AKGeo
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Posts posted by AKGeo
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Made my final decisions today!
I accepted a PhD offer at CU Boulder in geological sciences with guaranteed RA funding during the school year plus double pay RA summers my first two years! I'm so excited! I got a great feeling from the department, my POI, and his students when I visited back in March. It felt like everyone genuinely wanted me there and wanted to support me in my grad studies. Plus Boulder is beautiful and has great culture and awesome food and bars and I'm really into backpacking, mountain climbing, paddling, and hiking so it's pretty much perfect for all of that.
I withdrew my application from UCSD Scripps after sitting on their waitlist for months. I decided it wasn't worth it especially considering I had the better offer from Boulder.
I turned down PhD offers at Purdue (with TA funding), Virginia Tech (with TA funding), and UT Austin (with fellowship funding).
Good luck to everyone else on here as April 15th approaches!
Just curious what made you choose UC Boulder over a place like UT Austin where you have fellowship funding?
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Here are a few stories related to scores and admissions.
Person 1: Perfect GRE scores (seriously 170/170), 4.0 GPA 1 year paid ($50,000) internship at Harvard. Gets in at all the elite schools...except for Harvard!
Person 2: Near perfect GRE scores (165/165), near perfect GPA, 3 years research experience, admitted to Stanford.
Person 3: Mid-150s GRE scores, 3.5ish GPA, 3 months research experience, admitted to Stanford.
Person 4: Great GRE scores, near perfect GPA, lots of experience, rejected at mid-ranked school.
I think that alone should tell you that luck plays a very HIGH part in admissions. That's why people with less than stellar scores apply to places like CU Boulder and why people with amazing scores are afraid to apply at mid-ranked schools. I'm halfway convinced that the reason I was admitted was because I chose the perfect advisor at the perfect time. You never know if an advisor has funding (or will get the funding they're hoping for), if their students will graduate on time, if they took on too many students last year, so on and so forth.
Point is, I would never advise an applicant that has an amazing application with only average GRE/GPA to not apply to places like Stanford and CU. Scores only mean so much and you'll never know when they'll mean more or less.
Agree with this. I shot really high considering my numbers (3.2 gpa, 155/158 Q/V GRE) and pretty much heard back from everywhere except UCSC, where they had already told me they didn't have funding. I think luck plays a huge part in the process and sometimes it's just fit, not so much your GPA/GRE
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You might ask if you can plan your MS like a first chapter of a PhD thesis as well, since you have this admit. Lots of options. And fwiw, not trying to convince you of doing the PhD, but the PhD does qualify you for more jobs (and security) in industry. Having a PhD means you are much less likely to be laid off (Since PhDs in industry are more rare than MSc) as well.
What if your interests change? Accept the PhD, IMO. I'm pretty sure (have seen it before but not specifically at your school) that you can choose to just get a M.S. after a year or so if that what you prefer. You may find that you really enjoy it and having that guaranteed funding for additional years will be a nice peace of mind.
Things I will keep in mind, thanks for the advice. I can see why it could be a good idea to do the PhD but I am pretty ready to move on to life after school, but who knows. I did think though that PhD students were less desirable to oil companies as they are a little over-qualified.
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I have never heard of this. Email your POI. It will all be sorted out. It could just be a mistake on the letter !
I did email him and the graduate adviser and it sounds like it may or may not have been a mistake but I can choose this fall whether to pursue my MS or PhD. It's a nice option to have but I am definitely going MS, I was just worried they were trying to get me to commit to a 5 year PhD which I'm not interested in at the moment.
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So I got my official letter from the Jackson school today at UT Austin. I applied as a masters student, have a masters-sized project in mind with my adviser, but was accepted as a doctoral student. I don't want to be a doctoral student. Are they just forcing me into a 5 year project? Or what's going on
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Anyone hear from Colorado re: masters?
Not me but I had a friend whose been accepted to UC Boulder and another person who was at a different PSW this last weekend with me had already been accepted as well
edit that I'm not sure if these were unofficial acceptances via professor or official offers through the school
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I am. I've been lurking, but finally made an account.
gneiss
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Just heard I've been accepted to UT. Pretty excited, and I'm going to UCSB tomorrow so I have some tough choices to make. I hope everyone here worrying about acceptances hears back soon with good news, because I know I've been doing a lot of stressing too and it's not fun. Good luck everyone!
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Just so everyone knows SDSU accepts applications until March 1st. Might be something to look into.
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Anyone know the difference between those who have received their acceptance from UT so far and those of us who have been invited to PSW, but not been accepted? Is this weekend more of an interview for us as we haven't been accepted, or could we just be not getting an email yet because they are still clearing people for acceptance?
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The visit weekend for top candidates (who have not yet been accepted) and already accepted students isn't until the last week of February so I wouldn't expect to hear much until after that's over and students start accepting/turning down their offers.
Also, just for some perspective: in 2012 the geo program at UT had 487 applicants and only 92 were accepted. That's an acceptance rate of <19% so statistically speaking it's entirely possible that none of the three people from your school get accepted. Grad acceptances come down to research fit and available funding and a million other factors. Well qualified candidates get wait listed or rejected all the time even if they look great on paper.
The seemingly random and unfair nature of it all can make the whole process extremely stressful, but it is what it is. At this point in time it's just a waiting game, and worrying about it won't change the outcome. Sit back, relax, and try to stay busy with other things!
Are you sure the visit weekend for top candidates isn't the 2nd to last weekend in February? I got invited out to UT Feb 21st- 23rd, and am hoping it's their number 1 weekend, but I'm not sure why the weekend for top candidates wouldn't be the first visit.
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I know one person accepted to UT, anyone else know if others have been? Also if there are multiple PSWs does anyone know if Feb 21st-23rd is the first?
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Who sends the invitations? the POI or the department? or both?
Everyone's getting invited, this just makes my paranoia that my POI forgot about me stronger.
My POI told me I'd be invited out about a week ago and I just got the official invite from the department today.
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Got an invite to UT Austin. Already heard from my POI I was invited out, but haven't heard that I'm accepted. I'm a little nervous because I've heard with their first string they will sometimes accept them before the Students Weekend. Anyone know if this is true for everyone at UT or if this is a professor-by-professor basis?
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Is UT big with GRE scores? I know they don't have a minimum but are they one of those schools that weigh it more then the GPA ? The GRE is definitely my Achilles heal in my application
As far as I understand GRE and GPA both play a role, but they really are keen on strong UG research and letters of rec. As long as your GRE and GPA are in a decent range I think you're good.
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Oh boy. Congrats to your friend though do you happen to know his or her stats ? Also were they a Ph.D or M.S candidate ? Also does anyone know if UT evaluates candidates in any type of order ? Like do they send acceptances to their first choices then they go down the ladder from there ?
M.S, great pedigree I'm not surprised he got in. I'm sure that's exactly what they do. Just because he heard from his professor doesn't mean all professors are going to let their students know that early though (or so I hope, I'm still waiting on an answer)
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Have a friend who just got accepted to UT (unofficially via professor). Makes me a little nervous
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Do you hear back from schools about acceptance before going out for visiting weekends? I've talked to some people who said they were invited out to UT when they applied last year, and then heard they were accepted before even going out to visit. Anyone know if this is common or this happens at lots of schools?
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Are you going tor an MS or a PhD? Just wondering because I understood Stanford really doesn't like taking MS students
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Anyone know what to expect on your on-campus interviews? How close am I to getting in if they have invited me out? Any tips on preparing? I'm going to UCSB, UT, and S. Carolina.
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I've been invited out to 3/4 grad schools I've applied to for my masters, UT Austin, UCSB, and USC (S. Carolina). I'm pretty nervous for all of these visits, and I'm wondering if I'm going to get grilled with questions. What can I expect from these visits? How close to being "in" am I? Any tips for standing out in meetings with faculty and grad students?
2015 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results
in Earth Sciences Forum
Posted
How do we all think the O&G industry will be in a couple years? Going into my first year of a masters at UT Austin so I'm hoping I'll get an internship and be fine, but idk how bad it is