Owlet

Congrats to all who have received it! I didn't get it this year (G/F VG/F VG/G). I'm applying as a senior undergrad, so I will very likely apply again next year, and I hope to learn from this year's experience. I was wondering if anyone has suggestions about how to improve the "Broader Impacts" part? For example, what are they looking for? Is it based on the graduate research proposal, or the personal, relevant background and future goals statement, or both? Thanks for sharing!

Thanks for the information hmm.. it seems like the government website did not list TOEFL, but the ETS website says TOEFL scores can be used if the listed conditions are met. I wouldn't mind so much if I had to take IELTS for the visa, but I really do hope it doesn't affect my application and getting the offer I suppose I will find out if IELTS is need for the visa or not when the conditional offer arrives (hopefully)

Does anyone by chance know which schools have these kinds of offers?

Thanks for posting this question. I am in a similar situation and am curious to read other people's responses.

Thank you so much! This is a big relief!!!

I'm actually a little bit worried regarding whether they take TOEFL scores any more. They listed TOEFL as an accepted test on their website: http://www.graduate.study.cam.ac.uk/international-students/competence-english/what-tests-are-accepted But I've also heard that many schools in the UK stopped accepting TOEFL scores.

Sorry about being misleading, I changed the signature when I heard from the department, but later I realized it takes more processes... Yeah, I also thought it was usually 7 days, but I've been waiting for almost three weeks.... Do you think it's possible to get a rejection because of some issues with the TOEFL/IELTS results? thanks

I haven't got the official acceptance. That's why I'm so worried.... I got the offer from the department, but it's the Board of Graduate Studies that make the official offer. ...and my application has been stuck there for such a long time. Does anyone know how long it usually takes?

For those who have applied to Cambridge, how long does it typically take to hear from the BGS? My status on the self service has been "awaiting approval by the board of graduate studies" for over two weeks and has been making me very nervous. On the Cambridge trusts website, they have already announced the CISS awards and the first round of funding is anticipated to be announced on Mar 16th. I do not know if this delayed offer decision will have any affect on the scholarship opportunities. Is it normal to wait this long before hearing back from them? On Cambridge's website > after applying > timescales, they say "It may take up to 7 days from Degree Committee approval for your application to be approved by the Graduate Admissions Office." Thanks for any information!

I am flying from Asia to the interviews. I don't think doing it over skype will hurt your opportunities much, but I think it's worth every effort to attend, you get to see the environment, meet a lot of faculty and graduate students, participate in scheduled activities. Luckily, most schools that invited me provided to cover some of the costs. If you can get more interviews and combine the costs from each school, then you may not need to pay, or only need to pay for a portion of the tickets. Maybe you can wait a bit for some other invites to come (or maybe inquire other application statuses) before making the decision of whether to attend the prospective student weekend or not.

Like said above, it's good to know about the professors work. Also, you'd might like to prepare a small speech about your past research experiences

Great! Thanks for all your helpful replies!! Actually, 3 days after booking the flight, I was unexpectedly invited to another interview and had to make flight changes so that they can fit on the same trip.

I have an interview weekend that needed us to arrive before Sunday afternoon and leave after Tuesday noon. Since most of the flights from I checked arrive in the US at night and leave in the morning/noon. I booked a day earlier and departure a day after the typical day. Another reason is I have some friends in the University I would like to visit. One friend in the Ph.D. program I am applying to and told me that I could stay at her place on the extra days if I want. I was contacted by the administrative office and by a graduate student organizing the events about my travel arrangements. I told them my arrival and departure dates and staying with their Ph.D. student... and now I'm starting to wonder if it will leave a bad impression that I am causing trouble arriving and leaving at non-typical times.

Thanks for all your answers!! I finally plucked up the courage to ask. They quickly replied it would not be a problem, and in fact, that they have lots of vegetarians and vegans.

I have the same question!!! Also, I would like to add a follow-up question about outdoor vs. indoor wear.

Both schools provide funding for the travel, so I will definitely attend. ...just still need to figure out the details ...I'm not sure how to plan my trip because some schools haven't sent out invites yet.

Just wondering, when does the holiday break end in the US? Are the dates the same for each state? I sent one of my recommenders a thank-you email attached with some Matlab codes I wrote that I thought would be handy for his lab (he seemed glad to have received it).

I found these quite helpful: 1. Verbal advantage (book) 2. Kaplan GRE book 3. Barron's 800 essential words for the GRE (quizlet) http://quizlet.com/8997815/barrons-800-essential-words-for-the-gre-flash-cards/ Also, look up the words you don't know when doing practice exams would be helpful

Hi~ I was wondering if you guys have any advice for a vegetarian during school interviews? Especially for situations like (1) applicants are hosted by current grad students, (2) social dinners, and (3) parties.

Good idea, I think I will try asking schools if I could reschedule my interview so that they might be closer. What kind of transportation would you take to travel from the school to the airport? Thanks for your advice. Happy holidays!

Thank you very much for sharing these websites! They are very helpful. I do hope to find a nice place to stay By the way, I wonder if you have some more information about public transportation in the US? Thanks for your reply. Unfortunately, the interviews I have received so far are spaced one month apart. I really do hope to get some more interviews that are arranged in between.

Hi. I was wondering how international students manage on-site interviews in the US? I am living on the other side of the globe, so it would be expensive and tiring to fly back and forth to the US for each interview, so I plan to stay in the US during the interview season. However, I am not very familiar with living in the States, and I was wondering if there are any suggestions on how to deal with the accommodations and travel in between? thanks!

Did you guys apply to the UC Berkeley Psychology or Neuroscience department? A lot of the professors hold positions in both departments, especially in the Behavioral Neuroscience and Cognition, Brain, & Behavior area. I applied to Neuroscience, but kind of regret it now...

Thanks for asking this question! I'm in the same situation as you and also have the same question! One of my backup plans is to apply for the NIH postbac IRTA program (but I'm afraid I might not get in this either, so I will also try to find a research assistant job). However, I'm not really sure when to apply (should I wait until April, until the results come out? but would that be a bit late?). Also, I'm not that sure where to find RA jobs (I've tried searching by google. Is this how most people find jobs?) Thanks for any advice.

Actually many of the schools I applied to specified to leave at least an 1-inch margin blank at the top of each page so that they could print your name on it. At the end before submission, they also let you view a full copy of all your files concatenated into one big document, and your name, application number, and document type will be printed on the top of each page. If you put in a header yourself, the words you typed will be overlapped with what they print on. But the specific requirements may be different for each school, maybe you can try to check the school, department, and online application instructions and FAQs for your schools.