Unconsolidated_Regolith

Hey Y'all, I'm looking for advice from anyone who's already completed a Master's in Earth Science, regarding choosing an advisor. So I currently have two potential professors from a school that I'll be visiting later this week and the situation seems pretty complex as to which prof would be the best one to go with. Professor 1 has a full RA that he's offered me, but so far I've found our communication to be somewhat frustrating in that even after I was accepted to his lab, I couldn't get him to answer questions I posed in my emails, and it has taken up to 2 weeks to hear back from him in some cases. When he does write back it is very brief and vague. We've never even spoken on the phone and I know little about his personality or what projects he hopes to pursue next year. Professor 2 would be on a TA but he seems much easier to communicate with. We spoke via skype a week ago and have been in frequent communication via email, and he's been quite helpful. His projects sound interesting and impactful, though the research may end with me having slightly lower hire-ability than if I went with Prof 1. I'm curious what you all think about weighing the perks of having the funding and fewer non-research obligations vs. working with a PI who you may mesh with better interpersonally but you'd have to take on teaching responsibilities. Let me know what you think. I'm gonna meet these guys at the end of the week. Maybe Professor 1 is just bad at typing and we'll get along swimmingly in person, but in any case I thought this would be a useful discussion to have for others who may end up in this situation.

I got an acceptance from CWU yesterday, though I haven't posted it on the results page yet. I think that was their initial wave of acceptances. 85% of tuition was offered in the funding package plus $8100 stipend as TA. They stated that faculty would be reaching out to the individuals that they're paired with soon. Shoot me a DM if you want to talk specifics about your POI, or if you want more info.

I spoke with their stand in administrator (Dr. Sandra Clinton), and she told me that funding decisions won't be made until April 1 in any case. Who are you applying to work with? Also I'm curious if you've had many interactions with Dr. Bill showers at NC-State. I'm applying to work with him, and would love to hear your opinions if you know him.

Thanks @jimmay you were right. I got the official acceptance letter today!

@OcelotTracks I did! I reached out to Lisa Ely yesterday actually and she gave me the info. She also mentioned in her response that the department was going to meet next week, but that they couldn't make definite decisions until the administration granted them an official number of TA positions. She's hoping to hear about the positions this week but it may take longer. I'm really excited to hear from them. Not sure how many spots the department is going to have, but I'm excited about the geomorph work they're doing here's hoping we hear good news and soon!!

What's up yall. I got an email last night from NCSU saying "Congratulations! The graduate program to which you have applied has recommended your admission. The decision is not final until the Graduate School performs a review of your application materials." (they only had unofficial transcripts so far) I reached out to my PI yesterday asking for an update. I haven't heard from him in over a week. We were in the middle of talks about a visit and he ghosted, and now this. I'm interpreting this as: the PI that I applied to recommended me for admission even though we haven't interviewed or met... I should assume that the graduate school will find my application materials acceptable if the department did. Does this interpretation sound reasonable? Even good news makes me nervous.

Thanks @jimmay !! I printed out a sheet with all of my talking points on it and it definitely helped. Hopefully this guy's grant gets approved lol.

Does anybody have advice for a formal phone interview? I have one coming up and don't wan't to be unprepared! All of the conversations I've had with professors thus far have been relatively casual but from the tone of this email I think it might be a bit more rigorous.

Hey @OcelotTracks Have you heard anything back from Central Washington? Their deadline was only a week ago, but i'm super anxious to hear back!

I think that as of a couple of years ago ETS no longer requires students to submit all scores from the GRE. Now in the Send Scores portal on the ETS website, the student can choose exactly which scores they want to send, as long as they are from the same test date. For example, I completely bombed the first time I took the test in 2017, and subsequently retook the test in 2018. For my Fall 2019 applications I only reported my 2018 scores. There were no schools that I applied to who explicitly stated that I should report all test scores, and so I only reported those that I thought would benefit my application. @Boolakanaka @magnetite

@magnetite I was basically wondering the same thing. My POI said that he had grants in the works, but wasn't certain about them, and then a week later sent me an email saying "Know that we do anticipate a large recruitment year with 4 fellowships and 4 TAs available for our most competitive applicants. I hope to see one from you." That makes me think that the 4 fellowships he mentioned must be departmental fellowships that can go to any incoming student. I'm super happy to have been accepted to a few places this year, but my goal is to at least find a position where the cost of study is totally covered. So far for the places I've been accepted that's not totally guaranteed, but I guess you can't expect to make progress without having to sacrifice some of your expectations ⛄

Good work @magnetite !!! I appreciate the update. As far as I know the department has 4 TA's and 4 Fellowships this year. Are you applying M.S. or PhD?

Hey y’all I hope everyone’s application season is going smoothly, and we all haven’t torn too much of our hair out. I’m applying to a bunch of schools because last year I only applied to 3 and was totally shut down. I’m exclusively applying to MS degrees at the below listed schools, and I’m applying to a mix of programs from fluvial and tectonic geomorphology to agricultural and contaminant hydrology. If you’ve applied to any of the same programs as me, don’t hesitate to reach out. I’m very interested in hearing the experiences of others, and If I find out that a professor has already accepted somebody else, it will frankly give me one less thing to worry about. Undergrad Institution: SLAC Major(s): Geology & Environmental Studies Minor(s): None GPA in Major: 3.32 Overall GPA: 3.34 Position in Class: Non ranking school Type of Student: Domestic White Male 1st Gen GRE Scores (revised/old version): Q: 155 (58%) V: 166 (97%) W: 4.0 (59%) Research Experience: 1 semester independent study 1 semester working with professor abroad that lead to a published journal article (no authorship for me L) Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Margret A Cargill Environmental Studies Distinguished Scholars award Cyril Harvey Field Camp Award Pertinent Activities or Jobs: 5 semesters of undergrad TA in geology dept. 2 years employment in Environmental Regulation (Natural Resource Specialist) 2 years employment in Environmental Consulting (Environmental Scientist I) Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Special Bonus Points: My letters came from professors that I knew very well. I had TA’d for 2 of them and conducted research under 1. Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter Applying to Where: I’m applying to advisors who specialize in Tectonic Geomorph and Contaminant Hydrology UNC Charlotte: Accepted NC State: Hydrology East Carolina University: Hydrology of Agricultural Systems Secured an Advisor awaiting acceptance letter Utah State University (Watershed Sciences): Post Wildfire Landscapes Utah State University (Geology): Tectonic Geomorph University of Idaho: Contaminant Hydrology Central Washington: Fluvial Geomorph Lehigh: Tectonic Geomorph Shippensburg University: Environmental Hydro Accepted West Virginia University: Contaminant transport University of Illinois UC (Physical Geography): Fluvial Geomorph @5beats3summers @magnetite