Eigen

I think GPA and GRE both matter less than your research experience, as long as they aren't below some minimum. I'd say your GPA is on the low end, but it's above 3.0 so shouldn't be a major stumbling block. Your research experience is great, and you can use your SoP to sell it.

Someone in your school probably has a printer large enough to print your poster. I'd suggest asking around, but my bet would be Geology (or related)- or the schools copy shop. In the states, almost every Kinko's copy shop can print posters from a powerpoint file on a jumpdrive. I do the three panel design, but instead of cutting it, I leave it whole and roll it into a carrying tube. This lets the title and some illustrations span the entire poster. Powerpoint is what everyone I know uses to design posters- you can set the page size to whatever you need, and then it's just like designing a very big powerpoint slide of your work.

Also note that it may not be possible to work another job.... Many TAships specify that you can't work elsewhere while you receive departmental funding. It might also be something you want to ask- are graduate students allowed to work outside jobs?

I'll throw some positive in the ring: I like my research- it's interesting, diverse, and I feel like it's worthwhile most of the time. I like my cohort and labmates- they tend to be supportive, mostly upbeat, and are generally pretty easy to work with. I really like my boss- he's always available to ask questions of, he's good at helping me look down the line and make choices that align with my career goals, he helps me network, he's not too harsh in his criticism, and I enjoy spending time with him outside of lab when I have the chance. I like my program- it's fairly laid back, but people care about good research, it's midsized so all the prof's know all the grad students, and we're well enough funded that I have access to all the instruments I need. It's not like there haven't been some rough patches or low periods, but in general I'm very happy with where I am, who I'm working with, and what I'm working on. And hey, I got to have lunch with a Nobel laureate today, so I'm in a particularly good mood.

Our school health insurance costs between $1000 and $2200 per year, depending on whether your department kicks in or not. Can get it cheaper elsewhere, for the most part. I know PhD students in the humanities with a tuition waiver + 8k or so in stipends, up to fellowships in science/engineering that are around 30k stipends- it is hugely field dependent. Personally, I've never seen a school give a housing allowance, that's most of what your stipend will go towards. I would say you shouldn't do a PhD without a full tuition waiver, but I'm sure there are some that would find it worthwhile.

In the sciences, 6-7 years isn't uncommon... But you're done with coursework by about 2 years, and your tuition cost drops a lot.

I think the assumption (as mentioned above) is that you'll be on "dissertation research" by that point, which usually carries a very minimal tuition component.

I have a pair of Keen's that I like a lot- they look professional enough (mostly leather) to wear with a suit and tie, but they're exceptionally comfortable walking shoes. The best part of all, in my opinion, is that they widen towards the toes- lets you have a relatively tight shoe at the heal that still has room for the toes to move.

I did the figure thing as well- mostly just because explaining the conformational shifts I was talking about without a figure would have been nearly impossible given the page limit. I did an introduction (about a page), then I broke down into three specific aims, each with their defined research goals and specific methodology, as well as a time scale. And then I ended with a review of the broader impacts of the grant. I discussed my initial results in each of the "specific aims" sections. I know my boss usually does the bold/italicized thing for NIH/NSF grants, but it seemed a bit over the top to me.

I have the 16.... All of my files from my desktop (~400 papers, misc. documents, etc) are around 3 gigs, so I figured the 16 would have plenty of room. I can't really comment on the longevity of this approach (only had it a couple of weeks), but from what I've read unless you're putting a lot of music/videos/games on it, you probably won't fill up 16 all that fast. That said, I don't know what size your books tend to be- mine are often black and white! I think it also depends on how many books vs. papers you want to keep on it at one time- for me, I just keep a few books, and a lot of papers- but science isn't a very book-centric field. With DropBox, it's so easy to grab a different book/paper off my computer anywhere I have WiFi (pretty much everywhere I work), space wasn't much of a concern for me.

My broader impacts focused on having several ethnic minority undergrads involved in my project, as well as an outreach program we're developing with a local high school to allow the students from there to come work in our lab over the summer/in afternoons during the year. Then of course, since I was proposing a design for chemotherapeutic drugs, there were the usual "benefit to society"/"benefit to basic science" goals. I went with my bosses advice, and actually added a specifically delineated section on the broader impacts of the work at the end of my proposal, instead of simply mentioning it as it came up within the course of the proposal itself.

If they said they'd have decisions this week, I'd wait until the end of the week and then contact them.

I find it very sharp. I think it's quite comfortable to read portrait, but if you have very small print you might want to rotate to landscape and scroll. Landscape, it's about 70-85% the size of a normal 8.5 x 11 piece of paper. Zooming in and out with pinch in/pinch out is really fast and easy as well, if you need to see something more clearly. I've read a variety of old and new PDFs on it, and they've all seemed quite clear.

You pay an application fee to a school to have them review your application. Ideally, this includes a timely decision. Even if they don't let you know by April 15th, they could still let you know after that date and still be "giving you a decision". Unless a school does something like lose or not review your application, I don't think you have any ground to stand on asking for your app fee back.

Yeah, so I said I'd give a brief review: I'm loving the iPad. I got a good case (otterbox defender) for it so I don't worry much about carrying it everywhere. With dropbox and PDF Expert/GoodReader, I can easily grab any of of the PDF files I have stored in my endnote library, as well as any other document from my current projects. Annotation is easy and feels a lot like marking up a page. I just got the Notetaker HD app for taking handwritten notes, and after about half an hour I was writing almost as fast as I usually do, and about as legibly. Using the "fat" styluses takes a bit of getting used to, but I found I adjusted to both the on screen keyboard and the stylus a lot faster than I thought I would. I've had it for a week, and it's already been a huge boon... It's become my primary presentation computer for group/project meetings (not having to worry about USB drive viruses on campus computers is awesome), I can take it on commutes with me to get a little reading done, and it's much nicer than having to carry binders and binders full of papers around with me to get to what I need, easily.

I would recommend going outside your department if this is the case. I've met some people in completely different fields that started my same year, and they're just as helpful with venting frustrations and commiserating. I do feel very sorry for you if there's no one in your department you can talk to and commiserate with, however.

I completely relate. That's why I think having your cohort as a support group is so important... When I have had a really bad morning/day/week and need someone to vent to, they're just the length of a hallway down, in their office- and we can talk there, go grab coffee, or take a long lunch.

I do know that even on "12 month funding" that for extended trips home (most of our international students) get their funding cut off for the month or so that they're gone. My PI asked at the beginning of last summer "Who wants to get payed for the summer? Anyone leaving?", and if you stayed, you worked through the summer. And I would definitely ask grad students- even if time off is officially allowed, there can be pressures to "not take it now" that last for quite some time. I do know around here that even though we get fall/spring breaks "off", our boss will definitely be in, as will most other faculty... And our group meetings certainly keep going through the breaks. That's not to say no one takes time off during the breaks, but it's definitely not everyone.

I'd be careful asking that question... It can come across like you're not willing to put in the work if you don't phrase it properly.

I'll just add a general reply: I have yet to see an engineering/sciences program in the US that specifies a number of days off per year. Our job was described as "you work 365 days per year, you get payed 365 days per year" type job... That said, most of the PIs in my department are fine with people taking vacations- especially the international students who will probably take a month to go home every year or every other year. But it's up to the PI, not something that is guaranteed to all graduate students. I would say a department that officially gives 19 days off per year is quite nice. Of course, even if the department gives them "off", there can be pressure from your PIs to work through them anyway. I think this last year I took 2 days off at thanksgiving.... Maybe 3 days (not including weekends) off at Christmas... And another 2 days for spring break? University holidays are not really consistently taken by the faculty/grad students where I work. Just something to keep in mind. I didn't really take any time off last summer, although the summer before that I took two weeks off for a nice vacation with my wife.

I should clarify: I don't think your experience is necessarily atypical (I think it's probably the most common outcome), but I wanted to make sure the OP was aware that there were some other worse conclusions to consider as well- at least worthy of checking into before they make their decision.

My organizational system is in a constant state of re-working, but here's the gist: I try to keep computer-based files in folders with more depth than length- use more subfolders, it's easier to find what you're looking for. I keep all my PDFs organized with Endnote- when you attach a PDF to a citation, it makes a file in your Endnote library with that PDF- makes it easy to find with or without the program, if you follow a good naming convention for your files. Name your files clearly- I use import #, Author (Year) and then a note... So 0356, Keskin (2009) Complex DNA Folding for example. Makes finding them in the folder quite easy- the number reference lets me know how long ago I imported the file, and the other information lets me remember what the paper was about. You can also attach other documents through Endnote- so if I redraw the figures from a paper I attach those, if I write up a summary of the paper, I attach that- etc. Papers that I'm working with a lot, I print and store in 3-ring binders that are project specific. I have 4 main projects going at the moment, each has a binder with the most salient and oft-referred to papers in it, as well as notes, data, etc. I use MS Office OneNote to keep screen clippings (order forms, etc) as well as notes, and a collection of figures/images that I've worked up to use in papers, presentations, etc. I also use it for short typed procedures, or for annotations/notes I take during literature searches. The notes go into "notebooks" that mimic the physical ones I have, one for each major project. I just got an iPad, so it's taking over more of the function of the physical notebooks, but they will stick around for data storage- it's easier to get instrument data from them rather than to have to dig through my file cabinet. When I just had 50-100 papers early on, it was much easier... Now that I'm around 500 papers that I need to keep track of and be able to find quite easily, my organizational system has changed quite a bit. Especially the naming systems I use for the files.

Synthetic/Biological Chemistry. First time I've applied, but approaching the end of my 4th semester of grad school just now.

It really depends on the school. Technically, once you accept you have a binding contract with them to attend the school- especially if they're funding you. Often, if an offer is accepted and then later rescinded, they cannot give that funding to someone else on the list- this has been brought up on the boards a few times before. Sometimes the administration won't allow the reallocation of funds if someone drops out after having accepted the offer. Rescinding your acceptance of an offer past April 15th can result in anything from a nice e-mail telling you they understand, to the burning of bridges within the department (and possible effects to your reputation), to the school requiring you to pay them back the first year of funding they had offered you (less common, but I've heard of it happening). Think very carefully before you accept an offer you may well have to reject down the road- and try to find out specifics on the school policies if you can do so without drawing too much attention.

For a support group, I find that my cohort still is the best I have. There are three of us that still hang out and do lunch and dinner and beers after work quite frequently, and we're all in similar stages of our program, with similar stresses and frustrations. We all complain to each other about our bosses quirks, our woes with trying to train our undergraduates, the frustrations of our research feeling like it's not going anywhere, our morose over a periodic lack of motivation, etc. Just having someone to talk to and knowing that other people have similar problems can be really helpful.