sympathetic to my veteran status and applied to five more: North Dakota, Western Michigan, University of Utah, and Boise State University.
 
I didn't think anything of these. At worst, I thought that I may have just submitted 16 applications which would end up in the trash can followed by a degrading rejection email that is sent to the auto rejected students.
 
However here is my current problem:
On my desk I currently have acceptance letters to every single school except Utah because of an application error which is supposed to be resolved soon. The first thought that came to my mind was "wow, I got into Stanford". The first idea was to immediately call/email all of the admissions staff to see what kind of marijuanna they were smoking because my acceptance likely ended the dream of a better qualified student at that particular school. To keep things short, I summed up the responses from all of the universities by displaying what Michigan wrote back. I did this because it generally follows what Stanford, Cornell and just about every other school said. Texas A&M said that my veteran status improved my rankings consideribly. But anyways:

Michigan: "Your undergraduate grades were horrible, and frankly I cannot believe that you are applying knowing that the GPA floor is 3.3 for minimal consideration to the accounting program. After looking through your packet, I saw nothing which indicated that you would have the ability to complete a graduate level degree. Furthermore, after our interview it became very clear to me that you have no relevant experience in accounting outside of academia. I left the interview perplexed because nothing statistically showed my staff or myself that you belong at Michigan. However, I did enjoy reading your essay and listening to your thoughts on the Enron scandal. For having such a low GPA, I am interested in how you learned so much. While I am grateful for your service and terribly sorry for your injury I cannot simply put that in front of your academic performance. You got into Michigan because you can communicate well. It's not too often that a student will present themselves as a problem solver and a situational thinker yet not be able to test well. I think you will bring something profound to our program and that is the ability to hear and speak."

So just so all of you know, having a 2.4 doesn't help but if you can overcome with something else then you can definitely go places.

sharing what i've heard regarding funding for 2013 -
 
from what i've been able to glean from the interviews, it sounds like some programs are planning to fully fund for at least the first two years (tuition, insurance, stipend), and then students are expected to find a group to work with or obtain a dissertation fellowship to continue the funding.
 
i have a good friend at UNC epi who has full funding for her entire program, friends at hopkins that struggle to constantly find funding, and a very mixed bag of funding from those I know at Columbia (T32 teaching grants to completely supported on investigator grants). 
 
i'd be happy with two years of full funding with option to work for a research team for the rest of the support.

Actually JUST found out 2 minutes ago thru email. I'm in!

This morning I received an email from the director of the PhD program informing me that I've been accepted! Yesterday I received an email to confirm the campus tour at Hopkins this Friday. I requested the tour months ago, but never heard anything. Fortunately, I was already planning to be in the area visiting family, and can just hop on the train for a day trip. I emailed the admissions coordinator and asked if I could meet with faculty as well, even though I was still on the waitlist (not for long...). She was very helpful and set up a half day of meetings. Then I got the acceptance emial this morning. They congratulated me on my perfect timing in requesting the tour. There is an admitted students day in March, but it's the day before I'm scheduled to run in an 8K (I've been training for months, not missing it!), so I don't think I can make the official visit day. Instead I'm going to have my own private/makeshift visit day. I'll get to meet my future advisor and at least one current student. So excited! I will not be fully funded, but close to it - 75% tuition, a stipend (independent of working), and I can work 15-20 hours/week.

Belafish, I think you put it nicely when you say that this is an exhausting process. The good part is that we are so close to being done.
 
I was accepted over the weekend to Hopkins HBS program.
 
To everyone who applied, CHECK THE WEBSITE they do not always send and e-mail of notification that a decision has been reached.  In my case I received notification from the program coordinator and then it was updated on the website but there was no e-mail to tell me a decision had been reached!

sjohansen I didn't apply to Tulane, but if you have to make a decision by the 15th I'd definitely recommend getting in touch with Tulane and explain your situation to them it may get them to hurry along. 
 
For anyone interested academic coordinators at the following schools told me the info below: 
 
Hopkins HBS--decisions will be out this week, they don't conduct interviews but it looks like they've notified accepted applicants (her nice way of telling me I didn't get in) 
UCLA CHS- anytime between now and March 15th, was told they do not conduct interviews 
Michigan HBHE- most decisions have already been made and final decisions will go out by Friday
Columbia SMS- within the next two weeks, also no interviews (DrPH) 

I just received an email yesterday notifying me that I had been chosen to receive a reward off the wait list. I was wait listed in last year's competition and had given up hope ... I'm in my second year of a sociology doctoral program. my score was 18.6. 
 
good luck everyone! the wait list is finally starting to move!!

Hey! Yeah, I'm SO excited about Columbia. I've been wanting to go there for the past five years, haha - it's definitely my top choice. I'm mostly just curious about when the other schools I applied to plan to get back to their applicants. I highly doubt that any other school could match (let alone compete with!) the offer Columbia put on the table, and honestly - I was so impressed by the warmth and innovation that the department represents. If it makes you feel any better, EHS at Mailman did tell me that they'll be doing acceptances in waves, and to my knowledge, mine was the first of more to come. It's an incredible department; I hope you'll make it in, too! Maybe we'll see each other next year.

With all this talk of funding cuts, I'm starting to feel even more blessed to have a fully-funded offer... Yikes.

UBC has a great program though its quite competitive! I was accepted at UBC last year and McGill is my alma mater. Best of luck with the outcomes of your applications.  

It depends on the internship and what you hope to get out of it. My former classmate completed an unpaid internship at CNN (Anderson Cooper 360) a few years back and found it useful because he developed a good working relationship with Anderson who in turn offered to help him find employment in his area of interest. So, what are you hoping to get out of this? Do you want to further your skills, transition from intern to fulltime employee at the company, or both?

Unpaid internships are worth it if you have clear end-goals in mind.

OK, scratch what I just said. Just finished drafting an article as first aurthor. A prof did a bit of "editing" afterwards. Same prof just invited some other prof to place his name on the paper as well even though I previously objected to that idea because that prof has contributed nothing to the write-up of the article and his name will not lend anything to it. Writing sucks.