DariaIRL

http://www.goorin.com/ Goorin Bros. is an awesome hat store. There are few brick/mortar shops but otherwise it's online. I did a quick look over their women's hats but didn't see the one you wanted. They still have nice stuff though!

If you have a good relationship with a faculty member, possibly as their research advisee, talk to him/her about graduate programs. Or, if you do research that's overseen by a current graduate student, ask him/her about programs. You could also try the graduate program at your school to see what kind of advice/info they give about other schools. But that's a shame the undergrad advising won't provide info on other graduate programs.

If they require a GRE subject test in math/science, then you should only apply if you have completed a GRE subject test in math/science. Otherwise, that's grounds for rejection which was a waste of your time/money and definitely not the confidence boost you're seeking.

Can you log in and just delete your application and profile? I wouldn't pay that.

Admissions is definitely a complicated dance, because there are so many players and things can change slowly or quickly. The first hump applicants need to wait for is the processing of their materials. Most everyone puts off actually submitting their materials until the DAY of the deadline, which can sometimes double or triple the workload of the office for processing these. Then, as you've described, the first tier people are identified and go through interviews and perhaps receive offers. These accepted individuals will most likely wait until close to April 15 to decide, which leaves those in the second tier doing their own thing while HOPEFULLY the school is letting them know where they stand. An offer can be made after April 15, and usually it's for someone who didn't get in anywhere [that they liked?] or maybe only applied to the one school. Some programs send out more offers in the first round, with the thought that a portion will accept (such as make 40 offers when you're hoping for 30). In this case, there may not be a second tier if they've already over-offered. It's not a smooth process, that's for sure!

Hard to say. I'd think it was unreasonable for an offer to be pulled if someone can't answer their phone for a day! Sounds like your trip (other than the questionable service range) will be a good thing for you at this time though. Hopefully you will have good service or at least be able to check in somewhere with service bars once a day.

You should be: Apologetic: Dear Professor, I'm writing to regretfully withdraw my acceptance to your program.... Thankful and complimentary: Your offer/program/research/lab/resources are great and I am so thankful to have been offered a spot in the program, interviewing with you and other faculty/grad students was a memorable experience...... Explanatory: But I've decided to accept an offer at another school (you may as well name it because they'll ask) due to XYZ. Put some emphasis on the fit of your dream school and how you plan to attain your goals there with their resources. Not burning bridges: I will continue to follow your work because I remain interested in the ABC of your research and hope to be able to collaborate(maybe?) or see you at an upcoming national conference (if you actually want to say that). Apologetic once more: Again, thank you so much for the opportunity. I apologize for withdrawing my acceptance but hope that you are able to give my spot to another student who would be a great fit in your program (or something). //// Just my 2 cents. Glad you got into your dream school!

When do you have to accept this by? If you wait it out, could you possibly get a full fellowship offer from the other waitlist? I'm hesitating at the 2nd paragraph that says if you accept at a partial fellowship you can never get a full one later. Limited support for year 1 is student fees and non-resident tuition waiver. For year 2, it's just the non-resident tuition waiver. But the rest of the years of a PhD program will be a big financial burden without any more limited support. What's their average completion rate? How many years will you be paying for it all? They seem cautiously optimistic that you could possibly get a teaching assistantship. You should find out what the TA will give you..does it provide stipend, health insurance, and a tuition waiver (partial or full)? If you get a TA, how many quarters/semesters is it good for, one or multiple? Will you have to keep reapplying and hoping for a TA?

From my perspective as someone who worked in an office during admissions: It makes sense to contact if: 1) you are coming up on an application deadline for a fellowship or another opportunity. 2) you are SURE the program website does not already show some kind of admissions status, whether in your online application profile (if they use Apply Yourself for example) or their website. Emails are the preferred method, allow for at least 2 business days for a reply before placing a call. If placing a call, please don't do it right when they open nor during the lunch hour.

If it's an offer with financial support, see if the school is listed on the Council of Graduate Schools Resolution for the April 15 deadline: http://www.cgsnet.org/portals/0/pdf/CGS_Resolution.pdf Congrats on your offers!

Depending on how the program receives and processes application materials (online, paper, a combo of both), it wouldn't be possible to meet and discuss the day after the application deadline. If anything, there is a ~2wk period after the deadline, where paper mail is checked in, test scores linked to a submitted application and generally time to check to make sure an application is complete before being released to reviewing committees. Don't forget the online application systems that won't send a recommendation email request until AFTER an application is submitted and paid for.

For schools that do not have an online option where applicants can check receipt of items, I would wait about 2wks after the application deadline and then ask them about the missing paper transcript. However, if their application process included uploading an unofficial online transcript, it may not matter during the review stage whether the paper transcript arrives.

Check with the individual university's Graduate Admissions, Info for International Applicants (or something like that). It's not just international schools taught in English, but specific countries that are exempt from the language requirement.

If there's no actual "funding" question where you can put this info, I would definitely mention it in the SOP and CV. Just something like: I received Name of Scholarship, which is intended to help fund my graduate education and is good for X years or Y dollar amount. If the scholarship's goal is to help fund super smart people from diverse backgrounds or maybe your research idea was very clever, then you can tie the rest in with your SOP and then talk more about your research/goals. Congrats on your funding, both of you!

A bad fit in lab can be fixed by switching labs, if there is one available. However, you mention that you may not like labwork at all. Those are two VERY good reasons for leaving programs. A terminal Master is a nice compromise in your exit. You get a little something for leaving (maybe be able to submit some/all of your thesis for publication), and the department also gets the 'credit' of you having earned a degree in their graduate statistics. When you do apply to PhD programs, don't dwell on why you didn't complete your previous PhD program. Say that this current PhD program that you're applying to has a better fit for you because of XYZ.

I'll take a shot at this.. Will your second BA help you find the grad program you want? Yes it will boost your GPA (how low was it to begin with? Compare with admissions statistics of the schools you're looking at), but does having the extra degree/knowledge/networking make you competitive in the grad program that you'll be applying to? Will the extra work/year in obtaining the second degree involve research experience or faculty who can write a good LOR? What kind of grad program do you want to join? If it's more research centric, then perhaps the graduate now with 1 degree and spend 1 year as a research assistant will make you more confident/competitive when you apply.

I'll add: Are you sure all school you're applying to, require all transcripts? Some only require the transcript from where your degree was actually earned. Unless you are applying as an international applicant, it is very common for international applicants to have to send all transcripts from all schools.

I believe every university has a Disability Resource Office or something similar. From sitting in a presentation panel recently, my undergrad school's Disability office works VERY hard to get ALL students the accommodations they need. So you should look up the schools you are interested in applying to, and then go to their Disability office website (or in person if you call ahead) and see what kind of accommodations they provide to you if you were admitted. The Disability office would also likely have resources on cheap/low-income therapy or group sessions for folks in similar situations.

If they say 2 pgs or ~1000 words, I would follow those guidelines. Less is more, considering how many SOPs are read during admissions. Keep editing!

If you're really sure the admissions statistics aren't available anywhere online, then yes, do ask.

If they specifically ask applicants to not email/phone to ask if something's been received...please follow their instructions! As someone who worked in a grad program office (while completing undergrad), it was a PITA to deal w/ these kinds of inquiries when our time was better spent opening mail, checking things in, and then contacting applicants who were missing something. We would not like being offered the login to an applicant's GRE account, it seems a bit drastic and there is time to sort these things out especially if you have the ETS receipt that shows you did send your scores to X school on Y date. It's not your fault if something arrived late or didn't, especially if you were instructed not to contact them and ask any earlier.

Even if your program of study is math, you'll still need to be able to communicate effectively..verbally and in writing. Another thing to consider is what kind of funding you may get from your future school. For a teaching assistantship, you may need to provide a higher TOEFL speaking score, for example.

To add onto your #2 question: Again, check w/ each school because some schools may not want every transcript from every school you went to. However, they will commonly ask for a transcript from any school where you earned a BA or higher. In this case, the program where you were shifted from the PhD track to the MA..you'll have earned an MA there and so you would likely have to submit that transcript because you earned a degree there. But again, I wouldn't think of it as a bad thing because things happen and people understand that.

Just add a brief note that explains you were initially admitted to the PhD track in the department, but then experienced huge personal losses which affected your schoolwork. Due to this, your program was shifted to an MA track in the same department. Now you are ready to continue on with the PhD with your two Master degrees in-hand. Then spend the rest of your application talking about what you've been doing in the MA program and why you are still a very competitive and strong applicant for a PhD program.

1) If you were able to get into a top university before and you're currently getting an MA from there to go (shifted from the PhD to the MA) with your previous MA, it sounds like you've kept up good academic progress. Your personal loss shouldn't be considered a new problem because unfortunately, big life changes happen a lot and that can derail you. People/faculty understand this. The important thing is that you kept learning! The funding is dependent on where you apply and how much money they have. 2) Read through the application procedure for each school you apply to. Some require transcripts from all schools, some require transcripts from just degree-earning schools. Not all applications are the same. 3) Personal losses and big life changes happen, but you kept going and are looking to continue learning/growing. Good luck!