katerific

okay, thanks. strangefox, I remember which thread you're talking about, but I couldn't find it, and I couldn't remember what people said! And it's one of those issues where I feel like I've gotten a lot of conflicting advice, so I've always been confused about this.

Okay, so I submitted all my applications within the past week. Should I email the professors I'm interested in, saying, "hey, I submitted my app, I'm serious about this! Don't forget about meeee!"? There are a few cases that I'm not sure about: - One professor told me that he doesn't have any say in initial admission decisions. Is it worth it? - There are like two professors who might remember me anyway, and MIGHT look for my app. Should I bother? (One would probably remember me better than the other, since I've seen him more recently.) - There's also another professor who I never contacted and isn't my prime interest, but I mentioned him in my SOP. Should I send him one anyway? "Hey, I never contacted you, but I'm interested"? Oh, yeah, and if anyone has any idea about what exactly should be said, please chime in. Thanks!

http://uncyclopedia..../wiki/Geologist "Geologists are 'scientists' with unnatural obsessions with beer and rocks. Often too intelligent to do monotonous sciences like biology, chemistry, or physics, geologists devote their time to mud-worrying, volcano poking, fault finding, bouldering, dust-collecting, and high-risk colouring." on hobbies: "One of the geologists' favoured pastime is the noble art of rock hunting. A great deal of skill is required for this most awesome of pursuits. The stalk is the hardest part of a rock hunt with the risk that you may startle the herd... Always a bother as you have to set up the ambush all over again once they've quieted down. With regards to weapons, it is generally accepted that projectiles are not suitable as they may mar the trophy and render it less presentable. A swift blow with a geopick (that's why they have a pointed end) is considered the most humane method and generally leaves the trophy undamaged and more suitable for display. One can always scavenge for less mobile specimens but in most cases these have been subject to weathering and decay and do not exhibit the full mating plumage of a rock in its prime. A good nose is also required to "sniff-out" the best examples, hence the term "Rock-Hound"." Note: Okay, this is totally not serious/really related to grad school at all (or is it?), but I really wanted to 1. add a bit of life to this subforum and 2. share something funny. Enjoy!

awesome to hear, bhikhaari! I mean, about the offers, not the typos. It's a ray of hope! Oh, and you reminded me! Another positive I thought of: actual nightmares about applications/decisions have not occurred..... yet.

I saw that you were the most recent poster in this thread, and as I was opening it up I was (jokingly) thinking, "I bet he's reading stuff about vampires and darkness, or maybe Bach. Vampires love toccatas and fugues." Well, I was half-right.

Here is... the story of katerific. What program are you applying for? PhD in the earth sciences. Why grad school and what's your journey? I really love doing research, and I'm really interested in what I've been doing. My first two years of college I sort of bounced around a lot (physics major, environmental studies major, etc) and I couldn't decide if I wanted to go into environmental policy, or environmental consulting, or conservation, or if I should just say 'screw it!' and go pursue art. None of that really stuck with me, despite my interest in the environment and the natural sciences. So I want to do research, and I think I'd like teaching, too. What challenges does your field present and what hurdles do you need to overcome? I'm interested in a really, really interdisciplinary field, so that means I need to have to be really knowledgeable about a number of different subjects. That in itself is quite the challenge! What skills are you working on? Well, I get reeeally nervous when I'm presenting or talking to a bigwig. I've always had social anxiety issues and dealt with extreme shyness for the longest time, but I've been working on this for years now. It's a project in progress, of course--I just have to keep putting myself out there and build self-confidence, etc. How are you keeping motivation and what perspective have you gained from the process? I stay motivated by thinking about all the cool potential projects I could be working on. And I keep in mind these could really happen! The application process has really made me realize my strengths and weaknesses, as well what things interest me more than others.

Now that I've been submitting applications, I have new woes! 1. I submitted an application yesterday, and I can't shake off the feeling that I messed up somewhere! I checked it a billion times, so there shouldn't be any typos, and I've been working on everything for a while now, so it should be a good package overall. I keep going back to check certain parts ("wait, maybe I misspelled (specific term)?!"), and everything is fine, but argh! I just can't shake it! I'm hoping that I'm just psyching myself out (as opposed to being subconsciously aware of a major error that I overlooked somehow). 2. Every once and a while I randomly get this terrible gut feeling that I'm going to be really disappointed by the results (as in I'll get more rejections than I anticipated, especially with places that I kinda liked more). On the bright side: I'm really glad my parents are helping me cover some of the costs of applying. Submitting all these apps reminds me how expensive the process is...

How long has it been doing that? Is the deadline soon? It might be a problem on their side, but they just haven't fixed it yet (or even noticed).

and my programs don't even start reviewing the materials until, what, like mid-January? I'll be sitting around on my birthday thinking, "they could be evaluating me RIGHT THIS VERY MOMENT "!

good call, bhikhaari! I'm re-reading Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman (I first read it about 5 years ago). It's a pretty quick read, though, so I'll need to find some other things to pick up soon....

Hello fellow geologist! I don't know the answer to your first question (although I imagine you might start hearing back in late Feb/early March? maybe?), but there are a handful of us who hang out over at the Earth Sci subforum: http://forum.thegradcafe.com/forum/86-earth-sciences/ .....Okay, it's a very small handful, but still!

One time my old advisor googled me (he lost my email address or something silly) and he ended up at my mom's webpage (she's a writer). "Wow, I had no idea that your mom was a published author, katerific!" Also, the worst things that come up for me are all the silly facebook groups I'm in and the silly interests I list in my profile.

I'm in this exact situation. I'm currently applying to 6 schools plus the school where I did a summer internship. It's a decent school, and I really loved working in that lab, but it's also not quite what I'm looking for (at this point; that might change). The prof I worked with is one of my LOR writers. It's not at all awkward because they want you to go to the program that's best for you. This is the impression I get from my advisor: he would really love for me to join his lab, but at the same time, he wants me to have options and be able to choose the program that's the best fit for me. So yeah, definitely apply to that program as well as others, and don't be afraid to ask him for letters. (Of course, don't apply to the program if you don't actually want to go there--but it sounds like it's a great option for you.)

I think I should start hearing back from my programs in early Feb. I haven't submitted all my apps yet (3 more to go), but I should be done with them by this weekend (obvs, since the deadlines are this weekend). I mean, they're essentially all done, but I just have to hand them over.... which I still don't feel ready to do I've found that I've been drawing a lot more. I haven't drawn in a while (all semester, really), so it's nice.... I've been sketching, but now I'm itching to dink around in Illustrator.

I just found TWO typos in a version of my CV that I submitted two weeks ago... the best thing I've been able to do is stop facepalming so much. It's embarrassing, but yeah, probably not that big of a deal. But seriously, I'm just hoping they don't notice them at all. Hopefully they'll be blinded by my resplendent track record

I think what you say definitely has some truth and applies to all applications, not just lit. I think my rec writers, advisors, and grad student friends have been the greatest resource for me throughout the major steps of the process. At the same time, TGC has been good for all my silly questions. You know, the ones that I would normally know, but because we're dealing with grad school apps, I become rather incompetent when it comes to the really minor things. It's always good to have another person or two (or ten million) give you the obvious advice. But the whole relating with others--that's honestly what I need most and has been one of the biggest parts of applying. I don't really know anyone in my group of friends who is applying to grad school. My biggest problem throughout the whole process has been self-doubt and fear. It's been nice meeting(?) people who're going through the same feelings, but also have the same goals and ambitions and such.

For me... Highest: $125 Lowest: $65 With my 5 other schools falling somewhere in that range. Ranking/prestige seems to sort of play a role, but not really (the top program in my field is one of the cheaper ones!).

along the same lines: MIT has just done it for me. We have to list every college course we've taken (plus textbooks and grades and such) in the boxes they give us..... and I realized I just summarized the past four years in this little group of boxes on this one page of the application. I'm sitting here thinking... that was it!? I feel so empty. Almost as empty as the application's stark format

Interesting! I'm pretty sure all the profs I'm applying to work for don't tweet.... I do like to follow science on twitter, though

Erica, I'm so sorry to hear that your family is acting like that. Maybe they'll have a change of heart at some point.... but until then, don't let them get you down. We certainly don't think you're making a mistake or anything. - A++

Yeah, I'm not done submitting my apps, but I get that a lot. But I totally understand how the whole "oh you'll get in don't worry!" can be rather irritating. People don't realize how competitive this process is...! In response to bhikhaari's question: I wish I had been less open about all my applications... or at least how strongly i feel about each school. I'm going to feel pretty embarrassed about not getting in places, but I'll really hate telling people that I didn't get into my top choices. (I mean, IF that happens, because I totally could get in... positive thinking, positive thinking!)

surprisecake: your story made me LOL. A++. strangefox: I have red hair and I love foxes, too! how 'bout that waddle: Ludwig: HAHAHA. Also A++! heck, everyone gets a gold star sticker. I love these stories. so interesting.... and rather revealing of our personalities. keep them coming!

I was at a conference this past week, and the #1 question was "where are you applying??" It's a legit question. There's nothing wrong with that. But at a conference, when you're asked this like 50 times a day, and you list a million schools each time.... it certainly gets tiring! Especially when they can't guess who you want to work for. (Fortunately, most of them could name the professors for me! )

Don't worry about it. They might notice and be like, "hmm, so-and-so made a spelling error," but I seriously doubt they'd make any sort of decision based on that. If the rest of the package looks good, you should be fine. Everyone makes typos every once and a while, and they can be easily missed, even after checking a million times (they probably get harder to catch after the hundredth time, too ).