jader

Not an atmospheric science guy, but I've been in the academe for a bit of time now and have applied and been accepted to PhD programs, so I have just a few general input. For one, the two core courses might veer you away from being "purely science" person (if there's such a thing), swaying your interest, depending on how set you are with your career path. You might end up considering a PhD that is not purely atmospheric science. I've seen that happen to some of our masters students here in our department. Adding to what @GeoDUDE! said, finding a potential adviser or research group who has work the same as your background and interests is probably the most important thing you should consider. Research is a big plus in any situation. Published papers help, but I have been accepted to good programs even without them (working to submit some soon!). If you really want to do Atmospheric Science for a PhD you greatly increase your chances of getting accepted if you have a more scientific (and yes, math and physics) background. You would most likely be competing with others who have great GPAs in those subjects and good research background in atmospheric science if you want to get into top-ranked schools.

@magnetite Yeah, thanks. Thankfully, my application in Oxford seems to be going well The research there is very similar to the one I was looking at in UCD, but I had to draft my own research proposal. Still have to apply for a scholarship for that, though. Such is life-- there surely are many opportunities out there that may work just as fine or even better than what we initially hoped for.

Just to contribute to the body of information here, for whatever use it may serve- I just received an unofficial reject from my POI at UC Davis, said that I had a strong application but they didn't have enough resources. Already expected it, but still a bit sad since I really like the school and the research. In that time of no news, I learned of a scholarship for UK that I may apply to if I get accepted in a university. Then got accepted to University of Bristol, and set to interview at Oxford later.

Waiting for scholarship application details from Tohoku. The recent earthquake in Kumamoto might be making them go nuts (kind of wish I could go there!). And still haven't heard from UC Davis-- not expecting much anymore.

Speaking of funding, after emailing my POI at Tohoku University (where I was accepted but with no scholarship), he informed me of possible funding their department is putting up soon, and that I could apply for it! Application is after confirmation of intent to enroll on March 31st, though, and there is still no guarantee (but supposedly those who have been accepted have priority). But still, I'm psyched about the news, especially that I have not had any reply from my POI and the graduate program coordinator in UC Davis. So yeah, don't hesitate to ask about funding, just ask nicely.

Yeah, still hoping for the best! But just trying to keep things realistic. I guess it's just that any news would be motivation to get things going towards a certain direction, especially when other opportunities are peeking through the horizon. Looks like you nailed all your applications, @gelologist, which is pretty awesome! I would have applied to some of those schools if I felt confident that i wouldn't just be wasting my money on application fees, heh. They all seem to have good programs on earthquake research.

Yeah, some information would be good, especially for us international students who have restricted mobility when going to other countries (read: visas) and need more resources to move. I'm expecting to wait until the end of April to hear officially from UC Davis, based on the "space available" application deadline on May 1st. I already emailed my POI asking for any update, hoping that I can get some idea long before then on how I should move forward.

Oh, good for your friend! It's not too far-fetched that we may be talking about the same POI, I emailed a different POI initially and was directed to the present one who was actually looking for a student this season. So there's some inkling of hope I guess, but still best to be ready for anything. I just wish that I could have a much clearer idea of what I should be doing to prepare for the near future-- it's not so easy to move around as an international student. Thanks for info and congrats, by the way, on your acceptance at Lehigh!

Hi all! I'm new here, so I guess I have to post some info about myself before I proceed with my queries. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Undergrad Institution: Top Philippine state universityMajor(s): Geology, BS, finishing my MS Geology this yearMinor(s): n/aGPA in Major: n/aOverall GPA: Undergrad/Grad: 1.72 / 1.29. According to our schools conversion, 1.00 is 97-100% and a 3.0 GPA, and the passing grade of 3 is 75-77.75% or a 1.0 GPA.Position in Class: Undergrad: cum laude Type of Student: International, male, FilipinoGRE Scores (revised/old version): revisedQ: 154 V: 159 W: 3.5 TOEFL: 113Research Experience: Been with our structural geology and tectonics lab since being an undergrad in 2010, most of my research experience here has been nonstop since then, mostly on recent large earthquakes- from structures, paleoseismology, seismicity analysis, modeling, and a bit of handling seismic reflection data. No publications yet, but I've presented in some conferences abroad.Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Full-time teaching undergrad subjects (principles of geology lectures, geology labs, summer fieldwork) from, 2011-2015. In between that I did my Masters and research, and 6 months of geohazard assessment. Right now I am full-time in research and have some work in K-12 development.Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: 5 years to finish my masters (largely due to full-time teachingApplying to Where: Tohoku University (Japan) - PhD (3 years) - Geophysics - Accepted, but no scholarship, I have to find other sources for funding. Confirmation deadline on 31st March.San Diego State University - Joint Geophysics PhD with UCSD - Rejected UC Davis - PhD - Structural Geology and Tectonics - no news yet Only applied to three since fees are kind of expensive. ---------------------------------------------- I first met my Tohoku University POI in a conference in 2014, and he happens to be the main developer of the software I used for my Masters thesis, so it's pretty cool that he was willing to take me in. But I guess my inexperience (read: virtually none) in Geophysics (fleshed out during my skype interview with them) put me at a disadvantage for funding, as there are only 4 slots for the scholarship. 4 of us without scholarships were also accepted. Same with SDSU, but I really had no strong connections there, though one professor did reply to my email. I've read here that UC Davis has sent out offers already, but I haven't received any. I'm sure my GRE is the weakest part of my application. But I emailed my POI here September last year and was fortunate enough to meet him at the AGU last year where he came by poster. Haven't contacted him since. Will it be okay if I emailed him to ask about my application, or should I wait it out a bit longer? I'm not sure how American "etiquette" is for these situations... Thing is, it is with my POI at UC Davis whom I think my experience and research interests really align with. And even if I will be successful in finding a scholarship in Japan, I'm not sure if I will be able to do good in Geophysics in Japan, considering the language (even if the program is in English and my POI seems to be good in English) and time. But if I have no choice, I am now trying to decide whether I should just confirm with Tohoku U and find a scholarship (but I might have to shoulder school expenses first, which is another issue), or pursue opportunities elsewhere (there are some interesting ones in Europe that should also start this year). Hope I can get some thoughts. Thanks a lot!