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goosejuice

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Everything posted by goosejuice

  1. Graduate admissions are different than undergrad. I'm sure you know this, but specifically what I mean is that a bachelor's degree from a well known university can open doors for you in industry, but graduate programs mostly look at your academics. Lots of people get into big name graduate programs from smaller named schools simply based of their performance. If you truly can graduate with all of that, with a good GPA, GRE scores, research experience, and letters of recommendation, you'll be fine. Get to know your undergrad professors. Work I'm their labs. Get into internships over the summer. I should mention this as well: those schools you hope to get to for grad school are well known and highly ranked, but graduate school is about the program, not the school itself. When you start looking into grad programs, look specifically at their departments and faculty. Look for the specific professors you'd like to work with. Compatible research interests are the most important part of finding good grad programs. You may find that an overall "lower ranked" school has a really stellar program for your research interests.
  2. It is nice to read the stories here! I don't come from an educated family, whatsoever. I barely graduated high school. I often think about how lucky I am to have ended up where I am now. If high school me knew exactly what kind of day-to-day work I was involved in right at this moment, he wouldn't have believed it for a second. I'm grateful for the external experiences I've had growing up that actually prevented me from excelling in school and going to college right away, because it all has allowed me to not take it for granted when I finally did attend. Navigating it on my own has been quite the experience. I wouldn't have gone to college (and soon a PhD program) if I didn't learn how to seek out government financial assistance on my own, attend a community college, and work a few years in food service/retail (no disrespect to the hard workers out there, but working at a grocery store is what really motivated me to give higher education a chance. Always be nice to your cashiers and clerks!). My parents don't understand college very well and have no understanding of graduate school. They are supportive and happy for me, but I am proud to say I got here on my own.
  3. Build strong rapport with the people you hope to work with. Email them, schedule a phone/video call, meet them at a conference. Talk about funding. If a program you are looking at cannot support you financially in any way, do not apply or attend if accepted. Talk about research goals and interests. Ask about their advising philosophy. Talk to their grad students. Apply to as many places as you can, within financial means. Be mindful of the location in relation to your happiness. Spend extra time looking at non-top ranked universities, even if it means just googling a state in the country and listing all of their universities. While the luxury of clout comes with rank, your happiness is what is most important. Remember you are applying to a program and/or a single individual to work with, not an entire university. Your statement is your opportunity to tell the best academic story you can possibly tell about yourself. This, in conjunction with your letters of recommendation, can be huge. Speaking of, your letters should come from professors who know you well enough inside the classroom or in a research environment. Internship letters are fine, but I'd still aim for people who have spent the most time with you overall. Take a hard look at your application as a whole (GRE scores, GPA, research experience, letters, statement) and really think about how competitive you will be at your top choice, which will most likely be a competitive one. If one of those five aspects is a deficiency, plan to make up for it with another part of your application. Grad school applications are much more competitive than undergrad. You are potentially vying for a single open position against others who most likely have great applications, too. Depending on your major, you should be aware of any subject GRE requirements you need. Magoosh is a good GRE study tool, I'd recommend getting the several month subscription. Aim for at least 50th percentile, bare minimum, if possible. The GRE is honestly the biggest crapshoot of the application. Some places value it as a cut off point, some don't care for it at all. Some programs will not value it themselves, but the university admissions will. I personally don't believe the GRE represents a student's capability to perform well as a researcher, but unfortunately, it is a necessary hurdle to account for in America.
  4. I'm pretty sure publications both independent and co-authored with a student are fairly important to a new professor seeking tenure. Part of your job as a professor involved in research is to produce new literature through your students. At least it is in my field. Yes, this is absolutely right and one of the main concerns. One of my main focuses in building initial rapport with my advisor was inquiring about their style of advising students. Their response wasn't very different from the general response I get from more senior faculty. How they go about it may be new to them and myself, but, again, since they went through the process as a student themselves (fairly recently, too), I have more confidence in their ability to know what their grad student would expect or work best with.
  5. Thank you for the response! I'm glad to know I have been thinking about the right things. Regarding my advisor's history in their PhD program, my value for that comes from them knowing what it took to be successful in that program, and that will hopefully translate into what they may expect from me to be successful in this field. I know they will be thinking of what they did in their program when advising me, and I think that is the next best thing to getting into the program they were in to begin with. Relevant anecdote: last year, I applied to a program to work with a fully tenured professor who told me that they were moving to another university and bringing their whole lab with them, which sounded bizarre to me. I have learned since then that tenured faculty moving to other universities is not out of the ordinary, nor is bringing old lab members with you. Thank you for the advice. I thought I asked a lot of great questions when I visited initially, but since that visit, I have come up with so many new questions that I wish I had asked when I was there. One thing I was told by older faculty at the program I will be entering, however, was that working with new faculty is exciting in a lot of ways. You get to take part in building their lab and group, which I look forward to.
  6. I was hoping I could start a discussion for those who will be working with (or are considering to work with) newer faculty. For a few reasons, I consciously made an effort to reach out to younger professors when searching for programs to apply to this year. Of course, this meant being open to working with newly-hired faculty. Going into this, I did some preliminary research into what this experience could be like. Relative to older and more tenured professors, newer professors are likely to be - more eager and excited to conduct research and publish - more knowledgable in the newest, cutting-edge techniques and resources in your field - more invested in the success of their students (mainly because their position advancement depends on it) - more personable, both as a younger person (assuming you are younger, too) and as a more recent PhD graduate There are also some downsides, of course. They may not have a more established network of resources and contacts, and they may not be as encyclopedic in their knowledge, but I think I value the interpersonal benefits more than the luxurious ones, if that makes any sense. There is also the possibility of your advisor not advancing their tenure and choosing to move to another program early in their career, leaving you to follow them or make some drastic decisions where you are at. This is a risk I am willing to take. During my undergrad, I was involved in research under a well established and respected scientist in my field, but I also had some experience working with newer faculty, which I greatly enjoyed. The person I will be pursuing my PhD under is a brand new hire and I will be their first student. Our research interests and methodology overlap very well. During my visit, we got along well and I feel comfortable with the idea of working with them and the department as a whole. My advisor did their PhD at a top program in my field, at a very prestigious university (something that I value greatly). However, the department I will be in is relatively small--but it is very formidable and rapidly growing (my visit and my cohort size confirmed this). The research I will be involved in will be completely new to the department and university. The university is semi-prestigious and well regarded, as a whole. Is there anyone here that has had a similar experience to this in the past, or are currently experiencing this, or will be in this position next year?
  7. There really isn't a solid answer for this because it often has to do with the cost of living in certain places. In addition, some programs just naturally give larger stipends than others (primarily STEM vs non-STEM). Grad students are never raking in money, that's for sure.
  8. Ah, sorry I assumed otherwise. Not uncommon. Earth science departments, in my experience, tend to be pretty laid back. Maybe it has to do with the beer stereotype....
  9. You know, I don't think I've paid much mind to this sort of thing as I should have. I'm curious about your undergrad experience with this, since we both come from earth science backgrounds. In my department, unless you were addressing them in class or speaking with them for the first few times outside of class, everyone seemed to be on a first name basis. I was pretty involved with some of my classwork and research interests, so I would talk to my professors quite a bit, and as a result I quickly became more comfortable with them outside of the classroom setting and thus referred to them by first name. In addition, I would be around their grad students a lot, who would always refer to them by their first name. I don't think I've ever consciously made that decision, though. It just seemed natural. Regarding your last point, I think that if someone introduced themselves to you as a certain name, it would be fine to call them as such. I'd also find it weird that if a professor signs their emails with their first name, they would expect to be called anything but.
  10. Excitement: I was recently accepted to a program I almost didn't apply to. It went from not being on my radar, to being a potentially decent option that I applied to on a whim, to being invited to visit, to being one of my top choices. Now there is a very good chance it might be the one I attend. Crazy how these things work out. I am very relieved to finally be rid of the uncertainty of acceptance, especially after being completely shut out last year. Worries: I am hoping I can control myself from just accepting my one offer and moving on with my life. There are still a couple of choices I could hear from that, if offered acceptance, would make my decision very difficult. They say having to make a tough decision with multiple exciting offers is a good problem to have. However, my anxiety is pretty much over it. I just want to have the outstanding decisions sent out already. If I get rejected everywhere else, at least my choice will be easy and I'll be happy with it. If one or two specific choices end up accepting me, I am not looking forward to the stress of weighing options. I am aware of my immense privilege to be saying this, but I don't know how much more of this feeling of accelerated aging I can take.
  11. I think this is a really important point for those who are on their first cycle. If I had gotten accepted to most of the programs I applied to last year (top tier for my field), I wouldn't have had the opportunity to be more open minded to the many other programs out there that I never bothered to look up. I can say with absolute certainty that the entirely new batch of programs I applied to this year have me way more excited than last year. Most may not be the same caliber as my first choices last year, but they are formidable and are actually better fits for my specific research interests in the long run. I don't entirely agree with the notion some people have of admittance to a top program being the only way to have a successful career afterward, even outside of STEM. You're defined by your research, not the program you come out of. Doing good work is paramount to academic success.
  12. Thank you for this information! End of March is a while away, but I guess not out of the ordinary.
  13. Ah, I see. I'm not sure how it works. It's not unlikely to have been offered a personal visit by your PI, if that is what happened in your case. I was just under the impression that a "formal" visit organized by the department wasn't happening, based on what I was told.
  14. Wait, really? Was there a formal email that was sent out for this? I had an interview a while ago and was told there wouldn't be a visit weekend this year....
  15. Worries: I have a a visit coming up early next week with my third-ranked choice out of seven. Last year, my only visit was a confidence disaster halfway through the trip. It was my only real possibility to get accepted somewhere, and it all crashed down on me when I met my competition. I was able to see how my prospective was interested in these students and became somewhat unsure as to why my he was interested enough in me to invite me in the first place. At that point, I already had a bunch of rejections and pretty much accepted my defeat. I am more confident in my academic fit with my prospective this time around, but it has been a while since I have been able to talk about any sort of academic work, so I hope I don't stall when it comes to talking about potential projects. I also hope there is mutual personability. The lingering feeling of last year's singular visit is haunting me. I am also hoping that I don't hear any major rejections during the trip. Excitement: After all is said and done, even if I don't get in anywhere this time around, I will be looking forward to moving out of the state I grew up in and living somewhere new, for a change. I am more confident in my applications and choices this time around. I was naive last year and learned a lot about how I stack up to other applicants in my field. I know I am still competitive, just not top of the top, and that's fine with me.
  16. I've always planned on moving away this summer, so if not to a grad program, probably somewhere of my personal preference (PNW probably). I want to get into hiking, backpacking, and mountain biking again. This is my second time shooting for a PhD program in a pretty competitive field, and I've been more thoughtful in choosing the programs I'm applying to this year (completely different from last). If I'm shut out yet again, I'll probably switch up my academic focus a bit and aim for a master's program in the future.
  17. I agree on this. It's sometimes a question that knocks you off guard because you may think it's obvious why you're pursuing the degree, but they're really just trying to see if you're as committed as you can be to pursuing graduate school. My response to the question has generally been the typical professorship route because that is ultimately what I want to do, but if you have something that sticks out beyond that, state it confidently. I saw that too. I would consider any visit (formal or informal) as an extension of your previous interview (if you had any interviews, that is--if you didn't, treat this even more seriously). You'll have no idea if the people you meet are on the admission committee, so treat every conversation with faculty as a chance to stick out and be noticed. Last year, I was invited to visit a program and let it get to my head a bit too much in terms of my chances of acceptance. I left the visit feeling fairly empty and unconfident, and though there are a myriad of reasons why I didn't get in, I definitely misunderstood my purpose being there. For formal visits, they tend to over-invite prospective students pretty significantly, so you're still competing. I've never been to an "open house" but I'd imagine it being somewhat similar in terms of using the opportunity to make yourself noticed. Edit: I should mention that I'm visiting a program this weekend and taking my own advice here. Hopefully it goes well!
  18. PhD. I've spoken with the person I am interested in working with and they mentioned they have an opening for a PhD student. Last year, I applied to two of the three schools you mentioned for planetary science. One thing I learned in my first go at grad apps is that planetary science positions are scarcer, highly competitive, and sometimes unfairly lumped together with astronomy/physics in certain departments. You're competing not only with other earth/planetary science majors, but more often, physics, math, and astronomy majors. Places like Caltech, UA, CU Boulder, ASU, and Harvard get enough super high quality applicants to filter out everyone else instantly. Going from undergrad to PhD is quite common. Getting a masters in planetary science isn't really a thing because its not really a field in industry to begin with. A masters in earth science could help, but going from undergrad to PhD is still quite common. You most likely have the capability to do so, but you may want to shoot a little lower than the top of the top planetary science schools and instead focus on specific professors at other universities.
  19. Undergrad Institution: One of the UC'sMajor(s): Earth and Planetary Science (focused on latter)GPA: 3.73 at graduation (mostly major/important classes); transferred from junior college with separate GPAAwards/recognition: among top of major class, cum laude in university, multiple dean's lists, undergrad research award/scholarshipType of Student: DomesticGRE Scores:Q:156V:153W:4.0Research/Experience: - Currently working at well-known research contractor for NASA; working on paper now - Undergrad senior thesis + poster presentation at AGU and two university symposiums - Summer internship at NASA + poster at two internal symposiums - Worked in lab for 8 months as a lab/research assistant Publications: Two aforementioned posters, one abstract. Working on a paper now, but it was not part of my application at time of submission.Applying to Where: Dartmouth UT Austin Brown Tulane Columbia Northern Arizona NC State ----------------------- Most of my program choices are focused on planetary surface processes, geomorphology, and remote sensing. My research/work experience since graduation is all over the place in terms of subject matter, but I've got a lot of universally-applicable knowledge and experience to show for it. I have no reason to not be confident in my letters of recommendation. GRE scores are definitely my weak point; they're just average enough to not bother retaking it. With that being said, this is my second grad school application cycle... Any other planetary science/geology peeps?
  20. I'm guessing places like GT and Knoxville have decision processes that are affected by their semester system (as opposed to the quarter system for a lot of places). Though I would also assume that because their prospective applicants are also dealing with April 15 deadlines for other schools, that date should still be significant for GT/Knoxville and might be when they shift their waitlists a bit. Speaking of waitlists, anyone know how common it is to get accepted via waitlist in the earth/planetary sciences? Even though these programs don't seem to always notify applicants that you're on a waitlist, the fact that they haven't rejected you must mean that you're interesting enough to still be considered?
  21. Right, thank you for the info! I Makes sense since the department staff doesn't seem to be great at answering emails/phone calls. Sorry to hear that Did you apply to the Earth and Space Sciences program? Or was this through the Atmospheric Sciences department?
  22. Does anyone know the status of University of Washington, University of Tennessee Knoxville, and Georgia Tech? I know UW says they expect decisions to be made by 4/15, but I'm wondering if they have already made them and just send out rejections on that day instead. I haven't heard a single thing from UTK and GT, nor do I know of any particular dates regarding their decisions.
  23. It's the middle of March and I still haven't heard any admission decisions from 5 of my choices. Even after scrounging through the results page , I've not seen a single admit/rejection/waitlist post from any of these programs. I am aware of one of them being behind on making decisions. The other 4 have been dead silent, even after reaching out to their department. A part of me wonders if I've been waitlisted, but I've yet to be told so. Is it something that people generally notify you of? Mandatory or optional?
  24. Since the last time you spoke to her was in December, I don't see how it could hurt to follow up with an email at this time. Especially if it wasn't an official interview. It would show that you are still interested. Also, schools know that students have deadlines to meet, so you are allowed to inquire the department about their decision process at the very least. If it makes you feel any better about your applications in general, I applied to 8 schools (mix of earth and planetary) and I've heard from almost half so far. A few rejections and one invitation to visit which went fairly well (even though they still haven't sent out decisions). A few of my planetary friends are in the same boat--still haven't heard from a lot of programs. If I still don't hear back within another week I'll probably start reaching out again.
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