caudata

After a phone interview in mid-January, Dr. X sent me an email (the same day) and offered me his advertised Ph.D. assistantship. I accepted via email and was then told to officially apply to the University (he pre-selected his student rather than have everyone waste money and time officially applying beforehand). Although I have yet to receive an official acceptance letter, in both our minds I'm going to be his student. Another school invited me to attend their interview weekend. I'd rather not go and let someone else attend, but I fear something going wrong with my number one choice. What are the chances of something happening that's out of his control (e.g. with the department or the university)? Should I email him and ask, or go ahead and attend the interview weekend at the other school just in case? I guess I would feel better if I had something official. Has anyone else been in the situation of having been unofficially accepted?

I reapplied to a school that I was waitlisted at last year and I've just been invited to their interview weekend (I wasn't invited last year). My potential advisor encouraged me to reapply. So if you have connections or a very strong desire to go to a particular school, persistence can potentially pay off.

Hey! I've noticed that there is still a lack of postings from the ecology/biology crowd. Am I the only one who's future is still up in the air? I recently found out from an insider that I am/was the top alternate at one of my schools. I fear that this is the case for all of the schools I applied to and that I'll be in this alternate-hell until mid-April. It would be nice to know if anyone has heard from the schools I've applied to so I can better judge my standing. Where I've applied: UC Davis Graduate Group in Ecology; Oregon State Zoology and Forest Science; Missouri-Columbia Biology; Pittsburgh Biology.