potentiallylovely

Does anyone have recommendations for places to live in Tempe? I'm looking for the best place for grad students/young professionals. Not to far from campus, but far enough away to be out of the undergrad party scene.

Thanks @Vaudevillain. Good luck--I hope you hear back from Arizona! You seem really smart and qualified and you deserve to get into your top choice! And if it's not good news, UMN is a great option. I was really impressed by the sense of community in the department during my interview. I think I'll probably end up at Arizona State. I didn't think my advisor was a good fit for me (he seems really hands-off, which is not what I'm looking for). But he's well-respected in his field and the program offered me a nice fellowship, so at least there's that. The funding, combined with the fact that my research interests are more closely aligned with ASU, makes me inclined to choose ASU over UNC. I won't accept until mid-April, though, as UMN hasn't officially rejected me yet and I'm not ready to give up on them. I'm getting super frustrated with this process. I must really suck at interviews. I interviewed with 5 schools total (the ASU interview was via Skype, too), 3 of which I really liked. I didn't get accepted to any of those three. It just feels like I'm being forced to choose between two schools that I'm not excited about.

@fossilsrcool thanks for the kind words. I think UT Austin and New Mexico both sound like great options! Keep us posted on what you decide! Also, I'm not sure if you've picked up on this, but I think we might actually know each other in real life. How's your MMM bracket going?

I finally emailed UMN and UW to ask about my applications. Turns out I've been waitlisted at UMN and rejected at UW. I'm just really frustrated that these schools didn't outright email me when they made their decisions. Like, they had to wait for me to email them. I've had my hopes up for weeks. I haven't gotten into any of my top choice schools, and I'm really bummed.

For everyone else following this thread, how are things going for you? I personally have been rejected post-interview from Cornell, and accepted to ASU and UNC-Chapel Hill. But I'm going crazy waiting for answers from Washington and Minnesota, my two top choices.

Not sure how relevant this will be but I applied to the EECB PhD program and just heard back from my POI today. She said their admissions process takes longer than most other schools and that she only recently saw my application. I wasn't even accepted; I just got an informal Skype interview with her. If you haven't heard anything yet, I wouldn't worry too much. It seems like they really take their time.

So there are two schools that I interviewed with over a month ago, and I'm still waiting to hear back from both. They're my two top choices, and they're driving me crazy. I've kept in contact with a few people from both interview weekends who have already gotten acceptances, and I've already seen decisions from both schools posted on the results forum. So, this is actually a two-part question: 1. What does it usually mean when some people are getting accepted and others are hearing nothing? I can't quite wrap my head around why a program wouldn't just send all admissions decisions at once. I'm assuming it just means that I wasn't one of the top choices, and they're waiting to see how many people decline their offers before sending decisions out to more applicants. This obviously isn't the situation I'd like to be in (but if this is the case, I'd also much rather them tell me that directly than say nothing). Are there any other potential explanations for this? 2. I'm strongly considering emailing the program coordinators at both schools to inquire about admissions decisions. I've heard mixed advice about doing this, though, and I definitely wouldn't want to do it if it could damage my chances for admission. I was considering mentioning in the emails that some of the people I'd kept in contact with had gotten acceptances, thinking that might elicit a more direct answer. Again, is this a bad idea? Any suggestions regarding how to word these emails to be polite and respectful, but also to get direct answers?

Thanks! Congrats on your acceptance! I guess there isn't anything I can do now; I'll just have to wait and see. Hopefully I'll hear something on Monday...

@10001Alpacas Shoot, have you already heard back from Minnesota? How recently was it? Interview weekend was three weeks ago, and I haven't heard anything yet. Also, has anyone heard from University of Washington Biology? I'm anxiously waiting for decisions from those two schools.

I did my undergrad at Umich in an unrelated field, but I had friends who majored in computer science. There are two different undergrad computer science degrees: (1) B.S. in computer science from LSA (College of Literature, Science, and the Arts), (2) B.S.E. in Computer Science from the College of Engineering. CoE is generally harder to get into than LSA. Its curriculum is also more difficult (CoE undergrads have more math and science requirements in general than LSA students do). But those who could get into CoE and were up to the challenge usually chose to go for the B.S.E. because it looked better on a resume. Now obviously I only have experience with the undergrad side of things, but if this mirrors Umich's CS Masters degrees in any way, I'd guess that the M.S. in CS would be easier to get into.

@Vaudevillain that's awesome! I got my interview invite today too! I'm really excited--my potential PI's research matches really well with my interests. It's definitely one of my top choices. Good luck--I guess I'll see you there!

@Entobehave yeah...you're right. Didn't think I'd find someone this familiar with my field so quickly. If you have any feedback or advice based on what I posted here, let me know!

@Vaudevillain can you post here if you hear anything from Minnesota EEB? I heard their interview invites go out around mid-December... Also, best of luck to you! I think your application looks pretty strong!

Thanks for making a thread specifically for EEB! I'm really interested in hearing about other people's results. Undergrad Institution: University of Michigan, Ann ArborMajor(s): Ecology and Evolutionary BiologyMinor(s): Environmental Studies, MusicGPA in Major: 3.63 Overall GPA: 3.72Position in Class: top 25%Type of Student: Domestic FemaleGRE Scores:Q: 158 (69%)V: 167 (98%)W: 5 (93%)Research Experience: 4 years in an insect behavior lab at Michigan, including full-time work each summer and an honor's thesis my senior year. I specialized in learning and social behavior in Hymenoptera. 1 year in a theoretical ecology lab, studying coevolution between seed-dispersing vertebrates and angiosperms using quantitative methods in R I graduated last spring. Starting in February I have a 3-month internship in Trinidad doing research on the evolutionary ecology of guppies. Awards/Honors/Recognitions: University Honors every year (basically our equivalent of Dean's List) Graduated with Distinction (for a high GPA) and High Honors (for writing a pretty good thesis)Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Worked as a study group leader for organic chemistry at our school's science tutoring center Peer advisor for the Michigan Research Community, an organization that mentors first-year students who are interested in research Club officer for our school's EEB clubAny Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: 3 presentations: 2 at poster sessions hosted by organizations within Michigan, 1 at a national animal behavior conference 2 publications (kind of): 1 (4th author) accepted and in press, 1 (1st author, with data from my honors thesis) in prep Special Bonus Points: PI from my insect behavior lab is well-known in the field. And because I've worked with her for 4 years, she knows me pretty well and has (hopefully) written a really good letter. Applying to Where: Areas of interest: Animal behavior--insect neurobiology and cognition Applying for PhD programs in: University of Minnesota--Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior University of Washington--Biology UCSD--Biology Cornell--Neurobiology and Behavior (my application will be reviewed by their EEB department too if it's rejected by NBB. POI has a stake in both departments.) Arizona State University--Animal Behavior UNC Chapel Hill--Biology University of Nevada Reno--Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology