Nilandia

I'll start off by saying I didn't expect to be in this position. I figured I would be lucky to get one acceptance. Turns out I have three official and one unofficial acceptance, and I'm still waiting to hear back from two more schools. These are all highly regarded programs in forensic science, and they are all focused on the scientific aspect of the field. All of them have been FEPAC accredited, meaning their program is accredited by the American Academy of Forensic Sciences to be academically rigorous and excel at preparing students to enter the workforce. Only 19 programs in the country are FEPAC accredited for Masters. Accepted: University of New Haven (CT), Arcadia University (Philadelphia), Cedar Crest College (Allentown, PA) Unofficial: George Washington University (DC) Waiting: Marshall University (Huntington, WV), Virginia Commonwealth University (Richmond, VA) All of them are far enough away that I would need to quit my current job and move. This may be a bit of a long shot, since it seems I'm in a niche field for this forum, but is anyone out there who could provide some insight on choosing a program?

It appears I was worried for nothing. I just received an email from the professor I've been in contact with, and they've recommended me! I'm just waiting for the formal offer letter! This was one of my top two programs, so I'm ecstatic!

I had the meeting set up before the acceptance, actually. I had contacted graduate admissions to request a visit, and we coordinated schedules. They also set up my meeting with the program director, who will be my advisor if I attend.

Morning, guys! In a bit over a week, I'm going to be visiting a school which has already accepted me. I'm already set up to meet with faculty and with people to discuss financial aid. Is there anything in particular I should be looking for or asking about? The program is for a Masters in Forensic Science.

I'm pretty much the poster child of "GPA/awesome school isn't everything." During my undergrad years, I had a complete lack of a work ethic for a time, and my grades showed it. The proverbial "young and stupid," if you will. After a while, I found the field I wanted to study, lost most of my credits switching majors from humanities to science, took a bunch of fundamental courses and gen eds from a community college, and finally transferred and graduated with a science degree from a run-of-the-mill state school. I now work in a non-science field due to lack of available science jobs in my area. Still, I've shown years of actively pursuing my field, even outside of school and work. At least one of my LOR is stellar (haven't seen the other two), and my GRE scores are rock solid. I can also demonstrate my maturity through going back to school and pulling a perfect 4.0 in full time STEM coursework while still holding a full time job. I can show that I'm willing to do unspeakable things to do what I love, and that I have the talent and personality to flourish. The schools have responded very well to that dedication. Even though I don't have even a 3.5 GPA from my undergrad, I've already been accepted by two very well regarded programs in my field, and I have high hopes for more. So yeah. GPA isn't everything.

Both were in the morning, within an hour or so of each other. One even emailed me after they called and left a voicemail, and they sent me a packet in the mail. Apparently they really liked me. ? Still waiting to hear back from a few, though.

That is my thought. I figure I'll give about a week before I truly panic. The second email really threw me, though.

As I understand that, April 15 only applies if there is an offer of financial aid. My acceptance did not have any aid with it.

Indeed, it is quite difficult. I'm more than a bit nervous since this program is one of my top choices, and I've already been accepted at another program that wants a response to their offer of admission by the end of the month. But, we'll see what happens. Thanks for the insight!

I don't believe so. I'm applying for forensic science, and right now the Masters is the terminal degree at this school.

I submitted an application for a masters program back in January. A week ago, I received an email that it was under review, and it should take about 2 to 4 weeks before I would get an email with the decision. Just tonight, however, I received another email that my application was under review, with the same wording, but now they're estimating 4 to 6 weeks. Strange. Any idea what could be going on? I suspect I might not be in the first wave of acceptances, but they're keeping me in the running for the second wave.