rocksandstuff

@kronotsky I was rejected from caltech today too... I was expecting it though and am super thankful to have some good choices. Glad that wait is over!!!

Hopefully I get these tags correct... Here is an update from what I know! I am sorry to tell you @5beats3summers but I received an official letter of acceptance for Stony Brook in late January with funding details and their visit day is March 7-10. The deadline to respond yes or no to the visit day was March 11th. Acceptance came from Geoscience Dept and I expressed interest in working with Dr. Hurowitz / planetary science / Mars stuff. If you want more details feel free to direct message me. @Kamen @cratergator @Camillalxy @jimmay @BrockHarrison I still think there is a little hope for Stanford. On Jan 22nd, a PI sent me an unofficial acceptance email and scheduled a visit for next week (Feb 27 - March 1), but he said in the email "Because of the way our admissions work in our department, it is too early to give you an official definitive answer, but given the strength of your application and my latest interactions with the admission committee, I am confident in what the admission outcome will be." Since scheduling the visit, I have not received any official offer. This is for the geological sciences program with a new assistant professor who studies geomorphology/planetary science/Mars. @geononymous @jimmay @BrockHarrison I received a phone call acceptance from a PI at Rice on January 15th and an official letter in the mail a few days later. I visited the department Feb 5th. I live down the street from Rice currently and I think I was one of the first visitors, but they seemed to have most of the visitors scheduled already for early/mid Feb. During the visit I met for breakfast with the PI, then had 30 min meetings with 8ish professors, lunch with grad students, attended seminar in the afternoon, and went to dinner with PI. Again this was the Earth Science department. PI is Dr. Siebach, subject is planetary science / Mars geochemistry /surface processes. If anyone happens to be applying to Brown's planetary science group, I received an unofficial acceptance from PI well before their actual deadline (Jan 5th). He told me that letters come late relative to other schools (late Feb) and offered a visit. I visited in October for a few days so we decided another visit wasn't necessary. I have not received any official acceptance from Brown yet. However I did see they sent rejections this week, so I am guessing that I will get a letter quite soon. Aaand lastly, I still have not heard a single peep from Caltech lol. Probably not getting in. The PIs I wanted to work did not seem to be taking a whole lot of students, if any.

I actually did post my profile, I think it’s on the second page of this thread. Caltech, Brown, Stanford, Rice, Stony Brook! ?

Wtf that is so harsh, I’m so sorry that happened to you. Also. I unofficially received an offer from a PI at Stanford, have arranged a visit for Feb 28, and have yet to receive any official or portal letter of any kind. I really think it is still too early for Stanford. I can let you know if/when I get a more formal letter! @Camillalxy yeah... I’m bummed about caltech too... I suppose you never know though! It’s not over until you’re officially rejected!!

@Aerinite @airwiz I haven't heard anything from Caltech either (GPS, Geology Option with interest in planetary science)... not a good sign lol. The past five years of grad cafe submissions indicate that they send out a ton of rejections in the middle of Feb (14th and 15) too...

Awesome, thanks for the info! Good luck!

@Camillalxy All the PI really said was that it was too early in the admissions process to say for certain but that he plans to admit me along with two other prospective students. And then he coordinated a visit for all three of us and him. So it's still really early!!!

Hi! Excuse me if I did this wrong, it is my first time posting on Grad Cafe. Congrats @kronotsky on getting accepted to UWash! :D I was wondering if you've heard from Caltech GPS at all (or know anyone that has?), given that you did your undergrad there? Also, who are you looking to work with there? I ask because it's my top choice and it's the only school I haven't heard a peep from them since applying. So long as I'm commenting, I will fill out my profile. I hope it doesn't give anyone anxiety, because I've heard from 4/5 schools already... I visited and had interactions with every school except Caltech well before the deadlines so that is probably why I heard so soon! Undergrad Institution: University of WisconsinMajor(s): B.S. Geological Engineering, B.S. GeoscienceOverall GPA: 3.585 Graduate Institution: Texas A&M UniversityMajor(s): M.S. GeologyOverall GPA: 4.0 Type of Student: White Female GRE Scores (revised):Q: 166 (92nd)V: 159 (82nd)W: 5.0 (90th) Research Experience: 3 years of oil and gas geology work experience for a mid-size oil and gas company. I was identified as a more "academic" geologist and have been put on a lot of more research-based projects involving chemostratigraphy, geochemistry, sequence stratigraphy, petrography, core description, etc. I worked on my MS at A&M on nights and weekends during the past 3 years. My company let me use their data for my MS thesis research and also let me publish it. So I have 1 accepted (AAPG Bulletin), first author paper and 1 in preparation second author paper. I also did 2 years of undergrad research at Wisconsin in structural geology of serpentinized ultramafics, was awarded several grants for that, did field work in Greece, and wrote a senior thesis. No publications from that work. Applying to where: I have zero planetary science experience but a lot of skillsets that lend themselves well to planetary science. I'm interested in using my knowledge of chemostratigraphy to paleoenvironments from interpret Mars rover data and branch into the remote sensing world. I'd also love to work on Earth-based geologic analogues for Mars. Here is where I applied, and the interactions I've had so far: Caltech - GPS Geology Option - I spoke with PI about research opportunities on the phone in October. Have not heard anything since applying. Brown - DEEPS Planetary Geoscience Group - Visited back in October, went very well, received an email in very early Jan (5th maybe?) from PI saying that he intends to admit me and that I can come visit again if I wanted (I declined the return visit since I'd already visited for a full day). We are "catching up" on a phone conversation tomorrow, where I anticipate a more formal offer. Rice - Visited several times in the fall since I live down the street. Formally accepted Jan 15thish with full funding offer. Will be visiting Feb 5th. Stanford - Geological Sciences - Unofficial admittance from PI last week, scheduled a visit for the end of Feb. Stony Brook - Geoscience - Accepted, full funding offer, visit will be March 7th. Really just waiting on Caltech here... but super super thankful that I have lots of really good options! If I don't get into Caltech, my decision will be very very difficult (but good!). Caltech is my top choice not only because of the program but also because my partner has a lot of opportunity in LA. Good luck everyone!!