chocolate_blanche

Has anyone attempted to start the application for this fellowship? (American Association of University Women International Fellowship) The website says that you need to log in and take the Eligibility Quiz under My portal. The thing is, I tried several browsers and refresh the browser but there is no eligibility quiz to be found. Has anyone encountered this problem and/ or been able to resolve it? Please let me know. Many thanks,

I have not heard anything about an enrollment deposit for grad study at BU. I just did some searches and still could not find it. Can anyone tell me whether that is program based (I am attending the PhD program in a different field)?

Apparently the notifications for intl applicants to the Bren PhD program go out behind schedule by 2 weeks. Well and I thought that it is an April Fools Day joke. Has anyone who is accepted heard about finaid yet?

Thank you. Have you firmly decided on BostonU? I should add that since my above post I have also come to the understanding that the Presidential/ Dean's Fellowships are only for entering students. And as I browsed through the other departments and talked to my prospective advisor it seems that the teaching fellowship is there for you as plan B but the department will try to give you better things e.g. RA without the commitment of teaching, external grants etc.

Reading the comments here I feel that Boston is really going to win my decision. I have a question here for those that are awarded a Teaching Fellowship like me. It says on the website that every Continuing Graduate Student has to fill out a new Financial Aid form every year. While I talked to my department's graduate coordinator he said that the Teaching Fellowship is renewable up to 4 years. My concerns are: - To your knowledge has it ever happened that a graduate student (especially international) fails to secure Teaching fellowship/ financial aid at the same level in the subsequent years after first year? - For those who do not get the Presidential fellowship the first year is it even possible/ conceivable to apply and be nominated in the subsequent years? I am in need of guidance and will talk to the prof and other students but any comment here will be greatly appreciated.

Yes I did. I think the email says 'no later than March 19' but regardless I am very curious about this MIA situation. So there is 1 MEM and 1PhD applicant here waiting. For those who heard back from UCSB, is it an email telling you guys that decisions are available or you guys just checked the application status page??

Actually I received nothing from UCSB either. On the application status page decision is still unavailable. I wonder whether there are other people on the same boat??!

Phew I have not done this (posing such questions etc) at all, DGS or POI. Thanks for the re-confirmation.

I too second the opinion that all that was said and done was over, now its just waiting. But under what circumstance will you email the POI again? For example, when other applicants hear back and you do not? Or when based on the records here there are a couple that I want to email and ask already for example whether the adcoms have met yet but I think it is unwise and pushy. Or in either case I should best direct my questions to the grad coordinator?!

Has anyone heard about the situation at Yale? Based on previous years records the PhD results are out in February and the MEM in March. I just want to know when the adcoms at Yale will meet (if not already). Oh yes UCSB said that they will notify by March 19th the latest, so its exactly like like year.

If you really like the program and think its worth a shot you will try anyway, so dont feel bad. Its all out of our hands now:( One program I applied to only choose 10 finalists for the interview round and yet another only admit a 6 PhD cohort, and I already feel extremely humble and pressured!! I wonder whether environmental management/ policy related programs hold interviews too, anyone knows? I heard that Bren may invite you for a campus recruitment visit, what about Yale FES? And out of curiosity how come programs in biology/ neuroscience/ psychology release results so early??? Supposedly they must have earlier deadlines but why?!

@ Swend Now that I have submitted all my applications but one, we will have to wait to find out. But if you search in the results for Yale, it does indicate something along the line. @ surprisecake Thank you. Its great to have some discussion to have the time pass by faster. To me really, whether a faculty contact is mandatory or not, I did not want to apply to a school where I have no idea who I may work with, on what, and what the professor is like. About Bren, yes, they make it explicit on their website, especially for intl students. I am very impressed about their being innovative and also the diversity of the subfields there. Do you happen to know anything about the funding situation at Bren? After all it is still in the UC system. Again I am going for the doctoral stream, which may imply differences from you guys.

I am really glad to find other applicants to Environmental Sciences and Management/ Policy on this thread. I am trying for the PhD level though. I am puzzled every time I hear of 'the relationship' we need to establish at Yale FES. I mean, other than contacting a particular professor about our matching research interests and then letting him or her know that your application is in, what else does this 'relationship' comprise? Also do you guys know how much faculty contact factor in admissions at UCSB Bren and Yale FES? Thanks and good luck to you all (and to me!!)!

@ surprisecake Its great to see someone else and also international applying to Yale FES this season. If I may ask, were you successful at establishing contact at Yale FES? And do you know how much that will factor in the final admission decision at this place? Thanks a lot!! Good luck to you (and to me!!)!

A friend used to cheer me up by saying: whatever happens is good. I dont know what this application season holds for me, however rethinking of my college application season 5 years ago somehow makes sense. I only got waitlisted in 2004, reapplied in 2005 and got into somewhere and has been at school until now. That time was terrible especially when you tried so hard and were so young. Little did I know that losing a year compared to others I managed to avoid the previous PhD application season, during which it would have been very tough for me to get in with my in no way '4.0 GPA/ 1500 GRE/ 7 pubs' record.

Thank you. I did just that, and now we can all see what will happen.

I wonder whether it is too late now to inquire a prof after a program and the possibility to work with him. I just found out about a new program, the deadline of which is January 15 for September 2011 intake. Will the adcomm take note of how late I contact the program and consider it as a sign of my lack of seriousness aka applying on a whim at the last minute?

I wonder whether it is ethically acceptable to contact potential advisors at the schools I applied to some time into the game: to update my resume among other things. Or should I deal with the graduate admissions coordinator on this matter? At most of the schools I applied I have talked to some faculty for a while now (to prevent wasting my application fees) and think that will end things at a hopeful but temporally neutral note by Christmas and if not hearing anything by March 1st (hopefully not!!!) email them to find out what is going on. What do you guys think?

I submitted 5 out or 6 applications last week. Thanksgiving made it not a bad reason to contact potential advisors, wishing them a good Thanksgiving weekend and reminding them of me. I have my thesis to write and a few internship programs to look at, but I can foresee how they will give way to anxiety in two months. In the mean time I have a question: do you guys update your resume if suddenly you have something just comes in that is worth 'flaunting' to adcoms? I might have one or two by the middle of January and do not want to bug them by every little 'good' news. Suppose a school deadline is December 15, is it too late in the game to update your resume with them on January 15? And who is it should I send it to? Potential advisor or graduate program coordinator/ admissions coordinator??? Thanks a lot

Do you guys remember in general when BostonU starts notifying people? And how is the usual size of the funding package? Any info would be greatly appreciated!!!

Do you remember when Bren usually notifies people? How generous is the Bren school generally with international students? And what about Yale? Any infor will be greatly appreciated!!!

My scores also became available online after 15 days. However it took 1 month for the paper version to cross the US-Canadian border to my address. The paper report also states all the schools you are sending score to. So I am thinking of hiding that part, which is at the top of the sheet anyway but scan/ copy the rest and send it to schools. Hopefully others can share their opinions on this one.

I usually wait for two weeks and send the email again, same content but shorter, politely reminding him/ her. Some profs only start checking the new batch of applicants closer to the deadline, so you never know. But yes, all profs are busy and if they take time to respond at least your email is worth one minute reading in their day. I have a question though: just how often does it happen that a prof talks to you and expresses interest, then the school rejects you? I have several profs expressing interest, and one particular from an Ivy League school, who offers and has been editing my SOP for me. Now is that a better sign than usual? I dont mean to be arrogant here but I am worried that, given that my GRE scores are not bad (800Q/ 670V), if I receive a rejection, that means there is some fundamental flaw with my application, other than those screening criteria like GRE/ GPA. Any thought would be appreciated. Again I do not want to show off or anything and just want to get level headed. My applications are not even submitted yet so nothing is set in stone.

I assume that the above programs are well known so I will go straight to the point about my profile. Fall 2011 PhD Candidate, international student My interest is interdisciplinary, for which a few key words related to my skills are: renewable energy, remote sensing, GIS, urbanization, hydrology/ ecology BSc: Mathematics (top Canadian undergrad institution, unknown abroad) Undergrad GPA: 3.5/ 4.0 MSc: Mechanical Engineering (good Canadian school, but fairly unknown in the States) MSc percentage: 84% but with a 65% in one course that is not in my line of research. I am taking extra courses this semester to boost it up. GRE: 800Q. 670V/ 4.5 AW Variety: scholarships and awards to various research trainings in Europe and the States. Internship at one utilities company. Publications: a few (1 conference proceedings, 2 top journals - first author) I have made contacts with faculty at both programs that have research interest closely matching mine and one faculty member (well known) agrees to discuss potential research topics with me and has been looking at my SOP. Also, I am thinking of Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. Here are my thoughts on my application defects for the two programs: - From the student profiles, it seems that Stanford emphasizes professional experience (which I virtually have none) while Columbia emphasizes the economics component. For the former, I guess there is nothing I can do, but on the latter: I have taken quite a few Econ classes, including International trade and Game theory. - The 65% is one blemish in my transcript. - For Yale FAS, I have no background in biochemistry but that is not the research topic of the prof I contacted either. I would be extremely grateful if any kind insightful soul out there can help me evaluate my chances and advise on how to improve it. I can take criticism too. Thanks a million.

Hi guys, I dont know where to post this since it is a German admission round. However is there anyone here who has applied to the International Max Planck Research School in Earth System Modeling? They say that by the middle of November if we dont hear from them then it is a No. So does anyone know whether they have begun sending our invitations for interviews yet? The suspension is just killing, especially for the fact that they will be MIA for the rejected ones. I am still yet applying to US schools but a cushion admission in Europe (and this is a great school) would be really nice! Many thanks,