FoggyAnhinga

Another thing that really annoys me is this advice: "Throughout your graduate studies in science, you have to accept the fact that there are more no's than yes's." Way to be uplifting, seriously... Yes, I realized that just based on the competition for grad school admissions, but it's absolutely not necessary to repeat that advice to me over and over again

Swider03, it's also possible that admissions to some of your schools are very POI-dependent. In these schools there might be a POI that really wants you, but will only accept you if the POI's pending proposal is approved by NSF or some other organization (so that he/she can have funding to support you). If that is the case, then you might have to wait even longer, maybe even until June, or whenever the funding agency replies back to the faculty. I've even heard stories of some professors not accepting students until early August (hearing back from the NSF or other funding organizations about pending proposals are independent of the graduate school's April 15 admission deadlines).

structure forming

chap stick

It seems like by now the majority of the marine science graduate programs have sent admission decisions. I have accepted one of my PhD admission offers today. Good luck to you all!

So it was like late January (2012) and people asked: People: Hey! Did you hear back from your schools?? Me: No, it's still too early. And then, it was early February. More people asked: People: Yo!!! Have you heard back from your schools??? Me: NO. TOO EARLY. YOU'VE ALREADY ASKED ME THAT LESS THAN TWO WEEKS AGO. Oh, here's probably THE MOST ridiculous and naive suggestion anyone has ever made during application process (back in late November 2011): Postdoc: I strongly recommend you to attend the "name" schools. After all, you do notice that the majority of faculty have post-baccalaureate degrees from these institutions (I'm thinking, uh no, not exactly). Me: LOL, as great as these "name" schools might be, none of them offer PhD degrees on programs I'm interested in. Postdoc: Yes, but still, I strongly encourage you to attend these "name" schools if you can, because I guarantee you will not have any problems finding job anywhere. Me: *Silently shaking my head, restraining myself from facepalm, and invisibly rolling my eyes* By then I was on verge of retorting back to him "even if I REALLY wanted to go to these schools, I'm not the one who decides on my acceptance", but I decided against it. Stuff that people say without ANY thought really annoys me during the application processes...

road rage

make wish

Nothing but a teaching evaluation form

memorable graduation

Some prospective POIs suggested Sea Grants and specific fellowships offered by specific schools.

Yorkshire pudding

Very interesting! Thanks for sharing. Sheds a bit of light on what exactly occurs behind the curtain in admissions.

Since April 15 is Sunday,do you guys think these schools should respond back by Friday April 13? Or do you guys think some of these admission folks will work through weekend sending out rejections/acceptances, etc? I haven't heard of anyone receiving notifications during weekends, so... just wondering...

blood curdling

For a summer program? That's... insane... 200 apps for 15 spots for a summer internship... this gives us an idea of how even attaining summer research experiences are becoming crazily competitive. 15/200 is even more competitive than many grad school programs! UW posts their graduate admission statistics every year. It's crazy how competitive SAFS is: http://www.grad.washington.edu/about/statistics/admissions/

It appears like admissions to many marine graduate programs across the country have became extremely competitive in just few years... probably because not too many schools out there that offer specific degrees on marine sciences, fisheries, or oceanography (and more and more people want to enter this field)... I think over 140 people applied to SAFS last year and only 20 or less were admitted, I wonder what'll be like this time, lol...

Did you get the email in February that you're eligible for SAFS fellowships? I didn't, and I'm starting to doubt I'll even get in... :/

I also know some people in marine sciences who were THIS close to being admitted (i.e. their prospective PI's pretty much guaranteed their admission, ONLY IF their pending NSF, NOAA, or Seagrant proposals were accepted, etc), but unfortunately the proposals were declined, and the PI's couldn't accept them... it's crazy how eventually the fate of your admission is then COMPLETELY dependent on the hands of those NSF or other funding agency judges.

@scubaduba Did you apply to UW SAFS? I did too, and haven't heard a word from them, but I think they're planning to send out decisions sometime this week.

Yep, I also called few other schools last week about when they're planning to send out decisions. They also mentioned that they have until April 15 to send out decisions, meaning they could make us wait until the very bitter end. It appears like many schools are postponing their decisions later this year than they did in previous years, probably since they're still trying to manage next year's budget (many schools are facing serious financial problems these days)...

spirit lake

Yep, now all we can do is to pray that the remaining schools do not wait until April 15 to send out notifications, haha...

red line

It looks like April is it! Unless I receive notifications today, which I highly doubt it...