kittkat

Hi Jetlag, I can see where it would be somewhat difficult to find out this information. I have been pretty fortunate finding out these kinds of things. I've been to many conferences and have talked to a lot of graduate students from the programs I have been applying to. I also know a lot of graduate students in my field (cog neuroscience/Human Factors Engineering) because have a Master's degree (okay...not quite yet...I'm defending in 2 months). I'm sure your potential prof's have funding money (especially since you're in bio chem). Let's face it, there is just more funding to be had in the hard sciences. Where have you applied? You can always send me a private message if you don't want to say on the forum. It feels a little weird laying out all the schools on the forum (who knows who is lurking). The waiting is already driving me crazy. It isn't that I don't think I will get in anywhere (I know I'll get in to a few schools), it is just that I'm impatient! I can't stand not knowing where I will be in 6 months!!!!!

It really depends on the school and the professor. Is the person you have been in contact with a full tenured professor (superstar in the field or a professor that doesn't really bring in much grant $$)? Does he/she have grant money that can fund you rather than relying on the department to fund you? There are a lot of variables. Sometimes if a professor already has quite a few students, the department might want to give the space ($$ for a student) to a new professor (on a tenured track) so they can get their lab up and running etc. It also really depends on who is on the committee (believe me, sometimes there is animosity between faculty members -- they all think that they "deserve" the space. Also what is the track record of the professor? Have they had a bunch of students before that did not finish or quit (I personally witnessed this before....a faculty member was a jerk and their students quit...needless to say they haven't gotten a new grad student in a l-o-n-g time)? Basically, if the professor can fund you themselves, you get in. But.....every department is different. What field?

Hi All, Just thought I would throw in my 2 cents worth (applied to 9 Ph.D programs) to people applying to programs ( somewhat late at this point). I am very surprised that a lot of people have not contacted the professors that they want to work with. All of the professors that I have talked with have said that they are shocked, every year, on the number of people who have applied to their department and have either not listed any potential faculty or have listed faculty but haven't contacted any of them. I wouldn't dream of applying to any schools without contacting faculty. If you don't get a response to an email give them a call [i always followed up an email with a phone call anyway because it is often the case that if they don't recognize your name in an email they will think it is spam and often will delete the email.\ Kat

Hi All, I am a a current Psychology Master's student (defending this Spring). Applied to 9 programs in total. Some are in Cognitive Neuroscience and other's are in Human Factor's psychology/engineering. If interviews are required are they paid for? I already know that I am going to be invited out to one place and just want to be financially prepared. Thanks, Kat