magnetite

Hello! I was invited to an interview weekend. The invitation says they can cover travel costs, but it doesn't seem clear on who will actually book my flight. Is it usual for the department to handle all of this? Or do most people make their own reservations and get reimbursed later on?

I was invited to Lehigh's graduate symposium earlier today, @Unconsolidated_Regolith. It's February 21st and 22nd. The invitation says I'm on the shortlist. There was an outright acceptance posted about a week ago, so it's possible not all emails have gone out.

A little background: I've been in contact with this POI since March, but we initially met three years ago at a conference. The phone call lasted close to 75 minutes. He told me the faculty were going to meet to decide on their initial round of acceptances the week of the 21st, then send them out by the first week of February. The day after the interview, I emailed him saying thanks and asked a question that I didn't think of on the call. Haven't gotten a response yet. I also noticed that an acceptance to this program was posted last week. Would it be a good idea for me to send a quick email to ask him about my application's status? I looked through some old threads here and the advice seems mixed. It would really just be to ease my mind, although I need to give notice to my apartment complex by next week, as my current lease expires 60 days from then. On the call, he mentioned that another professor I mentioned in my SoP was also interested in my application. But I haven't heard anything from that professor. Should I take that as a good sign?

Hmm. I've already got a job and I don't have a thesis to write. Guess I'll have to find some other way to trick my first acceptance to come in!

I notice an acceptance in your signature now. Were you looking at jobs when you posted this on the 25th?

I'm incredibly anxious. I've seen acceptances posted for two of the three schools I applied to, including my top choice. I had a phone interview with the professor I want to work with there three weeks ago but I haven't heard from her since. I'm really afraid I didn't do a lot to distinguish myself. She was talking for the majority of the call and I didn't interject to clarify things in a few places, because I didn't want to interrupt her.

Just saw that a Lehigh acceptance went out two days ago. Whoever posted that, would you mind PMing me the name of your POI please?

Ah, so you're the Georgia Tech acceptance, @Camillalxy. Congrats! I applied there, too. Do you know if they've sent out all of their initial acceptances?

I don't know if that's always going to be the case, though. My first cycle of applications, I was rejected from a few schools fairly quickly. But I didn't hear anything at all from the others until April 15th. I think it's certainly possible that if a few of the initial acceptances at those schools had enrolled elsewhere, I could have been accepted instead of a last-minute rejection.

Yeah, I definitely wouldn't want to let my boss know unless I was in a good position for him to just terminate me on the spot. But at the same time, I definitely would want to give more than just two weeks notice. A guy on my team left for grad school back in August about a week and a half before the semester started. That terribly inconvenienced us, and we've just recently gotten back to normal.

I've had a Dell XPS 13 for a year and a half and I love it. I'm a bit of a tech geek and I'm a software engineer by trade, so I installed Linux on the hard drive and overwrote the Windows install. Most things relating to programming are a lot easier to get working on a Unix-like system, either a Mac or whatever flavor of Linux you like best. Some of those flavors are really, really close to Windows in look and feel. I second the recommendation of @TheHoff to get a solid state drive and at least 8 gigs of RAM. That increases price a bit, but for the case of the XPS 13, you can get one without a touch screen to offset that a bit. For me, touch screens aren't really worth it. I never user them and they always have a glossy finish that makes it hard to see the screen a lot of times. My XPS 13 with a matte screen cost $300 less than the touch screen model.

I'm working right now, too, and have also been thinking about this. The project I'm working on would be released about the time classes would start. Should I get accepted to a grad school, I've considered talking with my boss to see if he would want me to continue working. If I left right away, it could take months to find a replacement, based upon how long it's taken in the past. I don't think I could leave the team in such a bad spot. On the other hand, I definitely don't think I would want to stay working there until classes started. The lease on my apartment expires in April, so I've thought about extending it a month. I'd then put all of my stuff in storage and take a month or two to travel through Europe. There are so many places I haven't been and it'd be such a great opportunity to go experience them before diving into a graduate program. Of course, actually getting accepted is the big requirement here.

Wow, a lot of activity in here recently. Congrats to all those who've gotten acceptances!

Hello! I applied to a few programs this time around, after getting rejected from all eight schools I applied to for the 2016 cycle. For this cycle, I made a more concerted effort contacting potential advisors. I only applied to three schools, but received promising responses from professors at each. I had a phone conversation with a professor at my top-choice school a few weeks ago. The faculty there were likely going to meet this week to finalize their recommendations for admittance. I had a few similar conversations in 2016. I really haven't missed the waiting. Undergrad Institution: Mid-sized school in Texas.Major(s): PhysicsMinor(s):GPA in Major: 3.85Overall GPA: 3.64Position in Class: Slightly above average?Type of Student: Domestic, male.GRE Scores (revised/old version):Q: 161 / 80%V: 163 / 92%W: 4.5 / 80% (Percentages as of 2015. They've changed somewhat and I don't have the updated rankings.)Research Experience: Three semesters doing an independent study project Three semesters in a space sciences remote sensing lab doing miscellaneous scripting/programming relating to ionospheric scintillations Summer REU studying the ionosphere at a premier radio observatory Poster presentation at LPSC for the independent study project and a poster at AGU for the REU Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Dean's List one semester Phi Theta Kappa community college honors society Undergraduate travel award to LPSC from Lunar and Planetary Institute Travel award from school to help with travel to LPSC Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Founded a campus space club Peer-Led Team Learning Leader for three semesters Teaching Assistant for intro physics laboratory for one semester Extensive work experience, including several years in programming Special Bonus Points: Recommendations from my two advisors on campus and my REU advisorAny Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I first started college in 2002 before dropping out after an undistinguished four semesters where I changed majors three times, took no upper level courses, and had a 2.5 overall GPA. I eventually returned to my first university in 2012, after earning an associates degree in 2006. Applying to Where: Lehigh Georgia Tech UNLV

Sorry to hear that, @jader. I'm still waiting to hear from a professor at ASU and I've got a feeling it'll be the same news once I finally do hear something. Last I heard from them was three weeks ago and they were still trying to find funding.

I was thinking about trying that, but it'd have to be in a different subject than my major. I'm going to ask around in other departments, but without knowing many of the professors I think it'll be a challenge finding one who'd be willing to do this for me. What caused this whole thing is that my degree plan can apparently only have 9 total credit hours of an upper level special topics course, which is what we use for independent study and research hours. I have 11 hours total of that section, though. Three were used in an actual class three years ago, in the first semester it was offered. Rather than assign the class its own course number, which they've finally done, the department lumped it in with the special topics section.

Suppose here's as good a place as any to vent. So, I've been rejected from every school I applied to except one. I'm still waiting to hear if a professor from that school is going to be able to find funding for me and a few other students. To make things worse, I found out on Monday that I'm one upper level credit hour short of being able to graduate. Apparently the two degree plan audits my advisor and I did in the last year were inaccurate. So, I won't even be getting a degree until after the summer semester at least. I had been looking for jobs in case I don't get into that last grad school, but now I'm not even eligible yet for most jobs I've been applying for. Now, I get to spend ~$1300 for a single credit hour, in the unlikely event I'll find a suitable class. More likely is that I'll have to pay ~$2700 for a three credit hour class. What a great year it's been!

I'm in a similar spot, but I was wait-listed on April 1st and told to contact professors regarding funding. I did that and spoke with a few. The one I'm most interested in working with then sent an email three weeks ago saying he was working on making decisions that weekend. Haven't heard from him since, and I sent a follow up email last week.

@sjoh197 Dang, that sucks. I'm sorry. Hopefully you'll get good news. I still don't have a definite answer from ASU. Two weeks ago, a professor I've been in contact with said he was working on making admissions decisions that weekend. I haven't heard from him again, though. Now, my undergraduate advisor is telling me to apply to my school's physics masters program, since I don't have any acceptances yet. They apparently don't have a big enough incoming class and have TA funding available. I'm not sure how much two more years of physics is really going to help me with the aspects of planetary science I'm interested in. I kind of want to just get a job for a year and work on paying down some loans.

Had some cheese and beer last night while I was waiting. Am I doing this right? And @susanmr5, I hope you hear something soon!

@sjoh197 Did you ever hear about funding at UH? Last I heard you were accepted but still didn't know if you'd be able to attend.

Finally got rejected from CU-Boulder. I'm going to South Padre Island with my girlfriend the weekend after I graduate. I imagine I'll be doing a lot of drinking and reflecting while watching the waves crash against the shore. At this point, the wait-list at Arizona State seems to be the only chance I have. But I haven't heard anything from them in weeks and I've got absolutely no leverage. Maybe I'll resign myself to my fate of teaching high school and start the drinking early.

@SunshineLolipops Yep, on four schools.

I'm wait-listed at ASU, but I had a good call with a professor there a week and a half ago. Would it be worth it to send them an email to ask about my status and to see if they heard from everyone in their first round of acceptances? Since the call I emailed the professor a few questions but haven't gotten a response. I haven't heard anything from CU Boulder's geosciences department, or the oceanography departments at Washington and Hawaii. All my hope hinges on ASU, I think.

Anyone else waiting to hear from schools?