expandyourmind

I'm at the University of Antwerp right now, and I Know the reputation at the University of Ghent is very favorable. Not to mention its a beautiful city with a lot of stuff to do. In the Belgian system UGhent is one of the better universities.

i just bought a fitbit and really enjoy it! it tracks sleep, steps, calories and some other fun things in its dashboard. its a little expensive but i think its worth it for someone who's tired of counting calories in/out and stuff

i selected a school and my status is still matched. i selected it a few weeks ago but nothing really has changed.

thanks guys, it'll be some tough few months but i'm really excited for uchicago.

ultimate vent: my boyfriend of 3 years just left me. we were trying to coordinate where i should go to school, either in New York or in Chicago. I had two great choices-either UChicago or Columbia and decided UChicago was the best choice for me (although I loved Columbia). He had been depressed for some time and had the only thing I can describe as a mental breakdown. The day after I committed he quit(got fired from) his job and told me he's moving back to New York to live with his family and that he doesn't love me anymore. he basically ran away from every responsibility and just checked out of life. it's been so hard, im still so in love with him, and i keep thinking what if i went to columbia or moved to new york and all these things to save the relationship and what we had. i could just use a hug. depression hurts not only those who are suffering, but those around them.

i'm definitely addicted to soda. one thing that ive started doing was just drink club soda to get the carbonation. i went from drinking like 1-2 cans of soda a day to none. i've also been trying to eat more veggies and less carbs (i just crave carbs all the time)

nope not yet, it still says matched

also don't use very generic or cliche terms. explain WHY/HOW you're a hard or dedicated person - don't just state it. use some examples of your hard work to show your dedication to work and how this funding could play into the future. you had to write a statement of purpose to get into the program, right? just treat this as another form of it

anyone and everyone says this for funding. make it personalized! make yours stand out! you should put some time into this and write a statement that not only conveys your interests, future interests, but also how this funding will play into that and why you are unique among other applicants. don't rely on gradcafe to write this for you. spend some time on it and look for editors to flush it out and give it finesse

i'm doing an erasmus mundus in EUCOMOR and no one knows of it! i'm finishing up my master's now and heading back to the us for my phd. im glad to know that there are others out there!

was 22 when i started, am 24 now that im finishing up. basically said fuck it and did a european masters to get some travel and put something good on my resume. its been a crazy experience. i'll be starting my phd this summer and im excited to finally be back in the states

exactly from this it sounds like the fit wasn't there i'm sorry. and honestly it didn't sound like they were very interested which could say a lot about the program. if thats the funding or another reason then maybe, but for an interview to go only 12 minutes and to be cut off short they must not have been very invested. i don't think any interview i've had ended THAT early without the other party being disinterested. most of my interviews went over time by a considerable amount, and the only one that were cut short (15 min into a 30 min interview) i didn't feel the fit at all and i didn't get into that program either (which was for the best). it seems a little weird to be able to get a good sense of a fit in only 12 minutes, but for me the fit was instant and obvious. but of course for a skype interview that can be different.

oh god shows what a life i have. i've been addicted to this thread! haha also, anyone looking at Stanford- my PI went there way back when and said its the best place in the world to study!

in all honesty this probably happens a lot. you have no idea what they are looking for in a candidate and maybe they didn't feel as though the fit was there compared to other applicants. i wouldn't take it personally but thats the name of the game. it sucks being rejected, especially after an interview but they are looking at a lot of candidates and others may have been an entirely better fit for the program. also, being international may have been a factor - i know its tough for funding in the US and universities are weird about accepting a large number of international applicants (some aren't) all throughout these interviews its not only figuring out if you are a good fit for their program, and also if their program is a good fit for you. its very reciprocal. i like to think of it as a first date. if you hit it off - great, if not, then its a no go.

i'm so happy for you about WashU! it's so good to be so excited! i know its hard to wait, I also thought it would be weird to ask to come visit again having already committed (even though i was 100%)

http://www.evobio.eu/ try that. i'm doing an erasmus mundus masters for morphology. you get paid to travel and study, and itll probably get you great field experience!

i felt the same way about uchicago. it was the all around best fit and best program for me. i wanted to accept right away but i made myself wait until i visited again just to be sure! I would wait. i doubt anything will change, but it definitely gives you something to look forward to! which one are you leaning towards?

yes, agreed. this is about training for a doctorate and honing your skills. a graduate program should foster your abilities and take care of their grad students. it should also be that your peers raise you up and push you to be a better scientist in a collaborative sense. from your post it doesn't seem like this is a very good environment to flourish. i would run!

Ah! My status is matched! I hope something good comes of this... i also got a weird call from a China area code... i don't know if its related, but hopefully they call back!

I went to school at Northwestern and i'm headed to UChicago next year for Molecular Biosciences (but evolutionary biology always holds a special place in my heart). UChicago is just a fuckin powerhouse when it comes to evolutionary biology, i mean... Neil Shubin. Enough said. haha but in all seriousness the Field Museum is an amazing resource on top of everything else. at NU i took a grad class at the Field Museum and it was terrific, just a very unique place to learn and do research! Chicago winters are tough, yes, but as long as you invest in a good coat and boots you'll be fine. the summer in chicago makes up for the winter entirely. i cannot even begin to list all of the activities/festivals/events that pop up in chicago over the summer. it's a GREAT city to be in. I wouldn't say that its very balmy or humid or anything, it's just typical summer to me! yeah there might be rain and thunderstorms, but thats really like any city in my opinion. nothing really out of the ordinary. in chicago you definitely have seasons which is something i don't really think california has. overall i just think it's a beautiful city that has so much to offer compared to other cities (and Davis especially in my opinion) I'm a little biased but i really think that the environment of chicago, especially for evolutionary biology with the field museum and UChicago, in general, is an atmosphere for graduate study that is absolutely unparalleled. the program also really impressed me with their level of commitment to their students, but i feel like you will get that anywhere you decide @sfrie feel free to PM me if you need to talk about UChicago or Chicago in general, it's my favorite city in the world!

For minority students there's the GEM and Ford fellowship

Who's lab are you in at Weill? I interviewed there! We may have met

i revisted UChicago because I was in town. I just e-mailed the dean and within an hour she had me set up for a date and a few days later was meeting with about 6 faculty. it definitely solidified my decision, but for those that may be a bit far a skype interview with a POI might be good too. I know I met a girl at Columbia who said they flew her out there when she admitted she was torn between columbia and another school. I'd say go for it, if they are invested in you they will show it. the second meeting at UChicago eased all of my fears and made it that much easier to commit.

yeah i'm very unhappy and unmotivated in my lab right now. i tried to talk to my PI and we butted heads so now i just have to bite my lip and get the next few months over with... i ended up committing to the place where I felt they were invested the most. I really clicked with all of the professors and just absolutely loved everyone I met. there wasn't a person i didn't enjoy talking with or seemed genuinely interested in who i was. hopefully i wont butt heads with anyone else like i did with my PI!!

for my master's that i'm doing right now i was thrown into a pretty big lab with about 20 people, various postdocs, techs, phd students, masters students. i just feel totally lost to be honest. i feel pretty thrown into the deep end not really knowing what i need to do. i never thought it'd be like this because every project i've worked on and every lab i've been with for 5 years has been great. i'm definitely one for smaller labs i think.