clehman13

I'm about to head into my first year and this will be the first summer I've had in years (co-oped in the summer for undergrad). Probably going to start reading a couple papers a week and just stashing the bibliography somewhere with notes. Other than that, probably going to spend more time in the gym and play video games. If I were you, I would take some time to relax since who knows when you'll be able to have the summer to yourself again.

I would imagine that it would not matter as much as you think it would. The GRE is more of a tool to filter applicants. Do you have any work or research experience in the field that you wish to pursue? That would make a massive difference. Letters of recommendation also make a massive difference. I had a similar GRE score with something like a 3.3 GPA, but was admitted into a pretty good aeronautical PhD program because I had a strong LOR from a PI at NASA. Not to mentioned, I had work experience in the industry as an undergraduate. A GRE score can only say so much about your ability to learn. Same with GPA. You could just learn how to game the test, so to speak, and that's no good to a graduate program. Do you have any industry/research experience you can leverage in your application? I would make those two things the focal point of you application.

Oh boy, if you can get one of those .5 mm gel tip pens, those are like S tier pens. If you like fountain pens, I would suggest a Lamy. They're from a German company, so sometimes you need to import them, but you can get nice ones for <$30. I also put them under S tier. If you can get 0.7 mm gel pens, I would put them under A tier. I also have this nice .5 mm mechanical pencil called a Zebra M-301. I have no idea where I got it or when, but goddamn, I like it. Also A tier. I put all felt tips under B tier. I like them, but they tend to bleed through paper unless you're willing to dump money into heavy paper. Also under B tier is .7 mm and .5 mm mechanical pencils. Nothing too special about them. I only put the Zebra up higher because it looks cool, feels kinda weighty, and writes well. In C tier, I would put generic job recruiter pens. These are those tacky pens with the company's name on it that you get at career fair and they tend to write ok. I would prefer a mechanical pencil, but these suffice. If you can get one that doubles as a stylus, I would put it at B- or maybe B tier. I feel kinda bad about this, but non mechanical pencils, I feel, almost always belong in D tier. I don't have a pencil sharpener, coincidentally. And F tier is any BIC pen. God they're awful.

Yea the budgeting part was the thing I was most concerned about. You are completely right that I should probably get a feel for more work load. And I will definitely check in with roommates before making my decision.

This is definitely the right call. When I was at my first undergrad school, it was school policy that professors be called by their first names (I think it was something administration did to try to create community since it was a school built on odd circumstances). However, there were certain professors that I still called Dr. LastName because they preferred it. They just couldn't officially say to call them Dr. LastName, which kind of sucked for them. Long story short, if they insist that you call them by their first name, do so, otherwise just say Dr. LastName.

Hey all, I'm not sure if this is out of place, but if it is, mods feel free to take down this thread. I was thinking about adopting an older cat in my first or second year of the program. I figured that they are a bit more independent than a dog. My parents had cats and dogs when I was growing up and the cats have always been way easier to care for. I figured an older cat is normally less likely to be adopted and plus they would be significantly less energetic than a younger cat. Any thoughts? How difficult is it to manage graduate school and having a pet?

This is kinda dorky but my girlfriend and I were planning on going to First Friday so we pregamed a bit then headed out. We were tipsy in a used book store when I got the email at 8p. I made so much noise that I think I startled the shopowner's cat that was trying to sleep on the counter.

I completely feel you on that. Supposedly results should be coming out soon, but it looks like, historically speaking, at least CU Boulder offers interviews by now. Seriously concerned that they're going to wait until March to tell me that I wasn't accepted. Feels bad, man.

Oh yea, definitely. Waiting has not been kind to my mental state. Looking at how qualified everyone else is that's getting accepted, I'm worried that I'll be denied to all my schools. I really wish that they would come out and tell me that I'm under-qualified right now. Yea, that would suck, but I wouldn't be stuck not knowing. Getting rejected now means that I can look for jobs and get over the negative emotions of being rejected sooner. It's even more frustrating when you bring this up with other people and they tell you not to worry about it and that's it's out of your control. It's like, well yea, that's why it's so frustrating. Or even worse is that they tell you that "surely the programs aren't as competitive as you say they are" without actually having ever applied to graduate school. I get that they're trying to be helpful, but that doesn't ever really help with the anxiety.

Worries: The reason that applications are taking so long to get processed probably means that I'm getting wait listed or denied. But then again, the departments I applied to haven't really sent out any offer or rejections besides to those who did priority apps. I'll be upset if I don't get in anywhere, but at least rejection gives me a direction. I can seriously look for jobs with rejection. I can't make any commitments while in limbo, y'know. I don't have any undergrad research experience, but I did well on the GRE (165 quant, 156 verbal, 4.5 writing), my GPA is meh (3.36), I started college at 15, and I have a LOR from a PI at NASA. That being said, I still feel super overshadowed by everyone. My GF told me not to worry because she said I sounded qualified, but I don't think she realizes how much more qualified everyone else is. I just kinda want to know so I can carry on with my life and try to plan things out. Excited: I'll be glad to be out of undergrad at the very least. I did also get invited to stand on the engineering observation deck at a future NASA launch, which I look forward to (although, that won't be for another couple of years). EDIT: That actually felt really good to write out just to get my thoughts straight.

Congrats on your acceptance! literalturtle has a good point in that it might actually help you get accepted at your current school. Graduate schools want students and if they see that someone else already wants you, they'll have to try that much harder to get you on board. Plus, it might just be nice to let the writers know. One of my writers is from a school that I intend on applying to (not my current undergard school) and she wanted me to let her know of any of my acceptances for other schools (granted, that might just be her personality since she is very optimistic and positive). Alternatively, you could wait to tell them and there would still be no harm done.

I am really fortunate in that my undergrad school has some really good connections. I've had a few recruiters from Lockheed Martin reach out to me in the last couple of months, so I'll probably interview with them and hopefully I'll get an offer. If all goes well, I'll try to get a Master's while working there and then moving onto a PhD instead of the current plan to push straight for the PhD. I would like to move, but my parents have also been kind enough to let me live there so I can save up and the rent amount they asked was really small. I feel hopeful about the next few years. I just want to hear a response from the programs I applied to soon so I can plan accordingly.

Hey Hope and Dreams, I had no contact with the department. That's why it threw me off. It looks like it was directly from the Graduate School. I did, however, score rather high on the GRE and they did mention that's where they got my information from. It could also just be a thing that they do for anyone who took the GRE and did alright. I'm not entirely sure and was curious if other people had similar experiences.

Hey all! After I took the GRE this past November, I got an email from RPI saying that they would waive my application fee if I applied. I was curious if this was a widespread thing that they are doing to get more applications. I got hopeful that they were looking to take me on, but I know that other schools will waive the fees just to get a larger applicant pool.

Hey zomhud! I'm currently a senior at Drexel in ECE. From what I've gathered, the school pushes you hard in terms of TA'ing and RA'ing and the stipends are not all too great. That being said, a degree from Drexel in any branch of engineering at any level will get you a job nearly anywhere here in Philly. You definitely seem qualified. Hell, I'd say that you're more qualified than some people already in the program that I know. I can't speak for the other schools, but I would be very shocked if Drexel turned you down. I hope that this helps!