Meepsalot

Thank you very much for the replies. This is solid advice. I certainly have experience trying to weave the craziness of my post-bac life into a relatively coherent narrative--its probably what got me into the m.a. program. i also got some m.s. acceptances to competitive environmental health/int'l epidemiology programs this year, because i wasn't ready to commit to a phd last fall, but i was offered not an ounce of funding (i knew from experience that master's programs are a big source of doctoral funding for many institutions, but I still hoped/thought I had a solid chance of at getting at least some non-loan aid by selectively choosing only the better funded programs).

Hello all, I am pushing 30 (29 right now), and I have both a B.S. in chemistry from a strong state school and an M.A. from an Ivy in sociology (clearly, I've done my fair share of meandering, and I have the debt of a master's to show for it). GRE score is 1420, though I think I need to retake it since it's been about five years. Plus, even with a 700 in math, I'm only at the 61st percentile, and I know I can do better than that. GPA has hovered around 3.4 for both undergrad and grad. After, essentially, a decade of soul-searching, I know I'm ready for a doctoral program, and I know I want to chase a degree in an interdisciplinary program like Princeton's Science, Technology, and Environmental Policy program (this would be the dream program, but there are other schools with similarly interdisciplinary environmental programs, like the U of Minn). I've battled depression throughout this extended period of soul-searching, in large part because I put a ton of pressure on myself to overcome my indecisiveness and lack of direction, and I have had huge feelings of guilt at not having clearly defined interests and not being able to just commit to a field. My resume reflects this lack of clear direction, with work and volunteer experiences in laboratory biology, forestry, international education, administrative work, environmental chem research, and others. I know after stating all of that, you are likely to doubt me when I say I know what I want, and that you may be inclined to attribute my claim to having a field decided upon to the pressures of ageing, and I would not blame you for doing so. But I do know exactly what I'm getting myself into--the opportunity and time costs of ~6 years of doctoral study, the difficulty of the academic markets, and the burnout common to PhD students staring down a single, big project that must consume them for the duration of their study. The M.A. was as rigorous as an academic M.A. can be, with a research thesis, so I have some familiarity with taking on a big research projeft. Sociology was definitely the wrong field for me, so as a piece of research it is not as strong as it could be, but it is probably at least a solid writing and analysis piece. So, my question is this--in today's world of PhD applicants, how important is it to have publications already? Would an adcom evaluate me in the same way they would evaluate some kid fresh out of undergrad who has been working under a faculty member, with a couple of "honorable mentions" on research papers? Would my diverse experience, about 1/3 of it relevant to the programs I'm interested in, be seen as a boon or a blunder? I welcome criticism and encouragement alike. I should add that I am not in a financial position to even try for unfunded offers.

Northwestern is the biggest name among those three schools, but it also certainly the most expensive. And it is not famous for engineering, really. Purdue has less brand recognition, but it has a stronger and better known engineering program (engineering is what Purdue is best known for). Either school should be able to get you a job in American IT. IT as a field is more about having very strong work experiences and a portfolio if you also want to show coding skills, since it is a professional field. Northwestern as a brand name will give you more mileage in the long run, particularly if you decide you want to do something a bit different later on (like go get an MBA or something). My advice, though, is to make price-tag your first consideration, since I know master's programs rarely offer any aid.

I think if you're really worried about it, it might not hurt to write a follow up "Thank you" note in the language of the interview, showing some skill in that way. It's kind of a cheap trick, but maybe you could say something like "I really enjoyed our conversation, and I wanted to expand a little bit on my answers"--then bam, slip in a little bit of what you might have said were you more confident. Because your username is higehiru, sono mensetsu no kotoba wa nihongo datta no kana. Good luck.