shur42

UCI offers a pretty generous fellowship, and my POI there is absolutely great. However, I have an offer pending from a slightly higher-ranking UC, so I guess I'll see what they will offer and decide then. UCI's graduate housing seems great! If I accept, I will be moving there with my SO.

Hey @thewholeenchilada, I am considering UCI! Congrats on your admit!

Any news? Anyone still waiting for a decision from schools? The only one I am waiting on is USC, their graduate admissions department misplaced my transcripts, so I am not even sure they've reviewed my application at all. @RanaYekani have you heard back from USC?

Do you have a tracking number for your transcripts? This could help maybe...

Whoever got an admit from USC, have you interviewed with them? Invited to UCR Materials open house on March 10. No word on admittance/funding just yet.

I know, I almost had a heart attack when I was negotiating my salary for the first time! I probably sweated through three layers of clothing. I think the worst that can happen is that they say they're unable to match the funding at the other school. It doesn't make you look bad, everyone knows that on a grad student level, a 10k funding difference can be a big deal. It's not like you're deciding between a 100k and 110k offers, it's more like 20k and 30k, so these additional money will make a very bid difference in your quality of life.

One of the state schools I applied to explicitly told applicants to share their other offers, because they have multiple ways to match funding you were offered elsewhere (additional fellowships and such). So I'd suggest emailing the program at the state school, telling that you are very interested in attending, but you got this other offer and are currently struggling to decide because of the funding.

Thanks! Do you have a schedule? Any interviews there?

Thanks for the info! Did you get an invitation?

Hi @DontchaWantaPharma! I am not sure if it's true for your field, but here's what I think. It doesn't really matter what was your undergrad research about; you need to have it in your portfolio to demonstrate that you can do research (can master equipment/protocols, can work with other people, can write, etc). I met chemistry PhD students who did their undergrad in aerospace and knew absolutely nothing about chemistry upon entering their PhD program.In your case, you won't even be making such big a leap, so you should be totally fine!

However cynical this might sound, I feel that they are pressuring you so much because they think that you're really good, and that other schools, including X, will share their opinion. So of course it's in their best interest to make you decide sooner rather than later!

It seems that UWS sends interview invites in late Jan, then holds visit days in Feb and accepts people in March. Rice is all over the place, even sending out acceptances in May (what's that all about?!). BU sends out acceptances in February. So maybe you'll hear from UWS and BU soon!

I heard from some students that the faculty members have started discussing the applications about a couple of weeks ago. I don't think they have sent any invitations yet, though. Maybe this week or next?

Where did you apply? I guess the best way to estimate this is by looking at the results section for the previous years.

Congrats @WhyTry!