Eigen

I'm going to have to respectfully disagree with Jellybean's suggestion to use a co-worker. You want someone that is looking at you from a similar position as the admissions committee, not someone who's more on your level. Someone like a co-worker may know you better, but their letter won't be taken very seriously. The same advice applies to having post-docs write you a letter of recommendation, or graduate students (even those who have since graduated, and are now post-docs/faculty). They weren't supervising you when you were working for them, and so can't comment from that level. If you're really hurting for recommendations, it might be something to try, but I'd really steer clear of it if I were you.

To reference back to UnlikelyGrad's points, our wedding had about 250-300 people, and we managed to pull it off for around $ 2k. My wife's dress was a wedding present, but wasn't hugely expensive either. We did a combination of making food/having food delivered/and asking people to bring things ala potluck. It worked out really well. For a wedding cake, instead of having one huge (and expensive!) cake, we got a local baker to do a selection of 15 medium round cakes (different flavors, and a mix of icing colors) and then arranged them on the table. It looked great, and we had a range of flavors for people to try. Another variation on this that I've seen is cupcakes arranged to look like a cake. We did all the decorations with the help of our family, and I had some friends that played music for both the reception and dancing after, so that worked out well. For pictures, I had a friend that did semi-professional photography that took them for us. You can do a lot to cut back the cost of the wedding if you ask for people to help you put on your wedding instead of giving you presents- it makes them feel like a part of things, and can make putting the whole thing together fun instead of stressful. You're not dealing with strangers waiting to get payed, but working with friends in areas they are exceptionally skilled.

Coursework recs are never as important as research recs. Personally, I'd say you should try to get the DVM-PhD- that's academic research- and one of the PhD researchers who you worked for in industry. Then I'd try to build some sort of a relation with *one* of your current professors for a rec. The first two will show your capability in the research lab, which is what's really the most important.

Answer, and answer honestly. If you've selected your schools well, there's no reason to hide it. Not to mention, most applications have you certify that the application is complete and correct- including the section on what other schools you've applied to. While the chance of it becoming an issue is slim, why take the risk?

I was a year ahead of my wife, we had a similar problem. I ended up choosing a university in an area with several other schools within an hours drive or so- but she was able to get into the same school as me, so it worked out quite well. How close are your fields? Like "spousal hires" higher up in academia, I think there's a decent bias towards a student who has to stay lower/already has a tie to the school... The closer the field, the more it will help. That said, you say you're a strong candidate, so I wouldn't worry so much about it.

I'd put your SoP up there with your letters of rec- but really, both of these are "supporting data" for your research experience. GRE scores- mostly matter with respect to you making the department/schools "cutoffs"... Past minimum values, no one really seems to care. Below those, and they can severely impact your application- hence, the weighting is variable. Assuming you've got decent scores, I would rank them below GPA in importance. Really, the most important things are the past research experience, and one other factor you didn't mention- research fit. If you have a ton of research experience, but can't show how you fit into one or more groups in the university you're applying to, it won't be worth nearly as much.

The schools I'm aware of, it would hurt/do nothing. Most schools will only review 3 LoRs- if you send 4, they'll either take the first 3 or 3 at random. Choose your best 3 recommenders and send them off.

I would imagine most schools do it by the date, but you really should call the department(s) and ask. The other option is that they would do it by the year, and since most applications aren't reviewed until Jan or Feb, that will put it in 2012, and over 5 years that way, as well. Again, I'll encourage you to call the departments and ask. You seem to think that calling might make it so that your scores either wouldn't slip through, or you wouldn't get as lenient of an answer, but I'd say it's better to know up front. It would really suck for them not to catch the fact that your scores are older than they'll allow sometime in the middle of the application cycle next spring, at which point you won't have time to take the GRE and get in that cycle. Better to bite the bullet now and know one way or another. I'll also add that it's rarely up to the department to grant leniency from things like old scores- that's usually something set at a higher level in the administration. The department, however, might overlook lower more recent scores in the light of your research experience and masters, understanding that you've been away from undergrad much longer, hence your GRE scores would be worse. They'd more likely be looking for you to be above the acceptable minimum instead of "competitive" with the rest of your application being attractive.

There are also a number of programs that want scores from within the last two years- and that's usually by the calendar. It all comes down to what the department wants- don't worry about what ETS does or says as much as each individual school. If they aren't responding to e-mails, call the school. There's no substitute for first hand knowledge. That said, is there some particular reason why you're worrying about scores that old? Normally, you would take the GRE as you apply, and should only have to worry about the scores being a couple of years old at most. Do you have a set of scores that's on the edge now, and are worried if they'll be accepted? If so, giving more specifics might help. Otherwise, don't worry about playing on hypothetical "what happens several years in the future" scenarios. If you have to, you can always just take it again.

Just a quick question: Is the GA position through the university, or the department? If it's through the department, you should contact the department and ask, not the Financial Aid department, most likely. Our department handles all amounts, etc. when it comes to GA positions, either teaching or research.

Ktel- I think the confusion is coming about in terminology. On many applications, when you give recommender name's, there's a box to check that says "I waive my right to see these letters". Basically, you can not check it and require that the school/recommender show you their letters... Or waive it. Waiving your "right" to see the letters doesn't mean that a professor can't send you a copy, or show it to you if they wish. It just means you can't demand to see the letters. George: Letters are supposed to be confidential. It lets the professor feel they can freely talk about you (high points and low points) and the school feel like they're getting an honest opinion. Between grad school apps and fellowship apps, I've gotten 12-15 different faculty members to write LoRs, and I've only ever seen two of them.

For my school, it's either or. If you have a 25K external fellowship, that's your funding, and they'll pass the GA on to someone else. There are a few cases where they might let a TA position stack somewhat- a bit of extra pay if they really need more TAs- but it won't be the full stipend, for sure- more like the pay you'd get as an adjunct (500-1500 per class). For smaller external fellowships, our school has cap (a bit higher than a GA) that it keeps, and if you go above that they reduce your GA pay accordingly. Also keep in mind that many external fellowships have rules about what other funding you can receive concurrently- I don't know of any that would let you take a GA stipend alongside the fellowship, although they might exist. In the end, I doubt you'll find many schools that would let you keep a full 25k external fellowship and a 22k internal stipend + tuition waiver.

For something like that, I'd take notes by hand as you're reading, and then go back and either re-write or type up the notes later on to re-organize/neaten them up. It helps with the studying immediately by the physical writing of the info, but then also gets you organized digital copies to go back to later on.

Depends what you're studying, and why. For notes on articles as I read them, I use a computer about half the time and hand-written notes about half the time. If I'm taking notes on articles for a publication (review article, intro to a paper, etc.) I find using a computer, and writing up a quick mini-review after I read it helps a lot with the writing process- it allows me to start getting down wording for how I want to talk about the paper, and allows me to much more quickly bang out a discussion of the papers flow, high points, low points, etc. If I'm reading a paper for experimental details/designs, I usually take notes by hand, as they often include a lot more in the way of figures/schemes that I want to sketch out as I read. Although, I often go back later and write these up a bit more formally on the computer. Having a hard-copy is nice, but at the same time hard copies tend to pile up on my desk/in my file cabinet, while digital copies all go in my dropbox, are well indexed and I can easily pull up from anywhere I have internet access. Digital copies are also much easier to adapt/use at a later date, give to someone else (undergrad, colleague, PI), as well as to back up. When I was studying for classes, I always took notes by hand, and re-wrote them by hand- it helped me learn the material. Since I finished classes, I find using note-taking to learn the material isn't as important as using note-taking to document thoughts/ideas/summaries for later use after I've forgotten exactly what I was thinking. I find now it's more about managing and storing information than committing it to memory.

Taking it the other way around, it can often be viewed as inappropriate for professors to be seen fraternizing with undergraduates. Forging personal relationships is fine, but they should be on the basis of teacher/student, mentor/mentee, not two people hanging out. Whether or not it's there, the illusion of impropriety on the part of the professor is a huge risk, career wise, and can lead to accusations of favoritism, etc. Not to mention some universities indirectly forbid such contact. The difference isn't there so much with graduate students, especially once their coursework is done- the grad student and professor should start forming more familial ties, as they are on the road to being colleagues. The power imbalance isn't quite as great. I did things with my undergrad professors- dinners at their house, etc... But that's not the same as meeting them at a bar and drinking. We're talking about a whole different level of familiarity there.

I don't think most schools use interviews to predict grad school success, but rather to choose graduate students they think can fit in well with the department. The prediction of success is what got you to the interview. The biggest predictors of success in graduate school are you letters of recommendation and your statement of purpose, and the information they contain- your motivation, work ethic, past research experience, publications, etc. GRE and GPA are both fairly poor predictors- it's usually not the coursework that causes people to drop out of graduate school, but rather a lack of motivation or drive, or a lack of research experience. Just my 2 cents worth on the discussion. To the OP: Mid-500s aren't great, but they aren't bottom of the barrel either. I think you have a good shot at studying some more, re-taking the exam, and then applying to some mid-tier programs.

I would say going drinking with undergrads is not a good idea as a professor. I also try to avoid it as a grad student (with exceptions). Prof's going drinking with grad students, however, is common in my field.Especially at conferences. The bars are where all the real work gets done.

Definitely. We had grant deadline season twice in the last year, and I was essentially working two different jobs- synthesis at one campus, cell work at another. I'd get up around 4 in the morning, go to one campus and do cell work until 8 or 9, then drive to the other campus, do synthetic work all day, then go back to the other campus after dinner, from 9-12 or 12 am. I ended up being so tired and frazzled after one batch of cells that I swapped an extraction from the control batch with the sample batch... Lost several weeks worth of work. It was after that I really realized how important it was to have enough downtime/sleep that I could stay focused while I was working. I haven't had the same problems since.

Not only that, but depending on what you're working with, sleepy grad students can cause a lot of damage. If I'm tired to the point of falling asleep waiting for something to run, I always shut it off and go home- compressed gasses, explosive reagents, or just really expensive equipment I want to work with at my peak, not when I'm tired and distracted. I figure that my experiments take less time, and usually require fewer re-runs if I take enough time off and get enough sleep that I'm sharp and at my peak when I'm in the lab. Not always possible, but worth it when it is.

My boss generally assumes we'll be done by about 4pm on Friday... And often asks what our weekend plans are. He doesn't usually expect us to come in and do significant work, unless it's grant deadline time or something. I think the "hardest" working PI in our department wants his students there from 8-6 or so (counting lunch breaks), and another 5-8 hours sometime else- nights, weekends, etc., so like a 50-60 hour work week.

And, our internet connection has dropped through the floor with the increased load, as always. Thankfully, our only daytime parking is Faculty.... But now I can't find any parking at night when I come in, since all the undergrads are using it to park and go to the library/clubbing right off campus.

I absolutely agree with clearly delineating the broader impacts and intellectual merit- that's not just something for the NSF fellowship, but true for grant applications as a whole. Most grant writing workshops teach you to do exactly that- specifically delineate and emphasize the talking points of your grant, and this isn't any different. When you realize that the reviewers are taking about 15 minutes to review your entire application, you want the important stuff to stand out and be easily remembered.

Dimanche gave some very nice suggestions of solutions. So here's my question... You've said that you were underperforming and unprofessional in your first two years. When meeting with your advisor, have you been up front about this? Explained that you realize your past performance has been subpar, but that you really want to win back the confidence of her/the lab, and do better? From what you say of your situation, you'll probably have a period in here where even though you're performing up to par, people will still treat you like you aren't. My suggestion is to take the lumps, and put in above-average time and effort- you can't just put in "good" work if you want to turn around peoples opinions of you, you need to be putting in work that is way over the top. I don't know the people involved in your situation, but I doubt it's an impossible feat... Just a difficult one. I've seen this from the flip side (underperforming, unprofessional grad students), and it would take me a while to see them in a good light after a couple of years of that behavior... But I would certainly be willing to change my opinion of them if they really changed.

Our second week back was punctuated by me having to take two days off to plan and get everything together for our department BBQ.... Then a bomb threat forcing an evacuation our half of the campus just prior to it starting. And there are way too many undergrads back on campus. It's always a shock to go from the quiet summer to the campus jam-packed with gaggles of undergrads who are all in too much of a hurry and don't watch where they're going. I think I'm going to start working nights.

Caltech and Northwestern both have excellent programs. It really depends what area of synthetic organic chemistry you're interested in, though- high throughput, natural products synthesis, etc.