[How are the 2019 applications coming]

On 3/5/2019 at 1:29 PM, chasebf said:

Adding onto my last post (I don't think I can edit it directly for some reason).  

I did speak with some of the Columbia people there, they said in the past years they've seen higher offer acceptances rates than they usually see.  Typically they expect ~50% to take offers they give out, usually because half of applications will go to other Columbia-tier schools instead.  However, recently they've had more than 50% take offers (exact percent unclear).  This means that they have larger grad classes than they're usually expecting.  This may (may) mean that admissions will be artificially tougher as they might be looking to make less offers to ensure they don't end up with more graduates than they'd like in an incoming class, or they might be making less offers to get the number of grads back to their baseline amount (since past classes have been larger).  

Not directly related to this, but wanted to mention it anyway. A huge problem with especially, internationally renowned, big-name professors is that there are people (applicants with great connections) already in line to work with them. I think it could be an issue if one applies to top-tier programs, where the density of such advisors is higher. If an influential professor wants to accept a student, they could break all tangible rules set forth by the admissions committee. However, an ordinary applicant with otherwise stellar credentials has no chance. When a potential advisor receives 60 to 80 applications from potential candidates that are specifically interested in working with them primarily, you can imagine how wild the decision-making process can get. 

[How are the 2019 applications coming]

An interesting read: http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2008/01/29/the-other-side-of-graduate-admissions/#.XH2CVVNKjOQ

[How are the 2019 applications coming]

43 minutes ago, rocksandstuff said:

@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.

5

Thanks for the update! Actually, my case is very unusual. I have very focused research interests and am already pursuing them in another institution. I am not expecting an interview. It should be a yes or no. Also, I think which research group you're applying to does play a role in the decision-making process. Some professors may want to get it over with pretty quickly, while others may prioritize things differently. All professors are usually busy as hell.

[How are the 2019 applications coming]

7 hours ago, BrockHarrison said:

UT Austin is doing grad visits early March. I haven't heard from Rice yet!

Thanks a lot!

[How are the 2019 applications coming]

Any hope remaining for Penn State Geosciences and Rice EEPS PhD programs? Is it already too late for their first round of selection?

[How are the 2019 applications coming]

COPYING from publicly available GradCafe post (a Standford Applied Physics PhD Admit for Fall 2019): 

"Yay! Didn't expected but has a strong letter of recommendation and a good GPA. No publication. Really low GRE(haven't seen the one who accepted with such low GRE scores). No interview."

 

[How are the 2019 applications coming]

57 minutes ago, rockwizard said:

Yeah I know I should retake the GRE. But I'd rather get into a mediocre school than pay-to-win and get in at a "top tier" school.

I signed up to take the GRE like a week before test date. Given that I've taken and done well in Calc I-III, differential equations, linear algebra, partial differential equations, and even tensor calculus I figured it wouldn't be a problem for me. I got to the test and it was all questions like "Paul is Sarah's cousin. Sarah is George's sister. George is Sally's great grandfather. How is Sally related to Paul?" which, imo, is not math. The questions weren't hard, they were time consuming, so I ended up running out of time and not being able to finish them all which is I'm sure why I got this quant score. 

Also, Its nice that $200 isn't alot of money to you but for us who are "dirt poor", as you put it.. it is. Haha. 

@rockwizard :

Unfortunately, @chasebf has got it right mostly, especially their first response in this thread. I do think that the human mind is very complex and no tests could adequately judge its abilities.  Having said that, adcom will definitely want to base their decision on something more concrete, e.g., your GRE score. Now, great thing about the US is this: it is super rich and can entertain all sorts of possibilities. Meaning, there are professors who will dismiss GRE right away. But, there are others who will NOT budge a tad bit if you could not pass their threshold. 

Personally, I am suffering from my bad GRE quant score (155). Usually, I take more time thinking about even the simplest things. I do think it is a strength because it allows me to get a deeper understanding of any concept or topic. However, anyone can disagree and refuse me to offer an opportunity based on just that. It is what it is. 

Apart from all that, you truly need to think really hard about a career in planetary science. Given the funding situation, it is like hunger games. Even a Caltech Ph.D. can't necessarily save you from the real world. My two cents.