I_mix

Geosciences, second year grad student, awarded. E/E, E/E, E/E Comments were overwhelmingly positive and provided some good criticism for me to chew on. For those of you applying again, based on the reviewers' comments, the reviewers for my discipline focused on justifiability, feasibility, and one commenter brought up that it would have been good for me to discuss how I might move forward with results. A more detailed outreach plan would have also been appreciated by reviewers.

Awarded! I had to check the day after to make sure they didn't rescind it/it wasn't a dream.

Good thing I'm getting super drunk tonight; I can forget about this until tomorrow and maybe I won't be disappointed if I don't see anything this weekend.

It really depends on what class you're grading for and what the assignments are like. Will you mostly be grading papers? Will this be an online class? And, if yes, do you have to monitor discussions? I've been a TA for ~4 years for a variety of different classes, and, depending on the assignment and rate at which you get assignments, grading can take upwards of 6-7 hours per week. In general: If you've never TA-ed before, grading will be a struggle at first and you'll take a really long time and you might be especially critical. As you might imagine, people tend to get increasingly disillusioned and the stringency with which you grade will decline (meaning the time spent grading will too).

Biogeochem grad student here: It's not going to matter a whole lot that you did your work in hydrology if you're interested in doing biogeochemistry. What matters is that you have the experience, potential, and a lab that wants you/will suit your needs. A 3.0 isn't horrible and I don't think it would hold you back much given some of your other credentials (Fullbright, Inorganic chem lab experience) and the fact that you did all your work while in ROTC. I guess the one caveat is that you may have to settle for getting a masters first, which isn't all bad, since you will end up getting a publication under your belt early in your PhD. Most programs are likely to be funded in biogeochemistry. What you need to do, though, is to make sure you pick a lab you're going to like working in (you like the work AND you like the advisor/lab group), rather than choosing the school first.

Hey all. Heads up: NSF Fastlane is down for maintenance. Should we all be freaking out?

@marisawhy If you want to find housing, another option is looking on the CGE (Oregon state) housing forum. There is an associated facebook page where people who are looking for housing or roommates post.

Just submitted!! Best of luck and see you all in Spring.

@scientific, if you feel that those questionable spots are important enough to address then address it. Personally, I've addressed my own subpar grades, but my GPA was worse than yours. Regarding your second question: I really can't tell you how to structure your SOP or whether or not that structure would be good for your purposes. It really depends on flow etc. and also, I guess, your style of writing as well. Were I in your position, I would stop mulling over the small details and just hash out a first draft. Get it all out there first and then evaluate with something more concrete.

1. I don't even think you need to address everything you listed above, unless you feel it absolutely pertinent to the message you're trying to send. This seems like an awful lot to include. If it can be said in your resume, then I'd keep it out or briefly mention that you managed to do all these things at once at the very end of your SOP. 2. I don't think that 3.4 is terribly low that you'd have to explain it away, unless you have some glaring grades that are bringing it down. 3. There are not outright "rules" for an SOP in the sciences. Tips, however, are definitely to focus on experiences that will boost your apparent potential to do research in your field of interest, whether that be research experiences outright or other. Also, take all this with a grain of salt, because I'm just out of undergrad.

School 1 is also far enough away that I don't have to see my family if I don't want to, but close enough that I can see them if I do. LOL I definitely can't be that close to my family for the entirety of my grad career, otherwise I'd never be able to get work done. School 2, on the other hand is just as far from my close friends as it is from my family. Holidays are also different here than they are at home and the time difference makes phone correspondence in general difficult. Also, as @thelionking mentioned, I'm close enough with my family that I at least like seeing them more than once or twice a year.

@DBear Yeah. I ended up choosing school 1! I don't know if this is the best choice, but I just have to stick with it. Telling my supervisor about it was really hard though. Thanks for checking in on my decision! I appreciate your concern!

@Herringk Thanks for the reply! I guess my biggest concern is the research part of it and whether or not I'll be able to accomplish my research goals at school 1 (otherwise I would have chosen school 1 right off the bat). @juilletmercredi Thank you, as well, for your reply! Sorry, I should have made it clear that none of my POI's work on exactly what I want to do; it's just that the one at school 2 has outlined a clear plan as to how we could do what I want to do, whereas, at school 1, the POI has only discussed that we could try to do what I want, and I'm less sure of their capacity to help fulfill that. My research differs from both POIs in that my research is integrative between two fairly separated topics in oceanography (chemical oceanography and macroecology). In either case, I would have to do some independent stuff or have someone on my committee that does ecology instead of chemical oceanography. At school 2, I've already discussed who we could wrangle at other universities and how we would do it (to get the ecology portion done). I've spoken less about this with the POI at school one, but, as this POI is established, I'm fairly certain that they know individuals in other places I could get in touch with. Regardless, I'd probably push ideas about how to get it done too. RE: stipend, School 2 offered me ~10K for my stipend, which doesn't include being a TA, which I plan to do, earning me a max total of ~16k per year. Based on that, I would think that School 1 would be better. I am still waiting to hear back about extra fellowships from school 2, though, which would tack on an extra 10k. I probably can maintain professional relationships with them even if I moved, but I'm sure that my POI at school 2 has been gunning to have me as their student for awhile, and I'm worried that they'll be pretty miffed about it. Perhaps I'm being overly paranoid about it. Either way, these questions are really helpful and are good for me to think about some more. Thank you again.

I received admissions to two graduate programs that I'm currently viewing as relatively equal, and I was wondering if I could enlist your/someone's help in choosing! The pros/cons are not ranked despite the numbering. School 1: Pros: Prestigious school US school in my field Closer to relatives and family Weather is great and proximity to nature is excellent. Focus on scientific outreach into communities Beautiful campus Well-established POI with a currently small lab Fully funded with tuition remission and 18k stipend;Assistantship New environment Excellent course offerings for my interests/needs Strong field work culture I can actually apply to government scholarships here. Cons: POI doesn't work on what I want to work on exactly, but is in the same field and seems willing to cater to my specific interests... I really don't know how much they will, though. Lack of modelling work done at this Uni, which is basically half of what I want to do. School 2: Pros: Also a prestigious school in my field (but less) Alma mater/I wouldn't have to move Established rapport with POI POI has been clear that they'll facilitate my research interests to a T. Other faculty who I can really learn from on my committee Strong modeling culture Cheaper overall tuition Fully funded I know people here. In a city Cons: Community here. I don't really feel like I fit in. Weather. Far from family... very far. POI is relatively new (3 years) Lack of scholarship/grant opportunities (specifically for me, because I'm considered int'l) Same environment Lack of courses that I would want to take to facilitate my research/profs for that part of my committee. I know people here. All else aside, cost of living is about the same between the two places. If you guys could give me a hand, I would really appreciate it!

Personally, I would take the risk and go to SD. Being able to work on things I'm specifically interested and that is novel is more important to me than a safety net. That being said: What would you feel happier doing? I know that seems like a cop-out answer, but you also have to take into account a bunch of other variables that you'd be dealing with at each school (environment, community, etc). Also an early career professor could be risky. How have your interactions with her been so far? Are there many other professors that you could switch over to if things head south? Close to retirement can also be a bad sign too. I should amend this by asking: Would you be able to get any extra help in addition to that 10K (not from the school)? Or would you be able to apply for scholarships and grants? What are your other funding options here?