wwwwwwwwwww

Thought it over last week and decided I'm going to accept my offer from USC as well. Still a bit worried about living in LA on grad student salary, but the research opportunity was too good to pass up. Congrats to you and I'll see you in the fall (COVID-19 willing)!

How's everyone's application season going? I'm super stressed trying to decide between solid offers from my top 2 choices, which is way harder than it should be. I have a high-risk high-reward opportunity but I would have to live in LA, which is something I swore I would never do. On the other hand, I have a safer, more straightforward option in Virginia, and I know quality of life would be better. I'm trying to decide by Monday so I can free up a waitlist spot. First-world problems for sure, but man, I am a wreck right now.

Haven't heard anything from Utah, my status on the app portal hasn't changed either. Do you mind me asking who your POI is there? Totally cool if not. I applied to work with Dr. Bowen but haven't tried reaching out to him since I submitted my app.

I just received my first invite of the season as well, and to one of my top choices! Hoping for more to come in the next few weeks! I actually can provide some insight as well, as I attended two visit weekends last year. First of all, congratulations on the invites! These are very good indications that the departments who reviewed your applications are seriously considering admitting you. They will generally pay for your flight and expenses, which they wouldn't do if you weren't in the top tier of applicants. That said, you're right that an invitation is not a guarantee that you're in. Generally, departments will invite a larger number of prospective students than they are prepared to accept, on the assumption that everyone is talking with other schools and some percentage of students will choose other programs. Last year for example, I received a funded offer from one program I visited, but was on the waitlist at the other, and ultimately did not receive funding. I think the most important thing to remember with these visits is that it's about the department selling itself to you, in addition to you selling yourself to the department. I'm sure we've all heard how much your grad school experience depends on your fit with your advisor, and for a lot of us, this will be the first spending any time with them in person. Be presentable, be professional, but let your personality and enthusiasm shine through as well. It's also super important to talk to current grad students: ask them what they like and don't like about the department, their advisor (especially if that's your PI), and the program in general. I wouldn't worry too much about reaching out beforehand. I filled out similar surveys last year and definitely overthought it. If you have a professor (or professors) you've already been communicating with, they likely had a significant say in you receiving the invitation and will probably be expecting to meet with you anyway. It also seemed like my PI at one of the schools ultimately set up my schedule around having me meet faculty who were more likely to co-advise or whose labs frequently collaborated with their students. It definitely seems that different departments handle visits/interviews differently, with some bringing in a large number of prospective students all at once, and others preferring to extend individual invitations. I have only attended the former, but my first visit this year will be the latter. The group visits I attended were a mix of both one-on-one interviews with professors and group events like tours, dinners, and parties. It's a great opportunity to talk with your PI(s) and existing grad students, get a feel for the department's culture, and some rowdy nights out with fellow geoscientists. I'd agree that an individual visit will probably be a little more focused on the interview side, but schools compete for students just like we compete for schools, so I'm assuming there will be some salesmanship on their part as well (probably less partying though, which my liver will appreciate).

Hey everyone, This forum was a great resource for me last year, so I thought I would throw my info up in case it might help anyone still in the application process. Last year was a frustrating one for me. I was accepted/fully funded for a PhD with the leading professor in my field of interest. Visited and hit it off pretty well with them and their research group, but shortly after my acceptance, they contacted me to tell mt that they were retiring sooner than expected and would not be able to see me through the degree. I had started pretty late in the application season last year, and was rejected from the majority of programs I applied to, but I was still surprised that I was accepted to my biggest "reach" and was either rejected or waitlisted from all the schools I considered safer bets. Starting a bit earlier this year, but I was still contacting professors as of last week. A bit of advice to anyone thinking it may be too late for an inquiry email: you've got nothing to lose so you may as well try. I've read a lot of advice online that you "shouldn't even THINK of reaching out after [insert date]", but I just added two more schools to my list after receiving enthusiastic replies from professors. You probably don't want to wait much longer, but see my above paragraph. I didn't contact a single POI or take the GRE until after thanksgiving last year and was still invited to two visit weekends and received a fully-funded offer. Keep your head up! On that note, I'll say that if it doesn't pan out for you this time around, don't get too discouraged. This is a grueling process, especially when you're still in school. Even if you don't get accepted, it's still a valuable experience to go through applications and interviews, and you'll be better prepared and hopefully more relaxed when the next cycle comes around. Undergrad Institution: State school in the PNW, not a super well-known department but a solid curriculum. Major(s): Geology Minor(s): None GPA in Major: 3.75 Overall GPA: 3.8 Position in Class: N/A Type of Student: Domestic, non-traditional white male GRE Scores: Q: 161 V: 167 W: 4.5 Research Experience: Undergraduate thesis focused on structural geology. Volunteered as a field and lab assistant on an environmental biogeochemistry project after graduation last spring. Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Space Grant scholarship, handful of departmental awards and poster presentation awards. Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Currently working as a geologist for a large environmental firm. Wildland firefighter for the past ~10 years (this seems to be a plus for a lot of my POIs). Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I dropped out of my undergrad school after two terms when I was fresh out of high school. The horrible grades I received back then still show up on my transcript, but I haven't been overly concerned about it. It is annoying that my school doesn't allow you to clear those grades once a good amount of time elapsed, but c'est la vie. Applying to Where: Pittsburgh (PhD) - Earth and Planetary Sciences (Visited last Feb. but was not accepted due to lack of funding. POI strongly encouraged me to reapply this cycle.) U. of Southern California (PhD) - Earth Sciences Utah (PhD) - Geology Old Dominion (PhD) - Oceanography Boston College (PhD) - Earth Science Arizona (Ms) - Geosciences

I just had a skype interview with a new professor who had seen my application during the review process and wanted to pitch a project to me if it doesn't work out with my original POI there. It sounds like they were still ranking potential students as of last week. Haven't heard anything since.

Hey y'all, just found this thread, looks like I'm not the only one wondering about Oregon State Undergrad Institution: State school in the PNW, not a super well-known department but a solid curriculum. Major(s): Geology Minor(s): None GPA in Major: 3.75 Overall GPA: 3.8 Position in Class: N/A Type of Student: Domestic, non-traditional white male GRE Scores: Q: 161 V: 167 W: 4.5 Research Experience: Undergraduate honors thesis focused on structural geology. Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Space Grant Scholarship, handful of departmental awards. Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Wildland firefighter for the past ~10 years (this seems to be a plus for a lot of my POIs. Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Had an incomplete that was unresolved during applications, now resolved. I think I had some solid letters of rec from my research advisor, department chair, and another department professor with a background in my field of interest. Applying to Where: UCSC (PhD) - Earth and Planetary Sciences (Visited in Feb, Accepted 03/13) Pitt (PhD) - Geology (Visited in Feb, expecting an offer letter any day now...) OSU (PhD) - CEOAS UNLV (Ms) - Geology Notre Dame (Ms) - Earth Science I'm looking to get into geochemistry and paleoclimate/paleooceanography. Did not start contacting any of my POIs until mid-November, so I've been surprised at how many got back to me. Don't know where OSU or Notre Dame are in their process, but I just spoke with a second professor at UNLV, and it sounds like they were ranking potential students last week.