Nardo

i feel you 100%, it's a bittersweet ending, but that's life, or at least that's what my mom says.

original poster: I think the test you're referring to is not the dept's qualifying exam. A number of depts, but not all, require their incoming students to take an exam on the breadth of their undergrad work sometime soon after you begin taking classes. One of my potential depts has this setup, and they call if the "January Exam." I guess they give you the first semester to study. The conventional qualifying exam occurs after you've finished all your course work, usually at the end of the second year, and is supposed to determine if you're capable of conducting independent research in your chosen field. What school are you thinking of going to?

no matter where you go, it will be a sharp transition from what you're used to. I don't know much about Case Western Reserve, but as far as the UCs go, UCSB has the densest population of college students living near the university. For someone new in the country, that might be a good thing: better access to groups and clubs on campus, living closer to your fellow graduate students. More cheap places to eat and drink near by. I'm sure you can make things work at the other universities, but Santa Barbara would probably be the easiest place to start a new chapter of your life. Good Luck!!

what's up with getting your advisor to check on my behalf as well?

above poster: I was invited to visit wyoming in very late january, if you haven't heard anything from them yet, you still got a shot, but probably closer to April 15, when the bulk of offers get responded to. That most likely the case for the other universities . . .but anything is possible.

I was in that boat last year, I took more classes through the university's extension, volunteered for a agency relevant to my field and attended what conferences I could. Keep as many irons in the fire as possible and keep your head up!

Hi Y'all, I'll share what information I have re geology admissions. I know it's nice to know what else is going on. I have been invited to three depts.: Wyoming, Rice and Brown. I still have an app out to University of RI, that is currently in limbo. Rice and Brown have extended official offers. I declined Wyoming offer to visit, as the project was in a direction I decided not to pursue. Best of Luck to all of you and keep sharing!

my sense reading the format section was that the left/right margins aren't clearly defined, but because the top/bottom is specified to be 1 inch, one wouldn't get into trouble making that standard all around. There's no reference to headers or footers, so that's unless you really need them, stay away. at least that's my take.

yeah, my sense is that the 1 inch margins all around will be fine, thanks for the reply

Somewhat off topic, do you guys think it's OK to have left/right margins of 1 instead of the word default of 1.25 inches for the essays? What about using the footer for references?

Something along the lines of "Hello, I so and so and such and such background. I have been researching your program at blankety-blank and I would be appreciative is you would share what opportunities you have for graduate students to get involved. The approach is more for a science/research based programs. Hopefully that's what you're looking for.

If you look at the percentiles for your scores, you're probably higher in verbal. As it goes, people score higher on the quant section. Not sure if that's good new or bad, but never-the-less, you're in a good position of have time to take it again you want. Take advantage of the time before apps are due!

What are your guys thoughts, does one stand a better chance the second time around after being either waitlisted or flat out rejected? Is it worth it to look for an entirely new set of programs?

What do you all think about Spring Admission? Is it harder to be granted funding? Harder to be accepted? Is it worth it to hold off and submit an application for fall 2009 instead? Any general thoughts or advice would be great. . .

Keep in mind I wasn't enrolled in graduate school during my time at HKU. Also, many of my profs tried to spark some discussion in class, it just wasn't very successful, which resulted in them falling back on a more traditional lecture style. Again, this was in a range of 1st, 2nd and 3rd year courses, not their graduate offerings, so take this with a grain of salt. Regarding living in the campus residential halls, I lived in one while I was attending HKU. There was only one grad student on the floor, and his main purpose was to be a big brother sort to the undergrads. I don't think you'd be in position to take up that position in a hall at HKUST, but you might be able to find a graduate hall. I seem to remember there being some at HKU. Anyway, the residential halls in HKU are known for their "hall spirit," meaning they have many traditions (songs, sporting activities, social activities, hall dinners, Orientation Camp for the new members) that the residents are expected to carry on. You live in the same hall and floor your entire time at school so the floor becomes a very close knit bunch who also have their own floor specific activities. My experience was that both the hall and floor events are conducted in Cantonese, which makes participation a bit difficult for a westerner. For this reason, most of the international exchange students opt out of these events, making the divide between the two groups even wider. If you want to participate, any hall or floor member is always welcome, you just need a friend to translate whats going on. Some of the events were great, for instance I always enjoyed going out to eat with my floor mates and playing soccer. Some weren't, like the singing and chanting. Some were weird and comical, to get a sense of what I mean, search for "happy corner HKU" on youtube. I'm pretty sure there's a video on there from every university in HK, including HKUST. My understanding is that "hall spirit" is strongest at HKU, being the oldest and most traditional school, but it exists throughout the city to various degrees depending on the school and specific hall. I'd imagine that a grad student hall would have their hall spirit toned pretty far down down; school is more demanding and the local students already had the experience in their undergraduate education, but that's just my guess. The take home message is that the residential halls of HK are very different to what a student from Canada or the US experienced in the dorms, and it's best to know what you're signing up for.

For what it's worth, I did a semester abroad at HKU. Maybe my time there will help you out. The students student population broke down into a few pretty well defined groups; the "Honkies" or students that grew up HK, the mainlanders, which was a pretty sizable group of people on campus, and a percentage of international students. There is some natural interplay between the groups, but it took me a lot of effort to make friends with people from the mainland and HK. Many of my international friends gave up, even ones who spoke Cantonese. Don't expect to make fast friends, unless it's with a fellow international student. Furthermore, what abcxyz said about the students, I found to be true as well. The average student was more technically sound than I was used to, ie their math skills off top. My classes tended to be lecture listening/note taking centric, ie questions where not common, and eliciting participation was usually met by defeat. I didn't leave the school with a greater love for my field. That being said, I didn't go there for the education, I was there to see China and for the adventure. No doubt, Hk blew my mind. It's a great city, with endless nooks and cranies. The mainland is 45 minutes away. Thailand, Vietnam, Japan and the Philippines are easily reached cheaply. The Himalayas aren't too far away, either if that's your style. Bottom line, it's a great place to be for a while, but being a student in HK can be a bit a a drag at times.