[Advice! pls! Thanks!]

Ah, the website idea is pretty slick.

And you know what, screw what I said. She told you two things, you are low on her list, but you aren't dead. That could mean don't bother talking to me, or it could mean show me you're interested. What have you got to loose in assuming it meant keep talking?

My thought on the questions was, you don't know if she is soliciting admissions process questions, or general questions.

I like what fuzzylogician had to say, and I agree that keeping it short is important.

[Rant: Personal appearance and the sciences]

I do think that the reason we are allowed to get away with the "messy" look is that no one is concerned with it one way or the other. (Or maybe Einstein set an unfortunate precedent.)

The advantage of this is that you are likely going to be allowed to ware your vintage clothing without much ruckus. I have a friend that is excited with the fact that she can be a professional and have bright red or pink hair. We are allowed to have our trademarks. My mother on the other hand works in architecture where everyone has to dress in an innovative and unique way, without going so far as to be kooky. She gets to/has to have her trademarks, but that's often a thin line to walk with much ridicule. (I believe she walks it well, but some others in the profession don't.)

I will say, I was at one of those talks that is open to the public, but part of an interview process... During the summer the guy wore a short sleeve white shirt (no undershirt) and never took off his Indiana Jones hat. We mentioned it during our group meeting, and although none of us were on the hireing committee, we found it to be in poor taste.

I vow to do my part to look unique and kept. I will join the movement.

[Advice! pls! Thanks!]

First off, I would not suggest sending more materials. Let her ask for that, as she is busy.

So I think what you really want to know is how do you keep a dialog without bothering her.

I would send an email back thanking her for the honest response. Maybe I would also say that you have read quite a few of her papers, and you would indeed like an opportunity to ask some questions, but you understand that this is a busy time. Then offer for her to contact you any time if she has questions while reviewing your application.

If you are a graduate student in Psychology at any school, you are likely to run into this lady at conferences, or maybe she will end up peer reviewing a paper of yours. (Especially if your research interests line up well.) Even if you don't end up on her short list, you might still want to talk to her about her work. I would just try to stay professional. And your name has come up for her recently, so you have done what you can to stay alive in her mind.

Good luck, and I hope that helps.

( I am assuming Psychology paper publishing works like Physics paper publishing. Forgive me if I have that wrong. )

[Help me decipher this one...]

I would translate as "If you don't want it, tell me NO now, please." They are likely in their second round, and anxious to notify students that they would like in the program as the spots open. They don't want to be in April before they get an NO back from you.

(By the way, I am in no way an authority on the subject. That's just my best guess.)

P.S. Congratulations on getting in. As I think about it, you might be in a hard spot. Say this is the best school you have heard back from, but your top choice is still out in the ether. If that were me here is what I would do:

1) Don't email the school back until tomorrow evening

2) Call all of the pending schools tomorrow and ask them where the process is. How long before notifications are expected to be sent out? Is there a wait list yet?

3) Then email the school back and say, "Yes I am interested, but I also expect to hear from 2 other schools in the next two weeks. May I have two weeks to make a decision, or do you need a yes or no right now?" My guess is they would give you the two weeks. I would just be careful to be clear about the difference between saying you're interested and actually accepting the offer.

[Very confused....]

Check your home mailbox! It might take a day or two, but when I read what you wrote, looks like they sent out postal mail, and that's why they won't tell you. Best of luck! Also, if you don't get anything one way or another during the next week, email or call them back. Things do get lost in the mail from time to time.

[I stop waiting on March 15th!]

Wow, 61 votes later (and a bit of interesting advice) and it seems we split pretty well into 3 categories, with a few people proclaiming that ignorance is bliss. Who knows what a few days from now will show...

Thanks for taking the time to cast your votes! Best of luck to everyone, and of course, I hope we all hear soon .

[I stop waiting on March 15th!]

Well, I'm glad to see that out of the 27 total votes so far, none have said that they wouldn't ever ask. (I thought it wouldn't be fair to leave that possibility out, even though I assumed everyone would HAVE to know sometime.)

[I stop waiting on March 15th!]

I'd note that if you're reading this and it's a Master's programme you've applied for, then don't freak out if you haven't heard by March 15th.

RIGHT, Thank You for noting that... I did apply to PhD programs. Do the masters programs have the April 15th accept/decline deadline as well?

[I stop waiting on March 15th!]

I've been asking this entire time. I just mainly stick to asking the grad secretaries over the phone and not telling them my name. I might be brave enough to call, but I am not brave enough to give my name.

Oh great! Maybe you would know... Of these schools that you've been asking, have you noticed that any are still reviewing after their "grad recruit" visits? For instance, one of the schools I'm waiting to hear back from is having their grad recruit visit right now. I can tell because they posted it in the news section on their web page. I am curious to know if they are still considering accepting people after they have their visits. If the're waiting to see what the top picks are doing, why don't they just make an official waiting list?

[I stop waiting on March 15th!]

Ohhh, it's neck and neck for ask sooner or wait till the end of March. I hope this pole is able to offer a little humor mixed in with an honest question. I'm not trying to start a mob, but that would be pretty impressive if I did!

[I stop waiting on March 15th!]

So I am of the mind that status is likely to be known by March 15th, and if one hasn't heard back there is likely an email notification glitch so one might never hear back. They could at least tell me I'm on a waiting list or something at that time. If they need to know by April 15th, we need to know by March 15th. (I will of course be NICE about asking. )

[OSU - Referred?]

I agree with this. My app status never changed and the department emailed me saying I was accepted. The letter took an almost two weeks to get here after that. So, some departments don't seem to update the online status. I've noticed this in multiple schools and have completely stopped looking on the schools I haven't heard from yet.

So I checked today, and the web page now has my decision marked on it. It also has a link for me to accept/decline. I am still waiting for any official postal response.

[The UCs and the Financial Crisis]

For what it's worth, I went to a UC as a physics undergrad, and I have defiantly seen changes over the past couple of years. They used to have positions designed for undergrads to get one years working experience at the National Lab before applying to graduate school, but those are not active now. They went into a hiring freeze in 2009 (I think that's the right time frame). I have been working at a regular job and volunteering time at the lab, and money is there, but it's being funneled to particular uses, like travel and such instead of new hires. They might be hiring again now, I haven't exactly been watching.

Within the school system, there was also a hiring freeze about the same time. There have been cuts to salaries, firing of staff positions, and a general trimming back of all expenses, alongside a steady increase of student fees and tuition. The tuition increases had been happening regularly since 2006. My undergrad tuition had almost doubled between Fall 2006 and May 2008.

The advanced laboratory (undergraduate) has taken measures to eliminate expensive experiments while maintaining content for students. For example, Holography was a really fun/cool lab, but not all that intensive in scientific content, and way too expensive for developing plates. The UC would also employ undergraduate student instructors/graders when there weren't enough graduate instructors/graders. As far as I know they have cut back or eliminated the hiring of undergraduates for this purpose.

So yes, the UC's are feeling the cutbacks, but I get the impression that each department is doing everything they can to maintain funding for their current graduate students, and they are being realistic about the number of graduate students they can fund in the future. I also expect that just about every graduate program is actively encouraging their graduate students to apply for as many applicable outside fellowships as possible.

I don't think our government is done cutting funds to education, and people here are trying to fight it. Your concern is a real one, and no one can guarantee your protection. There are risks to be taken in life, and if you weigh all of your offers with your personal situation and find that UCLA comes out on top, then go to UCLA. If you have a kid and you find that a different school looks to be more secure in the long term, than you likely want to protect your child.

Good luck, sincerely. I've only lived in CA, and I don't know how much better or worse it is than anywhere else right now. I don't hear of many people talking about leaving as the answer.

[From the land of no snow]

Every apartment you look at in a region with real seasons will be adequately insulated. In my experience, landlords have always covered the heating bill, and the tenants pay gas/electric, so you don't have to worry about freezing. Also, keep in mind that when you leave for Thanksgiving/winter break, turn your thermostat down but not off. If you turn it all the way off, the water pipes will freeze and burst (not something to look for, just advice that seemed related). Air conditioning (if it exists) is almost always a plug-in window/wall unit (so you'd be paying for that), but you can get by with a box fan in an open window circulating air and as oscillating fan blowing air on you.

The easy answer is the newer the unit the better. Energy efficiency codes are much improved over earlier decades as are the heating and cooling capabilities of the various climate control units out there. Getting an apartment in the middle of a large newer structure will pretty much ensure comfortable living space. Older structures will tend to be far more variable. I live in a rather old half insulated house and my primary source of heat is wood (yes there are places where this is still common) with electric space heat backup in the bedrooms. No central heat or AC. Needless to say temperature swings are quite wild indoors (45 lowest inside, 100 highest). I'm not thrilled about that but the house is in a nice area, is a cheap rental with a great landlord so I cant complain too much. I must say though, the next place I live will not require me to monitor a fire and periodically be a chimney sweep. Dirty job.

Most of the time when it's cold, I wear extra clothes.

Thanks for the info! I will be moving somewhere, that is likely to have snow, in July. I think I will want to sub-let a place if I can while I do an in person apartment search. I've seen about half of the currently listed places offer to pay heat. I suppose if they are paying it, I can trust it to be warm enough.

[From the land of no snow]

As long as hypothermia isn't a legitimate threat, you've just to not think about it, relax, and let it wash over you.

You know, my Dad always said, "If our family had been on the Titanic, we'd be the first to die." (He grew up in a land with snow.) I think a person's biology has a lot to do with their ability to "not think about it." I grew up in Southern California, and always had a jacket with me because I would get too cold inside the air conditioned buildings. I too am very nervous about moving away from the comfort of the land without snow.

Maybe you all can help me with a new question:

How does one select an apartment that will be adequately insulated? For example, I currently live on a middle floor of a large building, so my apt. temperature is more stable than my boyfriend's previous apartment. His would get blazing in the summer sun, and freezing in the winter night. Almost nothing out here is made of brick, and when I was visiting England, everyone thought that was really strange. I also found that the English use water or steam heating units instead of gas wall units or central air. That could just be the difference between the US and the UK, or it could be the difference between warm climates and cold ones. Any advice on what to look for?

[Berkeley, CA]

i'm considering Berkeley too. Co-op housing looks promising, but it appears that dogs are not allowed. Any co-opers have advice on this? Are Berkeley landlords generally dog friendly?

I don't recall any sanctioned pets within the co-op system, likely for health and safety reasons. Each house gets to set most of their own rules on how to organize and run things. I would imagine that most co-opers would be willing to consider a house pet, but I don't know how much control each house has over that particular item, and if someone is allergic you might have to kiss that one goodbye. I had a friend who had a cat, and I don't know if that was officially allowed or not, but the cat didn't bother anyone so it never became a problem.

When searching for an apartment, I found many listings that said no pets. I didn't have one, so I wasn't keeping an eye out for how many actually did say pets allowed.

FYI this dog park is a cool place with lots of friendly company. There is also a coffee shop that sells dog treats and keeps you warm on cold days.

http://www.ebparks.org/parks/pt_isabel

[Is this weird?]

Look on the bright side, if it was an error you now have them by the balls! I'm sure you could make a legal argument for your acceptance with that email. (Maybe, maybe not, but a little humor seemed appropriate.)

If I were you, I would just be happy, lay low until Monday, and follow the directions once they tell you they really did accept you.

[Is it really necessary... (results page)]

I think we should expand this to 'is it necessary?' acceptances.

YalePhysics, PhD (F10)Accepted via E-mail on 17 Feb 2010A17 Feb 2010Suck it bitches.

Suck it bitches? Sounds like a knuckle dragger to me...

[Does not being contacted by the dept at all by now mean denied...]

I think it's important to remember... There are only 3 ways to really know where we stand:

1. We get accepted

2. We get rejected

3. We contact them, and ask them what the hell is going on.

All of which come as a result of direct correspondence with the department in question. This web page is like statistics, it will give you an idea of what's happening to large numbers of people, but it will never give you a prediction of what is going to happen to you. A lot of people find statistics useful, and a fair number of people find this website useful. I think it's greatest power is in keeping us from being alone with all of this, and giving us a community of (hopefully) support.

I have a school that apparently hasn't accepted anyone yet, but I sure wasn't invited to that grad recruit weekend. I expect my chances of being accepted there a pretty slim, but they haven't bothered to reject me yet, so who knows. I don't think you can say you're denied until you are actually denied, any more than you can say your accepted until you're actually accepted. The rest is just purgatory (and you're not alone).

[Awkward Interview situation]

Thank you for bringing this topic up. My boyfriend and I are applying together, but to different departments. At the moment, we don't have any overlap in acceptances (in fact we don't have any overlap in responses so there's still hope), and I of course want both of us to be at every school visitation made. I will be very careful when inquiring about this. I think a big difference between your case and mine, is that we haven't been asked to interview, either we're in or we're out.

[Berkeley, CA]

You would likely get the most sleep by living in two places, but you might loose out on rent what you gained in transit fair. Still, I think Berkeley and Stanford are defiantly a do-able distance apart for a couple. It just might take a few tries to land on a situation that will be comfortable.

BART and CalTrain are both very easy systems to use, and are for the most part reliable. Amtrak is not nearly as reliable. Millbrae is the actual official transfer point from the BART system to the CalTrain. That might be more affordable than living in the 7x7 grid of SF. You might also look into Daily City, but I have only ever seen that town from the BART trains, so I can't tell you much about it.

I used to commute from Berkeley to Mountain View, which was on the order of 2 hours (2/3 on BART), and lots of good reading time. CalTrain gets REALLY slow on the weekends! During the week they have different trains making different sets of stops, but on the weekend it's every stop for every train. BART doesn't do much of a rider discount, but you can get month passes for CalTrain that will start to save you money. I would suggest your getting some earplugs of some sort if you are going to ride the BART for extended distances. They make the trains light, so they don't hold out the sound as well, and it will tire you out quicker than you think. Oh, and both systems are bike friendly.

I don't think living in Oakland would be that much different, in terms of commute, than living in Berkeley, but it's a location that should stay on your radar. East Oakland is generally nicer than west Oakland.

Useful web pages:

http://www.511.org/ Great info on all transit agencies in the Bay Area.

http://bart.gov/

http://www.sfmta.com.../home/sfmta.php SF public transit

http://www.caltrain.com/

And of course, check out craigslist.

P.S. You might also look into Translink. It's a method of payment that prevents you from having to carry around cash. AC Transit (Berkeley and Oakland) use it, as well as MUNI (SF). I know they have equipment installed at the CalTrain stations, but I don't know if it's operational yet. BART still uses their own type of payment card.

[What's your end game?]

Goat farmer in Jamaica.

I just want some war wounds before I bow out of the system. Plus, it'll give my cantankerous rants so much more authority when I'm a crotchety old curmudgeon.

Just kidding, sign me up for "professor at Stanford" too.

There's a quota for positive votes??!! That's pretty weak. What's it gonna hurt if I think this is a cool comment? (Maybe they are trying to force me to leave this web page! In that case, thank you all for the lovely weekend. Back to work and being too busy to sit online all day.)

[What are YOUR coping mechanisms?]

Do you like pesto? Growing basil is worth it and cost effective if you do!

Yes, I like pesto, although I more often use basil in Thai curry and as a replacement for lettuce in sandwiches.

My boyfriend and I spent time planning out the cheapest way to move to our institutions of interest. Looks like getting a Door-to-door moving container and taking the Amtrak will be as cheap and enjoyable as any other way to get across half the country (if you sleep on the train you don't have to pay for the motel).

[Is everyone applying to PhD?]

I think it's funny that people are pulling their hair out and complaining because they're waiting to hear back in February, when most MA/MS programs don't hear back until mid- to late-March. Meanwhile, my life is in a holding pattern. Yay.

Here is the thing that is really killing us... seeing the first round of accepts go out, and still not knowing. I was happy as a clam (strange saying, epically since I cooked clams for the first time yesterday...) to have the app submitted and off my hands, before anyone was hearing back. Once one of my friends heard back the stress started. I imagine it's like walking through a field of landmines and seeing others get knocked off around you, you just become tense.

(No disrespect intended to those human beings who have had the misfortune of actually walking through a field of landmines. Grad school applications are not that life altering to say the least.)

[What are YOUR coping mechanisms?]

maybe we're all missing our true calling as chefs?....

I decided to start a basil garden. (It's well past the last frost in the SF bay area, as I think we have less than 50% chance of frost on any given night of the year.) I went with a friend to the nursery today, and got some seeds and a planter (I have an apartment w/ balcony). I put some seeds in some dirt inside and sat and watched them for a good hour or two. It seems I'm well practiced at sitting and watching things do nothing...

Now I look at the once black seeds and see that they have formed a white coating from the moisture. Even though it's still going to be 5-10 days before they sprout, at least I can tell the seeds are making positive progress. I can't say as much for all the applications I have sown out into the world.