hippyscientist

I am proud to admit to the internet that Bring it On + a glass or two of wine has led to an enjoyable evening procrastinating studying and not stressing about applications. Cheerleaders > wildlife documentaries (well they're exotic and strange to me anyway)

I contacted the universities I applied to and asked what they preferred if it wasn't explicitly addressed on the form. Also, congrats on your first!!

dream university

So back in september I ended up visiting 3/4 schools I applied to, getting shown around the department, participate in lab meetings and grad seminars (it was cool). I also ended up chatting with most of the faculty in each department, which kinda felt like a mini-interview. Anyway, I got an interview for one of the schools I visited, asked for a skype one (as the interview date clashes with one of my exams) instead and now I'm interviewing with the PI I've already had 3 skye calls with, spent 3 days with and who has said explicitly that she wants me. I feel like right now this "interview" is just a formality. Eeeeepp somone wants me!!!

@interdisciplinarian I get it. I got up at 6.30 to go to the gym this morning, then I stayed on campus til 4 working/studying for exams, came home binge watched some anime, read my book, made a short movie for my boyfriend (I just realised how that sounds - it's a puppet animation not anything dodgy) and I've still checked my emails and application stats too much. I think there might be some master-chef style cooking going on this month!

Agh the 21+ thing used to drive me up the wall at camp. I could legally drink at home (UK) but not at camp. Anyway, end age rant, start waiting and wine rant. I have a beautiful cabernet sauvignon that is almost too nice to open but i'm currently in an email war over scheduling a skype interview so it may have to be opened soon.

Did anyone start a wine thread? I feel this could be excellent. My mom sent me back to university for spring semester with 6 bottles of wine, 2 bottles of whisky and some patron...the trick is making it hold out over this waiting period!

@Dr. Brains and whomever else feels this way, I understand your frustration, it's a horrible time waiting for applications to be accepted/rejected, but we have to remember that the admin teams and admissions committees have just got back from a break. It always takes a little while to settle back into work, as we all know, so give them time. Try not to stress too much (I know, I know, easier said than done). Try to distract yourself by doing something fun or different that takes you away from emails and being able to check them!

One of the deadlines of my programmes for submitting applications is not until 1st Feb (it's already in but still). Thankfully that's not my top choice, and I could be hearing from them literally any time now. Once exams are done I'll be even more frantically checking emails and application status updates. We just gotta remember to breathe guys!

@Kleio_77 what's stopping you from going and exploring by yourself? I often find the best way to find friends with similar interests is to go and do the thing you're interested in and meet people along the way. Does your school have a facebook page or a message board where you could post something saying "I'm headed to Niagara Falls tomorrow/at the weekend, anyone wanna come with?" if no one replies you go alone, if others do reply you add them to your group.

@DrZoidberg I did drop them a courtesy email to let them know all parts of my application had been submitted, regardless of the university and departments final decision on my application I had enjoyed and was grateful for their expertise and time during the process (as I had been to visit and had many email/skype conversations). Each was happy to hear that my application had been submitted and said they'd keep a keen eye out for it. Since then I have been invited to interview at one program and am still in touch with the POI there. Still waiting to hear from the others. In my opinion, it doesn't hurt if you've already had contact as it reminds them of you (hopefully in a positive light). Just put it in a positive light - thanks for your time communicating with me during this, I look forward to hearing from you/the department in due course sorta thing. Hope that helps.

I've been reading quite a few old threads, with regards to your own graduate work and also the grading of undergraduate assignments. One thing that keeps cropping up is the quality of an A-grade paper. Would someone mind explaining to me what the general expectation of an A-grade would be in a STEM field? I haven't had A/B/C grading in higher education and equally the grading levels are quite challenging to decipher. I was just wondering what a top-end research paper would encompass - broadly speaking of course. If it's easier to specify for your own field please do, this is just a general curiosity question!

USC has a new portal you.usc or something like that which is where the put up their decision status FYI. (Admittedly not all programs have this but thought I'd point you there anyway)

Program size is definitely going to impact networking opportunities. In my area of expertise, most departments have maybe 15 PhD and MS students maximum and in each sub-discipline that might shrink to 3. As such, you get a lot of 1:1 with PIs, visiting lecturers, and a sizeable portion of grants for research. However, it differs slightly at my current school. One thing that has been touched upon in this thread is the disparity between high ranking programs and overall university ranking. My current program is #1 for my discipline, but the university is something like 800 odd on the QS rankings. We get much lower funding than someone at a higher ranked QS university in the same discipline, but our work is respected more due to the department reputation. So funding and resources =/= success, it just aids it. However, what makes my department stand out is that we have access to an unparalleled pool of subject participants - my research area focuses on elite athletes at the minute and I have access to half of 5 GB Olympic squads. It's swings and roundabouts, playing that balancing act between the research you want to do, and the research you can afford to do. But again, money doesn't equal prestige, you just gotta get more creative. Equally, when I go to conferences in the UK, people talk to me about my MS programme because of its reputation, and I guess my own to a certain extent (my BSc project was ambitious to say the least and my department are still talking about it 3 years later). The networking opportunities in the UK are fewer than those in the US, and I'm curious to see the differences and similarities when I do my PhD (yes, positive thinking I will get a program admit!!). Sorry I think I rambled there but I hope it contributes to the discussion in some way!

That's helped alleviate the mild "just waking up" brain panic! Thank you both.

Okay so I'd say you're way off base with your perception of the UK. Of course there are some racist people, just like any other country in the world, but the vast majority are not. Especially in the institutions you originally listed, they are more than used to international students and there's very little institutional racism (of course again I can't speak for individuals, but many of my friends graduated from both Oxford and Cambridge, of a variety of ethnicities and nationalities, and had no issues. Partly this is to do with your own attitude too.) With regards to living cost, you are fortunate that program costs are not a concern, but I know both Oxford and Cambridge aren't the cheapest places to live. Having lived abroad (US, Australia, Canada, other european countries, and Thailand) I am conscious that the UK (especially Oxford and Cambridge) is expensive. Just wanted to raise that for others who might be reading this thread. I myself have a UK masters degree and will (hopefully) be attending the US for my PhD. This is personal preference for a whole host of reasons, but not because the UK PhD is of any less worth than that in the US. At the end of the day, your choice is your own and it will be based on a variety of factors. I just wanted to clear the air on some of your misconceptions of the UK.

Umm could you clarify what you mean by British racism? Nowhere in your post do you mention about the living costs, programme costs, programme content, anything like that. The UK programmes are still very highly regarded and it will depend where you are planning on building your career as to which is more appropriate for you.

Awesome, thank you @fuzzylogician

I worked in the US at a summer camp a few years ago (2012) and was issued a social security number then (not that I paid taxes on my $700 for 3 months work). However, I never received a card with my social security number on, the only way I know it was when my tax form came through in the post. I was just wondering what the deal would be with getting a social security card once I'm in the US, as I haven't technically lost it I just never got one.

The way I see it, this is a good thing! I was searching PhD programs today, and realised there's only 41 in the US that have the broad subject area, and even fewer with the specialisation I want to do. Add in the fact that I have yet to see anyone on here doing what I will be - similar yes, but not the same collages/departments and definitely not the same program - and I feel like there can't be too many applicants. This either will swing in my favo(u)r or not...time will tell! With the reference, it is still the holidays and I know a lot of places are closed until January 4th so maybe try to relax until then? The other thing you can do is bug them incessantly by saying the university has got in touch/said they'll auto-reject if it's not in by a certain date etc. That's what I ended up doing with one of my LORs and it worked!

Last night I took it upon myself to check the NRC rankings for the programs I applied to and I just realised 3/4 of my schools are top 10 and one is ranked 12th. I have given myself no wiggle room. Eeep! And only one program has interviews (which thankfully I was offered one) so now it's a waiting game. Aghhh (okay panic over)

noble persuit

Now for a vent of my own. Why oh why oh why did I have to get the flu right now? I have exams in January (50%, 60% and 100% of my module grades) and they're at about the same time I expect to be hearing back from my applications and I just want someone to look after me and make me limitless cups of tea and magically absorb all this information I need into my head. Oh, and if someone could cancel Christmas that would be great.

@highborn you ask how do others stay so positive during the application season. While I cannot speak for others, I can speak for myself and say that my self-worth is not tied to whether or not I get into a program. Sure it would be amazing (and absolutely what my heart is set on) but I've had to learn from the school of hard life that things don't happen the way we want them to sometimes, and it's not a direct attack/reflection on me. I may not get in anywhere because I'm not good enough, or I may not get in because of funding issues, because of departmental politics, because the advisor I really want to work with was ill on the day of decisions and couldn't advocate for me, or maybe there was an earthquake and my application got lost....you see it doesn't actually reflect on me. Sure if I don't get in anywhere I'll be sad, and it will be tough (my boyfriend is in the US, I am not, this application season was meant to finally put our 5 year long distance trans-atlantic relationship in the same country at least) but other opportunities will come along. A plan B always helps! One thing that comes across in your post is that you're very self-sabotaging (it may be because this is the vent thread!). For one, your size is irrelevant to adcoms. They won't know whether you're fat, thin, tall, short, whether you have blue hair, 5 million tattoos and piercings or anything unless you've specifically told them. From what you've said, it seems like you're a hard worker and dedicated, maybe finding a way to relieve the stress you put yourself under regarding other people's perceptions would help you feel more comfortable in this application season (and beyond!). I wish you luck with your applications!

@Extra Espresso I'm really interested in injury prevention/rehabilitation of the knee, using simulations and modelling to improve people's situations. One area I'd like to get into in a bit is looking at how orthopaedic surgical techniques can be adapted to allow the body to heal faster - for example the neural pathways in tendon (and hypothetically ligaments) get disrupted in knee replacement surgery, is there a way surgery and/or PT can help keep those feedback loops in place? I come from a kinesiology background, am doing a biomechanics masters but a lot of the BME programs I looked at required a high level of cellular knowledge or cellular modules and they just don't do it for me! Who knows, if this app season doesn't work out maybe that's the route i'll have to go. This wait is horrible! Thankfully I have MSc exams to study for (yep, I have exams January 7th, 8th, and 12th) which gives me a good distraction. All your schools look so impressive. Columbia and Cornell and Johns Hopkins were on my list - I actually looked at their BME programs but figured I just wouldn't be competitive. Good luck!!