IamLorde

Congrats Teddy!!

Congrats Moochie!! I believe we crossed paths during the PSW at UT, so I wish you the best of luck at CU Boulder I have also finally reached my decision. I visited UNM this past weekend and it was a pleasure meeting the faculty and students. It seems like a really nice institution, but lacks the resources that UT has, so I will be declining their offer. This weekend I also discovered that I am waitlisted at Duke. Apparently they had 3 open positions and I was number 4 on the list. However, all 3 initial offers have been accepted. So, they are keeping my app open in case additional funding comes available. Knowing I was next in line, makes it hurt a little less. Although the program wasn't the best research fit anyway, so maybe it wasn't meant to be. So, after weighing my options, I have decided that I will be attending UT Austin this fall!! Considering it was my first choice when I applied, I am pretty stoked Best of luck to everyone else during this final week of decisions!!!

Finally got tired of waiting so I emailed all of the departments I hadn't heard back from yet. Here is what I found out: UW: "We are still reviewing applications and will let you know by mid April regarding our decision. Thank you for your patience." OSU: "The decisions are still coming out but the 1st round is done a 2nd round is uncertain. You have until April 15th to respond to any funded offers, but if you have other offers in hand, you might want to proceed." ASU: "We have already made offers of admission and are waiting to hear back from students before making decisions on the rest. Essentially, everyone else is on hold at this point. Hopefully we will start to give final answers within the next couple weeks, although sometimes we are still working through offers at the end of April." Duke: "The faculty is meeting on Monday to discuss the candidates and the remaining decisions will be made then." So the waiting continues, but at least I know something now.

I haven't heard anything from them. I know they are on spring break this week, but I am not sure if that will speed things up or slow them down. I see that you are waitlisted at Oregon State. Did they contact you to notify you of this? I haven't heard anything from them either, so I am just curious if I should email the DGS or something.

Thanks Tuff! Yeah, I have given up on worrying about the online status marker. I have not accepted the offer yet, as I am still waiting to hear back from Duke and I am scheduled to visit UNM next week. Plus I have 3 other schools that haven't responded at all. I am assuming rejection, but I just wish they would tell me something. The uncertainty is getting to me, especially since I don't really enjoy my current job. But I know I should be happy that I have options- just stressing about choosing one! But there is still time to consider

On waiting to hear back after months of the silent treatment: Why do you do what you do to me, yeah Why won't you answer me, answer me, yeah I am in misery There ain't nobody Who can comfort me Why won't you answer me? Your silence is slowly killing me Girl you really got me bad You really got me bad Maroon 5 - "Misery" I realize this isn't a rejection reaction, but I feel it captures the waiting period pretty well.

I don't really know how the process works, but I will re-emphasize that my POI contacted me and told me this. It is not official and my online status still says under review.

I heard from my POI as well. He secured a TA spot for me and the adcom approved me for admission to the program. Just waiting on the graduate school to confirm to make it official. I'm pretty excited, but I think I'll feel more at ease once it's official.

I haven't heard anything yet. I know my POI wants to take me on as TA, so I'm unsure what my chances are. At PSW, he told me it would likely be a couple of weeks until I heard anything. A couple of current UT grad students seemed to think if you were invited to PSW, then you were pretty much accepted. We shall see...

1st rejection today. I will not be attending CU Boulder this Fall. This wasn't too surprising, as my POI didn't think he'd have the funding to take on a new student. Best of luck to anyone else who applied there!

Right? I finally broke down and had to email him again today. I still haven't heard anything from my grad student host. I'm flying in on Saturday and still have no idea who I am staying with. He said he sent a reminder email to them and I should hear something soon. Have you heard from your host?

Nope, haven't heard back. I've already booked my flight, so hoping for more info soon.

Hi Teddy! My email was from the graduate coordinator as well. Still haven't heard anything from my POI since December.

Congrats GeoMex!! I also got an email form UT this morning! I'm not officiallly accepted, but I have been invited to attend the prospective student weekend Feb 21-24. Super excited!!

Congrats on the good news everyone!! I haven't heard a peep from any of my remaining schools, which is starting to make me nervous. I had a very nice phone conservation with my POI at UT back in November and he asked me to let him know when I got my application completed. But I haven't heard anything from him since then. Similar situation for my POIs at ASU who seemed very interested in December, but complete radio silence since then. I know it's still somewhat early, but not getting invited to visit doesn't seem like a good sign. I'll keep my fingers crossed. Still waiting on my official letter from UNM (still doesn't feel real!), so I will likely have some questions for you soon, geographyrocks... mind if I just PM you sometime?

To darkstar and teddybrosevelt (haha I love that name btw): My UT status says the same thing. Checking it 3 times a day seems to have no effect. Hopefully we will all hear good news soon! FWIW, I thought I would share my first acceptance of the season. Got an email from my POI at UNM at the end of last week with an offer of admission to the MS program! He told me the official letter would be coming later, but wanted to let me know the good news...which was really nice of him! They are guaranteeing 2 years of support via TA position. Though I was originally hoping to go directly into a PhD program, I am insanely excited nonetheless! Good luck to everyone and I hope the next few weeks are filled with positive news

Congrats to everyone who got an acceptance! I am also a UT hopeful, but I am trying to not get too nervous about not hearing anything yet. Waiting it out is much more difficult than I imagined it would be! But I got an invite to a prospective student weekend at Duke in February, so I am pretty excited about that. I was somewhat surprised by this because I had received an email over the weekend informing me that the application deadline had been extended to February 28th. I guess their applicant pool was smaller than they had hoped?

Thank you so much for your thoughtful response This has a been a bit of an emotional rollercoaster for me. Some days I feel incredibly optimistic and hopeful, but others I feel very discouraged, but I think it's just part of the process. I think some universities prefer applicants who have at least two courses in Chemistry, Calculus, and Physics, but I was simply taking the advice of my undergrad advisor. Although, I am glad I went through Calc 2, as I think it will help my case somewhat. All of my LORs have been very supportive and assure me that I still have a good chance of getting in. I sincerely hope that my applications do not get discarded for a single score, but I think it's a chance I have to take. I am putting a lot of effort in to be sure that I talk to someone at each institution before the application deadlines. Despite my reservations about my score, I still think I have a decent chance. Worst case scenario, I don't get in this year and then I'll have another opportunity to tackle the GRE and try again for Fall 2016. Again, thank you so much for your encouragement. Best of luck to all you other Fall 2015 applicants!!

Ouch. That's pretty sobering. But I suppose the truth isn't always easy to hear. I wouldn't say I took a lot of math classes, but I was sure to go through Calculus II, as my undergrad advisor said it was beneficial for graduate school. I got an A in both Statistics and Precalculus and a B in both Calc I and II. I also took a calc-based Physics course and got a B in that as well. There was a lot of math infused into some my other courses within earth sciences and chemistry, but I doubt that fact would sway any opinions. I am applying for a PhD, so I know it will be very competitive. I felt like I was in a pretty decent position until the GRE came along. I was pretty crushed when I saw my score and I hate that so much of my career now hinges on this test. Oh well, c'est la vie.

Thank you, that's good to hear! I had figured the experience would work to my advantage. I have contacted POIs for all of the institutions I have applied to already. I even had a phone interview with my POI at UT Austin (prior to re-taking the GRE). However, I have not really addressed the GRE score in any of these communications. I guess my thinking was that it was better not to highlight any negative aspects. I will be sending out emails to the POIs at the remaining schools, probably over the next few days as I work on finalizing those applications. Perhaps I will mention it. Actually, the first POI I contacted was at Caltech (Again, before I re-took the GRE), but I was told that the application process was treated a bit differently there. Apparently they just admit top candidates regardless of research interests or funding of particular faculty members. So my worry was that, despite contacting the POI I wanted to work with, that my application may get screened out early on just because of the low Quant score. But I suppose I have no way of knowing for sure. I guess all I have to lose is the $100 application fee...

Undergrad Institution: Small public liberal arts school (Ranked 8th in US for liberal arts institutions I believe) Major(s): BS Earth Science (2011) Minor(s): GPA in Major: 3.7 Overall GPA: 3.7 Position in Class: Near the top of my class Type of Student: Female, US citizen GRE Scores (revised/old version): Q: 150 V: 159 W: 4.0 Research Experience: Worked on two undergraduate research projects. One was sponsored by the Nature Conservancy for a hydrological study of a protected site for rare pitcher plants. I received an undergraduate summer research grant from NSF for the other. It was on the movement of pharmaceuticals through soils/groundwater. Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Dean's lists, Departmental scholarship for my last semester, University research scholar Pertinent Activities or Jobs: I worked as a tutor throughout undergraduate. I have been working with a large mining corporation as a research scientist in quartz geochemistry for the last three years or so (still there now). Special Bonus Points: Industry research experience Applying to Where: Have already applied to: UT Austin- Geosciences- Geomorphology and surface processes Duke University- Earth and ocean sciences- Geomorphology, coastal processes Arizona State- School of Earth and Space Exploration- Geomorphology and surface processes Planning to apply to: University of Colorado Boulder- Geological Sciences- Surficial processes University of Washington- ESS- Geomorph and surface processes Oregon State- Geology- Surface processes, coastal processes Not sure: University of New Mexico- Earth and Planetary Sciences- Surface processes Caltech- Geology- Earth surface processes/geomorphology. I originally really wanted to apply here, but I worry my GRE may be too low and that they won't even look at my application. Biggest concern is the GRE quant score. I took it a year ago and got 149. After studying for two months and taking it again in Nov 2014, I only improved by 1 point But, I have strong recommendation letters and three years of experience, so I am hoping that will make up for it. Any opinions/advice on my profile are much appreciated!