MidwesternAloha
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Posts posted by MidwesternAloha
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This was an interesting read, thanks for the link. Kind of bold to ask a school what your actual chances of admission are, I don't think I'd have the guts to do that.This is a comment by someone who works in admissions. Full thing here, but here's pertinent quote:
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ahh I'm sorry my fat finger hit down vote on my phone trying to up vote.
It's good to have the family support. Women tend to lead their families back home (we like being closer to our moms! What can I say?) and my husband is starting to accept that lol. We are stationed closer to his family now (he's career military) so I'm glad I can at least use that as justification for moving to Ohio when he retires and I finish grad school LOL. We're holding off on kids til my mom is closer, too, because there's just too much to juggle right now. She's been considering moving South because my youngest sister is off on her own now/done with college. I can definitely sympathize with your story! And yes, that's totally why the adcoms ask... If you're a competitive applicant at a bunch of other top tier schools, they know what they must do to keep you lol
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I keep forgetting to ask, haha. They actually called me today and offered to nominate me for a summer stipend to start early if I wanted it (and accepting the nomination doesn't guarantee it bc the overall graduate school gives it to a handful of people regardless of major--I can also still turn down the acceptance even with the nomination).
My husband works and is a disabled veteran (ied blast in Afghanistan 2010) so we get enough from both his sources of income that mine just goes to my daughters private school tuition--my current stipend is 14k for my ms so anything will be a raise! (However chapel hill is not in anyway affordable for a house rental instead of an apartment rental and we own our home here so we can't buy until this one is out of our responsibility so I'd have to commute there)
Pretty much as long as UGA pays enough to cover her schooling I'd be okay with it. And they were my last ditch back up school--I put in an app after rejection from Emory, on the deadline date. They've been wooing me pretty hard and with the new incoming POI, I might just be accepting their offer this weekend when I go visit. Ahhh.
I'm starting to believe there's good reason to go the schools who fight for you. My "safety"/"don't really want to go there" school has done nothing short of wine and dine me since they accepted me lol. It's eased the pain of being waitlisted at my #1. Personal phone calls to ask me how I am, if I'd like to visit with my husband, etc. I'm tempted just to accept. Good luck to you in Georgia!!
- BiochemMom and Eigen
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I've never wanted to quit something so badly in my life. I can't do it, okay?! I'm ADHD and bored to death with with project and it's too complicated for me to be bored to death with it. And all I want to do is hide away until I go back to school. And they don't understand how bad morale is. At least my morale, and the morale of one of my co-workers. We don't have enough instruction to do it right. I love my senior manager and my office, but I hate working with this other office. I think it is impossible. The person who is supposed to be helping is too busy, and 1,000 miles away. But he doesn't understand that if we don't get it right the first time, that creates more work for him in the long run. And if something isn't done, I don't want to come to work in the morning, which means I'm more likely to quit, which means more work for him and the others. And I just don't want to do it. Plain and simple. I'd rather be a Starbucks Barista. Think someone with a CPA would be considered "overqualified" for a job at Starbucks? I suppose I don't have to put that on my resume...
Just don't put your degree on the job application. I much prefer serving(coffee or waitressing) to working my current job.
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I would give them a full month before following up again. You did everything you're supposed to do, and if they were vague in the initial emails, they probably don't have much more news now. I know it's frustrating. Hang in there. Remember, they will contact you if you're offered admission. You're on their radar. Give them some more time, then consider cornering the program director.
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That's true. I appreciate your perspective. I would feel guilty if I didn't follow through or if I just discarded an offer that could have been revealed to me for a reason. I guess it doesn't hurt to try to finish up the interviews.
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It's just something I'm not even interested in. It's biochemistry, sure, but it's not even studying mammalian cells. I agree that I should be flexible in my project, per se, but this is so far removed from anything I want to do.
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UNC is in Chapel Hill, I bet there is a forum that would have better info than this one!! I'm not really familiar with the area because it's a separate world from Raleigh
it's about 30 minutes away from here. -
I am married and location of grad school is (was?) a big factor in where I chose to apply. I will use the school by name just to help people understand - I applied to a cancer biology track at Wake Forest and was rejected. My application was transferred to another track. I have been contacted by a professor who is potentially interested in my skill set, but after further review, I don't know that I am interested enough in this person's work to spend half a decade working on it. I know it's early on, and there's no harm in seeing the process to completion, and I'm sure a campus visit would change my mind.. But... I don't know that I'm comfortable "selling out" of my dream track for something closer to home. (I have been accepted to a cancer bio program 600 miles away)
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I put a lot of careful thought into whether or not I would send thank you letters to people who interviewed me at schools. I even spoke with some of my colleagues at work who are on the adcom at the University where I am employed, and the general consensus was that it was not necessary and somewhat of a different protocol than, say, a job interview. They suggested that adcoms and profs are busy and the emails can be more of a nuisance.
Well, I was Waitlisted 2 business days after interviewing at my #1. It has now been 10 days ish since the interview, and, knowing that admissions are rolling and the committee meets to review Waitlisted apps after each recruitment weekend, I'm wondering - should I touch base? Is it too late to think them? Yes, yes, I'm overanalyzing, but I'm sad.
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Oh! I forgot that Pat Benatar and her mom always came into the ice cream shop where I worked whenever Pat was visiting her hometown. Also, I met Don Shula when he attended a function at my church lol also, his hometown.
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Oh wow! Very good to know. Thank you for this information. I appreciate you taking the time to explain it to me.
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My professors have said time and time again, the best thank you (if you can't do it in person) is a phone call. Writing LOR's is a part of their job description, after all.
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On a slightly related note, please excuse me to being naive - but is funding that variable? Is it not a set amount? I have limited understanding of the grad school admissions process, but in my field, it's $X dollar amount and if you're offered admission, you can rest assured you'll be getting that amount.
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Hello everyone, I thought I'd create a thread where we could share tips for traveling (home or elsewhere) during graduate school. This might be good for people in long distance relationships, moving away from home for the first time, or just trying to live off a graduate stipend.
One thing I recently discovered is great for military families. You have to be active duty or have a dependent ID card, but Southwest airlines offers EXTREMELY reduced pricing for a limited number of seats on flights. They're not available during the holidays/peak travel, but I'm talking like, $88/each way. It's great for when you find out you have a long weekend, one day in advance, and want to go home to hubby/family. (There's a large military community on this forum, so that's why I included this tip). You have to call 1-800-I-FLY-SWA to get the pricing, though, and be somewhat forward about stating you want that special pricing.
On that note, does anyone have an airline/travel rewards credit card? Can anyone recommend one? I am thinking of just getting one with Southwest, since that's the airline I am most loyal to, but I am open to other cards that offer greater travel rewards.
And who here has traveled by train (Amtrak)? Any tips for saving money?
- dat_nerd and LittleDarlings
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I love Nickel Creek! I heard Josh Turner was a really personable person. My aunt met Trisha Yearwood. My mom had her hair done regularly by Vanilla Ice's then-girlfriend in the 1990s.
Anyway, I've met Sylvia Browne (long story on that one…), Jessica Valenti, three Govs. of my state, and was once in the same room as Sarah, Duchess of York.
I have this list of people I really appreciate in the world that I never ever want to meet. I know that I would go knock-kneed and clammy-palmed. Margaret Atwood is on that list, as are a few other authors and academics, and famous people. God help me if I ever have to string two words together for anyone on that list. I suppose I'm the opposite to most people, in that sense. I turned down the shot to potentially meet Meg Cabot, and I do regret that, though.
Although I am sad that I've not met many notable people. Famous people are scare around here. I do also have this problem where I think that random scholars or speakers are famous, and they're not and people laugh at me.
Josh was great. He's kind of dorky, but in a charming way. Glad to see another NC fan!!! Also, you turned down...the author of Princess Diaries? What is wrong with you? Just kidding
And- for what it's worth, I omitted "Mary Dell Chilton" from my first post after realizing most people probably wouldn't know/care who she is, unless they followed agricultural/microbiological science for the last thirty years LOL -
Finally finished with interview season. All I have to do now is wait for the decision from Case Western and then make the final choice.
I. LOVED. Working at Case Western. Gosh I miss it! Good luck, I hope you get in!!! Let me know how it goes!!! They are top notch!
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I was completely honest in my interviews. I have several gaps and lots of jumping around on my resume, mainly because my husband is in the military and, well, we move around a lot.
When asked why I choice my programs, I told them all the same thing: my husband can't move with me, so I wanted to be in cities that had direct flights back home/were within the radius he is allowed to travel on a 3 day weekend pass.
Tell them exactly what you told us: it shows commitment, not a lack of focus.
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I have another question about the thank-you thing but don't want to start a new thread on this. So I interviewed with my first and second choices for the program I applied to and my first choice seemed pretty set on being my supervisor. I also felt he was the best fit for me. I have sent him a substantial thank-you letter mentioning the above and saying I look forward to potentially working with him.
The interview with my second choice was okay, but since all of the faculty will be making decisions as a team and communicating about their students, should I write her a letter saying I am still interested in her supervising me? I don't want to seem indecisive about my supervisor. Any advice?
I would just thank the interviewer for his/her time and not try to mention supervising.
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I was on the phone with my mom, TALKING about my interviews, and I heard the call waiting beep. I looked and the area code was from one of the cities I had interviewed in. The POI answered the phone with, "Hey? Remember me? We have good news for you...!!!!" in a sing-song voice.
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I've met a lot of musicians. I've met Josh Turner twice (he signed my guitar and even played a little tune on it) Blake Shelton a few times, Nickel Creek, oh and all the members of Reo Speedwagon.
When I was a waitress at a five star restaurant, we had a lot of CEO's of multinational corporations as regulars. Most of them are complete jerks.
My goal is to meet the current Pope.
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I didn't interview, but I thought I had some positive correspondence with a faculty member there. :\ Guess it might not have been as positive as I thought. Oof, I was pretty interested in that program too.
On a happier note, I was accepted into the Genetics, Genomics, and Bioinformatics program at UCR!
Congrats! Those are my 3 favorite fields!
Am I crazy if I withdraw my application?
in Decisions, Decisions
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You don't have to have a reason. You simply say you have thoroughly considered the offer, are greatly appreciative, but will be declining. Thank them for their time and generosity. Just concise and professional.
My offer (the long distance one) *is* my only offer :/