TheScienceHoney

Got my first rejection this morning. Really bummed about this one, it was my second choice and I was feeling good about my chances. Now I'm spiraling down the rabbit hole of panic thinking that I won't get accepted to any and I'm not ready to face that yet

Same!! Especially if I glance at it and it's clearly an email notification. Mini heart attack every time. And as far as the crazy expenses of applying to grad school goes...yeah it's kind of ridiculous. I spent around $800, which included taking the GRE, sending scores, sending transcripts, and application fees. I really wanted to apply to more than 5 schools but I literally could not afford it. I had to ask a family member for help paying my rent during the month I applied, and I still have to pay that back, plus student loans are a real b*tch. Ugh. Plus a lot of schools have a weird process with fee waivers and tax status. 2017 was the first year that I was not a dependent of my parents, and a lot of schools ask for 2016 tax info, where I was claimed as a dependent and would not have qualified for a waiver due to my parents' income (but I would have qualified had 2017 taxes been filed.) My parents were supportive of me applying to grad school, but they have two other kids in college right now and couldn't really afford to help me apply for a second degree. If I don't get in this round and have to do it over again, I will definitely be more proactive about directly asking for fee waivers. I think that had I asked departments directly instead of just applying for the waiver online I would have had a better chance of getting one. Lesson learned, for sure.

Would it be inappropriate for me to reach out to a POI about something unrelated to my application? I had a Skype call with a POI at UC Santa Barbara back in November and email contact in the time since then (though not in the last month over the holidays.) She's my top choice for a lab/program and I think she was interested in me as well. I haven't heard anything about admissions yet but I'm not concerned at this point. However, I've seen in the news all the crazy stuff that has been happening there - the wildfires, mudslides, and winter storms. I kinda wanted to send an email to her and her research tech (whom I also had a fair amount of email contact with). Something like, "Hey, I've been reading the news about all of the things happening in SB right now, just wanted to reach out and pass along my concerns. Hope you are both doing well and staying safe if any of that is affecting you." or along those lines. Is this crossing a boundary? I'm not interested in asking her about my application status. I mean, of course I'm interested in it in general, but I don't want this email to be read as an inquiry into that. I'm genuinely concerned that they might have been affected. I'm just not sure if this is something I should reach out about.

In undergrad I was a DJ at the college radio station and I had a weekly talk show about news in science and technology. I am really, really hoping this is something I can continue to do in grad school, though not every school has an active radio station. I was also super involved in theater and am hoping to be able to be at least minimally involved in something theater related, depending on how much time I have (even if it's just attending shows.) I think that it's important to have some activities that are a break from lab/research/classes/studying that still get you out and about to meet new people that might not be in your program.

I feel ya! I have talked to faculty members at the university I currently work at and they told me to not start worrying until March, since some schools don't even begin sending out results until then. I think if it gets much past the second or so week of February and I still haven't heard back I will start to get a little anxious. I submitted one applications two months ago as of today - and still the only update I have received is that it went from "Submitted" to "Under Review". I assume that a lot of ad coms are just now starting to meet since the semester is probably just beginning at a lot of schools.

I can sympathize. I have never lived more than two hours away from home, and have never gone more than a month without seeing my parents. Even though I live by myself now I am only 20 minutes away and still visit once a week. All of the places I applied are not only out of state, but at least a four hour flight away. I. Am. Terrified. I wish I had applied to somewhere closer to home but all the deadlines are closed. Since I've never had to deal with it I'm not sure how I'll handle not seeing my family that often. We only really grew close over this past year. I can take care of myself in any other regard, but I will probably get really homesick. I guess everyone has to deal with this at some point though, whether it's moving for school or for a job or whatever. I just wish it weren't so hard. We'll get through it

Hey all! I was chatting with a coworker of mine who is in the med school application process now. She was telling me that it's quite common for applicants to send update letters to their schools of interest during the waiting period between applications and interviews. I had never heard of this as it relates to graduate programs, and I was wondering if anyone had ever done it before. It's been around 2 months since I started submitting applications, and I do work a full-time research job. In those two months I have made significant progress on some of my projects as well as a second-author manuscript that I'm hoping to get submitted in the next month or so. I have not yet heard back from any POI or department admissions. I think that the research experience I have completed in the time since submitting my applications is important, especially as one of the projects was the first experiment that I had designed and carried out completely by myself (with mentor supervision of course, but I wasn't being told what to do, and had to do all the work myself.) Would it be worthwhile to send an update email to the POIs I had listed on some of my applications? It's all stuff that wasn't in my SOP or resume, but possibly important to my application (especially as my GRE scores and GPA are just barely at average for where I'm applying.)

Thank you for this thread. I feel like I constantly have to maintain this confidence that I will get in, get funding, and do amazing research, when I know that statistically, there's a small chance. I have been trying to distract myself with the holidays and watching all the Netflix shows/reading all the books I put off until after applications, but worrying about graduate school applications keeps me up at night. I've always had impostor syndrome pretty bad, but it's never been anything like this! I haven't heard back from any schools yet, but I'm not worried at this point because at least according to the results survey here not many people have heard back from the programs I applied to. I'm a little bit worried about impressing the programs I applied to because I have extensive research experience in medical microbiology but I am more interested in studying environmental microbiology. I was young and didn't really know what I wanted to do when I accepted the job I did as a research technician - I really didn't even know anything about the path to a PhD, or the different kinds of research experiences, or anything, really. I was originally planning to apply to medical school, however after shadowing doctors I decided I liked working in a lab a lot more, but I didn't want to quit my med micro job because I needed the money and I did enjoy it, as well as learn a lot and get four pubs out. It's just that I don't know a ton of hands-on stuff about environmental micro aside from an undergrad course or two so I worry that my research experience won't be seen as relevant. Ugh. Idk. I keep making excuses in my head for why places won't admit me but I need to stop because at this point, I don't know if they're admitting me or not! Just need to wait, focus on finishing the research I'm doing now, and be hopeful My GPA and GREs are all within the average range of the programs I applied to (or at least meet the minimum), I had two outstanding LORs and one very good one, four pubs with two as first author and another middle author publication on the way, have designed, carried out, analyzed, and refined my own experiments, presented posters of original work at conferences, oh and I totally played the LGBT diversity card in all my applications...I have no shame so hopefully at least one school thinks I am worthy of admission.

I haven't heard back from any program I applied to either, but looking at the results survey on the GradSchoolCafe website has made me feel better since only one person from one program at one school that I applied to has posted about getting an interview invite. I know that not everyone who gets an invite is on here but if I were seeing lots of results from programs I applied to I would start to worry. Hopefully we all start hearing back soon. I think if I don't hear anything by like, January 10 I will start to worry since that will have been two months since I submitted applications.

Try checking the results page: https://www.thegradcafe.com/survey/ You can search for the university and program and see if anyone has posted results yet.

Oh wow, this is the first time I'm hearing about this fellowship, I'm totally eligible. Will have to remember to apply next year as I don't think I can get all the materials ready and submitted in the next hour Good luck to everyone!

Yeah, I applied to two schools that had app fees more than $100 (they were both UC schools- what a surprise), and the rest were between $75 and $90. My problem was I took the GRE months before I actually applied and wasted my free scores on schools I didn't end up applying to because my priorities changed (found professors at other universities I wanted to work with, learned more about programs that ended up deterring me, etc.) That's awesome that Vanderbilt didn't charge a fee for your program, they definitely had a fee for my program though, I think it was $95? So far I've spent around $750 on my application process and I haven't sent any official transcripts yet (I think my undergrad institution charges $15 per, but I took a single class at a community college so I have to pay the $15 fee to have that sent as well, ugh.) It's an expensive process, no doubt about that.

10-20, holy cow!! I cannot imagine dropping up to around $2k on applications and sending GRE scores to all those schools! I guess there are fee waivers and such but still, damn. Guess that definitely sets you up to get into at least one place you want to go, though!

A few backup plans, the craziest (and least realistic) of which is to move to another country (I like Scotland) and open a patisserie. I'm a biologist by trade but baking is my hobby and I've found that I'm actually quite good at it, I think in part because baking is really all about chemistry and precision. My more realistic backup plans include: Getting my teaching certification and teaching high school science Going back to my undergrad institution and getting a Master's Applying to any and all biology-related jobs that strike my interest (park ranger jobs, non-profit conservation groups, science writing, research tech, whatever I come across that sounds cool.) I have a current research position and I have been told that if I don't get into any graduate programs I can still work here, but it's not a place I want to stay long-term so I would most likely work until I figured out what the next step was. Hopefully I get in somewhere though and don't have to worry about it

Thank you both! I had originally been contacted about it by the Biology Department's graduate program manager, if I don't see the letters there by the end of the week I will reach out to both the department and the general grad admissions office. Maybe it is just taking a longer time to show up in the application checklist. I'm definitely going to look through the results and see what I can find regarding when interviews and decisions start. Thanks for the advice!

I submitted my application to the University of Washington - Department of Biology PhD program a week ago. About halfway through when the application was open, they swapped their application format and required those with an application open to start a new application that had the correct questions. I already had all of my LOR requests sent out from the old application, but only one had been submitted at that point. I was told that it would be easiest if I just left my old application open, and the admissions team would transfer the letters over to my new application once they had all been submitted. All of them were submitted before the deadline and I let the graduate office know, they said that they would transfer the letters to my new app (and let me know when they did), even if the app had already been submitted. I submitted my new application, but it's been over a week and the letters still haven't been transferred yet. I am getting a bit worried as I have two very strong letters and one good letter and do not want to be left behind by the application reviewers due to not having all of my LORs in the correct application. Should I be worried or will they not even be looking at applications yet? At what point should I ask for an update?

I've thought about this a lot too, because my proposed area of study for PhD is only very slightly related to my undergrad and post-bacc work. I don't know how it is in psychology, but after chatting with other grad students and people in my lab, I gather that a lot of places may not care quite as much. Having research experience gives you skills beyond just the technical ones that anyone can learn with practice. You learn to critically think about problems, come up with creative solutions, design experiments and determine what controls are appropriate, and many more. I plan on talking about the aspects of my research experience that apply across fields, and framing the conversation in such a way that I am still talking about the details and what I know about my exact projects, but really focusing on the ways it has prepared me to be a scientist rather than "oh I did xyz experiment and got this result". Something to think about for sure. Good luck!

@basketballfrost best of luck!! You got this!!

I submitted all my PhD program applications this week or earlier and I thought I would be relieved and able to relax - I was like, "Oh I remember going through the waiting process when applying to college, it wasn't so bad!" NOT THE CASE HERE! Lol, I have been obsessing over it, at least when I was applying I had something to focus on and work towards, now it's out of my hands and there is nothing I can do but wait. I am hoping to hear back from one professor I applied to work with before the holidays, and the rest of the decisions shouldn't come until after the new year or even Feb/March, so I've got a lot of waiting to do.... Applied to UC Santa Barbara (Ecology Evolution & Marine Bio), UC San Diego (Biological Sciences), U Washington (Biology), U of Oregon (Biology), Oregon State University (Biology.) So nervous!

It really depends on the school. A few of the places I applied allowed up to five recommenders to be submitted and I also wasn't sure if one of my references would submit on time, so I entered four references just in case. However, one of the schools only allowed three to be submitted total and so I have one slot still open and the application is due Friday...I already submitted it, but they allow references to submit their letters after, so I am still holding out hope that the last writer will submit their letter today. Some schools are also more lenient with the recommenders submitting after the application deadline, it just means they won't be able to completely review your application until the last one is received. Edit: meant to also include that you can reach out to the graduate coordinator or the department graduate contact to ask these questions as well. Would recommend doing that if you are unsure.

Submitted my last application this morning!! My wallet is not happy, but I sure am! Now begins the waiting period. Celebrating by going to happy hour with a friend tonight.

After chatting with a professor who I would really love to work with and is interested in working with me as well, I have switched gears and applied to UC Santa Barbara (EEMB) as my top choice instead. Dropping CU Boulder, possibly dropping Vanderbilt as well. Submitted applications to UCSB and UCSD so far, hoping to get UW application in this week. Phew...applications are expensive!

Thank you!! I have definitely considered retaking the GRE but it's pretty cost-prohibitive for me since I don't technically qualify for the fee waiver but can't afford it on my own, it's a complicated story. If I were to retake the GRE I would have to dig into my application funds and therefore apply to less schools (which maybe that's not the worst idea in the world.) I'm really hoping to ride on my research experience, publications, and rec letters. Good luck to you as well!

Just recently learned about/joined GradCafe, hey everyone! Comments/criticisms welcome. Undergrad Institution: Missouri University of Science and Technology (small, science-focused engineering school in the Midwest, growing reputation but largely unknown for Bio outside the Midwest)Major(s): Biological Sciences (BS, not BA)Minor(s): Chemistry, PsychologyGPA in Major: 3.8Overall GPA: 3.45Position in Class: Not entirely sure, Cum Laude so somewhat in the top something percentType of Student: Domestic, femaleGRE Scores (revised/old version):Q: 149 (yikes)V: 160W: 5.0Research Experience: 3 summers/winter breaks worth of undergrad research at Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) School of Medicine 4 papers published, 2 first author. Some undergraduate research done at my home institution. Graduated semester early and have been doing a gap year of finishing research at WashU in the lab where I did my summer research, with two more first author papers on the way. Experience mostly in microbiology and biochemistry with other skills here and thereAwards/Honors/Recognitions: Cum Laude, Vice Provost's Academic Scholars List, Dean's List, multiple scholarships both from my university and third-party Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Research technician, secretary at my school's chapter of Phi Sigma Biological Honors Society??, Editor in Chief of school newspaper (not super relevant to science but I have great communication/writing skills thanks to that), hosted a Science News talk show at my college radio station Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Special Bonus Points: Female? LGBT? I've talked about that in diversity statements, kindaAny Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Pretty awful math/chemistry grades- started off with all Cs until I hit calculus and Orgo 2, then I got Bs, then an A in Biochem, so I guess the upward trend helps? But it definitely lowered my overall GPA. Also, graduated earlyApplying to Where: The million dollar question lol Oregon State University - Microbiology UC San Diego - Biological Sciences CU Boulder - EBIO Vanderbilt - Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Biomedical Sciences U of Washington - Biological Sciences Not sure if I'm gonna apply anywhere else yet. Thinking about it though. Recommendations are highly appreciated! My main research interests are in microbiology and especially microbial communities/microbiomes, so I have sought out faculty at each of these departments that are studying something I'm interested in, even though I'm not applying to the micro departments at each school.

Typically 'publications' need to be published in peer-reviewed journals. Posting an article online is not really a publication, but definitely not a bad thing to have on your resume. I would still include it, but it doesn't really qualify as a publication in the way that most schools are probably looking for. Then again, I'm in a different field than you, so perhaps international relations programs have a bit different of a policy on what constitutes a publication.