UTGC

When do you have to have a decision in by? It's important to consider that your dream school is not necessarily harder to get into than any other school on your list because everyone has wildly different rankings of schools. If you feel like a school is a great fit for you, they are probably more inclined to feel the same way than a school you aren't as interested in. Also consider that it's hard to know what your ranking of programs is before you've finished the whole interviewing process and get a good sense of the program. It's not uncommon for people to completely reverse their feelings about a program after doing an interview there. I understand this is a school that has been significant to you for many years, but who can say if the GC program in particular at that place is truly the best one for you? I think it's more reliable to make your decision based on whether or not you want to take a gap and work this really cool job. Put aside the thoughts about the program you'd go to after working being "better" than the one that you'd go to if you matriculated this cycle and turned down the job.

You don't even have to make a mention of waiting for another school. You can just say "Thank you so much, I'm really excited to get that offer. I'm taking some time to think today and I will be in touch when I reach a decision". They're very accustomed to students not immediately accepting an offer, it's the norm. That said: if you get accepted by your 3rd ranked school and then get an offer from your 2nd ranked school, go ahead and call back school 3 ASAP and tell them you won't be accepting. You don't need to wait until you get in to your top choice to start turning down offers - only a better choice.

Just want to say that two of my classmates only had one interview and it clearly worked out for them!

For the waitlists: it's a bit frustrating because there really isn't a good answer to that question. It depends a lot on the schools and random chance. You can't count on it moving - sometimes everyone in the program's top choice list accepts. This is probably more likely for schools that are affordable, in a good location and have been around long enough to be pretty established. When I was interviewing, I was reassured by the observation that most of the people I was interviewing with had several interviews, which I took to mean that they would get multiple offers and have to turn down some. I never waited around on the 2 waitlists I was on so I can't speak to how much they moved. I don't remember exactly how big CSU was, but I'd say at least 6-8 students per class.

Don't worry about it too much! Everyone involved in the process knows that timing flights is tight. You'll have plenty of opportunities to show your interest in the program during the interview itself that will totally overshadow missing the optional dinner. At most of my interviews, the attendance rate for the dinner was usually in the 50-75% range. You'll miss out on some info from the students but there's often an opportunity at lunch to talk to the students in private, so that may not even be a huge concern for you.

This is tricky to do from just the program websites because they are often very similar. It's tough to say why you gravitated towards one or the other. Do the best you can before you arrive for the interview, but also know that you will have opportunities to talk to current students (usually at dinner the night before or when you are staying with them) about what makes the program unique and the program directors usually give a 30min-1hour talk before interviews start that is much more comprehensive than what is on the website. You can totally use things they highlight during that talk as reasons you are drawn to that program. Also: it's a totally acceptable answer to mention that the location is convenient for you because of COL, being near family, whatever it may be. Just don't have that be your only reason.

From what I saw, a cardigan would be on the less dressy end of the spectrum but still within the normal range of attire. (Regarding that outfit in particular, I'd probably chose between bold colors or bold prints, both + a cardigan would probably be too informal). I think a simple blouse and dress pants/skirt with a nice cardigan could definitely work. You just want to be careful about not looking too business casual.

A suit and tie is pretty typical for the men I saw interviewing last year. The general dress code is business/professional.

Don't be disappointed yet! They're coming out in waves this week.

In my experience, the California schools tended to be a bit behind the rest of the country with interview offers!

I did a writing exercise for UT Houston so no guarantees it's the same sort of thing, but I bet it's not terribly different. I was nervous about it too, but it's really nothing to be worried about - honestly it'll probably feel like a "break" from the actual interviews. At UT, they put us in a room by ourselves and we just answered some simple prompts. It was mostly situational and about interpersonal things (not quizzing you about genetics or anything similar), like "how would you respond if your supervisor told you XYZ?". In my experience, they definitely provided sufficient time to complete the exercise and I didn't feel like there were any difficult or trick questions. They just want to get to know you and this is another way for them to learn about how you think. Feel free to send me a message if you have any more questions about how interviews are conducted!

I'd recommend emailing someone (whoever seems to be in charge of coordinating applications), I don't think you have much to lose. Just be sure it's phrased in a calm and professional way. I think there may be some flexibility. One of my letters of rec writers didn't sign the letter she sent in and I had to get a signed version sent to a program after the deadline for receiving materials. It ended up fine and that's where I attend right now. At the end of the day, it's real - often compassionate and understanding - people who make these calls and no deadline is completely without any exceptions.

That sounds about right! Good luck with finishing your apps up

I did a single-spaced statement for UT too. The more space the better! Double-spaced would be a real challenge for that one. Also, things may have changed in the past year, but I think the prompt I wrote about for UT was a bit more detailed than what you mention. They have a simple one on the website somewhere and a more detailed one after you make an application account (though it also doesn't explain the spacing). There's also a short essay to write about research experience and an optional one (I think it was about personal hardship or something like that). You may just be condensing it in your post but thought I'd check in case you started writing based on the website before starting the official app

I don't really have an answer for you, but from what I remember, some of the prompts were pretty specific about what they wanted you to include while some were more loose (just: "here's some ideas but write whatever"). I'd say in general, you should probably stick to what they're asking for if it's the more specific type of prompt. Many of those essays had super short page limits, I don't know if you could really do the topic of grades justice without hurting your ability to talk about the things they want you to include. It's a zero sum game for the 1 or 2 page essays. However, if you can mention it in a way that addresses the prompt, consider it. Honestly, some of the prompts I've seen are such that you probably could reference it easily. If you choose to do this, I wouldn't worry about if you're highlighting poor performance - they've seen your transcript, they know. But if you can't fit it in smoothly, I'd personally be inclined to not break the flow of your personal statement or cut out other important info by forcing it in. Some exceptions: if it was caused by anything unusual, like the death of someone close to you or serious mental health problems that weren't addressed at the time or any other kind of one-time freak accident or difficulty, I'd recommend finding some way to bring that to their attention. Or if you got a D or an F in a relevant class, you don't really have anything to lose by trying to explain that as I imagine it's a serious concern for them. If it was something more typical, like difficulties adjusting to college, making more commitments than you could handle, or a professor that didn't teach to your learning style, I don't think there's much to be accomplished by talking about it before the interview stage. They already know the most common reasons why people do poorly in a class or two, those sorts of things are probably their baseline assumption until told otherwise. If your GPA is still pretty good, you don't need to be worried too terribly much unless they were prerequisite classes for the program (and even then, hardly a death blow). Things happen. I know people with a C or 2 that still got in somewhere. They understand that you're human and that you probably learned from your mistakes and care about doing well in the future. That's just my gut instinct but I'd encourage you to also seek advice from anyone that you know in the world of academia who may have more experience with how admissions work.