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Also, if you have professors talking about chasing down grants, offering specific project-oriented funding and discussing your abilities to contribute to their research, I would definitely call that a serious plus factor. It means the professor is interested enough in your presence in the program to invest his time in making it possible.

Yeah, a rating of 82 pretty much makes you uncompetitive unless very few people are applying. GS-14 is a very high-level position, not at all entry-level, even for those with doctorates. They're likely looking for people with a lot of experience.

Surprisecake, maybe find a way to stay active with animals during the summer - perhaps tie that into your research if possible. I'm planning to work professionally each summer in my field (park ranger/interpreter) to both keep from going office-stir-crazy and to ground my graduate studies in real-world applications.

All the professors I've talked to have been very understanding about the need to look at different offers and make campus visits before committing to a program. If this program is going to sort of hold you hostage, honestly I think it's a program you'd be better off skipping anyway.

Same boat here, too. Let's all paddle faster! In opposite directions! The failboat shall prevail! In all seriousness, I won't be going without funding either, and I'm just hoping one of my eight schools can come up with something.

philosophy chic, I strongly disagree. Graduate school, in many fields, is simply a terrible investment if not funded. For those who aren't independently wealthy, it means borrowing tens of thousands of dollars per year for tuition, to say nothing of living costs. Instead of working one's way up through a paid career ladder, banking lifetime earnings and paying down debt, one has to go deeper in a hole. If you are learning to become a teacher and researcher, it stands to reason that you should be compensated for what is effectively a long-term internship that lasts from two to six years - or even longer.

For the paperwork to finish on my summer job's hiring process. (Yay, government.)

Well, if you don't file the FAFSA, you won't be eligible for any federal aid, including student loans. And as many assistantships are funded by federal work-study programs, you may be required to file it in order to receive a departmental assistantship.

Just ask. I was a little apprehensive at first too, but remember that professors went through the same situation when they were in grad school. Every professor I've talked to has been very straightforward and understanding when I discussed my need for funding.

It also depends on the field. Most of the Ph.D programs I've seen in my discipline recommend or even require a previous MS.

I'm 27. Took forever and a day to get through undergrad because I was working part-time in motorsports public relations - finally finished my bachelor's degree in journalism in May. Took a "gap year" to work and figure out my next move, and ended up applying to graduate school in a completely different field but with a research direction leveraging my communications skills.

I'm a potential masters' student in the Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Studies, and I'm looking at on-campus options too - mainly because I do not want to hassle with furniture. I'm going to be moving in and out twice, as I have an already-lined-up summer job 3,000 miles away. Willkie looks like my best option - is that the case?

Global Thermonuclear War (Let's see how many of you are old enough to get that one )

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Postscript: they weren't being cruel. Got an acceptance letter from the school, dated the day before the friending

I don't think you need to be in constant contact with your potential major professors - just touch base post-acceptance, line up the visit and let things go from there.

"Well, there's always the University of Phoenix."

My current Forest Service internship goes through the end of March. After that, I'm going to visit a few of my potential schools before making an decision. Where exactly I visit depends on where I get admitted... but probably an Indiana/Missouri swing. Then it'll be time for a quick vacation - maybe some Arizona high deserts or something? In late April, I'll start working as a GS-5 interpretive park ranger at the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center in Juneau. With luck, that will be my job for the next two summers, transitioning to a career permanent position after I graduate.

Yes, I really simply can't help refreshing the one remaining online status system (the other five yet to reply are old-school, sadly) and staring hopefully at my e-mail inbox. I have a couple admits so I can relax a little bit... but neither have firm funding attached (yet) so I'm still on pins and needles.

I should ask the department to click on my cow 40,000,000 times. Also, there's a PHD Comic for that:

So, I woke up this morning to a Facebook friend request from... the official page of a department I applied to. This brings up some interesting scenarios. One is that they could just be mass-friending everyone who applied. But... that kind of doesn't make sense because a bunch of those people are going to end up getting rejected and then, why would they want to be friends with a department that didn't want them? If I get rejected from this department, it's going to be like... "I don't like you that way, so let's just be friends."

I think I got a good spread across the spectrum... I only applied to programs where professors expressed interest in my research proposal, and that ended up being a list of programs both large and small, well-known and not-so-well-known in the field. I've already got one acceptance and we'll see how the rest of the applications shake out.

Person: So, what are you studying? Me: I want to research the use of social media in environmental interpretation. Person: *confused* Uh, you're interested in helping people who don't understand English understand our ecology? Me: No, I mean, the kind of interpretation that park rangers do. Person: *more confused* Park rangers have to speak other languages? Me: *sigh* Sort of. We help visitors understand the natural/cultural history and meaning of the places they're visiting, so that they'll better appreciate the site and the need to protect it for future generations. Person: Um, okay. *face brightens* But you're like those park rangers on TV. Do you carry a gun? You get to shoot M-16s, right? Me: *facepalm*

My SOP is about social media, and I just Wordled it. So, so meta.

*examines transcripts* "WTF is this guy thinking, applying to my program with a GPA barely sneaking in over 3.0." *reads SOP* "So his undergraduate degree is in journalism. He has precisely zero academic background and a sum total of six months experience as an intern in this field. He'll need two years worth of remedial undergraduate classes just to catch up." *looks at ETS papers* "Oh, he got 800 verbal on the GRE? Must have cheated. Reject."