Euler

Wow, I'm not sure I've ever seen a page anywhere that everything looked worth making/eating to me, but that dinner page is definitely one! I'm 100% bookmarking that, thanks

I'm not, but there were a couple undergrads at VT that will be. My impression from others' stories is that you should avoid it if possible- it looks better to have a variety of schools on your CV. But if it's your only option due to location or some other external factors, it's not necessarily a bad idea.

That's good- the hardest thing when you start is not pushing too hard too fast and injuring yourself. Even as you do more, the easiest way to a running injury is just doing too much. So having an app that regulates that is a great way to do it!

If you enjoy running even a tiny bit, you should check out couch to 5k. It's a super good program! I'm biased, though, since I've been running since high school...but I will say it's a great thing for physical and mental health long-term for sure.

I can't relate to any of this hair-related nonsense- I buzz my hair as soon as it gets long enough that it's "sticking up", which is usually after about three weeks or so!

I just officially accepted the offer to Virginia Tech!

My top choices were Dartmouth (got a rejection) and Florida State- I don't have any research focus yet, so in terms of the actual programs offered, I only really care that the school's not narrowly focused on one thing. Florida State is the one reason I'll probably continue waiting, especially since I may have a chance at a fellowship. And it's definitely far more than it being my one real yes- VT has a really heavy focus on getting grad students to learn proper teaching methods, and has them teach calc for engineers and math majors, and since I definitely plan to teach long-term that's a big upside. But outside of that, the advisors, department chair, professors, current students- everybody was really open and friendly. And one other big thing, the main student who was giving us a tour of the campus said she came in with a weak background, and went into detail on the way it works with the department to get caught up. I'm coming in with several fewer classes than most incoming students, so that was really valuable. But yes- at this point, I'm probably around 90% certain that even if I were to get funded offers from my other options, I would still accept the offer. I know I should hold out for that 10%, but waiting is so tiring!

So even though I have several schools to hear back from still, and a couple solid "maybes" and only one school with a "yes" that I've heard back from...I'm really strongly considering accepting Virginia Tech's offer without regard to the other schools. I don't want to be hasty, and I have until April 30th apparently to get back to them. But man, I can't stop thinking about how much I'd love to be there.

I basically asked in mine whether there was anything they were missing from me, and whether I should expect a decision soon. I put the burden as heavily on myself as I could, to not sound pushy. It's definitely an awkward email to send!

This is so unbelievably true! One of my siblings said "What? You mean there are people smarter than you?" And I'm just like...well, objectively, based on my subject GRE scores, I'm statistically below average now. And it seems like most of the programs I applied to accept(/ed) anywhere from 5-15% of the application pool! The odds aren't in my favor. Also, it's hard to explain that how good a school is for undergrad degrees doesn't necessarily correlate with their grad programs- Wake Forest was definitely my safety school, and everyone knows it for being a selective undergrad place, but some of the state schools (Penn State/Chapel Hill especially) were the highest ranked on my list. I had to talk to a neighbor and try to explain why I don't actually want to go to a "great school" and why I really didn't want to actually go there. But now that I have a funded offer to somewhere I'd love to be, I couldn't be more thrilled

It's definitely acceptable at this point to email them if you haven't heard anything back. No peep at all could be a waist list as well- NC state told me I had about a 50/50 shot of whether I'll get a funded offer, but only after I sent an email asking about my application status. Of course, five other schools also didn't even reply to my emails...I guess there's only so much you can do. And yeah, the lack of any response this late sucks with how much applications cost!

If you're looking at fully established universities for a graduate degree in statistics, you should be totally fine. The cash cows people tend to look down upon are things like Phoenix, definitely the best-known one, where the degree is not highly respected in a lot of fields. Granted, my brother got a master's in public health online through there and it's served him very well, so even things like that are situationally valuable. I've also received a ton of emails from programs that don't seem well established, since I'm in math. Things like business analytics, data management, and some statistics-related fields. But the vast majority were from small schools I've never heard of, who tried to sell themselves to me with promises of things like a "free" laptop or no charge on applications. Those would probably fit in the cash cow category in my opinion. If you're looking to go to grad school for statistics, I'd check this site for rankings: http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-science-schools/statistics-rankings/page+4 Anything on there will certainly be acceptable, but the farther you go, the more important the prestige of the university and advisor you work with becomes. That list most likely isn't exhaustive, but I'm in math that isn't statistics so I don't know where to point you for a complete list. What you should be looking out for is receiving a fully funded offer- that means tuition should be covered, and you should also receive a stipend to live on (very meagerly) while in school. In STEM fields, statistics definitely included, anything less than a funded offer is questionable- receiving funding should be a top priority. Finally, if you're hoping to study this fall and you haven't put in applications already, you are likely too late, and almost certainly too late if you want funding. Most applications go out in December or early January for programs beginning the following fall. Some programs out there have really late deadlines, but those generally also have rolling admissions and by this point are probably going to be full. If this is the case, definitely email the department to see if there's still opportunity to put in an application, and whether it's worth doing so. Sorry for such a long post for your relatively simple question- there's tons of information around this site if you do some digging, and if you have any more questions I can try to answer them.

Did he apply higher rank-wise than his credentials justify? I have one friend who applied to 8 schools and was rejected to all of them because they were all top-25, and his application just wasn't competitive. If that happens to be the case, I'd encourage him to go through again, improve whatever he can, and focus more on lower options. If that's not the case, I'd be at a loss...clearly from other people here's stories, it can be done through taking the time until the next application cycle to make yourself a better applicant if that's what you still want to do. Looking for research positions, taking a couple grad-level classes and the like. But that's a hard choice, and often expensive, so it comes down heavily towards life plans and whether grad school is the only thing he could see himself doing. I know if I were in that situation right now, outside of earning enough to live on, all my extra energy would be going towards making things better for next time. But for a lot of people, grad school isn't the be-all end-all that it is for some of us. Application/school stuff aside, just being there for him to have someone to talk to would likely go a long way!

Yes, having time blocked out as "you time" is super important. And with the difficulty of grad studies, mental health has gotta be up there as one of the most important things to stay on top of...I'd probably argue the most important, honestly!

Dang, that's a lot of time in the gym! I basically just run, which is self-limiting in how much my body can take in a day, so 2+ hours daily seems like a lot. I really like that schedule, though. Everything's nice and separate and organized! I *ahem* don't actually have a real schedule right now. It's something I'm working on though, since I'm pretty sure if I was thrown into grad school tomorrow, I'd be working 12+ hours a day, which is obviously not a good long-term option!