katalytik

Maybe curl up in a corner for a couple of hours, bobbing my head and speaking in tougues. After that, go out and plan to continue my current career -- I am fine where I am.

Without a doubt you need to take it over if those are your schools that you want to be at.

Awesome. Thanks for letting me know this. I will call them when they open to get some details. I hope the thing is complete because I only did three apps and am already frustrated!

yes papercuts agreed. it was a strong statement mainly because i am in biology/medicine field where a very large percentage of funding is government based. so i agree that its possible but very hard on average. stellar international students often have to go to schools that are lower than their caliber because of funding issues... i did not mean to kill all hope but its very very hard in my field to have funding from a top tier school

I know some people who really are not that interested in a prof research topic but feign interest (the topic is in a similar area of their interest), only to get admitted to Ivy U. ..... and then switch after getting in. Any thoughts about this? Im not sure what to say...... because Im not sure I can do that easily

unfortunately funding pretty much is nonexistent for international students because much of the funding given to grad students in the US is by the government

UMich app says they are missing my recs and all my transcripts! And I also have emails saying all my recs have been received....... so annoying. sometimes these universities have mo idea how much work it is todo them and they can't even get someone to check off things as completed..... ugh, gotta call on Monday! im very disappointed with UMich system..... even the app itself was filled with glitches

ima medical doctor..... had i want to do things again..... either pimp or drug dealer..... kidding! the first part is true though....

sorry to be a downer but distance makes it hard...... not sure how you can make it. i did this and it didnt work..... and you have not been dating very long either

It seems there are two minimum screens a student must overcome: the grad school and the department. anyone know details? for example, can the dept vouch for you if grad school says student does not fit minimum screen? or, are screens very different between the two? would think that grad school screen is more lenient, but some more competitive departments would have it the opposite way.....

its good to use books if only to get some context about "what" to address in those essays, not necessarily "how" specifically to write them. agree that templates are probably a bad move in general..... some originality is important

i can understand value of humanities but things are often tied to money. if people dont need funding, then study whatever you want..... but we cannot get upset over the fact that society now values certain topics over others

no i dont think you messed up. he may have understood you were nervous.... its quite understandable. i would contact admissions tomorrow if you have not heard yet

no i believe what it means that 30 apps out of about 150 complete apps are ready to be screened. the deadline is Jan 15, so i think the majority of eventually complete apps are not complete yet. once complete, they get screened, and the remaining ones go to adcomm

wanna be clear..... the program gets about 150 apps for about 7-8 slots. only 30 finished the application complete step and got screened. im sure other programs are just as competitive. im still waiting to hear if my app is complete, let alone go through initial screen

Just to add more intelligence my program got 30 apps with 25 passing the screen. so i guess the screen is probably not as rigid as we may think.

I want to be an academic physician: teach, research, publish, and patient care Or the government or non-profit: Health and Human Services, or World Health Organization

I got in touch with a prof. who i have been working with at UMichigan. My program is health services organization and policy (applied for a Phd). He said they have an initial screen which includes the following: 1. GPA 2. GRE 3. Undergrad institution name (i.e. cachet of university I guess) 4. Work experience the profs only see the apps after each applicant passes the screen. anybody else offer any more details about other schools? so i am not so sure that many schools view that "every applicant gets a review" is what we think it is. the "review" is often simply a set of numbers and a name of the undergrad university.

Man, this is so cool! Wow, you guys have such cool ideas and diverse interests.........just nothing i am ever exposed to!

A lot of us have an idea of what others are doing here for their grad school research. What are you guys going to do if you get into your first choice? How about a quick idea in a few words what you guys are going to do? It seems we've got the gamut of academia represented here... Me: I'm in healthcare and my interest is in information technology and how it will impact health reform in this country. I want to do stuff like cost-effectiveness studies etc. on health information technology. My ideal place is Harvard because the school hospitals are real pioneers in the field, and the faculty is really interested in this arena. Doesn't hurt to have the Harvard name on my resume either!

I applied only to 3 schools and I expect this at at least one. The problem is that the entire committee needs to agree who to let in. So if there is another student that a powerful professor wants, then the rest of applicants pushed aside. I went to visit professors, talked to some on the phone, and one of them told me that I was "pretty much in". How this is because he is the Director of Graduate Studies at this program. These profs I spoke with were in general excited about the topic, and wanted students to pursue this approach to this topic. BUT, I am sure there is someone better than me in their eyes. I just want to be good enough to be admitted.......that's all. I can worry about being the "star" student after getting in. Just getting in is the biggest hurdle for me -- not what research I want to do, not what faculty I need to work with, etc.

wooo! done with my last application to U. Michigan. Now i can join the rest of of the club of worry warts! feels nice......... but now for the hard part. waiting and getting antsy.

Resumes in general should be targeted to whatever you are applying for. I would consider grad school, as if you are applying for a job. Hence, you should discuss specific positions, roles etc. that a committee would find positive. Also they should see increasing responsibility or accomplishments. Keep it short and very focused, and do not turn it into an unending CV. I would guess max 2-3 pages double spaced. hope that helps.

I think we are losing it if we think academics are such sticklers or that they are so petty to make a decision about a person based on a typo. Please don't worry.

I like to blow spit bubbles.........it's a highly unique talent and i don't know anyone else who can do it! I'm not trying to trivialize the thread, but we should have some fun while we wait!