Othello

I'm in at Berkeley!

Really? What kind of responses have you gotten from them?

I did try to contact one professor early on (over the summer), but he never e-mailed me back, as I expected. I've since heard some people say positive things about contacting professors, but I've heard many more advising against it, so I didn't do it anymore after that. I think, in general, one should refrain from contacting professors. There's a chance you'll get a response, but more likely you'll just annoy the guy.

All my school and fellowship applications are DONE! Now the wait is on... Two months isn't too bad.

Has anyone else noticed how the Stanford MSE faculty website hasn't been updated since 2002?!? It's ridiculous. I e-mailed the department secretary back in August, and she said they'd begin updating it sometime in October or Novemeber. Still no updates... Geeze louise, this is STANFORD! It worries me, frankly. I know the application deadline isn't until January, but I'd like to know if this school has relevent research sometime BEFORE the deadline is nearly here. I've already learned from a professor of mine that one of my top choice professors at Stanford (based on information 4 years old) isn't even there anymore... Ridiculous.

I'm sooooo close to finally finishing this thing... A professor is currently checkng out the proposal I wrote, and he'll get that to me on Monday, I'll make any necessary changes before Thursday, and then I will be DONE. Every other segment of the application is ready to be sent off. As much work as graduate school and fellowship applications are, I don't look forward to them all being completed. It'll be really boring the next couple months after they're submitted. It'll just be a lot of waiting and worrying until February comes along.

Oh man, it is brutal. However, the essays the NSF forces you to write are extremely helpful when composing graduate school applications. A couple applications have asked for an essay in supplement to my statement of interest, and I've gone, 'huzzah! I wrote something very similar to what they're asking for in my NSF application! [ctrl+C, Ctrl+V, tweak here, tweak there, done]'. I think the work is worth the chance of receivig the equivalent of a couple hundred thousand dollars.

Good luck in your applications. Keep us all updated. My statement of purpose is juuuuust about done. I'm glad the NSF application is due so early; it really forced me to get things done early. The last big thing I have for all my applications is just this stupid research proposal (for the NSF)....ugh, what a pain. I'm actually working on it right now.

hey lorelei, welcome to the foum. What's your story?

tvn, I'd definitely recommend retaking the exam. Adcoms will find that score very suspicious. Memorize a few hundred common GRE vocab words, and go over the PowerPrep tests several times to get the timing down. It's a very learnable test, so you really should do the necessary work to bring that score way up. The GRE isn't weighted very heavily as part of the application, but you really need to bring it up if you don't want to raise some eyebrows.

Three weeks until the deadline! Well, for engineering at least. November is coming around much sooner than I thought it would. This proposal is such a pain in the buttocks to write... I truly feel sorry for everyone who applies for this (and puts in the necessary effort) and doesn't get anything out of it. Oh well, the reward is worth it. mmmmm....NSF.....

Looks like you'll definitely be a competitive applicant, big baby - good work. Keep us all updated with your application process.

I've been making some posts and threads to try and pick things up again, but I guess it's still a little early in the application process. I'm sure this site will be much more busy from February on when results start coming out.

Good to see another materials scientist. I've been working a lot on getting all these applications sorted out; it's more work than I thought... I'll be applying to nine schools for a PhD in Materials Science: Berkeley Caltech Columbia (Applied Physics & Applied Math) Harvard (Applied Physics) Michigan MIT WUSTL Princeton (MechE & Aero) Stanford I'm also making good progress on the NSF and NDSEG; I just need to get the proposals done for each. Man, what an ordeal the process is... Filling out the applications, sending GRE scores, sending transcripts, getting recommendations sorted out, writing essays...ugh. I can't for next Spring when I can just sit back, relax, and hear all the decisions and fly out to some of the schools. That'll be a good time... Big Baby, can you give some personal background and stats? What are your research interests?

Well, Petral, let's hear your story. Are you a senior? Grad student? Applying to any other fellowships? Which schools are you applying to? What are you studying? Any idea what you want to write your proposal about?

Seeing how deadlines for the NSF GRFP are coming up in a little over a month, I thought I'd start up a new thread for all who will be applying. I'm way excited about applying, and I hope there are others out there. I finished my personal statement last week, I just completed my previous research experience essay a few minutes ago, the application is almost entirely filled out...but I'm nervous about the research proposal. What will you all be writing about? What's your background? What are some of your stats? How much of the application have you finished? I really want to get a thread going that will rival last years. Surely there are plenty of NSF'ers out there!

How long will it take for you to earn the MS? If it's just a year, then definitely stick it out. If you really are going to get those publications, then the best thing you can do in the mean time is earn an MS. That way you can apply for a PhD program with an advanced degree AND publications. Seeing how you've only just begun your current program, I'd assume your view of it will only get better as you progress in it. If the MS program is more like two years...ehhhh...it may be worth it to apply to another program. However, I'm not sure a semester of three A's will help you a lot since grad classes tend to have inflated grades. You wouldn't have anything to lose, other than money, to apply, right? That's a tough situation; I'm not too sure how I'd handle that myself.

What are you studying?

It won't happen, sorry. If you have stellar GRE scores and everything else is lacking, your application is likely to be tossed out. The GRE score can be easily improved through studying and is therefore not a measure of intelligence. In general, high GPA + low GRE = courses taken were easy; not that smart low GPA + high GRE = lazy. Therefore, if you want to be a competitive, you must have both a good GRE score and a good GPA (though GPA is weighted FAR more than the GRE).

Hi, I'm from the USA.

I've heard the average GPA of an accepted student into Stanford's EECS program is a 3.8-3.9. I don't know how much leverage you'll receive being an hispanic, but you better have at LEAST a 3.5, especially if you don't have publications and/or great research experience. I know EECS is not physics, but Stanford is ranked #2 in EECS, #2 in earth sciences and #1 in physics, so I'd assume the program you're interested in is also extremely competitive.

I'll be applying for a materials science PhD program this fall, so I'll tell you what I think I know. Getting in touch with professors is not necessary or even usually recommended for prospective graduate students. Just research the professors at schools you're interested in, and look at what they're doing. I guess it won't hurt to e-mail them, but it probably won't be much help. I e-mailed one professor and got no reply, though I was mostly expecting this. I've heard it's more helpful to e-mail the department secretary if you're wanting to ask if they're accepting students and whatnot. Yes, PhD programs are more competitive. According to US News, accepted PhD applicants typically have a higher a GPA and GRE than the accepted MS applicants. I'm sure a prospective PhD applicant will also need better recommendations and research experience on average. If a PhD is what you want, there is no need to apply to an MS program at the more selective schools. When applying to schools, you typically have the option of being considered for an MS if rejected for the PhD program. I hope this helps.

Well, if you go by computer science rankings, US News says: USC = #27 Penn State = #33 Texas A&M = #54 However, that's just overall. Those rankings change depending on subfields within computer science. You should also be putting a lot of weight on the actual professors there and the research they are doing. You should have a general idea of what you want to research before you apply and accept any offers.

Prof. M. knows nothing about my writing ability. The course I took with Prof. L. had weekly lab reports, but I don't think those really count. However, Prof. C. assigned us a rather open-ended research paper assignment. I chose to write about a subject related to my research interests. It was this paper I wrote for his class for which he gave me a perfect score, called it "outstanding" to my face, and asked if he could use it to show to future classes. Apart from this assignment, the only other grade we had before the final was a midterm exam on which I got the high score. Hmmm...thinking about and typing that makes him sound like a good choice... The problem is he is in chemistry and doesn't know me as well as I'd like. It's certainly good to hear you think that last summer should be taken off. That'd be nice.. I'd just be tempted to do some full-time research to gain the extra experience and maybe add a publication to my resume. I was considering applying to do research in a national lab; I am thinking about perhaps working for one when I graduate. Then again, I really don't need it, but the money I could make with an industry internship is also tempting... These REU's pay about as well as if I flipped burgers at McDonald's all summer.

So given this new information about Prof. C., how do you rank him with Prof's R, M, and L? By the way, I'd say Prof. L knows me much better than Prof. M. Oh, another question: Is it more typical for an incoming grad students (like yourself) to work during this summer before the semester begins or to spend it doing something enjoyable? Do you consider it unwise to take that summer off?